Chenya is Now Two

Time flies and almost at the blinking of an eye, Chenya has just celebrated her second birthday. We have seen much changes in our lives in the last one year. For one, the entire family has been relocated to Beijing in November 2012 to start a new life in a new environment and new adventures.

From the moment she arrived, I knew that she is going to be a handful and a fierce one too and that is exactly how she has turned to be.She is as active as her brother Ryan, attempting every single move that her brother is doing. Her favorite toys so far are guns and cars (Pengsan!)

She is not afraid of anyone at home right now and had almost everybody twirling round her fingers. I am trying very hard to be the one to discipline her and instill some fear and respect in her at this age, else she would be absolutely uncontrollable.

She is demanding and when she wants something, she want it instantly and can be rather persistent in her demands. She is almost everything that Ryan is not. She can cry for long period of time with real tears when she does not get what she wants and smile just as fast, the moment she gets it. She is possessive and would rather put her stuff aside, even though she does not play with them instead of sharing them with another, including his brother.

She can also be rather manipulative to get grab attention. There were instances when she would just walked past her brother who was sitting innocently on the sofa watching TV, purposely let her hand  touched his legs and the before you knew it, she would be crying and running towards us, crying ...."Kor Kor knock knock Chenya!"

Her brother would look baffled, confused and would vehemently denied having anything to do with it. "No! No! I didn't touch her! She came and use her hand to touch my leg ... like this ..like this..." he would defend himself.

I must said poor Ryan received several rounds of warnings from us before we wised up to this manipulative girl's tactics.

She loves singing and grandma has taught her Theresa Teng's songs that she would sing whenever she feels like it. She will automatically moves and shakes her bump whenever she sees dances on TV.

She loves clothes and would choose her own clothes even at this age and she loves shoes and constantly changes and alternates between the several pairs she has adopted from Ryan.

At the age of 2, she is a fast learner. We are constantly amazed with the new words that she picks up either from us, her brother or TV. She is able to form sentences and recently even knows how to talk back to us! (Really Pengsan!) With us being in Beijing right now, she is getting on very well with at least three languages, namely English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

All in all, to sum it up, Chenya is after all, a GIRL in every sense of the word.

Chenya with her picture taken with mommy, brother Ryan and her grandmother with her tiny Angry Bird cake when mommy came back from her business trip in Atlanta to have another round of celebration with her.

A break after this break

I was looking forward to come back to Malaysia this round for a short break because I needed one. I last came back in March 2013 to sort out the rental of our house and the sale of our cars. Well, you could say that I have only been away for a short 4 months. It is true but  4 months in a foreign land with no true friends to `lepak', 'minum' and chit chat can be rather lonely and stressful. I honestly desperately needed a break from my Beijing daily routine and monotony and I needed to be away, hopefully with a couple of days away from the kids (not that I don't love them any less) but to have some space to breathe, so to speak.

 

I thought I had that when Chenya, as arranged earlier will be with my in-laws for a week, while Ryan would be away for several days with them as well. At last, I thought I could go out to my usual hangouts back home in Malaysia for my coffee and hangout with some of my buddies of a couple of beers before heading back to Beijing for another couple of months.

 

 

However, I seriously do not think that that is going to happen this round.

 

 

Chenya has developed mild fever for a couple of days now and was told yesterday by my in-laws that she was having some dry cough. Ryan apparently missed me so much that he wants to come home.

 

 

So, I had both of them coming back to me last night and to make my task taking care of them harder, Ryan woke up this morning and told me that his cheek behind the ear is painful. I took one look and saw that it was swollen. My fear was that he has contacted mumps.

 

 

 

I took both of them to see my good old friend, Dr Liew and his diagnosis was Ryan has contacted mumps which will probably take a week to run it's course while Chenya has acute bronchitis and several medication to take. I need to bring her back to the clinic on Friday for a follow up.

 

 

So, there you have it. My next couple of days would be to take care of them, both down with something and Chenya, not feeling well, is becoming very clingy and `sticky'. This is definitely NOT the break that I was looking for.

 

Right now, my only thoughts and wish is that both would get well as soon as possible and that Chenya would not come down with mumps in the next couple of weeks.

 

 

I really need a BREAK after this BREAK!

