The weekend was...

GREAT!

Baby Shower cum Play Date

On Friday, Vesak Day, four of us mothers + a mother-to-be met up for baby shower while our kids played. Jiahui is expecting a baby in early Jul and I thought it would be great to just play some games and give little tokens for the baby. Baby Showers are not really practiced in Miri, so it was done on a very simple and small scale.

We met at Jennifer's place and each of us brought a dish or two. Mostly simple stuff so our kids can eat too including fried bee hoon, fried noodles, fishballs, chicken stew, glutinous rice done native style, cakes and agar agar. Then we played some Baby Shower games. There was the usual guess-the-mother-to-be's-waist and Wendy's guess was just off by some3cm and mine was second closest, off by 5cm.

For What's In a Bag?, we guessed the contents of baby stuff packed in brown envelops. After we had guessed all the packages, Jiahui unwrapped all the items and she got to keep them ((including milk bottle, socks, bib, pacifier, rattle, and toy) for her baby girl.

We also played the game "The Price is Right" where we showed many baby-related items, and everyone guessed the price. It was almost like an education system for Jiahui, after this, she can plan a more precise monthly budget, heehee!

In Baby Animals Names. all of us got a refresher course on names of animals' young. It's also good in case our kids ask us in future, and we would know the answer. What's the name of a baby swan? I always get stumped by this one. The answer is Cygnet. Well, what does an eel call its young? An elver. I didn't know that too.

Lastly, we played a game where we got to know each other better. It is called Baby Shower Firsts. We pulled out our pocket change and everyone had a turn at mentioning something we have never done before (i.e. never gone skiing, never been to Penang, etc). Those of us who had done the mentioned thing must put a coin in the piggy bank. After several rounds, we gave the piggy bank to the Jiahui as the baby's first piggy bank with money. And new Jiahui said with some hint from Catherine, "I have never given birth before."

(Hock Hua Bank coin bank, now known as Public Bank)

It was a great time chatting with the ladies while our kids played. Of course, we remembered to feed them and watched over them as it was the first time some of them had played together.

A new trike for Jon

Today, we had brought Job out for lunch and to run some errands. Along the way, he kept seeing tricycles and bicycles. We were buying some small toys to occupy him for our coming drive trip to Brunei this Tue and Wed over the Gawaii holidays. I had a tough time pulling him away from the bikes, and sometimes would let him sit on them for a while.

I bought for Jon two dinosaurs, a small magic doodle pad, and a Disney Cars colouring book. and I told him there was a tricycle at home waiting for him.Nope, I didn't lie. My friend, Wendy Anne, had given tricycle for both Jonathan and Jillian to share. It was the right time to give it to Jon. Firstly, it was the start of the two-week mid-term nursery holidays and he would love the trike to be ridden in the house. Secondly, he's quite big size. If we don't give to him now, his legs will be too long for him to sit comfortably on the bike later. So, thanks Wens! Jon loved it so much he insisted on bringing it with him to sleep in the sarong. Thankfully, it was foldable. It was also means that the sarong is strong enuf to take Jon on some extra 3kgs in the near future!

My Sweet girl

Look at her all sweaty and blushing here. We had gone to view a house and brought her along while Jon was napping. She was so patient and sweet and was on her best behaviour. Even though it was hot and we really checked out the place, from the inside to the outside for a good hour.

When we brought her home, it was way past her evening feed. In the end, she did get a little cranky, so after a few mouthfuls of porridge, I quickly bathed her and gave her milk instead.

Big boy was down and now UP

Sorry for the radio silence. Jon was down with fever from last Friday till Tuesday morning. It was a tiring experience as Jon fell sick the day his daddy went off for a 3-day fishing competition).

I don't think I need to bore anyone with details, coz I could only update Facebook at the time to request for prayers. But it was terrible to see my son having a high temp continuously over so many days, not being able to go out and play, taking meds (which kid love meds, well, I can name a few, but I assure you they're a rarity), and having the runs from the anti-biotic Augmentin.

