5+ Months

Dearie Mimi,

Here’s yet another really late update. Sorry. This time though, you have to take some of the blame. Recently, it’s been incredibly HARD to put you down for a nap. You are only happy to take that morning nap, two hours after you wake up. You go down for about an hour, if I’m lucky. The naps for the rest of the day are really touch-and-go affairs. You are obviously tired, but you struggle mightily to stay awake. You’ll eventually fall asleep while being carried, but as soon as we put you down, you will wake up. Sometimes, immediately, but almost always within 5 minutes. It’s been really frustrating for me, and it leaves me so tired that I crash out every night while putting Noey to sleep, leaving me with no time at all to blog!

Maybe it’s because of the changes on the home front. This past month was a difficult one because Aunty M left for a month of home leave, leaving me bearing the bulk of the burden of juggling both you and your Gor-Gor. Before she left, we thought Noey would have some difficulty adjusting, but as it turned out, it was you who took her absence the hardest. On hindsight, we should have expected it. Aunty M has spent a great deal of time carrying you and it was natural that you missed her when she was gone. Add to that the fact that you have been playing favourites, and the fact that your Papa has been very busy at work, I was the one stuck carrying you most of the time. That week when your Kong Kong and Popo were away was the hardest. You didn’t like YiPo, Aunty T, or NaiNai and would scream blue murder when they carried you. You tolerated your Jiujiu and Yiyi, and I was very grateful when they came over. Then your favourite Kong Kong came back and that gave me some reprieve.

Anyway, here we are, way into the 6th month, but I’ll try to stick to the 5th month for this update.

Having been the difficult, whiny, AWAKE little baby, you are very lucky that you’re irresistibly cute. You are super smiley, and you smile at everyone who makes eye contact or attempts to play with you. (This doesn’t mean these people can carry you though. Oh no. Most definitely not.)

The smiling has very quickly made you a hot favourite everywhere you go. In church, the children and aunties alike crowd round to play with you. People stop me in the playground to tell me how cute you are. I think you’re the cutest thing ever, but then, I am your Mumy, so I’m naturally biased.

Even your Gor-Gor has not been able to resist your charms. I think it helps that you laugh a lot when he tries to play with you. Your Gor-Gor just loves making people laugh so he’s been very gratified by your positive reaction. He loves hanging around you, sometimes a bit too much.

Thankfully, you’re pretty tolerant about him squishing you and generally getting too close all the time. You just shrug it off. It makes me glad to see you both developing a good relationship.

On the physical front, you have gotten more active. From raising your head, you can now prop your whole self right up on your hands. I often find your kay-poh little head peeking out from above your cot rails after I’ve put you down for a while, usually to nap.

You’re now at ease rolling from your back to your front, and back again, though you still seem to only roll in one direction. I don’t mind — it makes it easier to predict where you’ll land up! One result of this is that you regularly roll yourself over when I put you down to sleep now, which means that you end up sleeping on your tummy most of the time. It freaked your Papa and I out a bit when you started doing that, and we regularly popped into your room to ensure that you were still breathing! But having seen you turn your head in your sleep with ease, and raise your head to complain, I’ve come to breathe easier.

You are now also a confirmed thumb-sucker. You love your thumb and so do I because it has enabled you to put yourself to sleep. After your milk, you pop it in your mouth and suck furiously, roll over on your tummy, complain a bit, and then drift off. The sleeping on your own bit only seems to work at night, but it’s ok, I’ll take it! Now your brother has also learned to try to push your thumb into your mouth when you’re wailing away. It doesn’t work too well unless you’re tired — you get angry and resist mightily. But if you’re tired, it does help calm you down. There might be a weaning issue, but I figured we’ll cross that hurdle when we have to.

When you’re awake, while you roll easily, you have not quite gotten the hang of moving forward. You flail about on your tummy and you rotate around a lot, but you don’t seem to move forward much. That said, you do manage to land up in surprising positions when I’m not watching as a result of a combination of rolling, rotating and scooching forward that wee bit. Nothing gets you moving like the sight of your brother’s toys.

For the record, when you get hold of something, you’ve got a death grip. I only wish you wouldn’t practice that so much on my hair!

I’ve taken to calling you my gai-gai baby because you just LOVE going out. You kick excitedly when the door is open, and when you’re upset and restless, you instantly cheer up and calm down when we bring you outdoors. I foresee this giving us trouble when you’re older!

This month brought some other milestones of a different kind. Your first haircut, courtesy of your Kong Kong…

… and your baptism.

It is with great joy that we witnessed your formal introduction into our covenant family, and it is our prayer that you will grow well in the fear and knowledge of the Lord.

We love you so so so much, little Naomi. I hope you will always know that.