The Hunt For Detergent

At the beginning of the month, my maid told me that the detergent for the washing machine was going to finish soon. When hubby went to Tesco to get some sundries, he couldn't find the one that we normally use - Dynamo Low Suds (ours is the front load type). We also tried Giant and the Chinese medicine shop - don't have.

On Tuesday, I found out from my maid that she's started to use the normal Dynamo (blue colour) for machine wash. I was a bit worried it'll produce too much bubbles if we use the normal amount of detergent. And the rinsing cycle may not be able to clean the clothes thoroughly. Luckily she used lesser than usual.

So after picking XY up from her kindy, I went to Billion to try my luck. Still don't have. Have they discontinued the product? Looked like it's out of stock everywhere. I had no choice but to change to another brand. I bought Top, which can be used for both front and top load washing machine. Hmmm... I wonder if it smells different.

Stylish Eyewear

This is a sponsored post.


Spectacles have become a fashion these days. There are so many designs and colour to choose from. Some people who have perfect eyesight would also wear spectacles as an accessory.

When I saw “Zenni Optical: Sell Rx Glasses $8 with case!”, I had to check out their website. They have many varieties of stylish frames - full rim, half rim, rimless and sunshades too. Their prices are really low as they sell their own manufactured glasses frame direct to customers, eliminating middlemen. With such low prices, I can afford to change designer eyeglasses every year to follow the latest trends.

Splashing Fun

Yesterday evening, PaPa brought the kids to the swimming pool at the recreation club. We reached there almost 7pm. XY has been there a few times already but it was didi's first time there. I think it was his third time at a pool and he was so excited. He didn't even need to warm up, wanted to get into the pool immediately. He was splashing the water with both hands frantically. He also likes to walk about in the water and tried to float but was not successful. Sometimes when he lost balance, he'd be submerged in the water. And choke a little as the water got into his nose and mouth.

XY on the other hand, doesn't really need much supervision. She can play on her own in the baby pool. She was busy jumping in the pool. Then climbed out of the pool and jumped into it again. Really like a monkey.

I was busy taking pictures of them but the battery went low halfway through. So I can't take anymore pictures. Sigh... not professional at all, eh? hehehe They played for about half an hour only. It was getting dark and started to rain. There was lightning too so the guard asked everyone to leave the pool. It sure was a fun Sunday for them.

~ so excited ~

~ head and face all wet ~

~ having lots of fun ~

Setting The CNY Atmosphere

Do you have to think hard on what to eat? I don't have much problems with weekdays as I'll just ask the maid to cook whatever that's in the fridge. Sometimes some dishes are planned ahead when marketing was done. But when it comes to weekends, we have a hard time thinking what to eat. We usually eat out on weekends but there aren't many nice food around our area. Like just now, we discussed for almost 10 minutes on what to eat before deciding on bak kut teh. For that, we've to travel out of Kajang town coz there're no good ones here.

After dinner, we went shopping at Jusco (yeah... again). We bought 2 small pots of lotus bamboo. Wanted to create some CNY atmosphere at home. I wanted to get the bigger one but the vase was quite ugly. Also saw a nice pot of pussy willows. The vase is filled with soil so I thought it wouldn't be a suitable decoration in the house with 2 active and curious kids. They were also selling bunches of it separately and the saleslady told me I just need to put water in the vase. Not suitable for us either. Looks like we have to get those artificial ones if we want to put in the house but they don't look that nice. So in the end, we didn't get any.

~ our first decorative plants ~

Big Bang - World Record

Thanks to Hazel, I'm a part of this fun world record tag aiming to achieve 1,000 links. With a big fat zero Google PR, I'm really hoping things would change for the better soon (have not been able to grab the limited opportunities for a very long time already). :p

*Start Copy Here*

1. You do not have to be tagged to play along. This game is simple and so are the rules. Copy from *Start Copy Here* through *End Copy Here*
2. Add your site(s) to the list. Just be sure to post at each site you add.
3. Tag or don’t tag, your choice, however, the more tags you create the bigger the list will grow.
4. Let me know your blog’s name and url by leaving me a comment HERE. I will add you to the master list. (If you would like the scroll box code, leave me your email address and I will email it to you.)
5. Come back and copy the master list back to your site, often. This process will allow late-comers to get as much link benefit as the first ones in.

