......voices from the heart......

Hi! Happy New Year!

2010-02-01T18:49:00.003+08:00

Created a new blog at dee-khang.blogspot.com
No special reason, just want to be more organised...

Tokyo Day 5 (30/12/09)

2009-12-30T23:35:00.003+08:00

Joe & Yuriko joined us for dinner this evening. Dinner was chicken rice (brought prima taste chicken rice paste from S'pore) and mixed vegetables soup (broccoli, tofu. mushroom, carrot, dumpling), prepared by mahmmyboy.

Joe & yuriko live in Yokohama. According to them, the travelling time was about 45min by train. We visited them at their place during our last trip. Till now i still miss yuriko's pasta sauce and her home-made pizza.

Tokyo Day 2/3/4 (27/12/09 - 29/12/09)

2009-12-29T20:41:00.003+08:00

Day 4.

Today was a rest day for us. Today we received joshuaboy's stroller...Thanks be to God! (read Day 2 to find out more)

Had a late breakfast, leisurely. Joshuaboy had macdonald's happy meal breakfast, whereas pappy & mahmmyboy had udon soup & don. I finally found the 100yen shop, and we did some grocery shopping. Pappy loves to see the fridge being stock up with food stuff, so that we can whip up a meal anytime we like or whenever we are hungry. This is one of the reasons for staying at a serviced apartment.

Lunch & dinner were prepared by mahmmyboy. Lunch was a simple pumpkin porridge meal, with bee cheng hiang pork floss (brought from S'pore). Dinner was minced meat & carrot porridge for joshuaboy, and noodle soup with tofu, needle mushroom, carrot, minced meat for pappy & mahmmyboy. Yummy, & healthy.

Day 3.

Rented a car. Went to Thomas Land, which is situated at Otsuki (Fujiyoshida) very near to Mt Fuji. YES... Mt Fuji... we finally saw her right in front of us, as we were driving, looking for the right direction to Fuji Q Highland amusement park, which is home to Thomas Land. YES...Mt Fuji... AWESOME! really really AWESOME! The first time i saw her was travelling in the shinkansen, during our last trip. Today was the second time. The view, and the feeling of seeing her is indescribable (is there such a word?...call myself a teacher...) I tried to take a last glance at her on our way back to Tokyo. The sight of her is still vividly etched in my mind.

Back to Thomas Land. Joshuaboy of course was very excited when he saw his favourite 'ah tak'. That's the way he addresses 'Thomas the Tank Engine'. The admission to the amusement does not include the rides at Thomas Land. Each ride cost about 200 yen (S$3) for each adult. Luckily, joshuaboy does not need to pay any fare. We took Harold the helicopter ride, the truck ride, and Thomas the train ride. I managed to take a pic with joshuaboy with Mt Fuji at the background. The sun set rather early at this time of the year, at around 4 to 5 o'clock. The park was quite deserted when we left at 530pm. Dinner was sumptuous, to compensate for the-origini-lunch-in-the-car.

Day 2.

We ended the day by attending mass at Franciscian Chapel Centre at Roppongi. Wanted to start the day by going to the church first. But had to go back to get some paperwork done. I forgot to mention that we had left joshuaboy's stroller at the airport. I guess we were too eagerly to get out of the airport that day, or we are getting old...whatever lah...
Pappy seek the help of the hotel's staff to locate the stroller. Luckily, the stroller was still around, at the custom, at the airport. We had to pay a sum (1500yen)to get it sent to us. Hope we would get it asap. Joshuaboy is growing up, and his weight grows too. It will take a strong & tough guy to carry him. Poor pappy! He had to suffer...
As a result of those papperwork, we were late for the noon mass.

Tokyo Day 1 (26/12/09)

2009-12-26T21:46:00.002+08:00

Arrived this afternoon 4.20pm Tokyo time.
Joshuaboy had a wonderful nap in the plane. He was so alert when he woke up.
Took the airport limousine bus to our serviced apartment's doorstep. This time we are staying at Odaiba area. It is far from the popular tourists' choice like shinjuku. But it is nearer to disneyland. Our plan for tomorrow is to attend a mass first, then explore omotesando, which is pappy's favourite hangout place, i think. Update again tomorrow.
(as i was typing, my mind had in fact gone away...zzz...)

shhh...

2009-11-23T15:50:00.002+08:00

mahmmyboy: bridgesshhh...
joshuaboy: no, no, no... bridge.
mahmmyboy: !

joshua's instruction

2009-11-09T17:14:00.002+08:00

joshuaboy: (pointed at pappy) chu qu pao milk milk sao...

pappy: ni jiao wo chu qu??? ( no choice, being instructed by joshuaboy, guai guai obeyed...)

Birthdays' invitation...

2009-11-09T17:04:00.002+08:00

Sat (7 nov) - Natalie's birthday.
Sun (8 nov) - Xiao Ci's birthday.

Both birthday stars are 6...
Both are girls...
Both had pizza party...
Both had 'pink' birthday cake...

Happy Birthday!!!

Children's Day celebration

2009-09-30T14:29:00.004+08:00

Joshua's kindergarten celebrated Children's Day and its annual Sports Day this morning. It was like a carnival with food and drinks on sale at the school compound. The atmosphere reminded me of a fun fair a few years back at my previous work place...the crowd, the parents, the pupils, the noise, the mood, the fun & the fair...blah blah blah...

I was 'invited' ( again!) by joshua's English teacher to be a parent volunteer for today's event. My main task was to look after joshua & his classmates while teachers had their race, and to get the kids ready for the race. Luckily, the weather was very cooperative after a shower this morning.
There wasn't much shade though, but not much sun either.

. snack time...before the race

workout time...

more workout...

HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY!

D.I.M

2009-09-14T19:23:00.003+08:00

D.I.M - Do it myself...

Joshuaboy peeing without my help.

The other day i saw him pulled down his brief, lifted up the potty cover, sat on the potty trying to pee ( hahaha...u must be thinking why sit, not stand?) I thought that he was sitting down. But he stood up, held on to the handles by the side, and pee. After that, he tried to put on his brief. That still needed my assistance. He only managed to pull up to cover his front. This scenario was repeated this afternoon. Good job, joshuaboy! You have shown mahmmyboy & pappy that you have grown up. One more thing, I realise that he has better bladder control now.

Teachers' Day celebration 31-08-09

2009-09-14T18:35:00.003+08:00

joshuaboy performed, together with his classmates, at the school's mini concert for the teachers.

Pappy always likes to call him names such as 'silly truck'. This video clip will show him that his so-called ' truck' can sing & dance, not so 'silly'...

tongs & chopsticks

2009-09-14T18:09:00.003+08:00

First time i let joshuaboy use tongs. I would say not a bad attempt. Most importantly, I can see that he enjoyed this 'game'.

After that, he proceeded with chopsticks. But stopped after a short while, and to his favourite couch...watching dvd...

2319

2009-09-12T15:26:00.002+08:00

What was joshuaboy doing at 2319 (11.19pm) one night?

When i checked on him,he said, "zhuo Bob..."
He was piecing together 'Bob the Builder' puzzle.

That puzzled me...

New addition

2009-09-12T15:16:00.003+08:00

Let me introduce new addition to my family.
She is baby Mabel. She is my sis, gek's second child, delivered at KKH on 6 July 2009.

Mummies' Gathering

2009-09-12T14:54:00.003+08:00

Date: 9 Sep, Wednesday
Time: 1130am
Venue: Marche Vivocity
Who were there?

Pat & her granddaughter, Si Jia
Jean & her grandson, Der Nen
Annie & her 2 kids, Phoebe & Reuben, & her helper
Jessy & her 2 gers, Xiao Ci & Yun Er
Pei Ee & Andy & Faith & Pei Ee's mum
Gina
Lay Choon & Jun Jun
Li Nah & Sophie
mammyboy & pappy & joshuaboy

big group har!!!

mummies as usual had a lot to catch up, a lot to share, a lot to say, lots of laughters... kids as usual had their own fun too...

