Washing dirty laundry

well ok.. not quite the dirty laundry that most people understand but Our Little One has a collection of a certain Mouse toy that are his comfort objects... those toy get chewed, gnawed, hugged, pinched... and they have been as well travelled as Our Little One... so once in a (short) while, all the M toys get a good wash in the machine just to ensure the Our Little One don't ingest (quite) as much germs ... well today is one of those laundry days where ALL the M toys get a good rinse (well more than a rinse given that the machines does the centrifuging really well)... so its off to another week or two os chewing, gnawing, hugging, being dropped everywhere (and I mean everywhere)... the cycle continues....

When it comes to hair...

Well Our Little One finally did it (erm... ok the Mommy finally did it)... he was brought to a salon for the very first haircut by a professional (the rest were home made remember?).. So as the Mommy packed the ALL IMPORTANT MM toy, the portable DVD player with Our Little One's FAVORITE T Engine dvd, water, munchies, extra diaper, wet wipes and extra clothing, off we went to the salon... and well there was fussing and you know the usual lot ... but Our Little One did impress me by staying still for the first 20 minutes... so not SO BAD.... here's Our Little One with his NEW LOOK!

It's been a while...

and all because we (seriously, all THREE of us) have been down with something (ear infection, cold virus, something in the air...) you know the sort yeah... so ALL THREE OF US (Our Little One, The Mommy, The Daddy) are just not quite chipper right now ... The Mommy, in particular, experienced for the first time in her life, sinus induced pressure and headache... I mean how is that possible? for X decades (I still do not want to let the world know how old I am) The Mommy has never had a sinus-induced something... to the extent that the Mommy does not even know what sinus was! Like is this payback time?

Anyway last Wednesday was BAD ... like BBBAAADDDD!!!! Having just put down Our Little One in nursery, the Mommy (being her efficient self) went to get some groceries to stock up inside the fridge. Just as her car pulled into the driveway, the daily monotony was interrupted by her cell phone, showing the nursery number!!! OMG!!! what happened? Did Our Little One fall / break his head / break his nose / break something / lose something? With 1 million thoughts running inside the Mommy's head, Our Little One's teacher (on the other line): "Hi, Darwin is running a slight fever and has been crying non-stop since you dropped him. Can you come by and pick him up?" SURE, well OF COURSE!!! So after unloading all the groceries into the kitchen (onto the floor and the perishables into the fridge, it is summer here in the Arabian Gulf after all), the Mommy dashed back into the car and headed straight for the nursery... and of course being her efficient self again, she called The Daddy and got him to wait for her and Our Little One in the clinic in 15min.

After collecting the precious cargo from the nursery (not to mention dashing back into the car so that Our Little One got as little of the HOT sun as possible), the Mommy and Our Little One were on their way to medical attention. Well, it turned out that Our Little One has infection in BOTH ears (with the right one really bad)... like Doctor asked: "Did he not cry few days ago?" well of course the answer is NO! not even a sign that Our Little One was having any infection... I mean Our Little One does have a HIGH pain tolerance (takes after his mother I suspect) and with no sign of discomfort or even fussiness (though that the Mommy will have to concede that she may have been negligent since toddlers nearing the Terrible 2s are usually ignored when they whinge) how would we know that Our Little One's ears were infected? Anyway all said and done, Our Little One got ONE HUGE dose of antibiotics and some other stuff ... Fingers crossed, Our Little One will be up and running (with both the Mommy and Daddy panting after him) in a day or two...

So that sums up the last few days the Household had... pretty sick / boring / mundane ... erm ... did I just sum up life in the nutshell?

The new place at home (II)

Here we go again... first it was the cupboard now its under his desk...  next time... well we'll see...

It's not much of a hiding place... but it the place he chooses to be most comfortable in... don't we all do that sometimes?

