Dong Zhi 冬至

Yesterday, Ah Mah made Tang Yuan to celebrate Dong Zhi, which is the celebration of midwinter ( the winter solstice) in the Chinese calendar. Mostly, it falls on the 22nd of December each year but this year, it was on the 21st. I only found out today but I don't think your Ah Mah knows that she celebrated it a day late!

The winter solstice is when the earth is at a point in its orbit when one hemisphere is inclined farthest away from the sun, meaning that is is at it's lowest point in the horizon - a day when it is the shortest day and longest night in the year (for the people up north).

For your Ah Mah, the significance of eating the Tang Yuan means that you are one year older.

For you, you only ate like 1/30th of the Tang Yuan and decided that it doesn't taste good and refuse to eat any more. You did however, liked the soup and drank quite a fair bit of the pandan leaves flavoured brown sugar syrup. (",)

2 new additions (from Finland)

Got these for you from Finland last week. A green tractor with a front end loader and an excavator - to add to your rubbish truck.


Quite excited. Christmas is round the corner again and this will be your second. I've decided I'm going to show you how to open your own presents. We are missing the christmas tree but that's okay I think. By the way, did you know that having a small evergreen tree (the christmas tree) in the house is a German tradition?

If you are wondering what christmas is, the word comes from the words Cristes Maesse which, means "Christ's Mass". Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus for members of the Christian religion.

Historians pegged the first celebration of Chrismas to Rome in 336AD. So, is Christmas really Jesus' birthday? No one really knows. What is known is that Christian leaders set it to this date in an attempt to eclipse a popular pagan holiday in Rome - Saturnalia - The winter solstice.

My advice? Believe in God and don't put that same faith on mankind.

Hi!

Views from the top @ 15 months

You turned 15 months this weekend and what a busy busy weekend it was. One of your aunties from your father's side (your Grandmother's third sister's daugther to be specific) got married and in between attending her tea ceremony & wedding dinner, we also brought you house hunting, visiting a couple of new showflats as well as some pre-owned apartments. We can't decide where to stay. Somewhere near your Ah Mah and Ah Gong so we don't have to transfer you to and fro half of Singapore everyday? (Practical Short-Term) Somewhere near a good Primary school? (Kiasu) or somewhere near where there's more to do like East Coast? (Desired Aspiration)

BMI

Yesterday's statistics...taken at your PD

Temperature: 38.7 degrees
Height: 83cm
Weight: 11.4kg

And now, just out of curiousity, calculating your BMI (Body Mass Index):

BMI = Weight(KG)/ Height(m) X Height(m)
= 11.4 / 0.83 X 0.83
= 16.55

Which means you sit on the 50th percentile BMI-for-age 2.

Comtemplating Careers

Fisher-Price GeoTrax

Mummy's getting hooked into this rail and road system. Already spent almost S$300 on them. Last friday, when I got back from Sydney with another mega set, all 3 generations of men in the household got into action - your Gong Gong, Gu Gu, Pa Pa & you - to set it up. Actually, them to set it up and you to make it more challenging for them.


When it comes to toys, how much is enough and how much is one too many?

World's youngest Daytona Arcade Champion

Morning jaunt to the playground

Fruits and veggies with kaya

Life lessons in the morning

On the way to work this morning, together with Gong Gong, Ah Mah and you in the car, your Ah Mah told me about the TV programme she saw in the morning. It was about this guy who said that one should never complain about having no time. If one has no time, then one might as well just no live. The example given was one should not only just work, one should find time to pursue one's interest. The assumption is that passions and work do not come hand in hand for most people. Lesson No.1: Find time to pursue your interests

Your Ah Mah went tell the story of how this same person likes take redeye flights and was happily enjoying his nightcaps when the plane started shaking violently because of bad air turbulence. He continued drinking casually, unperturbed. The passenger beside him on the other hand, was a picture of panic. He held on to his seat, gripping them till his knuckles turned white. On landing, the passenger turned to him and said, "Have you died before?" This guy replied, "No. But I have lived before." Lesson No.2: Live each day to the fullest!

