Evil Morris

I didn't sleep last night, and it's all Morris' fault.
Glory woke up screaming n crying, insisting there was a spider on her bed.
"Spider! Spider!" she cried, pointing to a corner of her bed,"There, on my bed!"

She had gathered her precious bed-things (a Hamtaro cushion, a doggy, a Barney balloon, two pillows n two blankies)  in a pile, as far away as possible from the corner where the spider was allegedly lurking.
She stared at the corner with fear written all over her face, looking so trumatized that I knew it wasn't merely a ploy to get me to come over to her room.

Yet, even if there was a spider, it didn't seem likely that she would have seen it.  Her room was dark, and her bed was crowded, to put it mildly. A spider could technically go unnoticed in her storeroom bed. Unless it was one of those big hairy seriously scary spider, and it walked right over Glory, waking her up!

webecoist.com

Could this creature be lurking in my baby's room????

As I searched her bed and under the mattress, I asked her more about the spider.
Me: Is the spider big or small?
G: the spider is big.
Me: how big is it? Show me with your hands.

Glory indicated a cat sized spider.

And added that it is yellow, with red eyes.

Cheh. Dream nia.

I wanted her to have an avenue to release her fears, so i let her tell me more.

Glory informed me that, apparently, we are supposed to cover our noses when a fierce spider is near.
I was feeling pleased... wow, at 2-and-a-half, Glory is so smart to imagine that these mean fierce spiders knew how to tunnel into our bodies to inflict maximum damage! Wa, during Red Cliff era she would be like ZhuGeLiang can?

But it turns out that it's just that fierce spiders like to hit people's noses.
(facepalm)

Anyway, Glory was particularly upset that the spider did not apologise to her after hitting her nose.
(double facepalm)

Oh, and the spider has a name too.

Morris.

And by the time she filled me in on the various details of Morris the Spider, morning has broken.

Sigh.

And i thought sleepless nights were a thing of the past.

11.11.2010

Another year passed... we're a four-year-old family!
People say time passes fast when you're having fun.
It has been 4 years, and to be very frank, it feels like we've been married longer than that.
So according to that theory, if i feel like we've been married longer than we actually have, it's supposed to mean we're not having fun?
:O
uh-ooooohhhh.....

To set things straight, i definitely enjoy being married to Munch.
I enjoy the companionship, i enjoy the understanding and trust and stability.
I appreciate that however awful and ugly and jaded i feel, he still believes in me and trusts and encourages me.
I love that he knows me so well, he can anticipate how i'd react, what i'd feel, what i'd need.
I love that he spends time with the girls, that he enjoys them and loves them, and is a real father.
Between being married and not, i'd definitely choose being married.

When i was a teenager, i devised a (what i thot was) brilliant True Love test: If you could have ANYBODY in the world - dead, alive, fantasy, pop star who doesn't know you, any of your ex-es... - would you still be with the person you are with? My logic was that if you'd rather have someone else, you're only "making do" with whoever you have.
DUH. 
but i thought it was a brilliant test, (and heck, i still think it's brilliant now)
And yes, Munch passes my True Love test.
He beats Aladdin with the flying carpet, and all the promises of adventure and those sparkly cheeky eyes.
He beats Aaron Kwok. (Oh yes, you lost, Aaron, the moment you donned those red fireman costume and danced like a gigolo.)
He beats Beckham. (ok, now thinking back, i have no idea why i had a wedding ceremony with his poster in VJ canteen. must be the poor company i kept. hp married giggs. oh wait don't tell danny.)
He beats Dao Ming Si - (helped partially by Season Two's development).
He beats the Ex-es (cannot elaborate)
He beats even the epitome of the Strong Silent Man... Captain Von Trapp.

omg check out those piercing deep-set eyes... the thin sexy lips... the too-tough, edgy, stern demeanor... ok stop stop STOP!

Point is, if all the aforementioned characters were available and pursuing me (muahahah, i said "if" already la!) i would still choose to marry munch... Which is a big deal ok. If you still don't think it's a big deal, go and watch Aladdin again and then stare into Captain Von Trapp's eyes for 20 minutes, then come back and continue reading.
Still don't think it's a big deal? Ok imagine you are, say, the lead female character in Meteor Garden. So after all the macho things that DMS did for you like allowing gangsters to beat him to a pulp so that they wouldn't hurt you, like ordering the entire school population to treat you like a goddess, like buying an apartment in ulu-district just to be close to you, run after your bus until he collapses on the ground (Taiwanese men dun have ippt?) ... after ALL that, Munch walks up to you and suggest you marry him instead. I'm saying that i would marry munch instead of DMS. So is that big deal or what?

Anyway, in other words, Munch ACES the True Love Test, Yay!!!!!
:) :) :)

You know why? Because his brow-bones are sexier than Captain Von Trapp's, and he's more emotionally mature than Dao Ming Si.
Exploring Punggol End in our Red Swift is way cooler than exploring endless diamond skies on magic carpet rides.
And he looks like Ip Man.

Anyway, last night, we were trying to recall how we celebrated our anniversaries, and we spotted a rather unhealthy trend.
2006: Just married. Went on a month-long self-drive, no itinerary, wander-where-we-please trip to USA.
2007: Preggy and Pukey. Hotel-staycation at the hotel where we got married.
2008: Left Glory with Mummy for an evening, scooted off to Barnacles for a lovely sea-front seafood meal.
2009: Left Glory and Celeste with Flor at home, while we had a meaningful "marriage evaluation dinner" at Buono's at Serangoon Gardens. (btw i later found out that my school was moving right next to buono's and that took the romance outta that place forever)
2010: Left Glory and Celeste with Charisma at home. Walked to Serangoon Central for Crab Bee Hoon.

Truth is, it really was my choice. I gave clear instructions about not buying flowers. I didn't want any hotel stays or fancy restaurants. I wanted to go back early after dinner so we could spend some time with the girls before they popped off to bed.

And yeah, so there we were... Serangoon Central Crab BeeHoon.
He's very sweet la, didn't complain and still played along with me, discussing the merits of eating crab bee hoon on our own (dun need to feel paiseh to take the pincer, got nice view (?), can take a walk back after dinner to aid digestion....)

Haha... sorry munch.
we'll do better next year.
:)

Next Chapter

It's confirmed. The page was turned, as pages often are. Only this time, instead of more of the same, i find a new chapter staring at me.
My little goldfish bowl for the past seven years is no longer home. I bought the boat, and the oars, and i'm headed for sea. No one's gonna sprinkle little specks of freeze-dried nutrients at regular intervals anymore. But on the other hand, i get to see something other than the same bowl, the same fish, the same seaweed and plastic seahorses. The water was getting murky anyway... i couldn't stay on and stay alive. Am excited about what's ahead... Is it faith? Is it optimism? Or is it just the novelty? Thinking of glitzing it up too, with some Interior Design course... but let me get used to the basics first.

