Last Class.

Yesterday I attended my very last class at OUM. For as long as I can remember, I look forward to this day. The day where I don’t need to block my calender and plan my life around my class schedule. But, yesterday, when my fellow coursemates brought along foods and tripods to commemorate the moment, I suddenly feel a surge of emotions. For the past 2 years, I had sat through 55 classes, 10 exams and handed in 11 assignments, and it came with lots of sacrifice, from myself as well as my family. I wouldn’t have made it without them. These fellow coursemates of mine, came from different profession and background. Some came as far as Miri, some from the east coast, travelling north and south fortnightly just to attend class, not to mention, one is OKU. I am deeply inspired and fortunate to be able to acquire knowledge with them. And now, I’m glad baby Ju is taking his baby steps towards a lifetime journey of education, because there are no full stop in learning, as life itself never stops teaching.

{I was missing in the group picture as I went home early due to baby Ju not being well. Now the last hurdle is our master project thesis. Go go team! See you guys in graduation!}

‘Mommy, Ju-Hann Happy’

Lately, these are the 4 words that baby Ju keeps reciting to me. Whether its having kiwi/yoghurt/pear/strawberry/pretzal, watch his favourite cartoon, read his ‘big machine book’ or just a trip to the playground, he will never fails to tell me that ‘Ju-Hann happy’. It warms my heart every time I hear him say it, simply because as a parent, all you want is for your kid to be ‘happy’ no matter what they do right? On the other hand, kids are so easily contented, maybe we should be too, then we’ll be ‘Happy’.

Blessed weekend everyone!

Digger, Bulldozer and Steam Roller.

Every child has something that they fancy, where they will scream in delight whenever they see it and carry along a miniature version of it wherever they go, just like this kid. My kid loves digger, dump truck, steam roller, bulldozer and every other machine that works in a construction site. It’s just so happen that there’s some sewer works going on outside our neighbourhood, so en-route to our Sunday breakfast 2 weekends ago, we decided to stop by and bring the little guy to watch the real deal. Nevertheless, he was in amazed!

Look at his face! I called this his awe-struck look! 😛

I bought him a book called ‘My Big Machine’ just 2 weeks ago, and believe it or not, he can recites all 32 pictograms which consist of various vehicles such are hovercraft, combine harvester, skip loader & etc… stuff that I don’t even know what it is before this.  So I learned that it’s important to discover what intrigues and interest them, because they damn sure learn it fast.

P.S: Oh and in case you don’t know, his current favourite toy is the miniature yellow Cat digger, where he bring it everywhere he goes, a really thoughtful gift from the lovely Happy ceh ceh.

Mini Construction Site.

So yesterday, hubbs and I came home the same time after work, so we’d spend some time with the Ju-Hann. At first, we did the same old routine, he’ll have some fruits (yesterday was banana’s), have a cup of acelora juice, read ‘My Big Machine’ (minimum twice) and a couple of his favourite books, and he will play with his Caterpillar truck for awhile. Yesterday, it so happen that we show this video to Ju-Hann again, the hubbs suddenly had the idea to let him play with ‘pretend sands’ (good fine motor training by the way). So we got this shallow round bucket, pour in some barley, put in the digger and dumptruck, voila! The kid is in heaven. He was so engross with it that when we told him it’s milk time and took away the bucket, he wailed and wailed…

 

 

 

 

Conversation with my 2.5 yo: Four, Fork?

Yesterday, after fetching my toddler from the nanny, he told me he wanted to have pear. So as soon as we reached home, i went to the kitchen and cut up the pear, while he waited patiently outside the kitchen (P.S. he’s not allowed to be inside the kitchen). So after finished cutting, this is how the conversation goes.

Me: ‘Ju, how many slice of pear would you like to have?”
Ju: ‘Two’
Me: ‘Are you sure? Two seems so little, how about four?’
Ju: ‘OK. Four!’

So, I put in four slices into the bowl and pass it to him. Normally, he would eagerly bring his bowl and sit on the sofa to savour it, nice and slow. But yesterday, he just sat there and kept saying: ‘Mommy, fourr… fourr, fourrr aarrr…’

Me: Four? Mommy just gave you four slices.
Ju: Fourrr… mommy four pissh (please), fourrr… fourrr….

I’m utterly confused, didn’t I just gave him four pieces? He goes on and on about ‘fouurrr’, each time getting more and more agitated because I don’t response to him like I should. Me, confused, him, frustrated. As I started to get frustrated myself and was about to scold him, I saw the cutlery on the tray, I had a light bulb moment… ‘Fork!’, he meant fork! So I immediately reach for the drawer, get his ‘fork’ and pass it to him. Without a word, he took his fork and snuck away to the sofa with his bowl of pear (& fork).

Talk about communication breakdown eh?

Ju-Hann: 2 years 5 months

Time is passing by so quickly that I stop counting the day when Ju-Hann turns another month old. But yesterday, I realized that it was the 18th, & I had a hard time to recall exactly how old is he. So here’s a little update (for my keeping) of my baby boy.

