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

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.

Glory loves me!!

Mummy Mummy I Love You, 

composed and performed by Glory Faith Wong.

Lyrics


Mummy mummy I love you.
Mummy mummy I love you.
Mummy mummy I love you.
Oh Mummy mummy I love you.
Repeat

maybe i over-reacted...

I'm halfway through the BOOKS and i've learnt quite a few things, the most important lesson so far being that i've over-reacted.

I better set the record straight before i sabotage my daughter's chances of getting hitched. Yes i can just see it . Mothers warning their sons, "No, Ah Boy, you can't marry her. Haven't you heard? She's incredibly violent... Her own mother said it, so it must be true! What if you get into an argument with her and she TaBAH you?"

But seriously, i HAVE misrepresented Glory, and i'm not saying this just to up my chances of one day being a grandmother.

See, when i read the books, there were so many examples of difficult toddlers, and Glory's nowhere near that league. Put in perspective, she's an ANGEL. Even at her worst, she's just a very normal toddler.

And, as it turns out, although the word TaBAH has now become so commonly used it's in the running to become The Toddler's Lexicon New Word of the Year, it is actually not as violent as we first thought - it is sometimes used as a funny word, a sound word. It's meaning is more like "Watch out!", or "Look at me, Listen to me, Pay Attention to me" so she uses it not just when she's frustrated, but also when she wants to play.

Anyway, she hasn't been hitting in a while. I think this girl actually gets it when adults tell her not to, she doesn't even need further punishment. Like a couple of months back, she decided that pulling Mama's hair was fun. I put on a serious, displeased face, gravely told her not to, and she cried! And since then, she hasn't pulled my hair. In the same way, she now seems to be much better at expressing her frustrations without hitting.

She's also a lot less territorial. When we first put her in school, she wouldn't let anyone come near us. She guarded us like a watchdog, and when she saw another toddler heading our way, she'd get up, hold her hands up and gave a warning bark. ("DUFF!" she blasted) If the intruder didn't get it, she'd push them off by the forehead. After the first victim, the other kids got it and never dared venture near us again. Even when they wanted to, they'd back off at her DUFF.

Today, i peeked at her when she was in class. She was sitting among a group of children, drinking from her bottle. A classmate was fiddling with her bottle, but Glory seemed quite ok with it. Ha, i really got a kick out of seeing that scene, coz
1. Glory wasn't pushing her away or hitting her for touching her bottle.
2. Glory wasn't clinging on to an adult . Hooray for independence!
3. Glory was hanging out with kids!! She has friends! (i was a little worried she would be antisocial)
4. Glory has a female friend! =) (i was a little worried she would only hang out with boys)

Seriously, it's been fun seeing her grow as she gets used to school. Sure, the perpetually snotty nose is a bit of problem (and an eyesore) , but she's a lot less shy and clingy now. We went for a Christmas party last night and she actually sat around and smiled and made "small talks" with unfamiliar uncles and aunties. She understands when i tell her to wait, she even sits down, cross her legs, and repeats "Wait (for) Mama here."

Haha... i love her to bits, that cute little spark.
=)
Get in line, boys. And prospective mothers-in-laws.

Tough Love

That girl.
She really knows how to get herself out of trouble.
When adults are trying to correct her, she knows exactly the right answer.

Adult: Glory, can you hit?
Glory: Noooo. (shakes her head and wags a finger emphatically)
Adult: What happens when you hit?
Glory: Friend pain pain. Cannot hit.
Adult: Say sorry to XX.
Glory: Sorry XX. Sayang.

Then what else is there to say right??

Or check out this other tactic:
Munch: Glory, DO NOT pull papa's spectacles!
Glory:  M-u-a-a-k!(Cups papa's face in her hands and kisses papa on the lips)

Win already lor!

But as much as Munch and I secretly laugh over Glory's funny  naughty antics, we are determined to raise well-behaved, sociable, polite, discerning, upright, compassionate, respectful children.

So we went to the library to do some research on how best to outsmart this baby.

Raising your spirited child -

a guide for parents whose child is more intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, energetic.

Parenting with reason -

 evidence-based approaches to parenting dilemmas.

Parking lot rules and 75 other ideas for raising amazing children.

The Happiest Toddler on the block -

 The new way to stop the daily battle of wills and raise a secure and well-behaved one - to four-year-old

The no-cry discipline solution-

gentle ways to encourage good behaviour without whining, tantrums and tears.

Positive Discipline for preschoolers-

 raising children who are responsible, respectful and resourceful

I refuse to raise a brat -

 straightforward advice on parenting in an age of overindulgence.

