A fairly serious injury

In the late morning, Louis called me and told me somewhat cheerfully that he had twisted and sprained his knee while playing badminton. He said that he was going with my FIL to see the Chinese "sinseh" for the sprained knee.

I asked him if he was in any condition to drive and he still cheerfully told me that he couldn't, which was why my FIL was going with him. The only hint of how serious his condition was was when he said that he needed my FIL to help support him as he walked.

I gathered that his cheerful and positive tone was for my benefit -- so as not to alarm me.

Half an hour later, he called me again to say that the sinseh was not in town and he was headed to Changi General Hospital (CGH) to see a doctor at the A&E.

The gist of it was that he came home slightly after 3 pm, walking with the support of a pair of crutches. Thankfully, the x-ray result showed that he had not sustain any fractures of the bone. However, he could not put any weight at all on his left foot.

This was serious. Serious enough that he would spent money to buy a pair of crutches. Serious enough that he's impeded by his injury for simple movements. This was no small matter of a blackened toe nail that would fall off, or what a day of rest would help.

Without fail and with very few exceptions, Louis would be playing badminton with his ex JC friends every Sunday morning, rain or shine. He's been doing this for as long as I knew him. Longer than that actually. In fact, he's been playing every Sunday with his friends since they graduated from JC - spare for the period that he's overseas.

He had been given MC for 2 days. On New Year's eve, he's due back at the Sports clinic of CGH for a check-up to ascertain the source of injury (ligament, muscle?) and whether he is fit for work. I hope it is nothing serious that would require corrective surgery.

Every one in the family is concern.

He was sheepish and apologetic about the entire affair. It not only meant that he wouldn't be able to help me with anything about the house or Faith for a while but would also need assistance himself for some things. I think he's also a little sadden that he couldn't play or carry Faith for a while -- she tried to pull him up to dance with her in the evening to the beat of a song from the show "Enchanted".

I've always appreciated the fact that Louis helps me out with nearly everything in the house, from taking care and playing with Faith while I do my chores to washing and hanging out the clothes while I put Faith to sleep.

As I went about the usual routine of putting Faith to bed on my own, I appreciate even more the little things that he's always done for us nightly - preparing and setting aside Faith's water bottle for when she wants a drink in the middle of the night, refreshing the water for our aromatherapy lamp, changing the mosquito mat for the repellent in our room etc.

All of seem very small but yet were thoughtful gestures. When you put them together, they mean a whole lot more and shows how much he loves us. Most times, its really the little things that means the most, isn't it.

With his injured knee, he's not able to sleep on the mattress next to our sofa bed anymore. He tried to reassure me that its only going to be for a few nights that he would have to sleep in our master bedroom. I only want what's best for him even though I'm going to miss having him in the same room. Silly, isn't it when its not like we're miles apart from each other. But, our philosophy is that a couple that sleeps together, stays together :)

He had been optimistic and cheerful the entire day mostly for my sake cos he knows that I'm feeling down and a little heartbroken seeing him walk around the house in crutches. For his sake, I'm going to try to be more positive too.

Get well soon, darling!

Merry Christmas & A Happy Birthday

Christmas holds a very special meaning in our family, not becos we are Christians. The date of 25th Dec is always reserved for the family. A time to celebrate and get-together.

It is the day that Louis was born some thirty-odd years ago :)

Being the family man that he is, Louis is happiest when we spend his special day surrounded by family, having a home-cooked meal. Frankly, it doesn't matter to him very much if it was a simple meal, or one that we order in.

Last year, he tolled and slaved over a Christmas turkey. It was the first time that he made it for me and the family after years of pestering on my part. We oohed-ahhed over the gorgeous, succulent and moist bird that came out from our oven and promptly attacked it with relish. So much so that we forgot to take a picture of it for the blog.

This year, we decided to do away with the turkey. And so, I stepped forth and set out to prepare the entire Christmas meal, complete with a Birthday/Christmas Buche de Noel (log cake), the very first cake that I ever made for him.

