Today would have been my last day at work before I start my maternity leave.

But it has been 3 weeks since that fateful long night in the hospital, and so many ups and turns and downs since then.

I've been writing more, because it helps, not only to keep my mind occupied but also to keep my spirits high.

I might write about happy things, I might write emo stuff, but the end result is the same.

I always feel better.

In a way I guess it's the baby's way of telling me, hey Mummy you need a break and slow down a little.

And she's also allowing me to spend more time with her big sister, which is a good thing.

3 weeks down and (probably) another 3 weeks to go. 💪💪

My father-in-law called me last evening to ask me which brand of vitamins Clarissa is taking.

He was asking because he wanted to get it for the boy my mother-in-law is babysitting.

He has started school since the beginning of this year but has been falling sick very often. He's allergic to certain kinds of food so they are quite cautious about what he eats.

I told him we have already given the brand name etc to my sister-in-law, who texted the hubs last week to ask the same question.

But he went on to ask more questions about the vitamin, what form it is in, how many times a day, where to get it, how much it costs.

He then asked me what ingredients the vitamin is made of.

Clarissa takes Sambucol, and the main ingredient is Black Elderberry.

It has been years but I still fumble when I talk to my FIL. Especially in Chinese.

So I struggled with the translation.

In my mind I was wondering, should I translate from "blueberries" or should I translate from "blackcurrant"?

Hahaha don't ask me (or my pregnant brain) why I thought about blackcurrant. I guess it's because I thought about Ribena? I don't know.

My FIL is not the most patient man so I fumbled even more lol and it all came out quite wrong because I said:

是黑葡萄做成的。

(It's made of black grapes.)

Hahahaha wtf is 黑葡萄?!

But it was too late. I've said what I said.

My FIL was equally bewildered.

黑葡萄?!
酱我不会去买葡萄给他吃就好!?

(Black grapes?! Then I might as well just buy grapes for him to eat?!)

Lol.

No way for me to translate anything anymore so I resorted to telling him it tastes like concentrated Ribena.

And I guess there is no way for him to ever believe that I went to a Chinese school and was in LEP. 😂

Anyway I was telling the hubs how lucky the boy is, to have such involved babysitters who genuinely care about his well-being.

I guess it also stems from the fact that they have taken care of him since he was a newborn.

I'm passing my FIL a new bottle today with notes for the parents on where to buy, since I stock up anyway.

The hubs doesn't think it's necessary, but I don't mind.

It's nice to see that the family is treating the boy like their own.

The only thing that used to irk me was the constant comparison between the boy and Clarissa.

The boy is 2.5 months older, and that's a big gap in baby universe.

So comments like he's taller, he's smarter, he can do more things.. were really not appreciated.

They always ask the boy to call Clarissa "Meimei", but I'd ask Clarissa to address him by his name.

To me they are peers, born in the same year.

Now that they are 3 / turning 3, the comparison has somewhat ceased.

Every child has his or her strengths.
比不完的。

I was doing this sticker book activity with Clarissa on Wednesday.

Very good buy! This one is on animals.

She's very engaged and would ask many questions, like why an alligator cannot live under the water, why a fish cannot live in the farm, why she can swim in water but cannot live in the aquarium.
#十万个为什么

And she has her own #toddlerlogic when it comes to placing the stickers.

She basically stuck all the dolphins, jellyfish, fish on one side of the page, with the jellyfish and clown fish on top of the dolphins.

I didn't stop her but I asked her why she made them ride on the dolphins' backs, can't they be swimming elsewhere?

She told me in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Because the shark is over there! Cannot swim near the shark! Later the shark bite!"

😅😅😅
Good one.
#thingsclarissasays

Hahahaha my dear sister tried to Google translate for me.

This sounds equally wrong.

I feel better now.

The hubs said maybe it's 黑莓 but I think it sounds like poison > vitamins. 😅😂🤣

Pretty productive today.

Finally finished part 1 of the work project and shared it back to my boss and team.

I doubt I'll have time to finish part 2 but at least I did something.

We did the sticker book again today.

She insisted that I like the oyster. 😂

👶: Mummy, you like the oyster.

👧: No I don't.

👶: Yes you like! I like Daddy and you like oyster.

👧: No, I like Meimei.

👶: No, I like Daddy, Meimei likes me, and you like oyster.

😂😂😂
#toddlerlogic

We also talked about penguins.

How they can live and swim in the cold but cannot live in the desert.

👶: Mummy, what does the penguin eat?

👧: Penguins eat small fishes.

👶: Huh.. Why huh?

👧: Because there's nothing else to eat in the Antarctic! They can't eat ice right?

👶: No… they can eat RICE!

👧: Who's going to cook rice for them?

👶: Me!

#chitchatwithclarissa

Oh and she said something funny.

I asked her to get a piece of tissue paper for me.

👧: Clarissa, can you please help me take a piece of tissue paper?

She went ahead to pull a piece out of the box and handed it to me.

👶: Mummy, I like the way you ask me the question.

😂😂😂
#Ididnotmakethisup