Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Calling Alvin!

I've been thinking; how is it that there are so many Chinese guys out there named Alvin? It boggles the mind.

I know no less than 10 Alvins - in all their many permutations of the name. There is the original Alvin. And then there's Alwin and Alwyn. And Elvin, of course. I also know an Alvern. And perhaps the most unique of them all, Alwynt. (I swear I'm not making this up.)

Somewhere along the Chinese anthropology, we decided that good ol' Ah Fook, Ah Keong and Ah Beng are just not cool enough. And so Chinese parents went looking for cool name to tag onto their kids. And we probably got some of these names from the Bible (the Christian names, as we used to call them), and a whole lot from Hollywood and other popular culture.

Which brings us right back to the question, where in the world did Alvin come from? As far as I know, I never read about an Alvin in biblical times. If he did indeed exist, he sure as heck didn't do anything important enough to be mentioned. Which leaves us with pop culture. There are only two Alvins that I'm aware of. There's Alvin the chipmunk, and Alvin Stardust who sang one sappy hit song in the 80s.

Surely your parents didn't name you after a chipmunk, did they? And who listens to Alvin Stardust anyway?

So Alvin, can you ask your parents?

Monday, June 28, 2010

Stealth Kisses

Maddie doesn't do kisses.

For some reason, our little girl doesn't liked to be kissed. Her lips are no man's (or woman's) land, which can be tough on Daddy cos she's got the cutest little lips that are just begging to be kissed. Heh. But when you come within stinky-breath distance from her face, our baby girl will take all necessary evasive action.

I've tried shaving, so that my stubble won't bother her. Heck, I've gone as far as to brush my teeth and gargle with mouthwash (in the middle of the day, mind you) to no avail. I come close and she'll twist and turn her head. Sometimes she'll even shove at my face. One time I swear she was trying to break my nose and shove the bone up my brain to put me out of my misery.

And then she shakes her head vigorously to display her disapproval. This is coming from a 13-month-old kid. So what's a Daddy to do, but to get creative?

Maddie has no problems kissing inanimate objects. Bring her dolly up to her face, ask her to kiss it and my little girl will crane her neck out to peck the doll. So I do that, but at the very last moment, I pull dolly away and steal a kiss, like a ninja. Score 1 for Daddy. She has since wised up to my ways and that trick's not working anymore.

I also found short-lived success by covering my lips with my hand or a sheet of paper, coming really close and planting one on her kisser. That one's not gonna work anymore, too.

Then one day while I carried her, I put on the most pathetic face I could muster and asked, "Don't you love Daddy? Don't you want to kiss Daddy a little?" She looked at me with a twinkle in her eye, leant forward... and gave me a friendly pat on the back.

*sigh* Guess I'll just have to settle. Until you're ready, sweetheart.