Joshua is 3!

2009-09-07T15:28:00.004+08:00

Had a simple birthday celebration for joshuaboy last sat (5th Sep) at our own place.

Mahmmyboy bought a 'Thomas & Friends' playhouse for joshuaboy last year. I was cracking my head what to get for him this year. Finally, i decided to bake a cake for his birthday. I don't know how to bake cakes nor pastries stuffs. Thus seek help from my childhood friend who can bake just like a professional. However, she was ill and could not teach me. Luckily, auntie serene neo came to my rescue. She spent one friday evening teaching me the basics & the hows & ....baking a cake. Since i do not have baking instinct, she decided to teach me a sure-can-succeed cake, which is brownie. She was very helpful to call me on thurs nite (3rd sep), offered her help again the following nite. With her help & baking fingers, joshuaboy's birthday cake was 'borned' on 4th sep, 630pm.

My guests were impressed with my idea & effort. Pappy was elated that nite & i heard him keep mentioning something like "...my wife bake one..." "...very nice..." Thanks pappy!

Happy Birthday, Joshuaboy! You are 3!

National Day 090809

2009-08-10T23:38:00.008+08:00

We wanted to view the parade from Merlion Park this year. However, the whole place was denied entry at around 615pm. The pedestrian path along the Esplanade Drive was jam packed with human crowd. We moved along the Anderson Bridge next, and made a quick decision to stay put at the bridge. Luckily, our decision was wise & sound as the police stopped further entry to the bridge after that.

(joshuaboy trying hard to record...)

A glimpse of the City March Past along Anderson Bridge

The fireworks display (so near yet so far...)

Did we say the pledge at 822pm? We didnt as we were already walking along Boat Quay heading towards Central. We had simple Japanese-style western food at Ma Maison. Good service, good food, good ambience... By the time we arrived home, it was 10 min before 11pm.

Happy 44th Birthday, Singapore!

Savoury Saturday

2009-08-08T17:12:00.004+08:00

Savoury Saturday

Red & White

2009-08-07T17:14:00.002+08:00

joshuaboy's kindergarten had a party this morning. His form teacher had made arrangement with some parents to contribute some food for the class party. I bought packet drinks.
I have taught joshuaboy a mandarin national day song. He was humming this morning on our way to the kindergarten. It was a pity I did not manage to record his voice.

The kindergarten wanted to hold its annual sports day this morning. It was postponed, however, in support of the kindergarten effort to slow down the spread of H1N1. One of joshuaboy's classmates was down with Influenza A. There were 3 cases of H1N1 in his kindergarten so far. Pappy & I had signed up for the parents' race, and were in fact looking forward to this day. Well, we have to support & respect the principal's decision.

Happy National Day!

Class Photo

2009-07-31T16:13:00.003+08:00

Joshuaboy-----second row, 4th from the left.

A solo pic.

Does he resemble mahmmyboy more or takes after pappy?

kids' date...

2009-07-31T15:56:00.003+08:00

joshuaboy's classmate, Lucas, invited us ( yes, family of 3) to his 3 yr old b birthday party last sat 25july at his place. I do not know if joshuaboy understands this invitation. But i told him about going to Lucas' place, told him about celebrating Lucas' b birthday, told him about singing of b birthday song (he sang me a b birthday song after telling him that), etc....just want to prepare him...

Well, once we entered the gate, joshuaboy dashed to the bouncing castle, with Lucas' present on hand. I got to hurriedly grab him back, took the present, and passed to Lucas. Kids being kids. I guess when come to play, that's their top priority. Joshuaboy was busy jumping & bouncing in the castle, busy chasing after other kids, busy......cleaning his sweat beads on his forehead......hehehe.....pappy then took out a hanky, brought him to the bathroom, washed his hand, cleaned his 'perspiration-sweaty' face......

Too bad, the camera was not with me that day, so did not take any pics of the party.

Racial Harmony Day

2009-07-24T15:32:00.004+08:00

Joshuaboy's kindergarten celebrated Racial Harmony Day today. The pupils are enouraged to wear clothes that depict the four ethnic groups in S'pore. There were traditional games for pupils to take part in. There were different types of food for pupils to taste.

I was helping out at a game stall. Yes, a parent volunteer, i should say. I had fun demonstrating to the pupils how to skip, & how to play yo yo. It was an eye opener for some pupils who apparently had not seen or touched a skipping rope before. Some pupils knew for the first time how a yo yo works.

Joshuaboy was with me before his class started at noon. He was enjoying himself, trying out games at various stall, mingling with other pupils, self-entertaining, so to speak.

Each pupil brought home a cone of kachang puteh.

A Mystery Call???

2009-07-24T15:20:00.002+08:00

The house phone rang two evenings ago and joshuaboy picked up the receiver.
He said," Hello...............(followed by a long pause after that).
The next phase he said was "bu zai jia...,"
Then he put down the phone.
When i took over from him, the call had already been disconnected.
So I asked joshuaboy who that was. He replied that was yee yee. I thought that my sis would try calling my hp next since she did not manage to talk to me. I waited and waited...No call leh!
When I checked with my sis last night, she said she did not call me.
So, who was the caller?

Youth Day - sch hols

2009-07-06T15:45:00.004+08:00

Today we were supposed to go the the zoo with annie & jessy. But due to joshuaboy's health condition, i decided not to join them.

So, what was joshuaboy doing this morning?

1. watched his favourite dvd - Thomas and Friends. His godpa bought a new dvd for him while visiting him at the hosp. I bought the 'Great Discovery' movie series for him. He was enjoying himself in front of the goggle box for a good one hour. A TV king...

2. Breakfast with joshuaboy this morning was really relaxing. He kept asking for more bread and drank half a cup of milo. A rotiboy...

3. Dismantled the track, connected the track...dismantling, connecting... playing with his Thomas train collection. A 'Thomas' fan...

4. Thread the laces through some picture cards. I bought this 'sewing & lacing' cards some time ago from ELC. This is supposed to train his hand-eye corrdination and motor skills. A very focused child...

5. Doodling at the easel board... An artist...? kekeke...

Rotavirus (6)

2009-07-06T15:34:00.002+08:00

5th July, Sun.

Praise the Lord! Joshuaboy has recovered. He responded well & fast to Dr Wong's med.
No diarrhoea.
No vomiting.
Had his favourite formula milk milk.
Had half a slice of bread with butter & milo that morning.
Had kway teow soup for lunch.
Had rice & ABC soup & steam minced meat with water chestnut for dinner.
Drank 200ml of milk milk before going to bed.
NO diarrhoea. Pants clean. No stain. No foul smell.

Thanks be to God!

Rotavirus (5)

2009-07-06T15:22:00.002+08:00

4 July, Sat.

Dr Wong prescribed 4 hourly med for joshuaboy. Joshuaboy took 2 doses that day. He was still having diarrhoea, but only 2 times. Dr Wong advised us to let joshuaboy eat more solid food, such as rice with soup, and to stop feeding him porridge. We took her advice. Joshuaboy was enjoying a quarter bowl of rice with fish soup ( soup was cooked by my mum) that evening for dinner. That afternoon, he had minced meat porridge, prepared by my MIL. She even brought some fried bee hoon for pappy & I. My in laws were very concerned about joshuaboy's health. My MIL applied leave and took a cab down to the hosp the following morning after receiving our sms.

Rotavirus (4)

2009-07-06T15:12:00.002+08:00

3rd July, Fri.

Joshuaboy was discharged.

However, his diarrhoea had not stopped. Dr Lim told us that the diarrhoea condition would persist for another few days. The worst scenario would be 10 days. My goodness! I pray deep in my heart jsohuaboy to recover soon.

