This is a video demonstrating Fifi's awareness of when she says something not quite correctly, as discussed in the last "Baby Sofia Milestones" post:
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 06, 2012
Baby Sofia Milestones, Entry No. 9: Developing a 'Tude
Long time no blog!
As I've discussed in the last few "Milestones" posts, Fifi's growth has largely shifted from physical growth and towards intellectual growth. In fact, her weight has not increased by much at all - she's around 26 pounds today, which is not much more than the 22 pounds she was around the 1-year mark. Where she's physically grown most seems to be her feet, as she has outgrown many of her shoes.
Intellectually, however, Fifi's made many strides. Previously, I've discussed her development in language comprehension and vocabulary. Her acquisition ability is also starting to show prominently. The example that I remember clearly is her acquisition of the Chinese word for "No", "不要" (bu2 yao4). Prior to our trip to China and Taiwan this past summer, Fifi was already very skilled at saying "No!" in English. However, we had never taught her how to say "不要". So, imagine my surprise when within days of our trip to Asia, Fifi had effectively replaced her English "No" with "不要", without any instruction! She must have picked it up from some local kids...
Other examples of Fifi picking up vocabulary all by herself include saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes and saying "Your welcome" after someone says "Thank you". Clearly, she didn't learn that from other Chinese kids - I guess she must have picked it up from TV or while shopping...
Fifi's intellectual development is not limited to language, however. Similar to the "bless you" behavior mentioned above, Fifi has picked up a number of gestures - some good, some funny, and some funny but maybe not so good. Examples of new gestures include:
Another related area of development that we've observed is her sense of humor. She's always responded well to physical humor or observing funny circumstances, but now she's starting to be aware of when she herself does or says something funny. Most obvious is when she says something that she knows she is saying wrong. She has three phrases that she consistently says wrong:
Not all of Fifi's intellectual development is rosy, however. Much to Cherry and my dismay, Fifi is really stubborn, and has a number of bad habits, such as hitting her parents and grandparents, throwing things, and otherwise throwing a fit when things aren't done exactly how she wants them done. Culprits for her rage range from the obvious, like taking away a toy, to the completely inexplicable - sometimes she will be having a good time, and suddenly just come find us and give us a good beating to remind us who is boss! Most frustrating is that she won't stop throwing her fit if we do what she wanted right away... she'll take a stand and push you away if you approach her, but if you try to ignore her she'll scream her head off again.
I've recently started implementing a time-out punishment for this kind of behavior. While she screams her head off, she seems to be receptive and understand that she's being punished, because if I tell her she's going to get time-out, she'll usually stop the offending behavior.
With that, I leave you with a video of Fifi at the water playground at Zoo Miami! It's funny how she keeps trying to wipe water off of her face...
As I've discussed in the last few "Milestones" posts, Fifi's growth has largely shifted from physical growth and towards intellectual growth. In fact, her weight has not increased by much at all - she's around 26 pounds today, which is not much more than the 22 pounds she was around the 1-year mark. Where she's physically grown most seems to be her feet, as she has outgrown many of her shoes.
Intellectually, however, Fifi's made many strides. Previously, I've discussed her development in language comprehension and vocabulary. Her acquisition ability is also starting to show prominently. The example that I remember clearly is her acquisition of the Chinese word for "No", "不要" (bu2 yao4). Prior to our trip to China and Taiwan this past summer, Fifi was already very skilled at saying "No!" in English. However, we had never taught her how to say "不要". So, imagine my surprise when within days of our trip to Asia, Fifi had effectively replaced her English "No" with "不要", without any instruction! She must have picked it up from some local kids...
 |
| Immersion is the best way to acquire language! |
Fifi's intellectual development is not limited to language, however. Similar to the "bless you" behavior mentioned above, Fifi has picked up a number of gestures - some good, some funny, and some funny but maybe not so good. Examples of new gestures include:
- Rushing over to pat you on the back when you cough
- Feigning fear
- Expressing surprise (gaping mouth, usually accompanied by a laugh)
- Rolling her eyes
- Saying "好了，好了" (hao3 le, hao3 le, meaning "All right, all right") when she sees Mommy and Daddy getting in a heated discussion
Another related area of development that we've observed is her sense of humor. She's always responded well to physical humor or observing funny circumstances, but now she's starting to be aware of when she herself does or says something funny. Most obvious is when she says something that she knows she is saying wrong. She has three phrases that she consistently says wrong:
- "Shishio" = "Lizard"
- "Elegaga" (or something like that) = "Elephant"
- "I EE You" = "I love you"
Not all of Fifi's intellectual development is rosy, however. Much to Cherry and my dismay, Fifi is really stubborn, and has a number of bad habits, such as hitting her parents and grandparents, throwing things, and otherwise throwing a fit when things aren't done exactly how she wants them done. Culprits for her rage range from the obvious, like taking away a toy, to the completely inexplicable - sometimes she will be having a good time, and suddenly just come find us and give us a good beating to remind us who is boss! Most frustrating is that she won't stop throwing her fit if we do what she wanted right away... she'll take a stand and push you away if you approach her, but if you try to ignore her she'll scream her head off again.
I've recently started implementing a time-out punishment for this kind of behavior. While she screams her head off, she seems to be receptive and understand that she's being punished, because if I tell her she's going to get time-out, she'll usually stop the offending behavior.
With that, I leave you with a video of Fifi at the water playground at Zoo Miami! It's funny how she keeps trying to wipe water off of her face...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)