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!