Ian & Juliane

Joni pushes Hannah on the tricycle

2012-01-21T12:06:00.000+08:00

4-year-old Joni pushes 2-year-old Hannah on her tricycle.

Two more cute kid stories

2012-01-19T17:55:00.001+08:00

I've got two cute stories to tell too, in addition to the one Ian told earlier.

Story 1: When food drops on the ground
We babysat my friend's 7-yr-old girl. When my friend came to pick up her daughter, one of the three wee girls dropped some munchy on the floor. So my friend said, "Oh, don't eat that. It's dirty because it dropped on the floor." Whereupon, Joni's little voice chirped: "Mummy says she can eat it because she has a strong stomach." Blush, blush...

Story 2: Looking a gift horse in the mouth
Hannah was seen playing with a switched-on torchlight in her left hand and a wooden spatula in her right, pointing at the mouth of a toy horse given by a little girlfriend from church. A little doctor wannabe!

Ta, and so much for little girl stories!

Juliane

Joni the Mediator

2012-01-16T00:41:00.000+08:00

We were at a birthday party and the kids got normal-air balloons on plastic sticks (the kind that stand up without need for helium).

Hannah had been annoying Joni by bopping her on her head with her balloon, so I told Hannah that if she didn't cease and desist, I would take the balloon away from her. She didn't, so I did.

Naturally, Hannah, being 2½, started whining and crying. After some minutes, Joni decided she wanted the baby sling that Hannah had on her lap. I told Joni that she'd have to ask Hannah for it because it was Hannah's. Joni asked, then complained to me that even though she said "Please", Hannah didn't give it to her. I explained to Joni that it was because Hannah was upset that her balloon had been taken away from her.

Then Joni proceeded to negotiate with Hannah that if mummy gave her back her balloon, would she promise not to bop Joni on her head anymore? So Hannah promised, and we gave her back her balloon, then Joni asked for for the sling "please" and Hannah gave it to her!

Juliane and I were quite impressed with 4-year-old Joni's negotiation skills! ☺

Joni & Hannah with parasols

2011-10-17T23:53:00.001+08:00

10th year anniversary

2011-09-10T15:54:00.000+08:00

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
A little over 10 years ago, I helped with Joshua Chin and Amy Liew's wedding. 10 years ago, they invited me to their place for dinner "in appreciation for the help".

Chew Juliane was also there. I assumed that she also had helped with the wedding.

She hadn't.

It was a set-up :-)

But half way through the dinner, my dad called, saying "Turn on CNN!" It was September 11, 2001.

We spent the night without any thought of romance... the dinner turned into a prayer meeting. We stayed up watching the news. The next day, online looking at the news.

However, God still put us together again 30 September 2001 and we've been married since 21 June 2003 (on Joshua Chin's birthday! :-)

Joni & Hannah with "kor kor" Simon Lim

2011-08-10T22:36:00.000+08:00

Simon is the son of our wonderful babysitter, Rebecca. Obviously Joni & Hannah really like "kor kor" Simon. ("Kor kor" is Cantonese for "big brother".)

These photos were taken at the August Children's Church at Community Baptist Church, Puchong.

Photo video of our Singapore trip.

2011-06-23T00:42:00.002+08:00

My friend Lim Chee Peng made this photo video collage of our Singapore trip.

If you're on an Android phone or other smartphone, click on this link instead to use the YouTube app to view the video.

IOI Mall on Fire!

2011-05-23T14:24:00.000+08:00

I had to go to the dentist (my sister Diane Chai) this morning and so was driving past IOI Mall around 9am and it was on fire! I could see the flames shooting out the roof and the fire engine was there shooting water at the flames. By the time I found a place to park that didn't obstruct the traffic and got my camera out, however, the fire was already under control, and a few minutes later, they started letting the shopkeepers back into the building.

Joni & the A&W bear

2011-05-23T14:13:00.000+08:00

We were at A&W recently and someone had a birthday party and hired the A&W Bear, so Joni took the opportunity to get a photo with him.

How to use free software to make an SVCD

2011-05-15T01:41:00.001+08:00

I have always used Sonic, a piece of software that came with my old laptop, to make SVCDs (Super Video CDs, which can be played on DVD players), but I just figured out a way to make SVCDs using free software on a Windows machine, so I thought I'd share the information here, since I didn't see any web page that put all of this information in one place.

You need 2 pieces of software -- eRightSoft Super to convert the video into VCD format, and CDR Tools Front End to take those video files and package them into a VCD.

After you install SUPER, select "SVCD Std. Compliant (MPG)" in the "1. Select the Output Container" section. Then drag and drop your movies into the area that says "DROP A VALID MULTIMEDIA FILE HERE". Then click on the "Encode (Active Files)" button. Now wait for it convert the videos into the proper format. (It could take a while.)

After that, run cdrtools Frontend and select "(S)VideoCD" from the tabs at the top of the screen, and drag and drop the videos you made in the earlier section into the main window. Then insert an empty CD into your CD writer and click "Start". Wait for it to finish.

Then you're done! You can now eject the SVCD and play it in a DVD player!

A Grand Mother's Day

2011-05-08T16:07:00.001+08:00

We all went to my mother's house on the eve of Mother's Day. Joni & Hannah (with a little help from mummy and daddy) made grandma a big Mother's Day card.

Joni loves books

2011-05-07T11:56:00.000+08:00

Even though she doesn't read yet, Joni loves to look at books. Hopefully, she'll also be a reader once she learns to read.

Joni & Hannah with tiaras

2011-04-13T23:39:00.001+08:00

They were just so cute tonight, I had to take this photo.

Hot Babe!

