14 Months

Actually I dont know how long i can keep up recording his monthly milestones, because there are so many things happening and I'm sure there will be more that it's gonna be difficult to track. Anyway, here are the latest things that amuse me:
- He gets people to help him do what he want when he cant. For example, he always says 'uh uh..' while pointing at what interests him for us to help pick it up & give to him. When he wants to be carried by me, he will hold my legs and stomp his feet multiple times. And the last 'brainer' thing he did, was last night, he saw his favourite shampoo bottle (the one with the pump at the top which he can munch (and suck out the liquid a little bit) ) on the high table. He of course sought for my attention and asked me to take it for him. When he saw that i was doing nothing to help him. He actually walked out of the room, and went to my maid's room to call her. When she's out to follow him, he went to point to the bottle to ask her to pick it up for him. Haha, see he finds ways to get what he wants. i found it quite resourceful i must say! My doctor told me the day will come he will find ways to get things such as pushing a stool so he can climb onto it to reach top of table, but my boy thought of another simpler way, call other people for help!

- He chooses how much he wants to eat and the boy got taste! Now, i have to start racking my brain (and the internet) for some tasty meals for him. He is not so interested in bland food anymore or maybe he got bored with all the steamed-but-so-easy to prepare stuff. Since he's few months past 1 year, i have relegated for a tiny bit of salt to be put into his food, as it did make a diff for him to want to eat it. He loves yogurt (fruity one) & mango. I also cooked him spaghetti (one that tasted rally like real tomato-based spagehetti) and he loved it. Salmon alone he didnt really like it. but salmon with cauliflower & white sauce in chicken broth, he finished it! We stop giving him food when he refuses to open his mouth anymore. Hope he's not getting too skinny. As long as he is healthy.

- It is lovely to see him interact with people, esp. if they can really form sort of a bond. I see this amazingly btw him and his grand-pa. He even purposely looked for him several times during the vacay. And within few days was able to call him 'eya' (from eyang), though after mastering that, he doesnt call him by this name anymore. Whenever kiddo sees him, he grins with big smile as he knows he is going to be involved in some sort of 'game' with his grandpa, whether it is play & catch, rhytm and music, flying paper plane, or walk to the garden.

- He is fascinated by moving animals, such as cats and birds (ok, these are the only animals we see in the condo area). If he sees them, he will point to them and make funny amazed noises and will try to run after them.

- He hasnt developed more constantly-repetitive clear meaningful words yet. but he is definitely trying out new expanding phonics, sometimes he repeats word i say (or try to) though i doubt he knows the meaning of it.

- When we say no or 'jangan' or 'gak boleh', the more he will do what he cant do. Before 12 mths, he was obedient, but after that it's the opposite ;p

- He started to enjoy lying down on a soft bed, sitting down comfortably against a pillow, or just sitting down on a stair step, and sleeping while putting his head on my stomach or part of my body. Before this he only knows to sleep straight on a flat bed surface. Also, when i lay him down to sleep in the dark, he can actually enjoy moments of darkness without crying. Heyo, why this not sooner boy? ;p

- He developed interest with his plush toys (we have an ikea buldog, a tiger from the safari zoo, and a small bear), when he sees them he loves carrying them and give it to me one by one (actually dont know whether he likes it or thinks that i like it therefore he always gives them to me). but sometime, he will kiss them too. Oh, and he hardly gives me any kiss when i ask for it. However if i am still really sleeping and he wants me to be awake, he will kiss me :D am a happy mum. so sometimes i pretend to sleep so he can kiss me :P

so many other things, but these are the first thoughts that came to my mind right now.
catch up later!

2 weeks annual vacation 2012

As per every year, working in the same bank i've been, entitles me, or rather, mandates me to take 2 consecutive weeks of absence. The main purpose is to ensure if we ever do something fishy in the bank which requires some form of cover up done on daily basis, this kind of activity would be discovered when we are away for 2 weeks. Anyway, what i wanted to write in this post is how my this year's mandate leave, as we call it, is different in terms of planning, destination, and purpose, as compared to other leaves taken in previous years.

