The concept of $ ...hmm..

On tuesday, I brought my darling out for a while. I was lazy, so we took a cab. When we reached our destination, I took out $ from my wallet and paid the taxi driver. When we took a cab back, my little one reached into my wallet and took out the cash and handed the cash over to the driver. I thought that was quite amazing and interesting...

This morning, my domestic helper and I brought her out to buy breakfast. Guess what, she took my $10 note and tried to hand it over to the malay lady serving us :) hahaha :p

Now I am wondering, does she already have some concept of $?

About my girl :)

My little girl was given a tiny gold ring from my domestic helper for her 1st birthday. We put in on the third finger on her right hand. She had it on for the whole day on her birthday and she was so pleased with it that she kept pointing at it, as if she was showing it off. We notice that she does appreciate "pretty" things, eg. pretty clothes, hair accessories etc. She's so girl.. haha... we do hope that she will not become too vain though haha! :)

We took the ring off after her birthday.. and on monday, while my domestic helper was playing with her, she tugged at her clothes, kept pointing at her third finger and used some sign language to ask for the ring... Woah!! That to us was pretty amazing...that's how much understanding she has now.

She's really growing up and getting smarter in some ways. But there's something worrying...just now, she kept trying to get down the sofa her way even though she has already learnt the right technique of getting down. That was super dangerous and of course I said, "No" a number of times. The more I said, "No" and tried to explain to her that what she was doing was dangerous, the more she wanted to try her own way and even shouted at me to show her displeasure.

Then I thought to myself, "do I really need to let her fall down once so that she learns it the hard way?" I really don't wish to have to come to that.. cos she will hurt herself in the process. Thankfully, when I realised that the hard way was not going to work, I tried to do it the soft and encouraging way. Finally, she decided to use the right and safer technique to get herself off the sofa. Phew...

But this incident gave me some insight into Candra's personality and disposition. It's not the first time she's shown us something like that.. just that this time round, it involves something "dangerous".

Guess we are all like that in some ways. We choose to be rebellious and choose our own ways at times even when we have been warned of the danger.

Well, I do hope that we will learn how to guide Candra to make the right decisions...but if she really does need to learn things the hard way at times, I guess we as parents just got to get ourselves ready for it. Sobz :(

His Way??,,,,,He knows best. (Part II)

Yippee!

Hubby's been notified that he's going on for the final interview on 4 May!!!

SP i just 2 MRT stations away from our home! I can't believe this! haha.. it's so so so convenient. Furthermore, the faculty we are talking about is very near the MRT station... Wow!!! Can't imagine that.. and I thought I was already very close to work i.e Clifford Centre, right outside Raffles Place :)

GOD PROVIDES!

His Way??...He knows best.

About 3 weeks go:

Hubby shared with me his woes at work... some of which could impinge on his major plans for the 2nd half of this year and the coming few years. He started to wonder whether he should be looking out for a new job. I told him that unless God made it clear for him to take the next step, just stay put faithfully.

12 April 2010:

He came across a bible verse on a card placed on his office table in the morning. It read,

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,

for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul." (Psalm 143:8)

He prayed that exactly and asked the Lord to show him the way.

He went to browse the Singapore Polytechnic website.

To his surprise, he saw the exact opening he has been waiting for and...12 April 2010 was the closing date for applications.

He sent in his resume at noon to make sure his application was received before the applications closed at the end of the day.

13 April 2010:

He called SP and they confirmed that they had received the application.

14 April 2010:

He received an email from his ex-lecturer, asking him to meet up for an interview.

15 April 2010:

He went for the interview.

20 April 2010:

He came to know that either he or another fellow applicant would be sent to the final round of interview by HR department.

21 April 2010

We are waiting.... waiting.... waiting... "God, is this Your way?"

Whatever it is, may His will be done. :) Afterall, He knows best!

Our lovely girl :)

Candra's turning one year old next week! Wow.. time really flies. This little girl never fails to warm our hearts with her little hugs :) She's been trying to walk and she took her first baby step unsupported today!