2011-04-04T09:32:00.000+08:00

Little Hannah, who hasn't even turned 2 yet, eats mutton rendang! Her big sister Joni (3¹/₂ won't touch anything even mildly pedas¹ but she seems to have her mother's taste buds! (Juliane loves Indian food.)

1. "Pedas" is the Malay word for "hot" as in chili. Since English uses the same word to describe two different phenomena, we decided to borrow the Malay word in our family usage so as not to confuse the kids when we talk about hot food.

Christian shows for kids

2011-02-21T14:02:00.001+08:00

Last Sunday in Sunday school I realized that most of my friends are not aware of the various Christian TV and radio programmes for children that you can get over the Internet, so I'm listing a few here:

JellyTelly -- produced by Phil Visher, the man behind VeggieTales, this website with videos and games is suitable for kids as young as 3 on up to primary school. I recently had fun printing out and cutting out the popsicle stick theatre puppets for the story of Esther for Joni. Now that they've joined hands with Focus on the Family, it also has the Adventures in Odyssey cartoons as well.
Adventures in Odyssey -- this radio programme is suitable for kids in primary school on up to adults like me! Yes, I very much enjoy listening to this radio programme even as an adult.
Down Gilead Lane -- another radio programme suitable for kids in primary school on up.
iTOADu.com -- an interactive website for kids made by CBH Ministries, who also made Down Gilead Lane. I haven't actually played with this site much myself, but I have had good experience with CBH Ministries. I heard about this through the Down Gilead Lane programme.

If you have other good suggestions to add, feel free to mention them in the comment section.

And now for something completely different: Holy Communion

2011-02-20T15:47:00.009+08:00

Normally, this blog is all about my kids, but this time, an old friend of mine asked me:

Would you be able to tell me with the holy communion is it like the Catholic said as transubstantiation of the body of Christ or it is a symbol of the body of christ, I mean the cup and the wine. Is it that we are actually eating and drinking His flesh and blood which seems a bit disturbing.

The way I was taught was it is a symbolic act, but if you can give me some or your point of view?

So, since I took the trouble to explain to her my view, I thought I might as well share it here with whoever is interested. ジ

There are two major views within Christianity: the sacramental Protestant churches, the Orthodox Churches, and the Catholic Church all consider the body and blood of Jesus to be in some manner present in the bread and wine, while the Anabaptist churches (i.e. Baptists and most Evangelical and Charismatic churches) consider it to be purely symbolic and done only in remembrance of Christ.

There are 4 passages in the Bible which describe this incident:

Matthew 26:26-29: ²⁶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
²⁷ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. ²⁹ But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
Mark 14:22-25: ²² And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
²³ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. ²⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:14-23:¹⁴ When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶ for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
¹⁷ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸ for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
²⁰ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. ²¹ But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. ²² And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
²³ Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.
1 Corinthians 11:23-32: ²³ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. ³⁰ For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. ³¹ For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. ³² But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

As you can see, from the 4 passages, only two say "do this in remembrance of Me" while all four emphasize that it is really His body and blood. The 1 Corinthians passage really drives it home: "For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." (Sleep is a euphemism for death.) If it were purely symbolic, why would Paul have stated it like that?

There is also John 6:41-70, which foreshadows it:

⁴¹ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
⁴³ Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶ Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. ⁵⁰ This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
⁵² The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
⁵³ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.⁵⁵ For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. ⁵⁶ He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ⁵⁸This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
⁵⁹ These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
⁶⁰ Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
⁶⁸ But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

When many people stopped following Jesus because of the teaching "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him", Jesus didn't quickly call them back and say "Wait, it's only symbolic!" He allowed them to leave because they couldn't abide by the idea that we would eat His flesh and drink His blood!

The Anabaptist view came about only in the 16th century, when, in an effort to correct the abuses of the then corrupt Catholic church, they threw out a lot of things that had been practiced by Christians since the time of the apostles, including baby baptism and a sacramental view of Holy Communion. All other churches, except those Protestant churches influenced by Anabaptist ideas, reject the purely symbolic interpretation, though most churches do not go and make such definitive detailed statements about transubstantiation like the Catholic church does. (Note: the Catholic church went through a major cleanup after the Reformation and so the modern-day Catholic church, especially in their official teaching, is much better than it was during the time of the Reformation, though, being a large organization, of course there are still parts that are messed up, just as with many Protestant churches.)

In fact, the only people who called themselves Christian in the first centuries who rejected the sacramental view of Holy Communion were the Gnostics. The Gnostics believed that all matter was evil and only spirit was good, so they rejected the concept that Jesus is fully God and fully man. Hence, they rejected the sacramental nature of Holy Communion because the bread and wine are matter and not spirit. We don't accept any of the other Gnostic ideas, and in fact the Apostle Paul wrote against it in 1 Timothy 6:20 , "O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge—by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith. Grace be with you. Amen." The word "knowledge" is "gnosis" -- which is what the Gnostics claimed to have -- they claimed to have "secret knowledge" from Jesus not known by the church at large. But the real Christians have always affirmed that the true Gospel was taught openly by the Church from the very beginning.

So why is it that the symbolic view is so common around Christians today?

The Anabaptist-inspired churches, i.e. most modern Evangelical churches, have been the most faithful in keeping Jesus' Great Commission in the 20th and 21st century, and so they have done the most evangelism in the last 150 years or so. So, that's why Anabaptist ideas regarding Holy Communion, although not supported by the Bible nor by the practice of Christians from the beginning until the 16th Century, have become so prominent that a large percentage of Christians think that it is the correct way.

I myself started with the symbolic view but later, as I studied the issue myself, have changed my mind and now embrace the sacramental view.