First of all, my 2 weeks vacation is usually spent to wander some unknown destination, or even if it is known/been-there-before, it will be places i've carefully chosen with main purpose to unwind, relax and just experience something different from being at home and explore new things. Secondly, it is usually carefully planned. And third, i go with some loved ones, ie. family circle1. the only exception is last year when i combined my mandate leave together with my 3 months maternity leave, that was heaven at home!

Way from the beginning of the year, i knew the holiday wasnt going to be easy to plan. Husband was free-er in terms of work at the first half of the year, so it was possible for him to actually go for a 2wks break (though timing wise, would still be hard to predict when to exactly go) in the first semester. One of our options and a long-time dream was & (still is) to go Europe together. However, as I was still breastfeeding Adam... I realized there would be some issues by leaving him alone in Malaysia (no way we are bringing him for a romantic 2 wks holiday far away ;p ), how much of breastmilk stock will he need, need to pump extra in order for him to be fully b/m via bottle while i'm away and not sure i could make the stock quota (at that time i was already waking up on avg twice a night to cater for the kiddo's b/f & it was already very tiring and i cannot imagine waking up once more to stock up, as during the day in the office i was already pumping 2-3 times), then will have to resort to to formula milk to top it up.. the last option was actually something i could accept... but the other thing that i couldnt  handle is to pump every 3-4 hours while we were doing our hopping holiday wandering (i had too, otherwise it gives me pain, and also i needed to maintain my production so that when i'm back i can still continue b/f kiddo, and the way to do that is to keep the pumping freq high), and that i will have to throw away the pumped milk as no way i will be travelling from places to places transporting frozen milk (believe me, breastfeeding mums see own b/m like irreplaceable gold bars, as they are so irreplaceable, so no way i'm watching my own b/m go down the drain :) ). I'm sure it would slightly melt before it gets frozen again and the cycle continues, which will make its quality poor, and not to mention the hassle of transporting it. So, i had a clear want and need: only go for long vacay after Adam has reached 1 year old, as his b/m need would have reduced considerably and so will my pumping frequency. The only catch was that hubby dont know if he could take long leave in 2nd half of the year.

So come  june, july, august... work schedule for my husband showed no sign of slacking. In the meantime, my boss is pressing me to clear my leave as soon as possible (my request to defer till december got denied). So here i am, taking my 2 weeks leave in Oct, while hubby till last minute was still on standby for offshore work (he finally left few days after me & kiddo flew off town for our break).

As for where to go, I dont have much choice, either i stay put here in KL or go back 'kampong style' to my parents home. Of course i took the 2nd choice, it's valuable time to spend with my parents. which later proves to be even more beneficial for Adam. In the beginning, I had my doubts whether I could really put myself into 'vacation' mode, since being nanny-less and hubby-less mean that i dont have an equal partner (at least in terms of agility) to take care of the kiddo. it also means that it will be energy-draining days and i wouldnt be able to wander around easily. So ya, it gave me the jigs.

But hey, after spending 2 weeks & back now in KL, all i can say is that for sure i am recharged. especially that i had 3 days of 'recuperatory leave' in KL & i made sure nanny is around even it was the weekend. Adam learnt so many new things with the help of his grandparents, and had so much fun with his grandpa who amazingly interacted very well with Adam. Mum helped prepare his solid food, and he got introduced to variety of food, now he can comfortably munch rice, crackers, pasta n all. So i have stopped cooking porridge altogether! Adam played so much with water (pressurised water from hose, splashing water from pail, flowing water from tap etc), leaves n flower from the garden, chicken and cats, visit to the zoo and beach. What more stuff can he be introduced? Yes, i didnt get to go around to too many places, as much as i would have wanted. But i guess not all holidays need to be spent 'fully charged'. This break was a 'slow-down' mode of vacation. Although not easy at the beginning (being fully charged with rapid pace at work) to move to lower gear, just when i thought i am getting used to it, the vacay ends, but at least i reaped benefit of it, and now, i hope i can pick up the city rhytm back well.

And to my boy, i hope he continues to grow and learn so many things, even in KL and under the well-care of the nanny (esp. when i'm away at work :( )

Right now i am just looking fwd for hubby to be back, to bring more 'life' back into our house. Till then!

ps: pic taken in Kuta Bali. Yes we went to Bali for 4 days and spent the other 7 days in Jogja.