CUTEST BABY OF THE PLANET 2009 – FINALIST

Woohooo!!!  My little Hannah has been shortlisted as one of the 20 finalists for the Cutest Baby of the Planet 2009 contest.

So what does she have to do as a finalist, you ask?  Nothing, except be cute and look adorable at all times…not too difficult for her, I would say!

But it’s the Mommy who has a list of things to complete now. 🙂 

Mom Bloggers Planet, the contest organizer has come up with a few *challenges* for us to perform, and all in a matter of just THREE days!  Hehe…hope I ace those challenges 🙂

What is the meaning of your baby’s name?

I’ve actually *answered* this question before but it was done in my kids’ blog.  So I’m just gonna copy and paste the answer here now.

When we found out we were gonna have a baby girl, we had already pretty much decided on the name Hannah.  I have loved the name Hannah since I was a schoolgirl, and it was only apt that I name my daughter as such.  We definitely wanted a Biblical name and one that is meaningful both for us and for her.  And we also wanted a name that’s not too common.  That’s why we chose Hannah, which means Favored (or Favored by God), or Grace.    In Biblical context, Hannah was one of the wives of Elkanah, and she was blessed with six children, one of whom was Samuel, the glorious warrior and judge of Israel.

With the Christened name decided, it was time for the harder part: deciding on a Chinese name. 

Thanks to the internet, while we were in the US, I contacted a friend of mine in Penang to ask her hubby to help me ascertain a good number of strokes for Hannah’s Chinese name, based on her birth year, surname and also Mommy and Daddy’s birth year.  This friend of mine was also the one who helped calculate the number of strokes suitable for Ethan’s Chinese name. 

She then came back with the results, which stated that based on Pete’s surname, Chua (蔡Cài), there were 4 stroke combinations that would be a good match for the 2nd and 3rd Chinese character for Hannah’s name:

• 7 + 18
• 18 + 7
• 8 + 17
• 18 + 7

So off to the drawing board we went.  Referring to some Chinese name books we had brought along, we wanted a name that had the water radical or water element in it.  I used the internet to list out the various combinations that would sound good and mean good, meeting all the criteria we had set out, and then we gave the list to another friend of ours in Santa Clara to help us decide or recommend.  After a few tweaks here and there, we arrived at a name that we all thought would be perfect for our baby girl.

We chose the name Xi Ling (Xǐ Ling:  禧泠), which is a combination of 17 + 8 strokes.  Xǐ (禧) meant Joy and Ling (æ³ ), which also contained the water radical, carried the meaning “sound of the water flowing“; and together, Xi Ling (Xǐ Ling: 禧泠) means Joy Overflowing, which Hannah is living up to really well, seeing what a happy little baby she is! 🙂

So Hannah’s full name is Hannah Chua Xi Ling (蔡 禧 æ³  ~ Cài Xǐ Ling), carrying the meaning of Favored by God and Full of Grace, with Overflowing Joy.  Isn’t that a pretty name for a pretty baby? 🙂

What is ONE of the most memorable moment about your baby since she/he was born until now?

There are many memorable moments for Hannah, but I would say that the one that takes the cake was the very first time she called me Mommy.  It was more like “Mameh!” but still….it would be something I would remember for all time.

Short positive TESTIMONIAL about MomBloggersPlanet

Although I just stumbled on MomBloggersPlanet just a few weeks back, I can tell that it is a very good portal for all parents.  The articles are mostly personal opinions from parents and provide a good sharing platform for not just moms but also dads out there.  Somehow, it is very reassuring to find other people going through the same experience as you are, and you know it’s a great site when you find yourself going, “Hmmmm….yeah, that’s true” and nodding along as you read through.

Definitely a must-visit site for new parents, parents-to-be and also for parents who profess to be experts (because we all learn something new everyday!)