So, I now believe that the Body and Blood of Jesus is in some mystical way present in the bread and wine of communion. However, in what precise manner, I am not sure, and it doesn't bother me that I don't understand the details, because I know that God is so much transcendentally beyond what we are, so it's not surprising that there're aspects of Him that we cannot fully grasp, just like we don't fully grasp the Trinity.

However, I still belong to a church that subscribes to the symbolic view -- Community Baptist Church -- because I also understand that this issue is a secondary matter. The primary matter is the Gospel, and it is not helpful to break fellowship with Christians who believe different things about secondary issues. God gives grace and all of us have things that are not right. Nobody's perfect.

So, if you disagree with my view, that's fine, I'm not going to hit you over the head with a Bible about it! ジ

Kids in caps

2011-01-25T10:53:00.000+08:00

I had gotten off work and picked up the girls from daycare, and decided to stop and buy burgers for dinner from a roadside Ramli Burger stall. The girls started posing in the caps that I had in the car; they were so cute, I just had to take some photos!

Joni's hiding under the cap.

"Ooo, look what chi-chi Joni is doing!"

"Here's looking at you, daddy!"

In the hospital every holiday we celebrate this year!

2010-12-28T02:38:00.002+08:00

2010 seems to be the year of spending every holiday we celebrate in Columbia Asia Hospital! We started the year with spending New Year's Day with Hannah in the hospital:

Then, Chinese New Year's holiday, we had Joni in the hospital. We managed to escape Deepavali and Hari Raya -- perhaps because we're Christians and not Hindus or Muslims ジ then Joni came down with a rotavirus infection with vomiting and diarrhea 2 days after Christmas:

Do pray for her recovery if you're reading this before New Year's Day...

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T20:33:00.002+08:00

Here are various photos from the Christmas season -- not just Christmas day itself.

Joni at Sunday school

Hannah: future racecar driver like her aunt Angeline Ooi?

Joni: a sweetie on a scooter

Both sisters now join forces in the same vehicle!

They team up again on a different vehicle.

The whole family together.

The extended family

For more photos see my Facebook album (link valid only for a limited time due to Facebook's policies.)

No parking: towing zone -- oh, really?

2010-12-27T16:15:00.000+08:00

It seems like in front of every set of condos are cars parked illegally like this. Several young working adults or students share a condo and each has their own car because of the substandard public transportation (for example, if I were to try to take a to the university, I would have to take a bus backwards several kilometers to IOI Mall, change to another bus to Putrajaya terminal, and change to yet another bus to the university, making my 20-minute commute a 2-hour commute, especially with the buses not following the schedule and sometimes not showing up at all.)

Each of them has a car, but the condo only comes with one parking spot. So, combine that with the lack of enforcement, these scenes are very common.

Water Babies

2010-11-20T23:02:00.005+08:00

Both my children love the water, though Joni, like her mother, doesn't like to get her head wet. Hannah, however, isn't fazed by dipping underwater briefly.

Is someone missing from these photos? Yep, mummy is definitely not a water-lover and never learned to swim. She jokes that the children have to be trained in swimming so that if there is a capsize, daddy has to save her while the kids can swim themselves to safety. ジ

Appreciating My Father

2010-10-12T17:10:00.007+08:00

I like to listen to podcasts on my cell phone during my daily commute and today I happened to listen to a speech by David Meece which was actually posted on 19^th and 20^th August (my birthday).

David Meece is an award-winning singer & composer (Just look for David Meece on Youtube to hear some of his songs.) But for years he struggled with his alcoholic father's last words to him, "You're worthless!"

My sister and I are so blessed that my father was a good father who loved and cared for his children. This podcast reminded me to be thankful for God's blessing through my father.

Listen to David Meece's incredible story [Part 1, 19^thAugust] [Part 2, 20^th August]. (Be prepared for tears! It's a very touching story.)

Family Photo at Convo 2010

2010-08-05T15:45:00.003+08:00

Some of my students had their convocation last Sunday and one of them took a nice photo of my whole family. (I had just dressed up to take photos with them -- my own graduation was before I got married and had kids.)

Song for the journey

2010-07-21T19:51:00.002+08:00

On the road again
Joni and Hannah on the road again
Joni and Hannah are riding to the school
We are on the road again

Joni goes to school
Hannah goes to auntie Rebbeca's
Daddy goes to work and in the evening
We come back to mummy again!

Dancing toddlers

2010-07-09T07:53:00.001+08:00

Joni & Hannah love to dance, when the music's right!

Joni in Sunday School and Hannah in the playground

2010-06-02T06:31:00.003+08:00

Just a couple of videos taken on May 23.

Kid story -- with no kid!

2010-05-27T12:03:00.001+08:00

I have a kid story today... with no kid! Background:

Both Joni and Hannah have been having runny noses lately.
I'm in a training this week and so am sitting in a lab with other faculty members who are in this training instead of my own office.

So I was concentrating on something the computer and I hear a sneeze behind me, and immediately turned around, ready to wipe the nose of... the faculty member sitting at the computer behind me!!!!

Ah, parenthood ジ

Joni has chicken pox

2010-04-24T13:06:00.012+08:00

Poor Joni has a pretty bad case of chicken pox... and poor Juliane had to be cooped up at home all week trying to keep Joni entertained and comfort her when the itching & sores get too bad. She got it from preschool last week, but it didn't break out till Monday. She didn't have many spots until Friday afternoon. These photos were taken Saturday morning:
It's steadily gotten worse over the course of the day... in fact, right now it's worse than when this photo was taken, Saturday afternoon: Joni on Sunday morning before she woke up:
Monday night: many of the spots are starting to scab over -- hope this means she's over the worst of it!

