樂樂 is 6 months old. He recognizes his caretakers and always gives us a big smile. He rolls over by himself when left alone. He crawls forward slowly. He waves his arms and kicks his legs almost all of the time. He likes putting stuff into his mouth, including his fingers, sometimes all of them together. He is slowly gaining an understanding of what he likes and dislikes; he will push anything that he doesn't like away with both his hands.
He is really inquisitive and observes everything happening around him, especially when we are out. When we sit him on our laps on the bus, he turns his head from left to right and back constantly. Sometimes, when we are on a crowded bus, he gets frustrated if he is held facing the aisle; he can only be pacified by switching him to look out of the window. When we are standing or walking and carrying him, he ignores all our attempts at conversation; he is too busy scanning the environment.
He plays by himself with his toys for a while, but he gets cranky if left alone for too long. Sometimes, he WANTS to be carried, and there is nothing we can do to pacify him except carrying him for a walk. Even his teachers at the infant care have commented on this. But he is an angel on most days, and as long as he has something interesting in his sight, he is easily pacified.
He loves bathing. The moment we lower him into the bathtub, his legs start kicking in all directions. In the evenings, we rub him down with a wet towel just before bedtime. We just need to show him the towel, and he will clap and kick in excitement with a big smile.
I used to be of the opinion that I loved babies, but particularly somebody else's. I get to play with them, but after that, the parents will have to feed them and pacify them when they're crying. 樂樂 has proven otherwise though. Both Jas and I agree that it is sometimes, during feeding or changing diapers that we catch little moments. He may make a funny face, or give us a big smile. Just a few nights ago, he was lying on the bed, hugging his bolster after feeding. I called out his name, and he turned his body towards me, arms outstretched to give me a baby hug. A little moment, but precious all the same.
As written before, 樂樂 goes to an infant care during weekdays in the mornings, and we fetch him back in the evenings. Both Jas and I are very satisfied with this arrangement. The teachers there are qualified, and the teachers really care about the well-being of their charges. We even have 1 of the teachers calling us after office hours to discuss about his activities and development in school. According to his teachers at the infant care, he is the most active baby in the class. He must have caused a lot of trouble for the teachers, but they genuinely seem to adore him.
As far as we know, infant care is frowned upon by many parents. Grandparents, nannies, or maids are better choices. I have to admit that it is easier for 樂樂 to catch a virus in schoool, and there is always the risk of HFMD. 樂樂's infant care was closed for 10 days, and we had to make alternate arrangements.
On the other hand, I like infant care for the competency of the caretakers, as well as the level of control that parents have. All infant care caretakers are professionally qualified. They know the different behaviour that babies exhibit at different stages; they know the games/activities to perform with the babies as well. Personally, the level of control is something that I like. I know that the infant care will follow our instructions when they are handling 樂樂. This is probably me, but I don't want to feel frustrated because my parents or my parents-in-law or even nannies are handling 樂樂 in a way that I don't agree with.
Anyway, there has been lessons learnt after these 6 months:
- Never, ever, feed a baby with a full bladder. Don't do it. Don't even think about it. I made the mistake once, during his last feed (we give him a bigger amount of milk for his last feed). He took like half an hour to complete his last feed. Man, that was a lesson really well learnt.
- 3 months-old babies don't understand the flying game. 1 fine day, I held 樂樂 by his armpits, and moved him in the air, simulating an aeroplane. He gave a little giggle, and we were so excited. The next day, we repeated the same game for like 15 minutes without getting a tiny hint of a smile. Instead, 樂樂 vomitted the milk that we fed him earlier. In the end, we concluded that he was ticklish.
- When a baby is able to roll over by himself, it also means that he will kick you when he is sleeping beside you.
- With regards to toys/storybooks, no matter how brightly-coloured or how loud it is, 樂樂 will put it in his mouth.
The following tips are more for fathers-to-be:
- Be prepared to buy a few packs of diapers everytime you visit the supermarket, because they are now 7 cents cheaper. Now you know why they have calculator functions in handphones.
- For the first few months in your baby's life, it will always be wearing clothes that are way too big, because the baby grows very fast, and we'd better get a bigger-sized set.
- Mothers are obsessed with their babies' weights. Never let it be said that your baby looks a little overweight. They will think about changing his feeding schedule on the spot.
- Mothers are obsessed with their weights. Never let it be thought that your wife looks a little overweight. When your wife spots a slimmer mother, get ready to do some fire-fighting.
- You are courting death by boredom if you let your wife enter Daiso, unless you have already made arrangements to pick her up the next day. Before you know it, you will find a container to store some stuff, like milk bottles, that comes with another bigger container to store that container, and then a bag to keep the big container.
Jokes aside, I think I have changed over these 6 months as well. I am an extremely hands-on father. I bathe him, feed him, change his diapers, pacify him when he's cranky, rock him to sleep, play with him, read to him, cut his nails (occasionally), pack his bag, bring and fetch him to infant care, sometimes alone when Jas is busy, wake up in the middle of the night to comfort him when he's frightened; I do everything except expressing breast milk. Sometimes, Jas tells me that I should be proud of myself. But it is not pride, but happiness that makes me do those things.
I feel a sudden warmth in my heart when I carry him and I see him busy scanning his surroundings. It is as if he is observing and studying the world that he is in. While still under my protection, he is taking baby steps (forgive the pun) towards navigating the world by himself. He may be ignoring me while he is looking around, but I am the happiest in that situation.
Every child is a gift. And fatherhood is a privilege. 樂樂 is his own man (baby), and I am fortunate enough to be his father. It is my role to guide him, to nurture him, to teach him. When the time comes, hopefully I can give to him the greatest gift a father can impart to his child: freedom to find his own happiness. And when he finally finds it, he will also have given back to me, the greatest gift that a child can bestow on his father: happiness. That's the way it is; my happiness is a direct consequence of his.
And that's the way it should be. Happy 6 months birthday 樂樂, Daddy loves you.
