Magic Moments

I hurt my hand banging it against the doors again. Sigh.

Tobey: Mummy pain?

Me: Yes, ouch!

Tobey: (rubbed his fingers on my hand and said) "Don't worry mummy, pain go away soon...my love mummy" and hugged me.

I felt much better after that :D

Updates

Helping mummy with the ironing. He's ironing his muslin cloth. Don't worry, the iron is NOT turned on.

At Nandos waiting for food. He no longer can fit into most high-chairs comfortably.

Visiting Shean Wenn in London. They held hands on the way out of the restaurant.

His uncle visited us. The boy just wouldn't stop playing his uncle's Iphone's games.

Settling-in

There were 3 "settling-in-sessions" this week at nursery.

Tuesday- We were there for about 45 minutes. I filled in some forms and he explored the new toys and activities. I was given a list of things to be packed into his bag.He was reluctant to leave.

Wednesday-Bag all packed (spare clothes, nappies for poo-poo, hat, gloves, wellies, handphone (kidding), muslin cloth and water tumbler). Tobey double-checked to see that his muslin cloth and water tumbler is in before leaving. He loves wearing it. Kept saying "My going School, this my bag".

I was with him for 10 mins then made my exit. I told him that I am going to the supermarket opposite to do some shopping and will be back very soon to pick him up. At first, he whispered "Mummy stay here, sit-down next my". I told him that Ian (his key person) would be looking after him and pointed out at all the fresh paint readily available for painting. He went to the paint straight away. I was told me to come back after 45 mins. I went to the cafe in the supermarket, bought newspaper and some overpriced tea and was prepared to read in peace. Surprisingly, 2 of my friends were there too (they just came back from shopping and waiting to pick up their older kids from school), so I ended up chatting with them and looking at their purchases. Newspaper untouched.

When I went back, all the kids were all wrapped up and was playing at the nursery's playground. Ian told me that he didn't even ask for me. It took me another 10 mins to persuade him to go home.

Friday - 5 mins after bringing him in. I was told to exit for 1 hr 30 mins. Tobey said "No , mummy stay". Ouch! heart pain :( I pointed at all the soft play dough they just made and he said "kay" to me leaving. I went and bought some stuff, cooked dinner and tried to make some calls. I missed my boy. When I went to pick him up, I was told he was fine for the first hour. Then when the children and adults set-up the tables for teatime, he started crying and asked for me. Ian quickly got him his muslin cloth and tumbler. He calmed down. When I went to him, his face lighted up and he was seated with other kids around a table having his toast with butter and jam. His face was all red from all the crying. After making sure he hasn't got a temperature, I asked him why he cried he said "my tummy pain, my cry". He didn't ask to go for a wee at all. When we got home, he went for a big wee. So, I figured, he wasn't comfortable to ask to go for a wee in a new surrounding. Hence, he held it in until his tummy hurts.

So this coming Monday morning would be his first official session. Just Monday morning for now. He asked for his bag today so that he can go to school. I'll put a nappy on him then, until he's used to the place.

Nursery

Although his days are filled with a fair amount of playgroups and classes, I've always been around him. Now that he's old enough, we've enrolled him into nursery starting off just one morning a week and increase accordingly (probably up to 2 or 3 mornings a week). Reason being, I don't want him to miss out on the benefits of being away from me. I am hoping that he'll learn to fend for himself by himself amongst his peers. It's also so that he will be ahead of the game and ease into Pre-school easily this coming September (kiasuism :P). I've visited several nurseries within reasonable driving distance, but still settled for Sunflower Nursery which is just 5 mins walk from home (save petrol which is £1.119/litre now ~CRAZY! get to sleep in more, no traffic jams..etc).

So very soon, my baby will be going to "school". The big question is, what do I do with my free time? I hope to get back to work part-time if possible. Just have to leave it in God's hands. Who knows he might have other plans for me ;)

Crunchy peanut butter cookies

Ingredients

8 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar (I used icing sugar instead for better texture)
2 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1 free-range egg yolk
50g/1¾oz butter, softened
icing sugar, for dusting

Method

Mix everything into a bowl. Mix with hand. Shape with dusting of flour. Bake 10 mins in preheated oven of 180 C.

Tobey was the main chef this time around. He's getting a hang of listening to the ingredients being read out and adding them into the mixing bowl accordingly. I mixed them with hand. He then shaped and sprinkled them with sugar strands (instead of icing sugar).

