D&B5

55

A month after little Anda's illness from a vaccination, he was now just over seven months old.  The chubby, fair-skinned baby was loved by everyone, especially his older brother, Ob, who was about two years and five months old.

Anda was currently obsessed with crawling, keeping everyone on their toes. He didn't just crawl in his playpen; he crawled all over the living room.

"Anda!" Ob called out, causing Anda, who had crawled to hide behind a curtain, to freeze.  Day and Brick, who were watching, chuckled at Anda's cleverness in staying still. Ob searched for him, finally noticing the bulge of the curtain where Anda was hiding, his chubby legs peeking out from the edge.

"Boo!" Ob exclaimed, pulling back the curtain.

"Eeeeek!" Anda squealed excitedly, scrambling out from behind the curtain.  However, in his haste, he stumbled, his face almost hitting the floor. Brick gasped, about to rush to his son, but Day grabbed his arm. Thankfully, Anda's face didn't hit the ground, but everything stopped moving, including Ob.

"Huuuk…" Anda started to cry. Ob immediately went to his brother.

"Anda, boo!" Ob tilted his head, smiling at his brother. Anda paused, then smiled back at his brother and continued crawling.  Brick breathed a sigh of relief. Anda crawled to Day and grabbed his pants leg, trying to climb up. Day bent down and lifted Anda onto his lap.

"Eeeeek!" Anda immediately hugged Day's neck when he saw Ob walking towards them.

"Your scream is really something, Anda. Look, even Cotton was startled," Brick said, as Cotton, who had been lying down beside them, lifted its head to look at the source of the noise. Ob then climbed up beside Brick and hugged him, and he hugged him back.

"Daddy, Ob wants to play in the water!" Ob announced. Sfter winning first place in a tricycle race, Day and Brick had then taken Ob to three more races, and he won first place in all of them. Day decided it was time to give his son a break, feeling they'd been racing too much consecutively. Lately, Ob had become interested in swimming, since Day had started taking him to swimming lessons.  It seemed the little boy really enjoyed it. Day had also been getting Anda used to the water.

"We'll go this evening.  Shall we take Anda with us?" Day suggested.

"Yes!" Ob replied immediately. Day planned to take them to the swimming pool in their housing development.

"Goood," Anda chimed in, causing Brick and Day to turn around. The baby beamed, showing his teeth. Day chuckled.  He knew Anda was starting to mimic words he heard.

"Ba-ba," Anda said, pointing to the front door.

"What?  Go now?  Wait a minute, sweetheart. It's not evening yet. Let's have a little nap first," Brick said smiling, as it was time for the boys' afternoon nap.

"Ob sleep with Nong," Ob said.

"Okay, let's go to sleep then.  Enough playing for now," Brick responded, before taking Ob to his playpen. Day carried Anda and laid him down beside Ob, using a bolster pillow between them. Day would lie next to Anda, while Brick lay next to Ob. Anda continued to drink his milk, while Brick gently stroked Ob’s back.  Soon, both boys were asleep.

..

..

"Aaaaa, ooh-ooh-ooh!" Anda's delighted sounds filled the air as Day wheeled him toward the community pool.  The little one greeted everyone they passed. Ob, meanwhile, walked beside Brick. The walk to the pool was quite a distance for the children. Day had asked Ob if he wanted to ride in the stroller or walk, and Ob had chosen to walk, so they continued their journey on foot.