1-Attitude, the Ultimate Power 2-Juliana's Site 3-Rusin Roundup 4-Grow Rich Along With Me 5-Comedy Plus 6-lynda's loft 7-Amel's Realm 8-MAX 9-Speedcat Hollydale 10-Mariuca 11-Complain Complain Complain 12-Mariuca's Perfume Gallery 13-Life Is A Roller Coaster 14-Sugar Queen's Dream 15-First Time Dad 16-Life 17-My Life 18-The Painted Veil 19-My Thoughts 20-DatCurious.com 21-Little Aussie Cynic 22-A Nice Place in the Sun 23-DatMoney.com 24-Hazel 25-Slavery Bliss

*End Copy Here*

I'd like to tag all of you who have tagged me before. Let's join in the fun!
Wen, Judy, Jo-N, Jacss, Mummy to QiQi, BabyBooned, Anggie, Health Freak Mommy, Rachel, Tracy, Jesslyn, Sharine, Healy.

Lesson Learnt

Last Sunday, we went to Jaya Jusco in Equine Park for dinner and to do some shopping (for me, mainly). I got myself a pair of Levi's jeans and another pair of sandals. Hubby bought a 20-inch trolley bag for his short business trips.

There was a shoe shop next to the luggage shop. After buying the luggage, I went next door with XY while hubby went to Jusco with CE to get the red packets. Kakak sat at the bench outside the luggage shop taking care of the things we've just bought. While I was trying on shoes, XY was walking around the shop, busy examining some shoes. Then suddenly she was nowhere in sight. I thought she was sitting on the floor where I can't see her. So I looked around the shop but didn't see her. I started to panic a little, especially with so many recent news of little girls gone missing. So I quickly ran out of the shop and saw her in the luggage shop, looking for me. I was so mad at her. I've specifically told her to stay in the shop to wait for me but she just couldn't sit still and went roaming about herself. I can't imagine what'll happen if she's really gone missing. The thought of it sends shudders down my spine. Thank god nothing happened.

I got a good lecture from hubby and obviously, I deserved it. After that incident, I'll definitely be more careful and keep her in sight at all times. It's better to hold her hand all the time. Not just for young girls, we should protect our boys just the same. We should never be careless, especially in such a situation.

Realistic Advert

Yesterday, XY said something which reminded me of an advertisement. It's about a father teaching his son to say hua1 (chinese: flower) but the son replied "Orchid lah." I can't recall which milk formula that was. But I was smiling to myself thinking back about the advert.

This was what happened. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was playing on PHDC. That episode was about Valentine's Day. When they were showing what's in the Mouseketool, CE pointed to the tv and mumbled something. There was a rose there so I said "Oh, flower. Flo....wer." Then XY said, "No lah Mummy. That is a rose." Upon hearing that, I recalled the advert and smiled to myself. It's comforting to know that the milk formula she's been taking (Enfa range) contains all the right nutrients for her brain development.

First Haircut

CE had his first haircut today. I brought him to the Chinese aunty (who cuts XY's hair) but the lady was busy. So she asked me to go to the Indian barber next door.

The barber put a wood plank on the arms of the chair for CE to sit. Then covered his body with the big cloth. When the man was cutting his hair, we fed him Honeystars. So he was quite cooperative. He let the barber snip snip snip his hair with the scissors. Occasionally he'd turn his head to look at the Indian man. But overall, I'd say his first haircut experience was a pleasant one.

20 Months Old

I brought CE for his routine jab this morning. He was supposed to take the Triple & Polio and Hib boosters at 18 months but he was not feeling well when we wanted to bring him. So it got delayed till now. But his paediatrician said it's alright to be a little late because this is just a booster jab. I also got his weight and height measured. Here are his updates :

Statistics
Weight - 12.2 kg
Height - 89 cm

Diet
He takes 8 ozs of milk, 3 times a day.
Prefers rice over porridge, mee suah and pasta. Likes to eat biscuits.
Tried to give him Quaker oats but he doesn't like it, even though mixed with bananas.
He likes to feed himself when eating rice. So we'll have to give him a spoon and a bowl to hold. Then put a little bit of rice in his bowl so he can feed himself. Otherwise, he'll be making a big mess with rice all over the floor and his clothes.

Sleep
Naps once a day.

