Climb a tree, they said.

it will be fun, they said.

Ok, this new blogger layout is a bit wonky, or rather i do not know how to use it yet. So i tried to edit some stuff and lost the last post. Bleh!

Anyways, i was just writing about how cute this lolly is.

This morning she woke slightly earlier than her usual 11 hours slumber cos she needed to poop. It was "all rise and shine" thereinafter. She asked for mumum, and happily munched on her cheesy bread at the step. Her pudgy legs touching the floor, making the step, an ideal spot for her mumum place. Her face broke into happy smiles at every bite she took.

Kakak came shortly afterwards. Surprisingly she waved hello as a welcome gesture. Kakak carried her, and she allowed it. Surprise surprise.

She got cranky soon, showing signs of sleepiness. I asked her to go get her pillow and chut chut and *roar* GO TO SLEEEP!! She made sure her displeasure was shown by making disgruntling sounds while waking tipsily to her cot to retrieve her paraphenalia.

It was too cute that, as usual, i couldnt stay angry at her for long. But then, angry isnt the right word. More like "mang", geram..in a "bite-her-thigh" way.

13 months of laughter, with my girl.

More to come, i am sure.

We moved

Well..kinda, as i am still "based" in my mom's place more often than not. And the strangest and also the coolest thing is...our house has no television. There is a nicely built tv cabinet. Empty. Kinda intentional. Kinda because we have walked in to many electrical shops many times to look at the television sets only to walkout empty handed. We just couldnt decide on one, cos i think, we dont really need/want one. I just give up watching tv, everytime after a baby comes along (not thhat many times..just twice, to be exact). Papah does, but it's those mindless stares at the idiot box cos there is nothing better to do. Lolly just wouldnt sit still, still, and gooly...well, he is OK without watching it, say for 36 hours (the longest streak). And Harry Potter the tv addict asks, "Your new house still got no tv ah?" a million times already. Nope. Uh-ah. No tv, no astro. So what do we do? There are hundreds of books to read. Many colour pencils to draw. Thousands of ideas to imagine. Millions of things to say to each other. Endless laughter to share. And oh..we have no wifi too. Not yet! We are not eschewing technology totally. And we got a new reachable Celcom number. ;-)

Makan date

My best makan pal is gooly. Ok ok, you too...but today i wanna talk about my special dates with my son.

With the ongoing ruckus from the lil lolly, its hard to have chats with gooly. So i arrange dinner or lunch dates with him sans lolly. So i can listen to his tales. I love his tales.

He told me about a girl with 24 colour pencils, who kept repeating that she has 24 colour pencils,

"i have 24, you only got 12," she went on and on.

(how about getting another 24 and you get 48 and we can call you 48 poh!)

And gooly was not a bit fazed with the 24 colour pencils. He brings 12 in a tattered box even though he has hundreds at home. Watching the so called famous you tube clip of My Generasi, I know, colour pencils are a biggie at school. I am glad that gooly couldnt care less about that. Luckily he didnt start to add more colours or insist on a new box.

"I just kept quiet. And she went on and on about her 24 colours from first period, second period...until after recess, still saying the same thing...tsk tsk tsk..." he shook his head.

Maybe he should sing, "You dont impress me much~~~"

And he showed me a jelly, which he initially received three from his bahasa teacher for scoring his ejaan tests. He ate one for recess, gave one to his pal, and kept the last one for his cuz. He could have eaten all three, but he didnt. (He could have given me one, but he didnt. But i am not gonna gripe on that!)

And then he said his friend said there is a new hit song. And he sang, "L.U.V Mcdonald!" teeheeeee! Madonna will be mad yo!

And today, i talked and he listened. I told him that i have the best mom in the world.

"Mom, i think you learned from your mom. Thats why you are the best too. You learned from your mom. And i learn from you. And meimei learn from me."

Ahh...he got the equation right.

I love talking to him cos he makes a lot of sense than a lot of other people.

