Our Books from E-Bay

I was addicted to E-Bay a year ago and spent many an hour browsing and shopping there. The result is these books which were shipped back to us a couple of months ago and were unpacked recently. The books worked out to be less than RM5.00 each, so it's a rather good bargain. Looks like we won't be visiting the bookshops for a long time.....

My Zuwern at 6 months

Zuwern is still not strong enough to sit up straight. We propped him up once in a while to strengthen his back. My cutie pie is just so adorable at this age. He's always smiling and is my constant joy.

He definitely won't forgive me for this, but I just can't resist dolling him up in this beautiful green dress.

Life in KL and Changes

We have been back in KL for almost 3 weeks. And it’s been busy, busy, busy! I am juggling between looking after the kids, running the home and operating a home office. And it didn’t help when the both my darlings fell ill with high fever and vomiting. Zerlynde was hospitalized for 2 nights at Pantai Medical Centre after 5 days of fever and when she started throwing up her medication. We were so relief it was just some throat infection and not something serious like dengue!

Mum came for a visit and to help out. We managed to go out to Plaza Damas for pancakes and tim sum and breakfast on various occasions. We also brought Zerlynde to One Utama for her favourite Merry-Go-Round ride. She’s started to demand for coins to slot in herself lately, and we had to drag her away from the rides each time.

An old friend was back for her brother’s wedding from the states. So, we brought Zerlynde to say hello to her little friends, Dante and Chiali. And just this afternoon, we went for tea at Paddington again where Zerlynde couldn’t stop hugging Iwan!

We also made a very huge decision lately. After visiting a few nurseries, we enrolled Zerlynde in the nearby Sparkles Montessori. She went for a trial class on Monday. On Wednesday, after an hour there watching her play and enjoying herself, I was asked to “go home” by my brave little girl. I like Sparkles because it is just 1 minute drive away from our house and the teachers there are very gentle and friendly. More importantly, they emphasize on learning through play. I don’t want my 2 and a half year old toddler to be doing homework after school! Not even when she is 5!

It wasn’t easy for me to let her go. I have been Zerlynde’s sole care-giver since she was born and it was really very difficult for me to make the deliberate choice to let someone else educate my daughter and shape her personality. But when I saw how happy she was to have company her own age, I knew that my feelings would have to take second place and that it was the right decision to let her grow. She was very sociable and independent by nature. So there was really no need for us to worry at all. So far, she’s attended pre-school twice in my absence and the feedback from her teachers was that she was very adaptable and well-behaved and didn’t give them any trouble.

As for Zuwern, he’s learned to hold his own water bottle (Zerlynde is very amused by his new ability). He simply loves bathtime. And he loves books! We put on the Baby Einstein’s programme for him to watch on tv. He didn’t seem interested. And yes, he still likes, in fact, demands to be carried all the time. He’s especially happy when his sister talks to him. So, we sometimes place a huge dolly beside him to fool him into believing someone is beside him so that he will not kick a fuss at being left lying down alone. In terms of motor skills, he is less flimsy and is able to sit up with support. Our little baby can even ride now!

Zerlynde, My Sweetie Pie

I want to write about Zerlynde’s love for her baby brother. Zerlynde is always hugging and kissing her “titi”.(sometimes smothering him so much that he screams in protest) She loves to lie down beside him especially under the baby gym, and they will both happily bat at all the little rattles and items hung thereunder. (our latest acquisition being a tiny Elmo, gift from aunt Kitty) Zerlynde is also a little brownie, helping me to fetch titi’s handkerchiefs and throw his soiled diapers into the bin once in a while. And whenever she sees me bottle feed him water, she rushes over to grab the bottle from me to feed him herself. When Zuwern cries, our sympathetic angel would rush over to his side and asked “Cho mi soo, titi?” (“What’s wrong, little brother?” in teo chew) and then hand him some toys saying “Nah” to console him. Otherwise she will call me and insist I carry her little brother to soothe him. Just a few days ago, when Zuwern cried, I heard her comforting him saying, “Darling baby, don’t cry, darling baby don’t cry”, then pat him on the arms and hum him a lullaby in the tune of “Are You Sleeping”. Lately, she's even starting to push his stroller to and fro to stop him from crying. Her endearments for him besides “Darling baby” are “Handsome Boy”, “Cutie Pie” and “Little Angel”.

Next, I want to remember Zerlynde as an extraordinary compassionate being. Whenever granny or mummy tells her we are in pain and show her our wound (real or otherwise), she would stroke us and say “Sayang, sayang” and stop insisting on our carrying her. Once in a naughty mood, she almost pushed granny off the bed. Granny pretended to fall and she was so terrified, crying out “Sorry, Ah Ma” and immediately gave Ah Ma a hug. Another time, she saw me standing on a chair to put a box in the upper section of the wardrobe. She was so extremely worried that I would fall off and kept insisting that I came down, telling us mummy’ll fall and that she’s scared in mandarin. (“mummy tie tau, pha pha”) Grandpa, the magician who can make things “disappear” at the count of 3, loves to tease her and occasionally threatens to make granny or mummy or titi “disappear”. Zerlynde would get so frightened and said “Pu yao Ah Ma/Mummy/Titi no more, pha pha” (“Don’t granny/mummy/little brother no more, scared” literally) And with regards to her favourite cousin Jonathan who fight with her all the time over this or that toy, she would sometimes feel sorry for him when he started crying and would give way and hand over to him this or that object.

