Incorrigible

About a month ago, Adam was punished for refusing to keep his toys and retaliating by beating Hubby.

Hubby put him in a corner and after about 6 chances, he still refused to apologise. We made him stay there while we went about our nightly getting-ready-for-bed routine.

Later, the 3 of us were on the bed. Hubby was browsing through a magazine while Nat and I took turns reading a Dr Seuss book. Occasionally, we caught him looking enviably at us but his demeanour was still la-di-da. He started singing and making car noises.

After 15 minutes, he decided he had had enough. Said "Sorry Papa, sorry Mama". Hubby and I let him out of the corner and he happily kept his toys, climbed up to bed and settled to sleep.

This boy....

Coyote Ugly

As I've mentioned before, Nat doesn't have very fancy footwork but one day, I asked her to do a sexy dance for me and this is what she came up with.

Mind Your Language

Nat now attends once a week Mandarin playschool and after each class, she brings back a flashcard containing a new word they had learned for the day. When I remember and if I'm not too lazy, I will use those cards on her and in the process try to learn some characters myself.

One evening last week, we were relaxing in the living room after dinner when I caught her talking to her stuffed toy penguin, strategically positioned on the coffee table so that it was almost at her eye level. She had gotten hold of some passport photos of Hubby, herself and mine and were flashing them at the penguin. With every photo, she would look at the penguin in the eyes and ask "Who's that?", then proceeded to answer the question herself and finally saying "Very good!" while patting the little penguin on the head.

Hubby and I wished we had captured it on video but were too busy rolling around in laughter to do so.

Nat facts

I've been wanting to write about Nat and her developments for such a long time so some of these are probably more than 6 months outdated.

1. Despite being quite tomboyish in her actions, she's actually a rather "girlie" girl who loves playing dress up and adores handbags & high-heel shoes in particular. Also parades and poses shamelessly in front of mirrors while doing hair-flicks with her non-existent mane.


2. Appreciates retail therapy. Nat's ecstatic when we go shopping and will scream in delight when she sees the logo for Giant, Tesco or IKEA. (Take note PR personnel. My daughter will endorse for a fee).

3. Has a good sense of direction. She seems to know where we're heading and could even point out the club where we brought her swimming one time.

4. Quite a polyglot. Already bilingual and understands Hokkien when MIL speaks to her. Currently she's learning Mandarin from playschool too.

5. Karaoke-queen material (take note, Chim Chim and Aunties Siau Yen & Aileen!). Probably ABBA's biggest young fan and can sing all the songs from the Mamma Mia soundtrack. I rarely buy toys for her but I did get her an amplifying microphone from ELC and let's say it was a worthwhile investment. But while she's been able to hold a tune from a young age, I can't say she has fancy footwork.

6. Has high standards of hygiene. Can't stand fingers being dirty after she's eaten and won't go in dirty or smelly public toilets. She once ordered MIL to move out of her way when she was blocking her exit after taking a whiff of an offensive-smelling loo. Even when she was much younger and not yet toilet-trained, she would refuse to sit in her soiled diapers.

7. Has extremely keen olfactory senses and can pick up the aroma of durians (which she loves) from a mile away. It's no wonder I was so sensitive to smells when I was pregnant with her.

8. Loves food way too much. We have caught her stealing food so many times from the kitchen counter, using a stool or chair when she thinks no one is looking. She can also snack non-stop which is a big worry for me. Even likes bitter, strong-tasting and pungent stuff like chilli sauce, bittergourd and raw onions!

Stealing cupcakes from the larder

9. Still sucks her thumb to sleep and if there's someone beside her, she will either play with that person's ears or armpits (yes, you read right) with the other hand. The thumb-sucking is most likely to blame for her bunny teeth and overbite. I do hope she grows out of it before her permanent set of teeth come out.

10. Extremely good at mimicking others. We really have to watch our words and actions when around her.

11. Loves a good pampering. She used to ask Su for leg massages before her afternoon naps and loves it when I clean her ears with a cotton bud. It's the only time she will lie still for anything!

12. A softie at heart. Once I was watching a movie that made me cry and the next thing I knew, my t-shirt was wet with her tears and she was looking up at me and sobbing. It was not the movie that brought her to tears but she was empathising with my sadness. I felt so touched!

13. Very expressive and has a wonderful array of funny faces. Just looking at her antics makes the whole household laugh. I always look forward to her greeting me at the door upon my return from work. She'll run and fling herself at me without abandon till I'm sometimes bowled over if my feet are not properly grounded.

14. Bossy and likes correcting others. Hubby says no prizes for guessing where she got that from.

15. Politically correct. Every night without fail, Hubby would ask her if she wanted to sleep with him. One night she said "No" and when he asked why, she replied "Papa busuk"! Then after a pause, she continued "Papa's baju busuk".

16. Sociable and independent. She just blends in at school and at parties and likes to join bigger groups when at the park. Sadly, the bigger kids usually won't want to play with a young stranger, which is why I pray she will get on well with her younger sibling when the time comes.

17. A total TV addict!

Her usual pose in front of the idiot box

To our darling Nat, if you ever read this in future, know that that you bring such joy into the lives of those around you and that Papa and Mama love you with all our heart!

Educating Nat

Mum bought Nat a set of flashcards last week and here we are, taking her through a 5-card session. Although they normally do not require a response from the child, Nat started mimicking us (or rather, trying her darndest to) so we encouraged her on by clapping and cheering. She still babbles on in her own language although of late I've noticed she's more inclined to repeat words after me. More often than not, her enunciation is not all that clear. But it is cute.

Hubby and I have been careful to not overdo the flashcards at the risk of boring her. How we're going to get through 120 cards before that happens is beyond me.

