Faith

Faith - Feb 09

We don't know how it happened. In less than 2 years, Faith has grown so quickly to be a young girl who now not just toddles around the house, but who now understands and reacts to us just as if she were an adult.

Faith - then Feb 08

Granted, Eve and I still sometimes have problems deciphering what she wants to tell us. On occasions, when she is playing with her toys, she just points to us and says "Same"- or something like that - leaving her parents very baffled.

Words aside, however, there is no hiding what Faith feels. Whether she is happy, frustrated, scared, contented, helpful, sleepy, participative, sociable or merely wanting to be alone - whatever mood she is in, there is very little now to guess. And that feeling is quite wonderful. When she wakes up in the morning, she shouts out a very nice "Ma-mee" and comes over to my side of the bed to see if "Pa-pa" is awake; in the middle of the night, when she wants water, she just helps herself by standing up, reaching for her water bottle, and then slurps at her straw; when she decides to wander instead of going to sleep, she gets up, slides open the (very heavy door) and then walks out to get what she wants.

Faith's latest toy - drums

With Faith's growth, our roles as parents have also evolved. Where we once used to coddle Faith every single moment, we now let her explore on her own; where we used to want to follow her everywhere she went in case she hurt herself, we now let her go out of the room on her own just because we want to see the proud look on her face when she returns with her "surprise" for us.

And now, instead of doing things "our" way, when we do things as a family, we also now start to give Faith some liberty on what she as an individual wants. From simple things to letting her choose her bedtime story book, choosing what shoes she would like to wear (between the two she has), and her choice of snacks (Nuts or cornflakes?), what Youtube video she would like to watch on our laptop (Elmo, Barbie, Barney, Wheels on the Bus, Mamma Mia, Igglepiggle?), Faith now is given more liberty to choose. Boundaries are of course set - like how frequently she can change VCDs or the Youtube video - we lay the guidelines so she knows what boundaries her decisions need to lie within.

And the more we have given her a chance to grow, we have seen how Faith has started to develop her own values - not just behaviour. Simple things like helping me - she surprised me one day, by bringing my crutches to me (one by one), or even bringing me a tissue when I am eating a banana or even asking me to sit when I go out with her to the daybed from the master bedroom, or wanting to open the two-sides of the door to so I could go in with the crutches, or trying to help me remove my shoes. Some of these no doubt, she would have seen Eve do, and as such, imitated her. But others - like bringing me the crutches - was something that Eve never had to do because I've always been near my crutches. This to me, showed that Faith is now on a higher plane of development beyond just 'baby imitation' - she is now learning how she as an individual can interact with those around her - whether or not she has seen prior behaviour.

And this has made Eve and I very proud of her because I think it signals the confidence that Faith now has - and a level of EQ that will be key for her development. But as you can imagine, it has also made Eve and I very watchful of our own behaviour - without a doubt, Faith's behaviour and values are front and centre those which she will adopt from us and other caregivers around her. So far so good we think.

Here's keeping our fingers crossed.