1. He’s a real chatterbox. He will repeat himself the same thing over & over again to everyone at home. It can be a little exhausting, to have someone in your face and talk to you all the time. But I’m just glad that he enjoys speaking, definitely not complaining.
2. I can see that he’s trying to communicate with other kids more lately. Every time we walk in the park or take a leisure walk outside, he will shouts ‘jie jie’ or ‘ko ko’ and run towards them, hoping they would play with him. Poor boy gets ignored all the time.
3. He can recognize all 26 alphabet letters (capital letters) but sometimes confused between L & I. He can recites 1-10 (in both English & Mandarin), but not quite there yet when it comes to counting.
4. He can recognize basic shapes like ‘circle’, ‘square’ and ‘diamond’,  but is still confused with Colours.
5. He loves to draw (or shall I say scribble?), and my boss ask me to bring home some unused AO/A1 size drawings so they can knock themselves out. What a brilliant idea, save me the trouble on nagging him from drawing outside the paper.
6. He sleeps around 8-9pm and wakes up at 7am. He’ll take 2-3 hours of nap everyday. I must say that I’m really grateful that I do not have problem when it comes to sleep/nap. This kid can sleep!
7. The kid loves music, enjoy watching Michael Jackson and sings ‘ABC’ all day long.
8. He eats almost everything that we gave him, but lately he’s start to be picky about leafy vege, but I’m not too worried, all kids go through that right?
9. He loves to play with ball (with hand), no matter how hard we try to teach him to kick it, he ends up picking it up with his hands.
10. He’s good at imitating adults these days. One day he was throwing tantrum in a car, the next thing you know, he shouted ‘Ju-Hann!’, imitating the father reprimand him when he’s being naughty. That was funny and brilliant at the same time.

We hope to enroll him to Pre-Kindergarten in a few months time, so I’m trying to bring him to Gymboree class as often as I can, hopefully there won’t be too much drama during the transition. It’s a bittersweet feeling – I’m totally freak out with the idea that he’s going to school, at the same time I know my little champ is going to learn so much about the world. Love you much baby Ju, happy 29th months old.

{Ju-Hann with his new found friend, Harris, at the park}

Quiet (Not)!

It’s pretty rare that I can enjoy a peaceful quiet morning all by myself. Between mommy duties, home chores, and work (with a new tender project coming up), it’s a miracle if I can even finish a cuppa coffee or shower for more than 15 minutes. I kid you not, this is the life of a full time working mom. So when i decided to take 2 days off in order for me to work on my thesis, I’m expecting 2 full days of peace and quiet. Guess what, it didn’t turn out as planned. The upper floor in the apartment where I live is undergoing some major renovation! From the sound of it (I used to work in construction sites), I highly doubt it’s a ‘installing a new cubbie’ reno, or a ‘fixing a new sink’ reno, it’s more like a ‘hack of that brick wall’ reno and ‘reconstruct the entire toilet’ kinda of reno. The knocking, hacking and deconstructing noise is driving me insane! Imagine my frustration, I can’t even take a short nap. That was yesterday. Today, I decided not to let it beat me down, today I’m Zen, because my supervisor had gave me a good review on my thesis progress. So I lit a candle, turn on volume of my favourite Jazz radio, and have a cup of my favourite peppermint tea, and all is right with the world again.

Few Favourite Things – Feb 2015

This rosehip oil… I had been using this for 6 months now, and the results are amazing. Fully imported from NZ, this little jar can go a long way. Just 2-3 drops every night, I had been pimple-less for quite some time now. I usually don’t wear make up during the weekend, so this is perfect for mummies who’s always on the go.

These rice cakes… This used to be my boys’ favourite, but one late night, when I was working on my thesis, I went back to the pantry and reach for this. It just taste so bland yet so yummy, not to mention, it fills your stomach too! A perfect one to add into your diet list.

This laptop fan-cooling thingy… Hubbs bought this for me as a Vday gift. At first, I was a little skeptical, but hours into using this, I changed my mind. This thing is amazing! It doesn’t just give height for my laptop (minimize strain on the neck), but it has a mini a/c that do a good job in cooling the keyboard surface (typing has never been more comfortable, not to mention the sweaty palms).

This cereal… Although a lil’ pricey, I loved this cereal! I had only tasted fruit, nut and fibre muesli  and it’s just so addictive! Every time I ran out of bread, this is my go-to breakfast. Guess what, baby Ju loves it too!

This water base CC Cream… Simply because it made your face looks oh-so-natural, and it’s so light you don’t even feel you put anything on. Got this from hubbie who ask a friend to help brought this when he went to Korea. Isn’t he lovely?

This pair of jammies…. Simply because I’m a sucker for cute pajamas, especially those who made your kid looks like an elf. I bought another pair at Tesco.

When the Storm is Over.

This was meant to be posted on 23rd Dec 2014, right after post-recovery of a sick child, not sure why it’s sitting in my draft…

These days, Ju-Hann boy had been such an angel. He is obedient, affectionate and saying a whole bunch of words. He also said his first Malay word: ‘Sayang’. Usually when we said ‘sayang mommy or sayang dada’, he’ll just put his hand on our face and caress it, but yesterday he said out loud (in the cutest way) when we were at the hospital.

Sometimes, you tend to lose sight of what’s most precious, a sick child will quickly put things back into perspectives. It’s been a hectic month. I just wrapped up my exam, while tending to a sick child for two long weeks, not to mentioned post recovery clingy child that drives us up the wall. We’ve been in and out the hospitals but I’m grateful that hammie is back to his usual cheeky self now. I can’t wait to spend a lovely long overdue Christmas holiday with the family.

Happy holidays!

Our (Overdue) CNY in Pictures

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Need I say more? The festive is always filled with food, more food and of course time spent with the family. Another year older, another year wiser, and hopefully another great year ahead filled with adventures and discovery.

Pics from the top: It’s a goat year! | Reunion dinner with the Fang clan. | The ever smiley Godpa. | The train ride. | Food galore at hubb’s grandparent’s home. | The Lim Clan. | Our very own delicious reunion dinner. | We never missed ‘Lou Sang’ with the Beh’s clan. | Sitting by the pond during visiting. | Mini me roaming at Valencia home.