Po Po Came To Visit

Last week was a non-routine week as my mom was here for a visit. She reached on Wednesday night and left yesterday afternoon. Ever since I've got kids, I go back to my hometown less than 4 times a year. Unlike before, I used to go home about once a month. I do feel bad that we don't go back to visit her often. But she's very understanding, it's not so convenient to travel with young children. So sometimes she comes to visit, either alone, or with my brother and family.

Thursday ~ It was a public holiday (Labour's Day) so hubby wasn't working. We went to visit my aunt (mom's eldest SIL) in Bukit Jelutong. Before heading to aunt's place, we had bak kut teh for lunch in Puchong. By mid afternoon, the kids were tired but they couldn't sleep when I tried to make them sleep in my aunt's room. They are not very adaptable when it comes to napping. Must only nap at home in our own bed. Or in the car, during a car ride. We left at about 6pm and within minutes, they dozed off in the car.

Friday ~ Routine day as usual.

Saturday ~ For lunch, we went for buffet dim sum at Equatorial Hotel. After that, went to Jusco, Cheras Selatan for a walk. Wanted to buy a pair of shoes for mom but couldn't find a suitable one. But XY got a pair of sandals. While I was busy looking for mom's shoes, she was busy trying out some on her own. And she wanted to buy this pink sandals. And it comes with a bag (which I didn't know at first). I thought she get the sandals, I get the bag. But no, she said the bag's hers. So I can only borrow from her. Well, at least she allows me to borrow. hehehe

~ pink sandals XY chose herself ~

Although we didn't intend to spend so long there, we jalan jalan till 5+ (spent about 3 hours there). We had porridge for dinner. After a heavy lunch, a simple (and some-what healthier?) dinner was nice.

Sunday ~ Sent mom to the bus station in KL KTM station. Then we headed to MidValley for lunch at Madam Kwan's. Finally, I got to eat the Nasi Bojari again (the last time was about 10 years ago). The chicken drumstick is really huge. We also had the Sambal Petai, Beef Rendang and Fried Koay Teow (for XY). All the food were really delicious! Sorry, no pictures for you to drool over. :p

Next to the restaurant is Toys 'R' Us. I went in to search for the Tommee Tippee Roll & Go Bib (the one with crumb catcher). It's so hard to find this bib. I saw it in an online store. I've searched in a lot of shops in Sunway Pyramid but couldn't find it. I've almost gave up looking for it already but since Toys 'R' Us were just next door, I went in to take a look. They don't have the bib but we didn't come out empty-handed. More toys to fill up the house.

~ Fun Year Light-Up Keyboard with mic and stool for jie jie ~

~ Fisher-Price: Learning Toolbench for didi ~

The kids were very happy while Po Po was here as they had lots of outings. As they didn't take their usual naps for the last few days, have to make sure they rest enough this week. Time for everyone to recharge!

Ballet Class

I brought XY for a ballet trial class yesterday. She's been asking me to let her learn for quite some time already. There was once when she followed my PILs to repair their car in a workshop, she 'performed' in front of a big mirror. She put both her hands high up, tip toed and twirled. She told Ye Ye and Mah Mah she's a ballerina. I wondered where she's imitating that from. Hi-5, maybe?

She seems to be very eager to learn ballet. Not sure if she's really interested in the dance or she just wants to wear the costume. I have to admit, li'l girls look really cute in tutus. During the trial class, she was able to follow the teacher's instructions. Of coz her moves aren't very graceful but at least she's able to follow the simple steps. It was very different when she attended the hip hop trial class (before CNY). She was quite lost. Probably coz the students have been learning for at least 2 months already. And now that she's attended both classes, she's very sure she wants to learn ballet. She said she doesn't like hip hop.

The class is once a week, 45 minutes per session. Monthly fee RM45. I've registered her (registration fee RM25) and bought the outfit (RM159), which consisted of a leotard, tutu, socks and shoes. They don't have stock for the leotard as I wanted one size bigger than the one she tried, which was just right. Have to allocate a little more space for her growth. If not, will have to buy a new one in just a few months' time. Hopefully their stock will arrive before her class starts next week. Will show you the li'l 'ballerina' when she's in full costume.

New Water Tumbler

Can you see the cap? It looked as if it's been bitten by a rat. The cap doesn't close tightly anymore. Sometimes when she leaves it in her school bag (instead of putting it in the side pocket), it'll spill and wet her books, even though there's just a few drops of water in it. Anyway, XY's been using that Tupperware tumbler for more than a year already.

Last week, we bought her a new one. She wanted one with a straw coz her little brothers (didi and cousin) use bottles with straws. I let her choose herself and she chose this cute animal one over the Princess tumbler. Much to my relief coz I personally don't really like Princess. hehehe Needless to say, it's pink in colour. There's another different design in blue and I bought that for didi. Now they have matching tumblers.

~ This big rat opened the old tumbler's cap with her
mouth, instead of using hand. Thus the bite marks. ~

Pretty No More

I brought CE for his second haircut yesterday. The front is almost touching his eyes already. And it's really high time for a cut as the hairdresser asked me if I just wanted a trim, to leave the hair long. Huh? She's mistaken him to be a girl!