Happy Birthday Zoewe

The first addition to our family was actually not Ryan but Zoewe, our toy poodle a.k.a. our eldest daughter. Today, 6th July 2013, is her 6th birthday and her first in Beijing. We got her when in August, when she was barely two months and since that day, she has brought us nothing but pure joy, happiness and loyal companionship.

We were advised by many well meaning friends and relatives to give her up when we knew that Ryan was on his way but we simply could not because she is part of our family. She has proven all these years to be that perfect protective, well mannered eldest `sister' to both Ryan and Chenya, despite being bullied countless times by them.

Nothing makes her happier than these:-

a. Eat and eat

b. Going for walks

c. Being cuddled

d. Play 'fetch' with her favourite ball.

What frightens her the most:-

a. Thunderstorm

b. Firecrackers during Chinese New Year

She would literally trembles and would want us to cuddle and hold her and to comfort her.

We can not imagine our lives without her and whenever she goes for grooming, our lives are somewhat less exciting for that several hours. Somehow, there is this sense of something missing at home.

So, Zoewe, although I know that you would never be able to read this post but I know that deep in your heart, you can feel how much you are part of our lives and how much we love you and we are looking to share many many many birthdays with you in the years to come. 

Who Made Me

The 20 minutes ride to the Summer Camp the last couple of days have turned out to be a rather interesting daddy and son's discussion and conversation bonding. As usual, he will not stop asking questions and talked from the moment he got into the car and will only stop when he got down from the car.

That 20 minutes or so can be rather long when the questions from an inquisitive and curious 5 year old mind comes fast and furious, sometimes too fast and too furious. Topics discussed can be so diverse and wide and a walking encyclopedia could have problem responding appropriately, especially to a five year old.

This morning conversation somehow started with Ryan telling me that he can feel his bone and asked me if I could feel the same. "Of course!" I said.

"Why? Why can you feel your bone? Is it very near to the skin?" he continued.

"Yes" I replied.

"What about blood? Is it very near to the skin too?" his relentless questioning continued.

"Yes. Blood is near to the skin too." I replied. "Blood is all over your body." I replied smartly.

"Why? Why is blood all over the body?" his questioning intensified. 

"Because blood will bring oxygen to every part of your body, your brain, your heart, your hands, your feet ..."

"What is oxygen?" he asked.

"It's the air you breathe in." I replied.

"But why? Why do blood need to bring air to other parts of the body?" he asked.

Baffled and searching my CPU for an appropriate answer, I took a short cut which ultimately led to my doom, so to speak. "Because we are made that way." I replied, thinking that that would help me get out from having to scientifically explained the complex workings of the human body and organs in the most simplistic manner that a five year old would understand. 

He paused for awhile and I thought that that was it. However, little did I realised that the next question is EVEN TOUGHER to answer.

"Daddy. Who made me?" he asked.

I have just dug a deeper hole. How do I explain to a five year old that mommy and daddy made him in a manner that would not lead to more embarrassing questions, which a five year old might not truly or totally comprehend. Isn't sex education a little too early for him at this age? My mind was racing for an answer. The best answer that I could give would be "Daddy and mommy made you" which is true but then again, I can already anticipate the next question from him which would likely be "How daddy and mommy made me?" How do I explain that?

Being smart as I am, or so I thought I was, I took another simple way out, without considering the consequences. 

"GOD made you." I replied and immediately I knew I was in trouble.

"Who is GOD? Where is GOD? Daddy...who is GOD? How did GOD make me?" the barrage of questions kept on coming.

My CPU was now overloaded and at the brink of a crash as I tried to figure out how on earth am I going to get myself out from the bottomless pit that I have just dug.

And then, I was saved by a miracle. That very moment, the car pull up to the school and we have ARRIVED! Phew!

"OK. Time to go. Quick! Quick or we will be late!" I shooed him down.

So, how would you answer his "Who Made Me?" question?

My dear son, in due time, you would know and when the time is right, you would understand the complexity and the beauty of human creation. Yes, daddy and mommy did made you (and you will find out how by then) but GOD did most of the work and you, like all other children of all races, cultures, social status and skin colors are wonderful and amazing miracles and gifts from HIM, unique in every way.

I TALK because I want to LEARN

Ryan is TALKATIVE and when I said talkative, I meant really talk and talk and talk and talk and talk.......

There are times when he can really get to your nerves when he kept on repeatedly asking the same question again and again, especially when you are tired and needed to focus on getting something done.