He decided to shape them to various sizes

Once it's baked and cooled, out came the coloured icing tubes for more decorating

Finally the taste test- "Mmm Nice, my make cookie nice"
(he then asked to save a few pieces for daddy)

Yam Pau

I didn't make this ..hahahahah (as if I can). It's from the Chinese supermarket frozen section. I am a total convert. Move aside Red Bean and Lotus. Make way for Yam Pau. Yummy!

Why?

It has started.

"Why turn off tap mummy?"
"Why wipe hands mummy?"
"Why not climb mummy?"

I find it quite amazing for now. I am sure I'll sing a different tune once he goes on overdrive.

Pretend Play & 2 1/2 yrs old Developmental Checks

We couldn't find a dentist toy set (there goes the early retirement dream for SK).So this Doctor one would do. Actually, he's been using shoelaces, ribbons, ties and any bit of string as stethoscope to check our heart beat. That is on top of our daily temperature check with the digital ear thermometer. As expected he was ecstatic when we handed him a plastic briefcase filled with a stethoscope, a syringe, 2 medicine bottles, an otoscope (to look into ear canals), a thermometer, a clipboard, a "knee knocker" and a cute pair of spectacle frame. It's the first thing he plays with everyday.

I role play with him using different scenarios. He loves it.

For example:

I play the Dr siting at the desk . He comes into the clinic on his red race car and ask for a check-up. I check his heart beat whilst he takes deep breaths. Then I check his ears and knocks his knee, where he'll pretend to move his leg after each knock. Very dramatic. Lastly, I place the thermometer under his armpit and declares that he has a temperature and needs an injection! I'll extract some medicine from a bottle and an injection is given to his bum and he'll go "ouch!". That calls for some pain medication for the pain :P. He'll then shakes my hand and hops onto his car and zooms off into his kitchen. 2 Seconds later. He'll be back to return his empty bottle of medicine for me recycle.

Today we went for his 2 1/2 years old developmental check. He met all the milestones/ should haves. Showed no nerves whatsoever when being observed playing with the tea set, building blocks, threading toys and such. Infact, he impressed me. How come he never concentrated that well at home. Tsk. Long story short, the health visitor were charmed beyond words. She commented that he looks really healthy and confident. We discussed about him still asking for a nappy to do his big business and then goes into hiding (usually the hallway) to be alone and will only reappear and ask us to "please wash poo away" once he's done. I am going to try out her suggestion.

Hello 2010

2009 is when...

...We newly moved to our new home in Cambourne, where we made many good friends.
...SK settled into his new company
...My parents, SK's parents and my auntie&uncle visited us from back home
...We went home to Malaysia for a holiday

and the best part is that we saw Tobey grew into a fabulous boy that he is now. All we wish for 2010 is for him to continue growing into the happy, healthy, confident, assertive and loving person we wish for him to be.

Happy New Year everyone. May this year brings you added happiness and contentment, the fortune that your are looking for, be surrounded by good people, and good health to enjoy them all.

Pan Mee

I was feeling really lethargic one evening. So I decided to pull myself together and do something interesting in the kitchen. I made Pan Mee for the first time. It's not my favourite, but Tobey liked it back in Malaysia. It took me 2 hours. Kneading and rolling of the noodle took most of the time. I really ought to get that special pasta/noodle machine.

Anyways, here it is...

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Just kidding...it's more like this

Actually, I am pretty proud of my humble bowl of Pan Mee. Although it's not much of a looker, but the taste is there. SK asked me how come the noodle looked like belts.Tsk! If only they sell that potato leaves here, then the garnishing would look more complete.

Christmas 2009

a beautiful rainbow on our way back

We went up to Birmingham for 2 nights to celebrate Christmas with BIL and his partner, Ann. Plus also to 'hit the sales' on Boxing day...hehe...We stayed in BIL's hotel and had steamboat as Christmas Dinner.

Ann with BIL and our little Christmas spread.

Tobey with his uncle. He calls him "tup-tup" (instead of "Suk-Suk")

Gone were the days where we would leave the hotel at 6 am and speedwalk for 10 minutes, making sure we are the first customers at Next. Now, (or rather after being parents) we value our sleep more. Furthermore, there was no way we could compete with the younger generation of today. They lined up outside Next (in the cold) since 4am. Doors opened at 7am. Cheesin(spoken like a true oldie ;P). We started at 10 am and by 3pm, Tobey was too bothered by the massive crowd, so we went back to the room for him to rest. Instead, he happily spent the next hour or so playing with everything electronic in the room.

