Nesting instinct is the state of mind that usually get pregnant women to do extra and sometimes weird household activities just before they were about to give birth. Some embarked on major spring cleaning while others would be cooking like there was a party.

I did something equally ludicrous when I was about to deliver Qi.

Even though we have a washing machine and I don’t enjoy any domestic chores, I decided then that I must wash my clothes and Eu’s BY HANDS.

In my upstairs bathroom.

So there I was, a couple of weeks before I was due, squatting in the bathroom, washing our clothes and carrying wet clothes in bucket down the staircase to the anxiety of my mother – who could not stop me even if she wanted to.

A few days of these and I woke up one morning to some spotting and the first thing that came to my mind was…

“Oh no, I did not read much about Caesarian!”

And that was exactly what I had to go through 3 years ago today to deliver Qi.

I bravely opted for local anaesthetic because I wanted to try it. So while my normal deliver with Eu was quite a breeze with no painkiller, throughout the whole 20-30 mins procedures I was wishing that I had some superpower to transfer what I felt to the doctors so they can tell me again that the what I felt when they cut and stitched my flesh was really “just the sensation”.

As compared to Eu, I’ve learned to train Qi to have early bedtime from birth and for the first few months of her life, she slept at 5 pm, waking up only for milk.

The ease of settling her down for bed continues and I never had to rock her and very rarely do I need to stay in the room till she falls asleep.

Until today, after a bottle of milk, a bedtime chat and kisses, my husband and I can say good night, close the room and she will usually sleeps within minutes. Of course there are times when she’d still be active enough to sing to herself but 10 mins of this, it will all be silent.

Until 5-6 am the next morning when she will look at the window and decide that it’s brighter and shouts from her room…

“Mama, it’s morning time! I can come to your bed!”

But while it’s easy to settle her for bedtime, she is not quite so straightforward in other things.

She is small but she is loud with a distinctive high-pitched voice. She may be the youngest in the household right now, but she is the undisputed bully and she can easily make Eu and their cousin brother cry or run to us to complain.

She speaks only after she turned two years old but right now, she can out talk anyone.

She is a rebel, has very short patience and while threats usually works with Eu, Qi is the type who will look you in the face and say, “Ok mama, go ahead..”

Yet she also charms everyone easily. In Eu’s school and few shops that we sometimes frequent, the staffs look forward to seeing her.

When she sings, the whole house can hear and it is sometimes hard to keep a straight face when she is about.

Even though she can be a typical girl, fond of dresses and dressing up, she also has an alter ego and while Eu is always the princess and the good girl, Qi can be just as happy pretending to be “Ultraman Dyna” complete with the fierce expression and stance.

Her character can be summed up by her favorite Disney Princess – Jasmine with the pants and high adventures.

While Eu prefers soft noises, as explained by Qi herself, she adores “loud noises”. She told us that she wanted a drum – just as if she is not already playing drums with everything else at home.

And best described by my mother in law, whenever Qi is around, we are never bored.

She is another wonderful blessings in our lives and we certainly enjoy seeing her conquering the small world that she moves about right now and in the future.