KeranaMu - Puisi Menjelang Hari Merdeka

Wahai kengkawan, hayatilah puisi yang saya ingin menganugerah kepada anda. Ini dia, pantun menjelang Hari Merdeka:

KeranaMu Malaysia,
jantung hatiku,
dipenuhi kebangaan.

KeranaMu Malaysia,
aku akan berbelog,
Bahasa Kebangsaan.

KeranaMu Malaysia,
aku sanggup,
menulis puisi.

Kerana aku, Malaysia,
tak malu dan,
tak sedar diri.

Ini hanya satu percubaan sahaja. Esok ada lagi. Kalau anda Anak Malaysia yang ingin bermeriah berbelog dalam bahasa kebangsaan, lawatilah laman web Merdeka Blogger dan bikinlah apa yang perlu. Sekian, tiang kayu.

Soundly Sleeping

It's been over a year now and yet every time Jesse goes to bed, I still worry if he'd wake up again.

SIDS or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is a frightening prospect. So much so, I wake up 2-3 times a night just to check on him. Even though statistics show that kids are really only in danger of SIDS in their early days, I still get up to check. Force of habit, I guess. That couple with the information overload you get from parenting books. *sigh*

Some days, as if just to freak me out a little, the boy would sleep really still. I mean, really, really still. No movements. No sounds. Nothing.

That's when I'd prod him a little to check for reactions. Sometimes I'd lift up his arm and plop it back down. He'd move a little but would continue to sleep soundly. Heh! I bet I could lift both his hands to do the Macarena (I know how old this makes me sound, ok!) and he'd go back to sleep like nothing happened. I think I'll try that tonight. :)

The boy sleeps like a log. He gets this from his mother, I swear.

New Baby in the Family

a spanking new baby

There's a new addition to the family. Baby Danielle was born on Thurday, 25th August 2005 last week - just one day short of Jesse's first birthday. Baby Danielle is actually my Sis' and Bro-in-law's second kid, and 2-year-old Joshua Boy's little sister.

We visited them last week at the hospital. Having not held another infant since Jesse's birth, I took up my Sue's offer to carry her little girl. That's when Jesse kinda felt a little threatened. He gave me this sad puppy-dog face, reached out his arms and called out to me. "Deh-deeeeehh. Auwwaaaah!" It was the plaintive cry of desperate little boy. I taunted him a little before setting Baby Danielle down and taking him off Roma. Only a little, I promise. :)

Still, I thought that it was cute that he felt jealous. Ahhhh... there's nothing like a little jealousy to make you feel wanted. Hehhhehh...

Jesse's First Birthday

smile, and the world smiles with you

Exactly one year ago today, Jesse came into the world at 2:16 pm. Exactly one year ago, our little boy came into our world and turned it upside down. He filled our lives with laughter and tears. Our hearts with joy. Our home with love.

He woke up cheerful this morning to our birthday greetings. And we said a little prayer for him. In it, we thanked God for bringing him into our live. We thanked God for watching him and keeping him... erm... relatively safe from harm. And we prayed that God would be with him all of his life.

One year on, and Jesse still overwhelms me like he did that very first moment he popped out of Mae like a squished pimple. One year on, I still love watching him sleep and watching him wake up in the mornings. There's be days when he'd wake up happy, and others when he woke up crying - perhaps frightened by a bad dream, or disturbed by some discomfort. But everyday in his life, Mae and I always made sure he went to sleep with a smile on his face.

And if I could have one wish for his birthday today, I'd wish that he would go to bed happy and wake up with a smile on his face all the days of his life.

Happy 1st Birthday, son. May you have many, many happy birthdays to come.

Sleeping Like Logs

At 3:00 am this morning, Jesse woke up a little upset. He usually sleeps right through. Fortunately, all he needed was a diaper change.

I do the deed like a good Daddy should. Mommy gets the diaper and wipes. The boy struggles a little bit, crabby, for having his sleep disrupted. But in less than 2 minutes, we're done. And in a flash, Jesse falls back to sleep as if nothing had happened. The boy sleeps like a log. I pick him up and put him back in his crib - probably not as gently as I should have but no, he slept right through that too. I turn around and Mae is fast asleep as well.

"I can't sleep," I nudge Mae. Nothing.

"Let's have sex now," I whispered in her ear. Hehhehh. Somehow that always gets her attention. "Heheheh...awwwhoneyIwannasleep," she pleaded. "Goplaywithyourinternetorsomething..."

And so here I am, 5:30 am in the living room, wide awake blogging this and watching Oprah and Sidney Poitier talk about his first time being a daddy. Meanwhile, inside, mother and child are snoring away.

Heh. No prize for guessing where the boy picks up his sleeping habits.

Birthday Bash

Jesse turns one this Friday. As it goes, the rest of the family had been pestering us to throw a party. Mom would make a 3-hour trip for her first grandson's first birthday. Mae's parents insisted that we do something - with cake and camera and all that jazz. My siblings threatened to throw their own party if we didn't. Aunties offered to cook their specials. Uncles offered to help out. Can you believe it? All for a little kid who probably doesn't even understand what the fuss is all about.

The first birthday is a big, big, BIG thing where Chinese are concerned. Very big. Back in the olden days, they'd roast their finest pig and cook their fattest chicken just to mark the day. Neighbours and family members would come and celebrate a child's transition from baby to toddler. They'd pray to their gods and ancestors and make offerings of thanksgiving in appreciation of the child's good health. And parents had to observe all sorts of customs and taboos. These days, it's more of just celebrating and eating.

We took care of Mom early. A couple of weeks back in Taiping, we bought a nice ice-cream cake, sang the song and we all ate cake.

Last week, however, was a whole new kettle of fish. Despite our best effort to keep things small and simple, that was just not to be. Despite inviting only family we ended up with guest list of almost 40 people - Jesse's cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, granduncles and grandaunts. And with such a big crowd, Jesse got a little clingy. So there we were buying stuff, preparing food, serving guests and pacifying the little guy.

There were so much we wanted to do but were just simply overwhelmed by the magnitude of the kid's birthday. We would have liked to invite friends. We would have liked to have games for the kids. Heck, we would have like to have shot more photos. We were so busy we didn't even manage to snap some nice pictures. *sniff*

Next year we're going to McDonald's. *sigh*

Strawberry Jam

red alert!

Jesse's got this huge red spot on his torso, the size of a 50 sen coin. When I first saw it in the delivery room, it freaked me out a little and all of my grandma's taboo stories came back to me. We Chinese folks have taboos for everything and a child's birth defects were usually a result of his parents indiscretions.

"Oh, that's a Strawberry Naevus," the doctor told me, "It'll be gone in a few years." She took a look at my pathetic, worried face and added, "Don't worry-lah!"

Turns out that Strawberry Naevus is a fairly common occurrence. It's a cluster of blood vessels gone wrong - sort of like a rebellion of the circulatory system. It's not permanent nor painful, but it is a little unsightly though. Especially if you've got one as big as Jesse's. Also, apparently 60% of the condition usually effects the face and neck. Thank God Jesse's strawberry grew on his torso instead.
So yeah, when Jesse came out into the world, he brought his own fruit. Heh. Sort of like a welcome gift for his parents. Thankfully, he didn't consider a fruit basket. Anyway, as promised, it's started to fade a little already. Our paediatrician tells us that it ought to be gone by the time Jesse turns 4 or 5.

*phew*