Little Mister Talk-a-Lot

It’s no surprise to those who know me that my son has turned out to be opinionated and verbose.

Mikhail talks in sentences now, albeit in ‘child sentences’ peppered with a bit of pelat’ness here and there. He loves telling everyone about his experiences and the things he observes in his day.

We love listening to his stories and his tales of what he had just experienced. It gives us an insight of the day through the eyes of 2-year-old Mikhail. Things that we adults don’t notice, he notices and gives emphasis to. And it’s always an eye-opener for me.

Like the day we went to the playground.
During bedtime, we recapped our day and I listened to Mikhail telling me about the many swings and see-saw and how the slide had no stairs.
Then he nonchalantly says “Pastu Uncle hit ball and ball fall down and Uncle take ball and then Uncle bukak hat and Uncle go home”.

There was an old man in the playground with us, putting a golf-ball around. I barely paid any attention to him but apparently, Mikhail did. From Mikhail’s sentence, I gather that the old man hit the golf ball into the drain and he retrieved the ball, took off his golfer-hat and got in his car to go home.

How Mikhail observed all that while running around in the playground, I’ll never know.

Only those who look with the eyes of children can lose themselves in the object of their wonder. Eberhard Arnold

Mikhail’s little tales are also peppered with the occasional ‘tokok-tambah’ i.e. exaggerations. It’s very amusing to watch him animatedly tell you a story while making things up as he goes. Shows his creative imagination at work. Hehehe!

Example: One butterfly flew in the house.
Mikhail: Daddy, tadi ada butterfly go inside house!
Daddy: Butterfly? Wow!
Mikhail: Ada baaaaanyakkkk butterfly!
(Tokok-tambah No.1)
Daddy: Banyak butterfly? Wowww
Mikhail: Ada lionnnn, ada deer...
(Tokok-tambah lebih-lebih’an)

Hence, a butterfly flying into the house has turned into the house being over-run by zoo animals.

Mikhail is also very opinionated. He has a specific preference for certain things in certain ways.

For example, there is only one pair of shoes and one pair of sandals that he wants to wear. Please note that he has a LOT of shoes and sandals, courtesy of over-indulgent parents and grandparents and assorted family. But only ONE pair of shoes and sandals is ‘acceptable’ for his Royal Highness. Both pairs are practically tattered and scruffy but he still insists on wearing them. Mommy is still trying to force him to wear the Reeboks she bought him in Dubai but he will reject them with a variety of reasons:-

(1) Too big
(2) Ketatttt (Too small… How it can be too big AND too small at the same time, I don’t know)
(3) Shoe busukkk (Given the fact that Mikhail can occasionally develop stinky-feet, this is a plausible excuse… IF he had ever worn it in the first place, that is)
(4) Don’t want shoe… Shoe not nice.
Gee… thanks for dissing Mommy’s taste in kids shoes, sayang. Sigh.

I am now on a mission to find shoes and sandals that are similar to his favorites. It does not help that the shoe was bought by my cousin in UK and the sandals were bought by my parents in India…

Mikhail also has an opinion on what he wears. If he doesn’t like the shirt I choose for him, he’ll declare it either ‘too big’ or ‘ketat’. But if he likes it, he’ll nod his head and go “baju jussssstttt nice” ala Goldilocks.

But he doesn’t stop there. If he sees me dressed in something he finds offensive, he will loudly proclaim “Mommy go change baju. Mommy’s baju too big”.
My purple shirt is now relegated to the back of my closet because my son has shown constant disapproval of it…

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I derive great pleasure from listening to my son talk (and exaggerate… and complain). I’m constantly amazed at the development of his vocabulary, opinions and mannerisms as I’m sure all parents are with their children.
It’s one of the many benefits we get from parenthood, isn’t it?

The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him. Pau (Pablo) Casals

MIKHAIL IN PICTURES
Excuse the quality, these were uploaded from my mobile phone.



"Burger too big, chips juusstttt niceee"
No prizes for guessing the food he doesn't want to eat.


"Mikhail nak go to school, Mommy! Mikhail nak naik bus with friends"
Maybe next year, sweetie. Daddy's not ready. Hehehe!


He insisted that this was the way the spider-mask was meant to be worn.


"Mikhail's hair same with pokok!"

Voice in the Dark

Mikhail and I were cuddling and chatting on his bed; our usual bedtime routine.

We were making up stories about trips to the zoo and singing silly songs and playing hand-puppets when Mikhail suddenly gave one of his giant yawns.

Thus began our night-time routine.

Mikhail: ((( yaaawwwnnnn )) Mommy cakap, Mikhail ngantuk ke?

Mommy: Mikhail ngantuk ke?

Mikhail: YESSS!!

****

Mikhail: Mommy yawn.

Mommy: ((( fake yaaaawnnn )))

Mikhail: Mommy ngantuk ke?

Mommy: YES!!

Then he curled up in the crook of my arm, hugged his little Aboo Bear and demanded "Mommy hug Mikhail" to which I gladly obliged.

There was silence for about 2 minutes and I thought my little boy had fallen asleep.

Suddenly, he says "Mikhail saaaaayang Mommy"

I gasped wide-eyed in the dark.
This was the 1st time he said that... and completely unprompted too!

"Mommy pun saaaayang Mikhail" I said, a mixture of surprise, delight and over-whelming pride engulfed me.

Then this little charmer, reached out and pulled me in his arms for a tight bear-hug and said"Mikhail saaaayang Mommy. Mikhail hug Mommy" and he plants a kiss on my cheek.

It's been 2 hours since this incident and I'm still beaming.

Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother ~ Lin Yutang~

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.