EmmaGoodEgg

Mimi Makes Faces

Smile, frown, smile, frown is her new thing.

Mimi And Her Mop Of Curls

Dear Mimi,

Mama haven't posted a letter to you in a while. The last time was 6 months ago when I posted a picture of you in an Ultraman mask. Eversince then your Mama has been distracted with rather addictive online pursuits, like Pet Society which I thankfully outgrew and my pet is now languishing in Pet Society World in a 7-bedroomed home, hungry and dirty. Then your T'tan introduced me to hidden objects games, like Mystery Case Files and the like. I think my eyesight has gotten worse due to peering on the screen for 'protractors' or 'screws' or similar inane objects. After that T'tan suggested I try time-management games, which took up all my time building houses, and parks, and making sure I paid the damn taxes on time. And then on my own accord I got re-hooked onto Twitter, following all and sundry. It really is time for a heart-warming letter to your daughter when one begins to mull all day about a @mrskutcher tweet just so I can get Demi Moore to acknowledge my presence online.

So.

In a couple of days you will turn 1 year and 8 months. Here's how you look without the alien mask:

Although having straight-as-a-plank hair means all those curls on your head is alien to your Mama. Every morning you wake up with serious bed-head and I think "GAAAAAH! WhatdoIdowhatdoIdo??". You're not too fond of hair clips and cute hairbands so you often channel Wild Woman Of Borneo. But its okay my darling, cos you're one SMART Wild Woman Of Borneo.

You are a voracious reader, here you are "reading" Eric Carle's 'Slowly slowly slowly said the Sloth':

You can also count one to ten, know some of your ABCs and, Mama is proud to say, tri-lingual. Why just the other day when I asked you to please close the door, you said "Bisa" (that's Indonesian for 'Yes/Can') and promptly did.

Love,

Mama xx

ULTRABABY

Dear Mimi UltraBaby,

As Hari Raya draws to a close, here's a picture of you during Aidilfitri dressed in your finest: silk, lace and an alien mask.

Speaking of extra-terrestial beings, your father have been surfing UFOs on YouTube.  He made me watch this last night:

One of the clips shows a couple of NASA's party line of a UFO being a "weather balloon", strangely enough two of them looks like a Bat Mobile and Starship Enterprise. 

So do you believe?  Space is just too big to be occupied by just us humans isn't it? *cue X-Files muzak...

Lots of love,

UltraMama xx

A Mini Tomboy GoodEgg

Dear Mimi,

When you were in my tummy I often wished that you wouldn't turn out to be too girlie a girl. I thought that I could handle a little tomboy much better having had your brother and also because Mama was one herself in days of yore. As they say, a pregnant woman's word is manis (sweet) which kinda means God is listening to you, you hormonal woman. Well, I never got the closet full of Louboutins but I got a little tomboy girl who has the calves of a center forward. Of course your father played a part in your being, so you should blame him for your calves.

At a year and a few weeks old, you are an independent, mischievous and robust child. I tend to favour children in shorts and tees, quite simply because I grew up in them, so you are always dressed rather boyish. Your father wants to teach you yoga moves and started with the Lion pose, so you go around with your tongue all out, all the time. Not a very girly look that. Your father and I were adventurous children so it looks like you're heading that way too. I foresee that soon you will start climbing the trees in the garden and terrorising the neighborhood. It is in your genetic makeup after all.

Before you grow up to be one of those women who don't shave their legs and armpits, I think its time to inject a little bit more girl in you. So this Hari Raya Mama asked Auntie Jane the Seamstress to sew miniature versions of Mama's bajus (clothes) in an effort to make you look more like a little girl.

But guess who looks like a little Tomboy Princess in all that lace and sequins?

Love,

Mama xx

Ps/ Picture taken beautifully by your Uncle Mirez.

Who's a Mini GoodEgg?

Dear Mimi,

Since I last wrote you grew some hair.

Okay, no you didn't.  That's you wearing the wig your father wore when he was John Lennon a few weekends ago.  It's actually a 'Rachel' wig I got at Winmark, but best not to tell your father that since he wore it in polite society. 

