I think it was only a phase.....which is hopefully over!!

Sorry for the delay in getting another post out. I've gotten a bit behind for a couple of reasons.....one, because we haven't done much to really warrant writing about lately and two, because my handsome little guy has elected to spend all of his time with his mommy during the day......AWAKE..... and not napping! Yep, for the last 5 days prior to yesterday, he decided he was only going to take one nap a day or for a couple of days....no nap at all!! Oddly enough, there was no change to his night time sleep. We'd go through our normal bedtime routine and then lay him in his bed and walk away and he'd fall asleep on his own....just like he has the last 5 months ....and sleep through the night. But for some unexplainable reason, it just wasn't working for naps any longer (he'd wail if I walked out of the room after putting him in his bed!!). Maybe it is his new found freedom to walk around and there are too many exciting things for him to see, so he doesn't want to close his eyes for one second thinking he might miss out on something.....who knows. All I know is that for those few days I was seriously considering making him an only child!!! I realized I am way too spoiled by what a good sleeper he has been. It required no effort at all to get him to nap or to sleep at night up until now. So these few days were very trying. But we added some rocking and reading into our nap time routine and then I put a few soft books in his crib and now it seems like after I rock him for a bit and put him in his crib - he plays with the books for awhile and then falls asleep. I know this because the last three naps he has fallen asleep in the most awkward, uncomfortable looking positions (like he was sitting and then just leaned forward and fell asleep). I didn't dare try to move him though, afraid I might wake him..... but he'd eventually get into a more comfortable position on his own. The funny thing is up until about 7:00 at night, he'd be in the best of moods - laughing and playing and not fussing one bit!!Although, I did have to be by him constantly because if I put him in his pack-n-play and went to the bathroom where he couldn't see me, he would pitch a fit!! I'm not sure what it was all about, but luckily it seems to have passed. Yesterday and today he has taken 2 really good naps each day (I think the last 5 days were catching up with him!!). I hope I'm not speaking too soon. Of course, I can completely deal with the no napping during the day, but I'm just thankful that nothing has impacted his nighttime sleep - I'm not sure I could handle the every 2-3 hour wake-ups again or not wanting to sleep at all....I like my sleep too much now!!!

One of my best friends is on her way to visit as I speak. She should be arriving in Japan soon and then flying into Singapore. Since she doesn't arrive until 1am, she is staying at a hotel and Azman, Evan and I are going to pick her up tomorrow around noon. We are so excited to have her!! She'll be staying with us for an entire month.....I hope she doesn't get too bored.....or change her mind about having children of her own while she is here, given Evan's latest sleeping habits (although like I said, hopefully that has passed!!). We are going to try to get in a couple of trips while she is here. Given Andrew's work schedule, I don't think we can manage much more. I think we are going to try to go to another resort on another Malaysian island called Langkawi (it's suppose to be like Tioman, but a much larger island)....and then when my parents are here, we are going to try to make it to Phuket, Thailand. They arrive on the 24th - in time to celebrate Evan's 1st birthday at the end of the month. So we'll have a house full for about 8 days, but it will be so nice to have some company around - and let them get a bit of the experience we have had. I know it is such a long trip, but we really do appreciate them making it all the way over here to visit. My parents are here for about 16 days, so Evan will be completely spoiled by the time they leave, I'm sure of it!! They are already travelling with 2 extra pieces of luggage with just "Evan stuff"!! I swear that BeBe and Boss still manage to find a way to spoil E even from 10,000 miles away!!!

Other Evan news to report......he is walking even more on his own now (as evidenced by the picture below.....don't worry, his dad was right near by - we weren't going to let him fall into the pool!!!). He used to just want to either walk to you or to something to hold onto nearby, but now he'll get going and walk to something clear across the room. Of course, if he can find a wall - he likes the security and would rather just walk along it (he looks like Spiderman!!) He still only has 8 teeth completely showing with the other top 2 still wanting to pop through....but haven't. I still can't get him to say much more than "DaDa", sometimes "MaMa" and "NoNoNoNo" and I swear he has said "Ball" on occasion. He is pointing at everything he wants now, which is why I can't wait for him to start talking so I can figure out what it is that he actually wants!! And he makes this absolutely hilarious noise when he sees something he wants to put in his mouth.....something that sounds like he is eating while he opens and closes his mouth. The good thing about it, is that I can always tell if he's found something on the floor to put in his mouth, because he'll make the sound before he does it...so he gets the "Evan don't put that in your mouth" before I can even check to see what he has!! He also loves looking for things. For the last few weeks, he loves to take these balls he has and roll them either the couch or the armoir in the TV room and then look underneath to try to find them. He can entertain himself forever doing it! It's too cute!!

The pictures above were from another pool day we had last weekend. We had a nice relaxing 3 day weekend with Andrew since he was off on Friday for Merdeka. The 2nd picture is of Evan with a mouthful of Dad's yummy chicken pasta salad (he loved it!!)....thus the bigger than usual cheeks!!!

Hope you enjoy the video below. It isn't the best, but it will give you an idea of how active Evan is lately!! He was throwing the balls this time as opposed to hiding them.....and he is giving climbing the stairs on his own one heck of try!!