Verbal
He's able to pronounce "maa" since 19/1. But when I ask him to call me, he'll go mmmmm (pursing his lips). Probably coz that was how I taught him in the beginning, when he can't make the "m" sound. But I'm sure he'll be able to call me soon. (yippee!)
He knows how to nod his head (finally!), indicating 'yes'. But his motion is very unnatural. His head will go up first, then only down. Like it's such a big effort for him to nod. And I just love to see him do that. So amusing! :D

Others
He now bathes without the tub. So I'll spray the water all over his head and face when washing his hair. He's quite alright with it, he doesn't protest but will try to move away sometimes. It's probably a little uncomfortable.
He likes to monopolise the shower head. Always snatching it from my hand. He'll spray the water into a cup or small pail. Then he'll pour it all away. Hmmmm... wasting water.
He's learning to walk up and down the stairs by holding on to the railing. But have to follow him closely and hold him, especially when he's walking down. He doesn't see the danger of stepping down 2 steps at a time. :-|
He likes to scribble on paper with a pen, pencil or colour pencil. He'll also do his masterpiece (lines) on the small table that he's drawing on.
He likes to switch on (or off) the lights and fan. He'll ask to be carried when we're in the room so that he can touch the switches.
He's quite good at twisting the bottle caps to open and close them.
Potty training has gone haywire. He tends to do his big business in the diaper. Sometimes he'll tell us (by pointing at his diaper) and then continue in the toilet.
He's becoming more cheeky - when he sees his milk and we ask him to lie down, he'll just lie down on the floor, face down. Then peep at us, smiling.
Will play with the mouse and bang at the keyboard of the computer at every chance he gets. He likes to press the spacebar button coz the page will scroll down.

Meeting Up with Ex-colleagues

On Saturday, I met up with 2 of my ex-colleagues (YL and S - from the company I left 7 years ago) at Secret Recipe. CB didn't join us, he just played driver. YL brought her son along so XY had a friend to play with. They are the same age, just 3 weeks apart. I think they have a common mission - to tear the place down. They were playing catching, pushing each other around and making a lot of noise.

CE on the other hand, behaved like an angel. He was very quiet, munching his Honeystars (finished the whole container at one go) and smiling most of the time. He didn't fuss much. Probably coz Kakak kept him busy with snacks and biscuits. So with XY busy with her new friend and CE busy with food, I was able to chat with my friends. Just have to keep an eye on the kids and remind them to stop running around or stop pushing each other every now and then.

After the get-together, we went to Mid Valley Megamall (MV). Finally, I bought a pair of sandals for myself (have been looking around for weeks) at Robinsons. When we walked to The Gardens, it was not raining. But while we were at Robinsons, it rained so heavily. Luckily now they have a covered walkway connecting MV and The Gardens, unlike the last time we were there. It was so weird that on both occasions we went to The Gardens, we went in when it was dry but when we wanted to leave, it was raining cats and dogs.

It was time for dinner and we went to Amarin Heavenly Thai, our main reason for going to MV. We just love the food there. This time we ordered quite a lot of dishes - appetizer, salad, fish, chicken and vegetables. That's quite a lot for 2 adults and a child, no? It was the first time we tried the appetizer platter (prawn wanton, money bag, spring roll, fish cake and rice craker) and it was very nice (very unhealthy though, as it's all deep-fried stuff). But very tasty and crispy. We were stuffed to our chest when we finished. Now I'll leave you to drool over these pictures. hehehe

Young Lady

XY is now 4 and a half years old. At this stage, it's a little hard to keep track of her developments but I'll try to jot down some.

* She's able to tell the days of the week - what day is today, tomorrow, the day after, yesterday, etc.
* She knows some months (especially our birthday months) - which month comes after which, but not all.
* She can count till hundred but will miss out twenty (after nineteen is twenty-one). Then she'll have problems with thirty (she says twenty-ten or thirteen), forty (thirty-ten or fourteen) and so on. But getting better as time goes.
* She's able to clean and wipe herself after doing her big business.
* She can draw much better now. Her humans will have a body, hands and legs, unlike previously when it was just a face with a chunk of standing hair.
* She can nap on her own. Some days, I'll just ask her to go upstairs and she'll sleep herself in the room.
* Her reading has improved a lot. She can recognise more words now.

That's about all I can think of for now.

Playful Boy

Kids like to play at the curtains. XY and CE are no exception. CE likes to hide behind the curtain, stand very still and look at us cheekily. He's probably waiting for us to acknowledge that he's hiding there.

Then he'll walk out and let the curtain reveal his face. And laughing at the same time. He must think that it's very amusing.

A lot of things around the house are his toys. When he plays with something, he usually makes a mess of it.

This is how he plays with jie jie's colour pencils - scatter them all over the place.

This is how he plays with the video tapes - take out all the tapes from the tv cabinet.

This is how he plays with cards - throw them all over the floor.

This is how he plays with the fridge magnets - take them off the fridge and throw all over the floor.

