growing fast

The first year of life is undoubtedly the most significant growth period in one's life. It is indeed a very precious one year of life. I see it as a window of opportunity to teach and mould a child in the way we want him/her to grow.

starting young...

I started reading to both babies even before they could sit up. Nana also does this with both of them.

They change so much so fast and do something new everyday. Just this past couple of days, Joy-Anne started standing unaided for a few seconds each time.

can you see my 2 little teeth more clearly now?

She can also say a few words quite audibly like "nen nen" and "mum mum". And when she's tired or unhappy, she complains by saying, "mamma...mamma....".

are you sure I'm not too young for this...?

She's also enjoying playing with her brother now that she's bigger and less fragile. She can sit on her 'car' unaided since her feet can touch the floor. In fact, she not only sits. She jumps too!

rock-a-bye-Barney

Children's Day at Children's Church

Today was a very fun day for all the kids at DUMC's children's church. Every cell was given a budget of RM5o and time to do whatever they wanted to celebrate Children's Day. Joseph's cell leader planned a pool party for his cell.

I've got my swimming gear in my bag!

The worship was energetic as usual. More than 300 children jumping up and down worshipping the Lord makes you want to jump in and join in the fun.

Joy-Anne sleeping during the worship...zzzzz....

After that, Joe's cell proceeded to Juara Cerdik premises for their pool party.

going thru the rules before the fun.

Then out to the playground area where the fun begins!!

Joe really jumped into the pool and then said, "I make a big splash!!!" He had quite a lot of fun with Nat who is 2 days younger than him. Nat will be his classmate in school next year.

put your hand down Nat!

After all that splashing, the kids got changed and had some snacks.

Thoroughly exhausted, Joseph fell asleep on the way home from church......zzz....till tomorrow morning!

I said put down la....

9 months of Joy

Joy-Anne is 9 months old today - 9.2kg and 74cm of Joy! That's a half kilogramme lighter than Joseph when he was 9 months old. Her hair has grown back a bit more and no longer looks too botak.

We've also finally let her down on to the floor. Prior to this, the precious baby only played on soft surfaces like on the bed, the sofa and the playpen.

She makes a lot of adorable-sounding noises but tends to shut up when the camera comes out.

Like my sexy pose?

showman Joe

Joseph's Reward Chart

I came up with this reward chart for Joseph. He earns stickers for good behaviour and other things like letting me evict the colony of ear wax from his external auditory canal with a sai scooper (also known as the round end of a black hair pin). He got Dizzy (Bob the Builder's cement mixer) when he accumulated 10 stickers. His next target is the jackhammer playset for which he will need 50 stickers.

The smart kid asked me to put sticker no.11 at the 5th row. I told him, "Noooooooo...... ".

So far this form of bribery has brought good result. He greets people, behaves himself in church, keeps his toys, talks on the phone to Ah Mah and Ah Kong, feeds himself, gives his toys to his sister and makes me happy.

Maybe it'll get him to go to school next year.

my October Valentine

After a 6-day break, Joseph was reluctant to let me go back to work. I talked to him on Monday evening... (I don't work on Mondays)

mama : Joe, tomorrow mama have to go to work ok...

Joe : Awww.....but I will be so sad. Then, I will cry.

On Tuesday morning it was tough trying to get out of the house. He usually puts on a dramatic sad face, pouts and says things like " If you go to work....then I will have no friend. And I'll be so sad. So...will you stay home and be my friend?"

I was pleasantly surprised when I got home from work yesterday. Joseph greeted me with a big hug and gave me this..... and he said, "Here mama...this is a watermelon valentine card for you. It means - I love you!"

(He learnt about Valentine's Day Card from watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the Playhouse Disney Channel)

Can you 'hear' my heart melt?

It because of things like this that I choose to not work full-time. Yesterday my boss asked me if I would like to work an extra day or at least half a day. Immediately I said, "NO!". He then asked me to consider it.

I thought about it. And my decision was an easy one. The only reason I would work extra is for the extra income. But Joseph values my time with him more than any present money can buy. So I stay home.

Yay....I get to see more of mummy!

one delicious fun day in Singapore

Good morning Singapore! The kids woke up happy and all ready to play! We spent the morning lazing around and in AMK Hub for a short while. In the evening, Joseph had a good time with his cousin brothers.
He got better at the scooter.

Then he kicked the football around with his brothers.

Finally we all had a good feast at Daniel's birthday bash!
Joy-Anne couldn't eat any of the food but was still happy.

hmm....gimme a bite of that yummy-looking cake...

I had to take some pictures of Joe and Daniel before we left. They look most alike amongst the 5 boys.

We left Singapore Sunday morning.....with a bit of traffic jam at the causeway. Joy-Anne got bored and decided to eat her toes.

good bye Singapore...till next time.

further south

We celebrated David's birthday with a home-made orange cake by Ah Mah. Ah Kong fed some of it to Joy-Anne who happily opened her mouth.

Yes, yes, I know....babies less than 1 year old aren't supposed to be eating cake. Just tasting only....

We then made our way to Singapore. This is Joy-Anne's first trip to Singapore, her second time out of the country and technically the 5th country she's been to.

I'm making music on the piano

In the evening we took a walk to the neighbourhood playground where Joy-Anne got her first experience on a swing.

Joseph had a good workout running and climbing.


Back home, nana and Joe had a scooter race. Joe won, said, "Applause! Applause!!" and then took a bow.
Joy-Anne has been sleeping through the night for 3 consecutive nights now. It must be the southern air...

day 2 in Yong Peng

Joseph spent the morning checking out some beetles. You don't find these in KL.
In the evening, they checked out the huge excavator in front of the house.

My city boy wouldn't climb it. He said, "I'm too scared."

Then they pushed each other on the bicycle because neither can cycle properly.



When they were tired, they went back into the house to resume playing with their magnet trains/toys.

kampung fun

We're down south again for a dose of 'kampung' fun. It's great to get away from the city once in a while.

Joe had fun playing with Brandon. It's not yet sundown and I've changed his sweat-soaked shirt 4 times already.

There's so much space around. It reminds me of my own childhood when we lived in Raub and had the whole MGS school field for our compound.

Only here does Joseph have the chance to play with things like a wheelbarrow.

Papa had to bring them for a ride.

Joseph kept saying "Go! go! gooooo!!!!!!!" oblivious to his father's tired arms. I think it was good exercise for his father.