Messy Developments

Feeding oneself. That has to be one milestone every parent heaves a sigh of great relief at. I for one am familiar with all the benefits of a child who can feed himself, at least in my imagination. Jemmy's mummy was encouraging me to get this training going as soon as possible so that when #2 arrives, it'll be a great load off my shoulders. I tried. But I didn't make much headway. And it's because of me...

Every parent has some form of hang-ups. Mine's to do with mess. I can't take mess. I cringe when I see adults scattering rice around their plates, not stacking up the meat and fish bones in a neat pile, dripping soup while the spoon journeys from the soup bowl to their mouth. I see clips of children eating with their hands (read: all ten fingers and palms) and collateral damage extends to the entire highchair, their faces, bodies and clothes. Honestly, I think mess is healthy for children. I mean, when eating, baking, playing with brushes and just plain experimenting, I think mess is a good part of growth! But I just can't bring myself to execute it. I read Karen Cheng's account of her boys helping out with some paint work and I thought it to be such a cool and fun idea but like Karen, I won't be able to watch.

So... when gabe's mouth misses the spoon, when he tilts the utensil before it reaches him, when the food goes all over the highchair, into his bib pocket and onto the floor, I cringe big time and pick up each blob the instant it drops. That's not including the happy banging of the spoon, uncontrolled stirring of the food, and those itchy hands beating me to the food that has dropped. Urgh it's such agony on my part. But it has to be done, especially when Carissa has accomplished the feat at 1.5 years old! And so has that 1.5 yo boy sitting behind us at the restaurant yesterday!

I do think it's high time for gabe to go intensive on training. He's more than ready. And with the extra motivation by Carissa, I think I'll do better this time. But this goes against the very grain of my make-up, so fingers crossed and pat on my shoulder for encouragement ok!

Here's Looking at You Babe!

We went for the 32 week growth/ detailed scan last week and mei mei gave us a surprise. Anyway, she's one cooperative baby, and all the measurements (via ultrasound) were taken with ease. As we didn't manage to make baby-sitting plans for gabe, he came along and saw how the doctor "check mei mei".

Ok, now for the surprise. We didn't expect to be able to see this:


It's such a clear shot of her face! Can you see her hands placed so daintily under one cheek? Gives you some idea who she resembles more?

The Barney Bag

I walked by a pasar malam the other day and saw among other things, this.

Dangling amidst all the other "characters" was this super cheong-looking Barney. Stall holder said it costs $9. I don't believe it but I actually bought the bag. When I held it up to Gabe and asked him what it was, he replied "Barney!" without a moment's hesitation. Well, since the little guy can't tell the difference and grins from ear to ear when he's carrying it, we're all happy about the purchase *wink*. In fact, he even requests to "wear barney bag" (which we have to keep correcting to "carry the barney bag") when we do get out of the house. So on occasions, Gabe will be carrying his own change!

Doesn't he look like such a big boy with the "haversack"?

The Name Game... Again

So here we are again agonizing over the name to give to #2...

We spent the entire 10 months of pregnancy deciding what to name Gabe and miraculously came to a conclusion just when he was to pop. In fact, for Gabe's case, we spent more time laughing over what not to name him (English name). Credit given to derod for 90% of the corny contributions. As for the Chinese name, after mulling over for what seemed like eons, and given limitations like the mandatory "源" to be included in the name, we decided he should be known as 智源, the origin of which is taken from Proverbs:

16:22 人有智慧就有生命的泉源 and
18:4 人口中的言语，如同深水。智慧的泉源，好像涌流的河水。

Now that this one is a girl, it doesn't seem to make naming any easier. It's not that derod and I are incompetent with the Chinese language but it's more of trying to discern what the Lord has in stored for her, or what He wants her to be known for and hence giving a name that fits that purpose that He has planned. As parents, I think the participation of the child's spiritual journey begins here and hence the significance of naming your child.

And just when we thought we'd finally hit the bull's eye, we discovered our choice for #2, when translated into hokkien, was worse than disastrous. It was the kind of suicidal name you laughed at and swore you'll never name your child. *WAIL!* Now it's back to the old drawing board for us.

Blabber Horror

Gabe and I were scheduled for a trip out of the house today and after getting him dressed, it was my turn.

I looked through my wardrobe and declared to him in despair, "怎么办？妈妈没有衣服穿了..."

He repeated after me with "怎么办？妈妈没有衣服穿了！"

A few seconds later, he decided to have a go at it again and went "怎么办？妈妈没有穿衣服了！"

*FAINT*

"Thank You Mummy!"

I made macaroni soup for lunch yesterday and I must say it tasted pretty good. But what do kids know about good food? Anyway, this happened at the lunch table:

I was feeding Gabe his portion and somewhere around the middle of the meal...
Gabe: Mummy cook muum muum.
Cheoklet: For who?
Gabe: For Gabriel boy. Mummy cook food for Gabriel boy. Thank you mummy!
Cheoklet: Oh! *quite startled* Thank you for saying thank you. You're welcome.
Gabe: Thank you mummy cook food for Gabriel. (And for the rest of the meal, he repeated this sentence every now and then.)
Gabe: Mmm... soup is niiiiiiiiiiice. Soup is gooooood.

I was caught off guard that he could voluntarily say thanks for something that I've been doing everyday anyway. Makes me wonder if he'll say thanks to mummy for giving him a shower. In any case, I thanked him for appreciating my efforts and told him that it was really sweet of him to do so. Sigh... *face wrinkled up in emotion* so sweet hor?

Oh No!!!

Look what I'm doing already!!!!?!?!??!?!

And they are on sale.... **twiddles** Should I??????