Finally, M is on his way home from Japan.

I couldn’t believe how much his daughter misses him. She missed him more than I do! When we came back from vacation almost two weeks ago, she was fine but lately these days, she had been asking about the blank space in our bed and how many days until papa boards the plane.

~ M is always ready to carry her all the time, when she wants to! ~ 

Last night, I chanced upon M online at Yahoo so we had a chat. Pristine was so enthusiastic to talk to him so we called him through Yahoo Messenger but being 5 hours ahead of Dubai, it was already 1 am in Japan. Not a good time to chat long as he needs to sleep to catch up with his flight the next day. But M was still awake packing his things and tidying up the room he stayed (in my brother’s apartment in Tokyo) so he said ok.

Father and daughter talked - mostly, Pristine talked using the PC mic. M has no PC mic, can only hear and see us from his computer screen. He then typed his replies to his daughter’s questions via chat. It was so interesting. Every time a new line is typed, Pristine would call my attention and ask, “what did papa say, mom?”

Then the talking continues.

Pristine couldn’t last more than 10 minutes talking to my father or to my sister but to her own father? Thirty minutes later and she was still at it. She obviously missed him a lot!

In the end, she said, “ok papa, I love you. Don’t ever leave us again, ok?” Lol.

*M didn’t leave us behind, he was just stuck in Japan for work. *

Pristine saw a hair straightening iron in my sister in-law’s apartment while we were in Japan. She picked it up and asked me to straighten her curly hair. Literally begged! With much hesitation, I ironed her hair, only mildly just to make it a little bit straight. The result was so overwhelming - to me and of course to her. I never realized her hair is so long when straightened. It never seemed to grow because it curls up.

This is the original hair (Stitch ears, not included):

Straightened version:

See the hair length difference? and her reaction to her straight hair?

Clearly elated!

But I told her I love to see her with curly hair. I find her cute and age-appropriate with the curly hair. I don’t know, it’s just me.

Pristine: Finally, we have the same hair, mom! (with the emphasis on the word finally)

Me: You look great, sweetie but I still love the curls more.

Pristine: (while touching her hair a lot!) Don’t worry mom, when I wake up in the morning after sleeping, the curls will be back…

Then we slept and the next morning:

Me: Good morning! Whoa…the curls are back!

Pristine: See, I told you!

Me: Why do you think they came back?

Pristine: because they want to be loved by you!

On our way back to Dubai, Pristine was starting to get bored with the long flight. We flew from Narita (Tokyo) to Hong Kong for 4 hours then waited for almost 2 hours at the airport then the 9 hour flight to Dubai. She is a great traveller. I never had any trouble travelling long distance with her. So amazing since she is just 4 and I expected tantrums and lots of spilled food or worse, toilet mishaps. Nothing, we had no such episode of things like that. Such a darling.

Anyway, back to the getting bored stuff. She was asking me a lot of times if we are about to land or not and I kept saying no, not yet, sweetie. Then she would open the cabin window cover to look out. Night has fallen.

the always happy girl is a little bit bored

Pristine: Look mom, it’s night already!

Me: Yeah, that means we’re almost there! (we were scheduled to land at 8:30 pm and I told her we’ll land at night since she has no inkling of time yet, only day and night)

Pristine: There’s a star, there’s a star!

Me: (looking at the starless sky) Where? Where?

We were seated in the wing section of the plane and able to see the whole plane right wing right outside our window.

Pristine: There, mom! (Pointing to the tip of the plane wing - a light is blinking) The star is following us!!

On our long haul flight from Dubai to Hong Kong on our trip to Japan, Pristine wanted to open the cabin window cover.

P: Mom, can we see what’s outside?

Me: No, not now, we can’t see anything right now.

(Ignoring me and still trying to open the cover. The sun is just starting to rise in East Asia.)

Me: No, don’t! You’re not listening to mama, are you deaf? I said, we can’t see anything right now.

(This might sound harsh but I really told her in a very gentle way…)

P: We can’t see anything? Are we blind?

I have an aunt (real age: 55, mental age: depending on situation) who loves Madonna. Er, make that, loves the song “Like a virgin” by Madonna. Nothing wrong with that, I like that song too but I don’t sing it when I wake up or when I am cooking meals in the kitchen every morning.

Pristine loves my aunt very much. She took care of her for a couple of years after she was born. Now, we get to meet her during our days off since she is living close. One day, I’ve overheard my daughter singing:

Pristine: Like a virgin, aww!

Then when I gave her a strange look, she asked, “Mama, what’s a virgin? Why do we have to like her?”

At the dining table when we were having fish for dinner:

Me: Ok, let’s eat now. Try this fish, it’s really yummy!
Pristine: (Looks closely at the whole fish in the plate)
But mom, “fish are friends, not food!”

Me: Huh?

Pristine: In Finding Nemo mom, “Fish are friends, not food!”

… and in a Bruce the shark kind of tone, she goes on to repeat that line over and over and over again!

Pristine loves to meet me by the door after work and gives me a tight hug. I’ll then ask her how school went as we talk from the front door all the way to the bedroom where I change my clothes. She watches me and usually just continues to talk and talk. However last night, she noticed something in my body.

“Wait!” She came closer and touched my lower belly. I thought, oh dear she must be noticing the extras in this area.

“Mama, what’s these lines?”  

“Oh, those are called stretch marks.” Even after more than 4 years since I gave birth to her, some marks are still visible. Turned lighter but still visible if you look closely.

“Does it hurt?”

“No, it does not hurt, honey.”

“Why do you have that?” The inquisition began.

“Hmm, when you were inside my belly, mama’s skin stretched so much that it broke and formed into lines.”

…silence…

Suddenly hugging my leg, she said looking up with apologetic eyes, “Sorry mama!”

Oh my, there’s no need to apologize so I bent down and explained to her and she lightened up and began chatting about her friend in school. Children are just amazing.

The babe was home yesterday because her school had a half-term break. A half term break for a day only but since she kind of knows she only has two days off every week, yesterday she was puzzled why she had to be at home instead of going to school.

She asked me, “Mom, am I sick?” Funny how children can detect routines.

Pristine keeps on saying she has something for me in her pink house. Pink house? Yeah, the imaginary house she made up in her mind about a couple of months ago. According to her, the pink house has lots of toys and other good stuffs. Most often she whispers to me, “Mama, I have something for you in my pink house”, to which I gladly say, “wow, I’m excited!” Then she beams with pride and scoots off to the next room, take a small toy or book or her paper from school marked ‘Excellent’ and hands it to me.

At this age (she is four), it is not unusual for toddlers to make up imaginary things like castles and princesses, princes that only exist in Disney movies. Pristine loves to associate everything good like Christmas and Christmas presents, nice books, pink dresses and surprise gifts to the pink house. Even Santa lives on a pink house, she says!

Pristine is so good with using her imagination that she also makes shakes, ice cream and a hot cup of coffee with her bare hands. She moves it like she is really doing it then gives me the goods, “Here you go, mom!”

Does your toddler, if you have any, imagine things too?

Pristine likes the Harry Potter series very much she watches it at least once, every day. She loves the conversations between the three bestfriends Harry, Ron and Hermione that she mimics them and laugh at herself. She has memorized some of the charms and shouts, “Alohamora”, thinking it would open a locked door.

I am amused except that she has learned to use Ron’s favorite expression and says it whenever she is surprised. “Bloody hell!”.