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...

palm tree spoil

Almost everyday, we take Joe downstairs for some fresh air. He loves the outdoors (I should move to Australia!). Every so often, he will take his sandals and tell us "go out see bamboo tree".
The benefits of going outdoors are numerous.

Firstly, he loves the playground. (Which kid doesn't?) All that climbing up and down keeps him fit and tires him out which makes our lives so much easier when it comes to bedtime.

Secondly, it's educational. From our apartment, he can see a big lot of KL city, the roads below as well as the dusty construction site. Joe loves looking at the cranes, cement mixer, lorries, tractors, train (LRT), buses, taxis and identifying each one. He can say that tractors "dig soil". He can even point out the Telekom Tower. Joe's dad also pointed the reservoir out to him and taught him that the reservoir "got so much water!"

Not forgetting the nature around us, Joe learns about the various kinds of plants. Thus far, he's learnt to identify various plants such as bamboo tree, coconut tree, palm tree, money plant, 'christmas' tree, and any other tree that we don't know is simply called "big tree".

One day, he looked at this palm tree that has lost most of its branches.

He pointed at it and said "palm tree spoil. Jesus fix."

Then I ask him, "where is Jesus?". He pats his stomach with both hands and says, "in my heart".

Joe's new toys

My not-very-big apartment is getting increasingly cluttered with Joe's toys. For his 2nd birthday, my mum decided to get him a car. Yes, a car! Just like Noddy's car she says. So we went shopping and found this at Carrefour Midvalley for RM66.70.He loves it so much. Although it is a pedal car, Joe doesn't quite know how to use the pedals yet. So it's still foot-powered. I took off the ugly stickers that came with the car and decorated it with Joe's favourite Cars stickers. So now he's got Lightning McQueen, Sally, Mater and Luigi on his new red car.

Yesterday, we got him another 2 new toys. A bouncing hop-hop ball for RM19.90 and a hop-hop pony for RM59.90, both from ToysRus.

The ball is too big for him right now. Our neighbour's kid who is 5 years old enjoys it much more. But Joe is happy on the little pony. I hope all that jumping will make him more tired so that it makes my life easier come bedtime.

two years of love, life and laughter

Joe turned 2 on Saturday 14th April 2007. I reflected and wrote a 'letter' to him in the journal that I've been keeping since the day I found myself pregnant with him, way back in August 2004. It has been 2 wonderful years filled with lots of laughter and smiles, tears and fears, pee, poo and puke as well. When I look at how he's grown and all the things he has learnt, I feel so grateful to God for giving me this privilege of experiencing motherhood. I think of all the many women who yearn for a child but are barren and I'm so thankful.

Every birthday should be celebrated. Life is to be celebrated. Joe got 3 cakes in all this year. We had another one at cell group on Friday 13th, but no pictures coz the camera battery kaput-ed.

On Sunday 15th April, my in-laws drove up from Seremban for dinner, and to celebrate Joe's birthday. He's one blessed boy! We got him this cake, made by a friend who's business, Cakes for Kicks is run from home. It cost RM70 and I got to eat the extra side cut-outs too.

Joe didn't care about the shape or the deco or the taste of the cake. He was just eager to light and blow the candles.
Joe is at an age where he's like a sponge. And a parrot. He learns everything we teach and says it back to us. My mother taught him this on Monday night...

mummy : Can a rocking chair take you to heaven?

Joe : Cannottttt

mummy : Can a rocket take you to heaven?

Joe : cannottttt

mummy : Can Barney take you to heaven?

Joe : cannotttttttt

mummy : Who can take you to heaven?

Joe : Jesussssss!!!!

Ahh....I love this boy!

fun family holidays

My in-law side of the family...the Tans have in the last couple of years got into a tradition of having a annual family holiday. It all started in 2004. We booked a 5-bedroom bungalow with private pool at A'Famosa Resort in Alor Gajah.

In November 2005, we spent 3 lovely days at the OMF Bungalow in Cameron Highlands. I believe this was by far the best holiday. We loved it so much we want to go there again this year. Unfortunately, Irene the caretaker will be leaving the bungalow and she's not sure if there'll be a replacement. Hence, no more bookings at OMF Bungalow...boo hoo hoo!

Why do we love that place so much? First of all, the weather is just lovely. Though Cameron Highlands is no longer as cold as in previous years, it's still nice to get away from the heat and smog, hustle and bustle of the city.

OMF Bungalow is this lovely old bungalow in Brinchang with a nice big compound filled with flowers and bugs, on a mountain top so you get a lovely view.

Here's a view of the bungalow from one upstairs room.

Sean and Brandon checking out the flowers.

We stayed in huge nicely furnished rooms, all with attached bathrooms and hot showers of course. The rooms were tidied up every morning, beds were made and our dirty clothes were collected for laundry. We got back our clothes - smelling fresh and warm in th afternoon of the same day.

There was a cosy den full of children's books and toys and also a tv, vcd/dvd player and Astro to keep the adults entertained.

See how cosy all of us are....watching "Madagascar" - the hit movie at that time.

When it was drizzling outside, we played monopoly inside. The boys were crazy over the game at that time.

Meals were simply delicious. At breakfast, the maids came round to ask how we would like our eggs - scrambled? omellete? sunny side up? Lunch and dinner was either chinese style rice and dishes or a western style 3-course meal. Apart from that, we could at anytime (even at 3am, if you wish) help ourselves to the homemade cookies and self-serviced tea/coffee/milo/horlicks. I was particularly in love with the oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies.

Besides eating, there was plenty to do at the bungalow. We were happy to just stroll in the garden.

Brandon enjoyed talking to the dalmation.

There was a living room with piano and we enjoyed singing. Here's Ah Mah and Brandon enjoying themselves.

Sean also had some biology lesson with Ah Kong.

Where else on earth can you get comfortable accomodation, 3 fantastic meals a day, same-day laundry, unlimited amounts of cookies, milo/horlicks/tea/coffee, lots of space for playing, reading, running around etc.... all for just RM85 per person per day. Yup....it's that dirt-cheap! Senior citizens and full-time christian workers pay merely RM60. Now you see why I want to go back there?