endroog

My little Bubu decided to come early. Thinking back to events leading up to his arrival, I think sometimes superstition things you heard from grannies and aunties and mothers could be true.

They said pregnant lady cannot carry someone else’s baby. The Saturday before Bubu’s arrival, we attended the full moon lunch of Szer’s friend. Szer carried that baby for a while. I too carried the baby.

The same Saturday afternoon, my generous BIL, Mr. BLG transported the baby cot to my house using the powerful Mitsubishi Fuso lorry that he sells. Again we defied superstition by moving in furnitures into the house. Superstition had it that during pregnancy, you should not move house and move furnitures in the house else the baby will be miscarried or come early.

After the cot was brought in, we went and bought mattress for Bubu. Prior to the baby cot, I bought a diaper changing table from Ikea and assembled it during CNY holidays. Could that have played a part in Bubu’s early arrival?

We have bought a lot of essential baby stuffs throughout the pregnancy period until that mattress, which was the last big item that Bubu really needs. We’ve got all other newborn essential stuffs earlier, ranging from bottles to stroller to car seat to clothes, playing mat, toys, diapers, bottle steriliser, breast pumps etc.

To look at another perspective of things, his arrival is somewhat timely. Perhaps this is fate and it is his destiny to arrive on the very first day of the 2nd month of the lunar Water Dragon year. In Gregory calendar, he arrived on 22-2-2012 at 2208 hrs. Such an auspicious arrival time I as a daddy would say of my son. Sze’s birthdate is 22-08, mine 08-02 and now my son 22-02. I guess 2 and 8 are our family’s lucky number. I then look at the photos I took on my phone, and guess what I found. Recently my wife bought me a Gshock watch for my birthday. I took a photo of the Mudman and the time was… 22:02 ! Is that a coincidence of Bubu’s arrival date??? I wonder.

Monday, 20/2/12, I stretched myself to a cross country drive for work for surveys at Cheras, Lukut and Sg. Pelek. Thats because I wanted to go see an opthalmologist on Tuesday morning at Sime Darby hospital… the same place Sze goes for checkups and see Bubu’s doctor. I had an appointment that morning. The very same morning, Sze alerted me of Bubu’s possible early arrival. We rushed to the hospital and Sze was admitted to the delivery ward right away and started the countdown and I went and see my doctor at another floor. After waiting for almost 2 days, after numerous contractions and lets be frank, jabs , my little Bubu finally arrived on that auspicious time. 2 hours short of 2 days.

Having stayed at the delivery ward for almost 2 days, I can say, you never seen life if you have not been to the delivery room. Walking around the ward alone is very scary when you hear women in labour screaming like _______. That’s scarier than being in the labour room, I’d guess, from a father’s perspective.

Fathers can never replace the position, noble deeds and sufferings of mothers. That’s why there’s only “Mama Hao” song and there will never be a “Papa Hao” song.

Both mom and son are in good condition. Hopefully Bubu’s jaundice will be cured.

And here I would like to finally announce his name, Lucas G aka Bubu G.

Daddy loves you and mummy.

Bubu G arrived on 22/2/2012 at 10.08pm. Healthy boy.

Both mother and son are ok.

I’m very happy.

I just realised that I sit a lot in a day.

After waking up every morning, I’ll sit on the throne for big business before shower. After that, I would sit at the dining table for breakfast. Then I would sit in the car driving to work. Sitting in a traffic jam is very likely. When I reach office, I’ll be sitting in front of the computer tapping on the keyboard doing reports. If there’s no new assignment, I’ll be in the office, sitting at my desk.

Then when lunch time comes, I’ll be sitting in a restaurant with colleagues. After lunch, work continues at the desk. I’ll be sitting till 5-6pm. In between, maybe going to the toilet and coffee machine will have me walking for a while.

At about 6pm, when I leave the office, I’ll be sitting in a traffic jam. This will take at least 1 hour before reaching home. By the time I reach dinner place, it will be dinner time and straight I go and sit at the dining table. After dinner, I’ll spend sometime reading The Star newspaper. Again I’ll be sitting on the sofa. Then I’ll drive home (sitting in the car). Once home, I’ll be sitting on the throne for the evening business. Magazine or The Sun newspaper will be read while sitting on the throne.

After business and shower, I’ll sit on the sofa in front of the idiot box…or sometimes in front of the laptop computer surfing Internet. Sometimes, read something on the sofa.

Then off I go to bed. Maybe I should do some sit-ups before bedtime.

Maybe it’s time to read newspaper standing. Watch TV standing.

RIP to Whitney Houston… the undoubtedly Queen of Love. Most of her songs are about “love”… and what a coincidence with the Valentine’s love season.

So here’s my favourite Whitney Houston song for you all parents and parents-to-be out there:

I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me

[Chorus]
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be

[Chorus]

And if by chance, that special place
That you’ve been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love

Another year goes by and we’re getting older. This year had been a great year for me and of course, my wife too. Many good things came our way and the intrinsic value of these good things are immensely priceless (not literally though).

We are blessed with a baby boy, Bubu G who is conceived this year and had been growing healthily in Szer’s “stomach”. A dragon boy is right on the way to play with me next year. Yay. That’s one of the happiest moment in my life so far. Preparation for his arrival is ongoing – shopping for the best baby stuffs, collecting hands-me-down stuffs from generous beloved family members, reading up on parenting, psychology, nutrition sciences, early education, toy technologies etc.

Next, the promotion which I dare say, a long deserved promotion. After plying my trade for 9 years in the same company, I finally moved a notch up the rank. The labour I’ve put into my work had gained recognition.

Then, it has to be the completion of my AMII (insurance qualification) which I’ve sacrificed 3 years to complete. It had opened many doors for me to move on from doing motor adjusting to non-motor, which promised better future career development. The completion of the course also got me a fat increment and monetary reward from the company. A win- win situation for everyone, they cover all study costs and in return for a contractual bond and huge monetary incentive for me. Not to mention the double tax deduction they’d get for sponsoring staff education.

People always say that life changes every 10 years. My life had certainly changed a lot this year. I turned 30. Got married before 30 (last December). So far it’s been a good start into my thirties. My wife also received many good things career-wise despite having joined that Dutch oil giant for just a year. The timely career improvement for both of us benefited lil Bubu G. That lil’ fella certainly brought luck to us.

So, I would like to thank The Lord Almighty for all that I have at this station of my life. May the year 2012 (dragon) be a better year for everyone. With a few more days to go, Happy New Year 2012 in advance.

Today is the 2nd anniversary of my official / legal marriage. Wow, it’s been two years already. Happy Anniversary, Szer.

My wife starts to make me jealous and kept singing the song “Just the 2 of us” by Will Smith. Why? Baby Bubu is tickling her in the stomach and only she can feel it. I can’t even feel anything when I put my hand on her bloated stomach while he was said to be tickling.

Argh. That means she have the headstart advantage with Bubu. Oh no….. but that’s why they have the “Mummy’s Good” (Mama Hao) song and not “Daddy’s Good” (Papa Hao).