Justice ka-pow!

A long time ago, when i first got married and went back to Alaska for cny, my mil had casually introduced me as her dil when we bumped into her friend (from church, i pressume.)

"Is she a Christian?"

Wow. Did you hear that? "Is she a Christian?" - that has gotta be the utmost important question of all when you get to kmow a person (from the lady's p.o.v, i pressume.)

For a split second, i felt being judged - am i less worthy as a person, as a wife, as a daughter in law, if i were not a Christian?

But the feeling lasted just for a nano second because i, may be OVER-reading a simple, nosy, inquisitive auntie's 'innocent' question of whether or not, if i were a Christian (or a animal.) Most importantly, i never let another person to judge me from my gender, size, height, character, my obsession with bags, or me, as a wife, daughter, mother, daughter in law, friend, enemy (sorry, if i hate you, i hate you). By saying i dont allow it doesnt mean i yell at you for saying judgemental things about me. Whats the point really? If i am totally okay with ME, i really dont care what you say. And the i just proceed to turn of my antennas and strike you off from my list (yes, i have a list..i have many lists, in fact. Inheritance list, for instance... Now you wanna be good to me, eh?)

Having said that, i'm ok with suggestions, pointers, advice...say when i say, "I need to cure my bag addiction." or some other banal queries ,about parenting. But you need to say it in a non- judgemental way, which much to my chagrin, not many homo sapiens have this skill of. Which is why i dont have many friends #forever alone.

And thats like judging you for judging me. Hey..i am not perfect. Never said i was. But you really shouldnt care what i think. And when everyone stops caring what others think (the bad stuff), this world will be all lemon drops and rainbowy.......wheeeee!

Another genius??

DO you kmow what Lolly fansies? No...not bags. Well, not yet. It's water bottles! She loves them, and takes whose ever's tumblrs..i mean tumblers or bottles, and hugs them tightly to claim ownership. If you try to take them back, she growls at you.

So today, gooly got home from school, stepped into the house, and the lil brat reached, first thing first, his (which later became hers) tupperware. The cover, as usual, was grimy and blackened with soot. Hence i removed it to wash, handing her just the empty container. She dipped her whole hand in, flashed a smile, and then tried to put her whole head in. It kept her occupied for a little while.

And then we went on with our business (read:me watching kingwa choonmung while she waddles around the house like a penguin). At some point, i must have handed her the cover while she tossed the empty container at some obscure corner of the house. Suddenly she came up to me.

Imagine this - her diapered butt bulged with a picture of strawberry, little foot steps that resemble drunken motion and her height reaching my knee (reminding me of an ewok). She wrapped her little fingers around mine and gave a gentle pull. Oh this means she wants me to follow her. I like that she is communicating already. So i abandoned Lisa (on tv) to go with her.

And so hand in hand, we walked. From time to time, she looked up at her *ahem* tall mom and gave a smile - the smile that I love so much cos it makes her look coy. I thought we were going for a walk, a tour around the kitchen, with her holding the cover of the tupperware.

We walked into the kitchen. She stopped by the whatchamacallit - drain hole? And squated down to insert her puny finger to lift up the cover. This little daily annoying action..well..annoys the bejesus of us and so I gave a stern warning. She got up, held my hand and turned to the counter top.

She made a sound, put the tupperware cover on top, and pointed her finger at....

VOILA! The container! She remembered where it was put and she knows they belong together

Zowee! My baby is a genius!

I was so proud with this impromptu treasure hunt, well sort of..since it involves quite a distance (100meter?), looking for an object and route memory. I clapped and clapped while she smiled and smiled and tried to place the cover to where it belongs.

Above all, i was ...still am, impressed with the way she communicated - holding hand, pulling, gesturing...Well, actually she has done all that before, like asking for food by pointing, or the radio to be turned on by shaking her butt, grabbing her own pillow when she wants to sleep...but this evening's series of actions demonstrates that she understands a lot more.

