Before the year is up…

Talk about a long hiatus. Yes, sorry, I know I have been AWOL but the last few months have been so jam packed that I thought it best to take a break and do justice to certain areas in my life. And now, most of the things have settled down so I’m thinking of getting back into writing!!!

As of yesterday, my little boy is already 16 months old! Can you believe it? I have a fully-fledged toddler (and a hyper one at that)!!!

So, I thought I’d do a little monthly update to show how far we’ve come so far.

Little Mr here has 14 teeth and counting!

Height: 81cm

Weight: Almost 10kg, yippie!

Eating:
We initially struggled with his eating – he used to be very finnicky and naughty, throwing most of his meal on the floor. His weight plateaued for a while but since he started walking, things have started picking up and he is a pro right now! You should have seen him wolf down his pizza tonight! He also eats a lot of fruit, which I am quite happy about – and he loves a good fruit smoothie which we have plenty of since it’s summertime.

Favourites: Blueberries, Watermelon, Grapes, Pear, Cheese, Spring Rolls, Chicken, Peas, Corn on Cob, Any sort of Rice, Pasta, Yoghurt.

Sleep: Yes, sleep is a little patchy, and we struggles especially when he first learned to walk. He just LOVES to be awake to do things but he needs to rest for his own good. He is moving to his own room soon (we have finally moved furniture around so his cot can fit in the room) so things should improve from there, I hope! But he still looks adorable when he sleeps, doesn’t he?

Mobility:
Jacob started walking just shy of 15 months. He had been standing for a while and trying to do stepping movements, but never really got past two steps. Then one day, at church, I think something must have just clicked. He just got up and walked right across the room, and hasn’t looked back since.

In the last few weeks, he’s really picked up speed and is relatively difficult to manage. He runs away from me in the shopping mall and climbs things like chairs, tables, bookcases, etc. No drawers or doors are safe from him so we are slowly child-locking everything. He is relatively clever at working out how things works so he opens tubes and bottles etc. He is loveable but so darn high maintenance at times!

Words words words:
This little boy is talkative!!! I think his first word was “car” and he said “dada” around the same time. Some of his early words were mama, nana (banana), wawa (flower), star, nanny (his grandmother) and dua (dog). He also has some interesting words, like “murr” for bird, “aah” for a drink and “mannum/my-num” for dummy. And now he talks about books and balls and shoes and the moon. We are SOOO proud of him but we get pretty tired hearing the same words all day long.

Favourite pastimes:
– Dancing/singing to songs and rhymes we know. He’s great at “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” (he sings the ‘star’ bit and does some actions) and also joins in with “Incy Wincy Spider”, “Pat a Cake”, “Head Shoulders Knees and Toes” (he only gets as far as head as it’s a bit fast).
– Drawing – I think he’s going to be a budding artist. He goes through our stationery drawers to find pens and markers to use. And despite my giving him scrap paper to draw on, he always looks for important documents to draw on (failing which, he will draw on the wall or tiles).
– Playing with other kids especially his cousins. He recognises them and points them out in pictures – they usually have an awesome time playing together and it’s great that they’re all relatively close in age.

We took some awesome family photos the other day!
– Playing with water and swimming. He loves ANYTHING to do with water. When we’re outside, he goes straight to the dog bowl and puts his hands in it. Hence why I’m buying him a sand & water table for Christmas (shhh don’t tell him!)
– Playing with Skittles. He LOVES dogs and just goes right up to them and plays with them. Skittles has knocked him over a few times but I think they’re both getting more used to each other. My babies are so cute!!!

Only a few more sleeps to Christmas, and I know the time is going to fly by. I am praying that Jacob doesn’t destroy more ornaments on our Christmas tree – he’s already broken a few baubles and often redecorates when I’m not looking.

Just as a fond memory of mine, here’s Jacob being baby Jesus in last year’s nativity at Lobethal. How time flies! Merry Christmas everyone, and may you enjoy this time with friends and family!

His first artwork from childcare

He doesn’t look too happy to see Santa. Oh well!

Babies, babies, babies…

I grew up an only child. My father was the youngest in his family hence I was one of the “younger” cousins. My parents had me 10 years after they were married, hence I was also one of the “younger” ones among their friends’ kids.

As a result, I didn’t have very much exposure to babies. I didn’t know what babies liked or what they involved. For that matter, I didn’t know what little kids liked, because I didn’t actually remember what it was like when I was a little kid myself. The truth is, I was probably scared of kids because they made so much noise and just ran around. And I was even more scared of babies because they seemed so tiny and fragile, and I was so sure I’d drop them and they’d break into pieces.

The first newborn baby I ever carried was my niece, Esther, and I thought she was the tiniest thing I had ever seen! I was so afraid I’d crush her when I carried her, but she survived my little cuddle and she didn’t cry. She was probably thinking:

Okay, I admit I did take care of ONE baby in my life (whom I found out later was actually considered a toddler, not a baby). He was my second cousin and was half Malaysian, half American and he was ADORABLE! I think I played with him for a bit when he was little, but I myself was only about 10 years old and honestly I can’t remember how I did it.

Anyway, when I first found out I was expecting, one of my first thoughts was “Oh no, what am I going to do with my baby? I know nothing about babies!”. Other thoughts included “Soooo exciting and happy!” and “What am I going to tell my boss?” (I’d just started a new job). I was happy being pregnant, but I was also a bit detached and unsure of what to expect.

Would I know how to take care of my baby? Would I even like my baby (and would he like me back)? What would I do with him and how would I bring him up to be a good person?

When Jacob was born, he was perfect. I just looked at him and knew that I loved him. As he lay in his little bed beside me, I just watched him sleep, with his little gentle breaths, his chest heaving up and down. He was the most gorgeous baby I had ever seen.

And that’s where it began… my love of babies. It didn’t help that quite a few people I knew (my sister-in-law, close friends, acquaintances) were expecting babies too. While I’m usually happy to go to church in the first place, I’m now even more excited to go to see their babies!

I’m really comfortable with babies now, even newborns (as I still remember what Jacob was like when he was that tiny)! But I’m still working out how to deal with toddlers and older kids – so please bear with me! I think I’ll probably learn first hand from Jacob, and soon will be an expert. 🙂

Speaking of babies, I’ve entered my little one into yet another contest! I reckon that’s the main reason I go to the annual Pregnancy & Baby Expo here in Adelaide – to join contests!

Anyway, this is Jacob’s photo – please click on the link and like it (and proud mummy will be more than happy!)

Enjoy the weekend folks! 🙂 Babies, babies, babies for me tomorrow.