Dear Mei-Mei,

You are now 20 months old! 

Each day you are becoming more adventurous in expressing yourself, now stringing many words together into commands, statements and questions.   You tell Baba on the phone that you want “Baba take a walk” when he comes home from work.   When you look for a stuffie, you call out, “Ellie, where are you?” in a sing-song way.  This morning as you sat on our bed on a lazy Sunday morning you looked into my eyes and told me, “I luf you Mama”, then at Baba, “I luf you Baba”.  Of course, you then proceeded to say “I luf you, Monkey... I luf you, chair.... I luf you, picture... I luf you, plant” until you said the phrase to everything you could name in our room!

We love seeing and hearing your mind at work, and how you remember events from long ago.  Last night as I dressed you in your pajamas, you suddenly pointed to the sleeve and said, “Baba bought it!”  Yes, Baba bought it a month ago!  “Present!”  Yes, it was a present.  “Thank you Baba!”

We thank God that you are such an appreciative and caring little girl, who loves to hug children, even strangers!  You enjoy the company of your friends and have especially been keen on going to the library’s story time. 

Your new favourite songs this month are the Doxology and Hosanna, Hosanna; I often awake to you singing “Praise God from whom all blessings floooooow!”  It’s such a joy for me to hear my little toddler girl singing of God’s blessings with such zeal and enthusiasm.  May you continue to give God heartfelt praises and thanksgiving for all He has done for us!

You enjoy doing all sorts of craft projects with me, and you are still absolutely engaged with your little people whom you arrange over and over again in the playhouses and around the table.  You seem to be very detail-oriented and have great patience in stacking blocks, feeding all the “people”, and cleaning up. 

Baba and I have also started to teach you to obey what we say and are controlling ourselves not to give into your whining as much.  We tell you that you must obey Mama, Baba and God’s instructions.  On one occasion when you were whining to get Monkey while Baba was changing your diaper, he told you firmly to be patient and wait.  You pressed your lips together, started to pout, and said, “Obey Baba”, let out a few crocodile tears, and waited patiently for your diaper to be changed.  During these little lessons of obeying your parents, I saw your little tears as you tried to understand why you must wait.  As you wrestled with what you wanted versus listening to us, my heart melted with compassion for you:  I wanted so much to allow you to have what you wanted just so you didn’t have to cry, but we had to follow through... out of love.  I am reminded of how we often try to escape God’s discipline or not want to follow His commands.  There are times in our lives when it seems easier not to obey.  But the Bible teaches us that these commands are not meant to hurt us or limit our freedom... it is out of love that God disciplines us (Proverbs 3:11-12).

As the leaves are turning colour and falling, the air is colder, it’s time to change your wardrobe to fall and winter clothes.  We just learned that we’ll be packing your old clothes deeper in our storage space as we found out that you will have a little baby brother!  Still, the concept of a baby inside Mama’s belly is puzzling to you, as you give baby all sorts of names like Karina and Lauren (names of your baby friends) and try to lift up my sweater to find this baby inside.  We praise God for the development of your baby brother in my womb and pray that he would be as joyful a baby as you are!

We give God all our thanksgiving for our little happy family.

Dear Mei-Mei: 19 months

A couple of weeks ago you turned 19 months old.  What another busy month you’ve had!

When you were weighed and measured at the clinic, they saw that you are still 90^th percentile in height and head circumference and 50^th percentile in weight.  And so when you ask me to draw a stick figure girl with a big smiley-faced head, you are actually asking me to draw a caricature of you!

We travelled to Toronto to see your uncle get married.  You were full of anticipation because I had told you for at least a month and you filled in the blanks each time:

We’ll be flying on an....

“Airpaaane”

To see Uncle...

“Biwwy” (eventually turned to “Billy” a couple of weeks ago)

get...

“Mawwied!”

to aunty

“Weevian!”

and you’re going to wear a white...

“Dress!”

What a beautiful wedding it was, and you did a great job of being one of their flower girls, walking up the long aisle on your own.  When the church doors opened, you came through in your white dress, the sunshine illuminating the pink chiffon bow in the back. As I watched you from the other end you seemed so little and innocent as you tentatively began to walk the aisle.  And in that one second I flashed forward to the day your Baba will walk you down the aisle to meet your future husband... and your pregnant hormone-raging Mama blinked a few times and just prayed to God that that day would not come too soon...