Joni sayang Hannah

2010-04-18T22:48:00.002+08:00

Joni is 2¹/₂ -- which means she's finding it very hard to share and also is very jealous of Hannah whenever mummy carries Hannah, etc. But sometimes she can also be a really sweet big sister.

Latest family photo

2010-03-21T20:18:00.004+08:00

Unfortunately, Hannah hasn't learned to smile for family photos yet ジ

Celebrating Chai Teng Kooi's birthday

2010-03-13T23:31:00.003+08:00

Here's Chai Teng Kooi with all three of his granddaughters celebrating his birthday -- Sophie, Joni and Hannah. (Grandson Dylan was elsewhere in the restaurant at the time.)

Former students of Ian's mother's

2010-03-02T22:40:00.004+08:00

Ian's mother used to teach in a residential girls' school in Johor when Ian was 1 year old. A number of the former students visited recently and remarked how much baby Hannah looked like Ian did at that age

Informal family photos

2010-02-22T16:05:00.004+08:00

It's been a while since we had a photo with all 4 of us so we had a friend snap a few shots.

And here's one of Hannah standing alone:

Joni's lion dance

2010-02-22T15:56:00.005+08:00

Our neighbour Segar invited a lion dance troupe to his house and they provided the kids with a small lion and drum which Joni, Segar's grandson Darshen, Segar's youngest daughter Tulasi, and several other children had fun with.

Joni flies a kite

2010-02-22T15:50:00.004+08:00

Ok, daddy did help her get it up first, but after that, she was the one holding on to it for a long time

Joni with grandparents at Hot Springs while Hannah was in the hospital

2010-02-22T15:35:00.008+08:00

Over the New Year holidays, Ah Kong (grandfather) and Ah Mah (grandmother) took Joni to swim in the Hot Springs while Hannah was in the hospital due to a high fever that turned out to be the roseola virus.

The reason Hannah's arm is bandaged was because due to the fever disrupting her appetite, they had put her on a drip to keep her hydrated and fed. This photo was taken late in the hospitalization, when she was already feeling better.

Joni dances to Christmas carols

2009-12-27T21:46:00.001+08:00

We went to Chris Goh's Christmas party and while we were singing Christmas carols, Joni and her friends Alyssa, Ann Nien & Mei Ying danced!

Joni entertaining Hannah in the crib

2009-12-03T13:03:00.008+08:00

Hannah: Here I was in the crib...

...when my chi-chi¹ Joni came along...

...and did funny things...

...and played peek-a-boo

and made me laugh!

1."Chi-chi" is Hokkien for "big sister".

Joni & Keleigh

2009-11-03T14:40:00.006+08:00

Keleigh Carter is a friend of Joni's from church. Here they are, wearing "Mr. & Mrs. Potatohead" glasses.

(Photos by Keleigh's mom, Crystal)

Joni & Hannah enjoy the playgym together

2009-10-04T22:25:00.002+08:00

Joni (almost 2 years old) and Hannah (almost 4 months old) enjoy the baby playgym together. More photos from this are available in my Facebook. (Note that this link will eventually expire due to Facebook's annoying habit of expiring external links.)

Joni and Hannah in September

2009-09-29T00:28:00.005+08:00

It's been a while so I thought I'd put up some recent photos of Joni and Hannah. For more photos, see my Facebook album. Unfortunately this link will expire eventually because of Facebook's nasty policy of making externally-accessible links to Facebook albums expire.

Joni is starting to learn how to feed herself.

Hannah continues to grow and be cute.

Joni loves Hannah... except when sibling jealousy kicks in

Joni & Hannah with Ah Kong (That's Hokkien for grandfather.)

Hannah with Ah Mah (That's Hokkien for grandmother.)

Joni built herself a train from a couple of cardboard boxes from Oscar plush toys and a plastic toy and started posing for the camera! Not bad for a less-than-2-year-old!

Hannah being cute

2009-09-06T18:18:00.007+08:00

Hannah was being cute so Juliane said we had to show off some of these photos.

I like milk!

So daddy gives me milk!

The name's Bond. Hannah Bond.

I'm such an angel. (Sometimes.)

Kopi & Teh = Jelly and Tisu Muka = Cordial?!!

2009-09-06T18:05:00.004+08:00

I saw this sign in Tesco Puchong. Tesco is a world-wide British supermarket chain, but apparently the quality control in the Malaysian subsidiary isn't exactly up to British standards...
(For the benefit of my non-Malaysian friends, Kopi = Coffee, Teh = Tea, and Tisu Muka = Facial Tissue).

Hannah sleeping peacefully

2009-06-22T13:14:00.003+08:00

My sister said that since her son has chicken pox, she has not been able to come to see Hannah, so she wanted more recent photos

Joni with great-grandmother Tan Liew Sim

2009-06-20T21:57:00.008+08:00

Poor Joni is no longer the centre of attention with Hannah around, but she got the opportunity to visit with great-grandmother Tan Liew Sim (father's mother's mother). In Hokkien, Joni would call her "Ah Chor".

Dancing for Ah Chor to watch.

The birth of Hannah Chai 蔡汉娜

2009-06-12T22:54:00.006+08:00

Joni is now a big sister!

Baby Hannah born 12:48pm Malaysian Time 12/6/09 2.81kg 44.9cm.

This photo is from minutes after birth, still in the delivery room.

Here is Hannah after they took her to the nursery to warm up, but before they gave her a thorough cleaning.

Now here are mother and baby in the maternity ward after Hannah was cleaned up.

And here she is with daddy! (Amazing the picture turned out fine since I couldn't see where I was aiming the camera :)

Flashback:
Here is a photo of Hanna's first cry, still all messy from being removed from the womb. This is a frame grab from the video I made of the birth.

