Enjoying TWO!

As soon as we were married, N and I have been getting many advices from the couples who have been there and done that. One of the most repeated one was to enjoy life as a twosome and travel as far as you can!

Now, I always wonder how difficult can it get to bring a bub with you on a trip? Within my circle, I have witnessed those gungho backpack travellers types who bring not one, but TWO little bubs on road trips to the NZ. This type makes parenting and travelling with add-ons seem sucha breeze. Conversely, on the other end of the scale, I have also witnessed those who surrender and swear by their lives never to bring the bub out on a trip ever again after a 3D2N short cruise/bintan trip. Some even pay for an extra ticket for some extra mummy/daddy's help. ;p I guess till the day we become parents to a little bub, we can never judge the latter. ;p

This week, we were on a mission to gather some friends to go on a shopping and eating spree in HK. One of them is down with a mini bun in oven and hence cannot travel under the gynae's advice. The other one, guess what?! Cant travel because cannot find a place to deposit the little bub! ;p Said bub made parental slaves during the above-mentioned cruise trip some months ago and the parent have since decided no more trips for her till further notice. *Sigh* I thought it would have been cute to have someone small to fuss and coo over during the trip. Sometimes, maybe I underestimate the kind of parental commitment required towards a human kiddo and overestimate my mama prowess. HEH.

I guess we are heading there as a TWO this trip.

Gotta enjoy the twosome for as long as it lasts. :)

Life's Blessings

This week's a peach and I thank Him for his blessings ;)

Picture from MyPaint on the iPhone, hence very difficult to draw the details.

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

Beyond the Cuteness

is the mess we have managed to create for ourselves in our 2 + 1 weekend furkid family. Cant imagine what happens when we expand.

The in-laws were over on Sunday to pack/rack up the storeroom. On the same night, I also found our sauces packed nicely with everything in clear view, a washed steamer (steamer need to wash meh? ;p), and a nicely packed cupboard in the guest room. N says they probably didnt know the daughter-in-law was equally messy like the son. heh.

So the chinese saying that goes "Chou xi fu zhong yao jian jia gong jia po" really rings true!

On a different but almost similar note, mama has also been really sweet ever since I moved out. Buying crunchy & sweet apples for us to munch on after knowing our sad story with Simei NTUC fruits, buying the stainless steel powder and coming over to show me how to clean the WMC pots and pans I tasked her to help buy before I flew off for work (because I wanted her to see if they are good pots & pans but the offer time did allow us to shop together before I fly) and which she then said is a gift for us, buying extra fish from the market and intended to give me some of her loot (until I told her I dont like to steam my own fish because handling the fish from its raw state to the cooked state didnt gel very well with the stomach juices), coordinating Murphy's dinner and evening walks amongst us siblings to make sure someone is there to feed and walk the baby at 7pm, no later.

And today, I told her we have dinner plans for some friends to come over for beehoon and curry chicken. I wanted to get her chilli paste to bluff through the big cookout. But mama offered to also buy the chicken and potatoes and coconut because she claims she can buy the nicer potatoes, fresher chicken and afraid I might get the wrong kind of coconut milk. She also offered to lend me her big pot to cook enough curry for 10 pax because we do not have sucha huge pot at home. N is now asking that I might as well just get her to cook the curry and we collect the pot of curry on Sat. :s

I guess in our parents' eye, we dont really grow up aye?!

It's good to still be babied around once in a while ;)