Milestones ( except, not really)

Ems

Age count : 2.5 years 

- Only willing to wake up to relentless persuasions from the nanny, lasting up to 15 mins.

- When she does wake up, she chirps out a happy Good Morning. 

- Pirouettes with 2 feet like a pro, and ending it with a leg up. 

- Makes up silly song lyrics. All the time.

- Requests songs during car ride.

- Worships the TV.

- Ends her sentences with Singlish 'lah', annoyingly so.

- Still demands to be picked up and carried, EVERYWHERE. She's almost 14 kgs. 

- Favorite exclamations " Oh My God!" or " Oh My!".

- Clingy when she's awake, even more so during bedtime. 

- Still is very fascinated to stories. Considers herself a princess.

- Names animals/ toys " Tickles" when asked.

- Says " Sorry lah" when I'm angry, then pats my back.

- Says " Thank you " sincerely when I hand her things. 

- Says " I love you" and plants a wet kiss on you.

 Baby A

Age count : 5 months

- Only willing to drink or be fed on her terms.

- Smiles generously. #ubercute

- is extremely energetic! Can't stop moving.

- Shows little interest to musics. Premature musical instincts, I hope?

- is a tummy time expert.

- Worships the TV. *groan

- Loves the mirror.

- Prefers to be carried in facing- in position, her head sticking out all over the place.

- Gurgles incessantly.

- Hates sitting lying down, must be sitting up all the time.

- Super cranky if nap time isn't fulfilled.

- Likes to be teased, coos in delight. 

- Screams. Very short temper!

- Thinks her fingers and knuckles are the yummiest food in the world.

- Is just #ubercute.

Penna Papier - Copywriting Service

Penna Papier or Pen and Paper, simply means writing.

Originally I had wanted a dedicated domain as a business platform to display my copywriting portfolio but the idea has always been pushed to back burner for several reasons, such as cost & return, maintenance and sporadic updates. 

Seeing how free hosting website can more or less work to the same purpose, I have decided to publish all of the writing work from earlier to recent. This online portfolio will be done in separate posts as this post is solely about Penna Papier itself.

Penna Papier is a recent branding to the copywriting work I have been doing since around early 2010. The name is only properly given later on in late 2013.

There has been one major person behind all my writing jobs and that person is the creator of Maxciti. As a website designer he's opened me to the majority of writing opportunities that I've encountered and for that I will be eternally grateful. 

The logo is also a work of his, and he's probably the most awesome graphic designer I've ever known. Do check out his work over at maxciti website.

There isn't really any technical approach when it comes to writing, but how Penna Papier works can simply be broken down to 3 steps :

Head. Heart. Hand. 

Getting head first into a topic means putting a lot of brainwork into the subject. Then, what comes next is a matter of putting a little soul into the writing itself, which is the heart part.  All of which will come down to getting dirty into the business of handwriting ( or in this case, keyboard writing). 

Penna Papier mostly deal with content writing ie : websites, blogs, profiles, prints, guides, manuals etc; but not limited to lines such as taglines, mottos, flyers, brochures, etc. Basically, Penna Papier does writing.

What I hope to achieve with Penna Papier is simply more writing opportunity. 

Writing can be one of the most underrated jobs in the creative scenes and charging fees can be extra difficult. This is especially true in my experience; there is hardly any standard as to how much one should be paying for writing because it is still widely considered as a piece of cake, not that much of a worth.

Having said that, I still firmly believe that writing doesn't expire. On the contrary, it affirms and resonates ideas. It is the reason why that fancy paper on your hand is called a brochure or why you spend that much time in front of your computer screen. 

With that optimism in mind, here's a mental toast to Penna Papier , that it will hold true to the worthy value of every writing piece under its name.

Second Thoughts

Yesterday I saw this article being shared on Facebook timeline. 

While I'm certain it is written in playful nature, many times I have stumbled upon articles with similar sentiment. That is, how subsequent children matter- for the lack of better word- differently.

Having recently had a second baby girl, I do not find such articles to be relevant. Here's why to me having second is just as good as your firstborn :

1. Falling in love all over again.

I first saw her in the operating room. They placed the baby next to you for intimacy purpose although it happened within 3 seconds and I was in a druggy state. 

Later on, she was rolled into the room, and in the instant that I saw her, I felt it. 

So, get this , remember how fiercely in love you were when it was your firstborn? Basically you get to experience that ALL OVER AGAIN. And how many times do you get to fall in love with a different person without offending your previous ones? In babies, it would be an exception, a good one at that.

2. A do-over

A friend once joked that when your second baby cries over hunger you would strut to milk station instead of rushing around like you did the first time. I'd say it's true but it doesn't mean that you are not as attentive, it would be because you're calmer and you handle the situation better now.

My first year with Little Ems was a blur. If anything all I remember were guilt, inadequacy, fright and so on. Part of it was probably hormones, but most of it would be first-timer stress. 

Way before Baby A arrives I have vowed to keep things light, surely second time around I would be far more experienced and prepared. So far I have enjoyed her truly without as much stress. She is a welcome change of the whole guilt ride I've had before. 

3. The gift of siblings.

Adding a new family member means a lot to me, but one of the most significant ones is introducing sisterhood  to Little Ems. This goes beyond the idea of just having a playmate too.

