We moved into the new home on 8th Feb, 2021.
I recalled fondly when we brought you to an empty house a couple of months ago, where the walls were not yet erected and we could feel your excitement as you ran around the empty space.
On the night of 10 Feb, we dressed you up in a long-sleeved pyjamas and took a picture of you standing on the stairs of our new house. 12 Feb was Chinese New Year and Daddy carried you in his arms as we took our first family portrait in our first proper residence. You were still spotting less hair than your peers and looked a little boyish despite wearing a pink Cheongsam gifted to you by Grandma.
We opted out of installing bannisters for the stairs and fearing that you might fall down the stairs hence we have also set up the playpen on the first storey. Talk about responsible parenting! Since we were in a hurry to move in, we have taken a sort of "come what may" approach, solving problems as they arise. Hence, we still need more time to get our act together, i.e. installing the baby latch gate upstairs.
You took an instant liking to the outdoor space at the front of the house. Your first few activities involved "scattering" our shoes all over the front porch and then bringing them back to Daddy. From your bedroom, you could now see dogs being taken out for walks and stray cats roaming the neighbourhood. These were all new and exciting to you. Each time an animal walked by your window, you would say "dog dog" and every time someone walked past, you would say he/she is a "baby".
This is the month where I noticed the biggest change in you since your birth. I have been looking back at your 2020 pictures and often reminisced about your 1st year through these precious memories. You have learnt to recognize different body parts and say many words. You could now recognize nose, ears, mouth, eyes and could identify them when we pointed to each feature on your face. You loved to point and poke Daddy and Mummy's tummies and say "baby"! You were able to say "Ok" and your favourite song is "Row Row Row Your Boat". You were able to say row, row, row as you rocked your body front and back pretending to be on a boat!
You loved to imitate what we say nowadays. On 27th February, you were able to answer me when I asked for your name! Daddy would put you on his lap and played on the digital piano as you refused to sit still and insisted on pressing all the buttons on the keyboard display. It has always been hard to keep you still right from a young age.
We spent a great deal of time playing in the playpen set up near the kitchen. Not only did you love to put objects next to your ears and say hello to it, you really enjoyed feeling and touching the baby picture books in mandarin. I have been teaching you simple mandarin words like cot, bib, dog...etc and hope this would sow a seed of love in a language that I adore. To my surprise, you slowly started speaking to me in Mandarin this month. I loved this stage where you would lavish me with endless kisses during our play time!
You loved to crash around the living room, playing with remote controllers and Diffy's toys. You started drawing connections between events. For example, if I picked up a call from my phone, it would definitely be from Ah Ma and if it was Daddy's phone that rang, the call had to be from Nan. You would address each of your grandmother differently!
We started to see a few more expressions on your face compared to the previous month. You began to show interest in what we were drinking or eating. With you rapidly growing, the cuisine served needed to change again. Instead of just plain porridge, we introduced cooked meals comprising of steam broccoli, stir-fry spinach or steamed egg with minced meat and home-cooked broths. You embraced these new textures and was a very hearty eater!
Along with the calmness that followed the mad frenzy and hastiness in moving to the new house, you were also down with Roseola. We could not identify what was causing the sudden persistent high fever accompanied with no other flu symptoms. We tried cold compress and paracetamol, but to no avail. We found out that you contracted Roseola after a visit to your regular paediatrician. Of course, this meant you lost weight again!
Each morning, I woke up with fresh fear wondering if your temperature would be normal today and if you would feel pain anywhere in your body. And so, this is motherhood!
Love,
Mummy
