Christmas in July

It's only July but Christmas comes early for Joseph. Santa Claus is back! Again! With loads of presents and goodies. (Thank God the plane could take off)

Joe's private Santa Claus, also known as Yee Yee, lives in Dallas on the other side of this planet. Before Joe was born, Yee Yee didn't come back to Malaysia for a good FIVE years! And after there was Joe, Yee Yee came back every 6 months!

Hello Yee Yee....when are you coming back to see me?

Everytime Yee Yee comes back, the contents in my tiny little apartment increase by leaps and bounds. This time, Joe's goodies included...

Two big, soft and cuddly Lightning McQueens (USD8.50 each) and a Luigi (only USD1.50!!!).

Another Lightning McQueen (USD8.50) and a Mater (also USD1.50 only). These can talk and move their eyes .

Lightning McQueen t-shirt. USD2 only. So cheeeeeaaapppp!!!!!





American Airline toy plane. (USD7) Press the button on top to make the plane emit 'take-off' sound and flash lights.


Veggietale figurines and books.




Veggietale puzzles and a study bible.

More dvds...

Chocolates and popcorn. This is only a third of the original stash. The rest has been wallopped by Ah Ku, Papa and Nana.

Yee Yee also bought 4 pretty baby girl outfits although I don't know yet the gender of baby no.2

And there's this huge present still unopened. Joe has already claimed that it's for him. It's a Veggietale pirate ship inside! Yeah...the one from the Jonah movie.

Of course Yee Yee is most happy when Joe wears this t-shirt...

Joe and his new stash!

Joe's many faces

I always find it very difficult to take nice photos of Joseph. He's just not very cooperative in front of the camera. In fact, my brother commented that in almost all of Joseph's pictures, his mouth is open! And that's not necessarily open in a smile. Most times, he has a blur "sor chai" look.

I'm not sor chai....just deep in thought.

But when he's in a good mood, he'll show you his cute-cute face - which is when he puts his fingers to his cheek and tilt his head to oneside.








And then there's his "cool" face.

mmmmmmmMMMMUAK!!! Here's a kiss for you!

Joe learns to swing...like a monkey

We were at the playground downstairs yesterday and I taught Joe a new thing.

oohhh....I learn a new thing everyday

I got him to hang on to the bar overhead and lift his legs to swing. Initially he was a bit hesitant and I had to hold up his lower body to give him a feel of it. After a few times, he got the hang of it and was swinging by himself and declaring, "wahhh....this is fun!" and "I can do it!"

I was quite surprised that he learnt so fast and also amazed at the strength he has in his arms.

Yeah...I can do it!

never too young

Joe is almost 27 months old. Nope, I don't think he's too young....for some sex education!

This book is about 30 years old. My mother has kept it all these years. It gives you the plain facts about how babies are made.

I show this to Joe...and tell him that's why my tummy's growing bigger and bigger.

And I also tell him that once upon a time, that's where he was growing too..... He just nods his head and mumbles, "yes..."

Here's how much he knows right now...

me : where is your penis?

Joe : there...(he points to it)

me : penis for what?

Joe : for shee shee

me : who else got penis?

Joe : papa

me : can you touch?

Joe : cannot.

me : who can touch?

Joe : mama only!

haha....what an intelligent boy!

cheeky smile

Joe loves to run and jump around on the bed naked after his bath. He thinks it's great fun to have us chase after him and try to catch him while he puts up a struggle trying to evade clothes. We caught this on camera one night...

Nope...you may not see my belly button!

I've cropped the bottom part of the photo so it doesn't look like porn. I love this cheeky smile.

weekend in Genting

We spent the weekend in Genting for DUMC's children leaders' retreat. It was a 1-night stay at Awana Genting. I hadn't been there for many years and was looking forward to a lovely weekend of cool fresh air. Boy, was I wrong! Although the retreat was great and the food (we ate at Gohtong Jaya) was fantastic, the resort itself was just plain stinking!

It stinks because lots and lots of idiots (i.e. smokers) light up anywhere they like. There was smoke in the lobby, in the hallway, in the restaurant, in the meeting rooms, and even in the privacy of the hotel room!!! That's coz the darn hotel has NO air-conditioning! NO AIR CON!!! How can? Call themselves a resort that offers "luxurious comfort". Comfort my foot! Needless to say, I am never going back there.

Here's the more pleasant part of our weekend...

First we met up at McDonalds Sri Gombak. Here's Joe checking out Ronald McDonald.

Here we are waiting for the shuttle bus from Awana to the skyway.


Finally on the bus....Joe's first bus ride.

Don't I look cool?

In First World Plaza...

Do not be fooled by the pretty lights. The air in here is actually very stale and yucky. That's coz lots of idiots smoke anywhere they like indoors. Coupled with the loud lousy music, I came back with a headache and a stuffy nose. I'm never going back there!

The next morning....I realized I forgot to bring Joe's potty. So I had to improvise keep him on the toilet bowl.

Am I creative or what?

ah kong and papa

Mummy likes this photo very much.

I like it too. That's cute little me sitting on my papa. Yup, I look quite handsome like him, don't you think? And next to us is my Ah Kong. Ah Kong is my papa's papa. He's quite handsome too. Especially in his younger days. I guess all his hair turned white because my papa gave him too much nonsense. This was taken in Yong Peng at the Bekok Dam. We were sitting on a upside down boat.

We were down south earlier this month to visit Brandon and his parents. While there we took the opportunity to celebrate Ah Kong's birthday and also an early Father's Day. It was all really fun.

