The New Year Post: Lessons from the Past, My Simple Chinese New Year, and the Brothers

Without much hype, I left the job that I've been doing for more than 6 years.  Six years can be considered a quite a long time nowadays, but of course not in the context of my parents' work lives where loyalty service of more than 20 years was a norm.

New year, new job - My resolution, theoretically-speaking

A change of job does not necessarily have to stem from negative reasons, although boredom may fall under the negative category.  Between getting comfortable and continuous professional challenge, it's crucial for both to be balanced.

Today marks my second week of work at a new place away from KL.  It's a mixture of familiarity as well as strange feelings. A long way lies ahead for me to learn before I can call it "mission accomplished".

My mission is very simple, yet not necessarily easy to attain - I would like to be better-rounded; not just being a parent to A & A, but at the same time, a balance between work and personal commitments equally.  Also to always try not to let personal challenges, if any, distract me from delivering.

Being an ordinary person means my life comprises ups and downs, and hence some moments of imperfection, although they're only minor ones, thankfully.  The 5 months of being away from work in 2014 due to a long stay at HUKM (a case of cervical incompetence and thus a high risk of recurrent premature delivery if not careful), and maternity leave thereafter, came at a cost as I seemed a little lost upon my return to work after that.

The awaited moment when someone opens his mouth
Alvin is coming to 4 years old this May.  One of the biggest gifts of the early months of 2016 that I am most grateful for is to hear Alvin talk meaningfully for the first time at the age of 3+.  We used to worry a lot about this issue - despite having normal hearing, he was still not verbal as at December 2015.

Although his pronunciation isn't 100% perfect, at least it provides answer our anxiety as to whether he will talk or not one day.  He speaks mostly Mandarin, with a mixture of English.

I don't know if it's speech therapy or pre-school that made Alvin open his mouth to talk, maybe it's a combination of both.

However, also as in the case of me, Alvin has a long way ahead for improvements, although for different aspects. Certain parts of his behaviour still needs improvement - he has a highly fiery temper (not appropriate for his age!) when his wishes aren't fulfilled.  For instance, his unfulfilled requests for not-so-good stuff such as tidbits, which severely affects his appetite for proper meals.

From where did he learn about the yummy taste of tidbits, I do not know as I don't take/buy snacks. Maybe it's through sampling the food of others, which in reality is not anyone's fault, because folks normally mean well when they offer tidbits to young children.

The only prudent thing to do is to make Alvin realise what's good and what's not as he grows up, which is easier said than done.

The brother
As for Alvin's brother, Aaron, he's small and may be mistaken for a 1 year plus baby when in fact he's a toddler closer to 2 years, unless you see his mouthful of huge teeth. Poor Aaron frequently get pushed or knocked head-to-head by Alvin when they fight, which is not unusual due to their close age gap.  How to make Alvin understand "sayang adik"?  Aaron enjoys climbing, eating, playing with blocks and flipping through photo albums - a different personality from his brother although they look similar.

The Chinese New Year
As I am still new in my present employment, I am not allocated with annual leave this month. No problem, I'm ok with that.

I celebrated the new year modestly at home in Seri Kembangan.  I've been away from home long enough, hence homesickness is no longer an issue although at all times, I still regard the various authentic food of Ipoh (my place of birth) and Taiping (my mother's hometown) as the best.

Unlike the previous years, I did not get to go back to Ipoh to visit my relatives due to limited time factor this new year. Maybe I will go there some other days when I have the chance to do so.

Conclusion
There are still many rooms for self-improvement, and that will be my biggest challenge this year.
Any shortcoming committed once or twice may be forgiven, be will surely become my nightmare if they persist - you will know what I mean without further elaboration here!