Lower Pierce Reservoir

My mother says I walk like my Grandfather owns the road.



Don't you think Singapore is really nice place? Look at this! It's BEAUTIFUL!

Diet Explosion

New additions to your menu recently:
-Whole beansprouts!!
-Noodles & Beansprouts from Laksa
-Kway Teow from Lor Mee
-Jacobs Cream Crackers
-Pumpkin Kueh
-Prata with curry dip!
-Stir fried chye sim
-Chwee Kueh
-Noodles from Mee Pok Dry with Chilli

Your favourite fruits: (I think in order of perference)
-Black seedless grapes with skin
-Freshly cut up oranges.
-Black cherries
-Watermelons
-......and Strawberries that are very very ripe.
-Avocadoes

Things we've let you have a taste:
-Teh Alia
-Coffee
-Earl Grey tea
-Choya (Umeshu Dento)
-Red Wine
-Beer

Food you spit out!:
-Bittergourd, the really bitter ones.

....I think you like it!

Rubbish Truck

Bought you a toy rubbish truck. I wonder how many mothers will actively look for a refuse truck and actually purchase one for their son. Must be only a few crazy ones out there because i had so much difficulty finding one! I hope you like this, as much as you are intrigued by it every time one passes by our house.

Precious moments

Was an hour late for my meeting this morning. Why? While watching Baby Songs by Hap Palmer on TV, you came by and hugged me, then snuggled yourself comfortably into my lap, head on my shoulders, arms loosely wrapped around mine and continued watching in that position. I couldn't move. Had no heart to. Besides, I was enjoying this......Heck the meetings! I couldn't buy this precious moment back even if I wanted to with all the money in the world!

Snotty hugging Tigger

Snotty visits the Pediatrician

"What's that? You want to put it in my ear? Take my temperature? No!"

Mr Brat says " Ee-yah-ee-yah-oooh"

What happens when Mummy goes away for a week? She comes back to a very sticky and whinny baby...who doesn't quite knows what he wants except demand for this and that and be physically carried by only me and I alone to anywhere he points to?

You behaved quite badly this week, refusing to sit on your highchair to be fed lunch or dinner, preferring to stand on the seat and lean precariously over the tray to grab, touch, knock, bang and fiddle with the stuff beyond your reach.

So Mr Brat, what did we do this weekend? Well, we brought you for an early Saturday morning swim in the new board shorts that Mummy bought for you in Sydney.


In the afternoon, we went to Gabe's 1st birthday party. Then, while Mummy attended Yoga class, you went shopping with Papa. In the evening, we had dinner at Seah Street Deli with your cousin Yinglin.

Sunday, we visited your YeYe and brought him out for lunch. You had some beef noodles on top of the avocado mash we prepared, slurping each strand up like a pro!

In the morning today, while changing your diapers, I sang, "Old Macdonald's had a farm...Ee-yah-ee-yah-ooooh" to keep you from moving around. The big surprise came when you said "Ee-yah. ee-yahhh-oh"! back in response.

Wow! Hahahhaarr.....! You had both your Papa and me in stitches! We weren't sure the first time we heard it but you said it again 2 more times.

5 syllables!!! Our baby genius! The world's smartest 13.5 month old baby!

Genealogy

Was fooling around with my lunch - a focaccia bread sandwich with avocadoes, mozarella, eggplant, grilled chicken, tomatoes and french onions - and taking pictures of it when this old lady walked up to my table and asked if she could share it with me. I said, "Sure, go ahead!"


She seemed like a nice old lady, the Granny sort and so I asked if she stayed around the area. This started a nice conversation between us. She told me that she was there doing some research on Genealogy. I cleverly asked what kind of "Genes" she was studying, thinking maybe birds or something like that, and then she said, "Family history!" Oh, ok. Now I know what 'Genealogy' means. =P

Anyway, this old lady could trace her ancestry back to the 1700's, when i guess the first white immigrants arrived on boats to Australia. In doing so, she also found many many cousins.

