Akmal Izzat - The Baby No More

ah...so the bridge has been crossed. the time has come. the title has more than 1 meaning for us. today, akmal crawls his way out of babyhood and into toddlerhood. today, marks the day when we no longer have, or plan to have, a baby in the house (i wonder who will be a friend and give supportive remarks and who will come armed with the dreaded 'ehhh...tak nak try satu lagi ke').

our journey with akmal was not a quiet one, literally. we screamed and shouted, we hollered and yelled. our journey with akmal was hectic (with 4...of course!), was tiring (with 4...you betcha!) and had its ups and downs (err...obviously). taking care of akmal became easier. after 3 babies in 3 years, taking care of another shouldnt be difficult, should it? we were relaxed, we were far from kelam. we knew what needed to be done when, we knew what actions to be taken how, we knew how to do things.

if akmal is anything...its timed. everything about akmal spelled schedule. he came out when we wanted him to (hubby and i picked out the date and the time - and no, he wasnt born through c-sect, i had a normal delivery), he slept on time and asked for milk every 4 hours. a born clock-watcher, this one. it was easy during the confinement. i could always arrange my schedule around akmal's timing.

but then that's where it stopped, when akmal should have rolled over, he didnt. when akmal should have sat up, he didnt. when akmal would have shuffled, he didnt. i guess he was scheduled out. for 9 long months, akmal just laid down. then one fine weekend, he rolled over, crawled and sprouted teeth.

as he turns one year old akmal has shown so much development. dont ask 'apa dia boleh buat?' because i really cant put it in one sentence. akmal has 6 teeth now, he yaps away...honestly, he talks and talks and talks, he's never quiet, he crawls at maclaren speed, he loves switching off the lights, he hates nestum and prefers porridge, he drinks only 4 bottles a day, he sleeps from 9:30pm to 7:30am, he has stopped night feeding, he recognises and squels with delight when he sees hubby and i pick him up in school, he loves thomas and friends, he falls asleep on his own, he sleeps with his left thumb in his mouth and his right hand holding on to a towel (or cloth, or pillow, or blanket, or the edge of his car seat...anything, he must hold something).

surprisingly for a baby who has spent 10 months in daycare, akmal is attached to his mummy, especially in public. akmal's best friend at home is his abang adik. they are always together, eating, bathing, playing. he gets the occasional kiss and cuddle from abang long and the sporadic choke-like hugs from abang.

its a bittersweet moment for hubby and i. that's it for us, we've decided to stop at 4, so no more babies. it was both an easy and a difficult decision to make. easy because, well...we're honestly, seriously, down right knackered. we've left 'tired' far behind and are exhausted. but yet difficult because we loved having a baby in the house, especially babies like ariff and akmal (with amir, we were still learning, with asyraf, it was world war 3). but life has to go on and we're ready to move on to the next phase of swimming classes and football practises and PTA meetings and uniform hunting and homework and school trips and dental check ups and bathtime without parental guidance and (i cant wait for this) formula-free and diaper-free.

akmal has lived up to his name - the most complete. he completes the seats in our car, completes the dining table, completes the high stools at the island, completes the 3 bedrooms upstairs, completes the clothes hanger behing the door, completes the 4 main colours. akmal takes abang long's love of talking, wide smile and cheekiness; takes abang's fairness,looks and fond of crying; takes abang adik's easy going nature and cleverness. akmal completes our family.