Not to be outdone, I thought it was time for D to graduate from months of abstract finger painting to using a paintbrush.
Of course, he has a long way to go before I can pass off his work as a bona fide artist's!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Painting Experiment
Back in January an Aussie 2-year-old toddler caused a furore in the art world after a Melbourne gallery director was fooled into exhibiting her work thinking that they were the abstract pieces of an artist named Aelita Andre.
Not to be outdone, I thought it was time for D to graduate from months of abstract finger painting to using a paintbrush.
Of course, he has a long way to go before I can pass off his work as a bona fide artist's!
Not to be outdone, I thought it was time for D to graduate from months of abstract finger painting to using a paintbrush.
Of course, he has a long way to go before I can pass off his work as a bona fide artist's!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
"Pregnancy Brain"
I've a confession to make. Actually, two.
There is this quirky American TV sitcom called How I Met Your Mother that I really love watching. It's a guilty addiction I picked up in the months spent in Boston as a student. Alyson Hannigan who stars in the show and is currently pregnant - says she has a "pregnancy brain". A rather distressing thing to experience I think... you go about the day feeling "like a Koala bear where (you're) slightly stoned all the time and (you'll) say the wrong word".
Me too, me too!
All I want to do all day is lie in bed and listen to the clock on the wall go "tick-tock, tick-tock".
And Poor D has been practically dragging me around the house to get me to play with him - and because I've been feeling so lazy and Koala-like I've been looking at "shortcut" ways of entertaining him to buy myself more zone-out time.
Like searching for 1 to 3-minute long clips on Youtube with music and cute animals. And boy, are there a few! Just to share a couple of his favorites:
From Discovery Channel -
This is super cute:
This guy does a whole series of songs on different animals, and they're just brilliant. Here's one called the Toucan Song:
There is this quirky American TV sitcom called How I Met Your Mother that I really love watching. It's a guilty addiction I picked up in the months spent in Boston as a student. Alyson Hannigan who stars in the show and is currently pregnant - says she has a "pregnancy brain". A rather distressing thing to experience I think... you go about the day feeling "like a Koala bear where (you're) slightly stoned all the time and (you'll) say the wrong word".
Me too, me too!
All I want to do all day is lie in bed and listen to the clock on the wall go "tick-tock, tick-tock".
And Poor D has been practically dragging me around the house to get me to play with him - and because I've been feeling so lazy and Koala-like I've been looking at "shortcut" ways of entertaining him to buy myself more zone-out time.
Like searching for 1 to 3-minute long clips on Youtube with music and cute animals. And boy, are there a few! Just to share a couple of his favorites:
From Discovery Channel -
This is super cute:
This guy does a whole series of songs on different animals, and they're just brilliant. Here's one called the Toucan Song:
Saturday, February 07, 2009
A Day We Won't Soon Forget
The loss and devastation of yesterday's raging inferno - all 11 of them - in Victoria's "Worst Day in History" hit home today, after we found out that a friend of ours lost their beautiful home, and effectively all their material possessions to one of them.
I'm in shock.
The reply on my phone reads: "but we are safe and we have the love of a God who doesn't make mistakes".
In sending the first prayer message out, I'd been almost certain - clearly mistakenly - that these friends would be protected and unharmed. So when the reply came back reporting the loss with such stoicism and continuing faith, all I can feel is unspeakably saddened, and humbled.
How could such a thing happen to such God-loving folks? Yet, for reasons that I will never fathom, it has. It's been allowed. And all we can, as bystanders, do, is offer whatever meagre help and consolation as we can afford. I'm reminded of Job's predicament in the Bible, and am careful not to seek or offer explanation as Job's friends did, but to pray instead and not stop praying.
**********
We drove to a clearing at the top of the road near our house yesterday as spectators to the Jeeralang bushfires. You can check out the pictures on E's post.
It was hot - very hot - in fact the hottest on record here in Victoria. Windy too, perfect conditions for a fire to rage through the tinder dry bush. There was a sound in the air - not just of the wind - but from where we were also a distant crackling and loud whipping noise of an all-consuming fire, punctuated by the sound of fire-fighting helicopters and the occasional crack of thunder in the distance.
I remember remarking to myself - how persistent, relentless, all-devouring this fire is - a close approximation of Hell itself. According to the news, there was so much smoke generated by the different fires that it created a weather system of thunderstorms all of its own!
From our living room, Dylan also noticed a different sky from the one he's used to seeing. Taking my hand, he led me to the window and pointed to the sun, now reduced to an amber spot behind the cloak of a smokey sky, and said, "See sun! See sun!"
I'm in shock.
The reply on my phone reads: "but we are safe and we have the love of a God who doesn't make mistakes".