The 2.5 ounces i was talking about? It's now something like 1.5 oz, and that's after a 12-hours intermission. Guess it's time for me to face the fact and move on.

In other news, i've kinda gotten used to wobbling. And because he who matters doesn't mind, i actually take perverse pleasure in it. It's quite funny... to feel it, and yet not fret. Empowering, i guess, in a way... like i've seen through it all... and i'm assured enough to live with it.
But it's not healthy of coz, so i gotta snap out of it. Blame it on the elapsed membership. When i move to a condo, it'll be on track, i reasoned. Or next week, when i'm more free. Or, hey, even tomorrow.... but tomorrow never comes, does it?

And then there's THAT painful chapter. The tomorrow that you wish would never come, but it always does. The chapter that i HATE. The good thing is, death is not the end. In this case, it's even the beginning of something glorious. She had lovely children and grandkids. She had a family trip just before she left. The final days must have been painful... but at least she's relieved of it now.
But my heart aches for my friend.
And i am afraid about tomorrow.
But what to do? The page has turned and that chapter is here.
In the end the only solace is that God is love. And that here with you, for now, are still many whom you love and who love you back.

The Moo's Retirement

I'm in a real dilemma.
The supply has dropped considerably. I'm doing 2.5 ounces at the lunch-time session. If i miss the lunch-time session, it's a mere 4 oz at dinner time. Hardly worth the effort and time spent, it's like trying to squeeze water out of stone. Except it's not water, and it's definitely not a stone. Nevermind.

I've heard from my uncle's domestic helper that back home, her mother nursed her till she was ten. She could be playing catching with her friends one moment, and lifting up her mother's blouse to quench her thirst the next. That's just the way things were in their hometown. No one batted an eyelid.
I suppose it's something between a mother and child.  Personally, i would draw the line at puberty. Imagine a pimply faced teenager... ewww, better not imagine.

Thing is, here, most people stop before their babies turn one, and i am starting to feel like i need to justify breastfeeding my 14 month old. When i asked for breastfeeding-safe drugs from my GP recently, he took a double take and asked "You are STILL breastfeeding? WHY?" giving me the same perplexed look he did when i kept turning up at his clinic with Glory for the nth HFMD screening in a month. You know, the look which is really just a more polite version of an exasperated roll-eye.

Now, i hadn't really thought about WHY i was continuing with the breastfeeding. We were told breast is best, so i just continued on and on simply because there was no pressing need to stop.
Sure, there was a period when Celeste thought it a great game to, well, nip me in the bud, and hearing me squeak in pain. But i employed some dog-training techniques -instead of squealing in pain, i tried growling - and it worked wonders. She's off biting now. So why would i want to stop? It's free milk, it's supposed to help me burn some calories, plus, nursing is such a great bonding activity.
 I don't want to give up forever the wonderful, cuddly, warm moments, with my baby curled up close to me, where she would stay for a couple of minutes at least, giving me time to hug and caress her.
And i am unwilling to give up the very powerful weapon the nursing breast can be. Need her to quieten down? Shove a breast. Want to bargain for extra few minutes of sleep-in? Shove a breast.When she gets to Glory's age, i could probably shove an iPad instead, but for now, nursing is THE wonder.

And i think the great reluctance to stop is also because we don't plan on a third child. Which means that once i allow the supply to dwindle to zero, I would NEVER get to nurse again.  Ever. That part of my life would be irreversibly over. The purpose of a breast would be done and over with for good - you carry them around from puberty to grave, but they were useful only for these measly 19 months.

So i nursed on, though frankly, no one is gonna miss my milk if i do stop altogether. Celeste takes so much solids now, milk probably makes up just 20% of her daily nutrients. Furthermore, she takes formula milk quite happily now. 

Maybe i'm nursing more for my own sake than hers?

Well, i'm sure the day will come when she will on her own initiative wean herself off it. Already, there are occasions she declined to nurse...
For now, i'll just treasure each session as they come and let her decide on when to stop.
 But maybe set an arbitrary compulsory cut-off date of um, say, 11.11.2011.

Death knows no Yellow Ribbon Projects :(

Could it have been averted had we done things differently?
Would it have helped if we were stricter? Or, to the other extreme, kinder?
If i had acted on that gut-feel, would it have made a difference? Why did i let my human reasoning and doubts get in the way? If i had been a little more like i used to be, i would have just heeded the prompting and just do it, instead of rationalising it away and just making it a soon-forgotten New Year Resolution. Would he have responded? Would the story of his life be very different?
What would have helped him?
He's so young.
And i wasn't of any help.
How many more will go this way?
Shouldn't we do something about it?
What can we do about it?
Who's to know what is the best way?
Who's to know which will be the last time you see someone?

And now i keep thinking about those others that i've had similar worries for.
Oh God please keep them safe.

'Cher, what songs do you listen to?

Ok, i admit. i rack my brain for an answer each time students ask me that.
I mean, why do they care what music i listen to anyway? Are they gonna sing me a song of my choice? Buy me an album? Naa-aaah. Truth is, people judge you on your taste in music. It's almost like a personality test - your genre determines if you're cool/ mass-market/ edgy/ sophisticated/ ancient/ weird/ pathetic. So people ask about your favourite genre to size you up and figure out what "type" you are. Y'know, like how we would judge a grown woman (or man) who's always in pink?

Way back, there were songs i enjoyed but was slightly embarrassed to admit.
I SAID i liked Nirvana, Guns N Roses, Michael Jackson, coz in those days, it gave you some street cred. And i did like them, except i was equally happy listening to Spice Girls (even watched the movie), F4 (went for the concert), MLTR (what, stop pretending you don't know what that is. i bet you know the words to 25minutes as well as i do!) and Take That (Howard fan! Coz he had a scruffy look, and everyone else was going for Mark Owen n Robbie Williams).

But today, being all of 31, it's unbecoming to let the expectations of others dictate what you (say you) listen to. So when i'm asked THE QUESTION, i say "i just listen to... well, whatever i'm listening to." Such a non-answer, right? But it IS the truth.
Here's what i listen to these days... the 4 Cs...

1. Children songs... esp Barney!

And for the uninitiated, it's not just the I-love-you-you-love-me song. They've got really fun songs for everything! My current favourite is the Raindrops song!

If all the raindrops are lemon drops and gum drops
Oh what a rain that would be
Standing outside with my mouth open wide
a a a a a a a a a a
If all the raindrops are lemon drops and gum drops
Oh what a rain that would be

If all the snow flakes are candy bars and milk shakes
Oh what a snow that would be
Standing outside with my mouth open wide
a a a a a a a a a a
If all the snow flakes are candy bars and milk shakes
Oh what a snow that would be




youtube video from crystaltears86


Don't scoff! Just imagine how thrilling that would be! It's almost as lovely as my all-time fantasies of Ben-n-Jerry Mountain and Giant Chocolate Bunny! Plus the tune is so exuberant, it's hard not to love. Even Celeste sings along at the a-a-a-a- part!

