Published in THE STAR ( StarTwo, Page 17 )
Thursday March 24, 2005
by Sharon Boo
What is it with babies and their sixth sense? I’ve always been amazed at how babies and toddlers just seem to know what’s going on around them even from the time they are newborns.
They know when mummy is not in the room, or when you are about to sit down after cradling them to sleep while walking up and down the room. And then they kick up a fuss.
Last night, about half an hour before my hubby and I left for Kuala Lumpur, our 16-month-old son, Brendan, suddenly tried to draw our attention by telling us to play the piano for him, showing us how he drives a car using an empty tin cover as a steering wheel, asking daddy to carry him, tugging at my dress and patting my seven months pregnant tummy.
And then he suddenly sat beside me and kept very quiet and stared blankly at the television. I turned to look at him and saw tears welling up in his eyes. Clearly, something was disturbing him. He knew that daddy and mummy were leaving for KL, despite us not telling him beforehand.
After two days of crazy laughter and fun with daddy and mummy (Brendan is in Johor under the good care of my parents), sleeping at 1am because he wants to play with daddy and mummy, he suddenly felt lonely again (well, at least for a while because when I called the following day, he was back to his normal self, carrying on with his everyday life of playing and doing everything a toddler does).
We finally left my parent’s place at 8.30 that night and Brendan just stared at us. He didn’t cry, didn’t make a fuss and didn’t smile. He gave us never-ending flying kisses with that "staring into space" look in his eyes. That broke my heart.
Until now, I am still trying to hold back my tears in public, thinking of that one moment when I turned to see tears in Brendan’s eyes. He was trying hard not to cry and behaving like an older kid instead of a 16-month-old toddler!
What is it with a baby and his sixth sense?
Anyway, on a lighter note, daddy and mummy were sitting side by side earlier in the day with tummies exposed.
Brendan was patting mummy’s tummy and as usual, giving hugs and planting wet kisses on mummy’s big tummy when daddy said: "Brendan, come kiss baby in daddy’s tummy too!"
He just looked at daddy’s tummy and pushed it away. He poked at daddy’s navel, touched daddy’s tummy and hit it and started smiling, as though trying to tell us that there’s no baby in daddy’s tummy.
He turned to mummy’s tummy and give it another peck and a big koala hug. Again, it made me wonder. How does he know?
Call it extra sensory perception, or telepathy or whatever. I’d certainly like to comprehend this special gift in babies and toddlers.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Monday, March 7, 2005
"woo woo woo"
Woo Woo Woo... That was Brendan, my 16 months old son, barking back at the dog that was flaring its razor sharp teeth.
Brendan can't really talk much but he's known lots of words. We communicate a lot via baby sign languages, some of them created by Brendan himself. We noticed Brendan making funny signs and wierd sounds since he was around 10 months old. Some of them are :
mosquito - hitting both hands high up in the air together
showing gigi - smirking and trying to flash his teeth :)
head pain - putting one hand on top of the head
stop! - very quickly puts one hand up
hands up! - very quickly puts two hands up
watch - putting one palm onto the other wrist
spray - putting one hand up as if holding a Ridsect and go "pssssss.."
(yea, Brendan loves doing this all the time)
scared - patting his chest
baby crying - he'll go ooo weea oo weea
lizard - he'll go chek chek chek while looking up at the ceiling
eyes - winking his eyes
banana - he'll say nana
and many more...
Brendan still wants to be carried and I'm beginning to develop muscles on my arm. He's getting so active now and it's hard to foresee how I am going to cope with two babies in another less than 3 months.
Brendan is a typical kampung boy. He doesn't really have much toys as well. Most of his toys are things which we recycle - from empty vitamin bottles, little plastic jars filled with something for that rattling sound, a plastic container cover which he uses as a steering wheel, the pots and pans as drums, empty toothpaste boxes, etc... Well, good for us parents coz we don't have to spend much on toys which normally have a short life span. sigh!
picture of Brendan in his "playhouse" made of a cardboard box. Here, he's holding one of his favourite "toys" - two empty vitamin bottles.