Here's my baby in the midst of his phone 'conversations'

I did managed to sneak out for some alone shopping time when both father and son were asleep. That was really good.

Snowy 18th Dec'09

Promised SK I'll bring the boy out to build a snowman. Early in the morning, Tobey came to me and went "Mummy,wake up! snoremen snoreball please please please! My brush teeth!" (he willingly went and brushed his teeth). So after breakfast, we ventured out into the -2 c with a mission. I lost my gloves, so had to put on my kitchen mittens to build it. Even with them, I can only manage a tiny one before my hands went numb. Here are several pics, especially for his family back home who misses him :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Everyone. God Bless.

Fortnight of Fun and Food

It was a good holiday. Malaysia is still as vibrant, except for higher food prices, more elevated highways, increase in the number of sky scrappers and trendy restaurants/cafes/hang-out areas.

At Pavilion KL

We met up with many relatives from KL and Penang. Attended two weddings. Met up with friends. Went to pasar malams, mamak stall (day and night), took the LRT to get to Petaling Street, visited the shopping centres and restaurants. We left Tobey with the in-laws some of the times. So SK and I actually had alot of fun kidding around and trying to act like a non-married couple on dates. Managed to get myself a chinese watercolour scroll for my stairway too (for those who knows me, you can imagine how ecstatic I am to have finally got my hands on one that I like). Food wise, we made it a point to be very objective this time around. We tried to say NO to repeats and to 2nd best. That's how we managed to eat everything on the list. From durian to crab, mee goreng to fruit rojak, from Shanghainese noodle to Japanese buffet.

Say hi to "Poon Choi" at Jeff Lee, Sungai Buloh market square

Back to Tobey

The down:

Whenever he's not in an air-conditioned room, he sweat-ed. Mozzies seems to prefer his firm flesh to our flabs. A week into the trip, he had a temperature for 2 days. Hovered around 38-39 c. Normally back in UK, I would just treat it with over the shelves children medicine. But I was worried about Dengue and such, being in Malaysia. The first children clinic we visited was rubbish. The woman doctor was such an irritant. Spoke to us with a condescending tone and as if we were irresponsible teenage parents. Then she went on to prescribed antibiotics for a viral throat infection.Classic. The antibiotic was too strong and caused his tummy to be gassy. We then brought him to Megah Specialist Medical Centre. Met a fantastic pediatrician, Dr. Lam. He told us his throat infection was so mild, it need not to be treated in the first place. The wind medication he prescribed eradicated the air in his tummy straight away. By day 3, Tobey is back to his usual self.

The ups:

FIL put him on the front seat of his bike and rode around the neighbourhood. He was even allowed to handle the acceleration(the throttle) at times. Oh boy, the boy was over the moon and couldn't stop talking about it. About how he went on the "up-downs" (road bumps) and how the bike sounded like.

Tobey on daddy's new bike

He helped in picking the young coconuts from the tree in front of the house

This is his current trademark smile for the camera

and walked to pasar tani/malam. During the walk to pasar malam, he used a torchlight to shine everything along the way, the drain, the pavement, etc. Of course there were the trips to the malls.

Natural smile :)

SK spoilt him rotten with coin-operated rides and toys. Whenever we are out on our own, we ended up always thinking of the boy and buying him gifts. We noticed that decent toys cost much more in m'sia compared to the UK.Something that we bought for £40 is priced at almost RM400. I wonder how on earth a person working in Malaysia (those on average income) be able to afford them! No wonder toys of "lesser quality" (flimsy) has a market there). It's really unfair to say the least. Having said that, from what we observed in shopping malls and restaurants, many MANY Malaysian must be earning waaaaaaay above average.
He loves looking at puppies through the windows and shouting "down Chili down!" ,"puppy mum-mum!", etc. he got to sample many Malaysian dishes for the first time too. His favourites are "Pan mee" ,"Hor Fun","Roti Telur". and "Big prawn". His first request after landing was "Yeh-yeh, Big prawn please!" hehehe.

At Canton-I, One Utama

Sagano, Renaissance Hotel

Both set of granparents really showered him with love and attention. It' so sad that he's living so far away from them.

I thank God that the flight to and from was relatively easy on us and Tobey. We felt rejuvenated and are glad to be back home.

