Barnabas has grown to be a chatty toddler. He loves to talk. Or let me rephrase that. He loves to imitate what he heard.

Though the pronunciation is not perfect, he is learning very fast. We are amazed at his vocabulary;especially when he wants to express himself. Well praise God for him.

Well, he is still a bit shy with me. Okay, maybe shy is not the correct description. Unattached may be the better word for it. He still plays with me, enjoying my presence, always asking me to help him find or open something. However, he still shy to give me a kiss or say I love Daddy.

Oh ya, he prefers to call me Papa instead of Daddy, which is okay with me.

Hahaha Barnabas….why are you so shy?

You showed your excitement when Daddy arrived home. You followed Clarissa in shouting and greeting Daddy. While Clarissa reached Daddy and hugged Daddy, you would stop from reaching Daddy. You would then just smile sheepishly, shyly. From your look Daddy knows that you are still shy.

Anyway… Daddy is still happy to see you running to Daddy when Daddy comes home. Hopefully in due time, you would run to Daddy and hug Daddy like your sister Clarissa. Daddy would love that.

Dear Barnabas,

you know that it is very difficult for me to play together with you. You prefers your mummy than your daddy. Well, that is understandable as you sees your mummy more than your daddy. Furthermore, daddy always like to “bully” you and treat you in a stricter and “harsher” way than your sisters.

So, to be able to walk together with you and you willing to hold daddy’s hand is indeed a joy and blessing to daddy. I know the time will come when you will be independent and a strong boy and you would not want any “help” from daddy. But before that time comes, daddy hope that you would want to hold daddy’s hand more often.

I love you Barnabas.

Daddy.

Today is the first time Barnabas fell asleep on my lap. Ya….I really think it is the first time coz I can’t remember any other times when he fell asleep on my lap. Of course when he was a little baby maybe got lah but that didn’t count lah.

Forced him to sleep at about 3pm just now. Hahaha….yes, had to force him as he normally does not want to sleep if given the choice. After giving him the medicine for flu and cough, let him drink his milk and before he could finish his 6 ounces of milk, he was fast asleep.

Then put the other two girls to sleep also. No, no, no…. I’m not talking about “putting to sleep” when you want to kill your old or sick dog. What I meant is helping my girls to go to sleep. Then I go out from the room to check my email and of course play mosiang.

Then at about 4pm, Barnabas woke up and cried. As usual he would go out from the room and look for someone. He saw me, continue to cry and went to look for his grandma. Haizzz… I think I bullied him so much that he does not want his daddy, prefers his grandma coz his grandma showers him with lots of attention.

Anyway…I took him from his grandma as his grandma wants to prepare Milo drinks. Phew….at least he is willing to allow me to carry him. Took him to the dining table and feed him a strip of kuey teow. Gave him water to drink also. Then he yawned and slumped down on the bench with his head resting on my lap. The eyes opened and closed, opened and closed and slowly he doze off. It’s so nice to see him sleeping on my lap, resting peacefully. Wah…another father son moment. Wished I had the camera and capture the moments. Nevermind lah… as long as I can cherish the moments cukuplah.

After a few minutes I know that he is still sleepy. Brought him back to the room and put him to sleep.

Belle came to me while I was still lying down on the bed.

“Daddy, where’s Barnabas?” – B
“He go for a walk” – D
“But what if a man catches him?” – B
“You lah, don’t want to take care of him” – D
“Daddy, where’s Barnabas?” – B
“He go for a walk, go shopping” – D
“Daddy, wake up lah, go find Barnabas” – B

“You go lah, you go walk and find Barnabas” – D
“But I very tired, walk so far” – B
“You go walk find Barnabas lah, if not people will catch him” – D

Belle started to cry.
“Daddy… you go find Barnabas lah”, B still sobbing.
“You go lah, you Barnabas sister, why didn’t you take care of him?” – D
Crying gets louder, “I tired, can’t walk far far find Barnabas. You go lah”

Hhehehe..until come out tears Belle cried for her brother. So caring for him. Haizzz…definitely not from the father’s trait.

Barnabas, oh Barnabas. Why did you vomit on Daddy? Haiyo… all your kuey teow semi-digested with the smell of your stomach acid. All of it you vomited on Daddy’s shirt and jeans. And we have to bear all of it for 10 minutes while Mummy drove us home. You know what oh Barnabas.

n spite of all that smell and “geli-ness”, there is that feeling of love and care towards you. Daddy knows that you are not feeling well and Daddy is very sure that you are feeling at that time is worse that the smell and “geli-ness” that Daddy had to suffer. It has been some time since the last time somebody vomited on Daddy.

Hmmm… Daddy can’t even remember the last incident. The vomit gives Daddy the feeling of being a Daddy again, loving you despite all the “trials” you gave. Daddy loves you Barnabas.

Barnabas is showing signs of being the adventurous boy. He does not like to stay inside the house. Whenever possible he would want to go out and play outside the house. He would explore the compound and play at the swing.

When his grandmother is outside, he would call out to her and want to be with her. His grandmother (as many grandmother would do) would carry him and they would spend the time together outside the house. His grandmother would be peeling the coconut leaves to make the broom and he would just play around there. He would explore the compound, picking up things, running here and there. When he grows up, I will need to teach him many outdoor skills like camping, climbing trees, hiking and also maybe martial art skills.

It is nice to see the different personalities that God has given to my children. Yes, each one of them is unique and special. Even in the matter of eating preferences all my three children have different preferences.

Annabelle is more of the carnivor, loves to eat chicken meat. Clarissa however loves to eat rice only, not so much of meat. Barnabas, on the other hand loves to eat vegetables.

The time has come for me to use the cane on Barnabas. No, not that I will simply cane him for my own enjoyment. No father will simply cane the son for fun. Only evil father do that.

Barnabas is almost 2 years old already. He understands a lot of things though he does not talk much. He learns and starts to imitate other people especially from his sisters. All the while the cane has not been used on him but he realised that being caned is not a good thing. He would be quiet when the sisters are being caned. But he also noticed that he can get away with doing “naughty” things without being caned. So the time has come for him to learn good habits and not to do naughty things. The cane will be his unconscious teacher, directing his thoughts and mind to behave properly.

We went to the Fun Fair at Klebang Beach the other day. It is not a big Fun Fair but there was enough stalls to give children and adults a time of fun and excitement. Our first “fun” time was the Ferris Wheels. Since we (wife, 3 children and myself) are their first customers (they just started operating hour when we arrived) the operator let us be in the wheels for more than 10 rounds. I was wondering when it would stop. After we came out, my wife told me that she felt dizzy because of the ride. Belle then complains of stomachache.

So we stopped by at a clinic on the way back. The doctor that saw Annabelle gave a few tips on how to stop the stomachache and diarrhea. That night we bought young coconut water for Annabelle to drink.