How My Life Has Changed 16 Months Ago

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When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. - Sophia Loren

Remember this entry? Here is the other version of it –
on How Your (My) Life Has Changed When You (I) Have A Baby :-

1. You will refresh your memory on nursery rhymes and getting active every time you sing nursery rhymes to your little one (e.g. making finger gestures when singing ‘Twinkle – Twinkle Little Star’, clapping your hands when singing ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ etc.);

2. You start giving Duit Raya to your friends’ children – during Syawal this year I managed to hand over Raya angpows to Wijdan, Hana, Umar, Hadi etc. Terasa macam mak-mak ok? (Ok, in denial tentang status? Heh);

3. You need a large handbag every time you need to go out and you will find out inside the “large-yet-not-stylish” handbag, a lot of baby things rather than your own things. Among the baby things that can be found are baby wipes, baby spoon, baby bibs, baby biscuits, yada yada yada;

4. You know (almost) all the baby rooms in every shopping complex - in case of emergency, to feed your baby or to change her clothes or diaper;

5. You remember every Disney characters, their show-times on Disney channel and the catchy songs (could not help to sing along to the themes from Dibo The Gift Dragon, Special Agent Oso & Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Haha!);

6. You get excited about food to test on your little one and at the same time worry endlessly about whether your little one would enjoy the food;

7. In your bathroom there are ‘bath-time toys’ from ducks & fishes to tortoise and whales etc belonging to your little one;

8. You will be more alert on diaper’s sale and making stocks of it (hehehe!);

9. You just love looking at your baby’s wardrobe - full with the collections of baby cream, baby cleanser, baby shampoo, etc;

10. You remember your little one at every waking moment - even when you are enjoying a show at Istana Budaya or when you are struggling doing your works and entertaining clients at your office;

11. You will easily get excited over baby clothes and could not help to shop for new ones even when your baby does not need a new one;

12. You will research and gather information on a holiday destination suitable for your little one and start packing early whenever you are going for a holiday or a short trip to KL;

13. You realize that things like stroller and baby foods & toys are your best friends when you go for shopping, together with your baby (read : stroller – to place your baby; her food and toys to keep your baby occupied while you shop);

14. You will appreciate weekends & public holidays more and you get excited when your boss declares that during Ramadhan, work ends at 4.00pm.

15. You start having thoughts of becoming a Stay At Home Mother (SAHM) or Working At Home Mother (WAHM) so that you could be at home with your little one 24-7 and personally witness your little one’s progress instead of sending her to nursery or to a babysitter;

16. You wake up in the morning to a happy and smiling baby and although there are tons of work waiting on your table at the office, the moment you reach home and see that your baby is waiting at the front door, with her cheerful face saying “Yeay, yeay, Bu!” or “Yeay yeay Abah!”, it melts your stress away (especially annoying client has been hassling you all day);

17. Mosquitoes are your enemy and you will seek revenge on them whenever they take a bite on your little one. You tend to buy all sorts of protections for your baby (read: Mosquito Patches, Baby Clear Lotion Anti Mosquito, Battery operated Mosquito Shield etc.) Also, baby cream like Bepanthen is the best solution to relieve the mosquito bites on your baby’s skin – just apply the cream immediately whenever the enemy bites your little one.

18. You get annoyed whenever people who are not even close to you suddenly ask, “Bila Khayra nk jadi kakak?” – even though it is normal to be asked such a question when you are blessed with one baby (at that moment). Haish.

19. You are very thankful that you are blessed with loving parents and PIL who equally love your baby. You also appreciate the phrase that “Sayang anak lain, sayang cucu lain.” Ok, one at a time. Ngee.

20. You could easily befriend stranger-mommies whom you meet at clinics, baby rooms, shopping complexes, through blogs, Twitter etc. as they would share their experience on raising children – baby talk is very common at the moment;

21. You are proud beyond words and always keep on tracks on your daughter’s progress such as she is able to identify family members and could identify things like fan, lights, cat, etc. on her 6 months. She could say her first (clear) words such as ‘Abah’, ‘Habis’, ‘Fish’, ‘Nak’, ‘Amik’ on her 12 months. She called you “Bu” or “A-Bu” on her 13 months. She took her 1st step on her 14 months. She would ‘declare’ to everyone whenever she wants to poo-poo on her 15 months. She spouted her 4th tooth (only) on her 16 months… and the lists go on.

Suddenly you realize that your baby is a big girl now; and she is able to decide on what she wants and doesn’t want. Time flies, doesn’t it?