Mikhail's Merdeka

Pardon this belated-post...

Merdeka 2008 was spent very pleasantly. In the morning, while Daddy was still sleeping, Mommy and Mikhail got ready for our play-date at Nadrah’s place. I wanted to have a look at the scrapbook materials she sold while Tracey wanted to get some shots of our boys.

We had a lovely time there. Especially Mikhail. Everything his heart desired was under one roof. Two little boys to play with, toy cars, motorcycles, guns, balls… a veritable toy-heaven.



And to add the cherry to the cake, there was also Mikhail's ultimate favourite… keropok.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the fact that Mikhail is a hard-core keropok fan. We always maintain a steady supply of keropok because this little boy can finish an entire barrel all by himself.

At Nadrah’s place, although he was running around with the other boys and playing with the toys, most of the time he did all that with a keropok in his hand…



Nadrah's boys are lovely. Rambunctious, as boys often are, but really adorable.



Qawiem and Zharif were such good sports, embracing Mikhail into their fold and sharing their toys with him.

The older boy, Qawiem, had a moment when he initiated a WWF wrestling match with Mikhail. He grabbed Mikhail from behind and pulled him to the floor and rolled around while grunting and making ‘haiyaaah haiyaah!’ sounds.

Mikhail, who was clutching Jalur Gemilangs in his hands at the time, was shocked… tapi control macho… Mikhail allowed Qawiem to wrestle him without a word of protest. In fact, he had a bemused smile on his face. Though Qawiem’s mom was admonishing him to let the younger boy go, Mikhail’s mom was enjoying the show. Hey… I’m not sadistic, it looked like good, clean fun to me! Besides, I want my son to be tough. Yeahh.



Another amusing moment came when Mikhail was quietly playing with the toys on the floor when Qawiem quietly sneaked up behind him and placed the toy-bin over his head. As you can see in the earlier picture, Mikhail just sat there with the bin over him… without a word of protest and again, with a bemused expression on his face.

Zharif was slightly more mellow than the big brother. He spent half the morning napping and the other half watching The Wiggles. Mikhail did manage to squeeze some playtime with Zharif and he was also very interested to witness the comical way Zharif danced along with The Wiggles.



Tracey got some great shots of the boys. She wanted more shots of them with the Jalur Gemilang (Merdeka theme la konon) but it’s not easy telling toddlers to hold on to a boring ol’ flag when they have a roomful of toys to play with.

Mikhail, the cam-whore, went along with Auntie Tracey’s instructions though. But the look on his face didn’t exactly denote a ‘love for the nation’… Nor did it reflect the celebratory mood of Merdeka… He looked very solemn… Thinking about the future of the country, perhaps? Hehehe…



Anyway, it was a morning well spent (and Mommy kinda spent some money as well… Nadrah’s got great scrapbook materials!). Mikhail loves having play-dates and he’s looking forward to more of them in the future.

So, sapa-sapa nak dating dengan Mikhail, just let us know!
(I will not be repeating this sentence once he turns 13 …)

Nadrah’s ScrappingGlitz
Tracey's Shots

2 More Months to Two!

It’s been a long time since I last updated.
And toddlers being toddlers; since the last time I wrote, Mikhail has grown by leaps and bounds. I can't believe that he'll be celebrating his 2nd birthday in a couple of months!

Okay, while I try to get back in the groove of blog-updating, let’s just take this post as a ‘piecemeal’ update… (says the lazy Mommy).

From Queen to Bachelor
Mikhail has finally graduated from the Queen-size mattress on the floor to the Single-bachelor bed we recently purchased at IKEA. I was worried, at first, that he would not be able to adapt to the small bed after rolling-around on the big mattress for all this time (and Mikhail is known for his ‘very-buas’ sleeping style). But alhamdulillah, he only fell off the bed once… and landed on his feet. It was a cute sight to see, Mikhail blinking in bewilderment standing next to his bed and groggily clambering back up to continue his slumber.


"I think I like this new bed, Mom"

Avoiding the Spoiled-Only-Child Syndrome
We’ve realized the perils of having Mikhail too used to all-adult company. Especially when the adults are all doting, adoring adults who spoil him. So when we can, we take him out for play-dates. Fortunately for us, our friends are mostly young parents with children Mikhail’s age. So we’ll have a great time chatting and eating while the kids do their ‘socializing’. What I’ve realized from these play-dates is that a lot of our friends seem to think that Mikhail is a ‘very well-behaved toddler’. One frazzled mom even described him as ‘an angel’. Which is apt, since we named him after one. Hehehe… Of course, another friend decided to be a Prophet of Doom by telling us that since Mikhail’s so good, our next child is bound to be a terror. Gee, thanks :P


It wasn't easy getting this shot of the three of them standing in a row...

