My little best friend

Dearest Phoebe,

Here are some photos taken when Uncle Chee Leong and Auntie Sereen came over to our place for a visit a few weeks ago, together with Baby Jonas. Baby Jonas is such a lovable boy! In fact, his alertness and mild cheekiness draw some resemblance to how you were when you were a baby. Even though you don't know really know how to play with him yet, Daddy and I could tell that you enjoy his company, as much as mummy and Daddy. You exemplify much generosity by sharing your toys with him, including the push car you have. This drew a contrast to how you selfishly guarded selected toys when cousin Gabby visited us previously.

Mummy loves this photo, in particular, as it looks as if you were whispering into his ear while little Jonas tried to listen attentively. Silly girl.

Luv you, mummy.

Bollywood Hollywood Redux

Dearest Phoebe,
we visited Bollywood Vegetable Farm on the first weekend of April 2009. The day trippers comprise us, 阿妈, 二姨 and family. We piled into our rented maxicab and headed out for our rustic excursion.

The vegetable farm held some special memories for Daddy as it was the venue of our first excursion together when you were in childcare at Character Montessori. That first outing took place sometime in late July 2008. Our father-daughter bonding wasn't textbook perfect, there were the imperfections that made us perfectly human and fallible.

During the visit, you trundled through the farm and had a bad fall. Your palms were grazed raw but you were up and running in no time. You expected the presence of little animals as you were asking about the goats and ponies. Whilst the flora failed to keep you enthralled, an unexpected find of sea snails in the irrigation drains caught your full attention. You even wanted to take some home as pets!

We adjourned for lunch at the Poison Ivy Bistro and had a sumptuous lunch. You ate a fair bit of rice, a piece of chicken drumette and some fries. The rest of us had curry meats and some wok-fried potato leaves dishes. We capped it off with some sinfully delicious banana cake topped with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream and slathered with a rich drizzle of chocolate sauce!

After lunch, we headed back home on the maxicab. With one wrong turn, we chanced upon a car that had skidded into a drain by the road. Our driver was kind enough to give the hapless car owner a lift to get help.

One wrong turn; one good deed done, that probably sums up life in a nutshell, expected the unexpected and not forgetting to help the needy and those in distress!

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

The Pony Ride

Dearest Phoebe,

Six dollars, circa 2009, would have bought you a value meal at McDonalds with an upsized drink and fries. It also bought you a ticket for a Pony ride at the Singapore Zoo two weekends ago.

We brought you to the zoo and at the children's section, we asked if you wanted to take the pony ride. You agreed and we complied. On hindsight, the ride brought a question to mind, "Are we making you grow up too fast?".

As you rode away with the minder in tow, Mummy and Daddy were worried that you would burst into tears. At the end of the ride, your emotionless expression belied the fear and confusion you felt during the ride.

Hence, for Mummy and Daddy, that six dollars bought us a nugget of enlightenment that we should be mindful of pushing you too hard or unnecessarily projecting our childhood dreams, especially those unfulfilled ones, onto you.

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

PS: This is our first family portrait taken at a instant passport photo booth and it coincidentally cost us six dollars too!

Work is Dignity

Dearest Phoebe,

Daddy read this book that was sooooo compelling that I had not stopped reading since lunch.
The author, Michael Gates Gill, wrote about his work and life experiences as a Starbucks barista.

In his book, he shared many personal and intimate anecdotes about him meeting literary greats like Robert Frost and T S Eliot. Those experiences were akin to a groupie meeting his favourite singer or rock band.

He paraphrased F. Scott Fitzgerald and wrote "Work is dignity.". For Michael Gates Gill, in all his pedigree upbringing and social circles, he simply wished he had the chance to spend more time with his father than rubbing shoulders with these literary greats.

Hence, I would like to complement to his paraphrase by saying "Parenthood is an honour". In the worst of it, parenthood would reduce a grown man and woman to tears, but it is always a badge of honour I proudly wear.

Phoebe dearest, the honour is always mine.

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

Stuck in a Moment

Dearest Phoebe,

Chronologically speaking, Daddy should be writing about the two plays you had watched over the past two weekends; however, I had something in mind that's more pressing which I need to
bring to your attention.

Your tantrums recently seemed to have hit a raw nerve with us, especially with Mummy. Most parents would call this the terrible two phase that most toddlers exhibit. Some of the things you said bordered on hurtful to your loved ones. On some occasions, Mummy had to administer corporal punishment and I seconded her actions as you were really driving us up the wall. You were throwing a fit over seemingly mundane things and you actually hit Mummy!

I noticed that you tended to be upset over little things, making a mountain out of a molehill. Let me speak given the years of life experience I have inadvertently built up. Please do not sweat the small things in life because life is just too short and precious. It is just not worth it. As you read this entry, I hope you ruminate over Daddy's words as I got this certainty that you are probably gonna need this mantra in your later years.

PS: Daddy's listening to the latest album (released circa 2009) by one of the greatest rock bands to grace our times, U2. One of their older songs came to mind. Read the excerpted lyrics carefully as they basically sum up what your old man's trying to drive across.

"You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment
And now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better
Now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it"

U2 - Stuck in a Moment

Be good, don't get stuck in a rut and smile pretty.
Daddy Dearest

Scribe

Dearest Phoebe,
on certain evenings, when inspiration hit, you would sit on your red study table to paint your masterpieces. The most recent piece came with commentary as you painted.

You said that the red blotch at the top of the picture were clouds. The one in the middle was the morning sun and the last horizontal patch was the ground. This is your masterpiece in its full digital glory, the original copy would be probably long lost by the time you read this entry.

Besides painting, you would sometimes practise your penmanship on our trusty writing board.
In the picture, you had just finished writing the letters 'N', 'O' and 'T' in that order. A painter, a writer or whichever hat you chose to put on, you are forever Mummy and Daddy's bundle of pride and joy!

Be good and smile pretty,
Daddy Dearest

Clear blue sky

Dearest Phoebe,

This entry was pretty much inspired by Auntie Constance who wrote in her blog about catching the rainbow. What she said was so true; a lot of times, Daddy and mummy were so engrossed in making both ends meet that we probably forgot to take a step back and enjoy the nature.

Being the little one, you showed signs of loving the nature. Last Saturday, we managed to catch a stroll at the newly-opened Sengkang Riverside Park. The sight of you running and putting your feet on the footprints to match yours simply warmth our hearts. You queried at the junk that was thrown into the river and wondered what they were. Occasionally, you would remark about the "clear blue sky" and the giant clouds that you saw. Almost every morning, you volunteered to pull up the roller blinds and exclaimed 'Hey, it's morning!'

Incidentally, over the weekend, Daddy shared the idea of bringing you for those weekend get-away when you are older; where there would be no computers, no console games, probably just a few novels which we will lie on the sunny beach and read. And not forgetting a good chat just to check on how we are doing at work, school and play.

I look forward to that day.

Love, mummy.