Obsession with Spiderman

I am online in the morning with Jill asleep and Jon at nursery. Super change on Jill's sleep pattern so I am not online at night. She is teething and super cranky, so we're sleeping downstairs so her crying will not disturb Simon and Jon. Therefore, I don't access the computer while kids are sleeping at night, which cuts down my Internet time a lot...sigh.

Jon is so in love with his Superman and Spiderman PJs. Thank goodness there're two of each coz he will not wear other PJs now! Thanks to me making a fuss of the Spidey PJ and singing him, "Spiderman, Spiderman." and pointing out to him spiders each time I see them! and the Nursery taught him to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. Jon thinks the Superman ones are Spidey ones too, and I don't want to change that otherwise I am down to only 2 PJs!

Earlier when he started wearing them, he didn't want to change out of them in the morning into his nursery T-shirt. Aiyoh, we have to cajole him, and bribe him even. Sometimes after showering after his lunch, he wants to wear them for his afternoon nap!

And he hasn't even watch the cartoon or know anything about Spiderman...

Now I am thinking of getting him the Spiderman swimming costume...if he is good.

Someday I will look back at this episode and laugh.

What is your child's current obsession?

Happy birthday Mom!

Wishing you a Happy Birthday, Mom! I ordered a cake from my friend, Meng Choo and told her that my mom likes flowers and this was what she came up with... a pot of "flowers"...all edible, even the pot! It was a vanilla with strawberry-rhubarb jam cake (complete with a worm for humour), something that my mom will enjoy!

If you want unique custom made cakes or cupcakes, check out Meng Choo's creations at www.mongstirs.com or www.flickr.com/photos/kymclim and contact her via email: kymclim@gmail.com

World Water Day, 22 Mar

In Singapore where water is scarce, we've learnt to save water. From young, there's always Save Water campaigns taught in schools. Education is best learnt when young.

We've been in Malaysia for two plus coming three years. If you see the way people here use water to wash their cars and car porches or to water their plants, you would think that there's plenty of water in Malaysia. Or more correctly, that water is cheap.

On an average, households in Malaysia pay 70 sen for 1,000 litres of water. That is CHEAP. and perhaps that's why people treat water as if it will be in abundance forever. What if supply runs dry and we have to use reverse osmosis? RO water costs around 50 sen a litre and if a household used 1,000 litres a month, the bill could reach a hefty RM500. Would people spend that kind of moolah?

In reality, sources of water are running dry. Read this article on Why Malaysia's Taps Are Running Dry. Would you change the way we use water? Probably not. Humans seldom learn, even from mistakes. Or maybe people just like their homes to be clean....and the feeling and sounds of running water seem to imply that their stuff are being cleaned.

One week school holidays

I had fun with Jonathan this week during his one-week school holidays. Initially, I thought he would be bored at home, so last weekend, I bought a few bolouring books for him. Well, I only took out the colouring book on Fri!

So what did we do during the week? Every morning without fail, Jon would set up his "house" (which is a collapsible tent) and pile some cushions inside it. Then he would line the rest of the cushions outside the house, followed by some of his fave toy cars, trucks, and soft toys. Then he will grab this basket of bits and stuff and dump the whole load inside the tent house! It's a mess. But he just likes to line things up...oh, and the line includes a side table and a couple of low stools!

Some days, we will play with his toys from his construction vehicles including the dump truck, excavator, and diggers. Some days, we would read the books that he picks. His favourites books for now are Tykeosaurs, That's Not My Dinosaur, and a Diggers Activity book. We even played ping pong with balloons!

One afternoon, I had asked a friend who was on leave if she was bringing her daughter to swim, and if we could join them. I did buy a bigger float and Jon had fun floating in the pool while being pulled by Simon.

I didn't take many photos. I just enjoyed the time with him, and I took power naps when one kid naps and just before the other woke up.

But Simon managed to take some photos of Jon playing with Tigger. Jon even groomed Tigger with a Mickey Mouse brush!
I don't know what Jon was doing in this photo. But he sure has lots of drama! and Tigger is such a timid cat that he didn't even dare to venture to the grass area...just sniffed a little here and there.


How was your week if your child was on holiday? Hope you managed to take some time off work to spend with him/her.

Listen

Listen to the mustn'ts, child.
Listen to the don'ts.
Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts.
Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me...
Anything can happen, child.
Anything can be.
- Shel Silverstein

(A favourite poem with my favourite papers, SSF)

Objects of my desire

I chanced on this web site selling Japanes stuff, ranging from gadgets to kawaii to silly items, and they ship worldwide from Tokyo.