As you know, you dislike having things on your head.  Mama would love to buy you cute hats but you'd have them on your head for not more than 2 seconds.  But guess who donned the wig??  You preened and cooed in front of the mirror and thought 'I look AWESOME'.  I think you've become girlier.  Mama is happy with this development because your first word aside from babababababa and mamamamamama is CAR!  I blame your father for this because he had put a car calendar in your room.  Every morning the two of you look through the calendar and spot the colourful Porsches on each month, so it really is no wonder that you can point out a car in a magazine or on the road in two shakes of a ducks' tail.

You were crawling the last time Mama posted about you, but now you've found your feet.  You try and walk everywhere these days.  Every evening after we read books you shimmy your little bum off the bed and away you go, exploring your parent's room with gusto.  These days you also know how to make demands.  Like asking Mama to read you a particular book (Unngghhh!), or to give you some of whatever it is on the plate we happen to be holding (Mamam!).  So we're also starting to set you some boundaries lest you turn into a lil' monster.

You still love your food, and since I last wrote your meals are considerably more interesting than porridge with mushy peas.  I think you enjoy eating out for lunch because we order your food from the Kids Menu.  Sometimes we sneak you some ice-cream. 

It's amazing to watch you grow, learn and experience new things.  Your latest gig is picking up Mama's mobile, placing it near your ear and coo softly to Bapa.  That's also your cutest gig.  That and how you love (and look like) your father.   

You are a sight for sore eyes after a long day at work.  But darling, since I last wrote you have yet to grow more hair.

Love,

Mama xx

Sa Wa Dee Kaap: Greetings from Thailand

Dear Mimi,

You are now in Phuket.

It took us approximately 10 hours of travel to get here. Weeks preceding our departure your parents fretted at how in the world can we get you to sit still during the flights so we thought of ways to occupy your time. We caved in and bought you your own DVD player, but it holds your attention for 5 minutes and then you want to eat it. You enjoy rubbing your gums on your toys and your books so we packed those too. Like your father, you enjoy your food, so we bought Rusks like it was going out of style. It's with a great deal of trepidation (and a whole lot of hand luggage) that we boarded the BI flight on Saturday to Bangkok, and then on a TG flight two hours later to Phuket. Amazingly you were well behaved throughout and the only time you cried longer than a few minutes was when your ears probably hurt on the way down to Bangkok and when we were about to board the flight to Phuket during your bedtime. You are such a little trooper.

Your routines haven't changed despite being in a different country. As usual around 6.30am you and your father go for your daily morning walk. Except this time your Mama stepped up to the plate and went for the walk with the both of you. Plus the scenery changed quite a bit. There were no cars full of school kids to wave to in the mornings and no old aunties exercising their rheumatic joints to say hello to. Instead we saw new foliage, stumbled into uoccupied villas and then went to the beach! Not to mention your Mama is awake and up and about! You absolutely loved the change in perspective.

A change in scenery at a godforsaken time in the morning.

We washed sand off our feet and so did you.

You also had your weekend swimming sessions but this time at the Villa and in a rather fetching swimsuit from Mothercare.

Another thing that hasn't changed? You are still stroppy in hats.

Love,

Your Mama xx

Ps/ Your Auntie Nips is going through a bit of a culture shock. She is rebelling against not having to make the bed and do the laundry. Although I must say she's learning fast because just this afternoon she ordered herself some coffee. I'm afraid we've created a monster...

Your First Party

Dear Mimi,

It's tradition that we welcome the birth of a babe with some family and friends, some religious singsong and food. You had your Dikir last weekend. A lot of preparation goes into having one of these dos. We had to finalise the guest list, make invites, call catering, buy chairs, sort out the Bunga Telurs and goodie bags, and book the singing ladies. On top of all that, we had to figure out what to wear.

Usually these events are also for the mother. The Mandi Berlawat is to celebrate a woman who has given birth for the first time. She is made to fit into her wedding garb and act like a bride with a screaming child on her lap. Family and friends dab chalkpaste, throw like confetti scented pandan leaves and flowers on mother and child. At the background, people chant songs.

Mama didn't have to go through all that (although I was made up like a bride thanks to our in-house make-up guru Auntie Mellie), so the day was all about you.