Growing up with 3 sisters means I have 3 extra person I could count share everything with : problems, worries, happiness, good news and life itself.  Sounds simple, but in all essence of words, it is everything.

My ultimate wish would be that the two of them could be friends for life and since I've set the examples of good sisters, I sure hope they'd follow through. 

4. One is a king, two are peasants. 

When it was just Little Ems, we poured all sorts of first-class attention, time, energy and money to her. Not only was it exhausting and very stressful, the kid- being the genius/ manipulative creature that she is-, was also spoilt rotten.

With two kids though, when you have one crying in your arm and another literally hanging on your back, try as you might but you'd just have to resort to second-class treatment and basically just lock them in one playpen to shut them up. Catch my drift?

So when you're all stressed up on your only kid, have a second one! lol. Seems like a logic fail but it is so far the ethic I've adopted and is working well for me.

 two little peasants

To be fair, I do have a wonderful nanny whose existence is too good to be true. That explains why I can still afford to be a working mom with ( almost) a peace of mind. 

That being said, I will look forward to baby A's milestones with glee. To print out her baby pics and put them in albums. To always be fair in love and judgment and to continue to disagree with such articles.

The Power of Hesitation

A few weeks before her wedding, my friend and her husband went to a fortune teller. To preserve the marriage, they were given a gem of an advice :

" Always avoid all kinds of dispute in the first 3 months of marriage"

and so they did.

Whenever one of them felt like a small argument is coming, either one held the tongue or left the room. When the problem heightened, they approached it with cool heads and delicate manner. Later on, this became a habit in their marriage. There is a very large room for tolerance between them, and in their 8th years of marriage, there has been hardly any kind of tension. They continue to speak with one another lovingly and with mutual respect.

This situation is what I'd like to sum up as " The Power of Hesitation". 

In the beginning of a relationship, the couple usually would show their best sides and is reluctant to disrupt the baby stage of the relationship. I think it is safe to say that each would try to not deliberately hurt the feeling of the bf/gf. Unless it's a very unhealthy relationship to start with, then in that case the logic would not apply.

In a normal relationship though, as it progresses, mutual respect and kind words are one of the common slippery slopes. As your mood, stress and familiarity wear on, you might not watch what you say as carefully as you used to. 

 It's like a tale we've all heard to often :
Words carefully uttered, then they were casually spoken and before you know it, they are lashed out and meant to hurt.

That is why, I think it is not only a good idea to hesitate, but it is mandatory ethic to have in a relationship. Always hesitate, leave the room, bite your tongue, train yourself to pause and process before you cannot take back what has been said to your spouse.

So, today, let's hesitate, lest our words become the sword that kills.

Motherhood

If I have to sum up motherhood in one word, it would probably be... "guilt". 

Motherhood has been kind to me cause I've had the pleasure of rearing kids from afar, since I work and all. I don't really have to deal first-hand with mothering, except for the few times when the nanny is off duty.

In a way, I guess it has been a blessing. However, I remember vividly how my first year of motherhood is all about GUILT. I read that it's very common, mothers feel guilty all their lives and they feel guilty of the guilt and so on. 

That's how it was with litte Ems, everyday seemed like a torment to be away from her, to not care for her or to watch her day in day out. I used to rush home after work only to find her already asleep, it felt god-awful.

It has been different second time around though, with baby A around. I don't feel as inadequate, I deliberately involve myself less. It doesn't mean that I love her less, perhaps it's because now I see how useless all those negative feelings were the first time around. I should enjoy her, and not stress over it too much.

Before, I wanted little Ems to cling to me so bad, and she does now. I tried very hard to win her over for ridiculous fear that she won't love me etc etc, which is yea.. ridiculous.

I wish I could turn back time and omit all those bad emotions, I could have used all those energy to do something else.

Ems is growing up to be an adorable toddler, I guess I could complain how little she has achieved but I'm trying not to lose sight on what's important and that is she's healthy and well- mannered. 

With more carefree attitude now, I do have to constantly remind myself to care for baby A just as much as I did with little Ems. I have to win her over too, because babies like all humans thrive on daily interactions and not on the privileged title "mommy". 

Motherhood is for a lifetime. It's one hell of a ride, I might as well enjoy it.

Writing

Oof! Where do I begin. When was the last time I blogged, let me think. It was a good 3 years ago.

So why write?

Writing to me has always been a good solution to my mind diarrhea. You know, when your mind rambles and you thought that you need to write this down, asses it or put it down for keepsake, something to read back later on with fondness and glee.

The thing is, I don't have much of a mind diarrhea now. I realized this a few weeks ago. I realized how I used to write, then it was downsized to twitting, then nothing. This revelation hit me and I felt quite saddened by it. For a minute. Then I went on with my life.

I suppose this is how people became dumb, jaded and faded into the background of life. Yes, sure the wheel is turning, you can't make a fuss out of everything and life is so mundane anyway, but I'm gonna try and process things. By writing.

Life is a mixed bag of emotions. Lately though, it felt like there has been too much of negativity, nothingness and plainness. It's just , there has got to be something more. In this simple and ordinary life, there has got to be highlights, if not for me maybe something to pass on for my girls.

SO, I am writing now. I am writing today. I am looking forward to write tomorrow. If not tomorrow, in very very near future then.

Fingers crossed.