And poor jie jie will usually be the one to clear up the mess coz she's very helpful (in other words, kepoh, so we ask her to "help"). hehehehe

Footwear Collection

There are altogether 5 pairs of shoes and 2 pairs of sandals - 4 currently being worn and 3 new ones. Majority of them are in pink. No, I'm not talking about my shoes. I have much lesser than that. These are XY's. When she was much younger, we don't buy so many shoes for her as she outgrew them very fast. But now a pair can last at least a year. So we're not too hesitant to buy for her if we come across something that's nice and suitable... after she gives her approval, of course.

~ left: current ----- right: new ones ~

The Number Game

XY was introduced to UNO cards last year. She’s still too young to understand and play by the rules so I created my own game. At the same time, I taught her numbering.

We only use the cards with numbers (0-9). After shuffling the cards, we’ll each take one and see whose card has a bigger number. The person with the bigger number keeps the opened cards. Then that person gets to draw first. If the numbers are the same, then we draw again, till there’s a difference. At the end of it, the person with the most cards wins. At first, she couldn’t tell which number is bigger. She has to count from 1 and whichever number that comes later is bigger. After a few days of playing (errr... more like training), she was able to tell... well, 90% of the time she gets it right. hehehe

Now that she’s quite good with the numbers in English, I started to teach her in Mandarin. She still has problems translating from Mandarin to English. She can recite from 1 to 10 in Mandarin but if I test her randomly, she’s not very sure. For example, if I ask her what’s qi1 in English, she can’t answer "seven" immediately. And we’re only talking about 1 to 10 here. 1, 2 and 3 - she’s very confident. 4 and 5 - sometimes unsure. 6 to 10 - she has to hide and count silently from 1 to give the answer. Looks like we need to "play" more.

~ creating our own game ~

And this is how didi plays with the cards...

~ making a mess ~

The Hard Approach

Yesterday when we wanted to go out for lunch, CE cried and wailed in the car coz he wanted me to carry him. He was sitting behind with Kakak. Normally Kakak would "bribe" him with food (Honeystar or biscuits) and he'd settle down. So the cruel truth is that mommy comes second, after food. LOL

But yesterday, PaPa didn't want to give in to his demands. So he was not to be bribed with Honeystar. When PaPa sternly asked him to keep quiet, he stopped crying for awhile. Then he wailed his lungs out again. So PaPa scolded him again, he kept quiet for awhile, then continued to cry again. After a few rounds of that, PaPa got a bit irritated and carried him out of the car. And he still couldn't stop crying, so he brought him into the house. We were all waiting in the car. PaPa put him on the sofa and he's only allowed to come down if he stopped crying. After awhile, he was brought out of the house. He still cried a bit, but it was much softer and manageable. Luckily the ride to the shop was a short one.

As for the ride home, we didn't want to go through the hassle again so I just put him on my lap as it's his nap time (sure super cranky if he didn't get his way). So my new tactic is to threaten to leave him at home if he kicks up a fuss in the car when I'm going to fetch XY from her kindy. Kakak will pretend to open the car door to go out. And that seemed to work today. Ah boy, why don't you understand that mommy can't carry you when I'm driving? Why can only listen when threatened? Kids...

Enrolment For Primary School

The time has finally come when we've to enrol XY for Primary school. We've not decided on Kebangsaan or Chinese school yet. And there isn't much time to dilly dally as we've to register by March. Here are the reasons why we chose a particular school :

Kebangsaan school
* I'm worried I'm not able to guide her in her homework/studies as I don't read nor write Chinese. And we don't intend to send her for tuition classes (at least not in early Primary years). PaPa is Chinese literate but can't possibly wait for him to come back from work to coach her, right?
* She can still learn Chinese by sending her for extra Chinese classes. But we'll need more effort in our part to create an environment for her to learn Chinese at home, in terms of reading and writing.
* Worried that she'll have to spend an extra year in Remove Class.
* Her English is much better than Mandarin at the moment. She speaks mainly English at home. Am a bit worried she won't be able to adapt or find it hard to catch up. But I guess this point is not too significant as we can prepare her now by sending her for Chinese lessons.

Chinese school
* She'd have a good base in Chinese after 6 years of formal education.
* The culture is a little different. The students are more disciplined and exposed to Chinese cultures. (I wonder if it's true or it depends on the particular school.)
* I think her English standard can be maintained as I'll be speaking English with her at home.
* Even non-Chinese are sending their children to Chinese schools, so why aren't we? LOL

Have you enrolled your kids for Primary school? Whether or not you've enrolled them, or they're already in Primary school, what was the main reason you chose that school? Kindly share your thoughts.

