ATHALIE TURNS 2

Just the last weekend, we celebrated Athalie’s 2 years old birthday and my wife’s idea of having it at a Kiz Gym was really brilliant. We didn’t need to worry about planning activities, or even worry about an agenda. All settled by the staff there.

One year from her last birthday and there’s definitely been lots of changes. I wrote a year ago how our lives have changed from being a married couple to having a baby. Read here. So I would just expand the table here…

Item	Before Baby	Baby 0 – 1 yrs old	Baby at 2 yrs old
Getting ready to go out	45 mins	1 and ½ hrs	1 hr
Night Sleep	8 hrs uninterrupted	8 hrs very interrupted	1 time interrupted
Afternoon Nap (on weekends)	3 hrs	1 hr	2 – 3 hrs
Going Out Items	HP, wallet & car keys	HP, wallet, car keys, milk feed, bottle, 2 types of snacks, flask, change of clothes, diapers, diaper cream, yu-ee oil, changing mat, wet wipes, breast-feeding poncho, stroller, Baby Bjorn.	HP, wallet, car keys, diapers, diaper cream, wet wipes & milk feed (only if necessary)
Going Out Attire	Stylish	Backpacker (even to formal events.. thanks to the backpack with all her items in it)	Wife carries a stylish bigger handbag. No more backpack.
Eating Out Setting	Nice, quiet, slow	Express	Nice, moderately slow
Breast Visibility Outdoor	0%	80% (of cuz covered by the poncho)	0%
Couple Time	Everyday	Barely	Some
Visit to the Clinic	Once quarterly	Monthly (sometimes weekly)	Once quarterly
I call my wife…	Dear	Mummy	Mummy

So it seems that life seems to be settling down a little bit more, which is true, but as these issues seems to revert back, new issues (both good and bad) arises.

Of course she’s going through her “Rebellious 2” period now and yes she’s very hard headed up to a point when we spank her, she would try her best to control herself from crying and stubborn when she insist on having something she wants (like keeping the car window open… small opening also ok… janji open). But on the other hand, she is relatively obedient (most of the time), cheeky, and smiley even when she’s not feeling well.

But out of all the good and bad, the one thing that I love about her is her ability to talk. She chatters a lot and at this point of time, it’s really humorous and heart warming when she strikes up a conversation with you, even though she’s used the same lines over and over again. Her favorite conversation now seems to be papaya tree.

While driving out of the taman:

Athalie: Look Daddy. Papaya tree.

Daddy: Ahhh… Yes Athalie… Daddy sees the small little papaya tree.

Athalie: Touch papaya tree.

Daddy: Next time when we go walk-walk we touch k…

Or when I’m “cooking” with her:

Athalie: Daddy put the pot on the stove

Daddy puts the pot on the stove

Athalie: Athalie on the fire. Very hot. Cannot touch.

Daddy: Yea… stove is very hot now.

Athalie removes pot from stove

Athalie: Daddy try…

Daddy: Mmmmm.. Delicious…

As simple as these conversations might be, the genuiness of her wanting to strike a conversation and the excitement she exhibits really just warms and melts your heart.

Apart from that, the newly moments that I so cherished are times that she wants to sleep on my bed (which is actually her bed, but now she seems to be sleeping on my bed and I’m sleeping on her bed). From the moment she verbalize her want to when she turns her body to faced you with her bottle in her mouth just to look into your eyes – moments like these really give so much more meaning to life.

To Athalie, who is now 2, Daddy loves you and even though Daddy knows it’s going to be a challenging “Rebellious 2” with you, the Carl Rogers in Daddy (and definitely Mummy too) would always strive to provide unconditional love (even though Mummy and Daddy have decided to buy a rotan soon). We would treasure the journey together (both the good times and bad times) and learn from each other. You a little bit more obedience, and Daddy, a little bit more of patience and understanding of the development that you are going through. Daddy loves you.