Savoury Cheese and Onion muffins

Another cooking lesson with Tobey. This time we made several savoury muffins for breakfast. I made these using (enough for 7 big muffins)

10 tbsp self-raising flour
5 tbsp semolina flour (makes the muffin softer in the inside
3/4 mug of mozarella cheese
1/2 mug of fried onions (I got mine from the salad counter in the local supermarket)
1 medium egg
1/2 a mug of goat's milk (that's what in my fridge, I am sure cow's milk will do fine)
1/2 a bowl of frozen peas
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Mix everything together until you reach a gluey or "dollopy" consistency. Add more flour or milk if needed. Spoon them into muffin cases and bake at 200 C for around 20 mins (or when the top is crusty and brownish). Eat them whilst they're still warm...

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The other day I stir-fried these soya beans with garlic and chinese sausage for dinner. It's our first time eating fresh soya beans. SK stared at it for quite sometime before even touching it...they turned out to be quite tasty :)

Tobey at 2 years 5 months old

Tobey with one of the pumpkins from the garden.

With mommy ...

With Daddy at The Waffles Company

Conversation clips:

Mommy(M): Let's brush teeth.
Tobey(T): Yes, big nen-nen dirty teeth, YUCKS!

T: Didi, where are you?Mimi, where's daddy?
M: Pom-Pom-ming(showering)
T: Daddy dirty, YUCKS!

T: Mimi, HELP! (his friends where piling cushions onto him and tried to sit on him)
M:Stop boys!
T: (Tobey emerged from the mountain of cushions before mommy got to him..) AAArgh! (pushes one 3YO away and said..) No! Go away! Bad!

I was immensely proud that he stood-up and defended himself.

B0b The Builder Live C0ncert

Today Tobey went for his first live concert. The Bob The Builder one..hehe.. He went with his good friend Ethan. It's around 1 hour and 20 minutes show, with a 20 minutes break in the middle. Tobey managed to stand/sit still for the first 30 minutes. The storyline was about Bob and Wendy trying to build a recycling centre in Sunflower Valley. And all the other characters (Spud, Dizzy, Scoop, Mr. Pickle, etc.) helped.
After that he got really restless and got down to loiter around the theatre floor. Good thing was, he wasn't alone, there were other toddlers loitering alongside him. They mostly went to the foot of the stage to dance nearer to the characters which was really cute to watch.
For the parents, well, I bet most of us must have yawned at least once in during the show. If only there's a Handy Manny or Special Agent Oso concert. I am sure Tobey would enjoy it even more.

Mr. Wind

Tobey walked into his garden. Noticed his goalpost being blown down. He looked up to the sky and said "NO wind, NO!. Naughty!"

Spotted!

Today we attended a lovely luncheon held by another Malaysian mommy at her house. The guest list were 6 mommies and their kids. It was so much fun for Tobey, it was like a mini-playgroup, but only consisted of his favourite familiar friends which he plays with all the time. Her parents cooked the yummiest curry chicken. Her live-in nanny did all the cleaning-up, hence leaving her to mingle with us. We had so much laughter between us girls! So good for the soul. In such a short time in this village, I am already blessed with a group of such awesome girlfriends! Each and everyone of them are so sincere and special in their own way. I really thank God for them :)

After several hours, most of us proceeded to Camb0urne Children Centre 1st anniversary Party. There was cake cutting (yummy not overly sweet cake baked by a famous nearby village baker), various art & craft activities and also puppet shows and performances.

Look how happy they were! Tobey is at the left most

Tobey enjoyed painting the giant paper house, the singing and the cutting of papers using REAL scissors.
I was browsing the advertising board and saw Tobey in one of the promotional pictures!

I remember that day, he was fascinated by a plastic baby shark in the tank. He must have been 18-19 months old.

He was so shattered when we got home after some grocery shopping, he actually dozed off on the floor for 20 minutes, whilst watching TV.

Side updates:

Over the weekend, we sent my aunt and uncle off to the airport. Since we were in London, we dropped by Chinatown for lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant and bought ourselves some moon cakes.
I got Tobey a Buzz Lightyear T-shirt last week. He chose it himself over another Toy Story 2 T-shirt. He acted like the character Buzz once the T-shirt in on him, such as pressing buttons on the T-shirt and launches his arms into flying mode. So funny.

Here's my little Buzz lightyear playing with playdoh.

and I can't resist posting this last pic up..hehehe...

my handsome little cyclist

That's all for now folks!

First Bicycle

He loves his bike. He ask to ride it when he wakes up. He remembers my promise for him to ride it after he takes his nap or finishes his meal. He waves goodnight to it when it's being stored in the garage. He asked us to whisper whenever we are are near where his bike is 'sleeping'. He loves his bike.

