Suddenly the clothes don't fit no more

My small son Omar turned 7 months yesterday. He is a good size for his age, alhamdulillah but it does pose some challenges in terms of dressing him. He has been wearing clothes for 12- 18 months old since he was around 5 months, and even those are getting tighter. I had thought about going shopping to get some bigger clothes for the next growth spurt, but wanted to make sure I had not missed any stashes of larger clothes.

While I was going through his clothes, I found some adorable outfits that he did not fit when I bought them two months ago. They were quite a steal, 2-3 bucks second hand with brand names, quality design and material. I was excited to try them on. Omar was less excited but he obliged the first few before resisting me violently. When I say violently, you better believe that a 7 month old can bruise you if he wanted to. And he certainly did not believe Umi's lies that "this is the last one".

Imagine my surprise that out of 5 outfits we tried, he only fit one properly. (Figure 1) One of them I couldn't even get on. The others were tighter than kebaya pendek. (Figure 2)  I could probably have tried to squeeze him in them just to get SOME use, but my son's skin is easily marked and reddened, even by normal touch. Pulling and tugging clothes into him would leave some nasty marks, and call me a soft mom, I couldn't do that to my son. Besides, it was my own carelessness that these clothes have gone to waste. However, I could not resist having him in them just for some photos...

It is quite amazing when I think about it how big Omar has gotten-- and he still has so much growing up to do! He was exclusively breastfed until 6 months, and even when I tried to introduce solids he seemed quite against the idea, so aside for the odd teaspoon of puree that gets into his mouth, his main source of nutrition is still mommy milk. And yet he thrives, masyaAllah. At first I was a bit frustrated that he did not sail through solids, but he will eventually eat people food sooner or later and the breastfeeding era will inevitably end. Might as well make the most of it while I can. He is already now starting to be mobile, commando crawling across the my tiny living room to grab the next thing that catches his eye. And isn't the irony that most of the things that catch his eye are all potentially dangerous... He laughs when I try to rationally explain why my laptop charger is not a toy. He is hilarious that one... He is more into action comedy for now, but I can see us exchanging clever in-jokes soon enough! Verbal ones I mean.

It is strange. Lately I see young men walking around, some preppy and go-getting, some scruffy desperately needing a bath. All a good foot taller than me, strutting like the big men they are. Yet all I see are little babies. Someone's little babies....All growwed up.

Figure 1. Baju muat

Figure 2. Baju sendat

Oh my baby. My big boy. Don't grow up too fast please.