I'm a Scott's Emulsion Kid!

Gabe has been on the original flavour of Scott's Emulsion cod liver oil since he was 13 months old. He's done with the first bottle and we opened the second today. He looks forward to breakfast and the teaspoon of "treat" that comes after it, exclaiming "yooou" (means "oil" in Chinese) excitedly when the bottle is brought before him.

This actually had a pretty psychological beginning. On day one, I opened the bottle, heaped a tablespoon with the thick, white liquid and made derod take a big mouthful, tasted some myself and brought it to the wide-eyed gabe who was eyeing the contents of the spoon with great interest. All this while exaggerating how yummy this thing was. Of course he gave the squirm after tasting it, but when given daily dramatic reminders of how yummy this white thing was, he soon developed a taste for it and today, gives his widest grin when he catches sight of the bottle.

The things I have to do (and the eeky stuff the papa has to endure) to get some vitamins into him. But well, it's worth it :D

The Non-Existent Side of Me

The creative, make-things-with-your-very-own-hands part of me.

But I decided to venture into unknown grounds to try out some things for gabe.

After more than a year since his birth, the mother finally got down to select his photos (0-12 months) and got them printed out. But to slot everything (about 900 of them, in case you're interested) into big fat albums seems like such a shame. So after much thinking and "consultation sessions" with my creative friends, I decided to do up a scrapbook in addition to the big fat album. About three photos a month for the first year of his life to document his growth and to kinda leave him a little something to look back at when he grows up. Upon shian's recommendation, I signed up for a basic scrapbooking workshop with Made With Love. It was fun, and something refreshing as I got to sit among a class of strangers and learn something new. It was there that I was reminded how I managed to fail art class in secondary school. In any case, with my new found skills, I'm about to launch Project Gabe Scrapbook soon. But it'll probably make a church mouse out of me; these things aren't cheap!

So that's one. The other project saw me wandering into Spotlight to grab some textiles and in-fills for a pillow for gabe. As a testament to how un-cheoklet this move is, a friend whom I bumped into at Spotlight exclaimed, "what are YOU doing here?" Point taken. So begins the project to replace gabe's pillow, which is too small to accommodate all his rolling about. And since I don't own a sewing machine, nor do I know how to use one (my classmate had to discreetly help me set up the machine at my home-ec exam!), I stitched the entire thing up with needle and thread.

Well, I think he likes it. *beam*

Duck Tour

Gabe's waipo got us all tickets join the duck tour her church was organizing. So last Saturday morning, we marched out into the clear skies and began our tour.

Enroute to Suntec City. Fueling up before the journey begins.

With waigong at the Duck Tour counter. Fortunately waigong didn't end up buying the duck beak, cos they gave it out free of charge at the end of the tour. Now, we have three sitting in the house.

Yeah! Up up up the stairs!

And on to the tour bus!

Back row fits us just right. Derod joked that we'd probably die of the exhaust gas (pipe's located directed behind us) but yee yee quipped "better us that the oldies", who were occupying about 90% of the bus.

Argh... too loud for little ear drums...

Duck into the water!

Not too interested in the Merlion, nor the Esplanade...

Highlight of the trip: The Singapore Flyer. Visible almost the entire journey, gabe didn't quite stop "wheeel"-ing through that one hour.

Frustrated by Love

Gabe is a happy boy, generally. He seldom cries, and other than being hungry and sleepy, is seldom on the grouchy side too. He's fun to play with, crackling with laughter and saying things that catch you off guard.

But that's a picture that many others do not see. You see, gabe's right smack in the middle of a phase of stranger-anxiety, meaning, he starts freaking out when "strangers" (those whom he doesn't see on a regular basis) want to/ carry him. So we get a fair bit of "bad behaviour" when we meet with members of the extended family, and on Sundays when we go to church. A tip for those patient ones: gabe 吃软不吃硬 ; go for persuasion and entice him with things he loves e.g. let's go see taxi, bus, bird, walk up the steps, etc. Otherwise if you try to yank him out of his comfort zone, he'll give you a vocal session you won't forget, not to mention some aching ear drums to go along with the package.

Speaking of comfort zone, there're his two fingers and their signature position between his lips. Gabe sucks his fingers for comfort when he is sleepy, in need of calming down, in the pram or car enjoying the joyride. Sundays are usually bad for his morning nap; there's so much adrenalin pumping in him that he cannot get to sleep.

Lack of sleep + stranger anxiety + too many people trying to grab him = very grouchy gabe

And how does the kiddo comfort himself? Yup, in pops those two fingers. So when well-meaning people walk by to tease him by forcefully pulling those two fingers out, you can imagine the resistance. There were situations where the above happens, I take so much time and effort to calm the babe who refused to be comforted, and 20 metres later, the cycle repeats. The record must have been like 3-4 cycles?

Please do not misunderstand me. I am one who is usually amused when people jibe at gabe. And these very people are the ones who love us and our child very much to want to play with him. They do not irritate him with bad intentions, and the next person in line did not know what had happened earlier. But when it happens in waves, gabe is badly affected, and the mother is driven to the edge in trying to calm a screaming baby for an extended period of time.

But I suppose that these issues of living together shows us what it means to live in a family, whether related by blood, or by the blood of Christ. So I pray that derod and I will find understanding and support in our families, and that we too will learn how to ease gabe out of his walled-up boundaries to embrace those who love him.

Step by Step

It's difficult to say when gabe actually started walking. He has been taking those couple of steps between one piece of furniture to another, and always lounging towards his destination, so it's not really considered walking.

But in the last week, things have progressed pretty quickly. Those few steps became steady ones, and he was able to walk a short distance to me from the coffee table at the beginning of this week. That was under instruction.

Yesterday, I caught him walking in the living room on his own initiative. Doesn't matter that the distance was pretty short but it showed that this very cautious boy was confident enough to do it on his own.

Today, his waigong, waipo and yeeyee came over for dinner and kiddo was practising walking from one person to another, always giggling while heading for his destination and giving a hearty laugh once there.

Ah... a new phase has begun.

My Redeemer Lives

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'.

The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'.

They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.' To which, his father said 'Yes' too.

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island. Father and son went on to complete the race together.

Mothers' Day Celebration

Derod and I took our families out for dinner together. It has become an increasingly regular thing where we just kill two birds with one dinner. The in-laws enjoy one another's company and the atmosphere is always very amiable so it works out very well for us.

We took to Vivocity's HK Kim Gary's (thanks to han&karen's recommendation some time back which got us drooling at the thought of the pork chops ever since) for a simple dinner and a walk around the shopping centre thereafter. It pretty much felt like a tour guide leading a pack of tourists; nine adults and a kiddo, plus constant stops to look at things along the way and to pass the Bundle from one set of arms to another. But eventually we did make it to a car roadshow where gabe got to do his vroom vroom behind a set of wheels, and to check out a pair of sandals for his very fleshy and large feet.

It was a good evening. The oldies enjoyed the meal, gabe gave the uncle/ aunties many hearty laughs in return for their attention, and derod and I got a good breather since there were seven other people playing "pass the gabriel" that night *wink*.

"Practising my walk with my gonggong and waigong."

"With my ah ma and waipo!"

"Why must we take a family picture? I want to playyyyy..."

"Yeah! That's more like it."

"Ah pek!!! He's the first person I can address on the paternal side of the family."

"Gugu knows I love to splash around. Doesn't matter gugu's all wet. I'm sure she enjoyed it as much as I did."

"Better be careful..."

"Hmmm... looks safe, and fun"

"It is fun! SPLASH!"