It's understandable really...it's his first mode of transportation and with it comes a certain level of Independence that means the world to a 2YO. As parents to our baby, the reward of seeing him enjoying it so much and being good at it as well, is astoundingly heart-tugging and simply priceless.

Of Lately

Tobey is seen here spotting some shades and daddy's watch (the line on his chin is not a gotti, just a stain from breakfast :P)

Eating his pasta (reluctantly and just because daddy is insisting)

Eating his dessert all by himself (willingly)

Thinking hard during some card matching exercise

Hanging out with his mates (he's actually busy picking up stones to be thrown into the mini fountain)

Tobey's Vocab at 2YO

Tobey is not the fastest in speech development. He's the slow and steady type in this department, but we love him just as much :)

Words he's still working on

Eway-Away
Tar/ "pon-pon"-Car
Pees-Please
Tetar-Guitar
Tenma-Grandma
Wewic-Music
Taptop-Laptop
Targe-Charge
Klat-klat-Chocolate
Toooool-Stool
Knock-knock-Hammer
Scoo-Screw
Bloon-Balloon
Told-Cold
Matoes-Tomatoes
Cavot-Carrot
Lin-Lin-Muslin
Pecs-Specs
Poon-Spoon
Tic-tic (said with cutting motion with his hands)- His plastic Knife
Voo-Voo-Vacumn
Chiak-Chiak-Camera
Glape-Grape
Toish-Fish
Ane-One
Tee-Three
Quare-Square
Tangle-Rectangle
Fawa-Flower
Tactor-Tractor
Pay-gup-Playgroup
Wawerfly-Butterfly
No-nore- No-More
Ta-Done-All Done
Nee-No-Ambulance

Other words he uses to communicate, along with alot of signing with his hands

Thanks, Pot, Wash (When he says WASH, that means the next thing he'll be doing is running to the sink to wash whatever he's holding), Wipe, Stand, Sit, Jump, Room, Push, TV,Toys,Poo-poo, Wee-wee,Book, No, Yes,Yeh-yeh(Grandpa), run,walk,mum-mum(eat), Drink, Leave, Go, Run, Light, Wind, Sun, Trousers, Jacket, Bag, Work, Hair, Tea, Hold, Tree,Stairs, get-up, Hot, Baby , Daddy/Dee-dee/Da-da/My Da (this is so sweet), Mama/Mommy/Me-me/ ("Mama big nen-nen" (that means he wants a full bottle of milk, rather than half a bottle, the way he say it sounds as if he's ordering a big "Milo Ice" from mamak stalls) Boat, peas, Pot, Kick, Hand,Nose, Eyes, Ears, leg, Toes, Head, Bum-bum, Teeth, Brush, Mine, Lift, Blue, Red, Yellow, Black, White, Green, Mint, Big, Small, Bubbles, Bye-Bye, More, Swim, Hat, Dark, Room, Shoes, Socks, Write, Sleep, Nen-nen/Milk, Dark (He doesn't go out when it's dark), Man, Door, Chair, Juice, Bed, Shake, Nice, Stone, Wait, Draw, Spray, Phone, Dance, Clean, Fan, Look, Bike, Clock, Sun, Moon, Star, Bird, Cat (Occasionally it's "Mau", cantonese for Cat I guess), Dog, Mouse,Duck, Sheep, Two, Nine,Ten, Round, There, Help,Glass, Disc, Drive, Buy (He will flip through the Argos shopping catalogue, point to a toy he wants and ask hi daddy to "buy"), Money,Wheel, Cook, Die, Comb, Climb, Bath, Bus, Wow, Loud, Bar (his fruit bar), House, Fly, Mist, Egg, Half, Boiled (his fav breakfast is half-boiled eggs with buttered bread), Toast, beans, Bug, bees, SNOT (I know, and he makes sure I get hold of his every snot to throw it away), Throw, Rock, Type, Dirty,Close, ...

Probably missed several words out, but more or less they are here. He is willing to try to pronounce new words after us, when he's in the mood. Else, he'll scoot off to play......which is really what 2YOs ought to be doing now ;)

Ending of a good Summer

Tobey enjoying a nice big mug of homemade iced mint tea on a hot day..."aaaaahhh..nice" he said.

The weather has been rather unsettled lately. Amidst the sunshine that we are so used to now, we have very windy and rainy days. Autumn is fast approaching. Sigh! Before you know it, it would be grey, cold and miserable again. I can bear the run up to Christmas, but January and February has always been difficult. Chinese New Year season and away from family back home. Anyhoo, here's another post on the joy of Summer this year. I think Tobey really enjoyed this one. Hopefully, he will have equally much fun (or more) next Summer.

