Mayenne's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Mayenne's 1st Birthday last Sunday (1st birthday as in 1 years old and the order number one - she will have her second party this coming Sunday). Chester did a great writeup on the happenings that day, so I am not going to duplicate that. Please see his blog for more details and photos.

Just want to say a few things here:


Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for organising this party (I just needed to order the cake). Mayenne was clearly happy and at her best and cutest behaviour throughout the party - she din even complain about the endless queue of people wanting to carry the birthday girl, a heavy diaper (Mummy forgot to change her in all the excitement) and a late milk feed (again Mummy was overwhelmed).


The cake was a winner as I have never seen people asking for second servings and 3kg birthday cakes being eaten till it ran out - I had to make sure that I've saved a slice for myself or else there wouldn't be any left! So it is a no brainer for me to order from the cake shop for the 2nd party.


Looking forward to the BIG DAY this coming Sunday!!!

Mothers' Day Gift

Yesterday I celebrated Mothers' Day for the first time in my life, as a Mummy. I kinda missed it last year, as Mayenne was still in my tummy then.

On Mothers' Day morning, we woke up to a strong waft of the smell of poo, and later found out that Mayenne has poo-pooed and the poo has leaked out from the diaper. As she didn't make any noise after she woke up, she practically created poo art on her bed.

Chester and I quickly organised ourselves: first we washed Mayenne up, then he changed her in another bed while I attended to the war zone. As I didn't have time to wash the bed linen, we deposited them at my Mum's for the maid to help us wash, when Chester went out to buy McDonald's breakfast for me (as a Mothers' Day treat - thanks Hunny).

There is a Chinese belief that poo signifies "cai" or prosperity. All I'm going to say is that I'm Chinese and I'm a believer.

=P

In Transit

I am currently in between jobs, and loving every minute of it.

I am thankful to my ex-boss who has released me earlier than my 3 months' notice (well I did serve 1.5 months to ensure proper handover). I am also thankful to my future employer who allowed me to take a month's break before I start work at the new place.

Although I'm in transit, I'm certainly not doing any sitting around. I have planned a to-do list, and this is how it looks like (for now):

• Organise Mayenne's parties (yes plural - one at my MIL's place and the other at my Mum's). This itself has its own long to-do list (caterer, cake, guest list, decorations etc).
• Take a driving refresher course. Chester has been so cynical about my motivation to sign up. I'll prove him wrong (even if it means me taking just one lesson - haha). When that happens, please stay away from AMK.
  
• Go for eyebrow embroidery (to end my suffering of looking like "La Bi Xiao Xin" every morning due to over-zealous drawings to balance out my brows).
• Go for a short holiday with Chester (if I can convince him to do so).
  
• Update my blog (here I am!).
• Boost the economy by doing my duty during the GSS.
  
• Spend quality time with Mayenne (when I'm not shopping - just kidding!)
  

I'm sure before I know it, the month is up. Notwithstanding, I will do everything I can to maximise this time as it certainly does not come by that often.

Sometimes .....

Sometimes we want to look the other way and pretend it's not there, but we end up imagining more.

Sometimes we wish we knew more, but when we really do, we end up hurting more.

Sometimes it's hard to let our voices be heard, but yet there's so much to say.

Sometimes it's hard to keep the faith, but sometimes it's all we've got.

Shichida

The first time I heard of Shichida was through a friend whose friend's friend's kids attended the course.

"Suchida? Shishida? Shiwha ..?" "Really, the kids can do all that???!!!"

I did some reading on the Net to find out more about this brain development program for young children. The founder Makoto Shichida claimed to have found the way to "activate" and "develop" the right brain, something that we may use less and less as we grow, due to the way we are taught things, which primarily focuses on left brain.

Half curious, half kiasu, I went down to one of their training centres at HDB Hub at Toa Payoh In Dec08 to find out more. Before I know it, I found myself signing on the dotted line and join the waiting list to be enrolled for the next term (fingers crossed).

In Feb08, I called to check as I didn't hear from them. Thinking that I may need to wait for another term, ie 12 weeks, I was very happy and excited to hear that they have a vacancy for Mayenne in a Saturday slot. However, it wasn't my top choice in terms of timing - I preferred the morning so that we can complete the lesson and have the rest of the day for other things. They gave me 4.15pm, which was a blessing in disguise as sometimes, Chester would not be able to send us to class, I would ask my mum (and maid) to go together and the timing is just right as the maid would have finished her chores by then. Lessons will end at 5.30pm and by the time we reach home, it again perfect timing for her dinner.

I rushed down to make payment to secure the day and time slot, as I understand that there is a long waiting list (actually I'm not sure how they manage to squeeze me in so soon - I guess when they see the $$$ sign, they will make room).

