Today, my mum passed me an application form to ask me to fill up for her.
It's an application form for senior citizen. The application required a recent photo of her so I decided to take a picture of her and print it out myself. Seeing the zoomed up picture of her on my laptop screen, I can't help but noticed her gray hair. All of a sudden, it strike me that my mum is no longer young. She is turning 60 very soon.
I am really very grateful to her for ALL the things that she has done for us.
I still remember as a little school girl, I often forgot to bring homework/book to school. The immediate response was to call home for help. Deep down in my heart, I knew that mum will bring the book to school for me. However, the very moment the phone went through and I heard her voice, I will uncontrollably burst into tears. I can only stop when I hear her reassuring voice over the other end of the phone.
My mum knows exactly what I like and dislike. She knows what is my favourite dish, what is my favourite fruit. She knows what are the things that make me happy and what makes me sad.
Even when I got married, she never stopped caring for me and now my own family. I think very few mums will travel to their daughter's place nearly every day to help her out with the children. Besides helping to take care of the kids, mum will always help me out in the household chores. Even though, I tell her there is no need to do the household chores... guess what? ... the chores will still be done.
Kai Hock always say that our house cannot be so spick and span without my mum. He often jokes that he made a very good deal by marrying me... cos he gets an additional mum to dote on him! :P
My brother secretly told me that mum was so worried for me when I was admitted to hospital cos of morning sickness that she cried at night. I can guarantee you that my mum will not be able to sleep well at night whenever one of the kids is not well.
My mum is truly a wonderful mum who gives off her best to the family. She is also very supportive of Kai Hock and I as we pursue financial freedom for our family. And I am really proud and fortunate to have her as my mum.
Thank you mum!
My wish for my mum as she turns 60 is for her to be healthy and happy always.
------------- posted by mommy
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Falling Asleep on His Own
This blog entry is dedicated to all the uncles and aunties out there... thank you for your concern for Jiaheng after reading the previous blog entry on "Suffering from Grief".
He is doing much much better now.
In fact, there is a good news to share! Jiaheng finally managed to fall asleep on his own now. Previously, he must have me next to him before he can fall asleep. These days, he can drift off to dreamland by himself. He will even tell me to go and do my stuff so that I can finish everything earlier and go to bed earlier.
That is a major milestone for him and for us.
------- posted by Mommy
He is doing much much better now.
In fact, there is a good news to share! Jiaheng finally managed to fall asleep on his own now. Previously, he must have me next to him before he can fall asleep. These days, he can drift off to dreamland by himself. He will even tell me to go and do my stuff so that I can finish everything earlier and go to bed earlier.
That is a major milestone for him and for us.
------- posted by Mommy
Monday, January 14, 2008
Suffering from Grief
Our close friends would have know what happened to our family in April 2003.
That was the peak of the SARS period, that was the time Jiaheng was born... that was the time when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with SARS. My mother-in-law was in ICU for a whole month. We nearly lost her. Somehow, coincidentally or miraculously, she pulled through after Jiaheng was born.
I still remembered we had to choose a name for Jiaheng real fast! Cos we wanted to fax the name to the hospital so that the nurse could read out the name to her while she is in coma. "Mommy, your first paternal grandchild is born, we have named him 郭家亨。Get well soon and come home to us. We are waiting for you."
We chose the name 家亨 as it also carries the meaning of 家运亨通。 So that our family can pull through this crisis together. And we did.... fortunately.
The unfortunate thing was that Kai Hock was "quarantined" when I was about to give birth to Jiaheng. Why quarantined in inverted commas? Well, we are not in direct contact with my mother-in-law since the time she fell sick, but the hospital and my gynae felt it will be safer for the baby and me if Kai Hock was to stay away for a period of time.
I still remembered it was a tense period in the hospital. Everyone was so "fearful" of me... that I had to go through the delivery all by myself, operated in a brand new theatre, stayed in a special ward after delivery. On one hand, we could have chosen to keep quiet about my mother-in-law's case cos we are not even staying with her nor came in contact with her before she was admitted. On the other hand, we chose to be civic-minded and informed the hospital and got faulted for all these. Frankly speaking, I still feel sad when I recall all these.
Guess the worst part was that they isolated Jiaheng from me after birth. And we are getting the repercussion of this incident after nearly 5 years.
Jiaheng is suffering from grief. :(
I still remembered Jiaheng had a nickname called "cool man" when he was a baby. Why? Cos he never seem to nap just after he turned 4 days old. Always alert and looking out for people. Then it is the most daunting task to get him to laugh. Usually, when you do some silly things to tease a baby, they will be giggling rit? Not for our baby. When we finally get him to giggle, it will not last more than 10 secs.