1) Cambourne 10th Anniversary...

was held on the 15th August. It started off with march of the school band. As soon as we heard it from our garden, we quickly walked out to the centre to show our support. It was celebrated in the usual English Fete style, with reenactments of medieval war times (they actually used swear words in this one, and the head of the war troop actually hit one of his soldier's steel hat with something that looked like an axe), fun fair, face painting, stalls selling food and such. The only twist was the Chinese Lion Dance. Strange. They probably found it to be loud and amusing for the kids.

This "Man-On -Sticks" kept talking to Tobey. The boy just froze and stared at him each time.

As usual, he insisted on going on the ride. £1 a ride. What a rip-off.

2) Chives-Tomatoes-Pumpkin-Pear

I've been distributing lettuces to my friends around the village. As we found it hard to finish these garden crops even though we eat them almost (more like every single meal) everyday. Some of my friends also have vege patches in their gardens. One of them gave me bags of Chinese Chives. I love them. I used them in wonton, fried with eggs and also with coriander in a savoury pancake mix of flour, egg, salt and water.

These three wontons are the only few dainty ones I made for this pic. After that they were all "rushed-for-time" sized. During dinner SK said " This is not wonton, this is a ping-pong ball staring at me!" You get the idea..hehe

My Chinese pancakes :P

The Tomatoes are beginning to ripen. I've stopped buying tomatoes from the supermarket for 2 weeks already. We've planted tomatoes in our old place before so we know from now on, they will keep on coming...aaarghhh help! Tomatoes soup anyone?

We planted our fruit trees this year without expecting any harvest until at least next Spring obviously. But this Pear tree seems quite enthusiastic to show us a preview of what it can bear.

Don't think this will grow to be a proper sized pear before winter sets in.Again, this is the first time I saw a pear growing. I was expecting them to grow like Rambutans, but not bulging from the bottom of a flower. SK was the one that pointed it out to me. Can't wait for next year's harvest :)

We are now seeing some form of Pumpkin growing. Unfortunately, these would not grow into a pumpkin big enough to carve for Halloween. More like those for a lovely pumpkin soup.

3) Injury

I don't really like to blog about Tobey's sickness or injury in this blog. I find it too painful to reread/remember it. But this has to be recorded as it is officially his full fledged toddler play injury. We were invited for a weekday lunch by a mommy friend. Tobey was having fun playing with the other toddler boys. Whilst playing hugging with one of them, that boy probably lost his balance and fell on Tobey, or maybe he just decided to push out of over-excitement. My darling baby fell backwards and hit the back of his head on a corner of a table. There was blood. My heart was ripped out. I concentrated in staying focus and stopped his bleeding. Checked for any other anomaly. By then he was back on his feet and wanted to continue playing. Brought him to the surgery to be looked at. Nurse told us that it's a superficial shallow cut. The reason why it bled so much was because the scalp is full of capillaries. She just cleaned it with salt water, put band aids on and told us to keep his hair dry for 3 days. I took him there for another check-up after that. After a week, on his second check-up, we were instructed to wash his band aids off as the cut has closed. He still has a small swell around the wound which I am keeping an eye on. If only I can rewind time. Then I can take the fall for him. I think only mommies out there can understand this.

4) Best friend?

Hong-Hong is now officially the boy's "best -friend" . Even though at a picnic today, Hong-Hong fell down, Tobey tried to help him up but instead of a thanks, Hong-Hong gave him a slap, Tobey still smile and asked to play with him whenever possible...Hmmmmm....

All-in-one

Nowadays, so much have been happening. I find it easier to just jumble them all up in a single post :)

1) Water Play

After watering the plants on a muggy evening, this is how he cools himself down.

2) £5 Unlimited ride funfair
There were like 4 'ridable' rides for toddlers in thefair, but Tobey didn't mind going on the same ride over and over again. His favourite was the bike. But the operator of the bike carousel let the rides went on for too long! There's once he actually let a ride went on for as long as it took him to finish his plate of chips!!!

3)Hands-in-pocket training

He loves all things electronic (like daddy). He also loves browsing them in the departmental stores. Especially televisions and cameras.To ensure he doesn't break anything, we told him to place his hands in his pockets whilst browsing, else he'll go back into the stroller or we'll leave the place.

