陈 姿 颖

As with most traditional parents, we took to choosing a good Chinese name for Saige, with the help of a geomancer. For those of us who are uninitiated, it is believed that each child is born with what is known as a 'ba zi' which tells us his or her fortune/luck when born. As with all fortunes, there are ups and downs with all future paths. However, with the right name, one can give the child a good chance of "counteracting" the negatives post-birth, without going against the nature of the child at birth.

Which parent wouldn't want to give his child the best?

Before we go to Saige's Chinese name, it is worth mentioning how Eve and I thought of Saige's English name. It had first started with "Paige" as both of us liked the name. As it turns out, when Eve Googled further, she came across Saige - which meant "to be healthy and have "wisdom" in doing the right things". We both liked that so much since we always wanted these for our kids, that we settled on it very quickly. btw, this was before we knew that our number 2 is a girl - and even before we had number 2 :)

Anyway, back to the Chinese name, we had been advised, based on Saige's time of birth, that she would be better off using not the same middle name that Faith (陈诗 颖) had. When we told our family this, Terence, my younger brother suggested then to make the third character the same. This was something new to me. But according to Eve, it is actually quite common to have folks having the same third name. As such, I asked again for advise, now based on having the same third character. This time round, we were given the option of 陈 姿 颖.

姿 beauty; disposition; looks; appearance

颖 clever; gifted

When I saw the name, I thought the name was meaningful not only in that it would emphasise the feminity and beauty of Saige, but also fitting since she was our second daughter (次 女).

For our friends who are non-Mandarin speakers, here are other words with 姿...


姿
zī
beauty / disposition / looks / appearance


姿貌
zī mào
( n. )
a woman's looks

姿媚
zī mèi
( adj. )
charming, enchanting

姿容
zī róng
looks / appearance


姿色
zī sè
good looking


姿势
zī shì
posture / position


姿首
zī shǒu
( n. )
(of women) a pretty face and beautiful hair

姿态
zī tài
attitude / posture / stance

Faith receives a letter from Mickey!

It has been a practice now for Faith to open our letter box. To her surprise today, she received a letter from Mickey (well, actually it was from Playhouse Disney). In it, she found a set of stickers of Pooh and Mickey, and a note wishing her "Happy Birthday".

Faith was so excited and happy to receive her first letter that she was all smiles the entire day. She kept asking who sent her the letter and when she learnt it was from Mickey, she even insisted that she write a letter to thank Mickey! As I type this blog, Faith is reminding me that we have not sent the letter to thank Mickey (as daddy hasn't bought the envelope).

To all parents, in case you were wondering what this is all about - just check out ..http://www.disneychannel-asia.com/DisneyChannel/playhouse/friends/birthday_babies/ (we'd be monitoring the site to see when Faith's pictures appear! :))

Saige Week 1

It's been a week and we still have not dared to try to get a picture of Saige and Faith together. Unfortunately, Faith has been down with flu and is currently on a bout of antibiotics. For now, thus, the two sisters will have to contend with taking seperate pictures.

Faith meanwhile has been the adoring sister, and she comes running to us whenever Saige cries - to remind us that "Saige is hungry, mummy, daddy!!". She also never fails to coo "Saige is so cute" whenever she sees Saige.

Feeding-wise, Saige is so far so good on the nursing front. Without wanting to jinx it, I shan't elaborate any further, but Eve and I are keeping our fingers crossed.

Apart from us having to balance between keeping the sick Faith away from Saige, while letting the two sistes develop a bond, all is well at Week 0.

Saige at home

The verdict seems to be - Saige looks like me (Louis)!

Oh dear, not sure if this is a good or bad sign, but her hair pattern/parting, shape of forehead suggests that she is closer in appearance to daddy at least for now. Well, if there is any consolation, Eve and I are convinced that Saige also has her mum's double eyelids.

Here's some more pics of the little one in the hospital and at home - and Faith jie jie holding some flowers in anticipation of her return.

Saige! :)

Saige is here!! :)

After a nail-biting 15 min procedure, Saige arrived safely in the evening of 24 Feb 2010 (Wed). With a loud hail, she announced the extension of our little family in the OT and you can imagine my relief when our PD gave me the thumbs up to let me know that all was fine with our Number 2.

The perenial question now is - who does Saige look like? Does she look like Faith?

(Top: Saige; Bottom: Faith)

More pictures to follow :)

Daddy's girl(s)

I think Louis is going to be dead meat. In about a week’s time, the ratio of male: female in our little family is going to be 1:3.

He’s badly outnumbered... especially when Faith is getting to be quite good with emotional blackmails, despite her not even being 3 years old yet. Perhaps calling it emotional blackmail makes it appears that she’s cunning and sly for one so young, but kids these days sure know how to turn on the charm and twist their parents tightly around their cute little fingers.

Last night, we had our usual nightly “battle” of her trying to stretch and lengthen her bedtime routine. Faith was trying to get Louis to sit next to her until she falls asleep; a situation which Louis really doesn’t mind but one that I strictly vetoed against him doing, when she surprised us both by saying, “Daddy, sit with Faith for a little while. Pleeeeease!!! I miss you so much. Daddy, you are my best friend!”

All the above were uttered in a convincingly earnest and pleading tone, well aimed to weaken and melt even hardest of hearts.

Call it feminine wiles, genuine affections, innocent love or whatever. There’s no fighting chance that any honest-to-goodness daddy can withstand the onslaught of their little girl’s affections, especially a softie like Louis.

I’m just waiting to see how the family dynamics would unfold when #2 is out. For now, Louis is luxuriating in all the kisses and affections that his little girl is pouring his way.

Pat's school house Chinese New Year Celebrations

On Tuesday, Teacher Belle told us that this Friday (12 Feb) would be the school's Chinese New Year celebration - and the kids in Peter Rabbit would also be putting up a performance!

As many of you would be aware, Faith has had her ups and downs adjusting to school. She still gets the Monday blues and would often protest at having to be woken up early at 7am.

As such, Eve and I received the news of the CNY performance with mixed feelings. While we were glad that the teachers would be investing considerable effort in bringing CNY to life for the kids, we were also quite resigned to the fact that Faith takes a longer time to adjust to school much less peforming on-stage!

Came Friday, both of us accompanied Faith to the performance. We dropped her off with the class and like the other parents, waited at the "concert venue" just a few steps away, at the Pat's SchoolHouse nursery.

And what was probably the proudest 'school-moment' for us came quite unexpectedly. Faith literally took to the stage and danced her heart out. Not only did she not shy away from going up, she was literally put in the centre of the stage alongside Connor - a Caucasian boy.

Well done Faith! :)