This set me thinking about our roots. My maternal grandmother, your greatgrandmother, once told me that her father wore pigtails and that they were rice farmers in China. Your Ah-Mah tells me that her father had a brother who headed for Thailand instead of coming to Singapore...which means that you may have Thai cousins?

This is the farthest I can get.

Incomplete and quite pathetic.

Perhaps when you are older, we'd take on this project of tracing your 'Jia Pu'. We'd find out where this cute Chinese boy in a Chinese-collared shirt came from. (",)

Have you ever seen a chilli so BIG?

If ever you see a bigger chilli, tell mummy k!

Sleepless in Sydney

This is the 5th time I think I'm here in Sydney. The last time I was here, you were here with me as well, albeit in my tummy then. (",)

I'm thinking, when I saw the Sydney Opera House once again, that I must be having a fortunate life, to be able to travel around the world and see so many new and wonderful things.

The morning in the papers here in Australia, the headlines are all about the latest sucide bombings. Bali has been bombed again. The lastest count is 26 dead, 122 injured.

I do not understand this business of blowing yourself up. Who and what can inspire you to do that? Why kill yourself? Why kill other people? Why kill people you've most probably not ever met in your life?

Many Australians travel to Bali. The Australians believed that they are the target in this latest round of bombings. 4 Australians are confirmed among the 26 dead. The other 22 could be anyone from anywhere in the world.

2 weeks ago, while I was in London, I do not help but feel very uneasy travelling on the London Underground. Less than 3 months ago, on July 7th, 4 suicide bombers struck the public transport system. 3 blew themselves up on the trains, 1 on the bus. More than 50 people died. Hundreds more injured.

Your father says that it is because we lead a privileged life that we will never understand the motivations behind these killers. I wonder than if this is indeed the heinous crime we have committed in the eyes of these terrorists.

I wonder how many people are killed in the war in Iraq. I wonder how many innocent people are killed. I wonder when this stupid war will end. I wonder when will people stop killing each other.

Tit for Tat? Or Tat for Tit? Or have they completely missed it?`

I do now know how to make the world a safe place for you to live in.

I can only pray that it remains a safe place for you to grow, to live and to enjoy its many wonders.

A mouthful of hay

You are getting better at walking and so your father and I though we'd bring you to some wide open spaces so you can show off your new skills!

We went to the Botanic Gardens on Saturday and then East Coast Park on Sunday. These pictures were taken in East Coast Park.

We wanted to hold your hands but you pulled them away. This escapade ended up with you falling, of all places, onto a muddied patch.

Dirty but safe on the grass patch, we left you alone to examine the fallen twigs and leaves as well as the miniature durians - more properly known as cones from the casurina trees.

At one point, you played with YeYe's walking stick, got tangled, lost your balance and fell on your face. You sat up, unhurt but a bit stunned, with a mouthful of dried grass in your mouth. That was so funny!

At some other point, you tried to hijack a tricycle and rearrange some portable stools belonging to your neighbouring picnickers. For all the disturbance you caused them, they rewarded you with a pack of mini M&Ms!

The privilege of being very very young.

You can get away with almost anything!

Harrods @ Knightsbridge

Mummy's in London and bought you 5 'touch & feel' books, a 24pc box of Jumbo Crayons from Crayola, a 8pc box of Super Washable First Markers, also from Crayola and a box of Disney Magic Artist Aquadraw Mini Mats. Hooray! Can't wait to get home and show them to you.

Weekend No.37

This is a sleepy weekend for you. You slept and slept most of Saturday and most of Sunday as well. Lazy weekend huh?

We attribute your exhaustion to the fact that you are now a full fledge walking toddler. You hardly crawl anywhere anymore, preferring to walk on your 2 little feet.

