Unlike most couples I know, we don’t have a wedding portrait anywhere in our home.  We have pictures, yes, but they’re all in an album.

We do, however, have a portrait of Takuya Kimura.  It’s huge, about 4 feet I think.  That’s him when he was much younger in his early or mid twenties. 

I bought the poster from Tower Records some years ago and got my man to put it into a frame I got from Ikea.  Unfortunately, it suffered a crack immediately afterwards due to that man’s fault and this portrait has been sitting cold behind the curtains for many years now.  Occasionally, I’ll pull it out to admire.  And I even make sure that my son recognises him and knows how to pronounce his name.  (Yesh he does!)

By the way, Takuya’s new movie Bushi no Ichibun will premiere in theatres in Japan tomorrow.  I can’t wait to read the reviews and watch it when it releases officially here.

I was reviewing this website on unique baby gifts with choices ranging from clothes, blankets, keepsakes to creative baby gifts baskets and it got me thinking. 

What sort of gifts should we be giving to newborn babies?  Or perhaps more correctly, what sort of gifts do we mothers really want when we have a baby? 

Sure, there are a lot of cute and charming stuff to receive.  

Like this cute as a button baby gift set overflowing with adorable wearables, embroidered booties, bib, washcloths all tucked into a well-made wooden box with cut out handles.  Or this five piece lamb baby basket which comes with a blanket, tin and an 8 inch tall soft, finely furred “Lammie Pie” plush toy with blushing cheeks and sweet brown eyes.  And what about their silver and pewter range of baby keepsakes which could be passed down as heirlooms?

Awww…all so very sweet and pretty aren’t they?

But…are these really what we want?  

I think they make real lovely gifts certainly, but from a practical standpoint, do we really use them?  I remember receiving many such gifts when Gavin was born and I also remember that most of them were left unwrapped, intact and kept in the cupboard.  My MIL even suggested that I recycle them as future gifts.  Well, sincerity not included I suppose.

Maybe I’m too practical but if you ask me, I would say, give me diapers!  Really! 

All mothers know how quickly babies will outgrow their clothes.  Moreover, we would already have bought most of those wearables.  But we need tons of diapers.  So something like their diaper cakes would make great gifts.  Made of layers of disposable diapers and decorated with cascading silk flowers, they make a beautiful and practical gift.  I know I will not complain if I receive something like that. 

And something else which I won’t complain about.  Receiving cold hard cash in the form of red packets!

See what he’s doing?  Yup, he’s biting his fingernails.  And sometimes he bites his toenails too.

Since the last time I wrote about him picking his nose, he has moved on to bite his nails.  I know for certain it’s not out of anxiety because he laughs when I scold him.  In fact, he doesn’t want his nails trimmed because he says he wants to bite them.

It has not gotten obsessive so I’m not doing anything about it yet.  While I’m slightly concerned due to the hygiene factor, I think by drawing attention to his actions, it may backfire and make him wants to bite his nails more.  Hopefully, it’ll go away in time and not become a bad habit.

Erm, actually the nail biting problem for me now is about him digging into his backside and smelling his finger afterwards. 

This week for BloggerTips, I have Domestic Rat of Amuse-Bouche recommending a product for women with sensitive skin. 

Although I don’t have sensitive skin, I find this a very useful article because many women with such skin conditions are likely to be exasperated with the many choices available but not knowing what is exactly suitable for them.  Moreover, the product she has recommended is readily available and inexpensive.  Read all about the product for sensitive skin at viva woman!

Oh, and yesh, I’ve created yet another new header for that site from scratch again.  This time I think I’m quite happy with it and should be sticking to this look for a longer while (I hope.)  Out of interest, I must as well mention that I actually wanted to call the site FICKLE initially but couldn’t because that domain name was taken up. 

Well, I consider fickle a woman’s supreme privilege and that’s what makes us more interesting anyway. 

I really cannot live without Internet access.  I will die.  Literally.

Yesterday, I couldn’t go online at all after 2pm, after I have created a brand new header for my viva woman! blog.  Found out that there was a technical glitch and it would take some time to fix it.  The problem was apparently resolved by the late afternoon but I still couldn’t log in until this morning.  It was killing alright.  I was so restless for the rest of the day and almost wanted to go down to Coffee Bean or any place where I could surf. 

My man once said that all I need to survive was a PC and a mug of water.  Really, no.  I need more than that.  I need a PC WITH Internet access.  No Internet and the PC is just a box to me and almost useless. 

That’s how bad it is for me.  I really cannot live without Internet access.  Blogging is one, but I’m so reliant on the Net for working and research purposes.  In fact, I can probably live without a phone, but NOT without the Internet. 

And the worst thing was that my man was gloating about my plight, making stupid remarks like “Ha.  I think you kena banned online cos you blogged too much lah!” 

I was fuming and was seriously considering to strangle him, squashed him to pulp and then feeding the pulp to the earthworms. 

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr….