Baby Names

Was discussing with a friend of mine if he and his wife has selected a name for their baby boy due approximately a month after Olivia. This was his reply to me, it was simply hilarious that I just had to include it in my blog:

“Lately Mae and I have been racking our brains for a nice name for Baby. And believe me, the burden of naming a child is incredibly daunting. What if we choose a sucky name and our poor kid gets teased all his life? As Chinese, our troubles are doubled since we want a nice Chinese name to go with a nice English name. And as far as Chinese names go, while they mean beautiful things in the language, a lot of times they sound like something really horrendous in English or Malay.

Kids named Chee Wai always get teased. Similarly, so do Yee Ting and Wai Ping, because after Yee Ting, you should always be Wai Ping... your mouth. If you subscribe to the notion that, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me!" try telling that to little Kah Yew. And if you think Ai Ting is bad, wait till you meet Ai Pee! Some Chinese surnames add more misery to the lives of these kids like Wan Kok Keat and Pee Onn Joo. And surely you've heard of the two shops in Johor, Ooi Kian Fatt and it's competitor, Soh Kean Wee! I guess the older generation parents just never thought things through, seeing as to how many tragic names came from those times.

There are probably some rules we should remember when it comes to Chinese surnames. Here are a few that comes to mind. If your surname is Loo, the next name should never be Bang or King. If it's Chew, then no Weng. Phang must never go with Sai or Pui. And Tham should never be followed by Bee or you'll sound more Indian than Chinese. The next dilemma comes if you decide on an English name before your surname. My auntie knows a Harry Kok, though I'm sure she's seen more than one. Heh! And then, there was this family friend who named his daughter Diana Saw - which is surely a classic, if not Jurassic!

So you see our worry? What if we overlook something and give Baby a name that results in a lifetime of teasing? Anyway, we're open to suggestions. We like a little English name for our kid - maybe Aidan, Brandon, Dylan, Julian or something nice. My surname is Tan, so names like Rambo and Sy are definitely out!”

I laughed myself silly and my only advice to him was, to stay clear of Michael in light of his surname and if he likes the middle name Phang, Jiou is also out of the question. Good Luck James.

Night Fever, Night Fever

For sometime now, we have been expecting some serious Zhang ZiYi action to come from Olivia and night after night we would sit in bed having my palm on Mei's tummy feeling for some "Crouching Tiger or Hidden Dragon" to emerge.

According to the Pregnancy Bible by the 18th week, Olivia would start kicking however, it all depends on how sensitive the mother is to the baby's movement. For the first child, it may be as late as the 22nd week before we can feel anything. When I ask Mei, she did say that she felt something but wasn't sure if it was her stomach growling or it was actually Olivia.

Then it came all of the sudden, saturday night fever, where Olivia started dancing to the beat of her mother's heartbeat. It was exciting and Mei loves the feel of her movements. An active baby is a healthy baby.

Nowadays she sometimes practices her moves wee into the night even after mother has fallen asleep. How do I know? When you observe the mother's stomach long enough, you can see movement on her abdoment. It is fascinating... how I wish us men could get the chance to feel something growing and I don't mean the excess kg which our wives call "love handles".

I read somewhere that very soon we would start seeing ripples on the abdoment area and when the baby grows stronger, you advance to seeing bulges on the mother's stomach from her pushing and kicking.

Can't wait for that to happen.

Enjoy the Experience while it Last - SHOPPING!!

They say that having a baby is the joy of life. I would like to extend that beyond just having the baby. It is also the shopping that is quite intriguing, hunting down the best bargains and selecting the cutest outfits. My friends who have children of their own said "To enjoy the experience, cause it is the most fun part of having a baby"

Mei is in her most energetic and radiant chapter since she got pregnant and Praise the Lord, it coincides with the Malaysian Mega Sale. The MAD Mega Sale takes place only 3 times a year - March, August and December. Based on our calculation, it is now or never because in August, Baby Olivia would have arrived and by then Mei would be in confinement. It would definitely be too taxing on the two of us being first time parents and all to run around getting stuff for Olivia then.

Anyway, our shopping escapade started off at First Few Years - Centerpoint BU. Mrs. Teh the principle came highly recommended by our relatives and friends who have had numerous purchases made from her. She was pleasant and knowledgeable and she certainly helped to expand our knowledge of what features and functions all the new baby gadgetry has. Service was good and best of all she has the product knowledge. Before the end of our time with her, we departed with the first installment for a lifelong investment - a baby cot.

There was also a small shop in SS2 called Bambino... although they have limited selections but all that Mr. Tham had to offer fitted our profile and at bargain prices as well. We met Mrs. Tham as well in her full glory; she is expecting her 3rd child and her first baby girl; Mei and I clicked instantly with them. We couldn't be happier getting our Travel System, Play Pen and Bath Tub from Bambino. They were honest and would rather build the referral than to loose the sale... my kind of sales guy. I am doing my part now - "Buy from Bambino", as the saying goes "there is no such thing as a free lunch".

Originally we planned to obtain as many hand me downs as possible however as this is a baby boom period, they are becoming more and more scarce, furthermore my cousins are either light years ahead of me or still in their diapers. Look on the bright side, now Yen have something to inherit from us (Mei's younger sister). Originally it was just the soiled diapers and that ugly crockery we got for Christmas from Mei's broker but now we have something to hand down.

The shopping list was long - Diapers, Bottles, Sterilizer, Organic Bottle Wash, Nappy Rash and the list goes on and on. Our friends warned us that this could happen and we didn't believe them. It has been 2 weeks since we started and we are broke but happy with all of the many bargains we got.

When Baby Olivia goes to sleep, mum and dad can then play with her new toys. (Yeah!!)