Diaper

Meliya's Big Diaper Butt

One thing that has been great living in this community with Meliya is that I have gotten to meet a lot of my neighbors. Everyone will come up to her and want to ask how old she is, if  she is a boy or girl, and then, where we are from.

They also like to give helpful comments. It usually is either about whether she is hot or cold, that we should shave off all her hair because it will make her hair thicker, and that we shouldn't let her wear a diaper because it will cause diaper rash. The last comment, we have heard a lot because kids Meliya's age don't wear diapers anymore. Instead, they go around with split pants and are supposed to pee and poo on command.

It is true, none of their kids have diaper rash. But there are other side effects with the split pants. I thought it was really funny that last week, twice, while I was getting chided for having Meliya wear diapers, at that exact same moment, their kid was peeing on their leg and onto their couch or play mat. I said, "oh yes, you are right, my baby could get diaper rash, but, umm, btw, your baby is peeing on your right now. OK, well you go clean that up."

I have realized that many of our Chinese friends can't wrap their minds around cultural differences. We like to tell them, "no, it is not wrong, it is just different." I like to also think about that for split pants. Yes, pee on the floor and couch is not wrong, it is just different. I do get a little scared when the kids come over to our house to play. We just got new carpet, but I just have to remind myself that pee is sterile, and it is just carpet.  Well, maybe I will put a waterproof mat on the carpet when they come over.

Crawling

Here is Meliya when she first started crawling. She has gotten a little faster now. I like how she celebrates by killing  a giraffe.

More Pictures

Reaching

Here are some more pictures of little Meliya.
The first picture shows her reaching for one of her favorite toys, coasters.

These pictures were all take before her second haircut.  You can also see her excitement when she is standing.

9 Months

Meliya turned 9 months this week. This month, it feels like Meliya was learning a lot of milestones. She started crawling about two weeks ago. It is still on her arms and legs, but it doesn't really look like an army crawl. (We have a video that we will post soon.) She also really enjoys standing with our support, and she has now conquered clapping hands, waving while making sounds that sound like "hiiaeeeaye", motioning "more" in sign language, feeding herself finger foods, and kissing. When she kisses, she opens her mouth huge and gives an open mouth kiss. Very juicy.

Here she is pretending to talk on the phone

 She loves oatmeal, squash, and yogurt with mangoes. She also loves bread with cheese (just like her mommy). She has gotten a second haircut already, although people are saying this last haircut makes her look like a boy.

Nuzzle Noses

Here is a video of me interacting with Meliya.  I am not sure if she really understands, or she doesn't want my nose to touch hers. 

Twinkies

A few times, some friends have given Meliya's good friend (well, one of her only few friends), SChan, similar clothes. (The kids are only about 6 weeks apart.)

 The moms have had a fun time making them look like twins.

They are starting to communicate with each other.  Meliya was blowing raspberries, and S blew one right back.  They also like to pull each other's hair. =)
  

8 Months Update

Well, Meliya is now over 8 months old. She has been more active lately. She can't crawl, but she can maneuver a little on her tummy. She loves it when we pull her up so she can stand on her feet. She can pick up big pieces of bread and she likes to feed herself.

Caught with her eyes closed (not asleep)

We haven't gotten her weighed in a while, so I can't report on that. But we did take some pictures yesterday.