Week 25 : You Ain't The Boss Of Me

Sophia threw her first real tantrum. It was a no holds barred screaming jag. I discovered just how shrill her screams can be and how much lung capacity she has. And just how persistent she can be.

It started off after I picked her up from her walker. She'd been in it for a while, watching me prepare dinner. I picked her up to give her her milk feed for tea. I placed her on the mattress before preparing to lie down next to her but she would have none of it. Our little miss screwed up her face and let out a yell. When I didn't pick her up but tried to reason with her, she started belting it out. Oh-kaaaay. So she didn't want her milk, she didn't want to lie down and I as sure as hell wasn't going to pick her up. Naah, she was NOT going to dictate when I should pick her up. So I left her there on her mattress, clutching her security blanket, screaming her pretty little head off.

I went into the kitchen to cook. Luckily the sound of the ventilation hood somewhat drowned off her screams, but only a little. I could still hear her screaming high murder in the room. I peeked in a couple of times. She was just sitting there, tearing at her cloth and screaming for all the world to hear. It was hilarious really, seeing this little ... thing ... that was my daughter show her displeasure and screaming because she couldn't get her way. I was NOT going to raise a brat. So I went back into the kitchen, chuckling to myself at her little antics. After about 10 minutes, she sounded like she'd lost some steam and was calmer, so I went back into the room to console her and pick her up. No way!! Our little miss decided she did not want mommy to pick her up after she'd left her to cry by herself. She started pushing and kicking me away even as I held her up.

Fine, be that way. I left her alone on her mattress again. More screaming. Back to the kitchen to finish up the vegetable stir fry and then wash up the mess in the kitchen.

When I was done I realized all was quiet. I peeked around the corner into the room and found the little monster flat out. She was face down on the mattress, slumped over from her sitting position, dead to the world from the exhaustion. Twenty minutes of throwing a tantrum will do that to you, my dear. Let this be a lesson to you: Mommy will not be cowed into kowtowing by screaming and yelling.





This week we tried spinach, pear, peas and carrot after her introduction to and initial staple of baby rice cereal. When I went shopping for baby food some weeks earlier, I found out just how much junk baby food manufacturers 'fortify' their baby food with: all manner of important sounding initials such as DHAs, sugars disguised as sucrose, palm oil, and loads of vitamins which I'm not quite sure babies really need from their first foods. All they really need is iron and vitamin C for absorption. And hold the gluten, please. At least for a month or two even though the books say it's ok from six months. The safest option of baby rice cereal: Heinz. It was the only box which had five or less ingredients listed. Less IS more.

I am proud to say that Sophie is taking to eating solids like a fish to water. She loves her food (in general, the only food which she thrust out with her tongue was avocado) and eats so fast it's as if she's afraid that if she's too slow, mom will gobble up whatever's left in the bowl. That said, she can get quite distracted at times if the cats are about or the food's a bit bland.

All in all, solids has proven to be an enjoyable milestone. I can't wait to start her on her savouries.





Her crawling prowess has bumped up several notches; she's faster and stronger. And she'll grab onto almost anything that will help her come to a stand, including climbing all over mom, going to the extent of grabbing my hair. I feel like a human obstacle course.





We've now made a comfortable nest for ourselves on the bedroom floor. My ever doting parents went out and got us a couple of thin, foldable mattresses after they heard about Sophie's fall from the bed in the middle of the night (Rizal panicked but I couldn't find a single red spot or bruise on her body). She still has a habit of waking up at the ungodly hour of 4am or thereabouts to have a romp. She doesn't make a fuss or cry but having a playful baby crawling around or onto you guarantees that your sleep is somewhat interrupted if not totally dashed. And yet, there is the comfort of co-sleeping because it's just the two of us at home anyway. And my wrist doesn't seem to be getting any better now that she's getting heavier. Yup, excuses, excuses for not training her to sleep on her own in her own bed. We'll get her one soon. When we get to Singapore.





Where did the time disappear to? In a flash, six months has dawned upon us and she's babbling more and more each day now. Have I had her for so long? I can barely remember when she was a newborn. She's coming into her own now and I still call her 'baby'. But then again, she still is one. She's not even a toddler yet, even though her dad says she is. How fast this little one is growing. I wish she'd stay a baby like this for a little longer, if not forever. Adults are so difficult to deal with.

This coming March, my column and feature appear in Mother & Baby. Sophia's pictures are slated to appear. It's been a while since I've seen my byline in print. It will be interesting.