2. Classical Music
Daddy used to take kor and me to the SSO, but at that time, we liked it for the side-thrills. Like coughing at the intermissions, playing "see who laughs out first" while watching the Conductor's dramatic actions, and of course, the lovely Tau-huay-zui, you-tiao and shao-bing at Geylang after the concert.
Then when I was expecting Glory, i listened to it coz it's supposed to be good for her. We also used it as a car-music when Glory was 0-6 months old - she'd scream and cry if we listened to pop or heavens forbid, techno-ey stuff, but she was nice and easy if we had the car stereo tuned in to 92.4.
These days, my room stereo is tuned in to 92.4 coz i think i should make it up to Celeste, coz she didn't get her in-vitro dose of Classicals.
3.Class 95.
There was a time in my youth when listening to Class 95 made me feel depressed. I'm serious. Maybe it's the emo-teenaged phase, but i swore then that i would never listen to Class 95.
Until i grew up (old) and found the 987 songs noisy and tuneless. (sheesh. exactly what my mummy said about the songs i liked...)
So that's where my car stereo is tuned into these days.
And at home too. Charisma used to blast 987, but i would turn the volume down.  Then she discovered that when she plays Class 95, i don't mind the volume, and i'd even happily sing along. So now she sets the living room radio to Class 95.
4. Christian songs
In the car, we play a Kids Worship DVD, and Glory sings along happily. Yes, she knows the lyrics. She knows the images that go along with each song. And she decides which songs belong to her, henceforth known as her Favourites, and you are NOT to sing along unless given specific permission by Her Royal Highness, Teacher Glory. She is very kind, of course, and selects some songs to be YOUR favourite, and for those songs, you have the liberty of singing along when it plays. *roll eyes*

So my dear students, it's not that i was trying to act all mysterious and evasive when you ask me a simple question like "what music do you listen to". I really don't have a good answer. 
But i guess from now on, i'll just say my favourite songs are Barney songs, and offer to sing The Raindrops Song for you. After all that's the song i find myself singing in the shower.

Pillowtalk with Glory

Bedtime with Glory is such a blast.

Now that she's really REALLY talking, tucking her in has become such an amusing, interesting, heartwarming time.

One of our favourite bedtime activities is to pray. She would remind me every night that we haven't prayed, that we need to pray. Then she would tell me who to pray for.
Sometimes I wonder if she gets prompted by the Holy Spirit, coz she picks really far-off ppl to pray for. Like Aunty Charisma's children in Philippines, Mr See (her school operations manager), and various church friends that I didn't even know she knows. It makes me really glad that she cares about the people around her (and the people not around her), and i think it makes God glad too. =)

Pillowtalk is also great for getting a child's perspective on things, to find out more about her day.
She'd share how she feels about certain events and people (like how she feels about mei mei wanting to play with her, how she feels about being disciplined, what she likes to do on a holiday etc)
She'd tell me what happened in school... Though I suspect there are some inaccuracies coz she once told me that she got bitten. By a lizard from Philippines.
She sometimes also thinks that her storybooks actually happened to her, so these few days, she believes she is "Little Go Peep" (better known as Little Bo Peep, the lass with the sheep).
So yeah, I do take what she says with a pinch of salt.

You also get the sweetest conversations with her at night too. Perhaps it's a time when she gets me all to herself, and she doesn't want it to end, so she keeps me enthralled by all her sweet nothings.
She told me the night before that she tripped n fell because "I want you, so I walk so fast to you and I fall down n knock my leg. Because I want you mama"
In one breath she blames me for the fall, but also tells me just how much she wants me. Awwwwww...
Bedtime is also the best time to get hugs n kisses from her. She generously coats my face with kisses (n saliva) which makes me gigglish n squirmy coz I'm not very much a kissy person (blame it on my mummy. She instilled the fear of saliva in us, n till today, I still wipe kisses away. )
But I just lap up her hugs! Especially when she hugs my head (my head is quite big so it's a good hug) and puts her face reallllllly close. :) :) <333 Sweetness!

Ha, which reminds me, Sunday night, while hugging my head, Glory informed me that "Godpa also hug Godma's face".

Ooooops.

I thought she stumbled upon a semi-private moment in church earlier and i didn't know how to react.A bit curious and wanted to find out the context, but a bit afraid that it was really meant to be a private moment....
Should i ask her to elaborate???

Then she proceeded to describe the rest of the scene...

"Then they smile to the camera n say cheese like that" *attempts to show a peace sign but fails so it was just a series of finger wagging*

Lol. She must have seen a picture of them, or saw them taking a picture. :)

This girl really makes me laugh, and wonder at the things that are going through that amazing little mind. She has got so many funny thoughts, so many unexpected ideas, and so many sweet, affectionate, innocent little quips that lying next to her is really the highlight of my day.


And i resolve to do this as long as she will have me...
I guess the time will come when my little angel wouldn't even attempt to entice me with her "Shall we pray?" and "Iwant you to pat pat me. I want you Mama."
The time would probably come when she would curl up in bed, cradling a phone beneath the covers, and see my presence at bedtime as an intrusion.
The time would probably also come when she wouldn't even be home at MY bedtime. I'd probably be lying awake on my bed, wondering if she's safe and in good company and making wise decisions...

Till then, i intend to treasure every bedtime, to have her know without the shadow of a doubt that Mummy loves her and wants her even more than she wants me. To discuss and share in her perspectives and her faith. And to enjoy and marvel at every little amazing morsel of this marvellous little masterpiece.

i love you, baby.
and i kinda wish you would stay little forever...

Stand up for Singapore

It's Glory's third National Day, but i think it's the first one she's really aware of.
We didn't have tickets to the parade, so we had to make do with TV. I enjoyed the pre-parade video, about the events leading to Singapore's independence. I found myself giving Glory a history lesson, and she seemed to understand, which was quite cool. Charisma listened to, which makes me happy, coz i've always wanted to show off Singapore to foreigners. Yes, in spite of all my new-found discontentment with the state of our country, i am a patriot at heart.

Thanks to Glory's school, she's very excited about the Flag (especially the moon) and can kinda sing the Anthem. When the anthem was played, she eagerly stood up and sang along. The words were mangled of coz, but at least you could tell she was singing the anthem.

I pointed out to her the various ministers and state leaders and pioneers, secretly hoping she would remember their names and what they did. For example, "This is the Prime Minister, his name is Lee Hsien Loong. Remember just now we saw Lee Kuan Yew? This Lee Hsien Loong is his baby, Lee Kuan Yew is the Papa. Prime minister means he is the leader of Singapore. "
When it came to the president, i had a bit of trouble. I mean, how do you explain that his was a figurehead, representing the state of Singapore?  I finally managed a pathetic "his job is to pretend to be the leader, to act as the leader of Singapore. But actually he is not".
Not a very good job i admit. ah well. She'll learn the model answers when she goes to school.