Looking at his photos, would you think he was sick? Maybe just the first one. While Jon recovered by Tue morning, we didn't let him go to school. Firstly, we didn't want him to catch any bug or play till he perspires and then catch a chill again. So I had to entertain and play with him for another two days till Thursday....

Secondly, Thursday was Sports Day. Sure didn't want big boy to miss out on this day. It was a combined event for kids from the Ria Montessori Nursery and Kindergarten. First time I saw so many kids playing at the park in our estate!

Big boy was so happy when he got down from the car, he kept wanting to run forward. I had to hold him back and point out that there's a long ditch along the park perimeter, and we had to go to the tiny bridge to get across!

Jon wasted no time and rushed to the playground to play. He noticed there were many kids that he didn't know (coz they were the kinder kids). But that didn't stop him from joining in and playing and squealing with them. It was more a case of them wondering who-on-earth-is-this-boy-and-what's-he-doing-playing-with-us?

Hey, any idea how come the playground equipment usually starts with the letter 'S'? Slide...swing..see-saw?

Me? I was afraid he would play up a sweat even before the games begun! Thankfully, a couple more of his friends turned up, but there were more of the kinders (blue trimmings on the t-shirts) than the toddlers (red trimmings on the t-shirts) and the little ones were a wee bit intimidated by the older ones.

Here're more photos of the day. I didn't take too many coz I had to watch him carefully. I didn't want anything to happen, least of all, another bout of fever!

The toddlers only had two games; the first was the Spoon and Ping Pong Ball game. He came in first. After Principal Eileen said, "Ready, one, two, three, GO!" and the whistle blew, he ran. I enjoyed watching him so much, I didn't take a photo of him running.

Then the other kids had their races. Jon entertained himself by exploring the park. he kept going to pick sticks. There was this drain and Jon declared he's going fishing. So we went 'fishing'. Daddy would have been proud of him that he's would like to share his hobby. Then he went to play at the playground again.

After more games for the other kids plus a snack break, came the second game. Jon had to run with a mini hoop to the centre and put the hoop through a pole, before proceeding to the finishing line. There was some confusion as someone had put their hoop at his pole. Jon could have just put his hoop on the same pole and outrun the girl, but no....he decided to go find a pole without any hoop! It was so farnee watching him race.

At the end of the Sports Day mornings, Jon went for more fun at the playground before I brought him to the supermarket to buy some treats for him. Oh yes, how did I managed to lure him away from the playground? The teachers were packing up and leaving when I brought that to his attention. He decided he wanted to leave too.

What a tiring day. He fell asleep very quickly after lunch and a bath.

And I made these

I made a few more simple cards, a card a day since last Sat. I made two of these for Jon's Sunday School teachers. I scraplifted from the book A Card A Day (will revert with the scrapper's name later) On the inside, I guided Jon in writing his name and he coloured the sun, flower and heart very carefully. This is a vast improvement from his usual colouring, which is to use one single colour all over the entire page.

Then I made these two using Sassafras papers. One's a "Hi, miss you" card and the other is a birthday card. I like making cards to send to people. They're fast to make, I use up my papers, and I hope the people receiving them will be happy to see cards rather than junk mail and bills.

Lastly, I did this girly birthday card using pink and green colour combi.

I want to fly

Almost every week or so, Jon will have a pet phrase. He will repeat it many times a day.

In March, his fave phrases were "Ni lai (you come), "XX (name of person), please" for whenever he wants something. In April, they were "I like", "very nice" or "not nice"

Last week, it was "I want to fly". It was Megan's birthday, and we had a simple celebration at home. I put on a pair of pink fairy wings for her, and when Jon saw it, his eyes glistened and pronounced, "I want to fly!" We told him he it was time to cut the birthday cake and after that, he may borrow the wings for a while. Look at these two blowing the candles out. Do you realise that a cake is the only food that has others' saliva on it and people still want to eat it?

After the cake, Jon remembered the wings and kept repeating "I want to fly" till we managed to persuade Megan to lend him her wings.

