Daddy Chan being Fullday Daddy Chan

As I cuddled our little boy to sleep then laid him onto our bed, I realized just how special this period of time is for me...

It was months ago when feli told me of her business trip to the US in May and we wondered how we would be handling Renzo. True that we still had Ayeaye around the house, but the lack of the presence of feli would ultimately mean that Renzo is going to be more attached to Ayeaye which would lead to more devastation for little Renzo when Ayeaye leaves us to go back to her hometown in Myanmar.

So I conveniently took this opportunity to quit my job to spend more quality time with Renzo, to forge a stronger daddy-baby bonding. Took minimal effort to convince myself that it is a right choice, but i know that deep in everyone else's hearts, despite the smiles and thumbs up, they are worried for me and i thank them for that.

So on the very day that feli took off on that airplane, my adventure as a full time daddy began.

At the time of writing (not time of posting), feli has been gone for about 6 days. And here are just some things that has happened since...

1) Pacifying Renzo when he cries for Mummy Chan~
Right from the start of day one that Mummy Chan was away, Renzo reacted by waking up at 6am in the morning when his usual routine has him waking up at least an hour later. Unfortunately, there was nothing much we can do to change the fact that Mummy can't be by his side until almost 2 weeks later when she is back. So to help ease that feeling of absence, we have Renzo see Mummy on Skype video calls on almost every opportunity that we have. Renzo has this funny habit of not giving full attention to the video calls, preferring to run around the house in his usual fashion, or crying out for my his iPad 2 to play some Montessori games. Then as soon as we end the call because feli has to go to bed, Renzo will look at the laptop and go, "EH?! No more Mummy..." (yes... with the exclamation)...

The other thing that i do when Renzo cries for Mummy is to show him pretty pics (mummy is always pretty) of feli. From wedding photos to candid camera phone snaps... anything that has feli in it will soothe and comfort Renzo for a while, enough for him to calm down, then continue to run around the house again... LOL

2) Bringing Renzo to childcare
One of the things that i was never able to do before when i was working. Because Renzo usually reaches the childcare just before 9, and back then, I had to reach office at 8.30am, making it impossible for me to send him to childcare in the mornings. But all that changed and wheee~, such joy to carry the little boy and board/alight the public bus... simple joys... and to see him walk into his classroom and disappear into a crowd of 10-20 other school kids eagerly waiting for their other classmates to come, it almost makes me envious of the jobs those teachers have to interact with these young ones on a daily basis

3) Grocery shopping
Okay... so this ain't really something new, I've been on grocery shopping a lot with feli even before marriage. But to do it in the mornings after sending Renzo to school, things just feels... fresher... or maybe it is because that NTUC that i went to has a smaller shopper population due to its inaccessibility (i go there just because it is within the same building as Renzo's childcare). But either way, to bring fresh groceries home daily and have fresh food/fruits for Renzo makes me feel that much more fatherly...hahaha

4) Nail cutting and nose digging (bodily maintenance...=P)
Renzo's first few nail cutting was done by feli's mum and feli, but since one incident when Renzo's little finger was clipped, they were afraid and the task of nail cutting was handed on to me. So effectively, I have cut Renzo's tiny little nails for a good 80 times maybe? (we cut his nails every Sunday after he sleeps at night). Nose digging however, is something relatively new to me... I mean in my entire life, the only nose i've ever dug is my own, haha... but now, i proudly proclaim Renzo's as the second. It ain't easy for me, first of all, his nostrils are tiny. Secondly, I have larger fingers than Mummy. Thirdly, I do not keep my nails for events like this. So, i have to use 'tools' from cotton buds to ear diggers (which i must add is a rather dangerous equipment but Renzo's nostrils were seriously congested with dried mucus and nose dirt). There is a certain sense of satisfaction when i got out a rather alarmingly big piece of dirt. Ewwwww + wheeeee at the same time.

5) Communicating

Nothing is more comforting for a daddy than to see his child come running up to him requesting for hugs and cuddles. And that is exactly what Renzo does. I do sit in front of the computer quite often, be it to checkout my Facebook or msn or trading, but whatever it is, i'll give it up when Renzo runs into my room from the living room and gigglishly go, "Daddy carry you~" (which in Renzoese means "Daddy carry me"). In the afternoons i'll sometimes bring Renzo out so that Ayeaye can prepare dinner in peace or have devoted attention to cleaning up the house. And it is these times that allows me to play more with Renzo and talk more with him, something which I shamefully say that I should have done more previously.

At night, we would sit in bed together and i'll whip out his favourite iPad 2 and we'll play some songs or games until he is reasonably tired, noticeable because he'll lean onto me and stare blankly into space, upon which i'll cuddle him to sleep and lay him down once he is asleep. And it is today when I laid him into bed that, as I started out in this post, realized that what i'm doing is something that not every working father can do for/with his son... and i must say that i'm proud that at least in the future, i can look at my grandchildren and tell them, "when you father was a little boy, there was this one night when grandpa cuddled him to sleep then laid him onto the bed, and then realized just how special that period of time was for me..."