In sending the first prayer message out, I'd been almost certain - clearly mistakenly - that these friends would be protected and unharmed. So when the reply came back reporting the loss with such stoicism and continuing faith, all I can feel is unspeakably saddened, and humbled.
How could such a thing happen to such God-loving folks? Yet, for reasons that I will never fathom, it has. It's been allowed. And all we can, as bystanders, do, is offer whatever meagre help and consolation as we can afford. I'm reminded of Job's predicament in the Bible, and am careful not to seek or offer explanation as Job's friends did, but to pray instead and not stop praying.
**********
We drove to a clearing at the top of the road near our house yesterday as spectators to the Jeeralang bushfires. You can check out the pictures on E's post.
It was hot - very hot - in fact the hottest on record here in Victoria. Windy too, perfect conditions for a fire to rage through the tinder dry bush. There was a sound in the air - not just of the wind - but from where we were also a distant crackling and loud whipping noise of an all-consuming fire, punctuated by the sound of fire-fighting helicopters and the occasional crack of thunder in the distance.
I remember remarking to myself - how persistent, relentless, all-devouring this fire is - a close approximation of Hell itself. According to the news, there was so much smoke generated by the different fires that it created a weather system of thunderstorms all of its own!
From our living room, Dylan also noticed a different sky from the one he's used to seeing. Taking my hand, he led me to the window and pointed to the sun, now reduced to an amber spot behind the cloak of a smokey sky, and said, "See sun! See sun!"
Someone to carry my burdens...
A weight's been lifted off my shoulders this week, after I finally plucked up the courage to send a very important email to my bosses.
So here it is, officially.
WE'RE PREGNANT AGAIN!
Going by last Friday's ultrasound, I'm about 9+ weeks now, and in the throes of first trimester fatigue and general lack of appetite.
Which means having to prepare lunch and dinner without the least inclination to ingest any of it. Which then means that the food generally turns out to be pretty tasteless, so pity the boys, won't you?
We're absolutely thrilled, of course. Watching the tiny grey blob on the ultrasound screen pulsating at 167 beats a minute, I can't help but draw in my breath and utter a silent prayer of thanksgiving to God.
But what's surprised me more this second time round, is feeling somewhat clouded by a number of worries stemming from the uncertainties and questions of having number 2, some immediate, some mid-term.
Do we have the baby here, or back in Singapore?
Where will we put up, with E having to complete another 3 years here?
How will I manage with 2 kids and a full time job?
How would the bosses take the news? How will my fellow reading colleagues take to being shorthanded for longer than expected?
Is D ready for a sibling?
The list goes on.
At a time when we have all the reasons to rejoice and celebrate, I'm a little disappointed in myself for feeling this way, frankly.
The fact remains that millions and millions of parents have gone through this, and we're not in circumstances any more unique to theirs, so what makes these worries more worthy of my time?
We'll take it a step at a time, keeping the faith. There's so much to enjoy right now, and perhaps even more reason to enjoy Dylan while he's still dancing solo in our lives!
Perhaps, more vitally, I need to remind myself that this burden is not my own - and that Someone is carrying it for me, keeping the little one inside safe and growing, knowing what's ahead when I don't, and preparing me to take those necessary steps to become a mother of 2.
So here it is, officially.
WE'RE PREGNANT AGAIN!
Going by last Friday's ultrasound, I'm about 9+ weeks now, and in the throes of first trimester fatigue and general lack of appetite.
Which means having to prepare lunch and dinner without the least inclination to ingest any of it. Which then means that the food generally turns out to be pretty tasteless, so pity the boys, won't you?
We're absolutely thrilled, of course. Watching the tiny grey blob on the ultrasound screen pulsating at 167 beats a minute, I can't help but draw in my breath and utter a silent prayer of thanksgiving to God.
But what's surprised me more this second time round, is feeling somewhat clouded by a number of worries stemming from the uncertainties and questions of having number 2, some immediate, some mid-term.
Do we have the baby here, or back in Singapore?
Where will we put up, with E having to complete another 3 years here?
How will I manage with 2 kids and a full time job?
How would the bosses take the news? How will my fellow reading colleagues take to being shorthanded for longer than expected?
Is D ready for a sibling?
The list goes on.
At a time when we have all the reasons to rejoice and celebrate, I'm a little disappointed in myself for feeling this way, frankly.
The fact remains that millions and millions of parents have gone through this, and we're not in circumstances any more unique to theirs, so what makes these worries more worthy of my time?
We'll take it a step at a time, keeping the faith. There's so much to enjoy right now, and perhaps even more reason to enjoy Dylan while he's still dancing solo in our lives!
Perhaps, more vitally, I need to remind myself that this burden is not my own - and that Someone is carrying it for me, keeping the little one inside safe and growing, knowing what's ahead when I don't, and preparing me to take those necessary steps to become a mother of 2.
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