Let’s recap what goes on in July so far.  My band’s first female guest drummer, sister’s boyfriend proposed, 2nd book review at the McGraw-Hill’s website, nomination at Ping.sg, and – hold your breath – my nephew was born last evening and he has the same birthday as me!  Now, how cool is that?  Last night, during my birthday celebration, Cynthia told me that Julie might give birth on the 10th or the 11th.  I was secretly willing for a 10th.  Will and it shall happen!  Now, if you need some paranormal assistance, feel free to contact me.

My family is small so unless my own sister quickly fasten the pace of the production line (after she gets married of course!), so far I only have one niece Felicia whom I’ve met in Indonesia 2 years ago and now, baby Nathaniel.  I don’t really see myself as an uncle because, look, the age gap is not that significant, is it?  They are more like brother and sister to me.  I so see myself playing Monopoly or Scrabble with them.  I can certainly do tea party too and bring along brother Wilfrid’s own concoction of plastic muffins.

This is usually the time when people write something about the childbirth.  I am no expert of course and I hardly can hold any of such conversation with the young parents.  My idea of bringing up a baby – as some of my friends would have known – is to chunk him into a sound proof container or to equip him with an aqua mask.  I seriously value the sound of silence a lot.  Back to the childbirth process, erm … Cynthia told me that with one or two pushes, baby Nathaniel – like his elder sister Felicia – popped out of his mother’s womb in just over an hour of labor.  Nathaniel landed safely onto Mother Earth even before his dad Eric completed the paperwork at the hospital.  Is an hour or two of labor a smooth one?  I have no clue.  I stay in the cube farm eight hours a day pushing too.  I push out work every day.

OK.  It’s time to submit my household budget request form for that digital SLR camera that I have been dreaming of.  Now, I have one more reason to own that.  And maybe I shall start a tradition to celebrate my birthday with baby Nathaniel.