Road Trip

Today, our family set off on our first road trip holiday to Club Med Cherating. We decided to stop over in Malacca enroute so that the entire journey would be more bearable for the 2 little fellas. Last night, it was frantic packing and as usual, majority of the stuff packed were meant for the sustenance of the 2 little ones. In general, the smaller the size, the larger the amount of luggage.

We sat off a little late at about 9.30am but thank God, the timing was rather good. Baby X fell asleep in his car seat at about 10.30am and surprisingly stayed asleep until about 12.20pm. After he woke up, I fed him cereal in the car. He gulped in all down and finished in time for a toilet break and a stretch of the legs. As we progressed on, Baby X was a happy and satisfied boy in the car. However, KK was starting to get restless. I allowed him to climb to the back of the car to play with Baby X.

Soon, we arrived at Malacca and after another 30 minutes, we approached the Renaissance Melaka Hotel, just as Baby X started to get impatient with being inside the car.

The wait to check in was a bit long and Baby X pooped while waiting. Luckily our room was ready, so we quickly got there and changed Baby X. It was a nice and comfortable room though the beds were rather high. Baby X had a taste of its height when he tumbled off from the bed accidentally. Thankfully, he only got a shock and nothing else.

We had a late lunch at the hotel café. We wanted to try their new Italian restaurant Olio which opens today but they only start at dinner. Nonetheless, we met the Director of Operations who went out of his way to ensure we get our pizza and pasta from the Olio kitchen served to the café. It has been a good experience so far.

Thanks to Hubby’s gold membership status, we stayed at the Club floor and were allowed access to the Club Lounge. Which is where I am now - having a cuppucino, typing my blog and using their free internet access to post. Hubby is having a glass of wine while the kids are playing nearby.

Since Baby X only slept for 30mins for his afternoon nap, I gather we’ll have to retire early tonight. We’ll probably go back for a bubble bath and eat the leftover pizza for dinner.

One Year Ago...

One year ago today, I was staying in Thomson Medical Centre, feeling acomplished after having delivered a baby just a few hours ago. It didn't seem too long ago when I was trying very hard to push the baby out into the world and feeling anxious to see how he will look like. I remembered wondering to Hubby if he thinks our new baby has Downs Syndrome since he has single eyelid. Thankfully, the pediatrician confirmed he wasn't the next day.


























Baby X @ 1year old vs Baby X 1 year ago


How fast time flies! Today, it's exactly one year since the day Baby X squeezed through the birth canal and arrived into our lives.

From a baby who only lies where you place him, Baby X has developed into an active toddler. Baby X is now learning to stand up on his own. He does this exercise very well when he's on the bed. Somehow he knows that that's a safe place to practice. He's also very good at expressing his wishes although he has yet learnt to speak. He will point his finger at the thing he wants or the place he wants to go, making some sounds to tell you 'get me that' or 'go there'. When he gets bullied by his brother, he will look at you with a miserable look and complain by making whining sounds. When he's happy, he will smile, jump, bounce and clap his hands. He really is a happy baby and his arrival has brought a lot of extra joy to the family.

The boys of the family

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today we celebrated Baby X's first birthday. His actual birthday is on Thursday but we celebrated earlier. Baby X of course, is oblivious to the fact that he's the star of the party. But this party is planned with an eye on the future. Hubby and I took lots of photos and video as evidence, in preparation for the day Baby X is discerning enough to ask us whether he had a birthday party when he was one year old. You see, when you have more than one kid, perceived fairness amongst the siblings is very important. Small injustice can be misinterpreted and insignificant acts compared to mean more love for one over the other. Today, we had the whole works - food, cake, champagne and gifts. Baby X should not have any reasons to complain in the future.

It was a simple lunch affair with only close family invited. Baby X woke up after a nap to see his grandparents, aunt and uncles waiting for him. He looked a little bewildered but soon he warmed up and enjoyed all the attention.

The theme for the menu was Japanese & Korean. We had sushi, kimchi, miso tofu soup, beef bulgogi and cupcakes, lychees from Mauritius for dessert. But like Huddy stated, the feasting is all on us. Baby X had his usual porridge for lunch. Well, he did have a taste of his birthday cake. Baby X's birthday cake was decorated with Doraemon's face. I think he's cute, like Baby X.

Child Care Fatigue (CCF)

The past few days at home has been crazy. There can simply be no rest in a household with:

• A 5-years old brother who cannot stop talking and getting jealous of his 11-month old baby brother.
• A baby who is on the verge of walking and talking, making very dangerous and wobbly attempts to stand up holding on to anything his little hands can grasp.
• A maid who sometimes feels like my third child, requiring lots of supervision and rescuing.

Over the last week, I've made coloured ice, dyed napkins, watched Transformers on DVD, made playdough using natural ingredients (Leng, your recipe works!), watched Bee movie, created a volcano made of playdough and simulated an erruption with KK. I've also fixed back the arm of Bonecrusher transformer at least 100 times and nearly thrown KK out of the house for talking back. I'm feeling "child care fatigued".

