Mommy-&-Me Sunday

Last Sunday, Wan was away in Singapore, attending OASIS live in concert. So it was just me and Mikhail left to our own devices. We haven’t had a proper Mommy-&-Me Day for a very long time so I was rather looking forward to it.

Mikhail had groggily left his bed in the middle of the night to climb up next to me where we slept till almost 9am. I woke up with his little fingers curled up on my nose and his eyes staring right at me. Waking Mommy up by suffocating her, nice one, sweetie…
The second I opened my eyes, he gave me a huge, big grin which brightened up my morning immediately. Then he cuddled up near me and said the 3 little words… “Mikhail nak susu”.

We spent the first half of the morning munching cereal while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I love the way Mikhail has memorized the song and the way he answers Mickey’s questions with an exuberant “Yes!!” or a “Nooo!” accompanied by fiercely shaking his head. I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing him dancing along with Goofy and the gang to the ‘Hot Dog’ song.

I still remember the days when he was just a little baby, plonked in front of the TV with a Baby Einstein DVD playing in front of him and all he could do was wave his little fists in the air and kick his chubby legs. It wasn’t a few months ago when no tv program could hold his attention for too long, but these days, he can sit through ‘Finding Nemo’ from start to finish without losing concentration… Despite having watched that movie more than 20 times already!

Anyway, after our Disney marathon and the first 20 minutes of ‘Finding Nemo’, we got ready to go to Grandma’s home (i.e. my parents’ house in Tmn TAR) where we were going to spend the night while Daddy’s away. On the way there, we stopped by the playground so that Mikhail can get all nice and sweaty before jumping into the pool with Grandma and Atuk.

Mikhail had the playground all to himself. He tried everything thrice and was so amused that the slide didn’t have stairs. I know… very weird but the slide REALLY didn't have stairs. I think it must’ve gotten damaged and they took it off without replacing it yet. But it was really strange.
I had to lift Mikhail up for him to slide down until he learned how to crawl up the slide himself. I usually don’t let him do that because I don’t want him to end up as one of those annoying children who climbed up the slide instead of queuing up the stairs. But since this time, there was no stairs to climb, Mommy didn’t say anything.


Mikhail grinning on the stairless-slide

After a lovely time at the playground, where Mommy had a go on the swings and boing’ed on the see-saw (I hope to God no one was watching), we headed on to Grandma’s home. I’m still amazed and delighted with how enchanted my parents are with their grandson. I keep thinking that they’ll get used to him (or even tired of him) soon since he’s there with them every single weekday. But if I don’t bring him for a visit during the weekends, I get an earful from them both about how I’ve deprived them of their grandson’s company.

We had breakfast on the ‘pangkin’ followed by a swim in the pool (I know, I know… we’re supposed to swim first and then eat… But we were hungry.) Mikhail shocked me by showing-off his swimming skills. I hadn’t swum with him for quite some time and seeing him confidently paddling to the middle of the pool without supervision (but with floats) thrilled me. My little boy is a water-baby, just like me! Yay!

After swimming, we just lazed about, reading newspapers, watching tv, kicking a ball around (Mikhail’s favourite thing to do) and drawing. By the way, Mikhail can actually draw now. As in, what he draws looks like what he says it’s supposed to be. He can draw a face (one big circle with two little circles as eyes and a dash as a mouth) and declare it “Tisha!!!” (Auntie Aisyah; my sister).

For lunch, we all went to Great Eastern Mall where they were having Easter celebrations. We spent a couple of hours there, eating and enjoying the sights. Mikhail loved having all the children running around near him and he was enthralled by the big Easter Bunny who shook his hand and handed him a pink balloon. He peeked in to see the fluffy rabbits (real, live ones) and sat on the floor to watch the puppet show with the rest of the children.

On the way home, we stopped by my grandmother’s house for a visit. Mikhail calls her ‘Nenek’ and he revels in the attention he gets there too. After regaling her with stories about his day (some exaggerated), he sipped his cup of Milo and then happily declared that he was sleepy.
How does he do that?
Well, he will yawn. A very big and LOUD yawn, complete with smacking sounds at the end. Then he’ll turn to me and say “Mommy tanya, Mikhail ngantuk ke?”
Then I will have to say“Mikhail ngantuk ke?”.
Then he will go “Oh Yesss!!!” with enthusiasm that betrays his alleged sleepiness.
This is the routine we go through practically every naptime and bedtime. And it’s a routine I rather enjoy because I find it cute. Hehehe!

So of we go to Grandma’s home where both of us had a long, LONG nap. The gentle rain pattering outside was a great lullaby. We woke up just in time for dinner. Hehe!
The rest of the evening was spent with the rest of the family and by 10pm, we were ready for bed.

We slept in the room I had occupied after my marriage. Wan and I spent 15 months in that room, just the two of us. And we spent another 10 months there with Mikhail before moving out to the condo.

While cuddling my sleepy baby in my arms, my eyes wandered to all the things in the room… bringing up memories of our happy times there. The dressing-table mirror that witnessed our admiration of my growing tummy. The chest of drawers in the corner that I had used as newborn Mikhail’s changing table. The chair where I spent many nights cradling a nursing Mikhail while watching the night-breeze blow the leaves of the plants near the window.

I missed my husband that night but having those lovely memories lull me to sleep with my warm bundle of boy sleeping soundly next to me was the perfect balm.

And thus ended our Mommy-&-Me Sunday. It wasn’t much, but it made me feel like the happiest mommy in the world.