4) Hair cut

A friend of mine recently commented how long Tobey hair is and must be uncomfortable for him in Summer months. She was right, and Tobey is quite a 'sweater'. Today I braven myself and gave him a much shorter haircut. In the pic above, he's holding his crotch because he's bursting for the loo and wanted to get this shot done as over with ASAP!

Last but not least...

5) The Lilies

They've at last bloomed gloriously in the garden. Planted by my greenfinger FIL, they refused to bloom before they flew back to Malaysia. So here are the pics

Pics update

I love these two pics. Will frame them up one of these days.
Gum-gum face after the initial thrill of handling a hand whisk all by himself and realising mommy wants him to kept whisking till it's pale and fluffy......hahaha

Nowadays he's doing his daily chore of watering the plants via a hose, instead of a watering can. SK would set it to 'mist' mode and spray it upward, he would then run under it and says "naining, naining!" (raining, raining!)

Wysing up the kiddos

Wysing Art centre held a 'Den building event' in the communal green area right opposite our house. Excerpt from their website;

"Wysing Arts Centre is a research and development centre for artists set in 11acres of rural Cambridgeshire. At Wysing we support artists to practically test out new ways of thinking in contemporary visual art. Artists working from studios or undertaking international residencies are encouraged, alongside visitors, to take creative risks in a supportive environment in which the exploration of process and collaborative ways of working are paramount..."

Kids from around participated to build tents/dens together and had a picnic under it right after. Parents can help too. I didn't call to book a place for Tobey, thinking that he's still too young to help erect tents and such. But since it was held right outside us, FIL just too him there and they allowed him to join in. He was the youngest participant. The older kids kept an eye out for him too. I don't know whether he acquired the skill of "working in a team" or anything artistic, but he sure had lots of fun!

Here are several pics taken by FIL;

The wee-wee story

A few months back, we tried taking the diaper off Tobey whilst he was running around the back garden. He wee-ed on his shorts whenever he felt like it. I don't blame him really. Our theory is, because he's always been on disposable diapers, he seldom felt wetness (unless it's overfilled), hence he seldom felt the discomfort that deters cloth-diaper users to wee so often. This is a disadvantage, simple because he will not be motivated to learn to "hold" his wee in.

Anyways, we knew he wasn't ready then, but at least he experienced the consequences of wee-ing on himself and how uncomfortable it felt. Following that, when the weather was good, we took his nappy off once in a while for the same purpose. I put him on the cushioned seat on the toilet whenever I can and asked him to wee. He always co-operated and tried his best to wee. More often than not, he always managed to produce some. I've also tried asking him to do a poo, but I got a feeling that he's almost afraid to poo into the toilet bowl. He asked to squat on the seat to poo, but he still wasn't comfortable doing his big business there. Anyways, I decided to leave that till a later time and just concentrate on the wee-ing.

Two weeks ago, I've decided he's ready to be trained seriously, as he's already 2 and the weather was sunny enough to wash and dry 10 shorts in a day . Also whilst my in-laws are here to help motivate him. I got my gloves, cleaning rag, carpet stain remover spray and handwash powder all lined up by the utility sink. I was ready. I took it off after his morning bath until after his evening bath. Only put it on during his afternoon nap. He also wears diapers when we are out and about, which was quite alot for the past two weeks. This time we use the potty. We placed it in the only tiled area in the house, which is the kitchen (yup, my whole house including the bathrooms are carpetted). How it works is that we will ask him whether he wants to do a wee every 30 mins or so and he would answer "yes" or "no". If yes, we'll ask him to go to his potty, take off his shorts/trousers and sit on the potty to do a wee. After a few days, he insist that everyone within his sight has to go "shhhhh" before he will start to wee. He's quite good at that. In the beginning, he would only wet his shorts once or twice a day (especially near nap time when he was too tired to "hold" it in). It also happened when he as over excited or engrossed over a toy/game/show. He would only poo in the evenings, when he has his diaper on. Only once he poo-ed on the carpet and oh boy, he was so grossed out by it and froze on scene.

He got better each day.

Today (23rd July 2009):

He was out at the front of the house building tents with other children on the little field opposite my house (It's another eco-hippie-ish program they often have for kids around here, will blog about it later). He was out with FIL. According to FIL, midway he went to him and said "WEE WEE"...He quickly took him in and he did a wee in the potty. I am overjoyed. I am so proud of my little boy. I know it's still a looong way to go before he can do that more often, but at least he got the idea now.

Updates

SK was on leave for a week. The first few days were spent painting the garden fence with FIL. Myself, MIL and Tobey also helped.

The painted fence brightened up the garden alot.

