toilet seat no more

How does a 14-month-old boy break a toilet seat? I'm trying to figure it out and I'll still be trying when I go shopping for a new toilet seat. You see, Joseph broke the one in my bathroom. Okay, so it's old. But it was still working fine until his itchy hands kept tugging and pulling and pushing it around everytime he stood next to it when it was time to shee shee. Now I have to go look for a toilet seat that will match the colour of my toilet bowl.

New wheels for Joseph

I finally got a new stroller for Joseph. It was time to retire his old hand-me-down one which was getting very wobbly and did not seem capable of withstanding Joseph's increasing weight (almost 12kg now!). Several weeks of research on the internet, a mother's forum and also asking around friends' opinions led me to decide on the Graco EDT citisport which has a price tag of RM599 at ToysRUs and SafeNSound (1Utama). But it was to my good fortune that when I visited Safe N Sound last night, the EDT citisport was out of stock. However, a more expensive model (which I saw for RM649 two weeks ago) was now selling for only RM459. It was the last unit. Take it or regret it. Not one to be fickle, I put Joseph in it and wheeled it out of the shop as Edwin took out his credit card to pay for it. Here's what I found out from all the stroller research. I wanted a stroller that was lightweight, compact when folded, one-handed open/close, has a reclinable seat, large storage basket and easy-clean cushions. Many umbrella strollers require you to squat to the floor when closing the stroller because the handles have to meet the front wheels. Others were so bulky and heavy that they would fill up the entire car boot. Hence it was down to either Combi or Graco for me. All other brands (Chicco, Peg Perego, Maclaren, Inglesina, Britax...) were either too expensive or too bulky. I also found out that you have to go to certain shops to buy certain brands of strollers. Combi - Combi shop in Midvalley, Toycity in 1Utama Graco - ToysRUs, SafeNSound, Bambino (limited model) Maclaren - Planet Enfant PegPerego - ToysRUs (limited choice), Planet Enfant Inglesina - ToysRUs, Hytex town (Ikano) Sweet Cherry - Jusco Anakku/Elego - Anakku boutiques, Parkson Graco had a large storage basket and easy one-hand open/close mechanism. Combi was more compact when folded because of the tri-fold. However this tri-fold makes it more flimsy. And the basket is lousy. So I finally decided on the Graco citisport, compromising on the not-so-compact folded size. It is still light enough to be carried over the shoulder and I believe it will fit in the overhead compartment of an aircraft cabin. See how happy Joseph is...he wouldn't let me take him out of it!

everyday is a new lesson

As soon as I got home yesterday, my mother got Joseph to show me his new 'stunt'. She asked him "Where is papa's picture?" I stood rooted to the ground wondering what he was going to do. Joseph walked over to the cupboard where we kept all our photo albums, opened it and pulled out a photo of Edwin dressed in his graduation gown. Then he took the photo, walked over to edwin, and as he stretched out his hand to give Edwin the photo, he said "PA!" so loudly. Of course his pa smiled from ear to ear. Then later in the evening, we were at the balcony. My mother asked him, "Where's the small swimming pool?" and he pointed correctly. Next question : "Where's the big swimming pool?" Again, he pointed to the correct big pool. I've got to test this boy's IQ someday. In the mean time, I'll just enjoy his antics. Motherhood has its rewards!

14 months and counting...

It's been 10 days since my last post. Joseph turned 14 months yesterday. He's growing so fast. And learning new things everyday. I realize he understands much more than I give him credit for. I put his a bottle containing water and a bottle containing milk side by side. When asked where his water bottle is, Joseph grabs the right bottle without hesitation. On Tuesday morning, he walked into my mother's room. And when my mother started to recite The Lord's Prayer, Joseph walked out of her room, went to the study, picked out "The Lord' Prayer" book from amongst so many books on the shelves, walked back to my mother's room and gave it to her. After he has thrown out plenty of balls from inside the playpen, I take him out, and tell him to take the balls and throw them back into the playpen. He obeys and throws all the balls back in. Yesterday I asked him "where is Ah Yee's book?". He walked to the shelf below the telephone, and picked out the book that his ah yee gave him. Then I asked him, "where's the doggie?" and he turned the pages till he reached the page where there were dogs. He pointed to the dogs and enthusiastically said, "oohhhhh..." I ask Joseph, "where's the moon?" He points to the window and skywards. Best of all, everyday when I get home from work and walk thru the door, I ring the doorbell on purpose and Joseph walks to me with a big grin and happily says "hehh....heyyy....". It never fails to put a smile on my face.

hello? hello?

We were clearing out the study yesterday. Today we're getting new built-ins installed. So the telephone was on the floor. Joseph happily picks up the receiver, puts it to his ear and goes "ohhh.... ohhhh....". Then he walks over to me and puts the receiver to my ear. Indeed, children learn what they see. I had better be on my guard always.