Weekend up north

We had a long weekend in Penang. It's been a long while since we last went back. This time, we hopped on a plane. Joe had a good time. Just before getting on the plane, Joe enjoyed looking at all the planes and helicopters at Subang airport. On the plane.....this is my least-fat-looking photo this year. In Penang, there was no bath tub for Joy-Anne. We used a basin for her bath. She didn't seem to mind.
Story-telling at bed time. Joy-Anne wanted to eat the books.
She also started to almost want to crawl. She has so far succeeded in squirming all over the place and even off the mattress and on to the floor....twice.
And she started babbling as well. Trying really hard to talk...




On one afternoon, I loaned her Joe's Barney bolster and left her on the mattress, hugging the bolster. Two minutes later I came back and found her like this.....
So cheeky!

And my Joseph....he ate the potty! Actually we didn't bring his potty back. This potty belongs to his great-grandmother. When we told him it's Ah Chor's potty, he said, "But Ah Chor is so big. How is Ah Chor going to fit inside?"

Here he's laughing hysterically after he ate the potty.

Ahh....I have very amusing kids. Thank God for them!

kids keep me busy

I've haven't been diligently updating the blog....kids keep me busy.

Joy-Anne surprised us last Saturday by falling asleep all by herself in the play pen. And she slept for 1.5hours!
This was taken this morning just before I rushed out to work. See how happy she is. I love her smile!

Joe posed for all of 10 seconds. Then he refused to take photos anymore. Trying to be the protective kor kor.

We got it....10 years!

We got the US visas for the kids today! 10 years! Thank God!

After paying visa application fee of RM467 per kid, filling tedious forms, preparing tonnes of documents and 2 trips downtown....thank God it's for 10 years.

Joe can be going to Disneyworld for the next 10 years...haha!

Happy Kids

Joy-Anne doesn't like to lie down these days. She wants to sit up and see the world!

Joe is happy when we go kai kai.... here he's riding Bob the Builder's tractor. But don't put any money in...he'll jump off right away!

Joe kor kor taking care of his mei mei....don't roll off Joy-Anne.

Cheeky boy trying to pull my scrunchie off.

Joy wants to hug and kiss Joe.

Joe's happy he got my scrunchie.


Joy trying to eat Tweety.

Happy to be on kor kor's shoulders...

And happier to be riding kor kor's pony.

I believe I can fly!

Father's Day treats

We treated my dad to some early Father's Day celebration.

On Thursday morning, this arrived.... from Rebecca and Danny.

Thursday night....we went to Midvalley Megamall and treated my dad to 30minutes in a fish spa. Fishes biting off dead skin. My dad said he enjoyed it.
This morning, we went for buffet lunch at Sun and Surf Restaurant, Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel. 50% discount for Citibank Credit card holders.

Rare occasion when Joe cooperates for family photo.

Food was good....fresh oysters and mussels on ice, sushi and sashimi, soft shell crabs and a chocolate fountain too.

Didn't take photos of food because we were too busy stuffing ourselves....yum yum yum!

Joe enjoyed the chocolate fountain....


He even licked the plate.

The happy grandparents...

another outfit from yee yee

Joy-Anne is getting very good at smiling these days. Booking opens in 25 years! Can start taking number now.... Heh! Heh!

checking out school

We made a visit to Tadika Juara Cerdik yesterday morning. This is where we plan to send Joe next year when he will be 4 years old. The principal, Cynthia spent over an hour talking to us and taking us on a tour of the premises.

The place is new and purpose-built for the children. So you've got child-height sinks and toilets, brightly-painted walls, a science lab, a computer room with 10 computers (with flat screen LCDs), multi-media room, playground and a garden besides the classrooms. This is part of DUMC's mega-church complex known as Dream Center.

I find comfort in the fact that they expect parents to be around for the first 3 days to help children settle into a new environment. They also have very experienced teachers and helpers.

Joe had a traumatic experience when we tried to send him to another school when he was younger. The teachers there have a cold-turkey style where parents drop the kid and leave from Day 1. Joe found himself in a strange place with total strangers. He cried and screamed. Refused to eat or drink. Not even a drop of water. On top of that he vomitted. He finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. After that day, he turned and ran the other way when he saw the school from afar.

We have been slowly trying to change his mindset. Thus far, we have managed to explain to him that school is for big boys ad girls, not for adults. Barney and Elmo have also helped to give him a positive perception about school. In theory, he can now tell me that he wants to go to school and we should go to work, and come fetch him when school is over.

I feel he will be adapting to Juara Cerdik with more ease because the principal and 2 other teachers are people he has seen in church. There are also a few other children from Children's Church who are in Juara Cerdik. Plus, he will have Nathaniel for a classmate. Nat's mother and I used to go to school together so it's cool that our sons are going to be classmates.

Nat is quite a drama king. Even more of a drama king than Joseph. I just hope that together, they don't terrorize the other children and their teacher.

A mother's heartache

Leaving the house for work each day I have to work is a heartache. Especially when Joe puts his arms around me and says, "Mama...don't go to work. Stay at home." He did it again this morning.

I hug and kiss him tight. And then when he's distracted with Mickey Mouse, I sneak out of the house. It's a horrible thing to do. I wish I didn't have to work.

Which is why I don't quite understand why some people who don't work choose to send their young kids to school instead of enjoying them. I know of 2 mothers who can afford to not work, and thus do not work. Yet they send their only child to pre-school before they are even 3 years old. I wonder what they do at home?

If I had that luxury, I'd spend more time with my kid doing fun stuff like going to Kizsports, Tumble Tots, Music&Movement classes, swimming, etc. After all they are only so young for such a short time and pretty soon, they'll grow more and more independent of us.

Sunday morning at Taman Lembah Kiara

I have heard much about this park - Taman Lembah Kiara. People talk about how lovely and how much fun it is for kids. So we went there on Sunday morning (we go for church service on Sat evenings) armed with egg sandwiches, some empty containers and a change of clothes for Joe.

It was lovely indeed. Fountains in a lake, nicely shaded path, a shallow stream and it was all very clean. Joy-Anne was just happy to be pushed in the stroller after Joe vacated it. But Joe wouldn't go into the stream. I'm pretty sure my kampung nephew would have happily jumped into the stream and splashed around trying to catch the little fishes. But my clean city mouse son would have none of it!So Edwin had to go in and start making sandcastles to lure Joe in. Finally he sat on a very dry rock, with his feet protected by his sandals. But they inevitably got wet. So we took it off to wash the sand away. But Joe still wouldn't go in to get his feet washed. Maybe we'll go another day when he's less afraid of getting wet and yucky.Ahh....I'm much happier this way.

Growing up tall

I read about this interesting fact in one of Joe's books. A two-year-old is about half the height it will be when adult!

So I checked back on Joe's height chart. He was 90cm at 2 years old. If this book is right, Joe will grow to be about 1.8m tall when adult. Just like his papa. And Joy-Anne....she's now about 64cm tall. Or long, since she can stand up yet. Assuming she grows at a conservative rate of 1cm per month, she will be about 84cm at 2 years old. That would mean she'll be about 168cm as an adult. I do hope she grows up tall and lean like her father.