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Second to None :: 15th November 2003

When I had Josh, he was my bestfriend and I would like to believe that he thought that I was his bestfriend too. Infact, I am quite sure. That was because he had no one else at that point in time. No kakak. No por-por to keep over him all the time, mommy did not need to be away as much and no ah-mah needed to keep him occupied. Por-por and Ah-mah were positive presence in his life, let's not get me wrong. But I didn't need to engage their help in his daily care, not that they didn't offer. They did. I just wanted to take care of everything myself, that's all. Kakak's services wasn't needed either cause I only had one child and I was fully capable of caring for this ONE tot.

Then Jared came along. One was fine, two's a little bit too much. With Jared, kakak has always been a part of our lives. She has always been around when mommy wasn't. When he can't find mommy, he can find kakak. If kakak wasn't around, ah-mah was around. He has a more well-rounded childcare system available to him, I guess.

Now, I feel like I am a nail on one of his chubby little fingers. It is there but not noticed much of the time. He uses his nails when he needs to….like breastfeeding. On top of that, at the tender age of 19 months, he has a BESTFRIEND…and that bestfriend is not me. To say that I am perplexed is an understatement. I am heavyhearted, sad, distraught, inconsolable emotionally shattered that my little angel doesn't think I am his bestfriend. Apart from being a feeding machine, there isn't anything else I can do for him that others cannot.

His bestfriend? His cousin, Xian-Xian. Xian is all of 2 months older than him and some of the other more important factors of selection are these: they can jump the same height, speak the same language (erm, yeah. CANNOT speak the same language), look into each others' eyes without one having to bend, have a passion for hopping and throwing tantrums…etc. These are the things that I don't share with my second son. I can throw an equally mind-blowing tantrum but it just wouldn't look the same, I suppose.

They share this same intense fascination of hiding under the same chair in the dining room. Jared's highchair has been turned into a hiding place for the both of them. It's like "Let's hide here, they can't find us here even though this is about the nine hundred thirty seventh time we're hiding here. The adults are really stupid, you see. Look, see? They're looking for us again and calling out our names. Dumb-dumbs, tee hee hee".

I would like to share this hobby with him but hey, I don't think I would be able to squeeze my whole self into the space under that highchair gracefully enough. I guess if I forego 'grace' and 'integrity', I could do it.

However, bestfriend or not, there are lines to be drawn between the two babies, ok? You take my toy and I pummel you over the head like there's no tomorrow, ok? Now, that's the kind of deal that has been keeping the whole house on their toes. They both have equally strong attitudes about life and have unprecedented principles about ownership. Especially now that Jared has learnt how to say "Me-me-me!!!!".

We practice this when we're trying to feed the children something they don't like. I take a piece of raw carrot out of the fridge and shout loudly into the living room, "WHO WANTS CARROTS???!!!" and in synchrony, they all shout, "Me! Me-me-me!!! Mmmmmmeeeeeee……". This can get pretty loud with all 6 kids in the household shouting at the same time.

They take a piece of carrot each, place it on their tongues, they hate it but look at each other gauging each others' expressions and reactions…then one of them say, "mmmhhhhhhmmmmm….yum". The amazing thing is if one child starts saying that, the others will follow suit and your job of feeding the kids healthy snacks become a breeze!!! Trust me, if you have more than one child, bribe the elder ones.

Jared is also showing the inevitable and much-talked-about signs of reaching baby-puberty - the stage we call the TERRIBLE TWOS. Like the name itself, you can envision the kind of turmoil they can raise…with 3 hitting the same highway. They're really into shouting and getting into screaming matches. They shout and kicks and punches the air in anger…but also do the same when they're happy. Either way, there's lots of shouting and screaming around the house the entire day.

Considering his stage of development, it's not surprising to note that he is also restless beyond words. Getting him into his clothes is torture of the highest degree, really. You chase him down, get some baby lotion on his bottom and he's off! You catch him again, then get some more on his torso and he's off again! Then you get one sleeve in, he's off! His head is half in and he's off! It's really quite an agony. Let me illustrate this point with this incident just 2 days ago.

It was about 4 in the morning and he was fast asleep and I was doing up some work. Then he his eyes, whines a little. I ignore him. He toddles over groggily trying to make it to my workspace. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice his sleepy stance and groggy swaggering but I keep mum with a smile on my face. He walks over, doesn't make it my table and ends up just 2 inches shy of getting to my chair.

He sits there for 10 minutes while I continue my work. He doesn't get up or say anything. 30 seconds later, he's on the floor, snoring away. He's decided that 2 inches is too far and getting back to the bed is too much trouble!! How can any one get angry with such a lovable creature?? There was another time that he made it to my chair. Within seconds of sitting on my lap, he's snoring away again!

In conclusion, my little baby Jared may be second in the family tree but he's really….second to none.

:: Marsha ::