Not So Good

I've been having runny nose on and off for almost a month already. And it has finally gotten more serious. I'm now having sore throat as well. CE has just recovered from flu (fever started on Tuesday, subsided on Thursday) and now my turn to be sick. Yesterday I took Clarinase 24hr. As written on the box, it's a fast relief (non drowsy) from cold and allergy symptoms like blocked nose, sneezing, runny nose and itchy, watery eyes. It was highly recommended by the pharmacist in Guardian. I was still sneezing and having runny nose today but it was really effective in clearing blocked nose. I hate having blocked nose as I've to breath through the mouth. And I would have a hard time sleeping.

I've been sleeping early these days but I don't know why I still don't feel in tip top condition. Maybe it's the quality of sleep. CE's been waking up in the middle of the night crying. Sometimes he's consolable, then he can sleep back again easily. Other times, I really don't know what he wants. He has very weird sleeping preferences lately. Sometimes he wants me to put my head on his tummy. Sometimes on his backside, if he's sleeping face down. Sometimes on his hand. I have to be very alert and not put my whole weight on him (head also quite heavy for him, right?). And sometimes, nothing works so he'll just cry and cry. Then I'll scold him and smack his backside. And eventually he'll doze off again. So I have been having disturbed sleep. I guess that's probably the reason why I don't feel rested enough although I sleep for many hours.

Well, I'd better get some sleep now. Hopefully I'll make less "wantans" tomorrow. *sniff* *sniff*

The Storyteller

XY is able to read some books on her own now. I'm not sure if she memorises them or she recognises the words as they are simple books with lots of repetition and not too many words. But recently, she managed to read a whole book with quite a lot of words. It's Three Little Pigs from the Robin series. I suspect she's still guessing some words by looking at the pictures and the first alphabet of some words. But she's able to read word by word correctly.

There was one day, she asked didi to sit down and she read Three Little Pigs to him. And surprisingly, he sat there quietly listening to jie jie's reading. From then on, he'll pass that particular book for jie jie to read. Last night, PaPa was reading to jie jie so when he shoved the book to her, I read for him instead. But he was not very interested. Didn't sit still and kept turning the pages (mommy's voice not so sweet, maybe?). So later, jie jie read to him and as you can see from the picture, he was looking at the book intently while his personal storyteller did her work. Awww... what a heartwarming moment.

Sweet Indulgence

On Saturday, PaPa bought cotton candy and marshmallows for XY. We 'owed' her the cotton candy since our Singapore trip. When we were at Sentosa Island, she saw the candy at a stall but we didn't get it for her. We said we'll buy for her if she remained a good girl throughout the day. Although she didn't behave exactly like an angel, she still passed (based on PaPa's standard. If based on mine, sure fail miserably... muahahaha). But when we wanted to buy for her, we didn't come across any. So she's been waiting patiently for her reward. Finally she got it, with marshmallows as bonus. And she was so happy.

~ "sweet" smile ~

Singapore Trip Dec '07 (Part III)

This is the last part of my Singapore trip. I know, I know... I'm taking too long to finish it. Part I and II seemed like history now. Blame it on procrastination and loss of momentum. :p

Day 4
I decided to wake up earlier than the kids, hoping that we can leave the hotel a little earlier than the day before. Unfortunately, CE gave us extra work as he did his vomiting ritual again. Although we managed to contain most of it in the bucket, he dirtied his pants and needed some clean-up and a change. In the end, we went out about the same time as the day before.

After breakfast at the same food court, we headed for Singapore Zoo. It was already 11+ in the morning. CE fell asleep in the cab. Luckily we managed to rent a stroller so we started exploring the zoo while he was sleeping. The zoo is really stroller friendly. You can push it throughout the trails. I like this zoo as there are many animals to see and the place is very well maintained.

~ giant tortoise ~

After exploring half of it, we decided to take a break for lunch (late lunch at 2+). As expected, the food there is nothing too appealing. When I almost finished my lunch, something terrible happened. CE who was sitting quietly on his high chair, eating raisins, started to fuss about. He wanted to get down. After making a lot of noise, I decided to carry him, then only I realised he did his big business in his diaper and it has leaked! I couldn't clean him up immediately coz PaPa has brought XY to the toilet. So I just let him stand on the floor as I can't carry him. And he was crying and fussing, wanting me to carry. Gosh... 5 minutes felt like forever.

