Friday Fingers: A not-so-flowery Friday

This week's Friday Fingers has been challenging not so much because of the floral theme, but because of the crunch-time mode I was in. My days have been so hectic from Monday to Wednesday that I barely had time for myself. I thought I could squeeze in a nail-painting session after meeting Yoda yesterday but Alva fell sick when we got home.

After a trip to the doctor, we found out that Alva had caught an infection. She was given paracetamol and some antibiotics but was cranky the whole day. While she was taking a nap, I thought I'd take a little break and start my FF effort. But nah, she woke up only minutes after I started. She was so restless the whole night, I had to cuddle her to keep her settled.

Today, Vava is feeling a lot better. It seems the infection has cleared off. Last night was a nightmare. I was worried sick because she was breathing raggedly. It freaked me out seeing her like that but the nurses whom I called said it was because of her fever. I'm so glad she's recovered now.

Okay. Back to my FF story. So. I continued my effort this morning while the kids were playing in the living room. This time, I decided to have a blue base with lots of white flowers to match the background. I was just about to create a white petal when Alva lunged at me out of nowhere. She was running from Alden who had turned into a nasty monster. Like the one in Scooby Doo.

Things started to get messy when they saw what I was doing. Alva kept saying, "Wow mummy, so pretty. How about me?". I couldn't concentrate cos Alden was also driving me nuts with his questions.

Alden: Why you painting your nails mum?

Me: To make it look pretty.

Alden: Why?

Me: Cos I like it when it's pretty

Alden: Why you like it mum?

Me: I just like it okay. 

Me: You like green?

Me: No

Alden: I love green. Green is my favourite colour. I love blue too. Blue is my favourite colour.

He then takes a red nail polish.

Alden: Oh! I love red! Red is my favourite colour too.

and the black nail polish...

Alden: Oh!! Blaaack! I like BLACK. Black is my favourite colour mum!

Me: Mmm...

He takes a white nail polish and says....well, you know the drill. I have altogether 12 nail polishes.

What Alden does, Alva follows. Alva takes a yellow nail polish.

Alva: I like orange. Orange is my favourite colour. You like orange mummy?

Me: That's not orange. It's yellow.

Alva: Lello?

Me: Yellow Alva. YE- LO

Alva: Lello?

Alden: You like yellow mum? (menyampuk)

Me: Alva, it's YE - LOW

Alva: Yellow?

Me: Yes. (Finally. I sighed in relief)

Alva: You like yellow mummy?

This very exciting conversation was repeated for, I dont know, 10 times? I had to stop the mental torture so I cleared my stuff and decided to take everyone out for lunch. My treat.

After lunch, hubby and the kids sent me to the office so I could work on my thesis. I was so eager to get there cos I had snuck a bunch of nail polishes and dotting tools in my bag without their knowledge. Hehe. My plan was to spend an hour doing nail art before I start writing my thesis. It was a great plan!

When I got to the office, all lovely thoughts about my beautiful flowered nails came to a screeching halt. Two of my colleagues were in. Crap! I can't possibly paint my nails with them around. I forced myself to work on my thesis and not think about nails.

Tick tock Tick tock.

After 4 hours, my colleagues finally called it a day. By that time, my excitement had totally dwindled. Plus. Hubby was going to pick me up in a bit so there wasn't time to even clean my nails.

When I finally got home, it was dinner time. After dinner I just sort of laze around with hubby and the kids. I tried putting them to bed early but they were so full of energy. They only got to bed around 10.30. Not good, I know.

After the kids were asleep, I thought I'd just hit the sack, yet for some reason, I wasn't tired. I reckon it's because of the coffee I had at 7.00. I'm not a coffee drinker so I get all hyper whenever i have a cup. Mentally, that is.

One of the outcomes of my hyperactivity tonight is this

Yeah, I finally got around to doing my Friday Fingers. I'm not so crazy about the colours but am too lazy to redo everything.

It's been a very very long day for me. I think I'm going to hit the sack and call it a day. Have a lovely weekend :)

My Little Makeup Artist

Every morning when I get ready for work, Alva would sit on the bed and watch me religiously. The thing she enjoys most is watching me put on make up. She'd observe my every move and mimic whatever I do. When I'm finally done she'd smile at me and say "My turn mummy".

Yesterday, I let her play with my second make up bag (the first one is off-limits) while I took these candid pictures.

She has become more and more girlish nowadays and I can't help but feel delighted when she poses and prances in front of the mirror. It's so fun to watch. The moment she's dolled up, she'd run to her daddy and say "Look daddy! Look! Vava lawa." Hehehe.

