Days without O

O just left on a 4 day work trip to Kuching and I have J all to myself. I have to admit I am glad that the first day is finally over. No doubt J is relatively easy to manage and takes little to keep him occupied. But still babies all need attention. Lots of it. The moment he notices that have I stepped out of sight, the squeal comes shooting out of his tiny mouth. I guess 9 month-old babies still aren't totally absorbed with their toys yet.

I brought J swimming in the afternoon after his afternoon nap. He was looked rather apprehensive as he dipped his legs into the shallow pool, probably because it was still feeling cold from the early afternoon shower. But as soon as he start splashing his chubby hands in the water, he really took to the pool. He played around for a bit in the yellow float that his grand aunty bought, then I took him out and he was floating and kicking around for 20mins in the pool. The only thing that put him off was the water fountain in the middle of the pool. I think J got really frightened by the splashes when he was under it.

Early last week, I persuaded O to introduce a bedtime routine for J. After a warm bath, we would put him in his dimly light room and read a story to him. With soft music playing in the background, J would start yawning and cuddling up within 30mins and before you know it, he is out like a light. How glad I am today for this bedtime routine!

Waking up

As I wake up every morning, I thank God for giving me another day to be with my family. Waking up moments became all the more heartwarming after we decided to bring J to sleep with us.

J has a habit of tossing about in bed throughout the night, and many a morning I have been prematurely woken up (try 4am) by his head or leg in my ribs. One morning I was similarly woken up and saw his head laying on my stomach, legs in a kneeling position and comfortably sound asleep. His rosebud lips were slightly opened, letting out an almost inaudible snore. I must have been too tired cos I fell right back asleep and when the alarm clock went off, we woke up in the same position. O seems to find in extremely endearing!

Just yesterday, O witnessed another heartwarming sight. Apparently she found me in bed, lying on my side and snoring (I was told its not very loud and still bearable). Lying right beside me, J was in the exact same sleeping posture (arm over head and all), snoring in turn, one after the other!

Whoever says that parents should let infants sleep on their own should think again. Of course now we are thinking of getting a bigger bed.

How it began

One day, I returned from a 3-week overseas work trip and was overwhelmed by my 9mth old son's excitement at the airport when he saw me. His could only express his joy at seeing me with moments of uncontrollable giggles and wild arm swings directed at my face. I wanted to tell him how much I missed him too, how sorry I was to have missed 21 days of his growing up years.

Asian fathers especially find it tough to express their feelings openly to their kids due to our own cultural upbringing. Lest I end up as one of these fathers, these notes should be my attempts at laughing and swinging back at them.

This blog serves as a means for my kid(s) to reminisce on the immense (yet sometimes unexpressed) love I have for him(them).
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