As the parade went on, she lost interest and started drawing. (godma gave her this supercool marker that can change colours) But she was still keeping an eye and a ear on the parade. When the song "stand up for singapore" came on, she actually put her markers down and stood up. After a couple of repetitions of the chorus line, she indignantly exclaimed, "I stand up already!"

Can i say that of myself?
My love for Singapore these days is hardly shown. I tear when i hear "Home" (and quickly think of random nonsense to stop myself from over-emo-ing.. dun want ppl to see la).  i feel proud and happy when Charisma wows at the beauty of the city skyline as we drive past MBS and the flyer. We went up to the highest storey to catch the fireworks, and when 8:10 came, i half wanted to get all the neighbours crowded there to recite the pledge together. But i didn't. Why?

很久没有站起来了。
The love is still there in my heart, but i've not been standing up very much any more.
:(

Nobody but you!

The weekend went well.

We enjoyed our time with Celeste, and yeah, I got to know her better.

Unlike Glory, whose funny behaviour and speeches make her in-your-face entertaining, Celeste is is like coffee to Glory’s chocolate. She’s more nuanced, more subtle, yet rich and full. You could gulp it down, but if you take your time, you get to take in the aroma, swirl it around your mouth a little longer, and then slowly enjoy the shiok milky after-taste.

And in case you’ve never had the pleasure of slowly enjoying Celeste, generous me shall share ;)

   1. She’s fascinated with sounds. I finally understood her obsession with throwing things. She enjoys the sound objects make when they hit the ground. She loves windows and doors and floors for the same reason too. She taps, there’s a sound, and she’s delighted. You know she’s thrilled, because she looks at you like she has just played Beethovan’s Fifth Symphony singlehandedly, and you’re supposed to be impressed and pleased.

And here, a video of Celeste’s performance. Tap floor, throw remote, making loads of lovely sounds… but when the remote lands on her toes instead, she realizes she doesn’t want this video clip shown to the world, and attacks my iPhone. :<

   2. She’s gonna get her ways with guys. Seriously, I don’t know where she picked this up from, but she has this absolutely seductive gaze. She looks at your eyes, looks down shyly, then gazes at your lips as you speak with her, occasionally looking into your eyes again, with her big, innocent, round eyes fringed with long lashes. W-I-N lor. Not only that, she’s such a tender and generous kisser too. You just have to start her with Mmmm-mmuak, mmmm-mmuak, and she’ll continue kissing you non-stop. I tell you, her lips are so soft and sweet. Just that she’s not very accurate, so you need to position your lips youself. And you have to choose the right moment, coz her lips are sometimes covered with saliva + biscuit crumbs. Maybe that’s why it’s sweet.

   3. She is an Eater. So what if she’s had her rice cereal? If you’re eating, she’s gonna want some too. She eats more than Glory does. For dinner, Glory takes like a tablespoon of vege, two tablespoons of meat, two tablespoons of rice and a little bowl of soup on good days. And you have to make the food hop/ swim/ fly into her mouth, or pretend to call her a baby and fuss over feeding her, or starve her for lunch in order to have her finish up her dinner portion. Celeste? She downs a large bowl, and would be more than happy to help you with yours.

   4. She’s a diver. She knows when Glory crosses the line (eg speaks fiercely to her, shoves her, hits her, snatches things from her), and never mind that Glory’s attacks are absolutely not painful, she wails like she’s so hurt and traumatized.

   5. That said, she loves Glory. When Glory enters the room, she’s all excited like Daominsi just walked in (ok, I am outdated, but at least I’m faithful). She idolizes her JieJie, kinda like how Glory gets excited when she sees Shannon JieJie.

   6. She’s not into books. (Yet. Mummy’s gonna change that.) Unlike Glory who can never get enough of books, Celeste thinks books are overrated. They rank below tissue paper in terms of taste, and they perform poorly in sound-generation too. When mummy corners her and whips out a book, she turns and flees, while mummy desperately reads on with as much expression and excitement as possible, hoping that my fantastic rendition of SuperCar would entice her back…. It usually always proves futile. Which leaves me looking rather silly and loser-ish. Unless of course, Glory’s in the room and she comes scurrying to me upon seeing my lap empty and available. Which makes me feel very good and wanted, like I’m a fantastic reader. The flip side of course, is that Glory won’t stop at one book. Or two. Or five. Or ten.

   7. She wants to watch the fireworks, but is mildly startled by the noise. So she whimpers and cuddles close, but still peers curiously. So girly can. Like those damsel in distress on amusement park rides/ horror flicks. See, told you, she’s gonna be a hit with the boys. Except Papa’s probably gonna ban her from watching horror flicks in darkened cinema theatres with guys. Oh wait. I forgot. Papa’s already banned all outings with boys…

   8. Don't ignore her when her face turns red. It means a poop is coming - and real quick! I was in the bath (oooo, love the fairmont tub!) with her when her face turned red and i knew IT was coming. What i didn't know was how little time i had. I had barely gotten out of the tub and crossed the shower area when a cute little pellet fell out. :) Very cute, round and tiny. O

Anyways... in case Celeste develops a love for reading and actually reads Mama's blog one day, here's a note for you baby:

 I love you baby!  You are such a treasure!

Happy First Birthday, and for the rest of your life, may you grow from strength to strength, beauty to beauty. May you have a compassionate heart, love for the oppressed and weak, a quiet and gentle spirit, a devoted, tender and passionate love for God. In Jesus' name i bless you with joy and contentment, with a soul and spirit that is constantly being recharged and refreshed by God's spirit, hearing intimately from him, and by God's grace always quick to obey his voice. May you be filled with talents and abilities and grace, and may you put these talents to work - Works, great or little, but always done with lots of love.

If Papa, Mama and JieJie could choose any baby  in the whole wide world to be in our family, we'd still want nobody nobody but you!

hehe... so goofy rite!

Hi Baby, I'd like to get to know you better...

Do you have more than one kid?
Do you feel a pang of guilt too?

When Glory was 11+ months, she has had her first Happy Meal. She could do a chicken dance. She could ask for food in a very comprehensible way
She chased dogs and popped bubbles at the Botanic Gardens.
She had hobbies.

Celeste has been to MacDonald's too, but we're often too busy entertaining Glory and trying to keep her reasonably safe to really chat with Celeste. If we do buy a Happy Meal, chances are, Glory would get first go at the toy. Celeste would probably get a napkin or something.
Celeste has been to many picnics too... but mostly she watched Glory blow bubbles, play with boys and build castles.

When I look at my past blog entries about Glory when she was about one, it is very clear that she received very much more attention and interaction than Celeste did, and she was also very much more expressive and communicative. As in, I found her very reasonable, very understanding. Like a mini-adult. Whereas, Celeste is really a baby. She cries to get her way, scratches and pinches your face to show her displeasure, and doesn't seem to understand that i don't like her pulling my hair. With Glory, i just had to tell her twice, and she got it. From the time she was a couple of months old till today, she remembers she is not allowed to pull my hair.

