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.

photos for yee yee

We went out for dinner last night - big mistake. In future, I will eat at home all thru Ramadan.

Joy-Anne dressed up and all ready to go out...

We thought we would utilise our Chili's vouchers since my dad was in town. But it was just not possible because all of kl was waiting in line for a table there.

heh heh.... my teeth have just cut through my gums... I'll be biting mama by Christmas!

So we ended up at Laksa Shack after all the very hungry people had eaten and vacated the tables.

Ah Ku and his other pretty girl

Joe 'drove' Scoop while waiting. He didn't jump off or run away when it started moving. It's quite a breakthrough.

Ah Ku fed Joe junk food - keropok with ice-cream.
Joe said it was yummy...

joyful eating

Joy-Anne had so much fun with a piece of pear after dinner today.

We discovered she likes her meals sweet rather than savoury.
Maybe it's because breastmilk is sweet and she's used to the sweet taste.

After she was done with the pear, my mum let her play with water. She had fun when the water splashed in her face.

sleeping unlady-like

I found Joy-Anne in this position during her afternoon nap. So unlady-like!

Joy-Anne : ...zzzz....who cares? As long as I'm comfy...zzzz....

especially for yee yee - from Joseph

singing grace

From the time he was a baby, we taught Joe to say grace before food. Now he sings this 'grace' everytime on his own. And he says it especially fast if his favourite junk food (like muruku, keropok, eggs, fish cake, mamee) is served.

wrestling with my brother

My kor kor loves me. He always hugs and kisses me spontaneously. When we wrestle, he lets me win.
Kor kor loves me so much....he said to mama, "When I grow up, and when Joy-Anne grow up, then we can kiss the mouth!" Mama got a shock and said, "Nooooooooo!!!!!! Only husband and wife can kiss the mouth!"