In case you were wondering, the GoodEggs all wore blue. Your Auntie Jane the Seamstress made you a dress out of silk and chiffon...and bells. Tiny bells as buttons. The bells, they drove you mad. So did the singing. And the confetti throwing (thankfully no dabbing of the chalk on your forehead). Your father and I pretty much guessed when you were bawling your lungs out you are actually saying, "Who ARE these people cutting into my weeked and WHAT am I wearing??" You were, short of better words, not a happy cow.

Still, it had to be done. But after all the hullaballoo (and once you changed into plain cotton), it is a quaint custom we have in our culture. We ended up having a rather swell time.

To wit:

You experienced new things, met many many new faces. Like a celebrity, you had a photographer follow your every move. We had yummy pretty cupcakes from the Rahman Sisters and chic Auntie Rena gifted you a pretty monogrammed pillow. We also got some cold hard cash and a heck of a lot of blessings were bestowed on us.

Who could complain?

Love, Mama xx

Happier times in cotton, cute as a donut kebonut, as photographed by Uncle Flo.

Mimi Gets Tagged (And A Manicure)

[Affy tagged me in August last year and I only just stumbled upon it when I was googling myself a few days ago. Yes I know you do that to. Anyway, I thought Mimi should do this tag because this is my blog and I can post what I want]

1. Tell us your name:

MimiGoodEgg.

2. Three things about yourself:

1. I like Handy Mandy.
2. I hate wearing bonnets.
3. I love manicures.

3. What’s in your playlist:

Ummm, I like sitting in my 'Dalek' chair.

4. Your favourite music:

Truth be known, classical music makes my Mama's bum itch and I am partial to that Old MacDonald rhyme she sings.

5. Favourite guilty pleasure:

TV...aaaand, bananas.

6. Favourite food:

Bananas.

7. Define love:

I love my bunny too.

8. Define sex Gripe Water:

I take some so I am not gassy.

9. Any celebrity crushes?:

Handy Manny.

10. The last person you hugged:

My Mama.

11. The last person you talked to:

My mama, Abang Azim, Auntie E, Auntie Tan and Auntie Fidah.

12. The last time you cried:

When I want more bananas.

13. The last time you had sex your way:

All the time man, all the time.

14. The last time you made out had your hand in your mouth:

All the time man, aaaall the time.

15. The last person you dated wanted to bring you for a walk:

My Papa.

16. The last time you went out:

Today I spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's.

17. What’s on your mind now?:

Is Willow my sister?

18. What’s bothering you?:

Nothing.

19. This year’s resolutions:

To learn how to swim. Oh, and walk.

20. Your MSN nick:

MiniGoodEgg.

21. What’s your MSN nick about?:

I am a mini good egg.

22. The people you miss the most:

My Abang Azim.

23. Current mood:

Grumpy and happy.

24. What are you thinking?:

Whether I should put my bunny in my mouth or both my hands or the TV remote...

25. Best childhood memory:

The day I became unafraid of the water.

26. One of your biggest fears:

Just sudden loud scary noises

27. Who do you love?:

Anybody who brings me for a walk.

28. One of the things you hate:

Not going for a walk.

29. Do you blog?:

My mom does that for me.

30. Tag some kids:

Abang Ilham and Muhammad.

Kids Like You

Dear Mimi,

These days you have been spending more time with your first cousins Azimah, Abdul Rahman & Ilham. This is them playing about in a car with your brother Azim.

From left: Ilham, Azimah, Abdul Rahman & Abang Azim

Kaka Imah is the girliest girl we know. At aged 6 she ran the 100 meter dash at sports day dressed impeccably in a pink track suit and bottoms. She ran with a beauty queen smile to the crowd and not aiming like a bullet for the finishing line. She is pretty and she knows it.

Now, if your cousin Imah is a girly girl, then your cousin Abdul Rahman is how boys should be. Its all about the jumping and the kicking and the laughing. Always with the cutest grin. Loooves fast cars. Prone to wearing a particular item of clothing for considerable periods of time. His current favourites include blue jeans. Very cool.

Ilham is 3 years and 1 month. He just started school and spends most of the time in the school office. The secretaries love him. Ilham is a huge fan of Mawi because he watches Akademi Fantasia with your Nana and your Auntie Tini (who is Mary Poppins meet Hetty Koes Endang from the village minus the makeup and the big hair). Ilham makes you squeal with laughter when he does the spiderman move with his hands. Dressed in his spiderman suit.