He wasn't as cooperative as during his first haircut. He didn't like being 'wrapped' up in a plastic cloth. He wanted his hands to be out. I brought some cornflakes and raisins to distract him. He was okay at the beginning. After cutting halfway (the lady was using the shaver), he started to fuss and didn't stay still. He wasn't interested in the food anymore. So I had to carry him while the lady continued her work. He buried his face on my shoulder while the lady cut the back. And when she wanted to cut his side, he kept turning here and there. I tried to hug him tight to minimise his movement but it wasn't really working. Anyway, she managed to finish the side. As I was carrying him, I've got hair all over my face, neck, hands and t-shirt. For his front, she used scissors and snipped off quite a lot. Now he's got very short hair. I like to stroke the back of his head... very spiky. PaPa said he looks like a samseng now. hahaha

I'm not sure why he's not as cooperative as last time (just 3 months ago). Maybe he didn't like the shaver. But he was still fussing when she used the scissors for the front. Or maybe he likes the Indian barber better. Or he's just a little older now to be wary of strangers, especially one who has a shaver or scissors in hand. I'll probably try the Indian barber again the next time.

23 Months Old

In a month's time, CE will be turning 2. Have not planned anything for his birthday but it'll be a small occasion. Most probably dinner with BIL's family. What to do, he's got lazy parents. hahaha

Statistics
Weight - 12.7 kg (measured on 29-3-08)
Height - no idea

Speech
His favourite word now is "no" or "pu yao".
When he's upset that he can't get what he wants, he'll keep saying "no" or "pu yao" to whatever we offer him. Cornflakes, raisins, biscuits or rice crackers wouldn't be able to distract him.
When he wakes up in the middle of the night crying for no apparent reason, he'll shout back "No!" when we ask him to keep quiet.
We've taught him to say goodnight. He pronounces good as "joot" and if we ask him to say goodnight at one go, it comes out as "ah-nite".

Food
Really likes to eat rice. After his dinner, he'll come ask for rice when we're having our meal. So what we do is give him some plain rice in a plate/bowl and he will happily eat at his small table. And after he's finished that, he's back to disturb us.
He feeds himself quite well. So we have 2 spoons in his plate. One for him and one for me to feed him when he's too engrossed in his tv programme. Yeah... he watches tv when he's having his meal.

Safety Cautious
Ever since end of March, he's very interested in jie jie's booster car seat. We only use one booster seat in the car (for XY) as Kakak will carry CE. But if we travel outstation, he'll use his child car seat. Every time we go out, he wants to sit in the booster seat, with the seat belt fastened. So this solved the problem of him demanding me to carry him at the front passenger seat.
He's also interested to sit in the stroller. Just found out last weekend when we went out shopping. Although there were times when he wanted me to carry him, most of the time, he prefers to be in the stroller and doesn't mind being strapped in. Anyway that day he was bribed with lots of cornflakes and raisins.

Generous
He's very generous with his kisses. He'll smack me on the lips when I ask for a kiss. At bedtime, he'll kiss and hug us (me, PaPa and jie jie). And it's so sweet to see him initiate that with jie jie.

Motor Skill
He's able to open the door knobs. I've put on the door knob cover for our bedroom door. With this new ability, he's always going into the wet kitchen to look for Kakak or to play with the broom or the washing machine dials/knobs.

Li'l Busybody
He's the li'l guard at home. He makes sure the door is always closed - our main front door, the bedroom doors, the kitchen door. When he sees any unclosed door, he'll go slam it. :-|
Flushing the toilet is one of his favourite activities. He'll insist on flushing after he does his business (big or small). And he wants to flush for me too! :-|

Funny Behaviour
When we hold a cane, he'll ask us to hit his palm. After we hit one palm, he'll offer the other side. And he's very happy about it.
When he's in pain (knocked his head or hurt his hand), he'll come and ask me to kiss him on the spot where it hurts. Then he's miraculously cured.

TV Hogger
Now he will demand to watch his favourite cartoon - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He's very familiar with all the cartoon characters - "mouse" (Mickey), "ni" (Minnie), "duck" (Donald), "si" (Daisy), "fee" (Goofy), "toe" (Pluto) and "pete".
After watching numerous episodes of Dora the Explorer (one of XY's current favourite), he can say "map" and "back pack".

Itchy Hands
He likes to play with electric switches. Wants us to carry him to switch the lights on and off. Even when it's very bright, he wants to switch on the toilet light when we bring him to wash his hands.

My 'Twins'

No no no no... I'm not pregnant with twins (thanks to the effective birth control method :p) but referring to the kids' look-alike baby smiling photos. hehehe Time to reveal the answer.

Deng... deng... deng... deng...

Pic 1 - baby in blue pajamas is XY
Pic 2 - baby in red bear prints is CE

Good guessing everyone! For those who got it right, Congratulations! (you don't need a medical dictionary to figure that out, right? hehehe) But if you didn't, it's totally understandable coz even PaPa couldn't differentiate some of their baby photos at one glance.

By the way, I didn't choose their pictures in blue and red clothes to mislead you. It was just a coincidence. Really! And the red bear prints tee is a hand-me-down from XY. :D

Free Vouchers

Phew! I’ve finally finished sorting out all the papers in the tray on the computer table. Next task will be to file the documents into the respective files (not now though... *yawn*). While clearing the documents, I found the Petronas coupons which CB won from MY FM. He won RM150 in the ‘Filler Up’ Challenge last year. RM100 worth of petrol coupons have expired. The remaining RM50 is for purchase of goods from the service station or Kedai Mesra. These will expire on 30 June 2008. I’d better put it in his bag and remind him about it.

I also found a voucher which was given to me by my aunt. It’s a RM50 cash voucher, redeemable at any Jerneh Insurance Berhad branch for their insurance products. It’s valid till 30 April 2008. But I don’t have any policies with Jerneh. Anyone of you interested in this insurance voucher? If you are, do let me know as soon as possible. I’ll post it to you immediately as it’s expiring end of this month. On a first come first serve basis ya. ;)