a little trooper

my mom was down with a nasty cold last week - she lost her voice, was coughing into the night which disrputed her sleep and was too weak to get out of bed... she couldn't watch Christian, which meant that i had to find emergency baby-sitter for at least 3 days. Serene came to my rescue thankfully.

Christian has had stranger anxiety since he was 4 months old... it came as a surprise to me because i thought i had taken him out as much as i possibly can (according to anecdotal parenting advice, you take your kid out, your kid will be accustomed to strangers...) it wasn't true. Christian could recognize his primary caregiver and his parents too readily - the pediatrician assured us it was a milestone (part of the maturing of the brain) but that meant it would be hard on us since he would also be extremely clingy when our friends or family want to hold him, and frankly, I'm always a little apologetic about it fearing that such rejection would hurt our friends' feelings. So, even though Serene was ready to watch Christian for me ( and Serene simply dotes Christian), we all knew that Christian would cry whenever Serene tried to hold him - which meant that I was also a little worried my little guy will fuss too much at Serene's. But maturity takes on a different level for this lil' guy - he came through for us... not only did he ride in his car seat all alone in the back seat babbling and entertaining himself, he took to Serene after a short crying stint on the first day I left him there.

I was finally able to take leave from my work on the 4th day and we went out and had fun. Christian was his charming self - he teased and talked and gave me a surprise kiss when I was taking this shot of us at Gloria Jeans (I have to say the folks at Vivocity's Gloria Jeans are the best - they made sure I had a seat and brought me my coffee :) )