Further, I want to write about the various words she likes to use. She’s fascinated with the word “remember” and goes “Remember, Zerlynde sit on merry go round zebra?”, “Remember, papa bring Zerlynde to slide”, etc. She likes the sound “oo la la” and “gila babi” and often exclaims at the slightest opportunity “Oh dear!” and “Oh my God”. She’s also beginning to say “thank you”, especially when she’s in a good mood. When she poo-poos, she will utter in mandarin “chou tau pan she” (it stinks very much). And when she dirties herself, she sometimes says “disgusting” and wrinkles her nose in imitation of her mum ;) She also admonishes her little brother, saying “No, no” when he pulls her hair, or “No biting” when he bites mummy. When asked what mummy’s nickname is, she says “Strawberry Pie”. She herself is of course“Sweetie Pie” and daddy is “Mango Pie”.

Lastly, no picture of Zerlynde would be complete if mention is not made of her asserting for her independence. Zerlynde wants to do everything by herself these days, bathing, brushing her teeth, combing her hair, dressing up, decorating her bed, and even, saving up for her education ;)

Grandpa

Grandpa is a magician who can make things disappear at the count of 3. Grandpa is someone who tickles, teases and "zooms" us into laughter. Grandpa lavishes us with all the yummy stuffs like lollipops and ice-cream. Grandpa buys us our first bicycles, robots and barbie dolls. Grandpa is our driver to everywhere nice. Grandpa is someone who rescues us from our parents. Grandpa is so soft to sleep on. Grandpa cuddles and hugs us to stop our cries and tears. Grandpa is always on our side. Grandpa is someone who grows with us, learning about our favourite characters; Barney, Elmo, Maisy, even Charlie, Talullah, BJ and Baby Bob! Most of all, Grandpa is someone who loves us very very very much.

Quote of the Year 2006

One of hubby's friend asked him a few months ago how it feels like to have a daughter. Hubby replied, "It's like falling in love all over again".

Superheroes

Spidergirl

Before Sunset

The film's got great cinematography, sure to appeal to the arty-farty sort. But it sure also made me very dizzy and nauseous (due to its use of the technique Stedicam I now learnt) when I watched it 6 months ago. It struck me also that 90% of the time, the 2 main characters, Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) are walking and talking to one another. I didn't fall in love with the film. But I knew instinctly that there's something about the film which made it different from the rest. So I checked it up on the net.

I found out that Before Sunset is the sequel to another film called Before Sunrise, made 9 years earlier. The storyline takes place exactly 9 years after Before Sunrise, showing an older Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy encountering one another again after 9 long years of being apart. Further, the film takes place in real time, meaning, the time elapsed in the movie is also the run time of the film. Now, is this an original idea or is this an original idea!

I wished I've got a copy of Before Sunrise. I also wished I've watched Before Sunrise first, when it was released in 1995. It would have made me feel even more for these 2 very extraordinary films.

There is hint of a sequel toward the end of the film. I am looking very much forward to that. Let's just hope it won't be released 9 years later! But that may very well be the case looking at past records.

George Frideric Handel (23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759)

Thanks to my mentor who invited me to play that piece of music on the piano recently, I discovered Handel's Suite No VII movement in Allegro. Now, that is what I call music made in heaven!

Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, Booker Prize

Kiran Desai won the Booker Prize for this book in 2006. I found her writing to be very honest. Besides that unfortunately, I must say, this book does nothing to me. Definitely you won't catch me reading it another time.

This brings to mind another Booker Prize winner (1997) - The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Now, that, to me, is a truly marvelous book. I must have read it 3 times at least! Highly recommended!

Other Booker Prize winners worth reading in my opinion are John Banville's The Sea (2005), Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient (1992), A.S. Byatt's Possession:A Romance (1990), Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day (1989) and Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children (1981)

On the other hand, my Booker Prize let downs are so far Yann Martel's The Life of Pi (2002) and Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda (1988).

My Baby is 5 Months Old

Zuwern is 5 months old! He's beginning to demand for more and more attention, sometimes moaning, sometime "howling" like a kitten to catch our attention. He still smiles a lot, tries to bat and grab hold of everything within reach and is particularly attracted to mummy's books. (tries to grab them whenever mummy's reading in bed beside him) He loves bathtime, kicks a lot in water and voices his discontent when removed from the bathtub. He is very ticklish and giggles whenever he's being ticked. He sometimes suckles his little fingers. He still feeds 3-4 times at night and every 3 hours in the day. He holds out his hands when we prompt him to "shake hands". He also "pull the bunny" whenever prompted. He sometimes scratches his head. He has a habit of shaking his head when falling asleep. He loves being massaged but doesn't like being placed on his tummy. And he would like to be carried all the time if he could have his way! Overall, our Zuwern is a very happy baby. His nicknames are "Happy Baby", "Handsome Boy", "Cutie Pie" and "Baby Boy".