Twice Mice

I was on holidays for three weeks of December, so Hayden and I were able to spend lots of time together. This was exhausting and wonderful. He continues to be a great flyer, happily sleeping in our arms or the bassinette. With a dummy to suck on, the change in altitude doesn’t seem to bother his ears too much, and the flight attendants usually comment on his excellent behaviour. Strangely enough he hates the high-speed trains, though, and often needs lots of soothing on the Thalys and the Eurostar.

He is very sociable, and will most often burst into an enormous grin when he sees someone smiling at him. He was a big hit at Santosa Island and during immigration lines, with many Indonesians and Singaporeans asking to hold him and take his photo. One girl on the Tiger Tower simply held out her hands and tried to take him without even asking.

He is also very verbal, talking constantly in loud vowels, especially if other people are also talking. He loves being sung to, and being read to. My mother sent over some of my favourite books, and we are currently reading The House at Pooh Corner together.

His eyes are really turning from grey to brown. I think he will have the same colour eyes and Adrian and myself. I think I have some recessive blue eye alleles in me that I might have passed on, but it looks the brown eye alleles will dominate in him.

He is not yet rolling over or sitting up unassisted. He seems like a very uncoordinated baby for his age. He is still not that interested in eating food when we give him something to munch on. He gets a small cold every couple of weeks, but so far his health has been excellent, especially considering all the people to which he is exposed.

He is still waking up at least once during the night, but considering all the time zones he’s been through, I’m a little forgiving. For the past two nights he’s slept seven hours in a row, which has been wonderful. He still happily switches between formula, expressed milk, and breastfeeding. He loves his dummy.

Adrian continues to be his primary carer. Washing him, preparing his bottles, taking him to creche, picking him up from creche, soothing him, changing him, singing to him, rocking him in his bassinette with his foot as he works on his laptop. They have such a strong bond, and I love the way Hayden watches Adrian as he moves around the room. It is so fun co-parenting with Adrian and I really enjoying the fact that he knows Hayden as well as I do (or better).

Hayden has really blossomed from a screaming machine into a delightful baby boy. He is a pleasure to be with, and every day I look forward to the time in the evening when the whole family is reunited.

Our last day in Indonesia was Elephant Day. In the morning we went to the Bintan Elephant Park. We watched the elephants perform some impressive tricks (although they weren’t particularly good at soccer or mathematics). While waiting to line up for some elephant rides, I spent some time chatting to one of the handlers (bull men?). He also had a young child about Hayden’s age, who also was not sleeping through the night. I asked him if his son had ridden an elephant yet, but he said that the park was a 35 minute ride on a motorbike from his home, and that was not safe for a baby. I also asked him if he wanted his son to work with elephants when he got older, and the answer I received was an emphatic “no”.

When it was our time to ride the elephants, Hayden had fallen fast asleep. I think he liked the gentle bumping along the jungle paths while snuggled up against Adrian’s chest. I was told that my elephant was extra tall because his mother was Sumatran while his father was from Thailand. The two elephant handlers were really kind to us, taking a lot of extra time to line up the two animals, and then even hopping off to take some great shots. I was really impressed with their consideration and patience.

We also met a yellow python – Hayden’s second snake experience – though we didn’t let it get too close to him, as those strong muscles aren’t just for show. Hayden also slept through this encounter.

In the afternoon, Milly from the elephant park visited the hotel. I watched her give short rides to all the kids, and took photos for many families as they made a short circuit around the grass. Once the queue had vanished, the handler let me meet Milly and feed her tiny Indonesian bananas. She was very patient, stretching out her mottled pink and grey trunk and waiting for me to place the fruit in her finger-like projection. She never grabbed the banana from my hand, though she did snortle and sniff at me thoroughly after each one to see if any more were waiting for her. After stroking her hairy trunk I said good-bye and thanked her for being such a gentle and delightful creature.

Today we spent the whole day at Club Med Bintan Indonesia. We started the day with a nature walk through the thick jungle that surrounds the resort. We spotted a wild silver-leaf monkey, a centipede, and some carnivorous pitcher plants.

At lunch we let Hayden play with a few more foods. He can now pick them up and wave them around, and sometimes he will almost accidentally shove them into his mouth, but he really doesn’t seem that interested in eating and seems quite happy with his liquid diet.

We have been eating so much fresh fruit here – pineapple, watermelon, dragon fruit, snake skin fruit, guava, coconut – for every meal it’s freshly sliced and waiting for us in abundance. Hayden gummed on some coconut but didn’t seem particularly impressed.

It was a little drizzly, which meant that some activities were cancelled, a great excuse to curl up with Hayden and read our books while sipping on some cocktails. Hayden modelled the seahorse t-shirt that I painted for him the day before. Even though I chose an extra-small shirt, it is too big and he looks a little like an American footballer. Poor little bear is even too small for the Petite Club.

In some ways this place is very baby-friendly. They have plenty of high-chairs and changing stations with Johnson & Johnson products, and the buffet has a whole fridge full of pureed baby foods. We have a baby bath, a bottle warmer and steriliser in our room with more complementary baby skin care products on offer. However at 14 years old the resort is showing its age, as there are stairs everywhere and it is impossible to wheel the pram anywhere without assistance. We saw one little girl in a wheelchair, and she must be having a very difficult time getting around.

Overall we have enjoyed our time here. During monsoon season the beach and the weather are not spectacular, but it is warm and relaxing and a great excuse to spend some quality time together. Tomorrow we catch the ferry back to Singapore and the next day we fly back home.

Bintan Island is a short yet tumultuous ferry ride from Singapore. It has been developed as a resort destination, with a focus on the beach. As it is monsoon season it is too dangerous to swim in the sea, however we have enjoyed walks along the beach and relaxing by the pool. We get at least one torrential downpour every day, however the rain is warm and it only lasts for about an hour or so.

Yesterday we took a boat trip through the mangroves. Sadly, this area appears very over-fished and over-hunted, as we did not spot so much as a snake or a kingfisher during our hour-long exploration. Still, it was very relaxing to drift underneath the green canopy and feel the warm air swirling though the swamps.

Hayden enjoyed his morning tea of warm drink as we sailed along, while the rest of us had to wait until we returned to shore. We are all feeling very relaxed, and I am really enjoying this quiet time with my two little guys. It is wonderful to be able to spend whole days together as a family, with very little on the agenda except exploring this tiny piece of Indonesia.