I wonder if it's just that Glory is abnormally advanced. I mean, straight after she was born, she was checking out sounds, listening to Papa's singing and staring deep into my eyes, non-verbally explaining to me my duty to love and care for her for the rest of my life, and telling me it was my fault her nose was flat. Celeste, on the other hand, was a regular baby who was squiggling in my arms, wailing for the comfort of the womb.

Or perhaps.... it's actually that I have failed to connect with Celeste the same way i connected with Glory. With Glory, we started off without a domestic helper. As we didn't get a confinement nanny as well, i was 100% hands-on. Plus, I was alone with her at home during my maternal leave, so i discussed everything with her, from "when will daddy be home" to "mummy's crying because of hormonal changes" to "let's pray for whoever we see outside the window".
 With Celeste, Aunty Flo was here when she was born. And she spent almost 2 weeks in hospital.
And Glory was going through an "I only want Mama" phase and demanding so much of my attention. And whatever time i have at home at the end of a work day, i had to split my attention between two (or three, if you count munch)...

Am i shortchanging Celeste?
I don't know how much of this matters to her.
But i know i didn't like it when MY mummy explained to me why she had to spend more time on my brother than on me, even if she insisted that she loves us all equally.

I want Celeste to know and feel she is greatly loved and treasured.
And i want to know her so well, that i would be able to understand why she feels a need to throw her toys, pull my hair etc. (I'm sure deep down she is very reasonable too, i just need to understand her better.)
Which is why this weekend, Celeste is getting a hotel stay with Papa and Mama, while Glory and Charisma are staying with GongGong & PoPo.

Yups, that's her birthday celebration, and mine!

The Weekend, through a toddler's eyes

Hi, I am Glory, and I am going to tell you about my weekend.

Weekends are special because i get to see a lot of Papa, Mama, Celeste and Aunty.

This weekend started with a trip to the neighbourhood playground. There was a sandpit! I was so excited but i didn't have my pail and shovel with me. A lady with three children had shovels and pails though. They were all playing in the sandpit happily, and i really wanted to join in.
The memory of Hello Kitty's adventures flashed through my mind, and I recalled that it's NOT common protocol to barge in and shout at the children.
Plus I knew the toys did not belong to me, so i couldn't just walk right up and play.
So I asked, "Please, can i ... the pail ?"
The Aunty answered on behalf of the children that i could, so i joined in! It was so much fun!

Mummy was right! The playground is so much more fun when there are friends to play with, and it's easy to make friends when you are friendly and polite to them!

Later, i saw another girl with a dog, and i used the magic phrase "Please, can i" again to get permission to sayang her dog. The CheChe was a Caucasian and didn't quite understand what i wanted to do, but another CheChe managed to tell the Caucasian CheChe what i wanted. The dog wanted to run around, so the CheChe had to forcibly hold the dog still for me to sayang. I guess the dog didn't enjoy it as much as i did.

 I had so much fun that I decided that i wanted to sayang a bigger dog too. I tried using "Please can i..." but Papa would have none of it. Isn't Papa strange? I'm sure the nice Uncle would have let me pat the German Shepherd if i asked politely.

On Saturday morning, I went to the beach!

Check out the beautiful blue sky and lovely weather!

And this time i brought my sand-pit toys!

And, as expected, knowing my mummy, she searched out a boy on the beach without sand-pit toys, enticed him over, and made me practise offering and sharing my toys. *roll eyes*

Children of teachers have it hard, i tell you. Everything in life is a secret object lesson.

The dark brown plops you see at the lower left corner are not poo. They're castles, and they're brown because Papa got me some wet sand. Yes, Papa's pretty serious about his sandcastles. He trained me in my room, making me fill my pail with imaginary sand, fill the molds with imaginary sand, count 1-2-3 and flip the molds over, and then tap-tap-tap on the molds to loosen the (imaginary) sand.

Which makes me the best toddler sandcastle-maker on the beach that day. Wee-hee!

Celeste still can't play with sand. Or maybe mama reckons the clean-up required doesn't justify letting her play. In any case, all she did was sit on the mat and eat.

I shared my box of raisins with her, which pleased Mama no end. She took like 3 video recordings of me feeding Celeste raisins, wtf. And she kept congratulating herself on the success of some Sisterly Love Project. Get a grip, Mama, i wanted to tell her, it's just raisins! But of coz, i held my tongue. Don't want to risk the raisins being taken away.

I also blew bubbles for MeiMei to catch. Yups, it's the bubble from Jireh's birthday! I really love it! When i pull the wand out, just the sea breeze alone is enough to produce many big bubbles!!

In the picture with me is my Aunty Charisma. She surprised us by bounding up a tree. She says she can even climb up a coconut tree, and she'll show us when we go to Cebu at the end of the year.

#################################

Sunday is church day.

Church is where people gather to sing and talk about Jesus.

Jesus is a cool guy who loves children (his friends wanted to chase little children away but he stopped them. He also loves a short person hiding in a tree), loves me (this i know, for the bible tells me so), and can make a lame person walk and jump.

He's also known as God, or Lord, like when we say "Thank you Lord for the food we are about to eat Amen", we're actually talking to Jesus.

In any case, many people come to church. Like Kaijie, BenBen, Josiah, Shannon JieJie and Megan JieJie. And of coz, Godpa and Godma! =) I love seeing my friends at church!

But the waiting area's a madhouse i tell you! There are SOOOO many people! Here are some pictures i took so you can see what i mean.

check out the crowd i'm supposed to maneuver.

an uncle stops to say hi. His hair is very spiky.

Will the mosquitoes feel pain if they try to land on his hair?

Will my balloon burst?

Aunty Iris.

I told mama i like aunty iris, now whenever i meet her face to face i am too shy to say anything.

Aunty Agnes. See, i'm such a good photographer! Nice pic, right!

Ok, now gotta make a dash for it already.

Papa here?

Check.

Mama here?

Check.

Ok, i'll just follow mama's white skirt through the crowd.

Made it!

Good thing i can run so fast!

=)

Project Sisterly Love and Project Friendly Face

After a concerted family effort at inculcating sisterly love into her, Glory is now a much better CheChe.
She lovingly watches out for Celeste, and takes it upon herself to be Celeste’s spokesperson. She helps us interpret Celeste’s whining and fussing, and tells us when Celeste wants to eat/ sleep/ wants us to help her pick up the toy that she dropped for the nth time.

Here are a few loving moments...