Have I Told You Lately...

that I Love You (Our Little One).... he is such an angel ... sometimes... when Our Little One is in the mood, he can be the sweetest thing on Earth and of course being the Mommy, I can be the BIGGEST SUCKER on earth for moments like these as well... I forgot since when Our Little One learned to put his arms around my neck when he gets changed (clothes, not diapers, thank God for that)... but it is such a surreal feeling. A feeling of total contentment, being loved TOTALLY and being needed in TOTALITY... that feeling is just SURREAL... lack of vocab I know but I honestly don't really know any other word for it! Other than being hugged by little toddling arms, I also get the Huggy-huggy ... where Our Little One just puts his head on my shoulder / chest and rests ... never knew something other than diamonds / shoes / clothes / bags / ice-cream (you get the idea) can make the Mommy feel so happy ... not only happy but contented... such a sense of fulfillment... I guess all mothers live for moments like these and I am lucky enough to get little nuggets once (or more) a day... The Daddy... erm... still in the queue... I am sure he will get there someday....

Life with a soon-to-be 2yr old

It's been good and I know it will get better over the long haul... (you know how the graphs always show an upward trend even if the line itself is jagged with little ups and downs?) The family has had incredible fun with Our Little One since the day he was born and he continues to bring joy and love to all of us as we grow together and live under the same roof (and just those few times that we do like to think the other person will just disappear from the face of the Earth even just for 5 min)...

These days, its been rather trying (just to say the least) to get Our Little One to respond quickly to instructions... as we all know (or try to at least pretend we understand) toddlers have a mind of their own and live mostly in their own worlds till like maybe.... God knows when .... Let's face it, even as adults we have come across or are guilty of living in our own world sometimes (for those lucky enough to get away with it, all the time)... but with Our Little One... my patience is learning new heights all the time..

Recently however, the Mommy has learnt some new tricks (who says you can't teach an old b****new tricks?) to most effectively get the attention of Our Little One.... it all has to do with a certain toy train that Our Little One has become very infatuated with... no names here since I don't get advertising revenue but using the T toy train in every of The Mommy's instructions has been very effective. For example, "If you don't come here and wash your hands right now, I will take T away from you." And lo and behold, Our Little One just scoots up and runs to the bathroom and readies himself at the wash basin.... I mean how effective is that! It's a miracle!

Empty vs No More

.... when do we start to understand that those 2 terms actually mean the same thing? for Our Little One.. it began today I guess!

It's been almost 2 years....

since the day Our Little One was born.... ok not quite terrible 2s yet, but we are getting there... as I type and think back fondly (or rather selectively chosen to forget some of the not-so-glorious and dewy moments), I am struck by:

a) the number of photos of Our Little One that exists in my HDD and not in print
b) the extent to which memories have been captured and, mind you, only the happy ones (human beings doth love to forget don't we?)
c) the sheer amount of money that has been spent to make Our Little One look ever so good, from the clothes, to the toys,  to the food that he eats (nutrition promotes good skin and healthy child yes?)

As I track Our Little One's progress on the digitised photos, here are a few to share:

from this:

to this:

then this:

 
somewhere along the line, it became this:

and now this:

is it me or does time really fly? I have tonnes of photos to prove that Our Little One has indeed grown (in ch by inch and gram by gram)... but he is still MY BABY!!!!

Reasons I like CHEAP sunglasses

Rarely does having a toddler in the house not affect every decision (including the retail decisions made by the Mommy)... The Mommy is a retail expert in the areas of retail therapy... any cloud in the day is usually swept away with the right purchase (most of the time at the right price)... but of course since the arrival of Our Little One, there is no such thing as a retail therapy session without taking Our Little One's needs into consideration... including his need of playing our his curiosity as well as imitation... That has in effect become one of the biggest tempering factor in every retail therapy session the Mommy engages in... why you may ask... well take a look:

It is public knowledge that Our Little One is rather aware of his public image and will always try to be on his "best" behaviour as well as being "best" dressed (thanks to The Mommy)... and with each passing day, Our Little One is also keen to try on things that do not belong to him to see how they fit on his growing frame ... one of his favourites at the moment is the pair of sunglasses that is permanently perched on The Mommy's head (outdoors)... one of those reasons why I LOVE CHEAP SUNGLASSES....