Here I am again typing away in bed in the middle of the night, but honestly if I don’t take time out of my sleeping hours then I get nothing done and this post is already nearly two weeks late.
Kiran’s tiga bulanan (three month touching the ground ceremony) is only a few days away (Balinese months have 5 weeks) and it’s hard to believe he is three months old already. At the same time, it feels like he’s been here forever and I can’t imagine going back to a time where he didn’t exist.
Kiran is 7.3kg and decidedly chunky. He’s been in all his 3-6 clothes for at least a month and I think he’ll be into his 6-9 month stuff fairly soon. Most of his hair has fallen out and while he still has some, it’s so short and sparse that he looks bald in photographs!
I know you’re not supposed to compare your children but it is obvious even at this early stage how different Maya and Kiran are. Kiran is now pretty much sleeping through the night. He goes down at about 7pm and I don’t hear a peep from him until he starts fussing in the early hours of the morning – give him a quick drink and he’s back to sleep again until about 6 or 7am. Maya doesn’t even sleep that well now! He’s not so great at daytime naps and hasn’t got into a three nap routine yet. During the day he needs to be rocked pretty much constantly (in the bouncy chair with my foot while I work!) or he just wakes up straight away. Even with rocking he’s rarely napping longer than half an hour at a time at the moment. Maya has always been a pretty decent napper – guess it is better that he sleeps at night but makes it hard for me to get any work done during the day!
Kiran can now roll over from his back to his front but is still lying on his arm and has to get me to come and rescue him. I’ve been a bit lax with tummy time so don’t know if that’s the reason but his head is still a tiny bit wobbly and tends to drop to one side a little and bounce around when unsupported. Maya at this age was happily lying on her tummy propped up on her elbows but Kiran faceplants most of the time. He will hold his head up if he’s propped up on his front on a cushion but he’s not fond of being on a flat surface.
He is such a happy smiley little boy even when he’s sick and loves ‘talking’ to people. If he gets carried around or someone tries to shush him to sleep when he just wants to look at a face, he gets very angry and wailing ensues. He loves Maya and smiles at her most of all (apart from me), even when she’s poking him in the eye. When he’s mad he closes his eyes up tight, just like he did when he was first born, which makes the person rocking him think he’s sleepy and persist while he gets more cross. Don’t know if it is just because i can read his signals better but I am the only one who can calm him when he’s upset and he will just cry and cry if someone else is holding him and he’s not happy. We’ve been too afraid to leave him with anyone because of this so he just comes with us everywhere!
He HATES the car and will not sleep! Again, polar opposite to Maya who would sleep through every car journey at this age. He can be fast asleep in his car seat and as soon as we put him in the car his eyes will snap open and it’s not long before he starts fussing. This means that we can’t go on car trips (apart from very short trips) with both of them as they both start wailing (Maya gets jealous at me trying to calm Kiran and he won’t sleep!).
It’s so interesting watching his personality develop and seeing how different he is from his sister. Lots of exciting stuff to come!
Maya is 18 months and talking up a storm. She knows so many words now, I wouldn’t even try and list them. She’s talking in two-word sentences, pronouncing two-syllable words correctly (for ages she just said the last syllable) and attempting three-syllable words. She has a definite preference for Balinese and Indonesian but has already figured out to speak the English word to me. She’s also copying things we say with impressive accuracy and I’m going to have to be really careful from now on and stop swearing at Made!
She drinks water from a normal cup, eats yogurt herself with a spoon without spilling most of it down her front, can put on her own shoes and goes up and down stairs on her own (actually walks down them, not climbs – gives me a heart attack!)
Temper tantrums are still happening although it’s easier to work out what she wants now her language is so developed. A recent thing is that she doesn’t want to go in the bath, she doesn’t want to put her clothes on and when they are on she doesn’t want to take them off. She’s started picking out her own clothes too, favouring things with animals on. Exerting her independence I guess but a bit of a pain! Teeth brushing is still next to impossible but she will have a go herself with some coercion.
Favourite toys are her plastic animals and she loves doing all the sounds. She also likes pouring and collecting stones and playing in dirt (of course!). I don’t have much time with her during the day now I’ve got Kiran to look after which is a shame as she’s so much fun to play with. She loves her play doh and scribbles on the walls with crayon whatever chance she gets (and then has a tantrum when i take the crayons off her). She still loves playing with older kids and is not shy atall – she had all the kids running after her at the doctors the other day. We’re going to try and get her enroled in nursery soon as I think she’d really benefit from being around other kids and having some structured play opportunities.
At 10.5kg, Maya hasn’t put on any weight since her last appointment 3 months ago but has managed to grow an extra 3cm. She’s dropped down a percentile in weight and is tall and skinny compared to Balinese children her age (just slightly above average height on the uk and american charts). She’s still fitting in some of her 6-9 month clothes even! I have got her 18-24 month clothes out but most of her well fitting clothes are 12-18 months.
Her sleep is pretty awful at the moment and she spends half the night tossing and turning while crying in her sleep. think it is because she has a load of teeth coming through at once. From what she’ll let me see she has two top molars through and her top… what are they called? canines? the vampire teeth! are on their way out too.
Maya is so funny now and is doing new things every day. She loves Kiran and frequently gives him kisses and strokes his head as well as making silly noises for him. She has started getting a bit jealous and often tells me to give the baby to someone else when I’m holding him. I look forward every day to her silly antics and think this is such a lovely age despite the tantrums!
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