If you could see what I see

2009-05-06T00:08:00.002+08:00

I sang this song to Juliane as she entered the church for our wedding back in 2003, but I just put together this video today.

Majlis Perkahwinan Idris & Intan Noorul Faizah

2009-04-26T17:10:00.000+08:00

Idris bin Mohd Samsudin & Intan Noorul Faizah binti Anuar got married on Sunday, 26th April, 2009 and I had the privilege of attending their wedding and participating in their bersanding.

To read about bersanding, see this web page.

Joni pushes her own stroller

2009-04-22T23:28:00.002+08:00

17-month-old toddler decides to take charge!

Family

2009-04-11T10:34:00.002+08:00

Someone sent me this video. Made me laugh, made me cry.

Made for the Singaporean government!

I very much agree with the sentiment of the video. Anyone you marry will be imperfect, because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But love anyway!

Joni sitting pretty

2009-03-07T13:29:00.003+08:00

Joni went to uncle Swee Tshung's house where there were lots of other kids playing. Click on the thumbnail to see the other photos.

Tesco Puchong violates Tesco's waiting policy

2009-03-07T13:13:00.004+08:00

Tesco boasts that customers will never have to wait more than 2 carts in line or they will open a new lane. However, on Friday 27th February, although there were still some lanes not open, they still did not open any new lanes in spite of the lines being much longer than that!

Unfortunately, when I went to their website to complain recently, the website was malfunctioning, so I am making this blog post instead.

Baby #2 is a girl

2009-03-02T09:16:00.004+08:00

We found out Baby #2 is a girl from last week's ultrasound. So we've begun thinking of possible names. Here're some that we've thought of so far, but what we end up with in the end might not be any of these yet :-)

Jessie - feminine of Jesse - יִשַׁי -- Gift
Sarah - שָׂרָה - princess
Charis - Χαρις - grace
Hannah - חַנָּה - grace
Esther - אֶסְתֵר - "star" in Persian

Valentine's Day

2009-02-15T21:51:00.004+08:00

For a change, here is a blog entry that has nothing to do with Joni -- in fact, Joni wasn't even there.

The college youth group at our church organized a romantic Valentine's Day 5-course dinner for us! They did a good job, too, and the food was excellent.

Click on the photo below to see the album.

3D Ultrasound and many other photos

2009-02-11T18:02:00.011+08:00

We had so many things happen since Chinese New Year, this post will have a lot of albums.

First, here's a video of the 3D ultrasound scans of baby #2. This was at 20 weeks. Unfortunately, she wasn't cooperative, so although the doctor thinks that it might be a girl, he wasn't sure.

Click on the thumbnails below to go to the various photo albums of things that happened since Chinese New Year.

A visit from Xian Shuo	All in the family	Joni Takes Some Rides
A visit from the Tofilons	Joash & Su Chen's wedding part 1	Joash & Su Chen's wedding part 2
A visit to baby Eesha	Joni and Ronald McDonald	Photo version of the 3D scan

Happy 牛 Year

2009-01-28T10:16:00.011+08:00

This is the Chinese zodiac year of the ox, and the word 牛 sounds like "new", hence the pun in the title.

Chinese New Year for the typical Chinese Malaysian family is kind of like a combination of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day all rolled into one.

Thanksgiving: on Chinese New Year Eve, all the grown boys & their families, and unmarried girls go home to their parents' house for a big reunion dinner. (You traditionally visit the married girls' parents on the 2^nd day,though due to logistics and circumstances, we actually visited Juliane's father after leaving my parents' house on the 1^st day this year.)
Christmas: The married people give the unmarried people red packets containing money "ang pau". ("ang" = red, "pau" = wrapped/wrapping.)
New Year's Day: It is the Spring Festival, signifying a new year in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Click on the photo above to see the full album of photos with photos of some of the traditions as well.

Joni swings herself & climbs the play tube

2008-12-30T10:46:00.001+08:00

Joni swings herself and climbs the play tube for the first time.

Joni enjoys Christmas decorations

2008-12-28T21:46:00.002+08:00

Joni loves Christmas decorations, especially Christmas lights. Here she is enjoying them with her cousins Benjamin, Jeremy and Daniel at a mall.

Joni plays carols on the piano!

2008-12-26T11:03:00.008+08:00

When we visited the Bear and Lizzie, Joni saw her daddy playing Christmas carols on the piano and wanted to give it a try

Click on this small photo to see all the photos.

Joni toots an Ocarina & has a fun time at the park

2008-12-21T09:21:00.008+08:00

Last night, I handed Joni one of my polyclay ocarinas and she managed to get a toot on it! She had been watching with fascination as I played it before that.

Click on the small photo on the right to see the other photos we took that day.

We also took her to the park and she had a great time:

Ultrasound of #2 at 12 weeks
On 11 December, we went for an ultrasound at the 12th week checkup.

Blessed Christmas!

2008-12-20T13:38:00.009+08:00

SciFi cars in Malaysia

2008-12-16T23:20:00.008+08:00

I couldn't believe my eyes when, driving home from work today, I saw this car:

Yes, this is a real, undoctored photo! (The only thing I did was to enhance the contrast.) A real car with the license plate NCC-1701! This in Malaysia, a country which does not allow personalized license plates.

Here is a close-up of the plate:
Later, I overtook the car and parked by the side of the road to wait for it to show up and waved at him and he stopped and introduced himself -- the car belongs to Richard Si, and, not surprisingly, he is an avid Star Trek fan. So I got a photo with him and his car:

But Richard's car is not the only Sci-Fi car on Malaysian roads. One quite common model of the Malaysian car Perodua MyVi looks like an Imperial Stormtrooper from Star Wars from the back:

Joni & her pink handbag

2008-11-23T14:04:00.003+08:00

Joni was really cute with her pink handbag at church today. Click on the small photo to go to the photo album.

