Coming home to 2 koalas

The moment I stepped out of the arrival hall last Friday night, Kieran gave me a hug... hmm, that's a nice feeling, and he asked, "Mommy, do you have a surprise for me?" - well he expects that after a business trip.

When we reached home at around 9pm, Yani was making Raeyen sleep. Once I stepped into the bedroom, he got up and hugged me like a koala - hmm, that's another nice feeling.

I saw a documentary on Animal Planet or NatGeo over the weekends focusing on koalas in Australia. The person-incharge of the AKF (Australian Koala Foundation) said that koalas cling naturally. A koala's hug is similar to that of a human baby's, so much so that its hug can melt an adult man's heart if he ever gets the honor to be hugged by this cute furry marsupial (and please, koalas are not bears). So imagine how blissful I must have felt when I was hugged by 2 koalas of mine. After Kieran passed his toddlerhood, I began to forget how his babyhood was like until Raeyen came along. Raeyen allows me to reminisce the bond with a baby/infant/toddler.

At 13 months now, Raeyen is into the phase of "learning by seeing", he can roll his hands to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus" and he enjoys Barney! He can toss his head up to emulate that of the elephant's trunk! His goodbye wave is reverse as he waves to himself and that's funny to watch. He begins to have separation anxiety which means we have to KISS (Keep It Short & Sweet) on goodbyes. As he is our 2nd child, we sort of lax a little when it comes to his development. When I was expecting Kieran, we were very excited and followed his development religiously at the Babycenter website.

Yesterday (Sunday), I showed Kieran this blog and he was amazed to see some familiar photos. I told him it's my eDiary and when he grows up, he could read what I have documented. I hope to make this a little keepsake for him and Raeyen. As I was showing him, I saw a comment from his previous teacher, Teacher Kei and I told him about her whom he likes alot during her music and movement lesson. It's because of Teacher Kei that he likes to fiddle on the keyboard and pretend to step on the pedals. I hope he can be as musically-inclined as Gabriel; he now attends the Yamaha Music Wonderland course every week and he likes Ms Liew's class.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate our 4-year koala's birthday at the childcare center and I will surely update this little milestone of his in my blog.

"Cute is when a person's personality shines through their looks. Like in the way they walk, every time you see them you just want to run up and hug them." Natalie Portman