From the moment you wake up, off you go! Walk a bit, stumble a little, fall. Pick yourself up, find your balance, walk..... and on and on you go till you fall asleep again.

My baby.

Love you loads.

Hug Hug.

Year 2005 - Weekend No.36

Your weekend started with Qingyu's Birthday Party on Saturday at Queen's Condo....



we decided to go swimming in the pool...



...and then car racing around it.



Back at the party, you decided to play with the ice in the bucket...



...and got yourself ALL WET again.

Sunday, we went kite flying at Upper Seletar Reservoir with Ah Gong and Ah Mah. Ah Gong bought this kite while you were still in mommy's tummy in China with Ah Mah. He told Ah Mah he was going to fly this kite with you. The kite is really quite pretty - it's a butterfly with 'eyes' that flutter in the wind and wingtails that flitter in the breeze.



Mommy tried flying the kite as well but it ended up in the reservoir! Luckily we could fish it back out in one piece. Your Papa said he knew it was a stupid idea to fly the kite so near the water. *sigh*

We'd find a bigger open space and try again next time.

My First Year

Bob the Builder

Barney and Friends

You wasted $2 this weekend!

Brought you to the library over the weekend for this programme => Toddle down to these fun-filled sessions, where we will be sharing on the kind of books that are suitable for your little ones and even introduce some rhymes that your toddlers can boogie to at home. Admission is $2 per parent-child pair.

Your dad almost spat when he found that his S$2 note was useless in the library. They only accept cash cards. Cash not accepted, although it states on the note that it is legal tender. He would normally walk out immediately but for you, he grumbled as loudly as he could in the "please keep quiet" environment, swallowed his indignant bags of saliva and walked back to the counter to borrow a cash card so that he could enroll you into the session.

Hardly 2 seconds into the session and you wanted to make friends with the kids near to you, reaching out and trying to grab their sleeves/hands/hair, even their mommies'! While the caterpillar ate 4 roses, 5 strawberries and 6 leaves, you crawled and wiggled like one. When he turned into a cocoon after eating 10 peas, we tried to cocoon you in our arms as well. No success. By the time he turned into a butterfly (the next page), we knew you had to be freed from the class as well. The other mommies were getting visibly irritated with you.

We brought you to the playroom in the club. Freedom! You were much happier there.

It'd be a while before we bring you back to the library... with a cash card.

Bilingual Toddler

You turned 1 year old last week.

You can now....
Walk a few steps unassisted.
Stand upright from a squatting position.
Put both hands high up in the air when we say "So Big!"
Point to your toes when we ask you where they are (only when you are not wearing shoes - you can't find them when you have shoes on - much to our amusement).
Say "UP" when you go up the stairs.
Imitate me and say "Ma~an Ma~aan" when I ask you to slow down.
Wave Bye-Bye & send a flying kiss with a loud 'POUK'!
Shake your head.
Point to the same thing when we ask you where is the Banana? or Where is the Xiang Jiao?

You still....
Refuse to sit down quietly so that we can bathe you, preferring to sit outside of the tub most times.
Cry like a baby for milk in the mornings.
Pick and put all sorts of stuff into your mouth.
Refuse to stay still when we try to change your diaper.

You are now almost 10kg and 78cm tall. You started out a year ago at 3.45Kg and 50cm long.

Your first year.
You probably won't remember much of it.
We will.

(",)

Birthday Party

Your Guest List:
Janelle, Lucas & Chloe (Cousins)
EJ, EK, Charmaine & Rachel (Dad's Friend's)
Tomas, JunYu, Mika (Mom's Colleague's)
Qingyu, Wenjie, Kuan & Athena (Mom's Friend's)

Blogs

Was telling a friend of mine the other day that I have a blog and that it was about you. She commented that if it was about you, then shouldn't it be something private and that I should write it in a diary and keep it at home instead. Not put it all out in the open for the world to see. I guess she meant it was like parading yourself naked in public and enjoying their view.