Joni in November

2008-11-22T10:43:00.008+08:00

Here's a bunch of photos of Joni in November, as well as a video. Click on the small photo to get the photo album.

Baby # 2 is on the way

2008-11-08T10:16:00.005+08:00

Just one week after Joni's first birthday, we confirmed that baby #2 is on the way!

Click on the small ultrasound photo to see a larger version.

Joni's baptism

2008-11-01T10:37:00.010+08:00

I baptised Joni at home since we are currently members of a Baptist church, and Baptist churches will not baptise babies.

Baptists practice "believers' baptism" which means that they will not baptise babies because the baby is too young to understand enough to believe for themselves.

Most other Christians -- Anglicans, Methodists, Lutherans, Catholics, Orthodox, Reformed, Presbyterians, etc. -- baptise babies because babies born in Christian families are considered part of the Christian community, and also because we believe that baptism is a sacrament -- something holy which God does -- while Baptists believe that it is purely symbolic.

However, I consider this point (sacramental vs symbolic) a belief of secondary importance. This is why I am happy to be a member of a Baptist church in spite of my disagreement about this. I believe that our unity in Christ is more important than these secondary issues.

Please feel free to ask me if you are puzzled by this difference, or why I believe in the sacramental view.

Click on the photo above for the other photos of the event, as well as the liturgy I used for the baptism.

Joni's 1 year old!

2008-10-30T10:54:00.002+08:00

Joni's grand day out

2008-10-28T07:51:00.002+08:00

For a long time, Joni refused to sit in her pram, but recently, she started sitting in it again, so we took the opportunity on the Deepavali holiday to take her to Sunway Pyramid.

For the photos, see here.

Joni all dressed up for church

2008-10-27T11:13:00.003+08:00

Wow, Joni looks so grown up dressed for church!

Click on the photo for the full album.

Joni as Little Red Riding Hood

2008-10-04T18:19:00.008+08:00

Grand-Aunt Lee Lee made this little red riding hood for Joni's cousin Sophie, but Sophie is too big for it now, so it was passed to Joni.

Joni started walking last week, at almost 11 months.

Click on the photo to see the rest of the Little Red Riding Hood photos.

Merdeka!

2008-08-16T19:56:00.008+08:00

It's baby Joni's first Merdeka! (Independence day in Malaysia is 31^st August)

We pray that by the time Joni is old enough to vote, Malaysia will have had many years of being a true democracy.

Here're some photos of us outside our house decorated with flags.

Joni in July

2008-07-20T17:29:00.003+08:00

Here're some photos of Joni in July, including this one of Joni "pole dancing" (Click on the photo to go to the album.)

Cute babe at a bar wearing a see-through shirt

2008-06-22T23:42:00.002+08:00

I happened to see this really cute babe wearing a see-through shirt and no bra at a bar, so I snapped these photos.

Joni's new play area

2008-05-29T11:38:00.001+08:00

Ok, after those three posts against bigotry, I'm back to my favourite topic: Joni!

Our living room is oddly shaped, with a 3 meter X 3 meter area due to a crooked staircase that we never really knew what to do with. So we turned it into a colourful padded play area for Joni using rubber letters & numbers mats. I glued down the letters so that she can't peel them off. (Thanks to my sister's prior experience with these mats.)

Click on the photo on the right to see more photos of it.

Racist rumours against African students

2008-05-28T17:49:00.000+08:00

One of my friends who is really a good and upright person forwarded me an email supposedly written recently by someone named Lim Teng Seng who claims that the Lim Kok Wing University is covering up a kidnapping and rape by a student from Botswana. It goes on to make racist generalizations about Africans. (The letter turns out to be at least 2 years old, as I found a copy online from 2006.)

It asks people to keep forwarding this email to put pressure on LKW to give justice to this girl, which is why my friend forwarded it. However, what this kind of email actually does is to foster more racist stereotypes against Africans.

What spurred me to write this blog is because such racist rumours crop up way too often, and very often it's against Africans. Ironic that it comes right after my previous blog post about Malaysian artistes working for anti-racism.

A friend of mine is a lecturer at LKW and she said, "I don't have any experience with Botswana students in this manner and haven't heard of any. My classes have a lot of African students but had no such experience.They submit their assignments and do their presentations on time. God has been good and has given me good students so far. I cannot generalise any group in this way. There are many hardworking students among the Botswanians."

Even if it were true that some Botswana student had kidnapped and raped a girl, it is wrong to slander all Botswana students. Let us ask ourselves, how would we feel if just because one Malaysian student kidnapped and raped a girl in Australia, then people in Australia start categorizing all Malaysians as kidnappers & rapists?

Let us not spread racism!

A few years ago, this kind of racism caused some African students to be arrested on suspicion of rape & murder. There was a huge racist outcry against African students. Big headlines were splashed all over most newspapers.

Turns out that the Africans were completely innocent, and were only victimized because people gave in to racist sentiments and suspected them. The actual rapist - murderers were local Malaysians!

And there were no big headlines declaring the Africans innocent! Instead, a small article on the inside pages. And the majority of people continued to assume that the Africans were murderers and rapists.

This kind of stuff really makes me ANGRY. Africans are also human beings, made in the image of God. And we Malaysians commit terrible sins against them by perpetuating the stereotypes.

Sure, there are individual Africans who are evildoers -- just as there are Chinese, Indian, Malay, and "lain-lain" Malaysians who are evildoers.

But to racistly stigmatize a whole continent is evil.

