A Growing Independence

Since Gavin was born, he hasn’t been out of my sight for longer than an hour or two at the most, except for one occasion when he was four months old and I had to go to China to attend my brother’s wedding.  After he became aware that he and Mummy were two separate entities, he has almost never been apart from me.  Even those rare few times when I went out without him (to see the doctor), it was usually for less than an hour and I was in the neighbourhood where I could hurry home in the event he went ballistic.

Yes, hubby and I have not had a date without this thousand watt light bulb in our company since I was pregnant.  It probably hasn’t been very good for our romantic relationship but I guess that’s the sacrifice of being a parent.  What would I do differently with baby number two?  Allow her to get used to being with someone else other than hubby or me when she’s young enough not to mind (although I still intend to be the primary caregiver because I believe that is how it should be).

With Chinese New Year around the corner, there has been a lot of things to do.  Earlier this week, I was helping my MIL make Chinese New Year cookies so hubby took Gavin to visit his godparents.  It was the first time that Gavin has ever been out alone with Daddy.  In fact, it was the first time Gavin has been away from me for an extended period of time since he became aware that he and Mummy are two separate entities.

With Gavin so attached to me, we weren’t sure how he would respond.  There was a collective holding of breaths while we waited to see how Gavin took Daddy’s suggestion to have a boys’ night out.  He agreed to go out with Daddy on his own but wanted me to carry him out to the car and buckle him in.  After that, he waved “goodbye” and all was good.  There were no distress calls, no emergencies, nothing.  I felt so proud of him.  Oh yes, as a result, godpa won the bet with godma who said Daddy would never be able to take Gavin out without Mummy in tow.

The following night, we had more cookies to make, so Daddy took Gavin out again to get his haircut – a very brave move if you ask me.  Going to see his godparents is something he enjoys doing, but haircuts are a whole different ballgame altogether.  Getting Gavin to cut his hair is a tough struggle when there are two of us helping to manage him.  Even I think twice about taking him to cut his hair on my own!  Hubby brought along a secret weapon (a brand new Thomas and Friends engine) to the hairdresser’s even though we all know Gavin is immune to bribes when he really don’t want to do something.

When Gavin came home, he was in an excellent mood.  He was most agreeable (perhaps I need to do this more often) and all seemed well.  The only thing that betrayed the fact that he must have had a distressing time at the hairdresser’s was a crusty nose.  A quick consult with the hubby revealed that Gavin howled his way through the entire time he was at the hairdresser’s, even though he agreed he looked much more “handsome” after his haircut.  After I gave him a bath, he kept running the comb through his hair and saying, “Baby cut hair.”  Hmmm… I wonder if that means he’ll be more ammenable to cutting his hair from now on?

The night after that, Gavin went out with Daddy and Ah Kong and the three boys had their own “boys’ night out” while the ladies did some feverish baking at home.  Again I had to be the one to put him into the car but otherwise all went well.

Based on the activity this week, Mummy and Daddy’s date without baby is s starting to look promising (especially with his godparents having offered to babysit for us)…

Below: Gavin having a gala time at his godparents’ house.

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