Call it forth

There is power in our spoken word (or name being called). Her name means wisdom. And indeed we are seeing this being manifested every day, bit by bit.

Last night, in her usual nightly bargain-not-to-go-to-sleep talk, she asked why some of her friends don’t attend full-day school everyday?

S: “Why is Gabriella (her best friend in school) on half-day everyday? I want to be on half-day and not full-day…Her mommy picks her up everyday…”

Me: “Because Gabriella’s mommy doesn’t work.” (And I was prepared for her to ask me not to work and  be like Gabriella’s mom)

S:…. (pause) “Sometimes you also don’t work right. Sometimes we go holiday together right?” (with her eyes all lit up).

I was touched. Thanks babe. For understanding that mommy has to work. And I will spend every moment that I can with you when I’m not…

I’ve got the power

I’m not a techno geek. I don’t have the constant need to be equipped with the latest gadget in town. BUT the recent addition of an ipad mini 2 (to replace my hand-me-down gen 1 ipad from daddy M) is life changing! I feel POWERFUL. Technically, I can take pictures, I can check emails, I can blog with this all-in-one handy gadget! More importantly, gone are also the days of s.l.o.w-m.o.t.i.o.n downloading of Cantonese/Chinese/Korean drama from the net – maybe this is THE ONLY life changing experience !

Thanks daddy M!

Now… I can survive the upcoming confinement month better (I hope)!

Sisterhood

I guess daddy M will be surrounded by THREE girls who love him all the days of his life!

We are expecting a girl! I’m expecting similar journey… well sort of. My mom-in-law always tells me, no finger is of the same length. As it is, there have been so many unexpected traits of this pregnancy/ new member of ours. Firstly, the 1st trimester was more trying. She started moving much earlier than S. And she’s also slightly bigger & longer than S... I do wonder if her character would be very different from S??

Guess who is the happiest person to learn that the baby is a girl? None other than S! She’s been prophesying that it’s a sister from day ONE.

I’m comforted that S will have a sister to share her joys and challenges in life… Just like my sis, who has been one of the pillars of my life, always there for me (more so since I became a mom). Note: we fought like cats and dogs when we were growing up!

Sisters don’t need words. They have perfected a language of snarls and smiles and frowns and winks – expressions of shocked surprise and incredulity and disbelief. Sniffs and snorts and gasps and sighs – that can undermine any tale you’re telling.
Pam Brown

Family of four

I’m 15 weeks pregnant! I’ve been trying to sit and get this post written for weeks now, but it was always pushed aside because other things felt more important…I know I may regret it if I don’t write about my pregnancy, as if I owe it to the baby. You know, some years down the road, a little voice may question me: “mommy, why didn’t you write about me but you wrote about jie jie?”. Oh well.

Queezy was my first name during the first 3 months, which explains the lack of posts… Most of the days were spent in bed and feeling grumpy as almost no food could go down well with me. My sense of smell heightened as I resented strong food odors especially garlic (my love)!. The peak was when I found daddy M smelly. It was difficult for him.. poor daddy. We couldn’t even sit together to have a decent conversation, without me covering my nose! It was not body odor but if I had to describe, it would be similar to old furniture in a damp room full of spoiled moth balls. The weirdest thing was, two of my colleagues started to develop the same smell!!! Bizarre.

Thank God all these are OVER! I’m back to being NORMAL! My appetite is back and my bump is showing!

Difference between the 1^st and the 2^nd:-

- I had minor bleeding during the 5th week.

- I teared when I saw the sonogram. I was clueless during the 1st.

-Morning sickness extended to 24 hours vs. only puking at night during the 1st pregnancy.

- I’m more sentimental – cherishing my days of three more – the last Mother’s Day / Father’s day with one kid, the last birthday celebration as a family of three, the last trip to Penang for 2013….

- We are more relaxed and less paranoid (aka more slacked?). We tracked the baby’s growth weekly during the 1^st!!

This is an answered prayer and we just KNOW that all will be well! It shall be a smooth pregnancy with painless delivery. The baby shall be sweet natured, healthy, beautiful, intelligent and we will have a easy post-partum with more than sufficient milk! Amen!

Happy Mothers' Day

 

What S thinks of me as a mom:-

I play with her - do I really? I always think that I don't play with her 'enough'.. so there is such a thing as quality time vs. quantity.

I cook - erm... not as often as my maid?!

I read stories - yes! no dispute!

Seoul eats

2013- a year of open doors. For the first time, work has brought me Seoul and M tagged along for some R&R time. It was a good break, without S!. It’s been 3 years since our last ‘couple’ trip...

The food was SUPERB! BBQ, pancakes, kimchi stew were unforgettable that we continued to reminiscence for Korean food even after 2 weeks after our return. Shopping was over-stated for me, perhaps I’m not used to the Korean fashion.

I think we will go back to Seoul very soon !!

My family

Daddy M found this in S school bag! We're not sure when she drew this but I believe this is her perception of "My family".
The big face is Sonia, two at the top are both daddy M and I. The bottom is her as a baby.