Be Ye Glad

2008-05-26T17:08:00.000+08:00

In these days of confused situations
And in these nights of a restless remorse
When the heart and the soul of a nation...¹
Is threatened by racist politicians

I am encouraged to find that our singers,
Our artists, and NGO folks,
Have gotten together a video
To promote love among all races:

The Malaysian Artists for Unity did this completely free of charge. The video & everything else is free for downloading from their website.

----------------
¹This is a reference to the song Be Ye Glad by Michael Blanchard [lyrics][video/YouTube]

Muslims in America

2008-05-20T21:38:00.000+08:00

Ok, today's blog entry has nothing to do with Joni for a change.

I came across this video that brought tears to my eyes:

It's noteworthy that this was done in the most bigoted part of USA, the South. And yet, the majority of the people who said anything defended the Muslim woman. 6 people supported the bigoted store clerk, 13 stood up for the Muslim woman, and 22 said nothing. The ABC TV people made a big deal about the 22, but I think they were just intimidated -- it wouldn't have made a difference if it was some store clerk being belligerent for any other reason than hating Muslims.

For all we disagree with America's foreign policy, one thing about the Americans is their sense of human rights.

I think a similar thing would happen if it was a Christian in an equivalent part of Malaysia who was being refused service... but how about if it were a Jew?

Joni visits grandparents Chai

2008-05-04T00:44:00.000+08:00

Joni visited her grandparents on the Chai side of the family and her cousin Dylan (10 days younger, Ian's sister's son) was also there.

Click on the picture below to see the photos.

After Diane and Simon left with Dylan, Joni had fun on daddy's former bed:

Joni, the bouncing baby

2008-04-30T07:21:00.000+08:00

We made a video for Joni to greet her cousin Antony for his birthday. In this video, you can see that Joni is an examplar of the term "bouncing baby girl"!

Joni loves to jump up and down. When she's in the mood (which is quite often), hold her like that and she'll jump up and down and up and down and up and down ...

Late March & early April photos of Joni

2008-04-08T22:06:00.000+08:00

We just uploaded a bunch of photos from Juliane's cell phone camera so I decided to make a new album consisting of those photos as well as photos from the same time range from other cameras. (Click on the photo to the right for this album.)

Around the same time, Ian's uncle and aunt from Australia also visited. Click here for those photos.

Joni in February and March

2008-03-17T15:47:00.001+08:00

I've added some selected photos of Joni taken in February and March. Click on the photo on the right to go to that photo album.

Joni in January

2008-01-30T00:20:00.001+08:00

Here're some of the photos we took of Joni in January. Click on the photo on the right to view them.

Photos of Joni from Juliane's phone

2008-01-05T13:54:00.000+08:00

Juliane took a few photos of Joni being cute with her phone camera last week. (Click on the thumbnail photo to go to the album.)

What's behind Joni 仲妮's name?

2007-12-31T10:38:00.000+08:00

She's kind of named after Joni Eareckson Tada, and kind of named after Ian -- Joni is a name derived from the same Hebrew name as Ian, יוֹחָנָן which means "יהוה, (God) is Gracious" -- and kind of named after Juliane -- Joni sounds like Juliane -- and kind of named after Confucius -- Confucius' 字 (courtesy name) was 仲尼 and we feminized it by adding the 女 radical.

Why Confucius? Well, actually we chose the English name first and then only came up with a Chinese name that sounds similar. My father came up with a bunch of suggestions for Chinese names and presented them to us. I like a lot of what I have read of Confucius' original teachings (or supposed original teachings, since Emperor Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇 destroyed his original works) for a lot of it sounds very Biblical -- including the Golden Rule. So of all the suggestions my father made, I liked this one best, and Juliane was agreeable to that suggestion.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-20T12:44:00.000+08:00

Last year, our good friend Loo Thing Peng gave us this Christmas tree to celebrate our new house. However, we were still too busy settling in by the time Christmas rolled around so we never managed to get it up. Sadly, Peng was murdered on 21st May this year. So, putting up the tree brought back bittersweet memories. Bitter, because of the tragic way Peng was taken from us. Sweet, because of the friendship we shared with her and because we are quite sure she's in heaven with Jesus now. This Christmas, we remember the birth of Jesus, but also our dear friend Peng who gave us our Christmas tree.

Of course, this year also saw the birth of Joni, which is what made me start blogging. Peng did live long enough to anticipate becoming "Aunty Peng" to little Joni (though she hadn't been named yet as we didn't know her gender until later.) I remember laughing at how our good friend Joshua's blog became a daddy blog when his daughter Zoe was born, but now I'm the same way!

Many of our friends and relatives also had babies this year, including Ian's sister Diane, whose second child and first son Dylan was born 11 days after Joni, cousin Wen Jye had his second child, uncle Chee Seng & Gwen had their third daughter, and many friends including Beng Keat & Lai Li had a daughter, James & Sharon had another son, and Andreas and Yee Send had a son.

Cat's in the Cradle

2007-12-06T08:37:00.000+08:00

In Dr. James Dobson's Focus on the Family Film Series, he talked about (among other things) the important role of fathers. He quoted some statistics about how a study showed that the average middle-classed American man at that time spent an average of less than a minute of meaningful interaction with his children per week!

I heard this recording in Dobson's parenting podcast recently, and heard him quote Harry Chapin's song, "Cat's in the cradle". This is a really good cautionary tale for all dads. It strengthens my resolve to be an integral part of my Joni's life.

Cats in the Cradle
by Harry Chapin

My child arrived just the other day,
He came to the world in the usual way.
But there were planes to catch, and bills to pay.
He learned to walk while I was away.
And he was talking 'fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He'd say, "I'm gonna be like you, dad.
You know I'm gonna be like you."

