Athalie is now 14 mths old and we definitely have noticed a sudden surge in her growth – whether it’s due to the new milk powder she’s on now or it’s that time in her age where she develops extra fast. She can walk around pretty steadily now and is so much more aware of her surroundings and is able to actively engage with the things around her. She is also picking up more and more words now – comb, happy, daddy, there, how, where, yes, ba-bish (which means mummy)….
I got back early from work yesterday and while preparing dinner, Athalie was walking around the kitchen looking at mummy’s CNY goodie bags. She particularly likes one bag that contains peanuts and mandarin oranges and would spend good couple of minutes exploring the items. Of course the one constant sentence that daddy/mummy would always end up saying is, “Athalie! Don’t put the orange in your mouth”. Problem actually is because she now has 4 teeth and she’ll bite of the skin of the orange.
Once she was done with the bag, she proceeded then to the drainage hole by the fridge, steps on it, looks back at us for approval, smiles and steps on it again.
These are some of the times where it’s really heartwarming to sit by the stairs and just watch her play around and interact with the things around her. She is contented playing with herself most of the time and there are times where she would feed you, lie down with you, hold your hand to bring you somewhere, point to places she wants to go, points to the shoes she wants to wear, skip about in excitement when you carry her, gives you her funny smile and gives you her cheeky smile when she knows she about to do something borderline wrong.
All these precious moments are really just so precious when we take the time off from our busy schedule just to be around her. It just gives you the assurance that you’re not that bad a parent after all knowing she’s happy and fine even though we are first time parents.
Looking back at the fact that I had no experience what-so-ever in taking care of a baby, it’s been an amazing journey learning how to carry her, change her diapers, make her milk, soothe her, read to her, play with her, put her to sleep and of course WASH HER CLOTHES!!!! Through all of these and watching her grow now, I can at least syiok sendiri and pat myself on the back for a job well done. Of course my wife deserves a much bigger pat on her back as she has really sacrificed a lot in this journey.
The journey is definitely not over and there’s a lot more that I need to learn especially seeing how Athalie’s cheekiness comes a lot from me, I would definitely need to seek counsel from my parents as to how they dealt with me when I was young. Every time I see how she gives us the cheeky look and does something mischievous, I can only tell myself, “God has a strange sense of humor” and I can’t really get angry with her cause then I would be getting angry at myself. It’s like looking at myself grow all over again.
These precious moments have also put a lot of perspective back into my life especially in the area of work. I am of course more determined than ever to ensure I leave office on time so I can at least spend a couple of minutes with her before she falls to sleep. She’s only going to go through her stages once and if I miss those times, I can never ask her to re-live those moment just because daddy came back late from work. This is of course strictly my personal conviction.
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