I wonder if by the time you grow up, what kind of technology you'd be using. Your Porpor tells me that we didn't have a private home phone till I was about 2 or 3 years old. She tells me it was a big deal then to have a color TV at home as well. Our first computer in 1983 costs your Gonggong S$5K which was a small fortune, considering the 4-room flat he bought in 1974 only costs S$22K. Emails and Web didn't feature in my life until I was in the University. I didn't owned a mobile phone until your dad bought me one in 1998. 3G networks are less than a year old in Singapore. DVD home recorders are becoming ubiquitous only now.

So, back to diaries and blogs. I don't even know if by the time you grow up whether blogs will be around anymore or whether you'd get to read this at all.

For now, I appreciate not having to carve words in stone which i imagine would be painstakinlgy difficult. Blogs are the easiest and most convenient way to record my thoughts at the moment. I can access this site from almost anywhere, anytime, with or without my IBM T41 laptop. I can even add pictures, photos taken digitally with my 5.1mpix Sony Cybershot camera or Nokia N90 mobile phone wtih a 2mpix camera! ..... hopefully in the very near future, i can add some video clips as well?

Swing....swing.....

This place with the rings is located about 50 metres away from where we stay. 30 metres away from it, you start smiling. 15 metres away, you start chuckling. Once in sight, you'd stretch out for them.



It's hard to pry your fingers off, even though we think 5 mins is too long a time for someone your size to hang on to a thing like that.

The truth more likely? 5 mins is too long a time for oldies like us to hang on to you and not be exhausted by the effort. ***Hahahar***

What's in your name

陳 chen /a surname/
秉 bing /to grasp/hold/maintain/
陽 yang /positive(electric.)/sun/

Lessons from One Pretty Lady, A Million Frogs and Some Turtles

The Pretty Lady

Once upon a time a big monk and a little monk were traveling together.

They came to the bank of a river and found the bridge damaged. They had to wade across the river. There was a pretty lady who was stuck at the damaged bridge and couldn't cross the river. The big monk offered to carry the pretty lady across the river on his back. The lady accepted.

The little monk was shocked by the move of the big monk. "How can big disciple brother carry a lady when we are supposed to avoid all intimacy with females?" thought the little monk. But he kept quiet. The big monk carried the lady across the river and the small monk followed unhappily. When they crossed the river, the big monk let the lady down and they parted ways with her.

All along the way for several miles, the little monk was very unhappy with the act of the big monk. He was making up all kinds of accusations about the big monk in his head. This got him madder and madder. But he still kept quiet. And the big monk had no inclination to explain his situation.

Finally, at a rest point many hours later, the little monk could not stand it any further, he burst out angrily at the big monk. "How can you claim yourself a devout monk, when you seize the first opportunity to touch a female, especially when she is very pretty? All your teachings to me make you a big hypocrite."

The big monk looked surprised and said, "I had put down the pretty lady at the river bank many hours ago, how come you are still carrying her along?"

[This story reflects the thinking of many people today. We encounter many unpleasant things in our life, they irritate us and they make us angry. Sometimes, they cause us a lot of hurt, sometimes they cause us to be bitter or jealous. But like the little monk, we are not willing to let them go away. We keep on carrying the baggage of the "pretty lady" with us. We let them keep on coming back to hurt us, make us angry, make us bitter and cause us a lot of agony. Why? Simply because we are not willing to put down or let go of the baggage of the "pretty lady". We should let go of the pretty lady immediately after crossing the river, immediately after the unpleasant event is over. This will immediately remove all our agonies. There is no need to be further hurt by the unpleasant event after it is over. It is just that simple.]


The Frogs

A farmer came into town and asked the owner of a restaurant if he could use a million frog legs. The restaurant owner was shocked and asked the man where he could get so many frog legs! The farmer replied, "There is a pond near my house that is full of frogs --- millions of them. They croak all night long and they are about to make me crazy!" So the restaurant owner and the farmer made an agreement that the farmer would deliver frogs to the restaurant, five hundred at a time for the next several weeks.