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, dad?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then.
You know we'll have a good time then."

My son turned ten just the other day.
He said, "Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let's play.
Can you teach me to throw?" I said, "Not today,
I got a lot to do." He said, "That's ok."
And he walked away, but his smile never dimmed,
Said, "I'm gonna be like him, yeah.
You know I'm gonna be like him."

Well, he came from college just the other day,
So much like a man I just had to say,
"Son, I'm proud of you. Can you sit for a while?"
He shook his head, and he said with a smile,
"What I'd really like, dad, is to borrow the car keys.
See you later. Can I have them please?"

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon,
Little boy blue and the man in the moon.
"When you coming home, son?" "I don't know when,
But we'll get together then, dad.
You know we'll have a good time then."

I've long since retired and my son's moved away.
I called him up just the other day.
I said, "I'd like to see you if you don't mind."
He said, "I'd love to, dad, if I could find the time.
You see, my new job's a hassle, and the kid's got the flu,
But it's sure nice talking to you, dad.
It's been sure nice talking to you."
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to me,
He'd grown up just like me.
My boy was just like me.

Breast pump holder

2007-12-04T21:41:00.000+08:00

When pumping milk, Juliane's hands were occupied in holding the pump funnels to her breasts. This can be very boring as it means she can't really do anything else.

She saw a commercial breast pump holder on the Internet for US$30 and the Medella distributor could get it for RM 120, but it wasn't in stock and they would have to order it from overseas.

So I modified one of Juliane's old sports bras and voila! Click on the small picture to see it in more detail, as well as to see it empty.

If you want to do this, you might want to use a sports bra with seams across the nipple like I did -- then I unpicked the seams to the correct location and stitched the edges so that they would not fray.

Counting our blessings: Pusat Kesihatan Kecil Puchong

2007-12-04T13:40:00.000+08:00

In most ways, USA is more advanced than Malaysia, but there are two things I'm aware of that Malaysia is ahead in:

EPF
Medical facilities for those who are not rich

In USA, their EPF ("Social Security") isn't in their individual accounts, but rather becomes like a pension which they can only draw as long as they live, no matter how much money they had put in to it. Just like in Malaysia, the government takes that money and spends it on other stuff, but unlike Malaysia, they have no individual accounts that say how much money there is.

And in medicine, The rich have the best health care in the world, but if you have no money or insurance, you die. (Except that there are some Christian and charitable organizations in a few limited places that provide free or subsidised health care to the poor, for example, in Chicago there is Pacific Garden Mission -- but most places don't have this.)

What reminded me of our blessings in this area is that on Monday morning, I took baby Joni to Pusat Kesihatan Kecil Puchong (Little Medical Centre of Puchong) which is only 5 minutes from my house, for her first month checkup, and we didn't have to pay even one sen! Most government hospitals at least charge a nominal fee, e.g. RM 10 for a visit, RM 30 for 1 month's supply of medicine) but this one didn't charge anything! (Not even for the cream the pediatrician supplied for baby Joni's rashes.)

Every so often, we hear horror stories about mistakes government hospitals make. But that happens everywhere; perhaps the implication is that the incidence is higher at government hospitals than in malpractice-conscious American commercially-run hospitals, but I don't have any statistics on this.

Anyway, I've been complaining about the government a lot lately, especially with the propaganda & disinformation about the Bersih pro-democracy protests, but health care is one place where this government actually has some good policies and I'm thankful for that.

Baby Dedication and Full Moon Party

2007-12-01T14:00:00.000+08:00

We brought baby Joni 蔡仲妮 to church for the first time and had her dedicated unto the Lord, then that evening, we had the full moon (1st lunar month) party.
Photos [Part 1][Part 2]

Difficulties breastfeeding

2007-11-23T16:10:00.000+08:00

Here're some new photos of Joni.

Note the one breastfeeding photo: this was one of the rare times when Joni actually latched on and suckled for a while. We very much believe in the goodness of mother's milk.

However, Joni isn't sucking well, not even on the bottle. We are managing to get her to drink the milk put in her mouth, however, and the pediatrician says she's getting enough nutrition and not to worry. But it does mean double work for Juliane -- she has to first pump out the milk, then feed it to Joni in a bottle. We've had lots of friends give advice, including folks from BreastfeedLah and a professional breastfeeding expert, who told us Joni doesn't seem to have a good rooting reflex.

So do pray that she'll suckle.

Joni & Winnie

2007-11-15T20:12:00.000+08:00

Here's a little photo-comic story of Joni Chai & Winnie the Pooh's latest encounter.

Be sure to read the captions below the photos to follow the story! (You need to click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized photo with the caption.)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=21480&l=12322&id=560951671

Here's a Youtube version:

Auntie Susheela's lullaby

2007-11-12T14:17:00.000+08:00

Auntie Susheela is an old friend of Juliane's -- she comforted her when her mother passed away while she was still in university. Here, she sings a lullaby written by her grandmother to baby Joni.

[Watch the video]

It's a girl!

2007-11-08T18:47:00.000+08:00

Joni Chai 蔡仲妮 was born at 2:31 am (GMT+0800), 30th October, 2007. She weighed 3.06 Kg at birth and was 47 cm long.

We had a scare because her pulse rate suddenly dropped so the gynaecologist decided to do a caesarian. I had another scare because she wouldn't start breathing at first, and everyone except the gynae and one nurse rushed over to the baby. But praise God she started breathing eventually and is now fine.

Apologies to the late Conway Twitty and his daughter Joni Lee for "stealing" their song and modifying the lyrics to better suit my Joni. This video is also available at YouTube.

Here're some photos of Joni's first day.
Here're some photos of Joni taken later.