I was very determine to make him his birthday cake this year as I'm now a SAHM without income. It seemed senseless to me to buy him a birthday present with his own money :)

Apart from our immediate family, a couple of his aunties, an uncle and cousins joined us again (they were with us last Christmas too). It was a bit of a challenge trying to cook a 5-course meal to feed a crowd of 14-15 people, while getting to enjoy ourselves too. We could have pot-luck or order some of the food in. However, I'm a little of a perfectionist when it comes to such gatherings and prefer to prepare all the food for the gathering on my own.

The Christmas menu comprised of a starter of Vietnamese fresh spring rolls (Goi Cuon), with beef stew and crab meat pasta as the mains. We topped that off with the log cake and green-tea tiramisu.

My elder BIL is unfortunately still overseas for work. The good news is that he would be home in time to celebrate the turn of the new year. That would be yet another reason for the family to celebrate.

Thanks to the the aunties, who came loaded with chocolates from their European vacation and a casserole of baked rice, and my elder SIL, who bought some sushi and Korean strawberries, there was more than enough food to go around. As usual :)

Our Christmas tree was also spilling with lots of Christmas presents, not only for ourselves, but along with presents for the 2As too.

As for Faith, she was happy to run around, socialise and alternated between following and bossing around her 2 older cousins all over the house.

It has been a simple but blessed Christmas cum Birthday celebration for us. It means a lot to Louis and I that we are able to have the extended family spend the festive season with us. This is the warmth and love of family that we hope that Faith will continue to be surrounded with as she grows to learn to appreciate it as much as we do.

Little Family's Bintan Trip: 6th - 8th Dec 2008

In all seriousness, I don't suppose there's much sense putting a post about how we spent our 3D2N trip in Bintan during the Hari Raya Haji holiday weekend. Afterall, I'm sure many people know what there is or isn't to do in Bintan. Plus, it wasn't our first trip there.

I suppose I shall let the pictures do all the talking. Suffice it to say it was a somewhat eventful start on the morning of our trip when Faith woke up with her legs filled with rashes. Turns out that she had hives.

It was a mad scramble to get her to see the paedi, and liaising with our travel agent to change our departure time (we have to say that Fascinating Travels, as always, provided excellent services) to a later slot -- we were scheduled to depart at 12 noon.

So, we had our share of fun on the beach, building (with Faith destroying) sandcastles, swimming, eating and doing pretty much nothing else at a beach resort. Just the kind of holiday that I like with a kid on hand.

Another thing... I would think twice about travelling on a ferry during a monsoon season next time. The water was extremely choppy and I very nearly puked on board the ferry. Never happened to me ever before.

I) On feeding - Faith self-feeds only for food she likes e.g. chawanmushi & ice-cream

II) Blowing bubbles - Every kid loves them, Faith included. Although she kinda like to hang the device around her neck and walk around the resort with it.

III) Pretending to suntan - weather was dreary and overcast the day that we were due to depart. No matter, for posterity's sake, Faith is happy to pose for the camera, except that she's not in her swimming costume.

IV) Collage galore - That's why its called collage galore... a mix-match of different pictures.

V) "Almost sisters" - Lo and behold, 2 girls in pink at the reception lobby; one's on her way home to Singapore and the other on her way in from Singapore. Uncannily alike in their pink tops, hair style and size. Just about a month apart in age.

Potty training

Yet another one of those things that we've been procrastinating about - potty training for Faith.

We think she might be somewhat ready, but there's not much harm starting earlier and see how she takes to it. She doesn't always pull at her diapers but when it gets too heavy and is drooping, she would be pulling at it or alerting us that she needs a diaper change.

One day, her diapers got too heavy with pee and it dropped to the floor while she was walking around. My mom was hanging clothes in the balcony and I was somewhere in the house. Neither of us noticed that her diapers had dropped. Suddenly, we realised she was not in the living room and I started to go around the house hunting for her.

I caught her in her room, proudly pulling out and showing me a new diaper that she had gotten for herself. It was then that I realised she was without her diapers and she had gone into the room to get herself a new one.

According to my mom, she started training my niece, Nicole, around the time she was 18 months or slightly younger. My SIL said that her mom, who was then looking after Anthea in the day, started potty-training her after her 1st birthday.

I think now might not be a bad idea to start becos she's only going for two lessons a week until mid Dec, when all classes halt for the holiday breaks. Starting next year, Faith and I are going to be busy as she's going for lessons four times a week.

