It’s been a long time since I blogged, mainly cos there is so little time to do so. I get home from work around 8, shower, eat, talk and play with the kids and before i know it, it’s bedtime and time to put them to bed. Sigh. I feel guilty that my Calista has grown so much, so quickly, without me documenting any of it. I have snatches of prose tucked within my brain now and then, but hardly any of it gets transferred onto this blog.
Favourite phrases
Rae-En (as she now calls herself) has grown so much and talks so much too. A few of her favourite phrases these past months are “Where is the Daddy? What happen (to) Mama? Where is it hiding? What is Jiejie doing? Where is it going? Rae-En try!” “Rae-En go school.” She likes school and would ask me to send her to school, after our long hiatus thanks to the Macau trip and her fever/cough last week.
I am also surprised by her vocabulary..pointing at a picture book the other day, I found out she could name most of the items in it. “Bathtub, brush teeth, chair, dog, cat…” She hasn’t quite gotten the idea of colours yet, but i’m in no rush and believe she’ll pick it up in no time. Whenever she hears the word “count” (usually when i’m talking to her brother), she’ll go in a loud and slow voice “1, 2, 3, 7….” ^_^
P would call me at work now and then if Calista requests to speak to me, and it usually makes my heart melt to hear her go “mama..? Mama…? Mama…?! mama….” in a singsong manner. She would tell me what she’s doing “Rae En sleep already. Rae En eating.” and say all sorts of sweet things like “I love you..I miss you, mama.” (this is of course at the behest of the adult by her side).
Strangely, she calls “Mama, mama…mama…maaaaamaaaaa” every night just before she sleeps, and this can go on and on even when i am just lying by her side, and responding to every call of hers. P said she is probably just feeling tender, and i should cherish this phase cos it’ll probably pass quickly. She still hates it when i turn my back around, although now she has found the words to deal with it. “Turn around mama…turn around turn around. Don’t sleep there, don’t sleep there.” i would then have no choice but to turn back, and face her. It’s so amazing to have her little smooth hand in mine as she slowly drifts to sleep. What trust, and what bond. The downside to this is that she senses whenever I leave the bed, and often stirs a few minutes after I wake. We’ve tried having P sleep with her also, but she somehow knows that it’s not me and inevitably wakes in the middle of the night pushing her beloved (perhaps only in the day =P) Daddy away, crying for me.
She is the sweetest sweetest girl right before she sleeps at night, when I lie next to her and she sings “twinkle twinkle little star” to me. Sometimes there’ll be a role reversal and she’ll pat me instead, causing me to burst out in laughter.
I am filled with a sense of wonder as I massage her limbs and stroke her little belly..her arm is the length of my palm, and her entire leg is the length of my arm. She is like a surreal extension of me, a separate entity and yet so intrinsically a part of me.
Food and sleep
She is still a rather picky eater, although she is most willing to eat bread. She dropped to 1 nap shortly after starting school, sleeping about 2 – 3 hours each time. P says she is clearly my daughter, and inherited my ‘piggy genes’, cos she loves to laze about after getting up, and is often the last in the family to wake in the mornings.
she still loves noodles and yogurt..bread is also a preferred option for breakfast, as opposed to oatmeal. Her appetite is really quite small though, and we suspect she’s subsisting on milk. She’s a cookie monster too, just like me (P saw her eyes and whole face light up with a 100 megawatt glow the other day when he offered her a Loacker wafer, and said she is truly my daughter ^_^) but we don’t give her too much of biscuits.
Personality
Her stubborn streak is ever more evident now. She is not open to bribes and is so single-minded in her pursuit, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distract (let alone dissuade) her from anything she wants.
She really picks things up really fast and is a quick learner. One of her new hobbies is to pick up the camera to take pictures. “Take pictures”, is her command for me to turn the camera on. P was surprised that she knew it was necessary to aim the lens at the subject, although we did end up with a lot of ‘artistic’ (i.e. blurred) shots.
I give her ‘errands’ to run now and then…simple things like throwing away a piece of tissue, wiping the table clean of her yogurt, and helping me to bring my dirty clothes to the laundry basket. It is such a pleasure to see her face set in seriousness, as she (or so I imagine) grit her teeth/clench her jaw and carry out the task. She is always pleased to help, or perhaps, pleased to be praised after she helps.
She is a typically vain girl, who would twirl around and pose for us when we wrap her up in a towel. Oh, the pleased look on her face as we all gush over how cute she is, speaks volumes.
She is also highly competitive. They certainly understand fairness and equality at such a young age. Whatever her brother has, she will inevitably demand the same. (Case in point – P got her a helmet and sunglasses after she kept trying to snatch her brother’s.)
It is difficult for us to chide her not to snatch something from her brother, and Christian often has to offer her something else before she will give the toy willingly back to him. Christian often laughs at how easy it is to “trick” her though.
She is not afraid to say sorry, and sometimes apologises even when it is her brother who is at fault, causing him to break out of his sullenness and laugh out loud.
I was amazed the other night, when she saw me put face cream on, and demanded some. I told her it was unnecessary, and she began using her fingers to swipe some from my cheeks to rub onto her own. (!!!!) I gave in and found some baby cream to smear on her cheeks as well, and looking at how she stuck her chin forward, carefully still, made me laugh. She also understood what it was for and said “No touch” after I was done. *rolls eyes*
Our lives are all the brighter with her and her brother in it.
Calista, we love you lots..please grow up happy and healthy and pleasing to God too!
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