Who's who?

 Which one is Jacynth and which one is her cousin Kate (3 years ago)? Can you see any resemblance? :)

Day out to the Malaysian Consulate-General

According to Chinese custom, Agnes is on a one-month after-birth confinement. However, last Thursday, she was given an exception to leave the house and Jacynth went on her second car ride.

We went to the Malaysian Consulate in the city to register the birth of Jacynth and to apply for her passport. She snoozed on as her thumbprints were being taken... 

so tiny! 

Unfortunately, we were informed that the processing department in Canberra is updating its system and has ceased the processing of passport applications until the middle of January next year. Wherever we are, Malaysia Boleh! ;(

On the 12th day...

It's a tradition to make pig trotters in black vinegar and chicken in ginger wine on the 12th day after delivery. Agnes took some and Jacynth was cranky that night so we can't help but speculate if she was not happy with the change of taste in her milk! Later, we realised that it was most probably because she wasn't comfortable in the warm weather. Yes, Spring is coming to an end and the arrival of Summer is imminent. We had a max of 39C last Friday and are not looking forward to more of those (and warmer) days! Looks like we will be using more of  the portable air-cond that Denny and Sheela lent us!

Nick Started with Perth...

Nick is on a one month backpacking tour of Australia, all on his own! His first stop... the most isolated city in the world - Perth!

We're really privileged to be able to meet Nick at the start and end of his tour, as Perth will be his point of arrival to and departure from Australia. Kevin managed to take him for a short stroll at King's park, before bringing Nick over to our place for dinner - Chinese dishes cooked by Agnes' mom! So Nick is also the first among our Malaysian friends to have met Jacynth in person. :) 

The next day, Kevin had lunch with Nick at Secret Garden Cafe, and said goodbye. It was great to be able to catch up with him.

Here's to a great trip for Nick. Hope he enjoys himself and most of all, arrives back here in Perth and back to Malaysia safely. As he travels alone, may he be able to find the space and time to ponder about his future - maybe even find a life partner?! :)

Watch Jacynth grow #1

Cleaning and scrubbing

Can wait until tomorrow,

For babies grow up,

We've learned to our sorrow.

So, quiet down cobwebs;

Dust go to sleep;

I'm rocking my baby,

And babies don't keep.

Weight at Day 3, 1/11/10: 2 kgs 600 gsm 

(discharge weight was less than 10% decrease from birth weight which was excellent)

Weight at Day 5, 3/11/10: 2 kgs 700 gsm

(measured by visiting midwife)

Weight at Day 13, 11/11/10: 2 kgs 950 gsm

(measured by visiting child health nurse)

One day I will reach the top of the giraffe chart!

First few days with Jacynth...

Receiving visitors...

Grandma (poh poh) and Grandpa (kung kung) who were also excited to welcome us home...

Cindy...

Denny and Sheela...

Grandaunty (koh poh)... who works as a nurse just one floor below the maternity ward 

Judy and Perry...

 Baby Boo friends who were at her Baby Shower

Dino decided to linger for a while more...

After being deprived for the whole 9 months, Agnes finally gets to enjoy some half boiled eggs!

(actually) enjoying confinement food

Now Everyone's life revolves around her!

bathing her... 

(almost perpetually) feeding her... so, Agnes rests/ sleeps when she is asleep..

burping her...

.

carrying and entertaining her...

even while Kevin's doing his research 

...and just adoring her...

And her name is...

After a week of speculation and guessing, we will now reveal the name of our little baby girl! The truth is, we took some time to finally settle on a name (and a spelling for the name) that we both liked and which reflected what we feel. And of course, we had to check and countercheck to make sure that her name didn't sound like a curse word or anything undesirable in English, Malay, Tamil and any one of the common chinese dialects spoken in Malaysia. Meanwhile, an advert was scheduled to appear on our blog, so we are taking this opportunity to get more hits on our website and earn more money! How timely... ;p

Based on standard Chinese tradition, her surname will be Koay. Though it is a common practice here in Oz to give a combined surname (or even for the child to follow the mom's surname), it was unthinkable for us because Koay-Low sounds too much like gay-lo (homosexual) or kwai-lo (mat salleh), and Low-Koay sounds like low-kwai (old turtle)! 

So anyway... we started off by thinking about her Chinese name, which we thought would be slightly easier, since we already had half of it. You see, for generations, the Koay clan has been keeping a list of characters that are to be used to form the first character of the chinese name for persons born in each generation. For her generation, the word is 家 (jiā), meaning 'home' or 'family'. We didn't have to use it, but we thought it'd be a cool idea to follow the tradition, and it also saves us a third of the work! For the second character in her chinese name, with the help of Kevin's parents, we picked 欣 (xīn), meaning 'joy' or 'rejoicing'. So 家欣 (jiā xīn) can be loosely translated as 'home/family of joy/rejoicing'. 