I was told there is another vacancy available for Sunday classes at the same timing. I called Joan to contact them and she too got a place, after making payment.

Let's see what they can do for our babies.

Mayenne @ Ten

I always wonder who created the phrase "Time Flies...", which is definitely overused but oh so true.

Mayenne turned 10 months a couple of days ago.... 10 months already! I couldn't believe it myself. I'm so glad that she has grown in every sense: physically, mentally and emotionally. While we are able to observe some of her developments on weekday evenings and weekends, it is usually PoPo who tells us what new actions Mayenne exhibited and we hope to catch her do the same stunt/trick again. (Sigh.... I wish could spend more time with her).

Physical:
She is proficient in crawling now, and she is also cruising - walking sideways while holding on to the edge of the sofa or her cot for support. More often than not, she will do a "look ma, no hands" stunt and get everyone flying towards to save her from a sore bottom, or worse circumstances.

She can wave goodbye (with her right hand) when prompted or on her own eg when the MRT passes by. Her left hand does a "money-come" action (curling of fingers with palms facing up).

She loves to throw and see her pingpong balls bounce away and chase after them. When the balls rolled below a table or chair, she will go down on all fours and bend down to see where the balls are (who taught her that?!!!).

She can hold her own bottles and sit on a potty and give a good poopoo.

She will raise her arm for you to take off her top, and lift her legs when you are removing her shorts, so that her leg will come out of the leg hole. She would sometimes shake her feet so that the shorts do not hang around her ankles.

Mentally:
She loves to read. Whenever there is book in sight, she will grab it and either open it herself or catch our attention to read to her. When we reach her favourite part of the book, she will lean forward like to take a closer look and she will use her finger to point that page. Really cute. She can also remember the ways the flips in the flipbook uncovers (eg top-down, left-to-right) - she charges to open the flips, and don't you help her; she'll be upset!

Whenever she wants a walk, she will look for GongGong, as my mum couldn't really carry her for long due to her condition. She will look for the maid when she has poopoo-ed (the maid is the one who bathes and cleans her up). She may be in the midst of playing with my mum, but after crapping in her diaper, Mayenne will either crawl or walk to the maid in her walker, and start to pace in front of the maid. Damn funny (can imagine the look on my maid's face).

She sways to music and swings her arms in the air. This is usually also accompanied by butt shaking and bobbing.

Emotionally:
She knows what 'No' means and if she's naughty and continue to do what she's not suppose to do, we will raise our voices a little (so sounded a little more fierce), she will look up and her eyes will start to well up, her nose will turn red and she'll pout her mouth. The whole ensemble on her face is so pitiful, that you really don't have the heart to scold her again. But one thing about Mayenne is that she recovers very fast, and she will be back to doing her own things the next second (usually not after we have given her hugs and kisses).

When we show a stern face for some wrong-doings, she will look at us with her "I'm sorry" look and tries to "suck up" to us by trying to make us laugh again with her silly antics, like blowing bubbles with her saliva, giving the broadest smile she could give, poking you with her finger (I think she is trying to tickle me). It's really hard to keep that stern face.

My mum ie Popo always boasts of how Mayenne can do this, can do that, at this tiny age, which makes me wonder if my brother and I were totally stupid as toddlers, cos my mum never mentioned that we are like that. Either she couldn't remember or becos Mummy and Uncle Cedric are really duds then. Ha.

A True Blessing

She can crawl, real fast, and chases after her toys.

She waves goodbye, and doesn't have separation anxiety when we leave her with the babysitter, my mum nor Ches' mum.

She started calling "Pah-Pah!" (to the exhilaration of her Daddy - he even recorded it down on video as documentary proof). She also calls out "Mama!" but sometimes can be mixed up with "Moom Moom!" - but I guess to her it means the same thing - Mama always have and gives Moom Moom.

(note: I don't think she understands the meaning of the words yet, but just get a kick shouting them out =)

She can clap her hands and do a "gongxi gongxi" - may be that's why her angpow collections were much higher than Daddy and Mummy combined.

She holds on to the wooden panels of her bed for support to stand. Sometimes, she can get over-zealous and starts to tiptoe, shake her booty, stick one leg in the air or do a "look Ma no hands", which usually ends up with a loud wail - as she would fall over and bump her head against the bed rails.

She understands "NO" - when she touches something she's not suppose to and I say No, she will pause, look at me, but then still try her luck by sticking her hand out and prod the item with one finger - it's hard to keep a straight face when she does that.

She sings along with me to her favourite songs - in her own way by making "Mmm Mmm" sounds.

She is my daughter, Mayenne, at 9 months. A true blessing.