It would be harder then to potty train her. Since there's a little of a lull time during the year end, it would be good to get her started so that she might have a little more time to get used to it.

My mom was of the opinion that simplicity was best. The pink Ikea potty that we had earlier bought was deemed to be unwieldy for a kid as it had pointy ends. She felt that the old-fashioned, all-rounded potty that we get from the neighbourhood shops would stand up to the potty training better. So, we now have a blue, round potty sitting just outside our kitchen toilet. Most of the time. Occasionally, Faith gets it into her head to shift it around to somewhere in the house, most often the living room.

Last Monday, I thought to put her on the blue potty after she woke from her afternoon nap. Unfortunately, she resisted our attempts to get her to sit on it, despite us trying to tempt her with her favourite snacks like raisins or even a Ribena pastilles. She made lots of noises and struggled out every time we pick her up under her armpits to put her on it.

Of course, we gave up shortly. No point making it an unpleasant experience that she would remember and hence resist going through in the future.

Last Tuesday, while Louis and I were away for a CPR/AED training session in the day, Faith apparently managed to pee and poo in the potty. Unfortunately, that was the one and only time. She hasn't been too keen to go back into the potty since.

On Saturday morning, the only day of the week when Louis is at home in the mornings, he determinedly brought her to sit at the potty when she woke up. To entice her to stay seated on her potty, he sat in her pink potty, while she in her blue. The two of them sat there together for a long time with no results.

In the end, we ended up taking pictures and Faith stood up from her potty after a while and decided to pose for pictures next to the fridge. Sigh...

Meantime, I should stop procrastinating too and get myself to go read up some books or google online resources on potty training. Or better still... just hunker down with her and spend more time at the potty to get her use to the idea.

The man in my live & making a will

[This has been in my draft box for a few days]

The news over the last few days have been rather sombre and bleak, especially with the tragic death of fellow Singaporean, Lo Hwei Yen, in the Mumbai massacre. It made me ponder about life, about how fragile and transient it can be. And somewhere in my mind, I would think about how her husband is coping.

It may sound weird, crazy and stupid. Yet, do you ever stop to think every once in a while what would happen to yourself if someone that you have always relied on is one day no longer around? I do. And when that question surfaces, I invariability chicken out and shove it to the back of my brains.

However, coming on the heels of our 5th year anniversary, I just wanted Louis why he means the world to me and not to regret that I've not let him know.

Now and then, I would jokingly tell him that I provide him with directions in life. In truth, he's the compass and the pillar of support in my life. A friend, soulmate, lover, husband and father, all rolled into a nice neat package. One who knows what makes me tick and who keeps me ticking.

He's the hands-on father who loves openly, plays, tumbles and acts silly with Faith. He brushes her teeth, cleans her face, changes her into her jammies, plays with her every night so that I can take a shower and get ready to nurse and put Faith to bed.

He embraced and relish fatherhood much earlier and with greater enthusiasm than I did for motherhood. Which is probably why she's so much a daddy's girl. She wakes up every morning and more often than not, she would lean over the side of the bed and say "Papa", regardless of whether he's there or not.

He would be the first person that I want to share my joys, fears, frustrations, happiness, trepidations and whatever range of emotions and feelings I've ever experienced since meeting him. The one whom I want to share all the important milestones, not important milestones and everything in between.

As a husband, he is caring, loving, trusting, respectful, honest, selfless, open, fun, silly, indulgent. We have our arguments, spats and petty fights, of course. But we talk it out and not let it fester. We share similar values, beliefs and outlooks in life.

Yet, I think he makes a better husband than I make a wife. I am hotheaded to his calming, even temperament. Tactless when he is the soul of tact, pessimistic while he is almost always optimistic, impatient when he is mostly patient. The list could go on, but I fear that would make me sound like a not-very-nice person :)

Despite all these, he continues to love me for my good and accepts me for my flaws. I cannot ask for a better husband or a better father.

In my ideal world, we would be old and dotty some 40-50 years from now, walking hand-in-hand in the park, while our hoards of grandchildren and our children with their spouses are strolling together with us.

