Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Snippety Updates on Wan Mikhail

1. He is a chatterbox who talks in both English and (very recently) BM. For some reason, he has picked up the Malaysian usage of ‘lah’ despite us not using it. He sounds like a bona fide KL kid…

“Mikhail nak makan lah”

“Mommy penat ker?”


Mikhail has also developed debating skills… And of course, everyone is blaming ME.

“Mikhail, it’s time to sleep. Look outside; it’s nighttime. Nighttime darkkk, nighttime for sleep.”

“No Mommy, nighttime for playyy.”

“Look outside, Mikhail. It’s darrrrkkkk.”

“No Mommy, tu… Lampu” (points at the street light)



2. He’s got dual-personality. At home, with the family, he’s Mr.Confident-Bossy-Smarty-Pants who run around everywhere chattering non-stop. When we’re with friends, especially with children he’s never met, he’s the epitome of shyness.

He’ll hover around us (Mommy and Daddy) while observing the children with great interest. But if they are overtly friendly with him, he freezes up in wariness and tosses us a ‘Please save me’ look. It takes him awhile to warm up but once he does, they’ll be running and playing like the best of friends.

I think he got this shyness from me too. His Daddy makes friends with anyone and everyone in the blink of an eye. I hope Mikhail overcomes his shyness soon. Maybe I should take him for playdates more often.

3. He has developed quite an appetite. He still loves fish and chicken. When we go out, I normally share a plate of rice with him. These days, he seems to wallop more than his share. This is good, because I’ll be able to lose some weight.
HAH! Wishful thinking.

Mikhail doesn’t just have his meals these days. He munches too. Crackers, biscuits, carrot sticks, chips and occasionally, the odd bit of chocolate. Yeah, he’s still not a big fan of desserts but at least he’s eating some now.

Mikhail is often influenced by the cartoon character’s meals. For example, he was having roast chicken for dinner while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Goofy was having a cold and Minnie was bringing him some soup. My very un-bossy son (sarcasm) decides to finish up his plate of chicken and immediately demand “Mommy, Mikhail nak soup… macam Goofy. Mommy go cook soup. Mikhail wait” and he promptly settles himself on the sofa, enjoying his show and waiting for Slave-Mommy to bring him a bowl of hot soup. Which, she did.

(more snippety updates in a bit)


Wan Mikhail at 2 years and 4 months old

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

We Have A Toddler Among Us!

Mikhail is now a bona fide 2 year old.

Alhamdulillah, he is a healthy, happy little boy and has grown into a mild-mannered yet rambunctious toddler. I know I’m guilty of not blogging as often as I should but I plan to. I can’t use the excuse of not having enough time because I seem to have enough time to be on Facebook (((sheepish grin))).

How did Mikhail celebrate his 2nd birthday?

Mini-Holiday
Well, the celebrations began a week before the actual birthday. The three of us went off to Kuching, Sarawak for a mini-holiday as a treat for the birthday boy. It was his first plane trip and the little boy was ecstatic! Auntie Aisyah had given him a model airplane just a couple of weeks before the trip and he was holding on to it when he caught his first glimpse of the real deal. His eyes grew wide with pure amazement and he shouted “Mommy! Plane! Same!” while holding his toy plane up in the air.

Mikhail’s first airplane trip was wonderful. He soaked up the new experience with wonder and glee. The engineers in their smart overalls, the pretty flight attendants who gushed and cooed over him, the roar of the engines (which scared him for just a second) and the thrilling sensation of being airborne. Little M loved it just as much as Big M does. I wonder if that means he’ll want to be a pilot too. Though his love for all things mechanical make me think that he’d probably prefer engineering. What am I talking about?? The kid’s only 2! I’ve fallen into the parent-trap of ‘wondering what my son will grow up to be’. Hehehe!

Anyway, Mikhail had a blast in Kuching. We stayed in the Hilton and he immediately made the hotel his own. He was reunited with his Uncle Auhs (“Aa-uhhshs”) and Auntie Ina (“Tee-na”) and lapped up all the attention (and toys…). We took him on road-trips, went sightseeing and gorged on seafood. Mikhail was an excellent little traveler and Mommy is extremely grateful!

Mini-Party

Since we had already gone on the Sarawak trip, we were not planning to have a party for Mikhail’s actual birthday. I thought of just a quiet dinner at Tony Roma’s or something like that but GrandMa was rather perturbed by this plan. Mikhail’s doting and devoted GrandMa coaxed (read: guilt-induced) Mommy to hold a last-minute poolside barbecue dinner for a small group of family and neighbors. GrandMa was picking up the tab and all Mommy had to do was to pull it off. Yay.