During this month we started to tell more people that you’ll be a big sister in March.  Thank you for actually being understanding after two months of having a nauseous mother take care of you day after day.  You allowed me to rest, and even lay on the couch with me, saying “Mama, resting”. 

After just telling you once or twice of the news, I was surprised that you now point to my belly and can say, “Belly, baby, inside”... and you’ll pat my belly a few times.  I have a feeling that you are just memorizing what I’ve taught you because after you do that you go off on your own way and start singing B-I-N-G-O!  Your Mama has been especially emotional about the thought of bringing a new baby home... in a few short months, you will no longer be our only child, the one who gets our undivided attention, the one who loves to hold each of our hands when we walk.  You have already been getting long and sentimental hugs from me as I reassure you that Baba and Mama will always love you.  We pray for God to teach us how to love each of you with the fullness of love that He has for each of His children.

In the last month you have also developed a keen ear and now you are able to sing a tune, in tune!  After discovering you could sing ABC’s, Baa Baa black sheep, and Twinkle, Twinkle on your own, you have found great joy in singing at the top of your lungs at the piano, to adoring fans, to people in the airport, through half of the flight to Toronto (and much to the neighbours’dismay).  You now also sing along with the CD recordings, often conducting your stuffies as a choir after you have assembled them to sit around you. 

You have also learned that you have the ability to make people do things, beginning your order to us slowly and quietly, then growing to such intensity and frequency that we would truly develop a panic attack if we didn’t follow your command.  You order us to pick you up, to walk, to stand up, to clean up, to wipe your face, to fetch you Bruno, to fix loose threads on your clothes (you’re becoming like me!), to wipe up even a tiny drop of water on your placemat...   Your Baba blames your bossiness on me, whom he previously called the “Boss”, but we both know who’s really the boss in the house, for now. 

We also have found it interesting how you have learned to group two or three words together, like “Mama’s long hair”, “so funny”, “Baba’s big shoes”, and the latest, “What’s this?”  The last question which you ask constantly has made me consult secondary sources to find out the names of Sesame Street, Disney and VeggieTales characters.

You said your first prayer by yourself last week, surprising your Baba and I... you prayed, with your hands clasped, “Dear God, Thank you for everyone.  In Jesus... pray, AMEN!”  Indeed we are thankful for everyone—for our families, for our friends, for our church, and for the love of Christ!

The Baba

The very moment we set eyes on our newborn baby girl, I knew that she would be Baba’s little girl.  The way her hair spiraled at the back of her head, the way her profile resembled yours, the way she could raise just that one eyebrow... all confirmed that she was very much made from you.

And on that first morning after her birth, I remember clearly, even though I woke up groggy from the painkillers and just survived my first night where I had not (and would not for some time after) slept nine consecutive hours,  finding you in that quiet, silent moment, cradling our baby so tenderly in your strong arms.  My best friend, my hubby... now a Daddy, securely embraced her whole being, and sang a hushed lullaby into her fuzzy head.

During these first sixteen months of her little life, we have witnessed together all of her first experiences—her first smile, her first laughs, her Baba-like “roar!”, her first attempt at saying “Baba” which she later made her favourite word in which to practice singing.  

Even though I asked you to play with her like a “girl”, you still played wildly with her, teaching her to laugh with all her heart and might, scream with delight and play with abandon.

When you finally returned back to work, she quickly learned that she could hear your familiar voice on the telephone, and so she called the telephone “Baba” for quite some time.  She also seemed to know that after her second nap, she would be back in Baba’s arms once again. 

Now as she reaches up for your hand when we walk, I see how her little fingers wrap around your finger.  She looks way up at you, and she giggles and skips a few extra steps to catch up to your broad strides.  She bounces happily and swings her arms in the air whenever you place her up on your shoulders and walk to the park after dinner.  And as a loving hubby, you let me rest and teach in the evenings while you put our little princess to bed each night.   As you wash her up and sing songs in the tub I can hear her squeals of joy even from the kitchen... you blow on her wet tummy and she breaks into laughter, over and over.

