Tuesday, 21 June 2005

Saffron's new pastime

Saffron loves cuddling in bed under the "big coe-woe". She also loves to watch "Blue bear bear and uncle" (Read: Monsters Inc). When she had a brainwave and realised that she could enjoy both at the same time - luxuriate in the comfort of the large duvet while watching Monsters Inc for the 34,592nd time, there was just no stopping her.

Monday, 20 June 2005

Saffron single-handedly keeping the Sesame Street ride in business.

The good, the bad, the whingey...

Contrary to popular belief, our good-natured minx has been known to have had the odd cry. Especially when she learns that we've run out of "Dyneeesour sweets".

Saturday, 18 June 2005

Caught in the act

I know it's probably irritating how I'm moving back and forth in time, messing with your minds by stubbornly insisting on approaching this blog in a chronological order even though I am so far behind it almost seems pointless trying to catch up. But don't try talking me out of it; you're dealing with someone who alphabetises her DVD collection and organises her magazines by title and date and falls apart when she finds that the June 2002 copy of Vogue (British edition of course)is missing.

Which explains a lot about Saffron's tendency to stand her ground too. You'll know what I mean if you ever get into a debate with her over plants vs flowers or her crab pendant (which she insists is a turtle). And she also has a (loveable) tendency to organise her toys - blocks, Lego, balls, books, stickers - in perfectly straight lines.

The little one has been quite ill this past week and we've been rather worried because she doesn't seem to be getting better despite being on a cocktail of drugs. She's really good at taking her medicines with the exception of her antibiotics and anti-phlegm one which she dismisses as "the spicy one". It does bite the tongue a little. She really loathes having to take these two medicines so much that she usually counter-offers with a "Saffron eat the good one?" (Read: eat the sweet medicines instead) or "Can I have the nebuliser please?".

And two nights ago when I said to her that she really needed to have her medicine else Daddy wouldn't be able to eat his dinner and he'd be hungry, without batting an eyelid she took my hand which was holding up the syringe of vile medicine and turned it towards James to feed him instead! Talk about being solutions-focused.

So anyway, I began this entry only intending to post a picture of her to keep readers interested and let everyone know that we're still here... This is a picture of Saffron savouring a treat ("Dineeesour sweet" she calls them). And please, before anyone thinks that those cushions are a window to our taste for home furnishings, let me state for the record that I sewed them for the express purpose of the birthday party, which, going by my convoluted (but endearing nonetheless) system of backdating entries, would only have been held 6 days ago.

Everybody needs a Saffron.

It's half past ten and I've just returned from what I can only describe as a long day in the office. Waiting outside the front door, I strained my ears, hoping to make out the sound of pitter patter on the floor. But it is quite late and there wasn't a squealing sweaty baby waiting for me behind the door tonight, nor even the familiar voices of James P. Sullivan, Mike Wazowski, Randall or Elmo.

Making a beeline for the bedroom, I climbed into bed next to her and for a good ten minutes or so, there I stayed, nose pressed up against her sweaty temples, inhaling as much of her as I physically could. Anyone who's had the good fortune of sniffing the Sleeping Beauty will understand what I shall attempt to describe next.

The first breath you draw tickles as you realise how all at once she smells like custard, brown sauce and talcum powder. Not the best mix of scents under any other circumstances but here, just the perfect calibration of sweet, sour and mild.
The familiarity of the second sniff has a real and physical effect on your body; shoulders relax, frowns fade.
With the third sniff troubles melt away; it doesn't matter that you haven't had enough sleep or if your hair is dirty, if the flat is a mess and you're behind in your correspondence, nor even if a colleague didn't copy you in an important email or if you've had to do someone else's work.
By the time you take your fourth, you find yourself thinking hey this is where I belong, wouldn't it be nice to be able to do this all day every day.
Sniff five and you start taking quicker breaths thinking you could really get used to this.
Six, seven, eight and you're gone. Hooked. Then you just keep sniffing faster and faster until your chest almost hurts but you can't stop yourself. At least I can't. (But then I have obsessive tendencies so I can't speak for everyone. The last - and first - time I was as addicted as this was in the early hours of 12 June 2003, in a labour ward suffering at the hands of a hardened nurse who categorically refused my pleas for epidural and fobbed me off with 'air and gas'. As weeks of breathing classes went out the window, I just clamped the revolting rubber mask to my face and breathed in non-stop. I don't even remember breathing out. I must have, but I don't remember. I just remember stabs of pain alternating with the room spinning and finally vomiting. But that's another story for another time.)
Nine, ten and life is good. You just know you must be the luckiest girl in the world.