She's been such a joy and honestly, I have been enjoying every bit of this parenting journey. Every minute spent with her enjoying her and delighting in her has been so worthwhile.. and therapeutic. :)

Yesterday, she showed us that a little child like her is capable of learning self-control. We were at R & H's place for fellowship.. she went to touch their mini hi-fi system on the floor. I told her not to do that. The next time she crawled close to that hi-fi system and was about to reach for it, she turned around and looked at me. I said, "Candra, no you can't touch that". She turned and looked at the hi-fi set again, her hands almost touching it, but she decided to crawl towards hubby and myself instead of touching that hi-fi set. We thought that was such a good display of self-control on her part and we praised her for that.

This incident yesterday reminded us that children, as young as a few months old, are capable of learning self-control. They can be trained to exercise restraint appropriately and we should never think that they will only learn when they are older (especially for children these days). When we set appropriate boundaries for them, they do learn what is expected of them and try to behave accordingly.

She's really been such a joy and delight. Though she loves to shout and like every other child has her frustrated and impatient moments, we still feel really blessed to have her in the family.

Where did she learn that from?

Thought I should blog about this so that we can retain this sweet memory. :)

A few days back, I was playing with Candra in the living room. I was hoping she would play with her toys, but she chose to crawl away from me instead and venture into forbidden grounds. Then I "cried" / "whined" because I felt sad that she chose not to play with me.. when she heard me "cry", she turned back and crawled towards me immediately and gave me a hug :).

A friend of mine asked me when she heard about this incident, "where did she learn that from? Did you guys teach her that? Did she watch some TV programme and learnt that?" Both hubby and I replied, "No, we have no idea where she learnt that from." :)

That's our girl.. :P She crawled back to comfort me cos she felt I was a little upset... wasn't that sweet? :) hee

Gentle, affectionate, friendly :)

We find our little one pretty affectionate and gentle :)

With us, she is generous with her hugs. She also loves to pat her stuff toys and hug them :) We find her gentle because she has learnt how to pat them lightly and not "beat" them up. haha!

We just love her smile...and we enjoy the fact that she's sociable and friendly towards others, generous with her "hellos" and "byebyes".

Our greatest hope is that she will grow up to be an authentic person with deep and genuine concern for others.

She's been learning. Now she signs:

1. More (this is her favourite)

2. Ball (which looks a lot like "more")

3. Thank you

4. Please

5. Hello

6. Bye bye

7. Kiss goodbye

8. Yes (this is the most recent one.. but this looks just like "hello" and "bye bye" haha :p)

9. Eat

10. Sorry (but this looks like "please" for now :p)

11. Clap her hands

12. Pray

She knows, "give XX a hug", "pat pat" :)

She's getting excited about walking.. Wow.. it's a whole new world out there for her. But because of her new excitement..toys have become real boring.. hmm..

The reality - A suffering world

We have been praying for a little girl living in our estate, slightly younger than Candra, for a while. The last time we saw her, she had lost a lot of weight and we were told that she was always throwing up after her food and milk.

Today, I received news from someone that a little girl, of her similar description, has been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I think she's probably the one we had been praying for. She underwent an operation, is currently in ICU, lost sight completely in one eye and losing sight in the other.

My heart broke when I was informed of her condition. She's only about 10 months old. Her family's devastated and grieving over her condition. We've not been seeing her around at the playground for a while.. cos she's been in hospital.

Such great suffering indeed, that this family is going through. The little girl's going through so much pain from her illness at such a young age. This is the reality of the world that we live in. People around us suffering tremendously, grieving in pain.

This family needs hope and strength to face tomorrow. This child needs so much inner strength to face her future if she recovers.

Only God can give us strength and hope in suffering.... nothing else in this world can.

Please keep this family in prayers, cry out to the Lord for them.

We are praying alongside them... that's all we can do for now.