Hubby is away

Hubby is going to Lahad Datu for a business trip tomorrow with his brothers. A few days earlier, he asked me whether I would like to tag along, with Brae of course, as he was worried that I would not be able to cope with him alone. Actually, this is his first outstation trip since Brae was born. He has been delaying this trip to Lahad Datu for quite some time now but this time, he really has to make the trip.

What do I do with Brae at Lahad Datu? He suggested that I stay in the hotel when he does what he needs to do there. Apparently, there is nothing much that I can do in a small town like Lahad Datu.  He told me that it is really backward, with no runway lights at the airport, a single gate at the airport, etc. Something like a cowboy town, I suppose. Furthermore, I have to bring a lot of Braedyn’s stuff there to keep him occupied at the hotel. Since I was not feeling particularly hardworking, I decided to stay at home with Braedyn.

Hmmm…now comes to my concern. What do I do with Brae at home? And myself? Come to think of it, I’m a bit reluctant to let hubby go, furthermore for 3 days 2 nights. I’m too used to having hubby ‘ta pau’ lunch for me, bathing Brae at night before he sleeps, feeding Brae when I’m ‘mang jang’ from Brae not eating his food, chauffering us out for dinner and for grocery shopping. Now I have to be all independent and the most scary part, I have to ’sek ji gei’ (get my own food). I HATE eating alone! I’d rather not eat. So boring, eating alone. Perhaps I should cook more of Brae’s porridge and eat with Brae

Next thing is I have to sleep ALONE. Not really, actually, because fortunately I have Brae to sleep with me. But that’s not the same as having hubby beside me.

Now I have to change my daily routine because hubby is not around. Huhhh, I can’t wait till Thursday when he gets back.

Brae: 9 months old

Weight: 9.9 kg
Height: 70 cm
Teeth: 2 lower teeth, 4 upper teeth

Physical Development

• He can crawl a bit. When he is gets frustrated because he can’t reach the toys in front of him, he just stops and looks around for something else. *sigh* Perhaps I should be happy because I don’t have to chase him around the room! On the other hand, I’m a bit worried .
• He likes to stand and jump. Should I buy a walker for him? He will get excited when he jumps up and down continuously.
• He always grabs the cot bar and tries to stand. However, he can’t stand up straight. He usually ends up with his hands firmly gripping the cot bar with his legs bent at the knees.

Language

• Besides “wa..wa..wa…wa…”, he has started saying “woo..wo..wo..” or “ahhh boo…booo..boooo…”

Food

• New food: sweet peas, cabbage, macaroni (Brae doesn’t seem to like macaroni)
• New fruit: durian (Brae LOVES durian!) and prunes (when I’m out of fruits to give him after meals)
• Eats 3 meals (cereal and milk for breakfast if he wakes up early) with 3 milk feeds daily (150 ml each feed).
• We give him other foods to eat when we have our meals outside such as; cucumber, tofu and chapati.

Brae’s new development

• His intake of water is slightly better now. I will feed him water using a training cup with a straw in between bites of food. I find that he will drink a lot when he wants to but most of the time he doesn’t drink water at all.
• He is adapting quite well in the stroller when we walk around the mall. He doesn’t make a fuss as he used to. Sometimes, he dozes off while sitting in the stroller.
• He will place his own hand on his mouth and start to say “wa..waa..waa…waaa…..”.
• He is starting to scratch his teeth with his finger. Not sure where he learnt that from. Perhaps he is fascinated with the scratching sound.
• He grinds his teeth (Daddy’s bad habit, like father like son)
• He still doesn’t hold his own bottle when he drinks water or milk but he knows how to push the bottle away when he doesn’t want the milk anymore.
• When I ask him “Where is the fan, Braedyn?”, showing the sign of a fan, he will lift his head and point to the fan.
• He is fascinated by people’s coloured toenails.
  
• He likes to bite at the shopping trolley’s coin chain, tables, highchairs…basically anything that he can reach.
• When daddy feeds Brae, Brae likes to bite the spoon and won’t let go.
• Sometimes Brae likes to play “ahh proohhhh….”, spraying saliva out of his mouth. It’s really funny when he uses all his energy just to blow! His face will turn red and round!
• He can recognise some of the animal flashcards that we have been showing him since he was 7 months old. He definitely can identify dog “wou wou” and cat “meow meow”. Sometimes he can get it right with the rest of the animals, not sure whether he just so lucky grabbing the correct card.