When they returned, we all went to the toilet. Luckily I brought a pair of clothes for him. If not, I guess we've to buy one from the souvenir shop. I brought him to the ladies' toilet, stripped him naked and washed him in the basin. As the tap is the type that you need to press down for water, I had some difficulty washing as I only get very little water each time. There was a kind lady who offered to help me press the tap while I 'bathed' him. And while I was trying to clean him up, he was wailing like a slaughtered pig. Arggghh! XY was very helpful. She helped to hold the clean clothes as there wasn't any place to put them.

After cleaning him up, I have a very dirty pair of clothes to deal with. PaPa asked me to throw them away but I felt it's a big waste. So I washed them as clean as possible, stuffed them in a plastic bag and tied it tight. After all these cleaning, I'm quite exhausted but we've another half of the zoo to explore. Anyway, we just continued our journey. Instead of walking, we took the tram. It goes around the zoo, with 4 drop-off/pick-up points. After the tram ride, XY and I went for the elephant ride. It wasn't very comfortable, with our legs hanging out. And we were swaying left and right as the elephant walked. I was so afraid it will suddenly get agitated and throw us off its back. Watched too much scary tv. LOL

~ elephant ride ~

Continued to explore by foot and we walked till the zoo closed at 6pm. We didn't go to Night Safari (just next door) as I'm not sure how the kids would react to such a dark environment with wild animals roaming nearby. Anyway, we're just too tired to do anything else.

~ XY in Australian Outback ~

We didn't head back to hotel but went for dinner at Bugis Junction. Might as well have dinner first coz I'm sure we'd be too lazy to go out after showering. We had the famous duck rice but it wasn't really that nice. Better than KL ones, but still lose out to Johor, according to PaPa.

That was another dead tiring day.

Day 5
As this was the last day in Singapore, and we didn't have any particular plans, we walked to Bugis Junction (BJ) to waste some time before checking-out. Before reaching our destination, we passed by a mamak shop and XY wanted to eat roti canai. After breakfast, we continued to BJ and found out they have a big food court there. And the food there was very much more appealing than roti canai. Well, never mind, we packed chicken rice and noodles for lunch. We haven't packed our luggage yet so it'd be better if we just ate in the room, to save some time. We walked at the shopping complex for a short while. We dropped by Robinsons (in Raffles City) as I wanted to buy the Avent bottle. But the sales person told me it's not on offer so I didn't get it. On the way back to the room, we saw a big food court and it's the same chain as the one in BJ. Haih... if we'd known there's a big food court here, we'd have more choices of food for the past few days.

By evening, we're back in our home sweet home. Phew! Don't you think I need a break after this holiday?

New Year Resolutions Or Not Meme

This tag comes by so appropriately as my first tag for year 2008. Wen, I don’t normally do new year resolutions but I’ll start one this year. I hope I’ll be able to achieve them... well, at least 50% of them? :p

*Start Copy Here*
When it comes to New Year’s Resolutions we seem to fall into four categories: 1) quite serious about them, 2) be flippant about them, 3) do it because we feel pressured to, or 4) do not do them.

So, the purpose of this little game is to let us know which category you are in. Copy from “*Start Copy Here*” through “*End Copy Here*” and post it. Before “*End Copy Here*” tell us who you are, your site(s) (with link) and your New Year’s Resolution, or not.

Then tag as many others as you like, from one to your entire blogroll, your choice. If you like, create an intro paragraph to your post that also acknowledges who tagged you.

NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS:
Juliana – Juliana’s Site - My New Year’s resolutions are looking for a part time job, keep blogging, and learn to cook and bake.

Michelle - Rusin Roundup - 1. Learn to be happier and accept myself for who I am, 2. Is to lose about 25 lbs., and 3. Is to stop smoking.

Karen - Grow Rich Along With Me - My resolution for next year is to achieve $3K per month passive income by the end of 2008.

Mel - Attitude, the Ultimate Power & Complain Complain Complain - “I don’t need no stinking resolutions.” I never hold to them anyway so why frustrate myself by starting them now.

Sandee - Comedy Plus - I don’t need no stinking resolutions either. Years and years ago I did them because everyone else did, but not once did I follow through. Why set yourself up for failure?

