22 months of Aidan

Dear Aidan,

Exactly 22 months ago, you were born. And in the past 22 months, our lives have changed irrevocably.

The you of today have grown so much since that moment when you were born and your father exclaimed to me, “Dear, he has a lot of hair!” And being part of this transformation has been such a privilege, joy and amusement. Okay, it hasn’t been all unicorns and rainbows, to be honest, and you can be quite the PITA but in general, you are an exuberant, happy little man. There’s never a dull moment with you around.

I don’t know how much of it is nurture and how much of it is nature but you are one of the chattiest little persons I have ever known. You say the darnest things and you are a parrot that’s soaking up every word we utter. Just today, you heard papa’s GPS instructing us to turn left ahead and you started repeating in the car, “Turn left. Turn left. Turn left.” We gave each other THE LOOK and told you you were like some faulty GPS that just wouldn’t shut up. And then we started laughing.

Oh, the words that you say! I wish I could record every single funny thing you utter. The way you ask us “any train?” when we drive near the MRT tracks. The way you shout “AIRPLANE KAI!” when you spot an aeroplane up in the sky. The way you cheekily request for “col-gurd” (yogurt) and “pu tao” (grapes). The way you demand for “MUSIC!” no matter where we go and what we do. The way you bossily tell me to “keep shoe” when you would rather wear your “BOOT!” (wellingtons).

(Yes, you really talk with exclamation marks.)

One of the things that I love about you is how affectionate you are. You dole out kisses to mama and papa willingly and you LOVE to hug us. We can always count on you to run towards us to bury your head in our legs.

I told you once before that “mama’s baby” is in my tummy. And from that day on, you would come to me and say, “Kiss mama baby” every single day, before planting a loud and wet “mmmmmmm-muah” kiss on my swelling belly. You have no idea how much that makes my heart melt, my darling manja boy. Your father says that you will be a good older brother to the littlest and I’m pretty sure he is right.

Right now, I am relishing in our little unit of three. I know that you won’t remember this period, the first two years before your sibling arrived, when it was just you, me and papa. But we will know and remember.

Right now, the three of us are as tight as thieves. We do almost everything together – we go for walks at the beach, we muck around at the park, we dig into our prata, we explore new cities, and we dance to Christmas carols before dinner. And I am loving the times we spent together.

Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited that you are going to have a little brother or sister to boss around soon (and we KNOW you will boss him/her around). But right now, I am loving every moment spent with you, my firstborn.

There are two more months to your birthday and we have no clue how we are going to celebrate. Perhaps a quiet one, just the three of us.

Just the three of us. Let’s enjoy that for just a little more.