The G.L.B.Z. Sandals

Gabe has become a great embarrassment ever since his maternal grandparents decided on a pair of squeaky footwear for him. The squeaks are SO LOUD you'll hear him within the radius of 500 li (translate to Chinese please).

We turn heads everywhere we go (unfortunately not because of a chio mother), and get a smirk on almost every face when they discover what or in this case, who is causing all the racket.

The worst part is, the boy has discovered that once he stops walking, the squeaks stop too. So even when we're in the lift, or along corridors waiting for the lift, he'll go marching on the spot. Note the surround-sound effect in these cases.

So, derod has called this pair of sandals the Gia Lang Buay Zai sandals.

Dream Come True

Car. Check.
Barney. Check.
Steering wheel. Check.
Coins into the machine. "No thanks!" Check. (The best part for the parents)

Mix and Match

Derod was putting on the final accessory to his work outfit one morning. I decided to play complete-the-sentence with Gabe, who was watching everything as usual.

Cheoklet: Look, papa is wearing...
Gabe: Bra!

Well, it does begin with the letter B but it's a BELT. Lest you think that derod periodically puts on women's underwear, the little fella was just totally confusing between mummy and papa.

Your Name Is...

Like all little children, gabe has problems pronouncing the names of his relatives/ friends well and they end up being affectionately known as something else altogether.

Who/ Gabe's Version/ Gabe's Version Today
Wai Gong/ Ah Dome!/ Wai Dome
Wai Po/ Ah Po!/ Wai Po
Auntie Joyce/ Loyce/ Auntie Joyce
Gu Gu/ Ooo Ooo *nasal pronunciation*/ Du Du
Tabitha Jiejie/ Hapi Daedae/ Tabitha Jiejie
Giraffe (his stuffed toy)/ Oh-laff/ Der-laff

All G-sounds pronounced as Ds, and if you are a something-gong, you'll be known as a something-dome, at least for now.

Out of the Mouth of Gabe...

... comes some pretty interesting stuff

"Mummy help you!" -- A direct reproduction of what I tell him. He really means "mummy help me".

"Papa take train go to work"

"He's able, he's able, I know he's able, I know [my] Lord [is] able [to] care me through" -- Absolutely no sense of a tune anywhere but the words are all intact, except for help from me in brackets.

"Switch off fire. Hot hot fire no more." -- Happens after I turn off the stove after cooking.

"Cut orange. Knife. Orange juice." -- Gabe watching and narrating the morning routine of me squeezing juice for his breakfast.

"No no push bolster" -- Looks at me and says it as if he's giving me instructions, but really just instructing himself. Children. Queer.

"Carissa. Like Carissa. Auntie Shiwei. Mummy bao bao Carissa." -- Just a couple of hours with the little girl and he's been going on a daily reminder of Carissa. Recent yaks even include asking me to carry Carissa, and Weiwei, and Zhuen, and Charlotte, and Ryan...

"Baby de jia" -- Mean's baby's home. He was in a pram heading for home when he pointed out in the exact direction where his home is.

"Bus 87. Bus coming. Take bus." -- He tells derod while they wait at the bus stop. But when it's not bus 87 and he's desperately wondering why the father is not going to get him up the bus, he urges in reminder that the bus is coming.

"[one bus, two] buses. [one horse, two] horses. [one car, two] carses."

The F1 Driver

About two to three months ago, I watched with a frown as I tried to comprehend what the little boy was doing when he periodically made funny tantrum-like noises while moving his hands in awkward positions. Turns out he was pretending to drive a taxi. The mmmmm noises were mimics of the engine sounds and those hands were supposed to be turning the steering wheel.

From then till now, he progressed from:
- being happy to be placed in the driver's seat for a while to asking to "drive [my father's] taxi"
- sounding like he's unhappy about something to a clearer "mmmmmm", "vroom vroom" and additions to sounds of the horn
- awkward hand positions to violent "turning" stunts
- contented with a stationary position of "driving" to running around the furniture as if the car was moving
- requiring a "wheel" as prop, using practically anything as a prop

With regards to the last point, I'd have my father to thank. Somehow, he managed to get his hands on a second hand steering wheel, brought it home and presented it as a toy to gabe. So everytime gabe goes to his maternal grandparents', he'll be "driving away". The latest development was unbelievable: my father took our damaged fan, which we were about to throw away, and converted it to a standing"vehicle", fit with the second hand steering wheel. And when gabe's back home without all his props, my father proposed a substitute: his stacko rings! Yes, the boy will grab a ring and pretend it's a steering wheel. There's some identity attached to them too: the blue one's "drive taxi" and the rattly red one is "drive sports car".

If one didn't know better, he'd be an F1 driver in the making, except gabe simply goes "DRIVE TAXI" all day long.

Hiao Hiao

Early last month, we drove up to Melaka for our annual church camp. To keep the little dynamite entertained, I let him put on my sunglasses for a bit.


His reaction the moment the sunnies touch the bridge of his nose?

"Hello! Hello!" *waves his hand like a beauty queen*

I swear I don't do that.

High Class Food

Derod's family celebrated Gabe's great-grandfather's birthday with six tables of family members and close family friends yesterday. At such an occasion, of course good food would be served and the highlight of the dinner was the Buddha Jump over the Wall.

Everyone, including little Gabe, had a good time slurping down the soup and the expensive contents it held. When it was being served, I nonsensically told my son, "Baby, we are Christians, so we eat Christ Jump over the Wall, ok?"

To which my husband corrected, "Then the dish should be known as Christ Breaks Down the Wall".