So, on 21st November 2008, we spent the day shopping for some ‘party’ items and then Mommy spent a couple of hours in the kitchen whipping up the pasta, egg potato salad and marinating the lamb and chicken for the dinner. GrandMa prepared nasi lemak too, just in case.

I have to admit that despite my initial reservations about this ‘instant-party’, I am thankful to Mama for insisting that we had it. It would’ve been a real shame to have let Mikhail’s second birthday to go by without a proper celebration. And it was a really lovely evening of good food (thanks to the barbecue-boys!) and good company (thanks to all who came despite the last minute invites!). Mikhail, as usual, loved the attention and played host with his usual aplomb.

The next day, we took Mikhail to watch Kung-Fu Panda (which he loved!) and spent the rest of the day shopping and eating and celebrating the fact that we now have a bona fide toddler among us.

And with that, my darling little baby turns two.

How are the Terrible Twos so far?

So far, so good, alhamdulillah.
Mikhail is obviously a full-blown two-year-old, with his raging willfulness and hyperactive energy. But his inherent good-nature provides a wonderful buffer, so Mommy and Daddy are still sane. Occasionally exhausted, but sane. And incredibly delighted at Mikhail’s antics as well as proud of his developments.

Mikhail talks in sentences now. Some don’t make much sense but we usually know what he means. His 1st sentence was “Mommy, cook fish” which he said after he took my hand and led me to the kitchen.

His frequently-used phrases now include:-
• Daddy, play car! – His demand to play PS2
• Mommy, cook fish / chicken / soup – His demand for me to feed his hunger.
• Mikhail go KLCC (See-See) / Ampang Point (Pang-Poin) / Tesco (Ko) – His demand to go out shopping
• Mommy, Mikhail poo-poo. Mommy wash! – Self-explanatory.
• Daddy, susu! – His demand for Daddy to make him his milk. Apparently, Daddy makes better milk than Mommy.
• Mikhail go Grandma’s home. See Atuk. – His demand to go visit his fan club at my mom’s house.

He has also once stood up on a chair in Pelita Nasi Kandar to tell the mamak passing by “Mikhail shem!” i.e. Mikhail handsome. I don’t know WHERE he gets such perasan’ness. Oh wait a minute, I think I do. Hehehehe (No offence, honey!)

He hasn’t really thrown a tantrum yet. Mikhail, I mean, not my husband :) Mikhail is showing his demanding side (as you can probably tell by his frequently-used phrases) and is very willful (which EVERYONE seems to think he got from me... I disagree, obviously). But all in all, Mikhail at 2 is wonderful. He’s a handsome boy, smart, good-natured, hilariously funny, active, neat and well-behaved. \
And all this coming from the woman who gave birth to him who is clearly unbiased. Hahahaa!

I love you Wan Mikhail.

If you come across this little blog once you’re all grown up, and you notice the infrequent updates, bear in mind that the gaps don’t mean that Mommy didn’t bother…

It only means that Mommy was too busy spending her time with you. Probably to blow bubbles with you in the bubble bath, or pretending to bite you on your butt-butt, or creating Hot Wheels car crashes with you, or building ‘See-See’ with your blocks and watch you pretend to be Godzilla and see it come crashing down, or taking you to the park and watch you run around squealing in glee, or curling up with you on the sofa with a bowl of Koko Crunch while watching a movie, or telling you bedtime stories and singing songs while you drift off to sleep.

Mommy-Daddy loves you, sweetie. More than you’ll ever know.

Mikhail in Pics


Mikhail's 1st Plane Trip - 'Plane! Plane!'


For the plane ride, Mommy bought him an mp4 player and downloaded his favourite songs and videos on it. Mikhail was quite contented.


Mikhail's favourite way to take a bath... Surrounded by soft foamy scented bubbles! Many thanks to Hilton's excellent housekeeping staff for indulging Mikhail with bottles and bottles of foam bath :)


Mikhail's impersonation of an orang tua. Datuk Wan Mikhail has a nice ring to it, dont'cha think? Hahahah!


Mikhail took his turn blowing the sumpit too; but refused to let the sumpit touch his lips so it looked like he was blowing a candle instead. The Penan-guy laughed at Mikhail and Mikhail was NOT pleased. My son is a proud little boy for his age!


2 Round Faces: Bulat Mommy and Bulat Mikhail

Bought him the hat at the souvenir shop as the sun was scorching hot.


Our Young Man

 
Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers