LC News Update

Ever since we moved to Indonesia I've wondered which language our baby's first word would be. This thought was followed with a question as to whether I would even recognize the word if it were in Bahasa Indonesia. Afterall, my Indonesian language ability is dismal so it wouldn't be surprising if LC was talking up a storm in Indonesian and I didn't have a clue! As you're most likely guessing by now, I finally have my answer. (Well, this is aside from the "mama" and "dada" sounds he started making a couple months ago) It turns out that LC is going to be quite the Bahasa Indonesia speaker!

Over the last several days I've wondered why LC would call for me - "mama" - as I'd prepare his food. But it wasn't quite "mama", but more like "mumum". So I thought, well there are a lot of Aussies around so maybe he picked up "mum" instead of "mom". No, silly big-headed mom, it turns out it's not all about me. It dawned on me that when he said "mumum" he wasn't saying "mama" at all. I finally remembered that "mumum" is how Indonesians say "food" when talking to babies. So when it's time to eat, LC is saying the word "food" in Bahasa Indonesia!

In other LC news, he has started throwing fits. And I bet he's one of the best fit throwers in the under one crowd. Wow. It's really impressive. I've actually had to just put him down on the floor and let him get it out of his system cuz the kid is in an entire world of his own. And what spurs these fits you may ask? Not getting what he wants of course! I just don't remember C having this kind of temper tantrum until he was 2, but evidently it's not that uncommon. Fortuitously I received an update for his age group from Babycenter.com this week, and one of the topics was temper tantrums. I guess month 10, week 2 is when babies start to lose it! Well, it's not fun, let me tell you.

LC went to his first swimming lesson yesterday. He did better than C ever did. I want to make sure I don't miss my window of opportunity like I seemed to have done with C. LC seemed to like the class in general. I know he's not capable of swimming yet - god knows he'd sink like a ton of bricks he's so big! (The teacher commented at the class - Wow, he's a strong boy isn't he?!) But I want him to feel comfortable in the water and learn how to swim at the earliest time. With so many pools in this country it scares me to have two boys running around who don't know how to swim. And my expectations aren't too high - ALL of C's friends can swim, most of them unaided by floaties. So he is way behind the 8 ball and I don't want to see LC end up in the same place. But we'll take it casually as there's no rush.

I'm quite sure LC has more bumps and bruises than C ever did at his age. There are 2 big reasons for this: our being distracted by an older son and us having the hardest floors possible (marble). I never thought I'd think that hardwood floors were soft, but compared to marble they definitely are! Thankfully he has a rock hard head so nothing major has happened, that we know of... He also isn't content with baby toys, hasn't been in a long time. He's already playing with the toys that C was playing with when he was twice his age, and he doesn't want anything to do with those silly baby toys. So it was frustrating for a couple months trying to figure out what things he would enjoy, but now that he's more mobile, stronger, and has broader interests it isn't too much of a struggle.

He's still crawling and cruising, and is thinking about walking but I don't expect he will do it in the next month or so. So far he's been a couple weeks behind C in all the big gross motor development milestones so I guess I'm thinking he'll do it at about 13 months. Which means we'll have aching backs during our trip to the US when he'll want to walk everywhere but won't be able to yet. Ouch...

Some random thoughts: in general I have to say he's at a wonderful age and is so much fun to be with. He makes all kinds of fantastic squeals and babble (in addition to speaking Bahasa Indonesia!) and has a totally infectious laugh. He loves our cat most of all I think (with a very close second being his big brother), and the 2 are so funny together. He chases after her all the time, but instead of running away she lays down directly in front of him. The other day he tried to put her paw in his mouth. I can't tell you why, but everything does go in his mouth afterall! He wants to move! and do! all the time now so sitting still is not a common occurrence. He does the cutest thing whenever he sees a pillow. He automatically goes over to it and lays his head down and gives us this adorable sheepish grin as if to say - I know you can hardly stand it when I do this cuz you think I'm the most cutest baby in the whole wide world! And of course he's right. :)