Lynda - lynda’s loft - My resolution is to see resolve to that which needs resolution. Like Mel and Sandee, I feel that resolutions give us more stress, however, being a person who sets goals each year, isn’t that the same thing as a resolution??? Goals vs. resolutions? Goals are more general and allow for more time to complete them, a resolution requires a mind-set and immediate action, which is not always feasible… Well, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it…

Amelia - Amel’s Realm - This is a list of my New Year’s Resolution:1. Health: Continue exercising twice a week, eat enough veggies and fruit, have enough rest, take vitamin C regularly and women’s multivitamin during my period.2. Spiritual: Improve my Daily Bread reading routine and my prayer life and learn more from God’s Word.3. Financial: Continue to make money online (my goal is getting €100 per month at least), be more creative in writing posts, and save most of the money.4. General Life: Continue to learn Finnish AND practice it as best and often as I can, try out more baking and cooking recipes, continue to maintain and share positive thoughts, continue to learn to control my thoughts, continue to learn to catch myself before I start complaining and count my blessings instead, continue to stop and cherish all the little moments in life that oftentimes go unnoticed, and continue to feed my inner child and last but not least, continue to ENJOY my life thoroughly.

Trinity - Rooms of My Heart : My New Year’s resolutions in simple and fast way will be blog less and spend more time with my children and read more good books. I want to start studying about global warming and blog it…

Max - MAX - My New Year’s resolutions are to dedicate more time to my friends; to finally be able to read “Der Spiegel” in German; to be calm when organizing my marriage; to go one last time to my favourite club and dance the night away; and continue to be happy!

Eric - Speedcat Hollydale - I love chicken. Problem is that I really never get to have enough chicken! My New Year’s resolution is to enact “Chicken Tuesday”. On this day I will eat only chicken, blog about chicken, and promote chickens all over the world. (hormone free) Join me, won’t you?

Marzie - Mariuca & Mariuca’s Perfume Gallery - My resolution for 2008 is to enjoy a healthier lifestyle and to expand my Perfume Collection.

Sindi- Life Is A Roller Coaster - My resolution is to complain less, pray more and be a little more thankful for what I have.

Judy - Sugar Queen’s Dream - My New Year’s resolution is:To take better care of my health.To eat better, well at least 3 meals a day, I’m lucky these days if I stop for one meal a day….To help make the world a better place to live, I love the human race, but think there’s always room for change.To be generous until it hurts.To live each day as if it’s my last.To make a book of our personal family recipes and traditions for each of my 3 my children, so that the traditions and family cooking can be passed on in my family line long after I’m gone and finally…….To help more with the local Human society, Animals like little kids can not fend for themselves so it’s up to each of us to take care of our pets and to step in and care for all animals…..I hope that through me I can encourage my Children to be better adults and in turn to raise the Children they have or will have, to be good people with good, sound & solid values…. Peace!

Adrian - First Time Dad - My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 is to be a better father…now I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions because I never keep them but this one I better keep! Happy New Year to one and all!

Colin - Life - New Years Resolution? No way…Better to achieve more throughout the year rather than pander to the whims of a one day ‘wishful thought’

Mauro - 1 Million Love Messages - My resolution for next year are: 1. Change my job (maybe work online). I’m really unhappy in the actual one. 2. Dedicate more time to my family and girlfriend… maybe start to get ready for our wedding 3. Work hard in 1 Million Love Messages and reach 2500 Love messages (or more) in the end of 2008.

MidgetManOfSteel - Mental Poo - To get out of dealing with people who I have no desire in helping at the job I’m doing…catch the eye of someone who can see that I can write and be funny…and get my own ticket to happiness from my humor….and a Ferrari. While I’m doing this, I resolve to get a Ferrari.

Stacy - My Thoughts - My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 - Is to be more understanding to my children and to other people, Not to curse at others while I am driving, try to eat right and exercise, try to volunteer in my community, and to believe more in my spiritual side.

Jason - DatCurious.com & DatMoney.com - Although, I normally don’t do New Year’s Resolutions (because I find it as an excuse to actually do something I should’ve already been doing), this year I will plan on giving back to the blogging community, especially my audience. I’m not sure how I will do it yet, but I definitely will.

Kesa - Little Aussie Cynic - My New Years Resolution is the standard….. to finally get off the smokes and to loose 8kg…. both which are possible just difficult…..Happy New Year to you and yours….Aussie

Ann - A Nice Place in the Sun - “To let the rest of my life begin as soon as possible.”

Wen - Little Paces - I want to sleep early to reduce my haggard and tired complexion. To blog better than last year and hopefully can save money from paid post so that we can immigrate to Australia. To spend more time with my children. To be able to bake.

Slavemom - Slavery Bliss - I’d like to have better control of my temper, be more organised and maintain my exercise regime.

