Oh, I am not even sure where to start. 20 months old is such a happening for her.
She can be…
Funny. Entertaining. Full of character. Ferocious at times. Intense. Doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Negotiative. Cute. Annoying at times. Cheerful. At times sulky. Eat like a horse. Drink like a fountain. Always wanting to be different. Always wanting to try. Never want to miss out, no way!
She is a little package, petite for her size, but so full of character. That at times, I just stand quietly and watch this little person in action. At times, I am just thankful for the fact that she already knows her stand at just 20 months old. Just in the right balance is fine.
She loves her brother. She is always looking for him. She looks for him first thing in the morning. She always take an extra share of food for her brother. She is always calling out for “哥哥”（brother) in the house. When she asks me for something, be it food, drink, books, toys, clothes, bathtime, she will ask the same for her brother. Her way of asking is always “Please, ta, 哥哥！“ She will always take 2 of everything, one of her, one for 哥哥.
They enjoy their shower time together, when JD will wash her hair and she will pour bucketful of water on JD. The house is noisy, with the two of them talking, laughing, giggling, playing in the backyard…oh, it’s great to see the two of them together.
As Chloe has an older brother as role model, this girl has no fear at times. She can be really grotty when she plays in the backyard. She runs around with no shoes. She is always bare feet when she plays in the garden. She has no care if her pants are all wet and dirty from their little “sand n water” science experiment in the backyard, she plays till the sun set! She runs, She rolls around on the grass. She chase the birds. She laughs out loud when she is happy. She would shout from the garden “Mummy, look, this…” when she sees something really cool in the garden bed, i.e. snails! A quick kiss and a hug is all she needs when she falls. Then she is off again. She is a bundle full of character, and not to forget, energy too!
She watches my every move. She sees me turning on the dishwasher. Putting the dishes away. She sees me using the same colour cloth everytime to wipe the table. She sees me dressed and putting on my make up. She knows my favourite pair of red shoes. She sits at the stool next to me every morning. She knows the colour of lipstick I would use. The particular eye shadow I like. And she try to do the same, playing with my lipstick, brush and etc. She knows me.
Before I know. She helps me to put the dishes away. She wipes the mess at the kids dinner table for me. She tells me if there is a mess. She packs up the playroom. She is usually the first to pack up, to clean, to tidy. She does it gladfully, everyday. I feel a sense of comfort, gladfulness, and encouragement when I see her eagerness. I know she has been observing, learning through our daily routine. I love it when I hear her singing to herself “Pa way (pack away), pa way (pack away), da to pa toys way (time to pack the toys away)!”
That also explains her fondness with dressing up. Pants. Dresses. Skirts. Tights, Socks. Oversize shirts. Oversize pants. Hats. Sunglasses. She loves the dress up corner. Just this morning, she decided that putting a pair of mismatched socks over her pair of tights look pretty good. Well, it’s her choice and I respected that. And not forgetting she walked into daycare the other day with a summer dress, her winter pyjama pants, a pair of green fluffy slippers and 2 hairclips on her very fine hair.
She knows what I will do when she misbehaves. She knows when I look at her a certain way. She will look away from me and drop her head when she is wrong. She gives me a cuddle to say she is sorry. We cuddle. We forgive. We move on.
She learns fast. Just like how we accidentally toilet train her with the poop business. Thinking of just giving it a shot. She got it pretty quickly. Already helping us to cut back on nappy costs since she is usually on cloth diaper. She now sits on the throne, and does her poop everyday. She runs to the toilet. Pull her pants down, climb on the stool to reach her throne…quite cool really, one less thing I need to do :) And we all know that, changing pooey nappies can sometimes be a potent business, complete with gloves and masks. Also, I hate pooey nappies especially when they have past the new born stage.
She learns and takes instructions in both languages. I always speak to her in Mandarin that it almost feel foreign to me if I speak English to her. It just doesn’t feel right anymore. Recently, I heard her chanting “洗手！洗手！”（wash hands) when I told her it was dinner time. She knows her body parts in Mandarin and her clarity is getting better each day. But I have a feeling English might still be the more dominant language in her, as she is exposed to more English in the environment we are in. But, I am glad I have sowed the seeds in her and I hope we can keep going with it.
20 months old is a fun age. She is full of character. Totally carefree. Totally happy. I love her. I love watching her. I enjoy this time I have with her.
