I don't want to go home

I have been very occupied at work recently due to the re-structure. Well, no matter how busy I am, Ethan's growth is not going to wait for me. He is now at the stage of "refuse to go home". It all started 2 weeks ago when I picked him up from the nanny's house on a Friday evening. He was walking towards me, holding his nanny's hand. When he saw me waving at him, he suddenly turned to his nanny, crying for a hug and hung on to her like a koala bear refusing to let go. Gosh! I felt as if I am a kidnapped or a monster. The boy refused to get into the car and be seated in his used-to-be-beloved car seat. We tried talking to him explaining, coming out with all sorts of stories and tricks but nothing works. Sigh! At the end, I have to use force to tuck him into his seat and buckled while he continued throwing his tantrum and crying at the top of his lung.

The cry finally stopped (not for long) when I gave him a steam bun (man tao), his favourite food. Phew! I quickly get myself back to the driver seat, organised and drove off. As we were leaving, the show started again and he was yelling for his nanny. It's like I'm the stranger taking away someone else's son from their mom. Gosh! It's so heart breaking. The cry continued for another 5 minutes while we're on our way home. Luckily our house is just nearby.

After having that drama for 2 weeks, I told John I couldn't handle this alone and I want him to be with me when we pick up Ethan. I can't focus in my driving while leaving the boy crying alone at the back seat.

His latest development now is, he refused to go back to nanny's house after the weekend. Yesterday morning when John sent him back, he refused to let him go and didn't want to follow nanny. Sigh! I guess he is protesting that he doesn't want to keep "shifting" home. John and I do feel a bit guilty but not much we can do. I know this is his growing stage and he will eventually grown out of it. Seeing him crying and going through that seperation drama every week is not easy. Hard for him, hard for us too.

Sigh! That's the price to pay. Well, looking at the positive side, at least he is very well taken care of by the nanny and her family. They treat him like their own youngest son. John and I feel blessed for that. To us, this is a better solution then leaving him with a maid.

I hope it won't be long before Ethan grown out of this drama.

Where is Daddy?

John was away for a weekend last month (for his LP 3rd weekend). It's been a long time since the last time Ethan and I were alone at home. This is the first time John is away after Ethan knows how to call "Di Di".

The first night when Ethan was about to sleep, he kept asking me "Mi, di di?". I told him daddy is away for work. The little fella seems like couldn't understand (or refuse to accept) that. He repeated himself "Di di?" for more than 10 times. I felt so sad and heart broken looking at the little fella not knowing how to console him. Poor boy, he must be missing his daddy so much. Finally, the TV commercial diverted his attention and then he fell asleep. You bet, he repeated the same question next day when he woke up.

Finally Sunday came and he saw daddy at daddy's office. The boy just stared at his daddy and refused to call him, no matter how much we tried to make him call "Di Di". I guess his little brain must be thinking "Where have u been? You owe me an explanation." :) Just as we thought our baby is still too young, he keeps surprising us.

"Mi" and "Di Di"

"Mi mi mi mi mi.... " that is how Ethan calls me and he won't stop until I answer. Talk about persistency, there's a lot to learn from children. It is very heart warming and very sweet to hear him calling me, except for time that I'm busy.

He calls his daddy "Di di" or just "di". Recently he also learned "bak bak" (John's brother), "ku ku" (John's sister), "nei nei" (granny), "po po" (my mom), "gong" (my dad) and "ah hu" - supposed to be Kau Fu (my brother).

Ethan also calls his nanny (the babysitter who takes care of him during weekdays) "Mi". I admit that makes me feel jealous for a while when I first heard that. As a mummy, that's not something I wish for. But then again, that's the price to pay. Afterall, she loves him so much. She is superb! She treats Ethan like her own son. So, I am ok with that.

A few days ago, after the CNY break, Ethan started calling the babysitter's husband "Ba". I guess he is following how "ko ko" and "ceh ceh" (nanny's children) calling their father. I wonder will John feel jealous like me.

I wish as he grows older, he will grew out of that and learn the proper greetings and not started to call more and more people as "mi" or "ba".