Girly Girl

As my baby girl Kah Yen celebrates her first birthday, becomes more mobile, vocal and expressive, I am starting to realize that I have gotten a really girly girl here. And I am pleasantly surprised.

I myself am nothing close to a girly girl. I dress normal, actually plain most of the time. I just leave my hair to rest on my shoulder and grow on its own, no perm-ing, no straightening, and it is trimmed at maximum once a year only. I don’t do fancy make-up, mainly because I don’t know how to do and how to even shop for the huge variety of cosmetics and make-up stuff; every time I enter the ground floor of a department store (where all the sales girl are so eager to transform you into Miss Universe), I just look straight and pass by the counters really fast pretending that I am really busy and having important agendas. I have pretty big appetite; I just don’t believe those girls who always order less rice and 2 vegetables only are actually full. I am not! And I need meat for every meal, so you can guess what’s my least favorite stall at food court – Yong Tau Foo. ……. The list can go on but I think I better stop before you ask me the very embarrassing question ‘How did your husband fall in love with you?”

That’s why I said I am pleasantly surprised to find out that I have gotten a girly girl. It has to be from her daddy. Don’t get me wrong. He is a real man but can be really gentle and sweet inside sometimes.

When Kah Yen is a few months old, there is once I pushed her in her pram to the shop house nearby to buy some breakfast cereal. Since the shop house is very cramped, I had to stop the pram near the counter and went inside the aisle to pick up my cereal. There is one old woman talking to the cashier, who is also an old lady, they are talking very loud and fast and in dialect – a foreign language to Kah Yen, and the next thing I heard is she burst out crying, for no reason to the others but I can tell from her face that she is scared. The old woman was attempting to coo her down which only made things worse. Another time happened in the neighborhood Hawker center. I stopped the pram in front of the Chinese Cooked Food to pack my dinner, there is a table nearby and 5 to 6 uncles are drinking beer and talking loudly. My baby girl looked at them for a minute and she started crying. She must be complaining ‘DON’T BE SO RUDE TO ME PLEASE, UNCLES.” She certainly preferred to be talked to in a gentle way.

When she started on solid food, she would chew slowly bit by bit without opening her mouth. If I offered the spoon before she finished chewing her food, she will just keep her mouth shut till she finished the last bit. It drives me up to the wall sometimes especially when I was running out of time, but I have learnt to accept the fact that I can’t compare her with those chubby boys all my friends have.

And during mealtime, if her hand accidentally touches any food, she will stop eating and put her hand in front of me, waiting for me to clean it up. She does the same when there is any food drop on her table. By the way, when she is around 9 month old, she has already leant from me to use tissue to wipe the table and her mouth. It is really cute seeing her doing it. It is not really effective in getting the job done though but I am hoping practice will make things perfect by the time she turns 2. It will save me a lot of trouble!

When she started crawling actively on the floor, she has this habit of picking up any dirt or dirt-like things on her way and passes them to me. She will pick it up, stop crawling, point to me and wait for me to pick up from her hand. I totally did not expect a baby to do such a thing. I mean we all know that babies will always make a big mess of your dining table, your living room floor, and any other territory that is within their reach. I was told my mum that I actually played with my own poo poo for hours before she found out. Looks like I have gotten a baby that has the potential to help me wipe tables and sweep floor by the time she turns to 3. Halleluiah! All my hard work will be paid off by then.

She also insists on wearing her super cute Disney mini-mouse shoe every morning, long before she even learns to walk, and she will protect if you try to take them off. She’d learnt to comb her hair with my comb too. She hasn’t learnt to choose her own clothes yet but I am seeing that coming soon.

She is really adorable being so girly. I love every bit of her girly side. I mean come on, aren’t girls supposed to be girly? The term “ungirly girl’ itself already sounds contradicting. That’s what girls are made of right? - Sugar and spice and all things nice.

I am secretly hoping a bit more sugar and less spice though.



Do I look pretty in this new hat?