Baby Bump :-)

Pregnancy is an amazing journey – from the physical transformation of a woman’s body, physiological bonding with baby within, to the psychological nurturing of a mother’s instincts. It is a journey prerogative only to women, not one which men can undertake nor understand.

 

Even as myself had gone through two pregnancies bringing my precious ones to the world (they are both 8 & 10 already?!!!), it is still bewildering to me how a sperm of disc head 5 micrometer by 3 micrometer, when finding its way to an ovum of 0.12 mm diameter could fuse to develop into a foetus and eventually grow into a mature baby of 50cm, all the while happening inside a woman’s womb! I am constantly amused when I see Preggies with their ballooning belly stretching to contain the growing baby, the sight of their tummy so tender yet robust!

 

Perhaps the experience of pregnancies has conceived my view of Preggies – they are one lot of beautiful curves!

Love

Love is both profound and confounding. No one has a simple definition to Love as it encompasses a multitude of virtues. The first time I came across the meaning of Love in the Bible during my pre-teen days, the beautiful verse stuck in my heart ever since - 

Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not boast, it is not proud.

It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, 

It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. 

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

As life deals with us, we realise Love is not as simple as it sounds. The intricacies of life complicates the simplicity of Love. It may take a lifetime to unravel the mysteries of Love, or not… I am learning, even in my adulthood the true meaning of Love. 

At this juncture in life, I am reminded that "The best expression of Love is time". As Rick Warren places it "We all have different amounts of energy, wealth, and talent, but we all have the exact same amount of time: 168 hours a week. You can always get more money, but you can't get more time. You only have a certain amount of allotted days, so you have to decide: What is your time worth? The most valuable thing you can give someone is your attention, because when you give attention to somebody you're saying, "You matter to me. You are valuable. You are worth listening to. You are worth my time."" This is applicable to all sorts of relationships!!!

Teddy Bears

I don't particularly fancy teddy bears but a teddy never fails to warm my heart. It's funny how teddies are marketed as cute and lovable, when in reality a bear is ferocious when threatened. Similarly, a hippopotamus is by far the most 'dangerous' due to misconceived perception of being portrayed as an adorable creature! Puzzles aside, teddy bears tend to have a heartwarming effect on children and adults; I am one of those who love cuddlies, ie soft furry or fabric toys. I wonder if loving a cuddly means a person has a soft side? My boy, despite his love for soccer, knights, soldiers, lego, minecraft, etc has a soft spot for soft toys - at the age of 8, he was equally thrilled when given a cushy bunny for Xmas ;p

Some bears have an inherently cute look - my favourite is Polar Bear. White and snowy :-) 

Confession this Christmas..

As I made my confession this christmas, it greatly relieved me of my doing as being 'Santa' all these years!!!

It all began with an innocent intent - the joy of seeing my kids lit up genuinely as they received a surprise gift from Santa. However, I foolishly stepped up my game by dropping a little gift in their santa socks daily in the month of December till Christmas eve and this tradition stuck for many many years. They started off believing in Santa and would wake up eager and chirpy in the morning shoving their hands into the socks and retrieved their finds. It was easy to get them little gifts as toddlers as little items would delight them. As they grow, they develop their likes and tastes, it became increasingly difficult to find economic buys that would truly delight them. This is the reality of growing up - kids appreciate less of simple joys as they grow into pre-teens. I had the chance to break the myth years ago when they first had their initial doubts about Santa as their friends claimed that Santa was not real but I remarked that "If they believe it is real, then Santa is real". They chose to believe as they loved to receive gifts.

This year prior to putting up the Christmas socks, my boy being the more logical brained had questioned me on the existence of Santa again but my girl, being more sentimental chose to believe Santa is real, and I reiterated the same line. They thus chucked their doubt aside and continued to receive little gifts from Santa. However, my job was made tougher with age - I would forget to slip in the gifts and jolt up awake in the middle of the night to drop the gifts into their socks and returned to bed, sleep interrupted!!! Furthermore, I observed that the gratitude gained from Santa is diminishing, which reduces the spirit of the intent. Hence I decided to stop torturing myself and confess to my kids yesterday morning. Since they already understood the true meaning of Christmas, we will scrape away the myth of Santa ;p

Nonetheless, we had our fair share of 'Santa' stories and memories to live with. After Santa, they started to question me about tooth fairy….

Dogs Dogs Dogs

My love affair with dogs began with our 1st dog - Rusty the Jack Russell Terrier...

Caring for a dog is a lifetime responsibility. Prior to dogs, I have had cats which were half a world apart from dogs. Cats are very independent whereas dogs require loads of attention, affection and time. While providing for Rusty, I read more about dogs and over time learnt the characteristics of JRTs and various other breeds. As I get acquainted with dogs, I began to grow a love towards them, though I have a preference over large breeds, short coat or goofy dogs ;p however, I like many other breeds not falling into these categories. 

The saying goes " Dogs love you more than they love themselves" - undoubtedly true! Regardless of breeds, all dogs make wonderful companions. As long as you accord it time, patience and love, dogs will learn to behave obediently. Similarly, any dog that has been previously traumatised will certainly outgrow its insecurities and be normalised. All that is required is a chance for them to adapt to their new environment.

Here's to all the lovely dogs!

My girl's masterpieces

Both my kids are fans of mommy's needlefelt craft works but my girl, being more artistically inclined, took up the craft this year as I started to poke more. She is 9 going 10, about the right age to handle a sharp needle. I taught her simple shapes such as spheres, cubes and other basic techniques. Along the way she practiced and poked items that she fancies. However, she gets carried away when she does art, thus I have to lay down strict instructions that she can only indulge in craftwork during school vacation days, whereas mommy will be poking away while eyeing them to complete their tasks at home during school terms ;p

All local kids and parents love year end school vacations as it spells the end of mugging for students & nagging for parents! It's a season to relax and revel in our favourite activities. Needless to say, my girl started poking after her examinations and here's what she came up with :-)

Chi!!! The cutesie cat character in a Japanese comics that she loves. Pretty good job done for a 9-year old!!!

E.T.

Besides the movie Superman, the other film that left an indelible mark in my childhood memory is E.T. It was screened during my pre-teen years when I was hardly proficient in English, but I was still able to catch the gist of the story and was moved by the touching scenes - evidence of a great production capturing viewers' hearts. Perhaps it was also the fact that the creature E.T. was an ugly but adorable (aka cute) and innocent alien that impressed on me. Its doleful blue eyes, big head atop a long neck, long arms and creasy hide is unforgettable. Decades have passed and E.T. remains in my heart a heartwarming alien :-)