Check out these colorful humidifiers, at a lower price point, compared to the Fukasawa humidifiers. I just love the colours that add that extra pop to the home and would love to get my hands on the lime green, fuschia pink and red ones!

Oh, and this Godzilla Bathroom Toy is a cute thing to add on the bathroom wall, if you have a boy (or boys) in the house. Godzilla clings to the wall with his powerful suction cup, taunting you, daring you to attack. You can fire your trusty water pistol at the targets on his body to start the game. He'll roar and his LED lights will start blinking if he's hit. Hit the target 3 times in total and he'll roar 3 times, meaning you've defeated the monster. If you fail, he'll laugh at your pitiful efforts. What fun!

Scrapped a little something

Found some time to scrap after CNY. This photo was taken at our Small Group gathering during Christmas 2008. I thought it would be something nice for our SG Leader who's birthday was at the end of Feb....yeah, it was a belated birthday present.

Used Collage Press Christmas crafting kit and some stuff from Bella Blvd. Not bad that I did 3 layouts and quite a few christmas cards from the CP. Think I can do another 2 more layouts from the kit.

I received a huge RAK from Elaine when I was in Singapore during CNY. How huge was it? Let's just say it was so huge that I didn't even go to Made With Love to shop for more SB supplies. I was even in Plaza Singapura and I had my husband and best friend with me, which meant that they can look after Jon and Jill, while I shop for a while...even if 30mins.

But I so love some of the latest stuff from CHA...Sassafrasslas, Pink Paislee, Dear Lizzy (AC), so oh-just-like-10-more-brands! I went online and pick some 70+ items (new and some 2008 that were sold out so quickly) totalling about US$180. Thankfully, I have this habit of editing my buys, so I didn't click on "Check out". Why...? I have so much stuff, I think had better scrap more before I can buy anything.

Great weekend at Marriott (two weekends ago)

Thankfully we went to stay at the Marriott Resort & Spa two weekends ago coz the haze is back! The room was spacious with two double beds, and they also included a cot for Jillian. In the end, the boys took one bed while the girls the other. They also upgraded us to the rooms facing the pool!
Jon was in the swimming pool for the second time and he wasn't afraid. Er, I didn't know what I was thinking coz i packed his baby float. Of course my super-sized Jonathan who looks more like a four-year-old wasn't able to squeeze inside the float! As a result, he stumbled a couple of times while walking in the wadding pool and drank mouthfuls of water. Jon looked longingly at the huge floating inflatable bouncy-cum-slide. We told him he can go on it when he's bigger. He must have looked so forlorn coz one Brazilian couple even offered him their beach ball! In the end, he had so much fun on the kiddy slide, which we thought was a pretty tall slide too. He was so brave that he wanted to climbed the slide via the slide and not the stairs. Got Simon to ask him to walk up the stairs and Simon would catch him at the bottom of the slide.

As I was with Jillian, I told Simon to dry him with the towel (the type with a hood). But we forgot about the wet hair! As a result, Jon came down with the sniffles last Mon and Tue. Oops, bad parents!
We also tried the new Korean restaurant just round the street from the hotel. We had nice and authentic Bimbimbap, and a dish of glass noodles which we had ordered for Jon but he decided he didn't want it as it was too black. And we got the staff to BBQ the pork for us, we couldn't do it ourselves coz we had two kids with us. We would have ordered Bulgolgi if it hadn't cost RM55 a plate (dollar for dollar, it's way expensive compared to Singapore where we can have a whole set of BBQ items, Korean ginseng chicken and side dishes at S$45 per person!)

Right after we came back from our relaxing weekend with the kids in two, the haze started last Mon. Every morning, we will have the haze thick in the air! While the authorities have fined two companies rm2,000 each and some home owners rm200 (for burning leaves in their backyard), the real culprits have not been penalised.


The nursery closed all doors and windows and switched on the air-conditioning. Poor Jon wasn't allowed to play the slides and what-outs in the outdoor area. Good thing is that he didn't come home all drenched in sweat! haha. But I wished the weather would be better soon. The clothes smell, and the smell even permeates into the house (kitchen, & dining areas, and toilets too!)

Objects of my desire

Check out these bikes! Originally called ‘bakfiets’ —Dutch cargo bikes— they have been modernized for today’s needs by this shop called De Fietsfabriek.

The Bakfiets are classic Dutch cargo bikes that ride on either two or three wheels. They come with a large box on the front for carting things (or people) around the city. Some styles, like the PackMax Due, even come with two extra children’s seats.

The city bikes look like the Paul Frank bike that I like....but where are the gears? If there're no gears, the bikes will be very heavy to cycle! The model with two children's seats cost about US$2000+! Very nice to drool over.