A father's chronicle (Still marching on)

It has been more than a month since I've blogged. Terrible, isn't it? For those who have been missing A father's chronicle, .... thank you for missing it. A month have quickly gone... and now Gracia is more than a month old already. I am not sure whether the weighing machine is quite right today, but she has doubled her weight! Anyway... now that I've two kids, I find time is really too little. I've not been reading, have not been running (OK, there was a 10 km run that I did last week while everybody was sleeping). But I've enjoyed Theophilus even more immensely, and awaiting somewhat impatiently that Gracia will talk to me asap! I've already "stolen" so many kisses from her already.

So, I am still trying to keep up with as much reading as possible. As much programming as possible. As much exercise as allowable.... it is good to be a father of two. Somehow, at least I know what is "going to happen" next. I can understand why my patience is running thin at certain hour (late in the night or rather dead early in the morning).... and I can understand the frustration of my wife better.

Today, Theophilus woke up a bit too early and we managed to catch sunrise together. He marvelled at the beautiful colors of sun rise... he is already very captured by sunset (which is my favourite, unlike Yan who likes sunrise... but today she finally could not keep her eye lids up to the mark).

Son: Dad, sunrise is very beautiful. It is so colorful... but sunset is more beautiful...

Dad: Ya, I like sunset.

Son: Where does the sun goes when it is in the night? Does it go home to sleep too?

Dad: (Huh? Ha ha ha ha ha ...)

OK, what happened after that is so within expectation... I took two balls and began my lesson on the solar system, how the earth revolve around the sun and with the earth still spinning... quite a feat to ensure the revolution and the spinning... I think he understand it slightly better now.

Children... they are so pure in heart. I wish to be like them. I want to be like them.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

A father's chronicle (Incy Wincy VS Archibot)

I don't know when they started to make themselves at home. But when I was working at my desk... I noticed one of them walking (or do we say "crawling") across my desk non-chalantly. Yes, it is a spider. I took a container and caught it as part of a "science" lesson for Theophilus. We named it - Incy Wincy. Much to his delight and laughter.

Later in the night, I notice another one while I was reading the papers! Oh no... SpiderMan must have somehow passed by our place without my noticing. Rushed to get the same container (heh, I am not being cruel to them, OK? the container if scaled to size... could well be the size of a large bungalow in our human context).... put the new "captive" into the same "home". We named the second occupant - Archibot.

It is just going to be till the weekend.... we will release it.

Well, guess what? My words cannot be fufilled. Incy Wincy ate up Archibot. Extended (unintended) science lesson - food chain.

Really! I couldn't find it any more. It is impossible for Archibot to leave his "bungalow" without writing us a note or something... that's unbecoming of a spider.

I didn't notice Incy Wincy grow any bigger.... just gave me that innocent look. .... and seem to say

"Heh, don't look at me. I don't eat spiders. It is like a professional courtesy?"

---

Verdict

Incy Wincy: Survived.

Archibot: Lost-in-Action.

A father's chronicle (Reflections of being an "elder brother")

Being the youngest among my siblings, I don't often think about the "elder brother" effect. What I mean is: the amount of adjustments and changes in the level of attention or even the changes / adjustments of the elder siblings for the younger one.

Out of a sudden, everybody is warning Theophilus to be careful with Gracia (the new girl of the block).

I've my own thoughts on that actually . I am trying not to make it too much a fuss to Theophilus. He is a boy and naturally brings along with him a certain level of roughness. But since he is a sensible boy and his language and reasoning level is very high, I just need to explain that the girl is very fragile at this point of time and we just need to beware of how we move around her. There is no need to "scold" him or constantly remind him again and again and again... I somehow observed that this kind of behaviour on the adults' part tend to add to the rivary between the siblings. They feel that the new arrival needs "special attention" and now they are somewhat "de-throned" (utter nonsense). I think Yan is right - the girl need to get used to this brother of hers too! Wise girl.

Not only movement must be adjusted, he needs to behave "properly" to avoid influencing the younger sister in a bad way. There are so many things happening and is like "forcing" him to grow up... and I just want all these forces to slow down a little on him. He is still a kid. Cut him some slack.

I am also trying to keep up with the same level of attention and time in playing with him. It can be tough, since there are additional chores and errands to do, but ... heh, I am Daddy, right?

This weekend is filled with alot of playing with him. I really enjoyed it... though... exhausted by now.

I am Dad, and I am handicapped with only 24 hours. I need a few more hours!

The journey begins here

Well, this is the first post.... more blogs to come, I sense. Continue blogging, I should....