The titles and tag-lines all sound so promising right! Well, hopefully we'll pick up some good strategies and ideas that'd work!

We got to work immediately, and here's what we've learnt today:

1. When she's angry, help her to find an acceptable way to express her anger. Glory's way is her infamous "TaBAH!". We told her that when she says TaBAH, she should put her hands on her hips instead of other children.

2. Give positive labels. This is similar to what we do in school when writing comments in report books ;)

Look at every trait positively. For example, i have an assertive and charismatic child. 

Gotta go read some more now! 

人之初， 性本善？

Glory was such an easy, angelic baby.

She was reasonable, patient, easy-going and low maintenance... Everyone agreed i got it easy.

She started sleeping through the night before she was three months old. She hardly cried. She was always cheery and smiling. Even when she was hungry, all she did was thump her legs and arms, and waited for me to attend to her. Uh-huh. She waited.

She was so meek and gentle too! When her cousin kicked her, she didn't retaliate. When the cousin hit her on her head, she merely looked at us adults with teary, beseeching eyes.

Needless to say, when i was planning to put her in childcare, one of the most important criteria was that the teachers were able to handle naughty, boisterous boys (oh yes, i'm sexist) so that my darling angel would be safe.

Little did i know...

***

Soon after Glory started school, we noticed that she started hitting when she was frustrated. It wasn't a hard hit, and she didn't look like she meant it to inflict pain. It just looked like an expression of frustration.

But it worried us...

we're very careful with her sources of influence, and as much as possible, we keep her world very sanitised. No one in the family swears. No one shouts or speaks rudely. No one hits. We screen every book she reads. She only watches Barney, Nursery Rhymes, Your Baby Can Read and Wink To Learn Chinese. And they do not hit. They read words, they sing, they dance, they hold hands and run in circles, they speak to one another with exaggerated animation and enthusiasm.

But they do not hit.

So how on earth did she learn to hit??

Not only that, her hits even came with a sound effect.

"Ta BAH!"

Now i was sure she didn't learn this from home. Naturally, i concluded she picked this up from someone in school.  "Must be one of the boys," i thought. Glory seemed to be more inclined to befriend boys than girls. And boys, i believed, are generally more likely to hit and say strange things like TaBAH!

I wrote a note to her teachers. Perhaps they could do something before my angel learns more bad stuff from the boys...

***

Today i was thrown off my high horse.

Apparently, Glory didn't learn "Ta BAH!" from any of the boys. Apparently, the kids in her class have never heard of the term "Ta BAH" until Glory came along.

Today, i received a note from the teacher, informing me that Glory has started a new "trend".

"Some of the kids in class has started to mimic Glory's word "tapaw!" whenever she gets upset. Subsequently she'll also hit the person who upsets her.  I guess she's marking her territory!"

omg

***

From today on, Glory Faith Wong Si Syun is gonna attend Moral Education classes every night.

Pepper throws a tantrum. Pepper learns to take turns. Let's be Polite. Let's be Kind...

These books were screaming "BUY ME, I AM GLORY'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT!"

My Babies

Hi, I'm Celeste, and that's my sister, Glory. Do we look alike?

Pink overalls, hair-clip, round eyes...

Check out our eyebrows and lips!

We even have the same expression!

We love biting our lower lips!

i love my JieJie, coz when i am down,

She'd give me a kiss,

a hug,

and patpat me!

Recently, Papa and Mama took JieJie to Melbourne. Without me.

So, to make things up to me, they took me to.... Ikea.

It wasn't the most exciting place, really.

Sheesh. Parents.

Glory Goes to School

We've been searching for a childcare centre for Glory and after many visits, even enlisting the help of Glory's godma to observe, finally chose Rosyth Childcare Centre .

The children looked happy, the teachers looked positive, prepared and professional, the place was bright and airy, and the vibes were good. Munch liked the curriculum, Huiping and i liked the fact that the children were engaged and well-behaved, but not sedated. Plus, they had a pretty good integration and orientation plan for new kids.

So we decided to register Glory there.

During registration, we found out that the fees had JUST been raised, and in the 2 months or so we spent deliberating and confirming our choice, we've missed the original fees!

Ouch...

But in spite of that, we're still glad we chose Rosyth, coz Glory really seems to like it there!

Pictures (and captions!) provided by Rosyth Childcare Centre.

I thought it was a very nice touch, sending the parents a pictorial update of the child's first independent day in school.

Hehe, the caption is quite cute too, right! Though it probably wasn't what Glory was thinking. She was probably just thinking, like, "Wheeeeeee" or something.