By the way, your Auntie Nips is Mary Poppins on speed.

You turned 5 months recently. According to Dr Roy, you are just above the curve in weight and height. In other words, you are quite robust. My darling you are not girly, Kaka Imah still holds the crown for that title. It could be all those walks in the mornings with your father, or swimming with us every weekend or just your genes. You are our little brown brown-eyed girl.

Your father and I give you other nicknames too. In the mornings we call you Little Miss Flipabout because you are now able to flip from lying on your back onto your belly. At dawn we hear you make indignant noises about not being able to flip back. Sometimes we find you lying the wrong way up.

Mama have been busy these days. Some evenings I haven't been home early enough to put you to bed. But today I left work at a reasonable time and got to spend a little more time with you. You and I have conversations in baby talk which I really do enjoy.

Love,

Your Mama xx

Ps/ I also enjoy dressing you up in bonnets.

EmmaGoodMama

RI's comment on this post threw me off guard. It got me re-reading the pregnancy and motherhood stories I have posted and I realise I am decidedly flippant and irreverent on them. Hardly inspirational to moms-to-be when one writes about developing a nervous tick on becoming a new mom.

Admittedly I was a bit nervous to have a baby in the house again. It has been 15 years since Zimmie was a just a wee little one and I guess at the time society did not obsess too much about parenting. There wasn't a lot of pressure to be an uber mom as it is these days. There are seriously tons of literature on how to be a perfect mom.

I never got to writing about the joys of motherhood. I didn't mention how strangely wonderful it feels to unconditionally love someone you've only just met. How it melts your heart to see that first smile, be it because of gas or a real smile reacting to silly baby talk. I know we are not supposed to talk to babies in baby talk but speak in an adult manner because of a million and one scary reasons, but I can't help it. I often speak to Mimi like how my mother Nana and grandmother would speak to me when I was a baby and I don't think it has impaired my speech, has it? Sayang dusyuk Mama.

I should tell RI that whilst society these days are just chock full of uber moms and their uber methods of motherhood and parenting, you/I could just be a good enough mom and hey, that's okay too. As Meghan Townsend succintly puts in her article on the Good-Enough Mother:

We want to believe we are special, and our children are special, and the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of us are hopelessly average. It’s hard to accept, but really, you either have it, or you don’t. It’s unlikely that Abraham Lincoln’s parents pushed him to join junior toastmasters. Do you think Bob Dylan’s mommy took him to early childhood education music class? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Genius is genius despite the circumstances. The same is true for mediocrity. There are varying degrees of mediocrity but all that leaves us with is a whole lot of light gray mediocrity or dark gray mediocrity. And a few geniuses that were born that way.

Right on.

Anyway, I digressed, and I digressed a lot.

Dear Mimi,

It has been a while since I last posted a letter to you. The last time was when I wrote about your birth and then about how your father slaughtered a handsome lamb in your name, how you could smile so widely and how much like your father you look.

You have learnt so many things since then and you still look like your father...

...like I wasn't even there for your conception.

Your new thing is that you can prop up on your hands while on your belly. You can now laugh, gurgle and coo with conviction. You have slept through the night since we've moved to our new home. Really you are an easy baby (not to mention a self-soother) and I hope you stay this way and not give me agro when you are a teenager.

Your father and I think you like your TV too much. We suspect your Auntie Nips have been watching too much Baby Einstein and Playhouse Disney with you. You enjoy Handy Mandy. No habla espanyol? Si! I do apologise if in your later years you have to go on Oprah and tell the world how your childhood was marred by the fact that your parents did not listen to The American Paediatrics Association when they say children should not watch TV until they are 2. Well at least its Baby Einstein, you know another language and you have gotten on Oprah.

Your father brings you for a walk every morning and I put you to bed every night. This is our own thing with you. But even after all the walks coupled with the bracing morning air and a running commentary of the foliage around our house, the bedtime stories lovingly told, we think you favor your Abang Azim more.

Love, Your Mama xx

ps/ Your father thinks you can be a bit moody sometimes and to that Mama says you are well on your way to becoming a little human being.