He was so happy when he had his wings. We had to distract the birthday girl by giving her her birthday presents. Then when it came to returning the wings, we had to distract Jon by giving him this pointer he saw at the shop (the type lecturers and presenters used in the days before the laser pointer). Anything that resembles a stick, he also likes.

Radio Flyer trikes, bikes and wagons

Hey everyone, regarding my post on the Radio Flyer rides, I thought I had better let you guys know more details, coz a few of you have pm me for more info.

Please note that the shop is called TEF Bikers Junction, and it is located opposite Thomson Medical Centre. The addy is @ Blk 1 Thomson Rd #01-332 and the guy in charge is Wilson Tiow. He says there are more models avail at his West Coast outlet (when I was at the Thomson rd outlet, there was only the roadster.)

You may wish to call Wilson Tiow on HP: 9363 3337 or email at tefkids@gmail.com for more info.

I don't want you bringing your kid there only to find only the roadster. Or worse, nothing left! Have fun shopping.

Happy Teachers' Day

Happy Teachers' Day to all teachers! Here's Jon with his nursery Teacher, Ms Midah. She is so patient with him and the other kids. She never fails to share with me the funnies or progress that Jon makes at nursery.


A close-up of the simple card I made for Ms Midah. Would have gotten Jon to help paste the alpha stickers if not for me doing this in the morning when Jon was at nursery.

If you are free and having your morning cuppa, read on as I share some conversations I have with Ms Midah or the other teachers when I pick Jon up after nursery.

Jon's love for toys
M: Just to let you know that Jon no longer snatches toys.
Me: What? Jon snatches from his friends? Did he push them? Were they frightened?
M: No lah. You know how kids are when they want toys and someone else took them first. Now whenever Jon's favourite toys are taken, he'd just look for other toys.
Me: Phew. For a while, I thought Jon snatches toys from other kids. (It has been four months since he's been attending nursery and we have told him to share the toys as they are there for everyone's enjoyment. & you never know what will happen coz Jon is the biggest size toddler in the whole nursery.) Ms Midah, you must let me know if Jonathan is up to any trouble, yah?
M: Oh no, Jonathan's fine. He's a good boy.
Me (expression of relief): (silent phew)

Jon's colouring
M: Jon is getting better at colouring and tracing the alphabets.
Me: Really? Doesn't he like colour the entire page with one colour?
M: He's using more colours now. You will see when you bring his file home at month end.
Me: But he still colours all over the page right?
M (smiling): Well, you can see he uses different colours for different parts of the pictures. So, that is a good improvement.

Which Jon are you referring to?
Me (to another teacher who's not in charge of Jon).: Hi Teach, I am here to pick up Jon.
T: Which Jon?
Me: Oh, there are more than one Jonathan?
T: Yes. Are you picking up the BIG Jonathan or little Jon?
Me: Hmmm, I guess my Jonathan will have to be the BIG one.
T (bringing out Jon): Jon, your mommy is here.
Me (smiling): Thank you.

Luckily, she didn't call him "BIG Jon, your mommy is here." You may never know what kind of inferiority complex or worse, arrogant pride that may arise if someone keeps calling my son "BIG Jon".

Objects of my desire & belated pressie for me

Lookie here what Jon made for me for Mothers' Day! A small plaque that says "Happy Mothers' Day". The embellishments were prepared by his nursery teacher and he pasted everything himself. It was belated coz he didn't go to nursery last Friday, his teacher told me when I picked him up on Monday. Jon loves pasting things, just like me. Do you think he can scrapbook, coz he colours really bad, as in one colour for the whole picture! haha! I will hang this at my scrapbook area...if he would let me have it! He keeps taking it from me and lining up with whatever toys he's playing with at the moment.

When I was back in Singapore last week, a friend happened to give birth and I visited them at Thomson Medical Centre. Since I had time, I acrossed the overhead bridge and saw this bike shop. There were nice cool bicycles which I am sure cost a lot. But what caught my eye was this retro wooden roadster, the classic foot-to-floor pushing type. Don't you think it's cool? It cost a little over a hundred if I remembered correctly.

