my ragdoll

when one falls ill, one feels a tad irritated, perhaps with bits of self-pity thrown in. when a spouse falls ill, you feel helpless and a little sad. When your child falls ill, your heart just breaks into a million pieces. because you can't make her feel better. because you can't take the fever away. because all the kisses and squeezes won't put a smile on her face. because she looks like a little rag doll in your arms with the life gone out of her eyes. maeve ran a fever of 39.5 and i just freaked out, carrying my little rag doll to the nearest clinic at 10pm. thank God for late night clinics. thank God for Brufen. Panadol doesn't work over 39 degrees. fever broke at 2am and my pumpkin was a brand new baby, all smiles and claps and babbles. although it was 2 am, both bern and i sat up to entertain her. we were so glad to have our little imp back!

How many incy-wincy spiders does it take...

..from home to grandma's? 6. from home to ah ma's? about 20, and 10 skimmer-re-rinky's, 11 i-hear-thunders and lots of star biscuits and countless games of peek-a-boo. now our car journeys are calculated that way, so no trips to the zoo yet, until mommmy masters more nursery rhymes. peek-a-boos are great for the journey, especially when maevie is in charge of the "a-boo" bit with her hat. of course when all else fails and she is way way bored, turn on the radio loud and try not to hear the screaming. for now, short trips around home are good. we'll train her in due time to venture further.

am i bootiful?

bumped into an old friend yesterday...and she was gorgeous! as in ravishingly gorgeous! and all of a sudden, feelings of insecurity came smacking at my door. the thing is, i'm so thick-skinned and blase about looks usually (as in i don't even know how to use eye-liner or mascara without doing serious injury to myself) it actually came as a surprise that i would feel, well, not so good. i guess it is because we're the same age, but she had toned arms, no tummy, silky hair and an angel's smile. In comparison, i looked like something the cat dragged in, with tangled curly hair destroyed by the drizzle, and enough tummy fats for maeve to trampoline on. and that is why it is good to marry someone myopic (literally). he thinks i'm gorgeous still...he may be lying through his teeth, no matter. that's all that the shallow me wanted to hear last night!

Miss Hardworking

a couple of nights ago, we were woken at 2am by a jill-in-the-box who popped up from bed and started practising her clapping. so in the dead of the night, clap-clap-clap-clap, ba-ba-ba-ba, cough-cough, louder cough-cough, finally a smack in the face as jill-in-the-box falls on my face in an attempt to wake me. funny how babies conscientiously and judiciously practise new skills at all hours..and adults don't. i can't imagine waking at 2am to practise some new yoga move. her whole recital (including fancy backward moves) lasted one hour after which she flopped forward and fell asleep.thankfully her daddy is on holiday or else he probably won't find it too amusing!