My Little Man

I always wanted a son.

This is something I’ve never really revealed… but it’s true.
I’ve always wanted a son as my firstborn child.
When I found out I was pregnant, I began to end my daily prayers with “I pray for a healthy, happy baby… boy.”
So when it was discovered that I was indeed carrying a baby boy, I was ecstatic!
I thanked God profusely for answering my prayers, and I still do.

Mikhail is my dream come true.
My answered prayer.
My blessing.

I keep having to tell myself NOT to be the kind of parent who force their child to be whom THEY wanted to be.
You see, when I was younger, I wished I was born a boy.

Boys seemed to have it all!
They could climb trees, get dirty and yell their lungs out and people would just bemusedly shake their heads and go ‘Boys will be boys’…
But if a GIRL did the same thing.
Hmph… kena cubit la gamaknya!

I was a rambunctious little girl.
Okaylah… I was a tomboy of sorts.
I had an aversion to all things girly and frilly (Barbie dolls were icky to me).
I wanted to do whatever the boys were doing... and MORE!
And I felt that a lot of my ‘adventures’ were thwarted due to the fact that I was a girl.

So... I’m going to be the kind of Mommy who allows her little boy to be just that… a little boy.

If he wants to climb the monkey-climbs upside down – go ahead.
If he wants to run up and down the street pretending to be The Flash – go ahead.
If he wants to paint his face with my lipstick and play Red Indians – go ahead.
Jump up and down and bellow “I can fly! I can fly!”? – go ahead.
Make mud-pies and fling them at the nearest tree? – go ahead.

BUT

If he DOESN’T want to do all that… and prefers to curl up with a good book under the shade of a tree instead of running around with newspaper-kites… I’ll be just as happy to oblige.
If he prefers to sit in his toy-room and play quietly… that’ll be great too.
If he is like his Daddy and doesn’t like getting dirty in the playground… it’s fine.
I’ll survive.

But there goes my new excuse to behave unladylike!
Hehehe…

I’m lucky my boy is surrounded by boys.
Male role models to look up to.
Boys to play rough-and-tumble with.

Mikhail has his Atuk to look up to and revere.
And he has many uncles.
I’ve got two brothers and Wan has three.
And ALL of my friends who were pregnant with me in 2006 gave birth to boys…
And those who are expecting again this year, have discovered that they’re carrying … you guessed it… boys!

So the outlook looks good for Mikhail.
Lots of buddies to hang-around with.
In the playground or the library… doesn’t matter to Mommy.

As long as he is my healthy, happy little boy, Mommy Diha is a happy mom!

Little Mommy in all her 'girlish' glory...

Mikhail messing up while eating his Calci-Yum. Mess some more, sayang... Mommy tak kisahhh...

Mikhail is rarely messy. He takes after his Daddy in not liking to play with dirty stuff. Goo and slime used to be a source of fascination for Little Mommy, but Mikhail scrunches his nose in disgust at such icky stuff.

When we go to the beach, he's fine once he's IN the water. But the sand, whether wet or dry, grosses him out. He just refuses to stand in it and when he gets sand on his foot, he'll examine it with great gravity and grunt until we clean it off.

I don't like sand between my toes!!!

Mikhail's Ayah Ngah (Wan's brother) is staying in Sarawak. On the rare occassions when he comes back to the Semenanjung, he spoils his nephew.
The last time he came to visit, he shocked us by bringing Mikhail a huge gift from the toystore. It was a billiard table! Complete with cues, sticks, chalk and balls etc.
Of course, being only 1 year old, Mikhail has to be content to watch his uncles play with his new toy. And the most he can do is bang the balls around. Which he does... with great delight.

'Ayah Ngah, thank you so much for this FANTABULOUS billiard table! Come back soon and play with me!'

Final gift at the airport... a frog-lolly.

'Ayah Su... for the last time... GET ME OFF THIS FROG! What IS it with my uncles and frogs?

Mikhail's Uncle Ayman is not at home enough to really bond with him. So Mikhail often greets him with a wary look... And while we chat with Ayman, Mikhail will continue to stare at him curiously. He allows Ayman to pick him up and play with him though. After a spell of staring.
His Uncle Irfan is his couch potato buddy. I think Irfan sees Mikhail as a very funny little source of entertainment. Mikhail's little quirks never fails to amuse him.

'Miiikhaaail... that's your 4th biscuit... Perut dah bulat dah niii...'

Nadia & Justin's little boy, Ian Harris Hashim, is an adorable character.
He's the most sociable baby I've ever met!
We don't meet up very often, but when we do, the boys are left to play on their own devices. Practice their social skills.

Boys and their toys: Mikhail & Ian

But for some reason, at our last playdate, Ian started to whimper whenever Mikhail came close to him. We were keeping an eye on the boys so we didn't see any mischief on Mikhail's part. Yet, Ian kept crying out whenever he saw Mikhail approach him.
Quite funny, really!

'Apa ni, Iaaaan... I didn't DO anythinggg!'

And here's Mikhail's favourite boy of all....
The Daddy.


'Do you love me or not?'
'Du-uh, Daddy...'