So even though what would have really helped tonight was a "big hug" and a few "sayangs" from the minx or even the odd "my mummy!"* as she runs up to wrap her little chubby arms around my legs, the sniffs have worked their magic and should sort me out until the morning where I know a "morning mummy" and a contented smile await me.

Please don't miscontrue this as an open invitation for everyone to plant their noses on Saffron the next time you see her. You can try, but you'll have to fight me for it.

*One night a couple of weeks ago as I was picking out a dress for her in her room, Saffy ran up, threw her sweet arms around me and exclaimed proudly "MY mummy!" Needless to say I was taken aback and crushing her with the weight of my reciprocal cuddle I immediately thought then, as I have often before, how I would go through labour 30 times over for this moment - any moment - with her. (With some help from epidural of course. None of that nasty "air and gas" for me, thank you very much.)

Saturday, 18 June 2005

Soaking wet but happy

Saturday, 18 June 2005

Testing the waters

Saturday, 18 June 2005

On a walk after a big breakfast (this is turning into a recurring theme...), Saffron was thrilled to stumble upon on a small water fountain.

Promise this is the last picture related to Saffron's birthday...

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it?

In a sea of Lego

Aloha

Fooled you, didn't we? Saffron's not really in sunny Hawaii, she's posing outside our front door.

We became rather fond of the party decorations and (foolishly) contemplated keeping them up for longer. Fortunately for us, our plans to live amidst paper parrots and plastic flowers were thwarted by Magic Myrna who promptly scaled up the ladder and meticulously removed every trace of the Hawaiian Party, preserving the delicate paper banners and life-sized murals, each in their own dedicated plastic bag. (I'm getting emotional just writing about it). If the decorations could somehow have been alphabetised, she would have already done so. Twice over. Such is the magic of Myrna.

Whoever said that no one is indispensable obviously hadn't met Myrna.

Gee'up horsey

If you're beginning to arrive at the conclusion that all we ever do is hang out at Paragon hogging the carousel, you're quite mistaken. Half the time you can find us at the Bert & Ernie ride (or "Sunny day" in Saffronese).

Life imitating art

The happy bunny and her favourite teacher Miss Farhana

Saffy and her posse

We often wonder what Saffron gets up to in school, how she behaves, what she says to her friends, how she interacts with them... so we jumped at the chance to spend a morning in school with her on the pretext of celebrating her birthday with her friends.

Having celebrated a number of classmates' birthdays in the past few months, she seemed rather pleased that her turn had arrived. As the candles were lit, and all the children were seated expectantly on their little chairs, paper plates and little spoons in front of them, Saffron belted out "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" solo. As her teacher later put on a CD of what were obviously familiar tunes to the children, Saffron started singing along so enthusiastically, mouthing the lyrics to tunes I've never heard before. (It was a bizarre compilation which included "Santa Claus is Coming to Town"). She was also the only kid who punctuated the end of each song with an appreciative round of applause and a loud, approving "Yeah!".

Monday, 13 June 2005

Saffron celebrating her birthday in school.

Talk about moving goal posts... just as I think I'm about to catch up with real time, a whole weekend sneaks right past me. At least we've now passed the milestone of Saffron's second birthday. Here begins a series of pictures taken on the day after her birthday: Beginning with a cake in school to celebrate the occasion with her little friends, we ended up at Paragon for morning latte, a spot of shopping (no girl's birthday is complete without a trip to Paragon, I daresay) and a few rounds on the carousel.