Yet, the ideal world and reality is not the same. The world as we know it is not the same as it was.

And that is the second and more worrisome thought. Reading all these tragic news on the papers conjure unpleasant thoughts of what would happen to Faith if one day, something were to happen to both Louis and I before she is financially independent and able to take care of herself.

It scares me to think that we would not be there to witness her growth and all the important/significant milestones of her life. Yet, it scares me more to think that should that remote possibility ever occurs, we did not make provisions for her.

So, I said to Louis that perhaps it is also time that we seriously think about making a will. Not becos we have much assets to distribute. But to ensure that someone would be able to execute our wishes and intentions on our behalves if we no longer could. Someone to take on the responsibility of her until she is able to do so for herself. It would greatly simplify all the processes and possible situations instead of relying on intestate law.

It may sound morbid, yet, I think it is an important aspect to gravely consider now that we are parents.

Louis asked me "how do we go about doing it?" when I mentioned about making a will. I have no other beyond the fact that we need a lawyer to get it done.

Its time to take stock and to do something about it. There's probably a few things we would have to consider. Do we make individual wills as well? What instructions do we want to leave behind? Whom do we appoint as an executor? Do we need to do a stock-take of our current financials?

I don't know where we should start but we do need to start somewhere.

So, maybe this could be our task for the coming year? A new year resolutions of sorts.

Mr Men

As part of the festive period, several malls in town are now holding thematic shows -anything I guess to attract the festive dollar.

Last Friday, we brought Faith along to Centrepoint for the live Mr Men show. To give some context, Faith is no stranger to the Mr Men and Little Misses series. In her collection of bed-time books, she has Ms Whoops, Mr Noisy, Mr Good and Mr Grumpy.

Indeed, the Mr Men series conjures up childhood memories even for myself and Eve and it is quite amazing that it has survived - and evolved one generation later to include the Little Misses series - a reflection of gender consciousness I guess. In writing this blog, thus, I decided to check out more about the series...and what really made it tick for me when I was young and why it continues to intrigue kids like Faith.
According to the Mr Men official website, "The Mr Men and Little Misses show invite children into a world filed with characters of different dispositions- to put it mildly! - who regularly come in conflict with each other and still manage to co-exist rather happily. This is the important "stuff" of early childhood:
- finding out everyone doesn't see the world the way you do
- learning to make and keep friends despite conflicts
- beginning to recognise and label feelings, your own and others

The world of the Mr Men and Little Misses is a reflection of the kinds of social and emotional issues children are facing and working out for themselves. Most important with respect to learning, it's a world that invites children to laugh along as our characters try to negotiate their day to day lives.
If you are four-years old and afraid of the dark, or bugs, or monsters in the closet, it's no laughing matter. But if you can laugh when Mr Nervous encounters a bug, this may allow you to take a step back and see yourself in a more light-hearted way. Sometimes it's hard for you to admit when you are wrong and there's Mr Stubborn. Sometimes you're grumpy or rude or feel lazy or like a dare-devil or are just terribly happy. And some days nothing goes right, just like it doesn't for Mr Bump or Little Miss Calamity.

So not only does the series offer a way to begin to see things from others' point of view (perspective taking), it gives children a way to lighten up about what feel like serious matters when they happen to them. Happy one minute, Grumpy the next. The parade of characters across the screen is also a mirror in which children can see themselves."

It all makes sense really and to be sure, no kid will think so deeply when interacting with the different characters in the Mr Men series. But I remember when I was young that I was able to identify with different characters when I was reading the books in the series which in a way kept me wanting to read more because each time I read them, there seemed to be a piece of each character I could identify with. Now, after reading the excerpt from the official website, it is really quite ingenious that a person could dream up something like the Mr Men series.

For those of you uninitiated to the Mr Men series, here's introducing the cast of Mr Men that we saw on stage last Friday:

Mr. Rude
Mr. Rude is the forty-fifth book in the Mr. Men series by Roger Hargreaves and the second one created by Adam Hargreaves. A new character has appeared. He is called “Mr. Rude” and has a French accent (alluding to the stereotype that the French are rude people). Mr. Rude is rude to everyone, as his name suggests. He insults a man with a big nose and an overweight woman. To the overweight woman he says "Fatty!, you're supposed to eat the things in the fridge, not eat the fridge as well!" Mr. Rude is published as Monsieur Mal-Elevé in French.

