My son the Drama Queen

I haven't written about Nuaim in a very long time. For those who are curious to know how he's getting on, he's fine. Except for the occasional sniffles, and falls and knocks that are common to boisterous 16-month old boys.

He's got this thing about his right eye though, that's been there since 7 months ago. We've been to two specialists, and the last one at HUKM had to put him under GA just to have a really good look at his eye. They found a surface scratch that could have been caused by his nails and nothing else. The scratch should've healed by now (it's been 2 months at least) but he still squints in bright light, and sometimes he gets teary-eyed. And it only happens to his right eye.

Other than that, he's a right royal thespian. My father-in-law calls him 'The Little Prince'. I think he behaves more like a tyrannical emperor around his relatives. He still takes his milk by the bottle, but he won't hold the bottle himself. It'll always have to be held by someone else, or propped up with a pillow if he's lying down and we're too busy to do it for him.

And he throws a big hou-haa whenever things don't go his way - which is most of the time, since his way involves a lot of unsafe acts for children below the age of 2. He'll throw his head back, give a great scream and flop on the floor or try to wriggle away from you. He did it once at a friend's son's birthday party because I wouldn't let him have the camera, and my friend seemed so concerned that I felt so guilty for not just letting him ruin my RM1400 investment.

Despite the fact that he's going to become an Abang Long in 6 months' time, he's even more clingy than before. He's grown quite heavy now (must be about 13 kg at least) and in my condition I can't carry him for more than 2 minutes without some part of my body protesting. When he first started walking at 11 months, he just simply refused to be carried. But now, everytime he wants me to take him somewhere, he'll take both my hands, pull me down to my knees and say "Dum". I guess in Emperor Nuaim's speak that's a combination of 'Jom' and 'Dukung'.

The realy wonderful thing though, is his vocabulary. He first picked up words around the same time he could walk, and his ability to grasp new words just continue to amaze me. I sometimes doubt whether he understands the words correctly, though. For instance, he would address any kid, younger or older than him, as 'Baby'. And although he's heard us say 'No' to him in response to things we don't approve of, I think he doesn't understand the concept of it. Instead, he'll say 'No' in a very firm manner, and then proceed with doing exactly the thing we've forbidden him to.

His favourite word and object in the world is of course 'FIH' (fish). He endured a 90 minute wait to enter the KLCC Aquaria, and he's always looking at the dinner table under the 'tudung saji' for his favourite food. Pictures of fish in newspapers drive him to ecstacy, and you'll never be able to complete reading The Star or Utusan Malaysia once he's spotted his underwater friend on one of the pages.

Lately though, Nuaim has developed a screaming habit. He screams when he's angry, happy and feeling any other emotion in between. I suspect he's missing his grandmother.