Thursday, 9 June 2005

Saffron "Testino" Smith

Wednesday, 8 June 2005

Not-so-furtive ice cube thief

The sun is shining in Teletubby land

Again, again?

Wednesday, 8 June 2005. Saffron having a go at the Teletubbies website.

Tuesday night, 7 June 2005

How Auntie Debbi lost her street cred.

Saturday, 4 June 2005

724 days old.

Overeaters (Not-so) Anonymous, Singapore Chapter

Me and the Minx

This is all part of the catching up. Rummaging through my memory card for a selection of snapshots that will best sum up what Saffron's been up to.

Sunday morning, 29 May 2005. Snapped moments before we keeled over from a feast of more starch than you can shake a stick at, albeit in various guises and permutations, giving new meaning to the phrase "Full Singaporean Breakfast".

Piece de resistance

Step aside, Tracy Emin

Galerie Minx's latest acquisition, titled "Ice-cream" (so christened by the Artist herself), was uncovered several evenings ago by a gushing and clearly over-excited parent(who shall remain unnamed).

I'm not saying it was me, but surely you have to agree that it is quite clever and imaginative. She is only two, you know.

The real deal (hopefully)

Saffy-Beach-Party-185t
Originally uploaded by faffron.

Been told that the link below doesn't quite work like I thought it would. Try this instead. Click on the picture and it should take you straight into the album of Saffron's birthday pictures.

Has anyone seen Saffron anywhere?

Snapshots

Since it might be another month before I blog again, I thought perhaps it might be a good idea to let you in on the birthday party pictures first.
Just a small tip - view them backwards, from page 10 to 1. Enjoy.
http://www.flickr.com

Confessions of a bad mother

How time flies

Hello stranger.
Pressure is a terrible thing. Having to do justice in conveying Saffron's wonderful personality and mischievous loveliness is all at once the easiest and most difficult thing I've ever had to write. And I did what any other ordinary person would do under pressure; I froze. I could make my excuses in detail but I'm sure you'd much rather I get with the programme; we have much catching up to do.

In the month that has passed since Saffron celebrated her second birthday, half the time I was busy with work. The other half I spent:
(a) pushing Saffron around on her training bicycle;
(b) building colour-coded lego skyscrapers;
(c) eating pretend toast and sipping pretend tea ("Very hot, very hot. Be careful" she says as she brings me a cuppa);
(d) sifting through the laundry pile to make sure Saffron hadn't snuck dolly's socks into the wash yet again;
(e) tending to the herd of elephants - stuffed, plush, battery-operated, you name it - she seems to have amassed;
(f) trying on the lovely dresses and clothes she got for her birthday, to see if they yet fit (most of them got the elusive "Princess dress!" stamp of approval too, I'm pleased to report);
(g) reading and answering an endless stream of questions on her new collection of books;
(h) watching Monsters Inc and Sesame Street alternately (no she hasn't moved on);
(i) getting really stressed as I let her try her hand (literally, as it turns out) at poster painting, ensuring they end up on the canvas and not the floor/bedlinen/my clothes/all of the above; and
(j) basically, not blogging.

She's also turned her attentions from Robert to Aqeel; London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics (Saffron celebrated by chanting "Eng-urland, Eng-urland, Eng-urland" with her Daddy); Saffron went on her very first school field trip to Bollywood Veggies - an organic farm (I almost cried when I dropped her off. According to her teachers she entertained her class by singing all the way there on the bus); London got bombed (with our telly permanently tuned into the news coverage on BBC World, Saffron is now able to recognise and say "Tony Blair"); the lower shelves in our fridge have been overrun by hairclips, pretend toast and toy plates; and we found out that she knows my name (One night she just decided to call me "Natalie" when I didn't answer to her repeated calls. I may not have blogged about it but I did make several international phonecalls to share my excitement. First time mother. You understand.)

So you can see that my plate's been quite full. And if you're still slightly miffed at how long it's taken for me to post an entry, might it help if I tell you I'm fighting through a lot of phlegm to bring this blog to you?

Proof is in the pudding

Hula girl

Archival footage of the little minx on her 2nd birthday