I went in to chat with the proprieter and he showed me the Radio Flyer catalogue. My eyes opened wider and wider as I went through the catalogue. There is even a rocket version of the roadster, and it comes with under seat storage for extra toys, and makes realistic stronaut and space sounds!

They also have these cool wagons, which I am so tempted to buy for Jon and Jill (of course waiting for Jill to be older before putting her in with Jon!). I like this Trav-ler Wagon, which is a retro version of the wagons they have for rental at the Singapore zoo (in case you get tired of carrying your toddler when he/she is tired). Some models even come with a canopy! The wagons cost over S$200 (of course cheaper on Amazon.com, but there's shipping to be considered).

Maybe I will get something for Jon for his third birthday? It comes packed in a flat box which I can check in as luggage and bring back to Miri.....

Happy Mothers' Day

You're my mommy, my only mommy

You make me happy when skies are grey

You never know, dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my mommy away

The Sunday School kids sang this for mommies this morning. The church had a practice of celebrating Parents' Day on Mothers' Day. So the kids sang the same song to the daddies, of course replacing the word "mommy" with "daddy". The toddlers' class had to dress up, the boys as daddies and the girls as mommies.

Simon told me that Jon's supposed to dress like his daddy...this is different from what the teacher wanted - to dress up IN daddy's clothes. Luckily the teachers brought extra clothes. So, Jon ended up like this.

I motioned to Jon to try to get his attention so I could take a photo. He thought I asked him to come over. That's why he's standing in front, and blocking dear sweet Carol. He looks cute, especially with the silly hair cut. But I think he'll look cuter when his hair grows a little more.

See Joshua in a suit and wig. Can you guess what his daddy works as?

Jon liked what he was wearing so much that he didn't allow me to take off the tie and shirt. We had to wait till Teacher Mary came over. Otherwise, he would have been happy wearing the "daddy" shirt the whole day!

We went out for lunch at Citrus. Jillian was asleep in her baby chair coz she woke up early around 6am.

Jon ate Simon's marshmallow that came with his hot chocolate drink. Looks like Jon's learning to appreciate the sweet stuff. He just started eating lollipops in Mar, chewy sweets last week, and now marshmallow. Hope Jon doesn't develop a sweet tooth!

Wishing all mommies a Happy Mothers' Day.

Last woman standing

Two Sundays ago, we brought Jon to check out the Water Park in Miri. But as he woke up late, we decided to let him just check out the water park (not getting wet) and then play at the playground. Coz we had to bring him back for dinner.

The evening was cool, and he enjoyed checking out the wet action without wanting to go join the other kids. But once it came to the playground....there was no stopping him.

After playing for a while, I had to dragged Jon home. I gave him water but forgot to change him out of his sweaty T-shirt. Simon also said we shall open the car windows instead of switching on the air-con. Sweaty T-shirt + cool breeze = 1 toddler with slight sniffles. By Mon, Jon had this cough. Aiyo, so weak huh?

So the whole week, I took good care of Jon, not allowing him to go out and sweat in the super hot weather, made him drink his soup and made sure he had plenty of fluids. Then he got better, except for the horrible phlegm which he couldn't cough out.

Then last weekend, Simon fell sick (technically Fri night). But he was Ok to bring us to the zoo together with grandparents and cousin Mabel. Simon had this horrible phlegm too. While he doesn't have the phlegm anymore, it's been replaced by a terrible cough. And we have to go back to Singapore for a couple of days to complete the sale of our flat.

They say when it rains, it pours. Yesterday morning, Jillian had a slight temp. Grandma said it should be due to her teething. Coz her poo wasn't the normal one too. But last night, she cried so much and didn't want her milk. After cradling her for an hour, I realise her temp went up again. So it was paracetamol and when she was cooler, she took some milk. She managed to sleep from 1am to 4+am and took a little milk. But I was so tired from all the waking, and shakng the sarong, and carrying her.

I am the last woman standing. Pray that I will not fall!