Gifts Galore

Even before the arrival of Isabel we were giving and receiving gifts. The sisters' birthdays are merely 2 days apart, and from a previous blog we mentioned that Hannah had pre-birthday celebrations.

We have all heard about sibling rivalry, and were particularly concerned about sibling jealousy, since newborns are notoriously time consuming. Even with Hannah's eagerness to be an older sister, there was a feeling that it could all go pear-shaped if she felt her position in the family was being usurped by the new addition.

So, to prevent Hannah from looking like this when Isabel inevitably became the centre of attention,

we had a steady stream of presents ready to make sure Hannah didn't feel left out:

Having inherited her father's penchant for LEGO, Hannah was absolutely enamoured by her new Thomas the Tank Engine set. She can easily spend an hour playing with her Duplo sets, which gives us the breathing space we sometimes need.

Of course it helped that friends were thoughtfully giving presents to Isabel AND Hannah. Here's a lovely clay model set that required a lot of input from Daddy!

Isabel, on the other hand, was expectedly oblivious to the fuss her arrival had created. After 4 weeks of eating, sleeping, excreting and possetting, Isabel celebrated her "Full Moon" in her grandparents house with minimal fanfare.

Here's our little baby grasping Gong Gong's "Ang Pow", embodying his blessings for her to have continued good health and growth.

It would be impossible to include pictures of all the gifts the girls received, but we simply had to say we are mightily impressed by the beautiful gift-wrapping skills displayed,

which Hannah clinically destroyed in seconds, of course.

We were taught as children to remove wrappers carefully so as to re-use them, but these days children are encouraged to enjoy ripping off the very same beautiful wrappers. Thankfully we've managed to immortalize some of these creations digitally.

Special mention goes to our friends from PD who somehow managed to organise themselves and bought us this McLaren rocker, which Isabel has gradually settled herself into.

No less gratitude goes to all our friends (& family) for your cards, ang pows, diapers, books, toys and clothing. We truly appreciate your effort and thoughtfulness.

This is one girl who feels very welcomed to our world indeed.

Isabel's Dedication Service

Last Sunday was Isabel's dedication service. As always, we will tell the story with pictures...

This was the dress rehearsal a day before Isabel's "Big Day".

We ditched the hairband since she was at risk of looking like a mini version of Scary Spice. A lovely hairband - but I've never quite figured out how to use those on babies with unruly hair.








Here's the scaled-down version of Isabel with her beautiful elder sister.

Will there be boy-trouble in 10 year's time?

Our church Elder conducted the service with little Hannah getting progressively bored and restless. In the end, she didn't do too badly for a 4-year-old who is usually full of beans.

Our retired pastor delivered the sermon for the day, which was a biblical and practical presentation of parenting for today. The dedication service itself was a meaningful time as we took pledges to guide and nurture young Isabel in the way of the Lord.

A regular feature at all major church events - TP's creations! The painstaking effort taken to make each of her cakes is truly admirable.

The day was over before we knew it. A big thank you to our family and church friends for being a part of the special day. Thank you for all the lovely presents - that will need some mention in another blog!