Stay With You - Ansel is 1!

This has been a long time in the making but I've finally completed Ansel's 1st year video, woohoo! I know, it is wayyyyy overdue but better late than never, right? At the very least, I am determined to keep making these growing up videos for my kids so that they can hold onto these fond, happy and precious memories.

This was done on my phone, which is my new way of making videos, because my laptop has come of age and is unable to run high res videos smoothly despite going for upgrades in the last few months. Since I am not willing to spend money to get a new one, I shall just hang in there for now and do what I can. I am just happy that I finished this at last and Ansel has been very excited to watch it time and again. My apologies for the wait but I hope it was worth it, my dear!

So, here's a letter for my baby Prince who has brought an abundance of joy and smiles into our lives every day since he was born. We love you so, so much!

******

Dearest Ansel,

Happy turning the BIG one! We had such a cosy and fun-filled Baby Shark party to celebrate your big day, didn't we? We set up this huge tub in our balcony, filled it with water, enjoyed a good soak and had so much fun with your Korkor and Jiejies who were excited to play games with you.

Time flies and it's so hard for me to believe that you are a year old already! A year ago, you burst my water bag at 35 weeks and I went through 40 hours without sleep before pushing you out with every ounce of strength I had. It all still feels so vivid in my mind, you know that? All the pain, all the joy, all the relief, all the magic - I still feel it. Seeing your cute, charming face made me know that it was all worthwhile and you have been a gem to us and we all adore you so, so much.

Let's see. You are crawling around the house swiftly on all fours these days and can pull yourself to stand. You love going gai gai with us and is able to sleep peacefully in your pram when you are tired. Many strangers think that you are a girl and call you Xiao Mei Mei because of your thick, beautiful hair but we all love your hairstyle and since I am your hairstylist, I am letting it stay. Hee.

We celebrated Christmas and Chinese New Year with the family and you looked so cute in your oufits. We are blessed to have a closely knitted family and having you with us just makes everything better. The Lo Hei was so fun, right? Well, since I love to eat it and you still drink my milk, that means you got a taste of it too, haha. Yummy!

Your smile is infectious and you are such a smiley, happy baby. It's like even if I am having a rough day, just looking at your smile helps to turn the upside down world back up again. Yes, you have a superpower even though you don't know it! Oh, and you look so cute with your two front teeth! No more toothless grin but still so adorable nonetheless. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve a precious little one like you and I can only count my blessings and be so very grateful.

You are a good eater and you love the porridge that I cook for you each day. I would too! There's so much yummy flavours and nutritious food inside and seeing your satisfied look is my motivation to keep cooking for you - we even bring out your porridge when we go out as it is so much healthier than outside food.

Your siblings love you to the moon and back and I think you know that, don't you? They think you are the cutest baby in the world and every day, they would play with you, hug you, kiss you, love you and help me make sure you are well taken care of. Yes, you brighten up all of our days just by being you. They let you join in their dancing too and it's not easy because you need to be carried all the time. Still, it is always great fun being with them, right?

It pained my heart so much when you fell ill and we subsequently realised that you had contracted Covid-19. I know, doing the ART test is such an unpleasant task but you were a trooper throughout the ordeal. Guess what? Your siblings had Covid too, haha, I guess that is how united you are, one for all, all for one! So the four of you spent a week in isolation with me but I must say it wasn't that bad after all cos' we played and did fun activities together. Still, it was a relief when you recovered and were back to your usual smiling self, phew!

I promise to keep these videos of you coming, okay? Pinky promise! You just have to be patient and give me more time because being a mum of four can be really exhausting. Nonetheless, no matter how tired I am, I will always love sitting by your side and watching our videos - these are the moments that remind me how fleeting time is and how lucky I am to be able to stay here with you, witness your every milestone and spend every day with you. 

Seeing your sweet face beside me when I wake up every morning, snuggling in bed with you, feeding you and seeing how much you love Mama's milk, feeling your small hand in mine and planting a thousand kisses on you every day makes me sooo happy. Being your mum is a huge blessing and this has been an absolutely amazing journey - and I know it will only get better, right?

Thank you for being you and for making our lives complete. You brought so much laughter and joy to us in the last 365 days and I can't wait to see what life has in store for you as you grow up. Just do it slowly so that I can savour each and every of these moments with you, yeah? 

I love you more than you will ever, ever know. Happy 1st birthday, my love!

Love,

Mama