But hor, its always her telling us what to do...never the other way round. Try, "Lolly, show me your tongue." She 'choy nei dou sor!'

Is that better than BLUEkK? Maybe she knows its rude hor?

Btw, when i said "another" genius, the first one was none other than me - the winner of alphabet recitation below 5, Pj district, year of 81.

Gooly is pretty fly for a white guy (but he is not white)

I admit i am intriqued by gooly's vast vocabulary and knowlegde. I do believe reading contributes in making him speak and think the way he does. And Tv IQ, Nat Geo Wild. Not forgetting thru his own accute observation.

The other day we were complimenting nainai's delicious meatballs. Ohhlala..my ma cooks the best meatballs. Ikea's are meh after you have tried hers. But then again, its like comparing a spoon with a lighbulb cos hers isnt made of beef. But still, yums! So, i said, "Lets call it ahma's greatest meatballs." But gooly didnt agree.He thinks "ahma's signature dish." is cooler. Signature dish - hah! He must have learned that from menus.

And another time, i had a deja vue moment. Soi asked, if he has said what he said before, or have I just dreamed it. He reckoned it was the latter. And proceeded to tell me that there is a machine called ..wait, i cannot remember. Let me ask him again.

...ah...an electrograph. An electrograph to detect brain activities while you are sleeping.

So smart. *peacock proud*

and then sometimes he prattles on about dinosaurs facts which sends me straight off to the wonderland of bags. Pardon my blaise attitude to these *yawn*extinct reptiles but bags are made skins too!*sudden excitement*

Even my friends are impressed with his choice of words. He once said, "dodge" and my friend considered that as a tough word for a 7 year old in a general chinese school environment. And she further clarified her claims with, "Well, at least my niece doesnt use that word."

Hmmm..what is the other word for "dodge" then? *make dodging movements repeatedly in front of mirror to get ideas.

Nope. Cant think of another word to replace "dodge."

Maybe i should ask Gooly.

Wait.

While waiting, i should also tell you that he reads TinTin. I think the plots are very deep and twisty. I dont know if he gets them. *shrug. As long as he reads, i dont think it matters. Not like anyone is gonna test him. Are you?

Ok. Todoloo, miss lulu. I'm off to ask the walking thesaurus the substitutional word for ..what again? Ah yes, podge...

Lolly and her pillow

Gooly didnt have a "comfort" object. We went everywhere, anywhere without having to lug his favourite blankie, pillow, bear, hankie or whatnots. It was a deliberate decision at my end that he didnt get attached to any of them.

Meanwhile, lolly somehow got addicted to a smallish softie pillow. I think my mom has a role to play in this. She was always tugging the pillow under her arms (forcibly) during the early days citing that she would sleep more soundly. I didnt bother to follow through the routine when i tugged her in. But during the last bangkok trip, my mom insisted that we bring it along.

And so we did.

The moment we pulled it out from the luggage, she grabbed it with the biggest silliest grin. She hugged it wih such affection, and her face beamed with so much happiness that we knew she has found a "friend". Strange that it may sound, but her happiness was so profound that we just had to let her continue loving an Inanimate onject.

The love story continues. Now she crawls or walks tipsily over to her cot, stretches her hand through the bar (just like another child would, a bar of chocolate), grabs the pillow, hugs it and throws in a few pats). Very often, this is to indicate that she wants to nap.

It is too cute.

She could spot it in a pile of washed laundry too. She flings other unimportant stuff unto the ground. Takes the pillow case, and hurriedly goes to her usual spot to find the other side - the pillow, and tries clumsily to put them together,

Today, she tried to share her love. She must have sensed that i dont quite get this "attachment". She was hugging it, patting it while i was watching her as usual, grinning. She then shoved it into my arms. To humour her, i imitated her - by hugging and patting it. She smiled and made some sounds - "Nice right, mom.... now you understand??"

Yes, it was very cuddly soft.

But i like hugging you a lot more, my silly lolly.