Last Sunday, on the drive back from church, C kept dropping her rattle in the car, and I grew tired of picking it up. C fussed, and G told me “Meimei wants the rattle. Need to pick up for her.” I complained that I’ve picked it up sooooo many times already, and that C keeps dropping them, but G coolly and firmly told me “Still need to pick up.”
 -_-
Made it sound like I am the unhelpful mummy, and she the magnanimous big sister.
Another time, Glory informed us that Celeste wanted more lychee. We thought Glory was just saying that to score another lychee for herself. Munch and I exchanged looks, and decided to play along to see if our suspicions were right. But when we passed her the piece of lychee, she really tried to feed Celeste! Put us to shame. Some would even say dog eyes see people low.
On yet another occasion when Celeste was trying to cruise, Glory stood close behind her, holding out her hands, as if ready to catch Celeste should she fall. <3 So cute right? She honestly believes that her smally 11kg body is capable of holding up 8kg of Celeste!

And just last week, we took them out for a walk on their double stroller. Glory used to want the front seat – for the better view, perhaps. Now she takes the back seat so that she can watch Celeste.
Now, because the seat is quite wide, and Celeste is not all that steady yet, she has a tendency to flop all over, and might bump her head on the hard plasticy bits of the stroller.
“Mei Mei, lie down,” she instructed, “ Don’t fall down.”
Celeste being Celeste, did not heed Che Che’s advice to lie back. True enough, at the next bump, Celeste toppled over, hit her head against the plastic and started crying.



“What happened?” I asked.

“MeiMei knock her head.” Glory reported. She promptly put her little hands over the hard plastic bits so as to cushion Celeste from further knocks, and informed us, “I cover for mei mei.” And just in case we didn’t notice, she added, “So kind.”

*roll eyes*
yes, my little Glory is given to self-praise at times. Let her try on new dresses or brush her hair, and she says "So pretty." Sometimes, she even tells you out of the blue that "Glory's eyes so BIG!". She scampers along the shopping mall and informs you that she's running very fast.

Whatever.
Anyway, I hereby declare Project Sisterly Love a success!


But as much as love can be blind, love can also be manifested in the unceasing quest to “improve” a person.
I've noticed a need for a new project already – Project Friendly Face.
We took her to the playground the other day, and a little girl was telling her daddy she didn’t want to go home. “No I don’t want,” she said.
Glory immediately took her to task.

“NO I DON’T WANT!” Glory shouted back.

(????)

The other girl and her daddy stared at Glory, stunned. Munch and I were shocked too.

“NO! (insert incoherent but fierce mumble)….. DON’T BE FIERCE TO ME!” Glory continued her tirade.

Embarrassed, I quickly apologized to the girl and her daddy, and explained to Glory that the girl was not being fierce to her. Heck, she wasn’t even talking to her, she was talking to her daddy!

Agh.

Thank goodness the man was quite understanding and still tried to smile and wave at Glory. My little monster did not smile and wave back of course, but at least she stopped growling and snapping at the poor strangers.



Then I recalled that (with very few exceptions,) her instinct when meeting new kids for the first time was to put on a very hostile face, and bossily “scold” the kid, whether warranted or not! Like, the kid could merely be running past her, and he’d get a chiding. Or just look like he was going to walk towards me, and she’d rush forward, arms stretched out, ready to push him to an acceptable distance.
Ha, my personal security guard, that one.
But it really got me worried.
You know, I’ve read articles about how kids who were successful and popular at the playgrounds grew up to be successful people later on in life. It’s some EQ/ inate-leadership-quality/ charisma thingy. And I want my girls to have that!
What if she kept up with this guard-dog nonsense all through her school years? What if she had no friends? What if she was the kind of girl that when she turns up at the playground, all the boys and girls (and their parents) flee for their lives?
So last night, Project Friendly Face started.
Introducing the key players of Project Friendly Face.

Front row from left to right:

Hello Kitty, the star of the story.

Noah (of Noah's Ark fame.)

Doraemon aka Xiao Ding Dang,

Little Pony,

Noah's Che Che

( I think she was supposed to be Noah's wife, but I blurted out "Noah's Che Che" during the play, so she's Noah's Che Che ever since)

And behind them, Gingerbread Man.

The two extra Hello Kittys are not in the story.

Act 1:

Hello Kitty sees children playing together. She wants to play too. She approaches the group and shouts “NO! I DON’T WANT” , and even pushes Noah. Noah is sad and cries to his friends.

She does this to Gingerbread Man and Little Pony too.

The other kids are upset and moves away, saying they don’t want to play with Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty is sad and goes to Glory for help.

"I want to play with the children, but i shouted and they don't want to play with me. Waa waaa waaaaaa..."

Glory genuinely looks concerned.

“Go nearer,” she suggests.

(SEE! She honestly doesn't think the fierce shouting led to the lack of friends! How? )

“Go nearer and smile and say hello?” Hello Kitty prompts.

Glory nods.

Hello Kitty goes nearer, smiles and says “Hellllloooo!!!”

All the children says hello back and they all play Ring Around the Rosy together.

Yay! They all had fun!

Act 2:

Hell Kitty sees children playing. She remembers that she should smile and say hello.

She approaches the group, smiles and says hello.

They invite her to play hide and seek with them.

They all played happily together, hiding in various parts of Glory's room.

~The End ~

Glory obviously enjoyed watching the show. She kept asking for more. You could tell from her expression she identifies with and feels for Hello Kitty's predicament.
And it was fun for Munch and me too, coz face it, the storyline was silly, and we were trying our darndest not to burst out laughing, especially at the crying scenes.
We've even got a sequel in the pipeline! Can't wait to show it to her tomorrow night!!
Haha... parenting is so much fun. =)

The best thing is, it seems like Project Friendly Face is working already! On the way home today, Glory made me backtrack to our neighbour's door so she could wave and say hi to the Grandma and Grandpa!

=) =) So friendly right!

Fingers crossed and praying hard!

;)

Two Year Old!

My little two year old... How cute can a toddler be?

Know what i love doing at night as i lay in bed with munch?

Recounting the amazing, funny, strange, sweet, clever, sometimes naughty things Glory did during the day.
It's become one of our most-loved end-of-the-day rituals, along with fiddling with our iPhones.

I love it when Glory speaks lovingly and tenderly when she thinks we are in pain. Yes, she thinks we're in pain when we have a pimple, a mozzie bite, or when we bump ourselves. She'd come over, and with a very concerned and distraught expression (showing empathy), ask, " Is it painful, Mama? You want Glory to sayang?"
Then she'd very gently sayang.
"Are you ok? Don't cry...."

 "Mama, Be Happy!"
(At this point, she'd expect you to completely get over your boo-boo and smile your brightest)

Sometimes she'd do it to her toys too... she thinks they hurt when she drops them accidentally. We'd see her fawning over Noah (from the Ark), and when we ask her why, she'd explain, "Uncle is painful. Glory drop Uncle, Uncle's head knock the floor."

I love how she speaks. So many funny little quirks...
Like when she talks about herself, she earnestly presses her hands to her chest when she says "Glory".
When we see a lorry, she jests that it is a "glory", and breaks into an infectious laugh. So self assured hor? Can even make fun of her own name.
When she wants to relate a past event, she always says it happened "yesterday". And you thought we have been bringing her to the zoo to see the giraffe everyday huh?