The first week, the farmer returned to the restaurant looking rather sheepish, with two scrawny little frogs. The restaurant owner said, "Well... where are all the frogs?"

The farmer said, "I was mistaken. There were only these two frogs in the pond. But they sure were making a lot of noise!"

[Next time you hear somebody criticizing or making fun of you, remember, it's probably just a couple of noisy frogs. Also remember that problems always seem bigger in the dark. Have you ever laid in your bed at night worrying about things which seem almost overwhelming like a million frogs croaking? Chances are pretty good that when the morning comes, and you take a closer look, you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.]


The Turtles

A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. Turtles, being naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking for a suitable place for their outing.

During the second year of their journey they found a place ideal for them at last! For about six months they cleaned up the area, unpacked the picnic basket, and completed the arrangements.

Then they discovered they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home. Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell.

He agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until he returned. The family consented and the little turtle left. Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five years...six years...then on the seventh year of his absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting, "SEE! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going to go get the salt."

[Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we don't do anything ourselves.]

My Favourite Picture of You

This is my favourite picture of you thus far. It was snapped while you were in the hospital. 8 weeks old. Warded for severe bronchiolitis and lying on those clinical white sheets. But hey, what do you see?

A sickly, whiny baby? >>>NO.
A baby with the world's cheekiest grin? >>>YES!

Look at you! You were braver and stronger than any adult in your situation.

Wet nose? >>>GOT.
Defeated by it? >>>NO!

In the face of adversity my dear baby, Be Bold and Stay Jubilant! ...Always remember, you could already do this when you were just only 8 weeks old.

I am so very proud of you.

Discoveries

These last couple of weeks was all about new discoveries.

We discovered you could…

Open and close your fingers to the song "Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars".

Point to you ear when we ask you where it was.

Roll a ball back.

Stand upright unsupported for a couple of seconds.

Wave bye-bye ... although somewhat unwillingly.

Play with the sand on the beach and not try to eat them.

Look and point upwards when we ask you where an aeroplane was.

Babble and make loads of different noises.

Look for bear-bear, ball-ball or bird-bird.

Look under the cover for bear-bear when we hide him from you.

Protest, cry and fuss when things are taken away from you.

Crawl towards us and hug us tight when you are frighten - usually by loud mechanical noises - the boom of fighter jets, the ear piercing whoosing sound from the valves at the back of the rubbish truck, the igniting rumble of the Postman's motobike.

Differentiate between a remote control and a wireless phone.

Choose when you want to be carried and by whom.

....to be continued.

Bully-ee or Bully-er

Your cousin Lucus was born slightly more than 6 months before you. He is now a full fledge toddler. When he was born, we visited him at the hospital. The very same one you were born in. Janelle was there too. She was visibly excited by the fact that she is now a qualified big sister and wanted to receive approbation from her parents by stroking her little brother's cheek. At first it was gentle but she did not get any praises from the adults. So, she decided to squash his face. The adults reacted strongly to that. Ah! Attention finally. She went on to repeat her act, squashing on the pretext of stroking gently. By the 3rd or 4th run, she was physically banned from touching the newborn. She protested to this by brawling at the top of her voice and hitting her mother with her fists.

When you were born, Janelle came to visit you too at the hospital. I was so afraid that she would squash your face too. You were sleeping and she was told not to touch or disturb you. She tried ways and means to get you to wake up, talking louder and louder despite warnings from her parents not to speak so loudly. You continued to sleep. She then tried rocking your bassinet. I caught hold of the other end so that it will not. You slept. She got desperate and tried kicking the metal base. Her parents decided then it was time to go. You were still sleeping. *Phew.

We watch her like owls whenever she is in your vicinity. Owls don't blink.

Last week, you went out with your other girl cousin Chloe who is 3 months older. On the way home in the backseat of the car, you would reach out to pull her hair or make a grab for her face. On Sunday last, you visited Keira who is 2 weeks younger than you are and also tried to grab her face and hands and pull her hair. Today, you reached out to grab your neighbour, a boy who is almost 3 years old, much to my amusement and consternation.