At 130pm, diarrhoea on our way home. 345pm, diarrhoea again after his nap. 525pm, again diarrhoea. 805pm, once more. 1010pm, his pants was stained, again. 1110pm, changed another set of pyjamas, again. I became very worried and disheartened seeing that. Why was his tummy still rumbling despite abstaining from formula milk? We decided to bring him back to tcm Dr Wong the following morning. Hope that Dr Wong could do something about his condition.

Rotavirus (3)

2009-07-06T14:50:00.003+08:00

2nd July, Thurs.

Did not work today. I informed my boss yesterday on joshua's condition & my intention to take leave. She was rather understanding, and made arrangement for teachers to relief my classes.

Joshuaboy looked well. He requested to get down the bed, then made further request wanted me to bring him out of the room. That, i did not obliged. I had only allowed him to walk about in the room.

As for his condition, diarrhoea was getting mild. But he had to abstain from milk. It was tough explaining to him. We decided to let him try Isomil, upon Dr Lim's recommendation. Joshuaboy attempted once, but rejected the following feed. Seeing that, pappy made a diluted formula feed for him. That night, his diarrhoea worsened, 4 times. 1 of them happened at 4am, and luckily was spotted by the nurse who came in to check his drip. She quickly woke us up. (We slept on a sofa bed in the same room, advantage of staying in a single room). So, we decided to keep the formual mlik out of his sight, hopefully out of his mind...

Rotavirus (2)

2009-07-06T14:36:00.002+08:00

1 July, Wed.
Joshuaboy's stool was sent for lab testing. His PD, Dr Lim. came back in the afternoon with the lab report. The result showed that Joshuaboy had rotavirus. According to Dr Lim, this virus will attack and thin his intestine lining, thus causing severe diarrhoea. Luckily, joshuaboy was not having any fever, and his vomitiing had stopped. According to Dr Lim, the virus is transmitted via contact with contaminated hands, surfaces and objects. So, how on earth did joshuaboy get the virus? I could think of our last outing to jacob ballas children's garden. There were many kids there that day. My mum said he "hor deu"... whatever, i beginning to feel regretful bringing him out on a hot sunny morning, letting him play with the water (pappy warned me the night before not to let him go near the water play)...

Rotavirus(1)

2009-07-06T14:00:00.005+08:00

30th June, Tues, abt 930pm

We quickly left for Mt Alvernia A&E. Joshua had vomitted his dinner & barley drink. That morning & afternoon, he was having diarrhoea for a total of 5 times.

He was already showing signs and in fact was at the onset of falling sick on Monday morning. He was still looking well & active when he went to school at noon, though he threw out his morning milk feed. He looked tired when i picked him up after his class. He had diarrhoea twice after his nap, and after his afternoon milk feed. I brought him to tcm without delay. It was drizzling, and luckily, saw a cab shortly after walking to the minor road. Unfortunately, joshuaboy threw out in the cab on our way back after tcm. The driver made some nasty remarks (couldnt blame him, as the cab was really in mess with all the "throw out") I ignored him, paid him a few more dollars, and dashed home to get changed for both joshuaboy & myself. That night he was alright, and could sleep well.

Somehow on Tue, joshuaboy's condition turned worse, even though with tcm medication. I could tell that he did not respond to dr wong's med this time. I took him to a GP, hoping that western medication might stop his diarrhoea. I was wrong. While waiting for diagnosis at Mt A, I asked myself why didnt i think of sending joshuaboy to hosp instead? The doc at Mt A suggested us to admit joshua for observation and to put him on drip in order to treat his condition fast. We obliged. We agreed. We didnt argue or negotiate. We were mentally prepared on our way to the hosp. We just wanted joshuaboy to receive the fastest & most effective treatment.

Joshuaboy was fortunate to be able to stay in a single-bedded room as his hospitalisation plan from Great Eastern is able to cover all expenses. That night, joshuaboy was given intravenous drip. By the time he fell asleep, it was already 1 am, 1st July. We heaved a sigh of relief seeing our son sleeping soundly. We were proud that he was very cooperative when the PD injected the needle.

Jacob Ballas Children's Garden

2009-06-26T15:10:00.005+08:00

Brought joshuaboy to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden this morning after breakfast. This was actually our third trip here. The first time when we came, joshuaboy was napping (in his stroller). Pappy came with us the second time. But he did not really like this place, partly bacause of the hot weather. This morning, I decided to bring joshuaboy here again as firstly, he did not explore much during the last visit. Secondly, school holidays coming to an end and i just want to bring him out. Thirdly, this place is free admission. I only had to pay for the parking, which was only $1.26.

Jessy & her girls wanted to come with us on Wed. But Jessy had to attend an urgent meeting that morning. We shall meet them again on Youth Day, zoo outing, with Annie & her kids. Hope that li nah & sophie can join us.

Joshuaboy wanted to try the slide. But I was rather apprehensive to do that with him. Luckily he did not insist. Joshuaboy managed to cross the suspension bridge, on his own, after a few attempts with me. After he had challenged that, he raised both hands & shouted "i did it..." (he learnt that from Dora the explorer dvd) I was very happy to know that my ah boy is a brave & daring child who is willing to try.

After that, we came to the water play area. I took off his shoes, asked if he would like to play. He nodded. Then off the bench to the water hose. He enjoyed the water play very much. He was ,in fact, quite reluctant to leave. He was only willing to stop & get change when he realised that the group of children from a childcare centre was changing & leaving too. He was mingling with those kids earlier, as if they were friends.

Up, up, up we go...

2009-06-17T01:15:00.002+08:00

Toilet training is really an uphill task for me.

Started training joshua boy end of last year actually. But then stopped after multiple cleaning, changing, cleaning & changing, arrrrhhhh..... mahmmyboy gave up. Decided to pluck up a little bit of courage & thus tried once again last week. I would say not too bad the results this time round. I am more prepared, both mentally & physically. Joshua boy is more ready too. He has better bladder control now. He used to wet his pant every 15 min (imagine my frustration then...) Now he can tahan for 1.5 hr.

This time, i tell myself, even if he still wet his brief, i m not going to take the easy way out put on diaper for him. Whenever we are at home, joshua boy is going to be diaperless. (however, i am still not confident of letting him go out without diaper) I believe, he has to learn the discomfort of feeling wet, I believe, he will learn to pee at the right time, at the right place. I believe.

Another milestone

2009-06-12T15:34:00.002+08:00

Finally joshua boy is willing to tell me he wants to pee. YES!!! YES!!! YES!!!

This morning, as usual i took off his diaper after he woke up, put on Thomas & Friends brief for him. As usual, told him to let me know if he needs to she she. As expected, pee in his brief. No choice. Cleaned up. Changed another brief.

Then at about 10.45am, "mummy she she, mummy she she..." joshua boy came running to me. I was in the bedroom. I quickly brought him to the toilet, pulled down his brief, carried him up the toilet seat, let him stand at the rim of the toilet bowl, supported his back, and my dear joshua boy she she in the toilet bowl...At that moment, i was elated. I hugged him, kissed him, praised him, hugged him, kissed him, praised him...i think I had overdone that, he pushed me away...nevermind... Next, i called pappy wanted to tell him the good news. But he was at a meeting could only sms.

But at 12.15, accident! Cleaned up. Changed another brief.

At 12.50, "mummy she she, mummy she she..." Did it in the toilet bowl again. This time, managed to talk to pappy over the phone. joshua boy was very happy. He said this to pappy,"pappy ah, joshua she she in the toilet bowl...toilet bowl",

At 2.30pm, "mummy she she, mummy she she..." the siren wailed again. This time,joshua boy not only pee but poo also...all done into the toilet bowl.