There's this trait common in both my sons, they cannot play independently. I think there's some genetic defect. KK needs a constant playmate. And since his little brother is not yet grown up, he's bugging me to play with him everytime. I try to oblige but sometimes I literaly have to command him to play by himself. Baby X, he's showing signs of this trait. He's happy just crawling around me as long as I sit nearby. But once I move off, he will follow me. Why is it that some kids can just sit on their own for 1 - 2 hours playing their toys quietly and mine can't?

KK has just finished packing his toys grudgingly and Baby X is asleep, thankfully. I guess it's time for me to think of the next activity. Let see, maybe we'll make some cut-out sandwiches with condensed milk and thousands/hundreds. I definitely need a cup of tea.

Oh My 10 Dog!

Communication with KK is getting complex and exhausting. There is a lot of explanation, reasoning, arguing and repeating necessary when talking to my dear 5 year old nowadays. Occasionally, we had no choice but to use threats and authority to move on. Here's a summary of what he is all in one.

1) The 'Ah Beng'
Recently he's picked up a lot of new phrases from his friends in kindergarten. For example:
"Come on, baby!", "What's up, baby?", "What the hell!" and " Wah lau!"

Actually, he's got no idea when I asked him if he knows what 'hell' means. He's just blindly repeating them because they sound cool.

2) The Lawyer.
KK is also getting to be more and more skillful in negotiating and arguing. Whenever we try to enforce some rules like finishing his food, he'll bargain for discounts on duration and concessions on quantity. He'll also question you 'why' certain decisions are made and argue with you till the cows come home or you give up.

Yesterday, Grandmum brought him to Toys 'R' Us and bought him his Christmas present. We told him that he had to wait one month until Christmas to play with his new toy. He couldn't wait of course. So he kept questioning why he has to wait and is it Christmas already tomorrow? Finally, Grandmum gave up and allowed him to open his present on the condition that he finishes his dinner within 1 hour that night. Even then, there was alot of bargaining and we had to reason till we were breathless before he finally finished his food and got his wish.

3) The Reader.
KK is still an amatuer when it comes to reading, though he's developing. Yesterday, he was looking at me read a message on Facebook.

The message goes like this: "Oh my god, 10 years..."
This is what KK read out loud, "Oh my dog, oh my ten dog!"

Applesauce Muffins

It's only the 2nd day of the school holidays and KK is already driving me crazy. This hyperactive boy cannot keep still for one minute unless he's playing computer games or watching TV. So when we limit his TV and computer times to a max of 1hr 30 minutes per day, technically I'm still left with 8hrs 30mins (after deducting 10 hours of sleeping time and 4 hours for lunch and dinner) that I've to occupy each day. Occupying him also means he'll have less chances of 'disturbing' his baby brother.

This morning, our mistake, Baby X crawled down to his brother's bed unnoticed and as a result, KK woke up at 0800hrs. He usually wakes up at about 1000hrs or later. Though I wanted to sleep more, I had to entertain his questions about his missing brochure, Transformers etc, in between drifting in and out of dreamland. The result: a tired and irritated start to the day.


After lunch, I decided to bake Applesauce Muffins instead of playing games. KK is supposed to help me and he did admire the sifted flour falling like snow, drill the batter using a whisk, beat up the egg and arrange the muffin cups for me. The recipe, which KK printed out from "www.nickjr.com" is really simple and the muffins actually taste quite good. I've reproduced the recipe here for those who wants to try it.




Ingredients A
2 cups Flour (sifted)
3/4 cup sugar (I use caster sugar)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt



Ingredients B
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 cup unsweetened applesauce (I use homemade ones. Let me know if you need the recipe.)
1/2 cup of melted butter



Method: Simply combine Ingredients A and B separately then pour B to A. Blend well and scoop into pre-oiled muffin cups. Pre-heat oven to about 250 degrees celceius and bake for about 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Easy right?


Wish the rest of the day will be easy as well.

50 Green Things at Home

It's school holidays again. Now I fully understand why some parents scratch their heads during this period. They are thinking of how to entertain their kids now that they're at home ALL at the same time.

That's why I bought this book 'Perceptive Play!' yesterday, written by Wong Li Lin. Yes, you're right. The Singapore actress, now mother of 2 children, is the author of this parenting book. In it, Li Lin provided 52 fun activities using simple home-available materials. There're a lot of learning through play ideas that provides ample opportunities for parent and child bonding as well. I like them because they support my belief that learning can be fun and need not involve spending a lot of money.

Today, I tried out one of the activity called "Colour shopping". I identified with KK that Green is the colour of the day and I got him a plastic bucket for him to collect all the green colour stuff he can find around the house. He did a fantastic job, picking out green toys, a green pillow, green sweets and even a green bottle of handwash! I awarded him points for every green item found and I asked him to record on a whiteboard. (This way, he practised his counting and numerical skills as well.) When he reached 45 points, I encouraged him to find 5 more to make a total of 50. He did it!

Tomorrow, maybe we'll try another colour or perhaps vary it to "50 round things at home". As Li Lin wrote, "the possibilities are as endless as your imagination!"