Nico enjoys playing with his cousin. He can’t walk yet, but his cousins find a way to make sure he’s included in their games. Each one of his cousins loves my little angel very much — they always hug him, kiss him and even fight for his attention. My baby’s a celebrity huh!

The oldest of Nico’s cousins is my niece Keeshia. She’s 10 years old and she’s so fond of my little boy. She loves playing with him and loves to make him giggle. Theyounger three are Summer (5), Sky (2) and Ivan (1). Sky and Ivan sometimes vie for Nico’s attention, making he/she’s Nico’s more favorite cousin than the other, hahaha! Aren’t they cute?

Nico is the youngest amongst the babies in my family and so his cousins spoil and shower him with hugs, kisses, attention, tickles, entertainment (sing and dance), and even food! Nico loves his cousins as well — he’s even contented at times to be sitting on the sidelines watching them sing, dance and play tag. Sigh… moments like these are just too sweet and precious…

Yey! Nico is now officially a 9-month old baby

This earned him the privilege of joining the world renowned Creepy Crawlers Club hihihi! My intent little angel now loves to sit independently, loves to play games (and would rather not go to sleep), loves to crawl (and how fast can he crawl!), and loves to practice walking while holding on to anything he can get his hands on. Yep, he’s getting a sense of independence already — sometimes it’s good but there are times it’s frustrating that he wants to do everything on his own!

So my darling has become a little too opinionated and I make sure that I keep up a constant chatter with him while bathing, dressing, feeding, walking, playing and in almost all his waking hours. I heard this encourages speech development. I also encourage him to play with toys that are just appropriate to his age. I can see that he loves to bounce a lot, roll, play pick and drop and bang things together. I guess that develops his motor skills as well and provides him opportunities for safe exploration.

But of course, at his age, he must also know that he’s got limits and that he must understand the word “No”. Well, a spanking is not encouraged at his age yet. I see to it that when I’m angry, I just live him for a few minutes on his crib to play or give him an idea that I’m ignoring him because he’s done something wrong. I guess at his age he can already realize his mistakes. But oh well, it doesn’t guarantee that he’s not doing it again hahaha!

Two of the best things though that I love in Nico’s age is that he now sleeps through the night — without interruption; and when he wakes up in the morning, he just sits down and touch my face (my mouth or nose) saying Maaaammmm as if waking me up. And when I open my eyes, he’s there smiling at me. Ohhh.. isn’t that cute?

Ahhh.. I’m sure many many wonderful things will come with my baby growing up. For now, I just want to sing him a happy happy 9^th month, celebrate this day with a pint of ice cream (his favorite) and a new toy and friend – Mickey Mouse!!!

Tomato.. Ice Cream.. Car.. Doll??? Huh!

Hahaha! I know that sounds really impossible for an “I-just-turned-9-months-today” baby, and it is, hihihi. I am actually talking about his colorful “My First Word” flashcards. See? He has decided already his favorite cards. And I guess those will be one of the first words he’ll utter.

Oh he can say some “words” like Mam, Maaaaaa, Mamamamamama, Bababababa, Dadadada, Papapapa, Yayayaya, Tatatata. I know they don’t count

I know he still looks at these cards as fun, eatable stuff, he’s sooo not into education yet hehehe. But it’s never wrong to start early right? I’m not forcing those to him anyways, i just want to introduce his eyes to different colors and images. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow or the next day he’ll say “wan ayshrim mam” [translate: Want Ice cream Mama] hehehe… You wish!

Hmmmm… I wonder when he’ll say “Mama” clearly…

It’s already too difficult to change Nico’s diaper, so it’s actually a riot when it comes to dressing up! This has been the case since Nico became a very prestigious member of the Creepy Crawlers Club hahaha!

Nowadays, it is but important to relax, and try some breathing exercises before giving Nico his bath. It would take a lot of patience to get him into his diaper and shorts and sigh… his shirt. It’s like joining a tug of war that you can’t win! Help!

Days before, it has been difficult to dress him up but at least I can still bribe him with toys and stuff that interests him. He can at least lay still on the bed for a minute or two, enough to dress him up, before he decided that he’s bored with the toys and roll and roll and roll.

But now, nothing and I mean, nothing, not a toy or plastic container could bribe him to lay still. It’s a struggle to dress him, it would take 5 minutes to get him into his nappy! Argggh! I want so much to instill discipline on him. I have been talking to him mildly and patiently, gently tugging him to lie still on the bed, to no avail. I certainly can’t be harsh on him! He’s still so delicate and it’s not right to spank him at this very early stage.

So what I do is follow him around, until he’s in the corner and try to tickle him, make it look like we’re playing tag and I’m it. He’ll then allow me a few seconds to apply some lotion all over his body and then powder him and slip and tape the nappy on him. There! Then he’ll struggle again, freeing himself from my grasp and crawl around, pull everything he can get his hands on, before I find another opportunity to give him his shirt, then his short. Oh gosh! And I still have to give him his vitamins, comb his hair, clean his ears and nose. Uh-uh!

It really is a challenge huh! I wonder what comes next?

That’s Mommy’s phone! Uh-uh! Ok fine! Eat it! Sigh….

While Nico’s cousins take my phone (anybody’s phone for that matter) to “fake” a call to their Dads (since their Moms are with them all the time), saying “Daddy? Daddy? Hello Daddy?”, Nico just watch them with intrigued and curious eyes. Well, Nico doesn’t seem to understand what his cousins are doing (or saying) since when it is his turn to hold the phone at last, he won’t put it on his ear and say “Da? Da?” He’ll quickly put the phone in his mouth as if it is a chocolate bar. Hmmmm…

Well, I don’t want to give my son false hopes though. I mean, if his Dad doesn’t want to call, be it. I know it’s important for kids to have a communication with their parents but well it’s the Daddy’s lost not my baby’s. I’ll make sure that Nico is well loved and taken care of. He actually looks up to his GrandPapa as his Daddy. Nico’s Dad could very well get lost on his own world. I don’t think he knows that phones, internet and even Internet Fax exist for communication purposes. If it’s true that he’s working outside the country right now, he can avail of many other telecom services outside the country, like Spectrotel.  Even small and mid-sized businesses rely on Spectrotel for their Internet and telecommunications needs. He can get to know more about the latest Spectrotel special offers and avail of their low-cost plans buy visiting their site. Or he can opt for other internet and telecom provider if he wants to. He’ll gonna regret abandoning his son. Nico is just the sweetest and the cutest baby ever! I just hope I’ll be ready for that day when he asks about his irresponsible Dad.