Baba's Field Notes

forgotten moments from parenthood by jonathan jui

life with a toddler

Egg Hunt!

Dear Baobao,

Although it’s your third Easter, it was your first Easter egg hunt this year. But if I were to look at it through your eyes, I think it’s just a game of hide-and-seek with a candy reward.

It all started with a visit to an amusement park farm in north London where you had a mini-egg hunt with your friend Harvey. Seeing how much fun you had there, your mother bought some wooden eggs, which we decorated and then put to good use.

With the help of Uncle Freddy and Uncle JJ, we had a 3-hour marathon session of egg hunting in our flat. We started off easy – like tucked on Uncle JJ’s glasses easy – and basically stayed easy because you just liked hiding them in the same spots over and over.

When it’s your turn to hide eggs, you were very helpful in telling us exactly where you hid them. You also like to hide your eggs in bulk…like five in a single spot or in a row!

The candy exchange rate started as one gummy per wooden egg (you still hate chocolate!), but quickly depreciated as it became clear we would be having many more egg hunts…it’s about a week later and we’re still having egg hunts with eggs still in the same hiding spots! 

Love,
Baba

Life at 38 Months

Dear Baobao,

As we delve into the depths of your third year on this world, I find myself unable to recall a lot of the memories where you made me laugh – I just know there was a lot of laughing (and some crying). And at the same time, even though I’ve documented all those moments via photos, videos, comics, and letters, I don’t actually revisit them often. Maybe I would later in life when I am even further removed from this part of my life and have more time…who knows.

As I mentioned before, I remember more of my life in phases – changes in long-running habits or arrangements. Rearranging our home furniture is a good marker as are our sleep arrangements. Most recently, it’s been your mom canceling her WeWork membership, which in turn made sense for me to start bringing you to nursery in the mornings.

Those little commutes are fun. It’s never anything revelatory or grand, but all about appreciating the little things like the songs you hum off-key or watching you decide which route you want to take. It’s like having a personal window into your mind.

They say threenagers have attitude and opinions, which is very much true, but I try to enjoy it as just another leg of your journey to becoming your very own person.

Love,
Baba