"Yesterday i see the giraffe at the zoo. 

The giraffe eat the carrot and the leaves. 

The giraffe likes the leaves. "

On that note, you might also have heard that "yesterday" she went to the market and saw a monkey. That didn't actually happen. It's from a book she's been reading.

I love the way she sings, and sometimes mixes up the lyrics. ("O MacDonald had a farm and Bingo was his name oh! B-I-N-G-O.....) She sings more or less in tune, though she sounds better when she's not belting out the songs at the top of her lungs. (She's childcare centre trained, which explains her need to sing/ talk/ cry louder than is normally required. Needs to be heard above the voices of the other 10 kids screaming their hearts out) Her repertoire is pretty good too! It even includes several Chinese songs, though i am quite sure she has no idea what those songs mean.

I tried speaking to her in Chinese, and she just looks at me blankly. Yes, i'm sure the problem is with her ability to comprehend and not my ability to speak.

It's amazing how much she does seem to understand though, and how she seems to absorb everything. Provided you say it in English, of course.
I've sensed it since she was born - her ability to understand, to reason, to relate is very advanced... like she's a little adult. Even her teacher said so, when we went for her PTM last week.
Although according to Ms Wini, she's only about 5 months ahead.
But I know better. I'm the Mum.
And I say she's years ahead.

By the way, Ms Wini also said Glory loves music... They play classical music for the children during nap time, and while all the other kids were dozing off, my little wonder gets up and dances to the music.

SO CUTE RIGHT.

She's an angel baby, a miraculous kid, a prodigy, if there ever was one.

Ok, anyway, I am sure you can detect the pride in my words, so i might as well come right out and say it.

I THINK MY GLORY IS THE PRETTIEST SMARTEST* CUTEST COOLEST SWEETEST KID IN TOWN!

What! It's a mother's prerogative to think that about her children!

*Smartest, with the exception of Jireh. That boy is uber advanced, he was born knowing the animals found in various continents, and the digestive systems of frogs, and the scientific names of the trees found in Zimbabwe, and maybe even how to build a space shuttle from nothing but paper clips and batteries. Plus, he is completely well-behaved, polite and super sweet n loving towards his little sister.

yum thumb

I love Celeste's thumb.
It helps her to sleep.
When it's her bed time, she usually requires half an hour of cuddles with mama.
When her Cuddles-Tank is well topped up, all we need to do is to pop her into her cot. She would fuss for a while, flop over onto her tummy, then her thumb would pop in and work the magic.


I love cuddling with her...
She's so... milk-bun.
So soft and creamy and smooth.
Her arms are like those silken tofu... you know, those that comes in tubes?

pic from http://superiortofu.com/archives/155

When i hold her in my arms, and she looks up at me with those round, innocent eyes, and touches my face with her teeny tiny smooth fair fingers....
She's so achingly beautiful and lovely and sweet that i can't bear it.

My baby.
<333

Bankrupt

Jesus…
You are listening aren’t you?
Please give me wisdom.
Actually I have decided haven’t i?
Please help me to love them and glorify you these last days.
It’s unbelievable how I have become.
I used to split hairs over every nuance in my thought of you.
Now I callously and carelessly go through each day, giving only passing thoughts of you. Out of habit? Religiousity?
Or perhaps it is because we did and we do have a relationship, and you are faithfully holding on to me.
I long for the times when my heart was close to you, when I was growing more and more like you.
Now I can’t minister because I can’t be your mouthpiece because I can’t hear your thoughts.
Now I can’t teach because I don’t have your patience and your compassion and your sacrificial, unconditional love.
Now I am broke because I am not seeking your kingdom and cannot claim that “all these will be added unto me”, but I have to strive to get them – food, shelter, clothes…
And I need to return, not for any noble motives, but simply that I am reduced to eating pigs’ food and I yearn to be in my Father’s palace.
Please take me back.

No Mei Mei! Don't Cry!

Glory has gotten over Aunty Aiyah.

From time to time, she does talk about her, but not in a sad way anymore. Now it's more like "Aunty Aiyah take airplane. Zoom! Yeaaaahhhh, Airplane!!!!"

When she scrolls through the pictures on my iPhone, she still does a double take when she sees Aunty Aiyah’s pictures, and flips back to search for them again, calling Aunty Aiyah fondly. 

But she’s no longer nasty toward Aunty Charisma. In fact, she’s grown quite fond of Aunty Charisma too. Some mornings she even cries to have Aunty Charisma accompany her to school.

So she’s more or less back to her usual self.

She can speak in complete sentences now – sometimes not very grammatical, but generally the sentence structure is there. Munch and I would be so impressed and stare at each other, counting under our breath as she strings together “long” sentences with 6 words, with adjectives, nouns, verbs etc all in the right place.

She puts her speaking prowess to good use too – making known her preferences, negotiating for extra eggs/ biscuits/ stories, and also bossing Celeste around.

“No MeiMei. This is Glory’s towel. Don’t touch Glory’s towel.”

Celeste doesn’t mind it, usually. She adores Glory and is thrilled whenever Glory pays any attention to her. Even though 90% of the sentences begin with “NO MEI MEI!” Celeste would still look at Glory lovingly, the affection and adulation pouring out of her dreamy eyes.

Except when Glory shouts at her. Which is quite often. It REALLY scares Celeste, coz Glory has developed a very loud, bossy, assertive, childcare-centre-tough-kid kind of shout. It literally makes Celeste jump.

Celeste has since learnt that acting cute, sweet, innocent etc gets her nowhere with stopping jiejie’s shouting, so she goes for the oldest trick in the book…WAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

To which Glory would also cry along (coz it means mummy’s gonna come running and tell her off for shouting at meimei), or desperately command Celeste “No, Celeste, don’t cry. No no no Mei Mei!”

Sigh. Hardly the i-brush-your-hair-you-brush-mine relationship I expected the sisters to have.

But I find that when I persist and MAKE them play together and share toys, things do get better after awhile.

Like today, when we brought them down for a ride on the bike.

There’s just ONE bike, and it belongs to Glory. When we put Celeste on it, Glory was so possessive at first, we were on our toes, ready to pull her away should she decide to remove Celeste forcibly on her own.

But when we gave her the big-sisterly duty of bringing Celeste around the blocks searching for a black cat that fled into a drain, she was such a terrific Jie Jie! She held on to one handlebar of the bike, walked responsibly next to Celeste, and explained to her what the expedition was about, giving a rundown of when and where the cat was last seen etc. 

When the expedition proved long and futile, she tried to entertain Celeste by singing songs that Teacher NiNi (Wini) taught her.

But when the expedition grew REALLY long and tiring, Glory announced that she didn’t want to bring MeiMei around anymore.

Which devastated Celeste.

Celeste tried act sweet/cute/innocent to persuade Glory to continue walking with her by gently holding Glory’s arm…. BIG MISTAKE!

