Tuesday, January 31, 2012

When Bunny Meets Chipmunk

Sizing it up ....
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Checking it out....
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Of course it goes into her mouth before mummy can stop her....
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Ahh.... Satisfied....
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@ 4.5 months

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

A Red Bunny

for CNY 2012

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Relaxing after her first round of Chinese New Year visiting.

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

In the Wee Hours

Can't stop listening to this.



Heartbreaking.

Instead of catching up on beauty sleep which I badly need, I have been indulging. 

I can only hope that at least one of my kids will grow up to appreciate Chinese culture and history as much as I do. 



www.mtvzz.com
停在这里不敢走下去
让悲伤无法上演
下一页
你亲手写上的离别
由不得我拒绝
这条路我们走得太匆忙
拥抱着并不真实的欲望
来不及等不及回头欣赏
木兰香遮不住伤
不再看天上太阳透过云彩的光
不再找
约定了的天堂
借不到的三寸日光。
不再叹你说过的人间世事无常
不再看天上太阳透过云彩的光
不再找
约定了的天堂
不再叹你说过的人间世事无常
借不到的三寸日光。
那天堂是我爱过你的地方

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Nicholas Pig

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Chip drew this one morning. 

For his teacher. His declaration of love for her. 

The pink pig is so cute that I almost cried. 

I felt a pang of jealousy. And a need to protect.

So I did the most natural motherly thing. 

Coaxed him to give it to me instead. 

In the end..... 

Mom: 1 
Teacher: 0

Now I can save and cherish this little act of love from my Nicholas Pig and not risk it from being thrown into some bins. 


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Olivia: 4 months

Olivia's cute factor has risen tenfold in the last four weeks.
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She is definitely a morning person. After a good night sleep, she is happiest and calmest in the morning. Throughout the day, she is always ready to flash her biggest smile for me. It is so much fun to hang out with such a happy and smiley baby.

In fact, I remember my boys were like this when they were little too. I wonder how much of this is due to genetics or if it has to do with my caregiving style.

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During my alone time with her, I like to experiment with all sorts of activities to elicit smiles from her. Like her brothers, she loves all my quirky expressions and funny noises I make and would break out in chuckles. The most musical sounds an infant can make!

Once she even mimicked the sounds that I made for a few consecutive rounds. When I said 'ga-ga', she responded with a clear 'ga-ga'. When I uttered 'ga-ga-ga', she repeated the same 'ga-ga-ga'. We went on for a few more rounds till she stopped. I thought it is a little early for her to be doing this, but she did just that indeed, though it never happened again.

Whenever she sees me, she waves her arms involuntarily and kicks her legs vigorously. Once we establish eye contact, she would smile and utter a range of sounds until I pick her up.

If she heard my voice while she was being carried by someone else, she would immediately turn her head left and right, right and left till she finds me.

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If I was busy with something or someone else, she would just keep looking at me and whatever that I was doing with the most earnest interest. Such a big sweetie! Knowing just how much I matter to her really puts everything else into perspective.

She still doesn't sleep through the night. The longest stretch of sleep she had was 8 hours for a couple of nights but lately, she would wake once before 5am for a quick feed. It's alright since I am still breastfeeding her. I'm sure she will soon sleep through the night.

Her naps in the day are getting longer. In addition to the nap in the morning or midday that may last up to two hours, she grabs several 45 minutes ones throughout the day. It certainly helps that she is now able to roll from her back to tummy and has finally shown a preference to sleeping on her tummy.

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Can't resist taking this shot. :>

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Melt my heart just looking at these. :>

Lately, she has begun to look at things around the house with big interest. She stares and reaches out to grab. Whatever that she can reach, she pulls them towards her mouth and tastes them greedily.

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After some moments of tummy time and frantic toy grabbing, it's time to relax and chew some fingers.

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One of our daily games has to do with me pretending to chomp on her fingers which always makes her chuckle. Perhaps because of our games, she would generously offer me her saliva-coated fingers, every now and again, with a cheeky sparkle in her eyes. As if daring me to taste them.

Her neck is very strong now, given the practice she gets from being carried upright all the time. When supported (like in the next photo), she can sit pretty well for a minute or two.
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Lately, she is also in the phase of grabbing both her feet and staring at them as if they are the most alien-looking and interesting things she has ever seen. Very, very adorable to watch.
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The latest development for this week is her discovery of her voice. My gosh! This is one thing that really bugs me. My demure-looking baby is a GIANT screamer. She screams when she is happy. And she shrieks when she is upset. And she can go ON and ON and ON. I swear I wish there was a button or switch or knob on her that I can press to turn her off.
It's a phase, I know. For now, I just have to endure and see the bright side of it all. She is learning and discovering. One fine day, she will be bored of screaming, for as long as we don't reinforce her screaming behaviour.
Like I always say, the most wonderful thing about having my very own baby is owning the privilege to kiss her soft cheeks and sniff her intoxicating baby smell anytime I want, for as often as I like.

I'm really, really enjoying this phase of motherhood. Though the days feel so long sometimes, there are also many moments of sweetness to savour.

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The key is to cherish the good. Everything else will fall into place.





Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Eat. Drink. Love.

I don't have any explanation for this but lately, I can't stop thinking about


Particularly the patatas bravas (fried squared potatoes served in spicy red sauce), tortilla patatas (quintessential Spanish omelette layered with onion and potatoes) and croquettas de jamon (fried cheese balls stuffed with ham).

Thinking of these mouthwatering dishes does more than just causing hunger pangs. They almost always evoke tender feelings of love, warmth and nostalgia in me. 

They are after all, the first few dishes that E lovingly cooked for me when I first arrived in Europe over a decade ago. I remember they were very tasty and there was also a strong flavour of love. Ahh .... that saccharin-sweet love of the honeymoon stage of courtship. 

I still remember that lovely meal we had at a Tapas place in Brighton with his Spanish friends where we took some gorgeous photos together. That day was filled with so much laughter. But now I can't even remember where those photos are! 

And how we strolled the streets of Costa del Sol back in July 2001 in search of charming restaurants and stuffing ourselves silly with way too much tapas and getting high from sipping too many glasses of Sangria. So much fun. So much hand-holding and just being in love. 

Oddly, these memories of Costa Del Sol also never failed to remind me of competition and the bizarre and amazing power of the female intuition. Even over a decade later. Hmm...

It's about time to stop dreaming and just get out there to stuff my face with tapas and quench my thirst with a jug of Sangria. 
 






Friday, January 6, 2012

Rhymes on O

Chip has been making up rhymes whenever he is near Olivia. 

Like this one.

Baby O
Little toes
Cheesy O
My baby O

Cheesy toes
Uh-oh
Oh cute little toes
My baby O

Ever since E's jokes on the baby's cheesy-smelling tootsies, Chip has been calling her Cheesy O. Hmm... not really a classy nickname, is it?


Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Bouquet


Chanced upon this photo that took my breath away...... 

How can one not be cheered up by these beautiful colours?

More of these to-die-for bouquets here.... 

Oh dear me, I LOVE flowers.  



 

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