I wonder. Do you still need your owls?

EEeeiuuu...Bommng

"AhhhhhHHhhh..." (eeiiUUuu...Boormg) "AhhHHHhhh.." again and again and again...X 35 times or so.

You were pulling yourself up against the side of the headboard on mummy's bed. Once upright, you will release one hand so that you can turn around to face me. Then, with just the other hand left on the top of the headboard - all this while wobbling side to side unsteadily - you would flash that single-tooth grin of yours at me and lift the supporting hand off. With two hands outstretched, you will then reach out to me, maybe hoping that i'd catch you, or maybe not. I would make a big show out of avoiding you and then you would fall, knees, chest, elbows and palms, sometimes face as well, on to the mattress. I screamed "AhhahhHHH" everytime you did that and after about 4 or 5 times, you started screaming "AhhhhHHHHHH" as well.

This is hilarious! My baby has learnt how to engage me in his play by first intimidating me with his brave but reckless body slams and then subsequently, by imitating my reaction to it.

Your dad and I laughed so much.

Oh dear...we will soon have to call you "Boy Boy" instead. The baby we brought back home less than nine months ago is definitely not so baby anymore.

Comfort Zones

I was having lunch with my colleagues yesterday and we had this conversation about how some people always seems to be miserable, to attract misery. So, the theory then is that for these people, being miserable is a comfort zone in itself - that they seek to not be happy - that they like not being happy - that they are so used to being not happy that they get comfortable there and stay there. How terrible.

Mother's Day

It was my very first Mother's Day yesterday. It should be a day full of pomp and ceremony - the ads in the newspapers cajoles the masses to bring their mothers out for meals in fancy restaurants and fathers to buy gifts and flowers for the mothers. Since I've written "it should", then it must not have been and so I must continue writing to explain why.

Both your dad and I woke yesterday to find a baby who obviously was not well. You were coughing and we could hear the phlegm in your throat vibrating like a whole battalion of little tin soldiers drumming with bamboo sticks on hollow pipes. You also had 2 sticky rivers running from your nose.

Your dad and I hate to bring you to your doctor. Her clinic is located at the hospital you were born in. We have a strong fear that you will be hospitalised once again. But we had no choice. It is a sunday. Most clinics are closed all day on sundays but hers is open in the mornings.

The very first time you were hospitalised was of course on the day you were born. We stayed 3 days. The second time was when you had UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) at 6 weeks old. We stayed 2 days. The third time was when you were 8 weeks old for Bronchitis. We stayed 5 days.

Luckily this time round, she sent you back home with 3 types of oral medication and 2 types of creams for your rashes. *phew*

For the rest of the day, we made sure that you were comfortable enough to sleep and rest well, that you were neither too hot nor too cold, that you ate and drank enough, and that you swallowed your medication (we had to pin you down and force you to swallow it).

As the day draws to a close, we had not gone to any fancy place for a special meal. Your dad had also not bought me any presents or flowers.

Still, I think it was a very special day (this is not a self-consolation). It was special because it was my very first mother's day and it was special because I have you.

Happy Mother's Day!

Fairy Tales

In the bookshop 2 days back, I picked up a classic - Grimm's Fairy Tales - a book containing a collection of 50-odd stories collected by the 2 Grimm Brothers from Germany. The more pages I turn, the more shocked I was. Are children the targets for such reads about witches, blood and gore? It seems to me that one should never aspire to be more that what one is - that if you are a servant to begin with, then you should be in servitude perpetually as well. All servants are ugly in nature and in looks. All masters are beauties with lush golden hair and have good hearts. Should one be above one's lot, then one must be scheming and evil.

