separation anxiety

the picture was taken when mizan was 9-months-old on our vacation to japan. insuch the age, he had separation anxiety in its peak. he only wanted to be with me. now mizan is 19 months, still having the same problem. he follows me everywhere. even sometimes, i have to carry him while cooking, mopping the floor, or doing any other households.

it was annoying, of course. but it's inevitable. as mizan spends 24 hours a day with me, he thinks that its only me who love, care, and protect him. once we separate, he shows his anxiety by crying or even worse, screaming.

as explained  here, separation anxiety most commonly occurs as early as 6 to 7 months and peaks between 10 to 18 months. how do i deal with this in my everyday life? i just try not to separate with him as much as i can. since i am not working, its kinda easy for me. but im gonna be off to work again soon, so i just try to communicate it with him from now on. even it seems like he does not understand what im saying, i know he does. i have experienced this too with mikal, when he was about this age. we lived by ourselves,the 2 of us, when i was having my masters degree. i needed to write up up dissertation while he was being the sweetest distraction to it. i finally put him in the best nursery in town while i was off to campus to do my dissertation research and writing.

based on my experienced with mikal and mizan, what to do best to overcome these problems (for you and your baby):
- minimize separation with your baby
- if you have to go without him, communicate it with him first, and repeat the communication frequently.
- if you have have someone else to take care of him, give him some time to know the carer first while you are still around.
- be firm to your feelings, even if you hear him crying, go, and never look back.
- while you go, every little thing will remind you of him (my experience!!). when this happens, send him a prayer, and he will be alright.

kuala selangor fireflies park visit

my husband often made jokes on me for that i never saw fireflies. i was trying so hard to remember there was a moment in my life that ive seen at least a firefly in my childhood, but nothing appeared in my memories. so last weekend we went to fireflies park in Kuala Selangor. we went at 5 pm from home and it took one hour driving from KL to Kuala Selangor. there are many visitors since it was a long weekend for chinese new year holiday. to see the fireflies, we waited for it to be dark enough, then we rode on a small boat to see the fireflies. the moment was so serene and beautiful. there were thousands of fireflies on the riverbank of kuala selangor. mikal was so excited as much as i was amazed to see the beauty of such small creatures. unfortunately, our camera could not capture the moment (due to darkness).

days of school

Today is Mikal's first day of school after Chinese New Year Holiday. I fight tears back realizing that one year flew so fast. I still remember on the first month of schooling here, in Kuala Lumpur, every morning he refused to go to school. Lately I knew from his teacher, he did not speak much in his room. He made friends with very little children, those who spoke english!! He just simply did not understand Malay Language. Later, he gets better and better. Every day, morning and afternoon, we walk to and from school. As we walk, we pretend as though we were in an adventure. Mikal likes to pick sticks from a tree branch, the fallen rambutan (yes, there are many rambutans tree in our neighbourhood!!), or the fallen leaves. He calls the house in the corner "the Rainforest," and so on, and so forth. Everyday, hot or rainy, he never complains to walk and walk. I love you, my purple hippo!!

walking back home from school

durian tree