Cheeky Mickey
I know I said that I'd hate for Mikhail's name to be bastardized into 'Mickey'. But I can't help it. Besides, he loves Mickey Mouse...Okay, that's a weird excuse but still...
Mikhail is getting cheekier by the day. And very very very active. It’s amazing when I think of the fact that barely a year ago, I was urging him to walk. Now, I keep telling him to stop running! Mikhail hardly ever walks. Always running (or slowing down to a speed-walk when admonished). It’s great exercise for us, though. So, okay’lah. Aku redha.


Mikhail's customary grin

Mikhail LOVES his Fish
He eats well, alhamdulillah. He’s still not a fan of sweet stuff but he’s slowly taking a liking to strawberry biscuits. And his favourite food is still fish. Which brings me to the Tale of Mikhail & the Concept of Fish. Mikhail had long been taught that the yummy stuff he loves to eat is called ‘FISH’. And recently, he was taught that the cute little creature swimming in the little tank is also called his pet ‘FISH’. So he apparently put two and two together and determined that he can eat FISH, including the PET FISH. We found out about this when we saw him staring at the pet fish, pointing at it and then pointing to his wide-open mouth and going “Fish! Aaahhmmm…”
He's even dipped his hand into the tank a couple of times to get to the fish. Poor fish is probably traumatized. How now…


I-Want-Fish! Yum yumm...

BM: Bahasa Mikhail
Mikhail can communicate with us now. He can understand Bahasa Malaysia, English and Kelantanese. And he talks a lot. Mostly in his own language peppered with a bit of real words here and there. It's lovely to be able to call him up and listen to him chatter on the line. Whenever I'm feeling the stress of work, I'll excuse myself to either place a video call or a mobile call to my son and his innocent prattle perks me up in no time. The additional bonus is that after almost a year since he said his first word "DADDY", he has finally learnt to say MOMMY!

Mikhail can make himself understood. And boy is he opinionated! He’s got his likes and dislikes and habits all down to pat. One of the things that I find rather quirky is that he doesn’t like to mix his food together. For example, if we put a plate of rice + vege + fish in front of him, he’ll eat them separately. A mouthful of rice then a bit of vege then a bite of fish etc. And if I attempt to feed him rice yang telah digaul dengan ikan or vege, he’ll unceremoniously eject ‘em out. Also, if I feed him something he doesn’t especially like, he’ll swallow one mouthful, smile up at me and very firmly say ‘Dah’.

Mikhail's Favourite Hobbies
He also has his taste in toys. We’ll let him roam the toy-store and play with everything, but we let him know from the start that he’ll only be able to bring home ONE (1) toy. He seems to understand this and at the end of the day, he’ll choose a toy, bring it to the counter, look at us and loudly commands us to “Pay! Pay pay pay!” (Did I mention that my son is bossy?)

During our trip to IKEA, he decided that he needed a stuffed toy RAT. So he clung on to the creature and dropped it onto the counter when we reached it. So Daddy, predictably, bought the rat and Mikhail happily hugged it all the way home. When I pointed to the rat and asked him "Mikhail, what IS this?", Mikhail said "Bob". I thought it was funny so I asked him againg "Mikhail, this is your new rat... What's his name?" And again, he said "Bob". So the Daddy took his turn, pointed to the rat and asked him "Mikhail, who's this?" and AGAIN, Mikhail said 'Bob'.
So thus, we now have Bob.


Mikhail and Bob

Mikhail has way too many toys for a boy his age with no siblings. He loves playing with them but fortunately, he still loves his books best :) I still read to him but occasionally, he’ll read the books himself. Especially when he sees me curled up on my bed with a good book, he’ll run to his cupboard, grab a book and join me. Except that he’s such a NOISY reader, I can’t concentrate on my book. So in the end, I’ll give up and join him with his book. Or maybe that was his plan all along…


How can I read with all that noise right next to my ear...?

Anyway, that’s all the updates for now.

Cheers to all & Selamat Berpuasa!


Mummy's Little Hero and Daddy's Big Boss