What kind of stories are these and for children too? Could things be less grey for kids than they are for adults? I remember reading some of these as a child and yes, bad people should be killed, thrown about in cages full of sharp nails or axed into pieces and good people should retire to their bright gleaming castles and live happily ever after. If this is so, is it true then that kids see more clearly than us adults? That their eyes are less clouded and their actions more genuine?

121 years ago

Exactly 121 years before you were born, on 26 August 1883, a volcano in Indonesia called Krakatoa erupted with such great fury and catastrophic proportions, it generated tsunamis nearly 40 metres high and changed the weather patterns on earth. The explosion was heard as far as Australia and atmostpheric pressure shock waves circled the earth seven times. In the immediate vicinity, the dusk and ash blanketed the sky and there was total darkness for 3 days. For 3 years, people around the world saw usually spectacular red sunsets, even green and blue suns were observed. Recorded events in history like these are mostly shrouded in darkness and somehow smell of death. Who bothers to record a day of happiness for one on the beach in warm sunshine and contented peace? The suspicion then is that life is best led in anonymity and quiet consciousness. It is easier to be loud than to be quiet. It is easier to be dramatic than to be subtle. It is easier to be poor in your thoughts than to be rich in life. It will be difficult mostly, but if you make it to be and want to, the world is here for you to record, at your own terms, an exalted life. For you, my baby, hold the sun in your name.

Perfect or Not?

Milo's such a delightful little social being. He's smiley most of the time and to anyone...the Maids in the house, the Driver in the next car, the Ahmah at the club and anything...the Dogs down the street, the Birds in the sky, the little spotted Moth resting on the wall....and even the white straggly Beard on his YeYe's chin. How can one complain when one has such a wonderful little cheerful happy boy? But because he's so interested in the world around him and takes so much pleasure in seeing it all, the one thing he doesn't do well is sleep well. So, the exhausted parents struggle to their feet 3, 4 times a night, mostly taking turns but never fully asleep when the other is awake, patting him, feeding him, changing him, rocking him, holding him, carrying him.....and willing him back to bed. In between our fragmentary dreams in moonlight and the unwelcomed scent of morning dew at dawn, we still think he is just perfect. Our little huge bundle of joy and bright shinning star.

Falling off the bed

Last night, Milo fell off the bed. I think he only moved once and suddenly, he was at the edge and on the way down. I managed to grab his leg...but he continued his descent down the side. (I'm terrifed) He starting to cry...the kind of cry that is soundless in the beginning. (Help! Is he alright?) I cradled him in my arms and the wails came....(I'm feeling around his head, is he ok? Did he hit the floor?...Oh shit, what was i thinking? Why didn't I grab him before it was too late?)...he cried for about half a minute then went silent...(oh my baby!)..."ARE YOU OK? ARE YOU OK?"...(please don't scare me...I'm sorry..I'm sorry...please please...are you ok?) and just when i'm about to go crazy, he looks at his poster - the one that I pasted on the wall since he was a couple of weeks old - and makes a grab for it.(Oh god..thank you thank you! bad mommy bad bad...stupid mommy) I look at him now. He looks ok, a red patch on his forehead, the only reminder of his recent stunt. (if anything should happen to you, i'd die...and for sure i really would)

Swimming Lession #1

Mylo's first swimming lesson! There were 2 babies in the class. Mylo and a another little fellow, a nine month old named Zach. Ah, so proud of my little fellow! It was a very hot day, no clouds in the sky at all and there was my little fellow braving the cold water at 9am in the morning and enjoying his lesson in the water with his dad. Fussed only once when Jason the loud angmoh instructor was showing him how to blow bubbles in the water.

Standing Up

He's quite a determined fellow. Last week, he was just learning to sit up by himself and this week, he's already pulling himself up to stand tall and straight by his cot. He seemed to like us, the parents, to be his audience. When he's sure that he has his balance, he'd look at us and give us his toothless melting- hearts grin.

Sitting Up

Mylo learnt how to sit up by himself over the Easter weekend while we were away in Phuket. He's getting better at it now. My baby's growing up now and so quickly too.