It's so hard to say goodbye...

A heartbreaking sight...
As Aunty walked into the departure gate, Glory seemed to understand the significance of it.
"Aunty Aiyah!" she called, voice breaking with emotions.
Aunty waved, wiping her tears away.
"Aunty Aiyah! Aunty Aiyah!" Glory cried, pointing for me to follow Aunty through the gate as well. Tears were flowing down her cheeks by now, but she wasn't bawling. Persistently she continued calling for Aunty - Aunty always answered, didn't she?
But not this time, she couldn't. The glass wall between Glory and Florencia was insurmountable this time, not like the safety-gate at the door of her room. And it was permanent, not like the games of hide-and-seek or Peekaboos.

 I explained that we couldn't enter, as we weren't taking a plane.
"Aunty take airplane," Glory recited. "Go to Fee Peen Peen. Aunty go home."
We've been trying to prepare her, so we told her Aunty was taking airplane to Philippines, Aunty was going home, Aunty wants to see her own Babies.

My heart broke for Glory... i don't know how much of Goodbye she understood, much less Goodbye Forever. Aunty came into our home when Glory was 7 months old - still toothless, still unable to sit, unable to speak. Aunty took care of Glory when we were at work, Aunty came along for her healthchecks and jabs, Aunty fed her medicine, and bathed her. Aunty propped her up like a tripod to practice sitting, Aunty practiced walking with her when Mummy was too pregnant to, Aunty made milk for her and cooked for her. Aunty was so much a part of her daily routine, I don't think she can even remember life without Aunty.

As we left the airport, Glory was momentarily distracted by Ronald McDonald, birds and clouds, but she was silent the entire ride back home. As we reached home, she seemed to expect Aunty to be back at home. "Aunty Aiyah" she called, as if Aunty would open the door and greet her. When we said Aunty's going home, did she think Aunty was going back to our home?

Sigh.
Poor kid.

She hasn't gotten used to New Aunty yet.
I hope she does.
We're taking her to the zoo tomorrow to cheer her up, and also to get her better acquainted with New Aunty.

The painful thing is that even if she does grow to love New Aunty as well, one day she'll still have to say goodbye.

:(

You're the red that turns my blue purple!

Perhaps it's the newly loaded timetable, and the unpleasant issues surrounding it.
Perhaps it's the issue with Flor - having to send her back, and the discomfiture it necessarily entails.
Perhaps it's the worry about how the new helper would be like, and how Glory will take the changes.
Perhaps it's the tiredness of the past week - long workdays and nights.
Perhaps it's the doubts i started having about Glory's school - she seems increasingly neglected there, with the falls, increased whining, and soiled diapers that went unnoticed.
Perhaps it's Celeste's slight fever, and the general warning that HFMD may be coming around.

Whatever it is, or maybe it's a combination of everything, the blues are here.
With a vengeance.
Even a whole bottle of pineapple tarts couldn't help it.

I'm just trying to get through the day...
* * *
Thinking of my babies makes it better though.

Glory's such a laugh.
Yesterday, she put my breast-feeding bib over herself, and told Celeste, "Meimei, hide here!" indicating for Celeste to go under the bib.
Apparently, all the while i was breastfeeding Celeste, Glory thought we were playing Hide-and-Seek.

Celeste couldn't oblige, obviously, so Glory continued calling Celeste.
"MeiMei, meimei"
Of course, Celeste did not answer.
Exasperated, Glory exclaimed, "MEI MEI!!! JIEJIE CALLING YOU!"

She's a bossy one, this jiejie.
* * *
Celeste is a bliss to cuddle! She's so affectionate too, stroking our faces, talking and gurgling and cooing to us. In the mornings, after her morning milk, she would roll over onto her tummy, study my sleepy face and occasionally lean her head on my body. She would break into a sweet smile when i open my eyes and our eyes meet.
It's so sweet the way she makes herself comfortable on your body. She'll somehow suss out the most comfortable spots and drape herself all over you, resting her head delicately and trustingly... and all you could think is "Awwwww... i love this baby." and you just want to hug her and protect her all the days of her life.

And her first two teeth are starting to show!
* * *
Yups, absolutely delightful, my babies.
They are the reds that turn my blue purple,
or the yellows that turn my blue green.
Or the whites that turn my blue into a pretty sky.

You get the drift.

Don't Bluff Me.

Was reading an article by one of my favourite local writers, and in it, there was a slight jab at Christianity, along the lines that it was silly for the Bible to say money was the root of all evil.
I pointed out to her that the bible actually says that the LOVE of money is the root of ALL KINDS OF evil, which brings a rather different meaning.
I thought she wasn't aware of the misquote and misinterpretation, you see.
I thought if i pointed that out to her very politely and gently, she would be realise she had maligned the Holy Book, and ... i don't know...come to love the Bible?
When she replied, she simply agreed that the verse has very often been misquoted, and that Confucious has often been misquoted too.
Apart from the silly feeling of delight that she actually read my email and bothered to reply ( oh yeah, i'm a groupie at heart.) i was struck by the fact that it didn't seem all that important to her that her article contained inaccuracies. More than that, i was struck by the fact that she seemed to KNOW she was misquoting the Bible, but felt it ok if she could use the misquote to pepper up her writing.
Of course, she didn't need to accord the same awe and reverance to the bible as Christians do. Of course, as a writer, she takes the artistic license to paint the world through her lenses. I suppose, from her point of view, it is no different from, say, writing in incomplete sentences to bring across a particular emotion.
It nagged at me though, that to the man in the street, to the folks on the net who read her writings but haven't investigated the bible, the Bible is further and further obscured.
- - -
It happened again on Total Defence Day. The sirens were sounded to commemorate the fall of Singapore to the Japs during World War 2 at noon. This time, one of my favourite bloggers/writers twittered "What kind of f**kwit decides to test the civil defence alarm on the second day of Chinese New Year?"
He knew what it really was lah.
He just wanted to jab at them.
But if you weren't aware of Total Defence Day, wouldn't you come to the conclusion that the SCDF/the government/ "they" are really moronic f**kwit?
See, again, purposely misrepresent.
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Then i wondered... why am i so anal about it?
Is it out of a sense of loyalty to God? Perhaps.
But it couldn't possibly be that i had a sense of loyalty to SCDF right?

I suppose it is because i always thought everyone speaks and writes what they TRULY believed. In my mind, creative distortions were only allowed when writing fiction, and they had to be clearly labelled as fiction.

It's not like we are going to take one article or one tweet and base our worldview on it.
But when all around us, every word is a mixture of half-truth and peppered-up personal opinions, we will subconsciusly form our beliefs based on these shaky rocks wouldn't we?

Ha, I'm such a prude!!
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But that aside, it really seems like everyone has taken to fibbing.
The maid agency, on why my helper was transferred.
The students, on why they were using their phones in class.
The teachers...
When writing testimonials, amongst other things... ;)

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