As for her English name, we played around with the idea of choosing something that sounded like 'jiā xīn'... and ended up with (after lots of deliberation on how we wanted to spell it) Jacynth (pronounced juh-sinth)! It is derived from the words jacinth (in modern usage a reddish orange gemstone, but in olden days a bluish gemstone - possibly sapphire) and hyacinth (a bluish purple flower). 

What's interesting is that jacinth is one of the gemstones used to adorn the walls of the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation, as well as the breastplate of the high priest in the book of Exodus. Some of you will also have noticed the J. R. R. Tolkien quote on Facebook, taken from his poem 'The Happy Mariners', which gave the name its celestial connection. This of course delighted Kevin, not to mention that it also comes from one of his favourite authors.

Since the english and chinese names sound very similar, and to avoid repetitiveness, we decided to spell out her chinese name using the spelling of her English name...

And now we introduce you to...

Remember, it's spelled with a 'y'. ;)

P.S. - To those who thought/suggested that her name would/should be Koay Ko Chi, Koay Kar Pek, Koay Talam, Koay Ban Kek etc... Sorry to disappoint you! :)

The Happy Mariners

J.R.R Tolkien

I know a window in a western tower

That opens on celestial seas,

And wind that has been blowing round the stars

Comes to nestle in its tossing draperies.

It is a white tower builded in the Twilight Isles,

Where Evening sits for ever in the shade;

It glimmers like a spike of lonely pearl

That mirrors beams forlorn and lights that fade;

And sea goes washing round the dark rock where it stands,

And fairy boats go by to gloaming lands

All piled and twinkling in the gloom

With hoarded sparks of orient fire

That divers won in waters of the unknown Sun —

And, maybe, ‘tis a throbbing silver lyre,

Or voices of grey sailors echo up

Afloat among the shadows of the world

In oarless shallop and with canvas furled;

For often seems there ring of feet and song

Or twilit twinkle of a trembling gong.

O! happy mariners upon a journey long

To those great portals on the Western shores

Where far away constellate fountains leap,

And dashed against Night’s dragon-headed doors,

In foam of stars fall sparkling in the deep.

While I alone look out behind the Moon

From in my white and windy tower,

Ye bide no moment and await no hour,

But chanting snatches of a mystic tune

Go through the shadows and the dangerous seas

Past sunless lands to fairy leas

Where stars upon the jacinth wall of space

Do tangle burst and interlace.

Ye follow Earendel through the West,

The shining mariner, to Islands blest;

While only from beyond that sombre rim

A wind returns to stir these crystal panes

And murmur magically of golden rains

That fall for ever in those spaces dim.   

Easy peasy... NOT

28/10/10 | 10.00 | This was when it all began. They call it pre-labour. It can last for days or weeks. But it did not.

29/10/10 | 21.30 | We made ourselves comfortable at the Armadale Health Service's labour ward. We were booked into Bentley Hospital but at 8pm on a busy Friday night, we had to be transferred to Armadale, some 35 minutes from home.

29/10/10 | 22.15 | Managing labour...

29/10/10 | 23.30 | ... in all sorts of positions.

30/10/10 | 01.30 | Strapped up all over to monitor baby's heartbeat and contractions. On one hand, a drip to stabilise baby's heartbeat - she was way too active!

30/10/10 | 03.30 | Still hanging in there. Dilation did not happen as quickly as we had hoped.

30/10/10 | 07.00 | Two hours earlier... she started on the laughing gas.

30/10/10 | 10.00 | 45 minutes after baby's arrival, it was finally an honest 'thumbs up'!

30/10/10 | 11.30 | After spending 1.5 hours skin to skin with the baby, it's time to pick herself up, clean up...

30/10/10 | 12.15 | ... and be wheeled to the maternity ward, for her maiden stay in a hospital.

30/10/10 | 12.45 | She may be eating but everything is still in a daze...

It was as per the textbooks; to expect 12 - 16 hours of labour for the first pregnancy... Thus, Agnes can testify that when God said child bearing was going to be painful, He wasn't pulling our legs!

Pictures of me... and my two slaves...

Hello world! This is me at 45 minutes of age...

Now I'm 1 day old!

It's really comfy after a nappy change... 

zZZzzzz... 

I'm hungry! Can I eat the sheets?

Bluek!

Look, I've got more hair than daddy!

I hope mom and dad remembers to read my instruction manual...

Hey, get out of my photo!

Everything looks topsy turvy!

Wow I've got an antenna on my head... wait, is that the EoR signal?

My first car ride...

Finally I get my own bed...  

The view looks great from up here! 

Do I really have to do this again? 

Time for some sit-ups, need to get in shape after the sedentary lifestyle of the last 9 months...

Too much work... time for a break...

Now they make me dress up like a prisoner!

Please don't drop me! 

I'm sure everyone must be wondering what my name is, but looks like you'll have to stay tuned to find out in the next post!