Mr. Bump
Mr. Bump is the sixth book in the Mr. Men series. Mr. Bump can't help having accidents. He takes a vacation and falls off a boat, falls into a deep hole at the beach. When he wants a job, the best job is walking around and bumping into trees on Mr. Barley's apple orchard, making the apples fall off the trees.

In Mr. Bump Loses His Memory - in which he falls out of his bedroom window and bump his head, promptly causing him to lose his memory. He is told, by Mr. Muddle that his name is, in fact, Mr. Careful, causing our confused Mr. Bump to try several jobs for which great care is needed, such as carrying eggs and delivering milk in glass bottles. His memory is restored when he walks into a tree... and then he promptly falls into a river.

In the 2008 TV series The Mr. Men Show, Mr. Bump is a regular character. He keeps his looks and is always having accidents, more often than not non-bump-related ones such as accidentally being cleaned in a car wash. Like Mr. Grumpy and Mr. Small, his favorite food is liverwurst sandwiches, as mentioned in the Beach episode. He lives in a square house which is olive, with a black chimney, arched windows and a bandaged roof. Often, Little Miss Whoops (or Little Miss Helpful) is the cause of his accidents. He also lives next door to Miss Whoops, and is her brother, much to his dismay. His catchphrase in the show is, "Poopity poop," usually exclaimed when his situation turns bad.

Mr. Bump appears under the titles Monsieur Malchance (French), Don Pupas (Spanish), Meneer Pech/Meneertje Bots (Dutch), Ο Κύριος Σκουντούφλης (Greek), 意外先生 (Taiwan), 꽈당씨 (Korean), Mr. Hergwd (Welsh), Unser Herr Schussel (German), Fætter Bumle (Danish), מר נזק Mar Nezek-Mr. Damage (Hebrew), Herra Skellur (Icelandic).

Little Miss Sunshine
Little Miss Sunshine is the fourth book in the Little Miss series. There was a King who lived in a castle in Miseryland. Little Miss Sunshine is on holiday. She saw a sign saying "This way to Miseryland." So she was on her way to Miseryland. She saw a Guard at the Bridge Door. Little Miss Sunshine gave the Guard a Big Smile. Then the Guard took her to see the King of Miseryland and she had an idea. So Little Miss Sunshine and the king went back to her car. Finally she made a new picket sign saying "Laughter Land" and she boomed an enormous laugh then the king laughed too. Little Miss Sunshine is one of the happiest people in the world, besides Mr. Happy and Mr. Cheerful.

Little Miss Sunshine is a regular in the 2008 TV series The Mr. Men Show. She keeps her looks and personality, and runs a morning show called "Good Morning Dillydale" with her partner, Mr. Happy. Her voice is very perky, almost to the point of ditzyness. Her house is pink, with a flowerbed, and flowers on the house as well. In the UK and US Versions, she is voiced by Alicyn Packard and Jo Wyatt.

Little Miss Sunshine has been published under the alternative titles of Madame Bonheur (French), Doña Sonrisas (Spanish), Unsere Sonja Sonnenschein (German), Mevrouwtje Zonnestraal (Dutch), Η Κυρία Γελαστούλα (Greek), 樂觀小姐 (Taiwan), 밝아양 (Korean).

Mr. Happy

Mr. Happy is the third book in the Mr Men series. Mr Happy discovers Mr. Miserable (who looks exactly like him) and helps him become happy. In Mr. Happy and the Wizard, Mr. Happy finds a wizard's spell book, and decides to use spells to make people happier. But things don't work out quite as he planned.

Mr. Happy in the 2008 TV series The Mr. Men Show looks exactly as he did in the books. He co-hosts a morning show called "Good Morning Dillydale" with Little Miss Sunshine. His catchphrase: "Wonderful!" He also has a deepish voice, sounding like a stereotyped game-show host. In the UK and US Versions, he is voiced by Sam Gold and Simon Greenall. Mr Happy spent many years as the official face of Glasgow's Miles Better campaign.