Ahhh...I'm so in love with her :)

The Princess Who Rocks My World

Dearest Alva

Six weeks ago, I took out your old photos taken on the morning of 26 June 2009. Looking at these pictures, I ended up reminiscing the moments we spent at the hospital, minutes after you were born. What I remember most was watching you  sleep on my chest with your belly against me, looking so tiny and adorably fragile. I was so in awe of you.

That was 25 months and 12 days ago. It's crazy how time flies huh?

Anyway, shortly after your birthday, I discovered that “The Terrible Twos” theory doesn't exist. I have braced myself for the horror to happen but it never did. Instead of turning into one of those scary toddlers in Super Nanny,  you  have continued to behave like an angel. You don't throw tantrums or yell or run amok in shopping malls. Alden does all that.

From the day you were born, you've always been a perfect baby who does everything by the book. You turned over at 6 months, crawled at 8 months and started walking when you turned 1. Your best achievement so far is your speech. You started saying words like Mama, Dada, Yes, No, Car, There, Nenen and many more at 11 months. Now at two, your vocabulary size has multiplied.

8 months old

Apart from answering questions and voicing out your thoughts, you can easily carry out a simple conversation. This one transpired a few weeks ago when the two of us were spending time together.

Alva: Mummy....

Mummy: Yes?

Alva: You put-put? (put-put= fart/ farted)

Mummy: NO!! Not me.

Alva: Eee..SMELLY! Mummy put-put!! (smiling)

Mummy: Ok la..ok la...mummy put-put. Hehehe.

Alva: You naughty girl! Say kius me mummy! Say kius me!

Mummy: Excuse me.

Too bad Alden wasn't there to take the blame.

You know, whenever we go out together, people would ask me how old you are and whether you could talk. I like this a lot cos I get the chance to show people what an awesome baby you are. Unfortunately, you never help me on this. It is as though you resent the idea of mummy showing off. You never respond to questions and you're always silent when I ask you to talk. Why Alva? Why?? Do you know that because of your silence, no one ever believes me?

We should really work on your PR skills.

Talking about skills, I noticed that you have a keen interest in drawing. Everyday, you'd sit for at least 30 minutes to sketch on your doodling board. Objects you enjoy sketching include grapes, banana, spiders, apples and circles. You have actually drawn heaps of stuff but those are the only ones I recognised. Apart from sketching, your other hobbies include playing with make-up, singing, watching me do the laundry and pretending to read out loud.

That's your version of a banana

Your relationship with your brother has also improved. Yes. There are still lots of fights between you two but at the end of the day, you'd kiss and make up. Because you spend most of your time with him, you like to mimic every little thing he does. In fact, you learned most of your new motor skills from him. You know, stuff like table-climbing, pillow-fighting, drumming,  hair-pulling and jumping off couch. Thanks to these the hands-on tutorials, you have become more independent and you are now able to defend yourself from Alden. At times, you can even make him cry.

Unlike your brother, who is very picky with food, you consume anything I give you. You eat prawns, chicken, beef, noodles, hinava, rice, lamb, pasta, curry etc. There is no limit to what you can eat. Because of your flexibility, I have no trouble feeding you. It's really a blessing cos I don't think I can handle two picky eaters at the same time.

In terms of personality, you are very maternal and caring. I remember having gastric attack a few weeks ago and was curled up on the couch in pain. When you saw me, you came to caress my forehead and said “Pain mummy?”. That was really sweet. At such a young age, you can sense when I’m angry, happy or sad. This caring trait of yours will come in handy when you become a plastic surgeon in the future. I'm not pressuring you or anything. I'm just thinking what's best for you :)

You and I share a special bond together. The way you open up to me is amazing and I think your dad is a bit envious of our relationship. You always favour me over him. For e.g. you’d give me kisses without being asked to and you’d continue doing it until I kiss you back. Your dad gets a different treatment. You only kiss him when he begs you to. I know you adore me more than him but try not to be so obvious okay?

So. What's my favourite part of the day when it comes to you?

It is seeing you wake up in the morning all happy and excited. You'll say Morning mummy!! Yay! Look, sunny day!! Vava want nenen!! When I do give you nenen, you'd smile your biggest smile and give me a warm cuddle. The feeling I get when we cuddle is like eating a mouthful of banana-chocolate cake from Secret Recipe. I get a rush of endorphins in my head and a feeling of euphoria akin to having a retail therapy. It is an awesome, awesome feeling. It is when we cuddle that I see what's important in my life and why I do the things I do.

You don't know it yet, but you have the power to bring out the best in me.

 

What else can I say? You are everything I ever wished for in a daughter: Angelic, smart, adorable, bubbly, kind and loving. I am truly blessed to have you.

Love,

Mummy