Here's Ah Mah and Ah Kong with their 5 grandsons!

tornado in the city

Brandon and Joe had a good time playing together and messing my little pigeon hole some weeks ago.

You would have thought a tornado blew through my living room.

After messing up my place, they went to Midvalley to check out Thomas the train.

my handsome prince

Last Sunday, we dressed Joe up for Timothy's 1st birthday party. The party was fantastic. Su Yin went to great pains to organize it and it was very well organized. She even had a air-con playroom for the kids. Joe had a blast!

This outfit was passed from Brandon who had just worn it the day before for a wedding. I'm surprised it fit Joe so well. As if it was tailored just for him.

Being overdressed for the playground did not stop him from climbing and sliding down the tunnel

and from playing on the see saw.

I think he looks absolutely adorable.

Cheeky little Joseph

Joseph is very cheeky. Too cheeky. He's getting more and more cheeky by the day. Last night, after his bedtime story, he said, "make nen nen". So I went to the kitchen to make his milk. When I got back to the room, he refused to come to me to drink. Instead, he was very happy jumping on the bed and saying, "run away" while laughing. He does that because he wants to be chased and caught.

Not having the energy to chase after him, I took his Barney bolster and told him I'd feed Barney instead....hoping that he would come to me by himself. So I told him, "ok...mama feed Barney ok?" (and I held Barney in a cradle hold) Instead of whining, he took the other Barney soft toy and handed it to me saying, "neh.... this one another Barney".

Grrr....my plan backfired!

express service

I thought my driving license would expire next week. Not to be a last-minute person, I made a note to have it renewed today. To my horror, it expired yesterday!

Ahh...the convenience of working in Midvalley Megamal. I stroll down to the post office and take a number. All of merely five minutes later, I'm out. It was that fast. And I got service with a smile too.

Maybe civil servants do deserve the raise they are getting. If I hadn't opted to leave the civil service, I would be getting about RM500 more each month which works out to roughly what I'm getting now in private practice. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying my 3-day work week (I don't think it can even be called a week!) and wouldn't have it any other way. Every weekend is a long weekend for me. Blissful time spent with my darling Joseph.

my mother's day gift

On Sunday morning, Joe woke up with a very happy smile on his face. Nana came into the room and Joe gave her a card and a hug. Then, Joe's father gave him something tied in a red ribbon and asked him to give to mama (that's me!). I untied the ribbon and opened the A4 paper to find this :

Joe's dad wrote this poem. I'm so impressed. He said he stressed over it for 2 weeks! I think it's better than flowers or dinner. I'm gonna print it out as a 8R photo and frame it up.

Mothers - celebrated!

Mother's Day is just around the corner. 3 days away to be exact! Businesses everywhere are enticing shoppers to part with their hard-earned money for flowers, soft toys, chocolates, massage chairs, spa treatments, expensive buffets and so on, as tokens of appreciation for mothers. Even though I'm not one to toe the line, (I like to beat the norm. As it is, I have yet to watch any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or Harry Porter and have no intentions of doing so.) it's difficult to not do anything, lest my mom feels left out.

tulips are being sold for RM4.90 a stalk at Jusco

So I made her a card. For some reason, she's very sentimental about self-made cards. She's still keeping cards that I made in my teenage years. I'll get Joe to give her the card on Sunday.

I myself qualified to celebrate Mother's Day 2 years ago. This will be my 3rd Mother's day. The first one in 2005 was uneventful as I was still stuck at home in confinement, eating papaya soup and ginger chicken. The 2nd one last year, Joe was not yet talking.

This year however, Joseph can now say "Happy Mother's Day" and "Mummy, I love you." Those words are more rewarding than any gift money can buy.

Joe can recognize sunflowers

Mother's Day gifts and treats are so overated these days. I'm so lucky to get my gifts and treats on a regular basis in the form of flowers that Joe picks from the garden, and the cute stuff that Joe does and say to make me laugh. I know I am so blessed.

This mother's day, I also think of the many women out there who want to be mothers but are unable to have children of their own. Having experienced a miscarriage myself, I understand the longing and loss that others suffer.

Children are indeed gifts from God.

Motherhood is a privilege.

Happy Mother's Day, mummy.

Thank you for all that you do.

Thank you for loving Joe so much.

We love you lots!

Months and Birthdays

Joe recently learned the months of the year i.e. January to December using a Veggietales book that Joe's yee yee bought.

We also taught him whose birthdays are in which months. So when we flip open and point to January, Joe will say, "Mama birthday. And Kong kong birthday". So our conversation goes like this...

me : January...

Joe : Mama birthday. And kong kong birthday.

me : February, March...

Joe : Nana birthday.

me : April...

Joe : Jojo birthday.

me : May

Joe : May (he repeats after me)

me : June

Joe : June (parrot again)

me : July

Joe : got fireworks (because the picture shows fireworks - Americans celebrate Independence Day in July)

me : August, September...

Joe : Ah Ku birthday.

me : October, November...

Joe : Papa birthday.

me : December (he always gets more excited when it comes to December)

Joe : Yee yee birthday (always says it smiling)

Then yesterday, he pointed to the pumpkin on the December page and said, "neh....Yee yee this one"

roses for mummy

Roses arrived from USA (more like money paid in USA) from Rebecca for mummy in conjunction with Mother's Day this Sunday.
I'm pretty sure mummy was pleasantly surprised even though she always says that flowers die, such a waste of money, bla bla blah...