Merry Christmas

So I shall feast, drink and be merry this week and indulge in the many gifts that my wonderful friends have given JD & me.



M-E-R-R-Y C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S L-O-V-E-L-I-E-S!

One Painted Nail

I was at my usual nail place, preparing my nails for the party tonight. JD popped by just as I was about to finish drying them and because she gave the girls there such an endearing smile, they wanted to paint her nails. I wasn't too keen as I didn't want to instill vanity in her at such a young age and I also dread the chemicals which she may inhale, especially from the polish remover.

Eventually I agreed to ONE nail, JUST ONE nail. And boy, she was so excited about her little pink thumb. She literally walked around Parkway after that with her clenched fist and a little thumb sticking out, proudly showing off her freshly painted nail to people who walked past.

Megablocks

I'm an absolute nitwit at these but JD's daddy is nuts about them and I gotta admit he's darn good with them.

He can just about build anything one asks for with these little blocks and I've been impressed with what he can whip out almost immediately. So far there's been a giraffe, a robot, a snake, a tunnel, a car and many others and these were from his imagination. No references to manuals, no pictures to model against.

Tunnel


Robot

I admit I've much to gripe about his parenting skills. I mean.. when he's tasked to make JD sleep, he falls asleep before she does. Babysitting JD to him means having both veg in front of the tv. But he's afterall JD's dear daddy and he is good at what daddies are supposed to be good for, fun, games and... MORE FUN!

Just leave the TLC to me, the Mommy... :)

JD's 1st Class Photo

JD has finally brought back her class photo, her 1st class photo and I couldn't stop gushing over it. The kids (and of course especially my baby girl) are just so cute! There's something in those serious little faces that tickles me. I can just imagine the havoc that the teachers and the photographer had to handle before they managed to snap this.


I am beaming from ear to ear as I write this. I am so proud of my little girl. From a tiny baby to a pre-school toddler... how time flies and this is going to be her 3rd X'mas...

Hi

I finally spoke to her today, after a week of cold war. The instant emotion that gripped me was relief. I can't explain it, but I actually was relieved that at least we spoke. The last week was painful. No words exchanged. No updates about each other.

It was an awkward moment, probably neither of us expected each other's presence. For that split second, I didn't know how to react. I didn't know if I should say 'Hi", I didn't know if I should smile. I think she didn't have a clue either. Then I mustered up my courage, I gave a smile & managed a really weak "hi". It probably didn't turn out the way it should have but it did fulfil its intent, ie, it broke the ice.

We started chatting. I felt a tinge of sadness that 2 people who were so happy together before, now seem like total strangers. It wasn't a very long chat, probably 5 minutes. It was a conversation on her health. At that point, I felt awful. Here I was being a totally selfish prick, thinking that she was deliberately giving me the cold shoulder and there she was, nursing herself back to pink glow. And before I knew it, conversation was over, we split and we went on our separate ways.

Now I'm engulfed in confusion. I do not know if I should now make the 1st move & beep her. I've deleted her contact no. in anger, I've removed her from my instant messenger in fury. No doubt though, the details are still very vivid in my mind. But the point is, I cannot be there for her on THAT day, that's what my head is saying, so why even bother making the next step. But I want to. I worry for her, I want back the pretty, lively girl who has a special place in my life. My heart tells me I should care, my head tells me I shouldn't.

Maybe it's God's will that we are now the way we are. We were never meant to be that close and we are back to where we belong. 2 strangers, each in their own world.

A new adventure at the beach

JD loves going to the beach. She gets really excited when I tell her, "pack up! we're going to the beach!". She'll take her pail, spade, watering can & moulds and rush to put on her shoes.

However, JD simply abhors the sand. She thinks it's dirty. She wouldn't walk barefoot on the sand, she wouldn't sit on the sand. She wouldn't touch the sand. The only thing she would do is to just scoop up the sand with the spade and throw it into the mould.

Yesterday, we saw a difference. I had initially taken off her shoes & dragged her across the sand, down to the sea. She was squealing in fear. But somehow, things turned slightly better and she started to play with the sand, literally using her fingers to dig at the sand. Needless to say, I was like.. ee yucks cos I'm not a fan of sand either. (though I knew I had to put aside this dislike so that JD would have a chance to explore the sand to decide for herself if she was going to follow her mommy's footsteps)

And the day ended with her feet being buried in the sand. A remarkable improvement!:)

It's a tough time

I've no idea what's going on but JD's been a handful to handle recently. Not like she has always been the perfect angel but nowadays, she is displaying the most outrageous part of her which none of has ever seen.

Firstly, she hasn't been very nice to our new helper, Chona. She doesn't allow Chona to feed her or put her to bed. She's not welcoming to Chona bathing nor changing her either but she has learnt to accept this as a no choice situation as Ah Ma has hurt her back & unable to do either of it AND it comes with a condition, Ah Ma has to stand at the door.

She has also been throwing ALOT of tantrums. And I really mean alot. She will not take "NO" for an answer. And it has become so uncontrollable that we have resorted to locking her up in her room in a bid to "teach her a lesson". My heart aches when I do that but I'm really at my wits end.

I do not know if it is a stage of the terrible twos but I do not seem to see this behaviour in other children around the same age. I pray hard that we will be able to see the end of this soon.