Scent of a Baby

I like to kiss and smell Xuanie when he’s asleep, especially on his head, face and neck. It brings a smile to my heart. When he was still breast-feeding, especially as a newborn, he smelled like a loaf of freshly baked bread (at least that’s what the dad thinks that smell should be called). Recently, being in tropical Singapore, he smells a unique blend of his sweat and insect repellent.

Only a mother can derive much joy from smelling a stinky, sweaty baby. Only with her own baby.

Xuanie loves to play smell-Xuanie with mama. He would come close to me with a wide smile, in anticipation of some good giggling when I smell him. He loves to lift up his feet for me to smell and swoon as I pretend to fall to the ground because it’s “chou chou” (stinky). It’s such a cute sight when he tries to lift up his feet, because babies aren’t very coordinated in their physical movements yet. He usually does it when he’s sitting down as it’s easier, and he would prop himself on his forearm, lean back and try to lift both his feet.

I always tell him that if it’s not stinky, then it’s not fragrant for mama. But, that’s only true for mama, and probably no one else.

Code-mixing

 

Xuanie mixes different languages in his sentences. It’s so interesting to see how some words simply get dropped, replaced by its equivalent in another language, and how some words persist even though Xuanie clearly knows its equivalent in another language.

“Car” is his favorite word (no surprise here), and although he knows “Che” and “Bil,” this word is here to stay.

“Lampan” is another word that has persisted, even though he knows “Deng” and “Lamp.”

While he used to say, “An,” he now sticks to “Dark” and I don’t think he knows the Swedish equivalent for this.