*End Copy Here*

What are your new year resolutions? Care to share with us?
Health Freak Mommy, Judy and Jac

First Day In Flamingo 5

Luckily CE didn’t give me much problems when I drove this morning. Bribing with cornflakes worked. He was happily munching away. I sent XY to kindy because I wanted to take a look at her classroom. She’s now in Flamingo 5, last year was Eiffel 4. But when we reached there, it was time for assembly. So I waited for her till they went up to the classroom. While waiting, CE had his favourite finger biscuit. With biscuit in hand, there wasn’t any complaints from him.

At first, XY wasn’t very happy, pulling a long face. They had to line up for assembly. One of her good friends was standing behind her and was smiling and talking to her, but she ignored her and kept looking at me. And she kept saying, “I want you, Mummy.” I told her all her friends are there. And I’ll be standing nearby till she goes into her class. When they sang some songs, she started to loosen up. She sang along and did the actions too. Those are the songs they’ve been singing the past year.

After she settled down in her classroom, I told her that I’m leaving and she seemed ok with it. There are quite many students in her class this year... almost 25 (last year only 11 students). The principal told me they have 2 teachers on duty and for some subjects, they’ll be split into 2 classes.

On our journey home, CE wanted me to carry him. Managed to distract him with a CD I found in my car. As for the trip to fetch XY back from kindy, he just made a little noise, in between playing with the CD and ball. I hope he can be distracted with toys and food for the rest of the days. Or better still, stop being a koala bear!

Worried

Ever since we came back from our Singapore trip, CE's behaviour has changed. He now :
* hangs on to me like a koala bear.
* sticks to me like glue.
* doesn't want Kakak to carry him or take care of him.
* doesn't want to sit behind with Kakak in the car.

And because of that, I've to carry him in the front passenger seat when PaPa's driving. The other day, he was wailing in the car, wanting me to carry him when I had the little accident. School starts tomorrow and I'll have to fetch XY back from her kindy. Usually, Kakak will sit behind with CE. How am I going to drive if the little boy keeps wailing and shouting in the car? It'd be so distracting! One alternative is to leave Kakak at home with CE if he kicks up a big fuss. But I prefer not to leave them alone at home. Or we can try to bribe him with cornflakes. Hmmm... let's see how it goes tomorrow.

Impressive Service

Yesterday was the last day to redeem the Anakku points. I knew I have 200+ points but I wasn't sure how many points would expire if I didn't redeem it by 31 Dec '07. So in the morning, I called up the outlet in Metro Kajang to enquire. I didn't have my card with me at that time so I gave the girl (a very helpful CikM) my name and IC number. She said she'll call me back after she's checked it for me.

Later when she called me back, she told me how many points I have but not able to find out how many would expire. The computer would not have that information but I remember they have a printout which was sent to the outlet with such details. She said my name's not there and probably they missed it out or something. So I asked if there's any way she can find out, maybe check with their HQ? She said her supervisor would be there after lunch and she can ask her about it. And she promised to call me back again.

At 5 in the evening, I got a call from her. This time with the information I wanted and I've got 200 points expiring. It's not easy to accumulate Anakku points as I don't shop there often. So 200 points is quite a lot to me. As CB was working yesterday, I thought I'll ask him to go over to redeem the gift for me after work. And CikM said it's alright if he didn't have the card with him. CB hates it when I do last minute thing like that. I know it's a very bad habit. But... but... but... no need to give excuses lah. I'll try my very best not to do it so often okay? (Can't ask me to stop completely immediately, right?) :p

So what did we redeem?

~ a pink Minnie Mouse watch for XY ~

Happy New Year 2008!

Here's wishing everyone a wonderful and joyful new year! I've been rather tied up the last few days. My PIL and relatives (MIL's brother and family) came on Sunday. My uncle and family went back yesterday. My PIL are still here. They'll be leaving tomorrow. Yesterday my BIL moved house. So now we're living opposite each other.

XY greeted the new year by wetting the bed. Haih... she's not done that for a very long time already. And she didn't even wake up, still sleeping on the wet patch. She must be dead tired as she didn't take her nap the day before and she's not been having enough sleep with so much activities around.

Her sleep deprived period started on Saturday. We went to Sunway Pyramid after having bak kut teh (lunch) in Puchong. We really spent a lot on clothes and shoes for the kids. Now they have a pair of Crocs sandals each. Blue for CE and pink for XY. I think we're quite done with their CNY shopping. But I haven't gotten any new clothes for myself. Oh, I actually have two new tops which CB bought from Vietnam. Maybe I'll just get a new pair of jeans.

~ This is CE's Crocs, XY has worn hers out ~

We had dinner at Dragon-i. After ordering our food, CB went to buy J.Co donuts. By the time he came back, I've already finished my food.

~ for you to drool :D ~