Joshua boy was taking his nap when i posted this entry. Hope that the rest of the day, his potty training will go on smoothly. Wish us luck!

Uh Ah?

2009-06-05T00:21:00.002+08:00

joshua: ...kah li you...
mahmmyboy: ? (could not comprehend...)

Finally managed to decipher one day. We were at Kiddy Palace and joshua was admiring his favourite range of trains (Thomas, what else...). He was pointing at Dennis (name of a train) and he mentioned those words again. At that moment then i realised what he was saying. He was actually telling me (in mandarin) jia li you...

To Laugh or Not To Laugh

2009-06-05T00:12:00.003+08:00

Joshua boy pointed at an advertisement and told my sister (in mandarin) " mummy jia li you..."

When I came back from work, my sister told me,"just now, your son pointed at the Whisper advertisement and told me mummy jia li you..." my sister was amazed ( or rather amused) by that statement.

So, how should i respond? my answer was," ? " Firstly, i have kept all sanitary pads in a drawer in the wardrobe. Secondly, i don't use that brand. Thirdly, where does joshua boy learn such a phrase from?

new kindergarten

2009-05-15T15:56:00.003+08:00

It has been more than a month since joshua boy joined the present kindergarten. Pappy & I are glad that he is settling down very well now.

He no longer resists when i put on his uniform. He no longer whines when i carry him out of the car. He no longer holds my pants reluctant to let go when i hand him over to his teacher. He no longer says "bu yao bu yao" when i mention going to school. He no longer has night terror nowadays...this is very signficant to us.

He used to wake up at night crying when he just started his pre N class at the previous kindergarten. He used to refuse to change into his uniform. He used to drag getting out of the car when we arrived at the school gate. He used to have teary eyes when pappy passed him over to the teacher.

Pappy & i are glad that i have chosen to transfer him to another kindergarten. I think it's the so called motherly instinct that i could feel joshua boy's unhappiness & frustration. He was not able to articulate to us what had happened in school, but his behaviour told us something was not right. Two weeks after the term started, he was getting more naughty, more cranky, made more unpleasant unnesessary noise, cried more, whined more...

Now, whenever i drop him at the gate, hand him over to his teacher, he will turn around & wave gd bye. The first time he did that, i wanted to tear. I quickly called pappy told him the gd news - joshua boy likes sch it seems.

Bonding Time!

2009-05-15T15:45:00.004+08:00

father & son enjoying themselves at TimeZone.
joshua boy has grown to love playing games at the arcade. He was the one who had dragged pappy to ride on that motorcycle. He sure knows what is called "FUN"!

ASAP (II)

2009-04-13T16:57:00.002+08:00

hahahaha.....

after reading some mummies' response in my comments' window, cant help but laugh out loud....

I feel much better now... mummies bloggers don worry abt me, don speculate. I will update u all on what has happened to me lately...so much to share, so much to tell...

ASAP

2009-04-08T10:09:00.002+08:00

recently got some personal matters to attend to. thus no time to blog. But will b back asap...

Joshua third day in school

2009-03-25T17:10:00.003+08:00

Today was a PE day for all pupils ( from pre-nursery to K2). Pupils were all dressed in pe attire.

They had morning exercise as a school. Then joshua boy's class had some extra running exercise in the church field. I like the idea of going out for the kids to unwind and soak in the sun. Joshua boy of course enjoyed this morning exercise with his teachers & classmates.

Joshua first day in school

2009-03-23T15:01:00.004+08:00

Today was joshua boy first day in school. He was able to stay in class with his teacher & 2 teacher aides, able to follow their instructions, able to hold hands with his classmates lined up to the toilet, to music room, able to eat the egg noodles himself. I am very proud of him.

At first i was a bit worried when he did not want to participate in the morning singing at the assembly hall. I held his hand up but he rejected. I encouraged him to clap but he refused. He wanted to go to the school's playground. It was too inviting. He kept telling me "slide, slide..." But how could I accede to his request? Luckily, he settled down well in class.

One more thing i need to do as a mother is to toilet train him. This i must admit is challenging. I tried but failed. He tried but unsuccessful. I tell myself give him time, and give me time too. Please pray for us!

One last thing to blog about. I miss having breakfast with joshua boy this morning though we had chee cheong fun & chwee kue at the kopi tiam. What i have missed is joshua boy sitting beside me, on his high chair, by the dining table, spreading kaya butter peanut butter nutela on my bread, and then we will share the all-kinds-of spread bread, and then he will also enjoy sipping his hot milo, while I enjoy my kopi-o. Come saturday when he doesn't need to go to sch, we will eat the all-kinds-of-spread bread together...

Zoo excursion 180309

2009-03-23T14:24:00.006+08:00

Finally mummies bloggers' zoo excursion was materialised (we were supposed to have visited the zoo during the dec holidays...blame the unpredictable weather...)

When? 18 mar 2009
What time? agreeable meeting time 11am ( li nah was the earliest, jessy & i were late...why? ask jessy..hehehe....no offence, jessy...pei ee met up with us after lunch)
Who went? mahmmyboy, joshua boy, li nah, baby sophie, jessy, baby yun er, xiao ci, pei ee & hubby, baby faith
Verdict - despite the heat, guess the kids took it with great stride. Did not hear any complaint from xiao ci; sophie had a brief nap & she seemed to be curious with her surroundings & the people around her; faith had her dear daddy carrying her, introducing, explaining what was happening in each & every enclosure in the Fragile Forest; mummies like me with strollers had to try every manooeuvre we could to get through doors after doors, chain curtains after curtains at the Fragile Forest. We did it without complaints too :)
Next outing? June hols...

kay kiang mahmmy

2009-03-20T16:43:00.004+08:00

this morning joshua asked for a pink straw, and then he pointed at the fridge and said," pink juice," i opened the fridge, took out the ribena, pour some into a cup, gave the 'pink juice' to him.

"bu yao, bu yao pink juice,"
he walked away.

It turned out that he was only associating the colour of the straw with ribena. Ai yah, this mahmmy here kay kiang. What happened to the juice? Mahhmmy drank it lar...

finger painting

2009-03-11T16:13:00.002+08:00

bought a set of Crayola washable finger paints from a store at Harbourfront (too bad forget the name of the store:(

joshua boy had a messy adventure not only with his fingers, but also tried painting with a brush. Seeing that he thoroughly enjoyed the mess he had created on the drawing paper, his quick-witted mummy (hee hee...) quickly fished out a potato from the fridge, cut into half, carved a flower shape, and taught him to print the shape on the paper. As Joshua boy did not have an art smock, i got him to put on his old t-shirt. Overall, he had fun, enjoyed himself that afternoon.

young artist at work

2200hr

2009-03-11T16:05:00.003+08:00

What was joshua boy doing at 10.30pm one nite?

SAHM

2009-03-04T16:05:00.004+08:00

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. Empty boxes and food wrappers were strewn all around the front yard. The door to his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house, and there was no sign of the dog.

Proceeding into the entry, he found a lamp knocked over and the throw rug wadded against one wall. In the front room, the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel and the family room was piled with toys and clothes. In the kitchen, dirty dishes filled the sink, food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled all over the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out of the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, miles of toilet paper in a heap, and toothpaste smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know, every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do at home all day?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

2yrs 5mths

2009-02-21T00:23:00.001+08:00

cheeky??? cranky???

wanted to take a proper pic of him, but he showed me such an expression instead.

New portable dvd player

2009-02-21T00:14:00.003+08:00

pappy bought a portable dvd player with the intention to keep joshua boy entertained along the journey to malacca. It has become joshua's new toy, and he can really hook onto the screen for a good 30min...switching from one show to the next... Personally i feel that it's not healthy for him. I keep that away from him now.

self-feeding

2009-02-20T23:59:00.005+08:00

another milestone... ka kee yor, ka kee zia...

joshua boy loves soup. He will always finish the soup first.