Mr. Happy appears under the titles Monsieur Heureux (French), Don Feliz (Spanish), Mr. Hapus (Welsh), Unser Herr Glücklich (German), Meneer Blij/Meneertje Vrolijk (Dutch), Ο Κύριος Χαρούμενος (Greek), 快樂先生 (Taiwan), 행복씨 (Korean), Fætter Glad (Danish), Gubben Lycklig (Swedish).

Little Miss Naughty
Little Miss Naughty is the second book in the Little Miss series. Little Miss Naughty loves to play practical jokes. She awakens one day thinking it looks like a good day for being naughty. She knocks Mr. Uppity's hat off his head, breaks Mr. Clever's glasses, and strips Mr. Bump of his bandages placing them on Mr. Small. The Mr. Men hold a meeting to decide what to do. Mr. Small meets with Mr. Impossible, who can make himself invisible, and each time Little Miss Naughty tries to do something naughty, Mr. Impossible tweaks her nose and it cures Little Miss Naughty of her naughtiness.

In the 2008 TV series The Mr. Men Show, she retains her purple color and shape, but now has curly pink hair, fuchsia nose, pink rosy cheeks, wears a neon green bow, and also has a Transylvanian accent in the U.S. version and Bristol accent in the U.K. version. Her catchphrase: "Sometimes I just can't help myself." On occasion, her pranks backfire on her. In the US and UK Versions, she is voiced by Alicyn Packard and Jo Wyatt.

Little Miss Naughty has been published under the alternative titles of Madame Canaille (French), Dona Traviesilla (Spanish), Unsere Ulla Ungezogen (German), Mevrouwtje Stout (Dutch), Η Κύριος Ατακτούλα (Greek), 장난양 (Korean), 淘氣小姐 (Taiwan).

Happy 5th anniversary!

5 years ago, at this time (close to mignight) on Nov 23, Eve and I were in our bridal suite with our closest bunch of IDA friends. All the other guests had left by then, but true to form, this group had stayed on and accompanied us as we ate our late night supper rolled in by in-room dining.

Last night, coincidentally, this same group of friends had come over to our place, as CP had come back from Indonesia for his mum's birthday. This time round instead of in-room dining, YM had brought along some buns from a famous pau store. Instead of the hotel champagne, we had a bottle of Bailey's and Choya to share. In place of the hotel room, the gang accomodated us by meeting us in our humble HDB flat just so we could meet up with them, whilst Faith slept in the room.

Eve and I had not realised how surreal it was that we would have this same group of friends on a last-minute rendevous till 2am last night just laughing and talking. Such is life after 5 yrs together and Eve and I wouldn't have wanted it any other day. The sweetest memories are the ones we share together, and it doesn't take a fancy restaurant or big party to make us realise that we have constantly been blessed - by having our friends, our family, ourselves and now Faith in our lives.

It is 1 now and as I write this, Eve is asleep, having been exhausted by Faith who had a 2-hour afternoon nap - and probably as a result, had some problems getting to sleep tonight.

It is nice just thinking how the last 24 hours have passed - after our friends left at 2am, we joined Faith in bed; I woke up at 9am for my usual badminton session while Faith and Eve slept in till close to 10; when I came home, Eve and I brought Faith over to mum's place - just as we always do on the weekends. And after that, we went to AMK Hub where we treated ourselves to a nice lunch - nothing fancy like last year's Saint Pierre dinner - this time round to "New York, New York" - a restaurant almost like Swensens - but serving better food at less than $20. After that, it was off to NTUC - like we always do. And then, it was back to home to do our X'mas tree - we wanted to surprise Faith when she got home that night. And after that, it was dinner at the former Oasis restaurant - now in Toa Payoh - it is amazing how porridge could taste so delicious especially in a rainy weather.

In short, a simple anniversary day, yet another nice one. Life's simplest pleasures are indeed the best ones.

Yet, I cannot let this day go without doing something special for Eve. While there has not been any flowers or gifts or a fancy dinner - we do have lots of memories of how far we have come and how different life has been even if we look back one year. Here's just a few to remind us - when we look back come next year 2009.

From bloom to bloom...

From home to home ...
From lounge to lounge... From hugs to hugs... From smile to smile ...