Brendan can't really talk much but he's known lots of words. We communicate a lot via baby sign languages, some of them created by Brendan himself. We noticed Brendan making funny signs and wierd sounds since he was around 10 months old. Some of them are :
mosquito - hitting both hands high up in the air together
showing gigi - smirking and trying to flash his teeth :)
head pain - putting one hand on top of the head
stop! - very quickly puts one hand up
hands up! - very quickly puts two hands up
watch - putting one palm onto the other wrist
spray - putting one hand up as if holding a Ridsect and go "pssssss.."
(yea, Brendan loves doing this all the time)
scared - patting his chest
baby crying - he'll go ooo weea oo weea
lizard - he'll go chek chek chek while looking up at the ceiling
eyes - winking his eyes
banana - he'll say nana
and many more...
Brendan still wants to be carried and I'm beginning to develop muscles on my arm. He's getting so active now and it's hard to foresee how I am going to cope with two babies in another less than 3 months.
Brendan is a typical kampung boy. He doesn't really have much toys as well. Most of his toys are things which we recycle - from empty vitamin bottles, little plastic jars filled with something for that rattling sound, a plastic container cover which he uses as a steering wheel, the pots and pans as drums, empty toothpaste boxes, etc... Well, good for us parents coz we don't have to spend much on toys which normally have a short life span. sigh!
picture of Brendan in his "playhouse" made of a cardboard box. Here, he's holding one of his favourite "toys" - two empty vitamin bottles.
Sunday, March 6, 2005
7 months pregnant
I'm beginning to feel more lethargic now. I'm now around 28 weeks and my baby has been kicking and moving around quite actively. I'm still making my weekly trips back to Kluang. Every Friday night (for one week in a month), hubby will drive me to the LRT station in Bukit Jalil where I'll head to Puduraya alone. I'll then buy the bus ticket, wait for the bus, board it and head back home to Kluang which is approximately 3.5 hours away. I guess I'll have to reduce my travel to every fortnightly from April onwards coz this tummy of mine is really giving me backaches. With the long journey by bus, it's contributing to some really discomfort in my legs and back.
Sometimes, I really do wonder what's wrong with our fellow Malaysians. I mean, despite being known as a multi-racial country, friendly and helpful... I don't really see that much when I'm pregnant.
Once a around 5 months pregnant, I stood waiting at the Puduraya Terminal and saw an old lady trying extermely hard to lift her legs up to climb the stairs. She was holding a cane to support herself and obviously was having difficulties moving around. Everyone stood around idling away. NOBODY helped. Nobody!! So, I tried to hold the auntie's hand to guide her up the stairs. Imagine, one pregnant woman and an old lady trying to go up the stairs admist the tidak apa attitude crowd. Eeshhh....
Another time, one Friday evening sometime last month, I took the shuttle bus after office hour to go to Puduraya and again, came across some ignorant people who just wouldn't give a damn to who you are, pregnant or not. The bus was packed like sardin and I had to juggle holding a bag in one hand and another trying to support myself by holding the side bar of the bus seat. People look at me and didn't give much thought about my tummy. Eh, you all buta kah? Luckily, I'm one fine and healthy preggie, or else, I would have beranak there on the spot.
Sometimes, I really do wonder what's wrong with our fellow Malaysians. I mean, despite being known as a multi-racial country, friendly and helpful... I don't really see that much when I'm pregnant.
Once a around 5 months pregnant, I stood waiting at the Puduraya Terminal and saw an old lady trying extermely hard to lift her legs up to climb the stairs. She was holding a cane to support herself and obviously was having difficulties moving around. Everyone stood around idling away. NOBODY helped. Nobody!! So, I tried to hold the auntie's hand to guide her up the stairs. Imagine, one pregnant woman and an old lady trying to go up the stairs admist the tidak apa attitude crowd. Eeshhh....
Another time, one Friday evening sometime last month, I took the shuttle bus after office hour to go to Puduraya and again, came across some ignorant people who just wouldn't give a damn to who you are, pregnant or not. The bus was packed like sardin and I had to juggle holding a bag in one hand and another trying to support myself by holding the side bar of the bus seat. People look at me and didn't give much thought about my tummy. Eh, you all buta kah? Luckily, I'm one fine and healthy preggie, or else, I would have beranak there on the spot.
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