Late update of CNY

2009-02-20T23:52:00.002+08:00

This was taken at my parents' place on the eve of CNY's eve. Joshua boy & Gab spread the festive mood to everybody...

I'm back!

2009-02-20T23:27:00.005+08:00

Dear mummies-bloggers,
i'm back! joshua boy slept early tonite. He dozed off in the car on our way to xin wang hong kong cafe. That was shortly after 9pm. It was very rare that he slept sooooooo early. Well, that gives us more couple time :)
How is joshua boy's speech development lately? He speaks more now, not a complete sentence yet, but can tell that he is trying to communicate with us.

In the morning when he wants to get up from the bed, he will make his request "qi lai, qi lai" i will then hold his hand to lift him up;
when he doesn't want or need anything, he will shake his head "bu yao, bu yao";
when he wants to drink water or milk, he will say "ahh milk milk;
when he wants to go to the playground, he will tell me too "slide, slide..."
when he wants to watch dvd, he will utter "choo choo"; when he wants to watch 'Elmo', he will keep saying "elmo elmo..."
when he sees an aeroplane, "ji ji";
when he goesto hougang mall, "more, more...";
when we past by our parish church Nativity Church, he will say "zerch, zerch";
when he goes to our parents' place, he will greet our parents "ye ye" "zong zong" (gong gong) "ma ma"
when he has his poo done in the diaper, he will not say anything, but will keep beating the front part of the diaper;
when he wants my TLC, he will be very sweet to me "mi, mi..." (that's the way to call me nowadays)
more to come...

spring clean & spring spruce...

2009-01-16T17:02:00.003+08:00

Yes, ya, yup...it's the time of the year for so-called SPRING CLEANING...

Li nah dropped me a sms ask if i was busy, quiet? I replied doing up the other 2 bedrooms (a proper room for joshua, hopefully before CNY), re-arranging furniture, organising things here & there lah ( the last phrase only cooked up now). I also shared briefly with her that my mum has not been well. Lately accompanying her to tan tock seng twice for a general check up regarding her health condition, especially her persistent headache & giddiness and a MRI scan. She was diagnosed with thalassaemia last oct. No medication, just need to make sure her diet contains lots and lots of greens, meat (doctor advice) ...teo chew says "ziak pow". She is down with another scan for her varicose veins next week and a follow up check-up in early feb....sigh!

Okay, back to my spring cleaning. A lot need to be done, so much to be de-clutter...pappy needs to fix up joshua's new cupboard, i need to clear & arrange properly my tupperware ( big headache... those who know me know that i have a huge collection in one of the wardrobes in one of the rooms...not mine...it's joshua's...that's the reason for another cupboard). I also have to sort out old magazines, Simply Her, Home &Decor, Motherhood, Mother & Baby, Young Parents...normally i will cut out those articles which i think are useful, then file them up. This process seems easy, but takes time. Before cutting, i will browse, read, go through pages after pages ( i'm actually reading the magazines again...) So much to do...

I have not yet done the actual cleaning! OMG! my windows, bathrooms, kitchen, my bedroom...etc etc etc...

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneyland & DisneySea - back again!)

2009-01-09T23:17:00.006+08:00

Day 5 (Thursday, 6 Nov)

Back to Disneyland & DisneySea again!
Had not enjoyed enough of both parks, so decided to upgrade our 2-day passport (10,000 yen for each adult) to 3-day (12,900 yen), and that enable us to visit both parks on the third day.

We headed to Adventureland, which we had missed on day 1.
Waiting to board the Western River Railroad.

Enjoying the mickey mouse waffle at the Great American Waffle Co. at
World Bazaar.

We wanted to explore more attractions like 'It's A Small World' and 'Castle Carousel' at Fantasyland, but the sun was setting (it was only 4pm!), and we wanted to visit DisneySea again, so had to bid farewell to Disneyland. Luckily, we managed to catch the parade (again) that afternoon.

At DisneySea, we took a stroll to the 'Fortress Explorations' at Mediterranean Harbour, where joshua boy had fun tunnelling the crates. Our plan was to see the fireworks before called it a day. However, due to unforseen weather condition, the fireworks display was cancelled. What a disappointment! We only managed to watch the evening water show.

Joshua boy was already sleeping soundly when we left DisneySea. Pappy & I decided to walk to the train station (i think that took us 15-20mins), and that route lead us to another shopping centre, Ikspiari, which contains 140 shops and restaurants. We had simple dinner there before heading Maihama Station, where we took the train back to Tokyo Station, and then transferred to Shinjuku Station, and to Okubo Station, which was 3 min walk from our serviced apartment. For the past 3 days, we had been taking the same route to and fro Disney Resort, waiting at the same traffic junction, crossing the same traffic lights, going up the same escalators, going down the same flight of stairs. Pappy's physical fitness was put to test as he had to carry joshua, who was in his stroller, down the stairs. There weren't any escalators coming down nor any lift at Okubo Station. Pappy nearly sprained his back.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneysea - dining at S.S. Columbia Dining Rioom)

2009-01-09T22:28:00.003+08:00

This dining place is located on board the ship. The interior design & decor is rather European.
Joshua had his sumptuous 3-course dinner here.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneysea - New York Deli)

2009-01-09T22:11:00.003+08:00

We took a break at this New York Deli, one of the restaurants at American Waterfront.

Joshua boy's snack was deep-fried potatoes & sausages, done by mahmmy boy

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneysea - more attractions)

2009-01-09T13:53:00.008+08:00

American Waterfront

rest & relax...

taking the DisneySea Transit Steamer Line

Big City Vehicles
Tower of Terror

Mysterious Island in the background

Disney Electric Railway at Port Discovery

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneysea - afternoon show at the Mediterranean Harbour)

2009-01-09T13:24:00.003+08:00

An impressive performance...

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneysea)

2009-01-07T16:59:00.007+08:00

Taking the Disney Resort Line monorail from Resort Gateway Station to Tokyo Disneysea Station. This is a fast & convenient way to get around the Resort but the service is not free. We had paid for a single ticket which cost 250yen for each adult. Joshua boy's ticket FOC.

Day 4 (Wednesday, 5 nov) Disneysea.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneyland entertainment venues)

2009-01-07T16:50:00.003+08:00

Toontown...

carousel at Fantasyland...

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneyland parade)

2009-01-07T16:05:00.003+08:00

Tokyo Disneyland Resort's marked its 25th anniversary with this daytime parade. Beloved characters from the Disney films came together for a pageant.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (Disneyland Day 1)

2009-01-07T15:46:00.004+08:00

Day 3 (Tuesday, 4 nov). Tokyo Disneyland.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (father & son)

2009-01-07T15:36:00.004+08:00

bonding time...

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (family pic)

2009-01-07T15:32:00.003+08:00

first family pic taken in the room

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (joshua's lunch)

2009-01-07T15:21:00.002+08:00

Joshua boy's first lunch at Tokyo - shell macaroni with tomato pasta sauce for kids.
Joshua boy normally would take his lunch before we went out. We tried not to miss his mealtime. Filling and satisfying his stomach is always our top priority.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (breakfast home-prepared)

2009-01-07T15:10:00.003+08:00

mahmmyboy here pan-frying french toast and sausages for breakfast one morning. We had a hearty meal as pappy loves french toast, and meanwhile joshua boy could take his time to munch and watch his favourite morning cartoon.

Tokyo trip Nov 08 (serviced apartment)

2009-01-07T14:41:00.005+08:00

This was where we stayed while holidaying at Tokyo in Nov 2008, Frasers' Place Shinjuku. We had a good bargain getting this one-bedroom apartment. The price we paid was less than that of a normal hotel room. All thanks to pappy...
The apartment comes with a fully equipped kitchen (induction cooker...i love it...very user friendly), a washer (we were to do daily laundry), tv (with CableTV, and joshua boy was able to watch his favourite Nick Jr program every morning).

