Turning 4!

And the naming process...

Lil brat's turning 4 in a coupla days.

This was eager-mama-me dying to bring him home on the 2nd! day after paying a hefty $300 deposit at Pet Safari, Simei, to secure the cute little fella behind the window because the seller couldnt guarantee that he wouldnt be sold if I took too long to make up my mind. Mama instincts burned within when I held little fella against my chest and he gazed up upon me in his big and soft brown eyes. Sigh....it was a really touching moment and I couldnt bear for him to belong to someone else...

It was day #1 of 10 of parental freedom for me. Liberation!!!!! Instantaneously, all potential lashing and possible nagging seemed very distant that 1st day of liberation! I blame it on the instinctive need to rebel in a constantly suppressed kiddy soul from the asian tiger-mum upbringing. ;p HEH.

We had the remaining 9 days to think of how to face up the possible consequences as a family - Sisters and I (and Nigel). Putting half the blame on the potential son-in-law seemed like a great excuse. Tiger parents are more lenient on kids who are not their own ;p

So anyway, we were eager beaver to bring baby home as soon as possible so we could enjoy more furry-tastic days before the parents came home. I managed to bargain for a 1 week early pick up date by promising to set up our first dog-friendly home on the same night.

Our only problem then was:

What do we name our kid?!

He came totally unplanned and we havent had time to think of a good name. So the better part of the night, after setting up a dog-friendly environment, was spent thinking of all the possible doggie names to name him asap so he could get a sense of identity in the household.

I have always compared my furbaby upbringing to that of humanbaby upbringing, and credited my mama-skills to the little furkid I have had the joy of raising 2 months after birth. In almost all aspects of parental commitment required for a humanbaby, I would like to think I have also given the same for my furbaby except maybe for the breastfeeding and handling of regular mashy pooping part. And when it came to creating a sense of identity for the little fella to feel part of our family, though I didnt have the chance to stroke on a belly and start calling him by his name prior to birth, I stroked him on his fur regularly and called out his name.

The hardest part for us then was thinking of a name. We had to find a name that fit my 4 criteria:

1) Cannot result in identity crisis

Many dogs I know are named after cute foods - Milo, Coffee, Muffins, Biscuits etc.

I pictured myself carrying my little furkid to a kopitiam to buy muffins and thought about how the poor kid would get confused if he was named a Muffin. Although the act of carrying a furkid into a kopitiam is not quite possible in Singapore due to our AVA/NEA regulations, I like to consider all possible factors, including that of breaking some rules. So no, no naming after a food. 

2) Cannot be an adjective

Didnt want to name him a Handsome or a Macho in case I had to use the same adjective on him. Just imagine, "Handsome, u look so cute and handsome!" 

3) Cannot be a common human christian name

My cousins' dogs are named Nicole and Hazel. I find it rather weird to also have a friend whose 2 kids have the same names as my cousin's dogs.

4) Easy to pronounce

Given that my mum doesnt speak much English, it had to be an easy name. Apparently Murphy is still abit profound for the chinese tongue because it has evolved into MOR-phy, Pipi and Mao Mao in our household - which is rather cute because he actually responds to all of them! ;p

After going through the lengthy brainstorming process, we named him Roxie for a day before we realised that the name was a mismatch to his personality. He somehow didnt behave or look a Roxie. So I could somewhat relate to the reason why some mamas also have an issue with the naming process and choose not to stroke their bellies with a name despite the 40-week long incubation period. Sometimes you can only put a name to a face after seeing it for the first time. So the papas & mamas probably would have already had name in mind but still face a potential problem of naming the kid!

To all the 6 dragon babies that I am expecting this year (and more waiting The Great Reveal), 3 within these 2 weeks, I hope papa&mama get you an identity soon! :)

<3<3<3<3