the first 2 steps..

Last night (May 20, 2013), while I was busy searching for Renzo's colored pencils, Daddy witnessed Rynus holding on his water bottle and WALKING TWO STEPS from his chair towards me! Our helper has told him that Rynus started walking one step recently but I am sure nothing beats catching that very moment of his son's first walk with his own eyes!! I didn't get to see that although I was just less than one meter away from Rynus, but I got to feel how excited Daddy was from all his (gentle) screaming and cheering!

As expected, Rynus started to flip, crawl, stand, and walk earlier than his elder brother. Yes Renzo was pretty... lazy I must say and preferred to be carried all the time when he was a baby. By now, I have learned not to compare my two boys though I know clearly what their differences are, in terms of their physical and mental development. All kids will learn at their own pace and master the necessary skills sooner or later.

It's true that Rynus baby is not able to repeat simple words like CAR, APPLE, BALL after us, not able to point out where is one particular object, not able to differentiate LION and SOCKS while playing flashcards, not able to lift up his index finger to tell us he's one year old,  and not able to "poke" his tummy when we ask where's Rynus baby.. All these are things Renzo could respond very well when he was at this age. And I checked through the list of Renzo's first 50 words at about 1 year 2 months old, I do not think Rynus can master those in another 2 months time, but, I am not concerned at all! He is uniquely adorable in his own way, in fact the frowning and tearing on his face when I shouted "OUCHHH" after he bit me on my arm, is the cutest expression I've ever seen! So I know for sure that he observes, feels and understands what's happening around him, all he needs is just time, to learn how to express himself.

In any case, the first 2 steps he took on his own, was definitely one of his biggest milestones achieved in the past few months!

Rynus the little food lover

What do you think our 11 months old could eat from my plate of food?
.....

EVERYTHING!!

Yes I know my answer will cause many mummies to raise their eyebrows, "no salt and no oil for babies below one years old" is the rule I followed strictly when Renzo was an infant, but for Rynus, maybe the 2nd child syndrome mindset kicked in, I am not that particular about what he eats in general, and I could feed Rynus with any kind of food we have on our dining table as long as it's safe for baby. And another reason why I love to feed him our food, is because this little man is super good at biting and chewing with his 6 tiny teeth, looking at the way he appreciates his food is something we enjoy doing the most.

So on one of the afternoons, when our helper was back to her hometown for one week holiday, I decided to bring Rynus out for a lunch date with mummy. I ordered grilled dory with rice and some steamed vegetables. Rynus was all excited in his baby chair even before the food arrived. He sits in high chair for food at home so he knows immediately that he's going to enjoy a feast the moment I put him into the baby chair at the restaurant. He finished 1/3 of the big dory with a little bit of rice and some broccoli and gave me his signature big sweet victory smile after that.

And there was once when he was nibbling on a whole piece of hotcake at McDonald's, one of the staff approached me and questioned if Rynus is 18 months old, LOL, well, he does looks like a toddler especially when he's eating on his own!

Of course Rynus gets to eat outside food once a while only, I cook his daily meals every morning as home cooked food is always more healthy and nutritious. Here's one of his favorite dishes: noodle with fish filet and baby spinach..

See how much he loves his dinner!!