攞檯

With Katrina talking like an adult most of the time, we don't usually think about whether we have or haven't exposed her to certain concepts when we talk to her.... (Having always gone out with everyone in our 7-seater, we must never have first sent part of the group to "reserve a table" before....

After leaving the house for dim sum, being the astute observer that she is,

Katrina asked: 姑姐喺邊度 ?

Jonathan: 去咗攞檯囉.

Looking around again, Katrina: 咁嫲嫲爺爺呢 ?

Jonathan: 佢地都係去咗攞檯囉.

Katrina: 點解嫲嫲爺爺要同埋一齊去呢 ?

Jonathan was concentrating on driving and didn't answer right away, so Katrina came up with her own answer as she often does:
喔, 姑姐梗係唔夠力, 所以佢地要一齊去先至夠力攞檯喇 !

Super baby

Nathan sustained a 4+ ft fall from his crib 2 days ago . I'm still stunned and the whole incident still surreal. Fortunately, Dr. grandpa was here to check him over and declared he appeared fine although he then told a horror story of kids that seemed fine at the ER but stopped breathing the next morning due to undetected brain hemorrhage. Even though my mommy instincts also told me he was probably fine after he still managed to smile while I nursed him a few mintues after the fall, I still couldn't sleep well that night of course.

For a short while, I was tempted to give our trusted nanny a hard time for forgetting to pull up the crib gate. Instead, I decided to be gracious and tried to comfort her when she profusely apologized. I realize I've already been quite grumpy lately from prolonged sleep deprivation, but life is too short to be mean ! This incident really reminded me how fragile life is and how I probably don't spend enough time enjoying Nathan. I had little energy left from nursing, working, and other care giving basics to all 3 kids (hubbie included) that I often don't just sit down and marvel at how cute and strong my baby is. He often pulls himself up with one hand and had actually been "walking" around his crib at this early age. Being a second-time mom, however, I no longer marvel at all these important milestones, yet he still deserves every bit of attention and wonder and excitement as a first-born !

大大後日

Katrina usually starts her day with: 爸爸 (or 媽咪),我瞓醒覺啦 ! After hearing the knock on her door, she would ask 邊個呀？Upon hearing the answer, she would then say 爸爸(or 媽咪) , 你入嚟啦 ! Then she would usually asks "今日星期幾呀 ?" - so she can tell if it's a school day or the weekend when Mom & Dad won't have to 返工 and can hang out with her.

She had learned her days of the week in both English and Chinese quite a while ago but hasn't quite learned the concept of past and future quite yet, so one day we started by asking 今日星期幾呀 ? To which she replied: Monday. 咁聽日呢 ? After thinking for a bit, she answered cautiously, Tuesday ? I was thrilled she caught on so quickly, so I asked again, 咁後日呢 ? She wasn't quite sure but still ventured: Wednesday ? I clapped and said yes ! 咁大後日呢 ? She must have picked up the sequence and said confidently: Thursday ! I clapped again and said 咁大大後日呢 ? She was now sure she was on the right track and answered: Friday ! After soaking in her new knowledge, she thought it's her turn to pose a question, so she asked, 咁細細後日呢 ?