It's 2009!

2009-01-02T16:34:00.003+08:00

It's the second day of 2009. Time really flies... What did we do yesterday on the 1st day of 2009?

Wanted to attend a new year's mass, but did not manage to wake up early.
Wanted to go cycling at east coast park, but joshua boy wanted to nap (in the end he did not...).
Wanted to buy a helmet & a bicycle for joshua boy, but could not get any discount (helmet $65, bi $210) so abort the idea, left the shop.
Wanted to do some grocery shopping at fairprice after which, but did not go, as joshua boy fell asleep in the car, so we decided to head home.
Wanted to bath joshua boy after his nap, but he refused, as he had his own agenda...watching 'blue's clues' & 'thomas & friends' & viewing you-tube on tokyo's shinkansen's coupling & decoupling.
Wanted to cook dinner, but did not manage to go marketing, so no ingredients to cook. Went to shokudo, raffles city for dinner instead.
Wanted to visit gek (she is pregnant, now 9 weeks), but pappy said too late (was 10 + only wat...)
Wanted to update my blog and to say happy new year to other mummies bloggers, but too tired...

HAPPY 2009!

pee in the potty...

2008-12-27T00:43:00.004+08:00

my joshua boy had finally willing to pee in the potty , and that happened the nite before.

Joshua boy did not want to wear any diaper or shorts after pappy washed his buttock. I tried to coax him to put on a diaper as afraid he might urinate on the sofa again. He was so engrossed in his 'Blue Clues', and was actually unhappy that i kept holding a diaper in my hand , and was upset with me for trying to put that on in him. So, i told pappy to ignore him and to just have to look out for any sign to bring him to the toilet. What we did next was to show him Doreamon wearing a diaper before going to bed, hoping he would also want to be like Doreamon. However, joshua boy did not buy our idea.Then i went to the toilet, and pappy told him to watch me pee...(sickening pappy, he should be the one whom ah boy can learn from...). But this time, pappy's idea worked. Joshua boy walked into the toilet, sat in his potty...no urine ...stood up, flushed the toilet...went back to his potty again...pee...i saw the urine coming out i was so happy...for myself (hard work pay off...teach joshua boy to sit in his potty everyday before his bath) & joshua boy (finally, willingly...)

Ethan's 1st birthday party 29-11-08

2008-12-12T20:26:00.004+08:00

These pics were taken at Ethan's 1st birthday party. It was more like a party for myself, annie, li nah, lay choon who have not seen cherish for so long. It was a timely gathering for us. We had a lot to catch up with one another, esp cherish's life at US and her future plan. We had so much to share, so much to talk about, so much to gossip... We will definitely meet up again before she goes back.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 22-11-2008

2008-12-12T19:59:00.006+08:00

22 Nov 2008. 11am. Victoria theatre.

I bought 4 tickets and invited gek & gabriel to join joshua boy & myself to watch 'hungry caterpillar'Prior to the show,

i bought the story book and read the story to joshua boy, hoping that he could associate some pics in the book with the show.

Something that i have observed amazed me. Joshua boy was extremely attentive throughout the one-hour performance. Before the show started, he was figetting and then did not want to sit on the chair but on my lap. I thought this time chum liao.

I guess he was attracted by the beautiful glowing-in-the-dark puppets. He was not grouchy at all. He applauded together with the other kids at the right time, did not doze off at the right time too ( heng har...did not waste my money...he was supposed to have his nap)

I told pappy going to bring him for more performance in future...

MPC gathering 25-10-2008

2008-12-12T19:43:00.004+08:00

25 Oct 2008.

pot-luck dinner at our place, 630pm.
joshua boy received his belated birthday presents that day...was our fault actually...did not manage to meet up with his godpa & family, paul & family at an earlier date.

gathering @annie's place (II)

2008-12-12T19:26:00.004+08:00

I must apologise for such a prolonged delay....forgot to put up these pics in my previous entry...pai seh pai seh...

This pic of phoebe was taken by joshua boy using my hp...not too bad...got potential...professional photographer...hahaha.....

And then caught a candid shot of sophie and her full-of-yoghurt-ring mouth...hehehe....she looked sooooo cute!

Next was dear ethan who was so amused by my peek-a-boo....peek peek peek - a-boooo...

gathering@annie's place

2008-12-03T17:40:00.008+08:00

some bloggers mummies had a lunch gathering at annie's place this afternoon. So happy cherish & ethan were able to join us.

I took some video clips while mummies were busy with their kiddoes, and the kids were busy with toys...

I managed to catch ethan's smile while cherish took her lunch...

Once again, phoebe & joshua had fun entertaining themselves...

Everybody says cheeeeeeese...

Ups & Downs...

2008-11-18T18:53:00.002+08:00

Down down down...

joshua boy is down with cough & running nose

mahmmyboy is down with upset yummy

pics from our recent trip can't be downloaded into the laptop

Up up up...

so, pics can't be uploaded into the blog

so, mahmmyboy is upset

We are back!

2008-11-13T13:05:00.005+08:00

hi friends, back in sg on tues early morning 1.40am, when we walked out of the plane. This time , sad to say, pappy & I were rather upset by the service of the SIA administration.

On the morning of our departure to tokyo, upon checking in, the system showed that joshua boy was not seated together with us. Pappy did a phone check-in for joshua the day before as internet check-in is not applicable to children. His seating arrangement was being confirmed over the phone. Somehow, that arrangement was not reflected in the system. The ground staff, i would say, was very helpful & efficient in rectifying the problem. One problem solved.

Next, we were told that no child's meal was being arranged for joshua boy. Pappy was already very unhappy. That we had no choice but to provide joshua boy with an adult menu (too late to make any arrangement then). Second problem solved though dissatisfied.

On the plane, the cabin crew faxed a telex to the company to arrange child's meal on our flight back. We must say that is quite efficient too (later we learnt from the chief steward that was a proper & correct procedure to be taken by the crew).

On our return flight, to our disappointment, joshua boy had to take adult meal again. His name, neither pappy's, was not reflected in the list of child's meal. We thought that a telex was being sent....we thought that our request was being addressed... so what had gone wrong? Apparently another family, seated beside us, had their children's meals left out too. The mother complained to the crew that children should be served first when she realised that some adults were already tucking in their food. I saw her walking around to check on those having their meals earlier.

One of the cabin crew was pappy's friend. He quickly offered to arrange a special tray with some kids' tidbits & a main dish (from the adult menu). Pappy & I were ,of course, very pissed off. A complaint was being lodged to the chief steward. But what was done could not be undone.

Talk about efficiency of SIA service, i think that is questionable. We now have bad impression of the airline.

The previous trip in march with JAL was much much more pleasant. During our last trip in mar, Joshua boy was very cranky before the plane touched down in osaka. One of the senior JAL cabin crew told us to just let him cry due to the discomfort of his ear pressure. It would be better for him. So joshua boy was crying & making a lot of noise all the way till the door opened (I rushed to the front once the plane had properly parked). Shortly after the plane took off, the JAL crew showed me the content of his meal, & told me to let her know when joshua was ready to eat so that she could heat up the food. His meal turned out to be very tasty. I ate his left over.

We were pleased with Cathay Pacific too when we went to HK last aug. Joshua boy had a pack of baby diapers, at least 4 baby bottled food & a kiddo goody bag with toys. Most importantly, our seating arrangement was not cropped up.

Tokyo trip

2008-11-01T16:04:00.005+08:00

We are going to Tokyo for our holiday, from 2 nov to 11 nov.

Will update our activities when back :)

Macritchie Reservoir 04-10-08

2008-10-22T14:50:00.003+08:00

04-10-2008, Saturday.

