1st Dress!

Jean (my colleague) bought some new tops & dresses for Charis on her shopping trip to Macau. I was so exited to take the pictures of Charis wearing her 1st dress in her life! :D Haha!

I thought it would be too big, but seems like she can wear it already :) So sweet! She looks more grown up in this dress :)

Daddy Spoils Charis

Whenever Daddy is home with Charis... this is how she behaves...

Daddy spoilt her :'( The moment she sees Daddy, she wants to be carried & "sayang". She wasn't crying so loud initially, but the moment she sees Daddy getting up, she immediately cry louder to make him heart pain so that he would carry her. Clever girl.

She knows Mummy is not going to spoil her, but is more focus on taking video of her. Haha! She gave up crying. She can stop crying almost immediately without any tears. Manipulative...

Charis' 1st Church Service =) 14 Nov 09

We brought Charis to church finally 3 weeks ago. Initially I was quite concerned if she could adapt to the new environment & the loud music. I actually carried her into the main service (there's a little hidden corner where some moms would carry their babies to during praise & worship) before heading back to the nursery room. Amazingly, she was still during praise & slept through during worship. Probably she had already gotten used to the loud praise & worship while in my womb when I was attending church.

Charis' 1st time to church service. We are inside the nursery room.

We went for dinner with Gavin, Vanessa, & Francis to Ikea after service.

We'd been bringing my nephew, Zander, to church too. He loves the big playground. I think that's heaven for the little ones :)

Guilty...

I couldn't spend much time with Charis for the past 3 weeks :'( In her 5th week, James' grandma passed away & my brother was hospitalised at the same time till now. Since then with all these events happening, I hardly had been able to spend time with Charis. My brother's condition took a turn for the worst suddenly 2 weeks ago & I had to be there everyday & overnights too. Hence, Charis had been staying with my eldest sister for this long period. I am so thankful for my eldest sister because I know that Charis is in good hands with her.

Even when James does bring her home on Saturdays, I am usually dead beat from returning from the hospital that I couldn't manage to spend time with her anymore. I really felt guilty that I have been neglecting her. It even took my mom to tell me that Charis has learnt to smile & respond to people. I really wish I could be there personally to watch her grow up in this phrase of her life.

Charis loves to smile 1st thing in the morning.

She's a cheerful baby! We'd been praying for that :)

But she also likes to frown if she's not smiling... Takes after her Daddy...

Like Father, like daughter.

Sometimes I can't help but to wonder if Charis still does recognise me as her mummy. Thank God she does! The other day when all my family members were surrounding her, she only focus her stare at me! Whenever she sees me, she will display a contented looks on her face. Yesterday, she kept frowning at me because I'd cut & coloured my hair. She must have been thinking why I have the same voice as Mummy but have different looks. Hehe. The moment I carried her, she stopped frowning & smiled at me. She must have recognised the smell of Mummy! Haha!

We managed to take out her for a dinner 2 Saturdays ago. Charis enjoys looking at us whenever we are carrying her.



Charis is always contented just to lie down besides me & looks at me. She can do that for a long time. But if Daddy is around, its a different story. She's smart & she's know that Daddy will carry her. So whenever Daddy is around, she will cry for his attention. She's really a Daddy's girl...

Singapore man kills child over cigarettes

AFP - Tuesday, October 20

A Singaporean man has gone on trial charged with murdering his 23-month-old daughter in a fit of rage after he caught her playing with his cigarettes, court officials said Tuesday.

Sallehan Allaudin, 26, is accused of fatally beating his daughter Nikie in January ahead of her second birthday, causing her to die of a ruptured vein. If convicted, he could face death by hanging.

The High Court was told Monday that Sallehan, who had just returned home with his wife with a present for Nikie, went berserk after seeing the toddler had torn up and scattered his cigarettes, the Straits Times reported Tuesday.

Sallehan has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

His wife, Rozanah Mohamed Yusoff, 24, used a mannequin to show the court how Sallehan allegedly kicked and stomped on their daughter in the kitchen, the newspaper said.

The couple, who have two younger daughters, called for an ambulance when Nikie started bleeding from the nose, but she died of her injuries, according to the report.

"I did not go into the kitchen to stop my husband as I thought that was the way he wanted to discipline Nikie," the wife was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

He must have love little Nikie enough to buy a gift for her. Yet why did such things have to happen? Parents all need a little anger management at times, no matter how patient we have always been.

Daddy's Girl

Charis is looking more & more like Daddy each day! She put on some weight on her face, which made her looks even more like Daddy. & she's also losing that "soft feminine" looks. Somehow she's more boyish looking now...

I love to watch Daddy & Charis bonding together. It bring an indescribable warmth to my heart!

Both of us tired out after a day of outing. Look at the pile of clothes besides us! Charis has lots of laundry everyday!

Regrets

Mummy Gina: I decided to write this blog from my own perspective in future because we find that writing from Charis perspective is too limited & probably not "fair" to her too.

I'm not someone who have much regrets in life as I prefer to look forward in life, but recently I do have some regrets. James' grandmother passed away last Monday, & there were some regrets.

1. I regret that I didn't visited her enough while she was around.

I didn't visit her this year as I was often sick during my pregnancy. The fondest memory I have of her is when I visited her at her house 2 years ago & she chatted so much with me. Even though I couldn't understand her dialect language very well, we both enjoyed each other's presence.

2. I regret that I never brought Charis to visit her.

She's staying at an old folk's home as she's bedridden & there's no one to take care of her at her house. As Charis is just a newborn, we try to avoid bringing her to the home as newborn tend to be more susceptible to viruses & bacteria. Hence, she has never seen her great grand-daughter before, & Charis has never & will never meet her great grand-mother. How many people has the good fortune in life to have a great grand-daughter? Yet sadly, they have never met.

My mom is now 70 years old. How many more years can she still spend with Charis? She has been through so much to bring me up. One of the ways I can repay her is to bring Charis every sunday to visit her. She enjoys those visits & I treasure them too.

If someone that you know is no longer around tomorrow, will you have any regrets? If your parents or grandparents are around, don't let them miss out the best opportunity for your children to know them personally. Today is a gift from God, so treasure it well. Time is never on our side, but we can choose to live the best out of it.