He talked and asked questions for an entire 25 minutes this morning in the car, while on the way to attend his summer camp. And it all started the moment we came out from the car park with him saying "Zoewe (our toy poodle) is small but FAT" after he heard me telling the driver to pick us up tomorrow to sent Zoewe for her grooming since her birthday is coming up on Saturday.

And that one statement turned into a conversation on why Zoewe is not big, what is a poodle, why is a poodle not big, is a cat big, what about a tiger, how about a dinosaur, how about T-Rex, how will a T-Rex fight, can a T-Rex bite, can a T-Rex step on it's enemies, what about that dinosaur with a big head and horn, why is it called a triceratops, where is the third horn, is a bird big, can a big bird catch me with it's claws, why cannot, what is a big bird, why is eagle is big bird, what other bird is big, can a vulture catch me and it goes on and on and on ....

By the time, he arrived at his school, I said "You talked non stop" and he replied "Yes. I talked no stop from house to school." proudly.

What he said following that struck me.

"I talked non stop and ask because I want to know ma. I want to know because I want to learn ma. That is why I talk non stop lo!"

Now, how can you beat that? What he said is absolutely true. On one hand, I want to encourage him to learn. The only way to really learn is to be curious about things in his life. Curiosity will lead to questions and more questions for the truth. And yet, here I am, often times telling him to keep quiet because he `talks' too much.

I am led again to be reminded by what Jeff (his class teacher) said "Do not curb their curiosity. Instead nurture it because it is their nature."

So, my dear son. I am sorry if I ever tell you to talk less. Keep talking and asking and keeps on learning as long as you live. Remember this when you grow up that ASKING is a GREAT WAY TO LEARNING! (But do give me a break every now and then will you...at least to catch my breath and think of the answers.....)

Blood is Thicker Than Water

If you currently have more than one child, do you still remember the one major reason why you went ahead to conceive another, or do you still remember that one major reason your spouse used to convince you to go ahead with another?

If you currently have ONLY ONE child, can you recall one reason why so many, especially your parents or in-laws are trying to tell you why you should go ahead to have another. And if you have been trying to have another, what is the reason that you have braved your fear for conception, pregnancy and pain?

If I remembered correctly, that one reason was "so that Ryan being the only child then would have a little brother or sister to play and grow up with and would not be lonely." Well, at least that was the reason that so many people were telling us, the same reason my wife was using to convince me to concede defeat and the main reason why I went ahead to work on Chenya, so to speak.

Well, one thing is for sure. Ryan is definitely not lonely right now because he is kept so busy fighting with his little sister, Chenya. However, there are also so many sweet and tender moments that they shared together which reaffirms our belief that they are there for each other, or at least that is what we hope for.

Unfortunately, I have come across too many families where sibling rivalry, not when they were young but after they have grown up, has torn an entire family apart. Sisters not on speaking terms with sisters, brothers cursing brothers or sisters suing brothers. My mother's own family comes to mind where siblings can go on not talking or seeing each other for decades. I just cannot imagine the pain the parents must be going through, seeing their own children hating, fighting and hurting each other.

If that is to happen to Ryan and Chenya eventually, then I would rather have Ryan being lonely as a child, then having to endure the pain of seeing them going at each other's throats.

So, my dear son and daughter. If and when you are old enough to read and understand this, do know that our intention of having both of you together is FOR EACH OTHER, to love, to care and to be there for each other when we are no longer around. Nothing will please us more than seeing the love and bond that we see in you now, as you play together, mature and strengthen as how we have wish and pray for.

Blood is always thicker than water.

Blow Job

Yes Yes Yes. Of late, my daughter has developed this rather kinky liking and No No No, I am not talking about the type of blow job that most of us (adults) are familiar with.

Since last month, if I remembered correctly, before she would sleep or takes her nap, Chenya would lift up her shift and "Itchy (in Cantonese), scratch and blow."  By scratching and gently  blowing, we could easily sent her off the her la-la land in a matter of minutes.

This is still fine for now, since she is going to only turn 2 this coming 20th July. However, I dread to think how becoming it would be, when she grows older and still lift up her shirt every night and demanded to be scratched and blow before she would fall asleep.

Praying that this is just a passing phase in her own adventure of growing up .... and it better be ....HAHAHAHA.