don't like to sleep alone

Joseph has a new 'habit'. He doesn't want to be carried and rocked to sleep anymore. That's not a totally bad thing considering he now weighs almost 11kg and my arms feel like breaking after 5 minutes of rocking him. It has been 4 nights now that he has fallen asleep on our bed, snuggled up to me as I gently pat his diaper-padded bum. After he goes to dreamland, we gently lift him and put him in his cot. But sometime during the night, he will wake up and cry till we place him on our bed and he snuggles up to me with his head buried somewhere in the crevice of my armpit. When I'm too tired, I let him fall asleep and I too doze off. But I can never sleep too soundly for fear of rolling over on him and crushing him. So edwin and I take turns to put him back in his cot. At least we get a few more hours of sound sleep. that's right....I will soon be 1!

south of the border

We spent the weekend in Singapore. Joseph's second trip to Singapore. And he's not even 1 yet. He'll be exactly 11 months tomorrow. Back to the weekend... We travelled down on Friday. I took the day off. Spent the morning alone with Joseph. Such a refreshing change from work. We arrived in Singapore only at about 9.30pm. The journey disrupted Joseph's schedule to the extent that he was a cranky unhappy baby by the time we arrived which was past his regular bedtime. I struggled to pacify him and put him to bed. Finally succeeded after almost an hour by which time I was absolutely drained of every ounce of strength. Just wanted to plop into bed but I was feeling too yucky. A cold shower quickly refreshed me. After some supper, I finally slept at past 11pm. Saturday morning, we went to Zion Bible Presbyterian Church for my cousins's wedding. I haven't seen this cousin in donkey years so I was surprised I could recognize him. Then again, it wasn't too difficult since he was the groom. Joseph got to 'phang teh' to John and his lovely bride Justina. Really sweet looking bride. The travelling and wedding must have tired Joseph out real bad. He slept soundly from 2.00-3.30pm without so much as twitching a muscle that I had to check if he was still breathing. Then at 4pm, he started to yawn again so I put him to sleep again and he slept for almost another hour. After that....absolutely refreshed, he tore all over the place playing with the numerous toy trucks and cars and climbing the stairs. Yeah, that's another first - climbing stairs. And he amazed me by climbing so fast. Could even gostan. Sunday was spent travelling. We left Singapore at 9am and arrived home in KL only at 9pm. No, it wasn't a 12-hour journey. There were plenty of stops. 2 in JB for lunch and visitation. Then spent another few hours in Seremban where we had our showers and dinner. Joseph went to sleep as soon as we got home. Tiring weekend it was. Next time we go to Singapore it'll have to be for longer than just a weekend. Didn't quite get to spend as much time with the boys as we'd like to.

another tooth

Joseph's got another tooth already. That makes a grand total of 5 teeth in his little mouth. Actually it's not that little. Kinda big since he can stuff his entire fist into it. In universal dentistry terms, tooth 82 has just erupted. But I notice that it's rotated. The distal end is a wee bit too lingual. This gets me worried. WIll just have to wait till the entire tooth is fully erupted to see if it really is rotated. Good thing is that he has stopped grinding his teeth.

first fall

Yesterday Joseph fell for the first time in his life. He fell off the bed. My heart fell out the window. I had just finished washing his bum. Put him down on the bed...one hand trying to hang on to him while he turned around and tried to scurry off as he often did....one hand trying to dry his bum with a towel...another hand trying to get the cream to apply on his bum. Wait a minute....I only have 2 hands. That must be how he fell. I let go of him for a split second. He crawled to the edge of the bed with lightning speed, dived over the bolster that was at the edge and landed head first on the floor, his legs following like a somersault. Usually, this smart little baby stops at the edge of the bed, knowing that he's not supposed to go over. But yesterday, the bolster was blocking his view and my poor little baby innocently and trustingly dived over as he always liked to do. He cried so loudly! I rushed over, scooped him up in my arms and tried to comfort him. After crying for what seemed like eternity, he smiled at my funny face and giggled. I checked his head thoroughly. Tested his intelligence by asking him to do all the things he usually does. He still knew how to high 5. I was relieved.

bubble bath

It's been a long time since I took a bubble bath. In fact, it has been so long I don't remember when. Splashing around in a tub of water (warm, of course) covered in bubbles - such is the simple pleasure that elicits so much laughter and joy from my little baby. Actually he's not so little a baby anymore. He's growing (so fast!) into a toddler. A babbling tumbling toddler.

Anyway, back to the bubble bath... sure makes me feel like getting into that tub with him. It wouldn't fit me though. But sure looks like a lot of fun. Bubble bath anyone?