Jiaheng has been a great learner since young. In fact, I can proudly say that he achieved most of his milestones ahead of his peers. The only thing that doesn't seem to have been activated is his ability to sleep through the night. Hey! I thought babies should be sleeping through the night by the time they turned one year old? If not, two years old?
Nay! For Jiaheng, he still wakes up in the middle of the night coming to 5 years old. What does he do when he is awake? Yes... to look for Mommy. Just to touch me or to snuggle close, then he can go back to sleep.
Everything makes sense when we consulted our natural therapist. Apparently, Jiaheng is suffering from grief. We always thought that babies will only have their first memory by the time they are 3 years old... actually, they can have memories from the moment they are born... or even in mommy's womb! They can have feelings. Amazing right?
Imagine, you are separated from Mommy for one hour when you are 5 years old. Is it long for you? Now imagine, you are separated from Mommy for 24 hours when you are barely an hour old. That is MORE THAN A LIFETIME of separation!
Well, all these are in the past. We are now looking to the future. We are glad we have answers to questions that have been lingering in our minds for a long time. We are even happier that Jiaheng has been treated.
To a better tomorrow... And son... we are sorry to put you through all these. We want you to know that Papa and Mommy love you very much. Sleep well at night.
-------- posted by Mommy
That was the peak of the SARS period, that was the time Jiaheng was born... that was the time when my mother-in-law was diagnosed with SARS. My mother-in-law was in ICU for a whole month. We nearly lost her. Somehow, coincidentally or miraculously, she pulled through after Jiaheng was born.
I still remembered we had to choose a name for Jiaheng real fast! Cos we wanted to fax the name to the hospital so that the nurse could read out the name to her while she is in coma. "Mommy, your first paternal grandchild is born, we have named him 郭家亨。Get well soon and come home to us. We are waiting for you."
We chose the name 家亨 as it also carries the meaning of 家运亨通。 So that our family can pull through this crisis together. And we did.... fortunately.
The unfortunate thing was that Kai Hock was "quarantined" when I was about to give birth to Jiaheng. Why quarantined in inverted commas? Well, we are not in direct contact with my mother-in-law since the time she fell sick, but the hospital and my gynae felt it will be safer for the baby and me if Kai Hock was to stay away for a period of time.
I still remembered it was a tense period in the hospital. Everyone was so "fearful" of me... that I had to go through the delivery all by myself, operated in a brand new theatre, stayed in a special ward after delivery. On one hand, we could have chosen to keep quiet about my mother-in-law's case cos we are not even staying with her nor came in contact with her before she was admitted. On the other hand, we chose to be civic-minded and informed the hospital and got faulted for all these. Frankly speaking, I still feel sad when I recall all these.
Guess the worst part was that they isolated Jiaheng from me after birth. And we are getting the repercussion of this incident after nearly 5 years.
Jiaheng is suffering from grief. :(
I still remembered Jiaheng had a nickname called "cool man" when he was a baby. Why? Cos he never seem to nap just after he turned 4 days old. Always alert and looking out for people. Then it is the most daunting task to get him to laugh. Usually, when you do some silly things to tease a baby, they will be giggling rit? Not for our baby. When we finally get him to giggle, it will not last more than 10 secs.
Jiaheng has been a great learner since young. In fact, I can proudly say that he achieved most of his milestones ahead of his peers. The only thing that doesn't seem to have been activated is his ability to sleep through the night. Hey! I thought babies should be sleeping through the night by the time they turned one year old? If not, two years old?
Nay! For Jiaheng, he still wakes up in the middle of the night coming to 5 years old. What does he do when he is awake? Yes... to look for Mommy. Just to touch me or to snuggle close, then he can go back to sleep.
Everything makes sense when we consulted our natural therapist. Apparently, Jiaheng is suffering from grief. We always thought that babies will only have their first memory by the time they are 3 years old... actually, they can have memories from the moment they are born... or even in mommy's womb! They can have feelings. Amazing right?
Imagine, you are separated from Mommy for one hour when you are 5 years old. Is it long for you? Now imagine, you are separated from Mommy for 24 hours when you are barely an hour old. That is MORE THAN A LIFETIME of separation!
Well, all these are in the past. We are now looking to the future. We are glad we have answers to questions that have been lingering in our minds for a long time. We are even happier that Jiaheng has been treated.
To a better tomorrow... And son... we are sorry to put you through all these. We want you to know that Papa and Mommy love you very much. Sleep well at night.
-------- posted by Mommy
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Yixuan's doggy nature
Sometimes, I feel that the Chinese Horoscope has a part to play in a person's character.
Our princess is born in the year of the DOG. Very often she will display some characteristics of a dog. Of course, she is a very cute puppy.
