Angeline - A Year Gone By - The Mum's Perspective

Angie will be turning one tomorrow. How time flies! From that little bundle who torpedoed out from between my legs a year ago to the big bundle she is now. My arms cry for help when I rock her to sleep at night! ( But they are at their most toned thanks to her! Ha)

Anyway, in her mummy's eyes ( because there is supposed to be one by daddy - he promised) this is what she will always be remembered for by me:

1. The uber calm one - Always happy, rarely fretful Can any baby be calmer than this gal? She's so serene, right from time she was born. Could it be the hypnobirthing.. hmmm. maybe. Even as she grows older, she rarely cries for long. Maybe just yelps for attention when we walk away but otherwise, she is easily appeased! Chief reason why the "cry it out" method was so easy with her. She cried for just a few minutes the first time and promptly went to sleep! Mark thinks she's probably like him - happy go lucky. You see, Ally is like me, the perpetual worrier.

2. The silent creature So so different from Ally, the yabber. At one year, Angie has no distinct known word. I thought I heard her say "bye" once and "ma" but then when desperate, you will make anything out of nothing. She is babbling nonsense now though... so that's hopeful

3. The active monkey, the future national ball player What she lacks in the verbal area, she amply makes up for in the physical aspect. Ok, she's only taken 2 walking steps so far but this gal crawls like a professional crawler ( if there is such a thing), climbs onto chairs without any assistance - she just hurls her 9 kg self and scrambles up - she will find the army wall thing a breeze. Oh, and she can really throw a ball. As in she can aim at you and hurl the ball right at you with good motion and direction. Most kids her age or older throw and it goes upwards, behind, lands in the same spot. Not hers. Her activeness has worked for her and against her- her grandparents have never again suggested taking her back to their place after the first time left them with major backaches!

4. The sleeping child Ally was the first kid we successfully brought back to good sleepin habits. Angie is the confirmation that the methods work. She slept through the night at six and a half months - 730 pm to 730 am. And she doesn't cry when she wakes up - she will play quietly after giving out a short "ahh" to signal she has awoken.


Check out her wet head

5. Sweaty head Her head is always wet and sweaty, even with the little hair that she has. I think this one must keep short hair.

6. The leg thumper What else to say. She likes to thump her leg. You know how some people shake their legs to calm themselves. She thumps her leg. We know when she's awake in the morning when we hear the thump on the bed. Strange habit, though not as strange as this other girl who has to do situps to fall asleep. She's an adult now and still does it!

7. The one birthed naturallyMany years down the road, I will probably be telling Angie how she was the first one to be birthed naturally by me. Yah, I will probably brag about the fact that I did not use epidural, and delight in watching her squirm uneasily or gape in amazement. Yes, Angie will always be a reminder of how I achieved a wonderful birth.


Angie's Signature look - startled, eyes wide open

So, yes, my little angel turns one tomorrow. Life has changed even more so since our first kid. Looking back, one kid is easy peasy. Two, though allowing some economies of scale, is quite a new journey. It's been tough and hair-raising when both kids and myself fall sick, when the kids decide to nap at different times and when one wakes the other kid that you spent so long soothing to sleep. It is no wonder that at this one year mark - I am not asking to make another like I was when Ally turned one. :) Yes, I am giving myself more time to get my stomach back in shape ( ahhh.. that calls for another post), get a bigger place and oh yes, to just enjoy my first two kids for now.