They don't make it like they used to...

The old bamboo chair that my mom used to seat us during feeds, and which now I use to feed Abby. Dad saw one in the market a few weeks ago, and they costs a bomb. If i'm not mistaken, they are around 90 ringgits! Siowww!

On Adopting

I read an article recently on adoption and I don't know why the idea seems to have taken seed and festered in my mind. Now and then my thoughts keep flitting back to it whenever I think of having a second child. My family, both my side and my husband's, did not have much luck with adopting. Both cases turned out to be a nightmare, with the kids growing up into delinquents who subsequently went into drug addiction, theft and went on to break their parents' hearts. Also, as there'll always be some stigma attached to the issue, and this by itself, I do believe, affects the growth and development of the child, causing him to be pretty messed up by the time he reaches adulthood.

Then, there's the whole sense of rejection by one's own flesh and blood. Not an easy thing to deal with especially if you're not getting unconditional love in a God-infused upbringing. Adults can be insensitive, and coupled with a sure-fire recipe of low self-esteem and jeers at school, the kid will be all set on the road to self-destruction.

I suppose not all of this is true, and I'm mostly pulling all these 'facts' out of my ass. It could be that the root of the problem drills down to the true motive of the adoption. Children are smart little creatures who can sense our less-than-perfect behavior. Or maybe it is our deeds which let slip when we're not functioning with a pure heart. The tongue betrays the evil of a human heart, after all.

Hubs hates the idea. But all those kids in the church orphanage breaks my heart. People usually go for babies, and abandoned babies (especially those who appear in the papers) get adopted so fast even before you can say 'CHUP!'. I'm thinking more about those older kids beyond toddlerhood, who have lost their baby fat and mostly stringy and gangly. They know their parents do not want them and there'll be no Mom or Dad who give a damn if they make it in life or not. I think orphans at this age are the saddest lot.

Now that's said, I've gotten it off my chest. Won't be totally ruling this out in the future. If there's a kid at my doorstep, I'm not about to send him packing to a less-than-capable parental replacement.

Drinking by myself!

Yay! Managed to persuade Abbyboo to hold the bottle by herself!

Crikey!

Took many direct frontal shots but failed to get good ones. The flash just throws her off. Look at that piggy face!

Wrestling

Little sleeping traveller

Teething Hell

Abby's second lower teeth is cutting through and she's not happy about it. She gives us much grief over it as well. Her voice has been hoarse for many days now from all the yelling and complaining and crying and sobbing.

Fussing was at its peak yesterday but coincidentally I was on leave so I was taking care of her and had the honor of witnessing Her Fussiness operating in high mode. Nothing was good enough for her to bite, and she tosses everything from cold teethers to baby biscuits all over the place. Then she moans unhappily from her seat, or her Graco Activity unit, or from our laps, and this is no different whether she is sitting, lying down or standing up with support (however lying down gathers the most yelling and frenzied screaming).

Only thing that comforts her is picking her up AND walking around. Just picking her up is still a no-no in her books. Have to continuously walk around and point at stuff for her to keep her distracted. Once I try to sit down again, she resumes her tirade. I also couldn't differentiate the teething irritability from sleepiness. Many a times we try to put her down into her sarong and she screamed and kick at us in fury.

Mom finally suggested we take Abby to the clinic to check if she's sick or maybe sporting an ear infection or two, despite the absence of a temperature. Ok lah, so we dressed her up and called the doctor to request for permission to land. Doctor nonchalantly said, "Ok if you're worried can take her here....but it just sounds like she's teething to me." We went anyway just to confirm it's that.

Just as soon as we step out of the house, she stopped and turned into this sparkley-eyed baby. Then while in the car, I rolled down the window for her to get some wind and she started mumbling happily to herself. By the time we reached the clinic, she's exclaiming in fascination at the blur of activity around her. We sat her down at the waiting room and she did not even raise a peep and just looked at everything expectantly, like she's waiting for something fun to happen.

The nurse called and we entered the clinic. To my utmost annoyance, that Abby broke into smiles. I think I saw the Doctor mentally labelling us as over-concerned and psycho parents.

After some prodding and questions, Abby was pronounced disease-free and never-been-better. Doc gave us 4 boxes of formula sample so that our trip was worth it. After that we drove around for awhile and no trace of fussing surfaced.

We reached home and she was perfectly fine. She ate a gigantic dinner and went to sleep at a good time. It was as if everything never happened and she kept giving us that, "Me? Fussing?" look.

If it's a dream, I want to wake up pronto.