Oh, a new addition!
Saying hello to my third nephew and welcoming him into this world.
Cousin-in-law gave birth on Wednesday night, but the happy birth announcement was lost in the commotion which took place during the past couple of days - especially after having my grandmother suddenly admitted to hospital for blood transfusions due to internal ulcers - and so, we only managed to have the mini birth ‘celebration’ this evening.
I learnt from my mother this afternoon that the newest addition to the youngest generation is a boy.
“Another boy?!?” I half-whined.
“Ah, yes!” was her reply.
“Darn. I have three cousins who have had kids so far, and all their three offspring are boys. Why can’t we have a girl for a change?” grumbles yours truly.
Mother simply laughs.
“You know? Many a time, we read about how parents in several cities in China end up dumping their children because they didn’t get a boy like they wanted. Whereas within our extended family alone, we have our own mini baby boom and all three of them are boys. Why can’t we share the joy or something?”
Mother (and aunt) was rendered speechless.
Meanwhile, my extended family is now a rather huge one comprising four generations - from my widowed grandmother and several grandaunts all the way down to cousins and their offspring.
All three members of the fourth generation of the Tan Family are boys. And the first member (a.k.a my first nephew) is turning out to be quite a rascal. All we need is for the other two to start following his footsteps and we’ll have The Formiddable Three to turn the whole place topsy turvy. -shudders.
Congratulations to cousin Jacob and his wife, Patricia anyway.
—————-
Oh, and strangely enough - last night I dreamt that Patricia had given birth to quadruplets, and I awoke this morning hoping that it was for real.
And one more thing - after all that euphoria about the arrival of the little one, I’ve just realized that I still do not know the little fella’s name. (And neither does my mom.)
Such a wonderful aunt I am.
Second nephew of the extended Tan family has turned one month old - and so a gathering was held at my elder cousin’s place yesterday afternoon.
No photographs taken, though. Silly me had forgotten to take my camera along, and that’s yet another classic case of Brenda’s absent-mindedness for you.
The little one is cuuuuuuuuute, though. The adults were simply going ga ga over that little one, ooohing and ahhhhing, pinching his cheeks and fighting over who gets to carry him.
I kept my distance a little, though. I’m afraid of carrying babies. They always look so tiny and … fragile. Plus, considering how clumsy a person I can be, what if I dropped him or something? So for me, it’s see, but don’t touch.
Yes, reminds you of those signs you see plastered around ceramics shops aye?
They should have one plastered on the baby when I’m around.
Oh yes, I kept referring to the kiddo as “the little one”. or the “baby” and uh yes, “kiddo”. I shall hereby introduce it’s (??) name.
(?? - Oh yes, another question. Do we address babies as “it”? Or the usual “he” or “she”? Because seriously speaking, in my eyes - babies do not look human. They sometimes look as though they were bundled up and dropped from space on a passing spacecraft.)
Ah, yes. Back to the entry;
Luke Tan Ren Shawn
Adorable name, although I am confused as to why his Chinese name has an English spelling. So, is his name Luke? Or Shawn? It’s Luke, apparently. And his (it’s?) Chinese name is pronounced as Ren Xun.
So, yes. This is the formal introduction of the second addition to the fourth generation of the extended Tan Family, with a third one on the way.
Wait, a third one?
You’ve heard right. Another recently-married cousin is pregnant too. Two months, to be exact. No wonder they exchanged a knowing smile when I jokingly asked them when would it be their turn to conceive last month.
Two months pregnant, and I only got to know about it yesterday. Roar. Why am I always the last to know?
Ah, well.
Here’s Aunty Brenda signing off. (Sounds old, I know.)
Am currently suffering the agony of the feet.
Blisters, blisters, blisters. Argh. And all that was attributed to wearing a pair of brand new shoes to usher in a brand new (lunar) year.
The best part? Those shoes weren’t even heels. They were dog’gone flats. Mary Janes. You know, the type of kiddy shoes we used to wear when we were young? The one with the stripe across? Yes, those kind of shoes. Made of soft leather. And yet, I still had blisters.
I had bandages all over my feet as I semi-limped from house to house, and then out to town with friends later in the evening. And as I watched several relatives saunter around effortlessly in heels no less than 2 inches tall, I felt like a waddling idiot.
Then again, learning how to walk properly in heels isn’t something important on my to-do list. In fact, I even disapprove of heels in the first place because I believe it ruins the feet. So, why am I even bothering in the first place? Bah.
I think my feet are too spoilt, having been pampered too much by my trusty Birkenstocks, making my feet feel oh so comfy all the time - to an extent that every other footwear feels like hell.
And it’s high time I ceased the topic of how inadequate I am when it comes to girly footwear, because it isn’t exactly a topic I should be going on and on about. (I mean, who talks about shoes? As in, stinky, grubby footwear? Urgh.)
Okay, Chinese New Year.
One of the more memorable ones on record so far, for strange reasons. More of which you’ll discover in the paragraphs to come.
Paternal and maternal grandma-visiting went by as per normal, like how it usually did during Chinese New Year over the years. Exchanging of oranges, pocketing red pockets with dollar signs gleaming in our eyes, meeting ‘relatives’ that claim to be directly related to you even though you swear you haven’t seen them before in your entire life, gorging yourself sick on new year tidbits and yadda yadda.
One consolation, though. So far, I have yet to encounter any relative ranting into my face about me still being unattached and how a girl my age should be dating a guy and getting married and blah, blah, blah. It seems to be an unwritten rule that relatives ought to badger their nieces to get hitched, but it hasn’t happened to me yet so far. Phew.
Oh, and for the first time in several years, yours truly wore a dress. Many eyes popped out of their sockets for the whole of today as they took in the sight of Brenda Tan being dressed in anything other than her usual jeans + tee combination. I hope they’ve taken in enough of the sight, though. Because it would be a darn long time before I’ll ever dress like that again.
And apparently, I must have unknowingly downed something nut-infested this afternoon because in the evening, I discovered that I was breaking into hives. And my antihistamines were at home, leaving me scratching the night away.
Additionally, after having reached home from spending the evening with my close friends, I discovered that I did not have my house key with me and that nobody was at home. So I spent half an hour to an hour setting up ‘camp’ outside my door, waiting for someone to rescue me from my misery.
Quite an eventful Chinese New Year, I would say. After all, not many people would spend part of Chinese New Year being locked out of their own home. ;)
If you would have noticed, I am starting to ramble. Three possible reasons why this is so:
1) Yours truly is starry eyed from the amount of money in the red packets received today.
2) Nut allergy is taking it’s toll.
3) I WANT TO SLEEP, BADLY.
So with that, I shall end my entry. May the remaining days of the Chinese New Year holiday be positively memorable for each and every one of you. And regardless of whether you commemorate Chinese New Year, have an excellent lunar year ahead.