Under dimmed lights you cuddle her, read with her, pray with her, and your tenderness surrounds her as your lullaby follows her to sleep.

Thank you for being her comfort, her security, her trust, her Baba.  I thank God for showing Maraya a glimpse of His Heavenly love for us through her earthly father.

Happy Father’s Day!

Dear Mei-Mei: 15 months

Your vocabulary has grown to over a hundred words... yes I record each new word that you remember.  Now that you talk you are getting increasingly bossier—telling me that you want to wear a dress, the jacket, the hat, the sunglasses.   You even tell me what to wear, so there were far too many mornings where you and I looked more like gangster girls with shades on!  You use to gaze into my eyes when you were a smaller baby, but now when you look deep into my eyes, I know that you are thinking of something else... before I can blink fast enough, you will say “Eyes!” and point your little finger right into the whites of my eye.

You clasp your hands and order everyone to pray (including your Little People) before mealtimes, during mealtimes, and just about any time throughout the day.  You wait expectantly as I pray for me to say “In Jesus’ name” so you can jump in to say “A-Mun”.

Mei-Mei, you have grown a sense of humour this month, discovering that your facial expressions can actually cause others to respond.  You enjoy squinting your eyes at people, playing peek-a-boo with kids at the mall, and giving us long serious stares before breaking the ice with a hearty “HAHAHA!”

Your love of music is growing even more, as you forming a trio with me and Baba.  You follow the melodic contour somewhat, howling along with us when you aren’t able to sing the words.  You like to sing the last word of each line and hold the last note with us in a long drone, finishing off with a congratulatory “Yay!”   Your favourite song is still “Hosanna” which you request by starting “Ho, ho, ho”, sometimes 10 times in a row.

When you hear music your eyes glaze over as your body and senses tune into the music and respond with motion—the bops of your head, the clapping and raising of hands, the bouncing of your knees and bum.  And even though by the age of 2 you will probably know the complete lyrics to the Beach Boys album, your grandparents and I will continue to play it for you for our amusement of seeing you dance.

Walking, talking, laughing, praying, dancing. 

Dear Mei-Mei, you live your life with such simple satisfaction and simple joy.   Thank you for reminding us how to live a life of worship, of undhindered praise to our Father....marvelling at His creation each and every day!

Matthew 21:16:   "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read," 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?"

Dear Mei-Mei

Maraya, I think you are now smarter than a dog.

Since you have shown an early interest in talking, I have been trying to teach you new words, repeating them to you over and over again until you make some attempt to copy me.

I have enjoyed listening to you announce to me exactly what you see and want.  Isn’t it much easier than pointing to some far-off object?  You’re now able to tell me when you want to go “dun!” or “up!” the stairs, ask me to read you the “Bie-bu” or blow you “bubbles!” You’ll tell me which stuffed animal you want—“woah, woah” the dog,  “ellie” the elephant,  “pen-pen” the penguin, “fuog” the frog, or “duck” (in a Chinese accent).  You’ll remind me to arm my car, saying “beep beeps!” once we’ve entered our house.  You’ve also surprised me by requesting songs these days... starting “ho, ho, ho” for “Hosanna”, and “Baa, baa” when you want to hear “Baa Baa black sheep”.  Of course, you say each word with an exclamation mark and a large grin on your face.

This week you had a particular fascination with hats, which you say in Chinese, “Mo-mo!”  Whenever you see anyone wearing one, whether it be in the mall, on the street or in a book, you will exclaim, “MOMO!”   This week, you have also spent half your waking hours wearing a sunhat on your head because you are so in love with hats.

In the morning, you greet me with a warm “Hi!” as I open the blinds and let the morning sunshine through.  I pick you up, give you some warm milk while you sit on my lap and run your little fingers through my hair.  Once you finish your milk, you look up at me, smile, point your finger into my arm, and say simply, “Mama”.

This gives me the strength and inspiration to take you through another day.

And, it also reminds me how much our Father in Heaven loves to hear us call on His name.  Abba Father, Alleluia, Amen.