A morning stroll at the reservoir. We saw a group of jc students practising canoeing. That aroused joshua boy's curiosity. Thus pappy brought him nearer to the water to have a closer look at the students' activities.

After that, we continued to walk, followed a path along the bank, to a trail on the boardwalk.

merrily trolleying...

2008-10-22T14:44:00.001+08:00

weeeeeee......joshua boy had fun taking his trolley ride.

slippers & legs...

2008-10-22T14:34:00.003+08:00

joshua boy tried to wear gabriel's slippers...

and this is how it turned out to be...

I thought his legs look quite sexy...

(joshua boy was wearing only his diaper for this pic)

tidy & messy...

2008-10-22T14:06:00.007+08:00

Joshua boy knows how to follow my instructions in keeping his toys.

He was helping me to keep all the LEGO bricks back into the box one evening, after playing.

If i don't train him, this is how my living room looks like...

Sometimes, i have to use my legs to sweep his toys to one side before i can advance another step forward...

say cheese...

2008-10-17T10:59:00.003+08:00

Joshua boy's favourite snack, cheese. He will stand in front of the fridge, point and say "cee cee..." when he wants to eat cheese. Mummy always knows what our child is referring to...

Time flies...

2008-10-17T10:48:00.004+08:00

found this video clip while sorting my folder in my laptop. This was taken at McCafe AMK. Joshua boy was only 10mth old then. Time flies...

"wu bor?"

2008-10-13T12:44:00.004+08:00

It has become my habit to check joshua's diaper to see if there is any poo before we go out or leave the house. One occasion, as usual, i pulled down his shorts, asked joshua boy, "wu pang sai bor?" He replied,"bor,"

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

i have not taught him any teochew, yet uttered that from him. Pappy & i speak a mixed of teochew, mandarin & english , while i use mandarin on joshua boy. I realise that he is beginning to pick up languages fast nowadays (remember joshua boy has not spoken a proper phrase yet), and mimic what pappy said. I better mind my words in future, especially with joshua boy around.

Lunch today

2008-10-08T13:47:00.005+08:00

Lunch today for Joshua boy & mahmmy_boy

------ bbq pork ribs, pineapple rice bought from bbq express at hougang mall. The pork ribs were well-marinated, but the rice was a bit disappointing. The portion was rather big. $4.90 for a set which i think is quite ok. I had an instant expresso (got that from my mum's pantry) after lunch (kopi is a must-have beverage after meal...)

(the pork ribs might not look appetizing in the pic, but they are really yummy...)

joshua's new toy (II)

2008-10-08T13:10:00.005+08:00

joshua boy received another new toy - LEGO duplo set, which we bought for him last fri while shopping at Marina Square. This set is suitable for tots 2 - 5 yrs old. The components are made in Hungary and distributed by the LEGO Group in Denmark (NOT China!)

Joshua boy can't piece the bricks into any model yet. He can only join the colourful bricks into stacks. In time to come, hope that joshua boy will be more creative...

I love Lego too. My first and one-and-only Lego set was a gift from my ah yee. It was actually meant for my sis. But I was the one who frequently played with that. I remember I love to build bungalow with swimming pool, with car porch, and a garden...my dream house when i was small...hehe...

joshua's new toy

2008-10-07T10:02:00.006+08:00

leo feels that gabriel has out-grown such toy, thus hand that down to joshua boy. Joshua boy loves to switch on & off the button, swifts the cars from one ramp to the next, and watches the plane hovering in that forever-the-same circular motion. But i have to endure & tolerate with that "ooOO..." background music...

mum was ill

2008-10-03T09:23:00.004+08:00

my mum was back from hospital yesterday afternoon. Thank God!

She developed high fever on mon midnight. My father quickly called gek. Mum wanted to just seek treatment from a 24-hr clinic. Leo, guess upon seeing how feeble she was, decided to head for A&E , without delay. According to gek, mum was very weak to stand still even. On the way to hospital, gek called my home .Pappy picked up the phone but did not hear any response, so thought was a prank. However, my instinct told me to check my hp, which was in the living room, after that prank call. Just then, saw a missed call. That was from gek, after unsuccessful attempt calling my home.

I did not go to the hosp. I was at home waiting for updates. Couldn't sleep, kept tossing & turning. Received a sms from keow at 2.18am saying "mum to be warded in c d c, ward 91, bed 4, suspect chikunya," (That was the initial fear by the doc, given the symptoms.) I was shocked, quickly woke up pappy told him the bad news. At about 3.27am, received another sms from keow - "i just met with doc. They will put her under observation," "...at least 1 full day. Most likely not chi..." another sms came at 3.58am. Somehow i felt more relieved after reading the words "most likely not chi".

Look who's eating...

2008-09-26T16:09:00.003+08:00

Simple lunch at home today with mahmmy. We had porridge, minced meat & eggs.

Joshua boy knows how to hold the spoon properly now...and less spills on the floor too...good job, joshua boy!

The above pics were taken in june this year. joshua boy learnt to use the fork first...at MacDonalds...

Carboot Sale 20-09-08

2008-09-24T10:24:00.009+08:00

gek & leonard had had their first carboot sale experience at The Playground last sat. They were not only clearing some 2nd second stuffs,which are still in good condition, but new ones too, such as portable handphone chargers (which leo imported from his lobang supplier) and new clothings which can't fit gek anymore...hehehe...

They managed to earn some profits that day, after deducting the rental. Gek, i know, is a good sale person. She has been yearning to set up push-cart business some years back. This carboot sale, i think, is a stepping stone or rather a platform for more such business to come. They seemed to enjoy that even though they had to endure the heat and battle with the scorching sun. Gek's fair skin tone had turned into 'pinky lobster' at the end of the day.

While gek & leo were trying 'to make ends meet', gabriel & joshua were enjoying their freedom & embracing the nature at the beach. The cool breeze at the beach was really inviting... no wonder the 2 little ones enjoyed themselves so much...

magnets 123...magnets ABC...

2008-09-19T16:21:00.006+08:00

making use of the bomb shelter's door for the mega alphabet letters

utilising the fridge's door for the magnetic numbers

Arranging the alphabets and the numbers (though he has yet to know the correct order) keeps joshua boy occupied...especially when i'm not free to 'entertain' him.

Just one observation - he likes to sweep the letters off the board and shouts "oh oh!" After which he will pick them up & stick back to the board again. Wonder what he is up to???!!! I try to scold him, and be firm when i express my intention to get him to stop that nonsense and clear up the mess. Once he walked away, with his head down, then turned his head back, looked at me, and ran up to me, crying for my attention, asking to be carried. What did I do? I attempted to ignore him, and let him cry. However, after a while, 'xin ruan'...so mothers should know the ending of this episode...am i pampering him?

gia theng lang...(lantern festival)

2008-09-15T16:01:00.010+08:00

Joshua had 2 lanterns this year. I bought a Barney lantern for him earlier but he deflated that when he tried to ride on it. His second lantern is a design of an aeroplane with doraeamon pics (another of his favourite cartoon character) from gek. He wanted to try to take another flight again with the latest lantern. Luckily my mum managed to stop him. heng har...or else got to spend money again...

We went to Punggol Park with gek, leo & gab last night. According to gek, the crowd was much larger the year before. I thought that it was pretty packed then. The 2 little ones had fun anyway. It was the first year joshua had his own lantern.

Nativity Church Feast Day 14-09-2008

2008-09-14T14:24:00.005+08:00

my parish church, Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mother, held her annual feast day, with a 9-day novena ( 6 - 14 sept), and a food & fun fair today, at the church compound. This special occasion is in celebration of our Mother Mary's birthday, which falls on 8 sept.

This year pappy & I are very guai, and faithfully attended the novena sessions from monday to friday evening 8pm. I tried to go in the past, somehow due to certain circumstances, failed to follow through. This year I told myself not to disappoint Mother anymore.