She will play with her toys. And the next moment, she will bite the toy between her teeth and walk to you. Reminds us of a puppy fetching a stick for her owner.
She will sit in your lap and play. Then the next thing, she will bury her head in your chest and snuggle, snuggle. Like a puppy being friendly with her owner.
Yixuan also has a special liking for dogs. Whenever, she sees pictures of dogs in books, she will point it out to us. Once, Mommy decided to "test" her. We have a story book, that has the picture of the same dog but in different postures and occupying different parts of the page. Mommy will turn to a page and ask "Where is the dog?" and Yixuan will scan the page and quickly point out the dog amidst other characters in the book. Yixuan can identify the dog even with just the head sticking out of the page. So what do you call this? Like attracts Like. :)
Interestingly, who do you think looks more like the doggy in this pic? Ha Ha Ha!
Our princess is born in the year of the DOG. Very often she will display some characteristics of a dog. Of course, she is a very cute puppy.
She will play with her toys. And the next moment, she will bite the toy between her teeth and walk to you. Reminds us of a puppy fetching a stick for her owner.
She will sit in your lap and play. Then the next thing, she will bury her head in your chest and snuggle, snuggle. Like a puppy being friendly with her owner.
Yixuan also has a special liking for dogs. Whenever, she sees pictures of dogs in books, she will point it out to us. Once, Mommy decided to "test" her. We have a story book, that has the picture of the same dog but in different postures and occupying different parts of the page. Mommy will turn to a page and ask "Where is the dog?" and Yixuan will scan the page and quickly point out the dog amidst other characters in the book. Yixuan can identify the dog even with just the head sticking out of the page. So what do you call this? Like attracts Like. :)
Interestingly, who do you think looks more like the doggy in this pic? Ha Ha Ha!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
BottleTree Club
We don't just talk business.
When we are with our business partners, we also have fun. I feel that the FUN component is extremely important in sustaining a healthy working relationship. Really! All work and no play makes Kai Hock a dull man. Hehehe
The best thing is to be able to do the things you enjoy and still make money from it. So basically, everyday, you are having fun.
To mark the beginning of the new year, which is also the 发 year， we decided to have a family day at BottleTree Club. It is a nice place and I also recommend that you and your family pay it a visit one day. There is a restaurant which serves quite good food at a reasonable price. The 土窑人参鸡 is a must try. The soup is still piping hot even towards the end of the meal!
Of course, there are other activities besides "makan"ing lah. There is a children's playground, a boating area. But the prime attraction is Fishing! You can go for prawn fishing or lake fishing. The little ones had to settle for "longkang" fishing. Our kids simply had a splashing good time trying to scoop the fish out of the pond.
Just in case you are wondering why is the place called BottleTree Club and not WaterBottle Club or BottleNeck Club???
It is because of the tree that is at the backdrop. It has a shape of a Bottle and naturally, it adopts the name BottleTree. It is a native plant from Australia and the owner of the Club imported it from Australia. Hence the name. :)
By the way, this photo is taken by Sherise, our 4-year old photographer! Not bad rit! Really takes after her photographer mum & dad.
When we are with our business partners, we also have fun. I feel that the FUN component is extremely important in sustaining a healthy working relationship. Really! All work and no play makes Kai Hock a dull man. Hehehe
The best thing is to be able to do the things you enjoy and still make money from it. So basically, everyday, you are having fun.
To mark the beginning of the new year, which is also the 发 year， we decided to have a family day at BottleTree Club. It is a nice place and I also recommend that you and your family pay it a visit one day. There is a restaurant which serves quite good food at a reasonable price. The 土窑人参鸡 is a must try. The soup is still piping hot even towards the end of the meal!
Of course, there are other activities besides "makan"ing lah. There is a children's playground, a boating area. But the prime attraction is Fishing! You can go for prawn fishing or lake fishing. The little ones had to settle for "longkang" fishing. Our kids simply had a splashing good time trying to scoop the fish out of the pond.
Just in case you are wondering why is the place called BottleTree Club and not WaterBottle Club or BottleNeck Club???
It is because of the tree that is at the backdrop. It has a shape of a Bottle and naturally, it adopts the name BottleTree. It is a native plant from Australia and the owner of the Club imported it from Australia. Hence the name. :)
By the way, this photo is taken by Sherise, our 4-year old photographer! Not bad rit! Really takes after her photographer mum & dad.
Did you know?
Did you know that lambs feed while on their knees?
Frankly speaking, I do not know that... until I was told during the 弟子规 lesson. It is the lamb's innate behaviour. It is their way of showing their appreciation to their mothers while they feed. It is their way to thank their mothers.
To think that a beast has such respect for their parents, what more we humans?
To think that a beast has such respect for their parents, what more we humans?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
