kid labor (not a toddler anymore)

in less than 3 months, andy will be turning two.  she's become more kid than toddler these past few months.  for one, she speaks a lot and in full sentences.  she copies almost everything that alex and karol say and do. she can also jump on both feet already, etc. etc.

first sentence

andy, talks a lot and understands simple commands. she can also answer simple questions and say niceties. however, sometimes we don't really know what she's saying. sometimes she even just pretends to say something just because alex or karol or both are also telling us something.

one time, andy was playing with alex in the living room. they were probably enjoying so much that when daddy called, "andy, come! let's take bath." very strongly, she said, "no! i don't want bath!"  i almost dropped the dishes i was washing to check if it was really andy talking in a completely composed sentence.  everyone, including alex laughed.

"i want to also"

it's a broken phrase she got from karol.  usually when karol wants to have something he sees from us, he says, "mommy, i want to also eat that." so now, andy says, "mommy, i want to also." whenever she wants to ask for food.

summer time = ice cream.  the first time andy tasted ice cream, she didn't like it.  it was probably too cold for her taste. everytime we go out for ice cream, i try to offer her some but she always says, "i don't want."  early today, we went for ice cream in the old town. as usual, she got her free cone but probably got tired of it and ate just half.  so, i offered to her my mojito ice cream. surprise! surprise! she learned that she actually likes ice cream. after every lick she kept saying, "mommy, i want to also."  well, she ended up finishing my ice cream.

budding artist

it is not a secret that alex likes to draw.  andy copies everthing, so it is also not a surprise that she would "draw" whenever alex takes out paper and crayons. she's actually very good now at holding crayons and pencils, equally with both the left and the right hand. without defying the law of nature, andy's scribbles sometimes ends up in the wrong places. today, it was on the floor.  i caught her in the act, so i tried to give her immediate punishment. see below... 

scene: andy wipes the floor. after some time, 

stands up and tries to do something else

mommy: andy! clean that up!

scene: andy goes back to wipe the floor

totally hilarious! *lol* bad mommy... :D

mommy and tatci

andy is now 18 months.  she likes copying what everybody says, or even does (e.g., mommy crossing arms).  for the last couple of months andy's vocabulary hasn't improved that much.  however she can clearly say "mommy" and "tatci" (read: tatsi).  cool, right?!  don't be fooled though, as it turned out, they don't mean quite the way you think they should mean. :D

for a long time, andy kept saying mommy.  she would sometimes knock on the bathroom or toilet door and say, "mommy?"  as if looking for me when i'm right there by her side.  she calls me in the same tone all the time. as if always asking a question.  she would also come to me whenever she wants something or just plainly need some help with a toy she cannot operate saying, "mommy?!"  my heart was melting with happiness. until..... she started going to daddy and saying, "mommy?!" or to alex saying "mommy?!"

and so, we learned that "mommy" doesn't really refer to me but simply means she needs help with something. :D

this was reinforced when she started saying "tatci!"  she probably hears when alex and karol call their daddy "tatci", which means daddy in slovak.  so she started repeating this.  now, she says "tatci" with very strong emotion as if calling somebody from afar.  almost screaming, or sometimes really screaming.  she started saying this in front of daddy. so again we thought she meant daddy.

as with the word mommy, we learned that "tatci" could mean mommy or daddy.  she says this when she wants to call our attention, or whenever she hears her sibblings say tatci.  i learned this the hard way.  most of the time, it's just the two of us who are left home.  one time, she was a bit cranky and i had to run to the toilet.  she probably thought i went inside the bathroom, which is in a different room.  she then came running after me, went to the bathroom door knocking, and screaming her lungs out calling "tatci!!!" over and over again.  she stopped the moment i came out of the other door, almost laughing.

more words:
"mayl" - smile. says it whenever she pretends to take our photo.
"ma ma" - means she wants to eat.  comes from "mñam! mñam!" or "yumyum!"
"mao-mao" - referring to a cat.  comes from "meow! meow!" but could also mean other animals like dogs or horses :D
"wu-wu" - the sound that a dog makes
"a-play" - airplane

so far these are the standouts.  rest assured that there'll be more. ;)

andy at 16 months

andy got burned with the flat iron.  it was about 2cm on her middle finger.  poor hand was bandaged for over a week.  nevertheless, it didn't stop her from doing the things that she likes, and one of them was playing the piano.

andy playing the piano with bandaged hands

the photos below were taken at the waiting area of her pedia's clinic.  happy andy had no idea she would be vaccinated.  she cried just a little bit.  what a brave little girl!

at the doctor's

at 16 months, andy is 81 cm tall and weighs 10 kg.

the 15-month old andy

these pix were taken on 19th of february. we were having the usual palacinky (crepe) weekend breakfast. andy usually eats just the crepe without anything. this day we decided to put a little bit of nutella and this was the result. :D

the 15-month old andy likes to eat by herself. although i'm very much hesitant to let her due to the clean up, hehehe. but from time to time she gets her turn.

andy also likes to talk and sing a lot. however, no one really understands her. well not totally. some of her favorite words are: hiyo (hello), bye, okies (ok), mommy, daddy, what, aya (we don't have a clue what that means).

eventhough she's totally out of tune, i know she's singing because it's not her usual speaking voice and also because she's doing some action (particularly for twinkle, twinkle). she can also sing old mcdonald had a farm by saying eee-yay-eee-yay-yo for quite some time now. lately, she's added mmm-mmm-mmm for the cow sound. still out of tune though. :D

andy is also very active. she likes to climb everywhere. most of the time she can climb down safely. but when she gets stuck, she would cry for help by screaming.

andy likes toys. specially stuffed toys which she likes to kiss and say mmm-mah, then giggles. she also likes to play with karol's cars and says vrrrrrmmm by doing a shower of saliva. :)) her other interests includes stacking up blocks as high as possible, sorting shapes, pretend talking on a phone (toy or real)...

"hiyo! (a lot of unintelligible sounds) okies!"

then she hangs up the phone. that's our 15-month old andy!

intruder

dear andy,

today, somebody broke into our house and pretended to be you.  i never noticed until lunch time.  i sat her on karol's dining chair and she sat like a normal kid.  this made me suspicious but i fed her still, not knowing for sure.

i gave her soup and she ate it.  then, she also had rice and fish.  all the time she was just sitting very nicely.  i got more suspicious when after finishing her serving of rice and fish, she wanted more. i didn't have enough, so i gave her more soup instead.  she had a few more spoonfuls and then started standing and climbing the table.  that probably meant she's had enough. so i put her down.

i really don't know where she hid you.  please come back soon. i already miss you.

love,
mommy