Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Anya went for her very first ‘official’ photo shoot today (I don’t count her daily photo shoot at home as ‘official’). It was for some articles in ‘Motherhood’ magazine, June issue.

For one scenario, she’s supposed to wear a tiara. But of course getting a 13-month-old kid to wear some pointy stuff on the head is not easy. After trying and failing SOOO many times, we decided to go without it.

Then she played with teddy bears, stacked some plastic pails, waved her ‘magic wand’. Grinned and smiled to the camera.

At times I had to pick and place her back to her ‘spot’ whenever she got more interested in the studio backdrop than the photographer.

And oh … she lifted her dress a few times too! (Luckily, she’s only 13 months old, not 13 years old!)

Today we went to Kinokuniya. A really HUGE bookstore. The thing is, going to bookstores with an eager 13-month-old kid nowadays is just plain challenging.

The kid gets excited upon seeing lots of books. The kid wants to get off the boring pram. The kid gets off. The kid crawls and heads towards the shelves. The kid stands and rearranges the books.

And the mom is seen busily putting all the books back in their place. The mom then picks up the kid. The kid wriggles like an eel, wanting to get down. And yada… yada… yada… the saga continues.

Too bad Kinokuniya has no children’s section for kids to sit and crawl freely

(but then again, it’s a bookstore, not a childcare centre. And so I forgive them)

I wonder what really goes on in the mind of a 13-month kid.

Perhaps kids consider it as ‘work’ when they struggle to reach for something they want, and ‘play’ when they finally get hold of the stuff and shake it all around. Who knows.

Personally I’d like to make Anya’s learning experience a ‘playtime’ for her.

Like when I took her to the playground just below our flat this morning for the first time.

Basically I want her to learn how to climb, to give those leg muscles a little workout, to explore new surroundings. Not to be afraid to try new stuff.

At first, she looked kinda ‘lost’. In a few seconds, she slid down, climbed all the way up, slid down again, etc.

I think she enjoyed it as much as I did!

Three of us went to Borders today. Wilson went to search some books, and I took Anya to the children’s section. Off her pram and onto the carpet she crawled. I read to her some pictorial books, and after a while, she’s more interested in climbing up the steps (by herself) where a few other kids sat and read.

It was when she got on to the first step, only about 8 cm high, that she wanted to get down again, lost her balance a little, and … uh oh … landed nose first onto the carpet.

She’s all okay after a good 10-second-cry and hugs & kisses from Mommy, but she’s left with red scratches on her nose.

Almost every other friend we know asks us how she got it. Hehe.

When it comes to bumps and falls, I always try to put across to Anya that they’re common and that sometimes we can even have a good laugh after it.

Instead of going into a huge panic attack – which will surely scare the kid even more – I usually soothe and hug Anya, asking her where it hurts and kiss it better. Nine out of ten occasions, she’d cry for a little while, and continue playing again as if it’s not really a big deal.

Life’s full of adventure. And every adventure has its ups and downs. The rides are not always smooth, but that’s actually alright.

If our kids live in a constantly over-protected environment where they never experience what it is to feel a little inconvenient, I really think 99% of the time they’ll grow into adults who’ll find it hard when faced with life’s problems and struggles.

These past few days, I think I was too busy with other stuff and I didn’t take that many photos of Anya, not as many as I usually do anyway.

Here are some shots I took two days ago of Anya enjoying her own reflection on the mirror (with her ‘bando’ on, of course)

Kids are great immitators, people say … and as a Mom, I can really see the truth in that saying.

Lately Anya wants to carry my bag, eat what’s on my plate, drink what’s in my cup and even wear my hairband (Indonesians call it ‘Bando’).

Good  thing she’s only 13 months old and has no preference over which one she’d like to wear (yet!). Hehe.

Wilson’s parents are here for a short visit and we all went to IKEA last night.

The last time we went there, Anya still sat on her pram most of the time. But this time round? Whoaa… a lot has changed!

She might still prefer to hold on to something and not walk by herself, but she made it clear yesterday that the inability to walk alone didn’t stop her from moving about. It was when we sat on a sofa to rest for a while that she decided the chairs were more interesting. And so she came down the sofa by herself, crawled across the aisle and climbed up a chair. All by herself.

I sat quitely by, enjoying the view and appreciating her efforts and initiatives to get to where she wanted.

The store was closing soon anyway and there’s hardly anyone around at the time. And, since I could always wipe her hands and knees clean later on, why should I stop her quest to reach and discover the unknown? Hehe.

Oh, one more thing, I’m often amazed at Anya’s love for phones. Mobile phones, public phones, home phones, toy phones. You name it. As long as it resembles a phone, she happily grabs it, put it on her ear (or … somewhere quite close to it) and starts babbling away in a language only she understands.

Kids these days.

I do get slightly worried though everytime I imagine her chatting away with boys in the years to come!

Sometimes it’s always nice to get out of your usual T-shirt and shorts, and dress up a little.