Going home everyday…
…to see Elena smiling at me gives me such great joy.
I’d been busy the past few nights, following hubby out to search for stuff for the house. On Tuesday night, my darling girl was taking her evening nap when I got back from work, and by the time we got back from house-stuff shopping, it was already past her bedtime and she was asleep again. My mom told me that she was very agitated when my mom was putting her to sleep at night…it was as if she was already used to seeing us during that time of the night and couldn’t fall asleep (this happened another time as well when I was out late…she would close her eyes, nod off, and then wake up, look around and make some noise…then close her eyes, nod off and wake up again…).
Yesterday, I left work at 5pm sharp and made it home by 5.45pm. The minute I popped my head into my mom’s room, Elena turned and looked at me and my heart really felt like it was going to burst with joy. She was so very excited, smiling widely and as I got closer (my mom was carrying her), she waved her arms wildly and tried to touch my face (and ended up hitting me instead… 
) and kicked her legs as if she wanted me to carry her. You cannot imagine how happy I felt at that moment (and guilty too, for not being able to spend more time with her!). I cuddled her and buried my face in the crook of her neck…gosh, I love that sweet baby smell…and gave her kisses all over!
That night, after we got back from house-stuff shopping (again) and after her last feed, I carried her over to the bed to sleep with us. She lay in the crook of my arm, turned over sideways and kinda ‘hugged’ me (I say kinda coz her arms are still so short… ). I held her close and patted her…and when I peered down at her to check if she was asleep, I saw that her eyes were still wide open, but she was just laying still in my arms as if she was enjoying being held (and those who know my girl knows that she hardly ever stops moving). And then after awhile, she gave a little sigh, closed her eyes and went to sleep.
So you can imagine how hard it was for me to get up this morning, leave her in bed and go off to work… 
Comment by MMin on 31 July 2009 @ 3:05 pm
This is such a touching post. Elena must be looking forward to evenings, for you to be back from work to hug and carry her.
Comment by Lora on 8 August 2009 @ 11:30 pm
Hi Sooyin,
I’m asking for my friend who just had a baby. Do you all know if there’s any good website for Baby/Children’s Chinese/bilingual/the one with pin-yin (chinese prounciation?) Any places to get some good reading list? or places to get them online?
Comment by sooyin on 20 August 2009 @ 11:09 pm
MMin: Haha…at this point, I think she’s still too young to know when I’m coming over…
Lora: Are you searching for websites or books?
Comment by Lora on 25 August 2009 @ 10:27 pm
Websites or books, anything good is fine.
Elena has many expressions on her face. so cute.
Comment by sooyin on 28 August 2009 @ 2:10 pm
Lora: Hmm…I can’t really recommend any specific books…I’ve seen some in the bookstores here, but never really took note of it as I’ve mainly been searching for picture books. I’m sure if your friend does a Google search, she should be able to find some websites.