Kena Con

I love this video simply 'cause it shows the innocence of babes.

Disco princess

We created a disco in our bedroom the other night with just a LED torchlight and Hubby's mobile playing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive". And this is the result...

The Night I Scared My Daughter Out of Her Wits

It started out as just another ordinary bedtime routine for Nat. She was frolicking about on the bed with the lights down low. I left her to tire herself out and went into the bathroom for my face-cleansing ritual. I had just purchased a new face pack from the pharmacy so decided to try that out too.

After applying the neem and turmeric concoction, I thought of chatting with Nat whilst allowing it to set in. Upon emerging from the bathroom, I was met with a look of sheer terror from Nat. Tears instantly sprang from her eyes and she started screaming and crying hysterically. I kept telling her "It's Mama, it's Mama!" but my cries fell on deaf ears as she retreated from me with every advance I made. The thought that my masked face would scare her really hadn't crossed my mind at all before that!

It was a good half a minute before she let me take hold of her and only calmed down when I sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". All that time, I was feeling so bad for traumatising her so I knew I had to show her that it was really me underneath the gunk lest she develops an unfounded fear of the dark or being left alone in the room. I could have easily gone to wash the mask off and then come back with a clean face but what if she couldn't make the connection and thought that a dark-faced stranger had come to attack her in my absence? So instead, I took her into the bathroom with me (looking in the mirror, even I had a slight shock at the 'Orang Minyak' gazing back at me, so scary was my reflection), sat her down on the closed toilet bowl and made her watch me remove the mask.

Mid-wash, she appeared to have already gotten over the big scare she had and was fiddling with the toilet flush (yes, her attention span is short indeed!) but it still didn't relieve me of the guilt. The guilt that I've been feeling till today. Mama's so sorry, my dear darling!

Gold digger

Sadly, my little princess has discovered the crude habit of picking her nose, from where, I can only wonder. Not only does she do it in public, she revels in sharing her findings with others too. Yikes!

There lay the sleeping monster

It's always such a task putting Nat to bed. She will crawl, roll, walk, run, jump or flop herself all over our bed for at least half an hour before she can be content to lie down in one spot, suck her thumb and finally doze off. And all this while I lay still and pretend to be asleep. No way will she succumb if I was up reading or watching the telly. It's like, "Mum's awake! Why should I sleep?".

Last Sunday I almost had a few heart attacks while she went about her routine of treating my bed like an obstacle course until she finally settled on top of my feet close to the edge of the bed. See it through her daddy's eyes.

My daughter, the pole dancer

This used to be my playground

Put Nat on the slide for the first time a couple of weeks back and she was not very impressed with it at the start. The sticky girl actually managed to hold a pose like this right in the middle of the slide.


See how she hangs on for dear life when her dad lets her go in this video....

Ice Lolly Face

My little girl is rather greedy. Whenever she sees me eating, she will make her way over and move her lips tantalisingly. If that doesn't work, she'll gulp her saliva and that usually gets her a small nibble of what we're having, provided it's baby-safe and not too tasty (lest she gets used to yummy-tasting stuff and refuses her bland porridge).

A few weeks ago, we let her try New Zealand All Naturals Berry Sorbet. Watch how she comes back for more despite finding the taste weird.

Crankypot!

This is what happens when she doesn't get enough sleep and gets woken up. It's so ugly I've decided to use it as my desktop wallpaper to remind me that I should rush home once it's 5.30pm lest she unleashes the monster within.

Humancopter

I'm welcoming suggestions on this one. Anyone care to offer an explanation as to what my daughter is up to here?

Things my daughter does that makes me laugh and love her more...

She rocks and sways (and sometimes headbangs) to almost any kind of music, but without fail to the theme song of 'Grey's Anatomy'. She could be nursing or doing something but when that tune comes on, she'll look up, smile and start rocking.

Sorry, don't know how to rotate the video

She hums tunelessly but in rhythm to people singing and she sometimes does so very loudly in church. I don't know whether to blush with pride or embarassment.

When in an affectionate mood, she'll hug me around the neck and kiss me full on the mouth, eyes closed some more. Starting young? You don't say! Daddy better have a way to keep a reign on her when she starts dating.



She twirls her feet round and round and pumps her arms up and down when she's excited (and that includes upon seeing me return from work).



Her babbling of "Buerh", "Buh", "Ba", "Bai", "Ma", "Pa", "Mum". MIL thinks she'll start talking early since she's such a whiner.

She is absolutely terrified of being put to sleep in her cot but loves sleeping on the sofa downstairs. Before falling asleep, she will roll about in her cot, bang her head on the mattress and whine. I have an absolutely hilarious video of her falling asleep sitting up with her feet sticking out of her cot but it's too dark to see anything when I upload it. Here's a photo instead


She always has a smile for everyone and if she's in a cranky mood, just singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" will definitely elicit a smile from her.

She has good dexterity and an incredibly strong grip (she once lifted a melamine chair with one hand).

She has an extremely good appetite and eats really quickly. Thank God!

Water baby

My daughter was made for the high life....

Watch my little tail-less mermaid in action. She was really paddling furiously and didn't seem to mind the water entering her eyes, mouth and nose.

I wouldn't come here for a massage

Tukang Urut is Malay for Masseuse.
A massage by a small wild cat? I think not...

My Daughter is a Samseng!

"Samseng" literally means gangster. Just watch and you'll see what I mean.



So, this was the reason for the bellyquakes I felt when I was pregnant...

Finally defeated...

Could it be real?

... yup, the "Chu" is finally down!

Strangely enough, she actually fell asleep on her own, right smack on Patrick the dog's red butt! How cute is that?