We tried to bring joshua boy along too, though knowing it might not be possible for him to sit still throughout the mass, and knowing it might be a challenging task for us to keep him focus. Nevertheless, we went. I went to the church after work on tue & thurs, and sad to say that time could not wait and stay still for me. I could not make it on time to fetch joshua boy from my mum's place for those 2 days. Thus had to get my parents to babysit till i was back. Pappy went to KL on wed morning, and was back on fri afternoon instead of thurs.

I bought a rosary, came with a pouch, from one of the booths selling religious items, after wed's novena session. This is for joshua. It's his first rosary. We have yet to teach him how to recite the rosary verse by verse. What he has learnt so far is to bless himself with the holy water, and to make the sign of the cross when we enter the church, to spread his hands out when singing Our Father (that came as a surprise to us when he did that. He learnt from observation)...

This morning we were gald to meet paul, angela & chantel in the church. We have not seen one another for some time. Chantel is in K2 now. Time flies...really miss those MPC sessions & discussion with matha & gerry, and those family nites at Morning Star... Our children are growing up...Looking forward to our gathering with leonard, theresa & natalie on 27 sept...

While chantel was telling me about her ballet dance and demonstrating the steps, joshua boy was imitating her swan-like jump. Though he could not master that yet, he thoroughly enjoyed himself, stamping his legs up & down.

Uncle 5 ROM

2008-09-14T14:04:00.009+08:00

Yesterday mid-morning attended my uncle's ROM, held in a nicely decorated & cosy air-con function room, at Yew Tee CC. He is my mum's younger brother, no.5 (my mum has 2 elder & 4 younger brothers & 3 younger sisters...big family indeed...), and the last to get hitched & settled down. We are very happy for him, and truly congratulated him with ever lasting bliss, from the bottom of our hearts. Pappy was glad that he came back on fri afternoon in time to witness the solemnisation.

Not again!

2008-09-09T23:57:00.005+08:00

Pappy is going on business trip to KL tomorrow. He will be back on Thurs night. He will meet Dion at KL, probably will go to that tea restaurant dinner again, I think...
According to pappy's latest schedule, he has to travel (again) end of this month (21 to 27 sept) to various parts of China & then fly to Korea from Hong Kong.
You might be envious of his frequent travelling to different countries whole year round. However, he doesn't enjoy that as he is there to chok gang, not for leisure. Pappy's luggage is always on standby. He doesn't empty the content, especially toiletries. Only one person will help him pack & unpack, that is, his son, joshua boy. Joshua boy loves to wheel his luggage round & round the whole house, and loves to zip & unzip... poor bag...We should sing " the luggage in the house go round & round..., all day long..." (tune from ' wheel on the bus')

Joshua & 'Thomas' (IV)

2008-09-09T01:16:00.011+08:00

I bought joshua boy a 'Thomas & friends' play vehicle for his birthday this year. It's actually a play tent. Joshua could not contain his excitement when he saw the familiar character. After i had the tent set up, my nephew, gabriel, rushed to get into the interior. Both joshua boy & gabriel had a great time just crawling in & out of the play vehicle.

Pappy bought a 'Thomas & friends' choo choo train for joshua boy. It creates the engine 'chuckle chuckle' sound & its music when you roll its wheels. Both pappy & mahmmy also begin to like 'Thomas' nowadays...choo choo......

joshua & his birthday (III)

2008-09-08T23:48:00.006+08:00

5 sept.

We started the day with breakfast at 'Qi Ji', beside Hougang Mall. Joshua boy enjoyed the chee cheong fun & milo. Pappy had nasi lemak, while mahmmy had mee rebus.
After breakfast, joshua boy went for his long-overdue hair cut.
Lunch was at 'Bakerinz' Vivo City. Joshua boy loved the pumpkin soup & the creamy mushroom pasta.
The program for that afternoon was to Gymboree @Harbourfront. Joshua boy attended a trial lesson there when he was abt 16 mth old. We thought that the fees were rather high, and the 45- minutes lesson was a bit strenuous for joshua at that time. Thus we did not register joshua for any classes. That afternoon,we signed up joshua for an hr of play gym, with no structured lesson nor an instructor. He could play with any of the equipment, on his own. Pappy kept him company and enjoyed the fun with him. There were no other kids around that day. Half an hour later, joshua stopped for a drink, and he did not seem too keen to continue. We decided to forgo the session. We made our payment, and left Gymboree for our kopi & roti at Toastbox, Vivo City.

We had simple dinner at Hanis, Budget Terminal (another favourite makan place), with my parents-in-laws. Joshua was sleeping throughout the journey. He dozed off in the car shortly after we left Vivo City. He was still zzz...zzz...when we went to fetch gong gong & mama at Tampines. He woke up only when we arrived at Hanis. Dinner was fried rice for joshua boy and gong gong, vegetarian bee hoon for mahmmy & pappy, sandwiches for mama.

joshua & his birthday (II)

2008-09-08T18:18:00.005+08:00

My 1st birthday - sept 2007.

My 2nd birthday - sept 2008.

joshua & his birthday party

2008-09-08T13:57:00.005+08:00

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to joshua, happy birthday to you..."

"May the good Lord bless you, may the good Lord bless you, may the good Lord bless joshua, may the good Lord bless you..."

We had a family celebration for joshua boy on sat, 6 sept, at our place. My mum prepared fried rice, whereas my mil cooked curry chicken. I only bought some 'jiam tao roti' and made some wan ton for soup. Pappy bought the rest of that night's dinner from 2 different kopitiam z'hi char' stalls at hougang ave 2 & 10. That was because I passed some remarks (in fact i was quite unhappy), that the food might not be enough for 10 people. To appease me, pappy went out again & came back with more varieties & quantities. Thanks pappy for sacrificing... Thanks pappy for everything you have done...

We had a hearty meal.

This year i bought 2 mini cakes for joshua on his actual birth date, 5 sept. He was turning 2, so i decided to get 2 cakes to represent his age.

I tried to get cake with 'thomas & friends' design at 'polars'. But I was disappointed that there was only 1 'thomas' design mini cake left. I had no choice but to choose another character that joshua boy recognises. Thank God! found it...'hello kitty' came to my rescue.

However, my degree of disappointment was once again escalated when there wasn't any 'thomas & friends' birthday cake available at the counter. johsua boy needed a cake for his celebration on sat. I should have made a wise decision to order that earlier. Initially just wanted to get him any chocolate cake, since he likes chocolate. Don't worry, joshua boy, mahmmy will sure get you a 'thomas & friends' cake for your 3-yr-old birthday...if u still like 'thomas'...

I am 2 years old!

2008-09-05T00:44:00.003+08:00

Joshua boy turns 2 today!

Happy Birthday, joshua boy, my dearest son!

@annie's place (III)

2008-09-05T00:26:00.007+08:00

phoebe & joshua had fun amusing each other, after the rest had left, in the baby cot. Annie wrote in her blog that my joshua boy brought sunshine to her sulky daughter, who had no companion to play with that day.

Below is a video clip showing child's play by phoebe & joshua boy...

Home sweet home...

It was still drizzling when we left annie's place. Annie had to lend me her umbrella (must remember to return) and even accompanied us down, together with phoebe. At the lobby, just then saw a cab...lucky lucky... joshua boy fell fast asleep in the cab..zzz...zzz... guess he had a great time...

Our next gathering ...

Oct at jacob ballas children's garden, botanic garden. Annie is quite democratic to get us to choose our preferred date (refer to her blog). We hope to get all papas to come along, to help take care of all kiddoes lor...kekeke!!! Look forward to more catching up!

@annie's place (II)

2008-09-05T00:22:00.002+08:00

not forgetting jean, the young-at-heart grandma...