Before:

This is the first pic we took of the garden

After:

Picture taken just a few hours ago

The vege patch has grown! We've been having fresh salad and lettuce straight from the garden. We literally walk out, select and pull. Really can't get any fresher than ;P
We've added another apple tree to the garden (So now we have cherries, pear, plum and apple trees) Plus two bushes of blueberries.

Tobey kept plucking them and popping them into his mouth, when we were not looking, even before it has a chance to ripen.He stopped doing it lately...maybe because they are still too sour to be eaten.

Hopefully by next season we won't have to buy much fruits from the supermarket anymore..hehehe(fingers crossed).

In terms of vege addition, this pumpkin plant has the spotlight at the moment. Its facinating how fast it crawls along the ground.

the yellow bit is it's first flower...I think it will eventually grow into a pumpkin

Flower wise, these are the newbies..my favourites!

Roses and Lilies

What else..oh

Several nights ago, Tobey "made" his own lemon drizzle muffins. Actually, it was a premixed from a box. We just needed to cracked an egg in, add water, stir, spoon into the casings given and bake. I let him cut the packaging, pour the flour mixture, cracked the egg, pour the water and stir. He really enjoyed himself very much. He kept asking me to carry him to look into the oven whilst they are rising in the oven.

concentrating and following instructions given to him...if only he obeys me so willingly at other times

so proud of his own creation. The muffins are placed not in neat rows simply because Tobey insisted the muffin casings to be placed that way.

That's all for now folks ;)

Visit to Colchester Zoo

This would be Tobey's first visit to the Zoo. We figured he's old enough to appreciate a zoo outing since he quite enjoyed petting animals during our Mudchute farm visit the previous weekend. Colchester Zoo has a good child-friendliness rating and nearest to us. So we just packed a picnic (actually SK spend an hour playing gourmet sandwich chef that morning, making his version of the perfect sandwiches..kekeke) and went off, even on a raining morning (once again the weather forecast failed us). As we reach nearer, it was raining even heavier. SIGH! But once we parked the car, it STOPPED. Literally stopped for the next 5 hours. Thank God again.

Anyways, we were quite impressed by the size of the zoo and how well-planned the layout was! It was so well kept,leafy and peaceful, with several water featurus along the paths. The zoo is segregated into the Beginner's area, Aquatic area, Lakeland area, South America Area and lastly the African Safari area. There were many picnic tables and sheltered areas for families with packed lunches. Playgrounds/areas dotted along the routes and many child-friendly restaurants. Antibacterial foam wash dispensers were easily available as well.

Here are some ofthe pics taken;

Feeding the elephants

Feeding the goats

Watching the feeding of Penguins

Petting the horses

Lunch break!!!YAY!!

This is the first time Tobey had a sandwich for lunch. Nowadys, he rather drink his water from cups and plastic bottles!

Train ride with daddy

Wallabies (the white one is the one with Albino)

I can't remember what this animal is called, but huiyo, they really fought!

African Safari section..There were Giraffes, Zebras and Rhinos, Ostriches...we spent the longest time there, watching in awe...

Beautiful Tiger

resting before going home..we couldn't feel our feet anymore

At that point in time, SK rate this as a "Definite-venue-to-revisit" UNTIL he discovered his whole shirt was enveloped with some kind of black tiny bugs with wings. We spent the next 30 minutes trying to get rid of them. I even changed Tobey's clothing, but the bugs came back. Luckily they don't bite. When in the carpark, we saw other visitors busy brushing off bugs from their bodies and clothes...My guess is that the smell of the Zoo penetrated into the grain of our clothing, making us smell like the rest of the exhibit, hence attracted those bugs... :P So this zoo is now marked as a "No-wayI-am- going-back-to-this-place" venue.

Cambourne Fun Fair

There was a funfair in our village from Wednesday to Saturday last weekend. It created a kind of buzz amongst mothers at the local playgroups. Of course, we paid a visit on Friday evening. Many of the rides are targeted towards teenagers(or trill seekers). Just several to keep toddlers like Tobey amused.

Cars and train rides.

Can you see how happy he is in those pics??? He just loves driving. Usually, he'll climb onto the driver's seat of mine or SK's car and can spend forever and a day pretending to drive....

At times, he would insist that we shut the doors and leave him alone to his driving. Of course we can't. So we get into the backseats and just wait till he gets bored of his "toy". We must have looked so silly to passer-bys. SIGH. The things we do for our kid.

Mudchute Park Visit

Over the weekend we headed down to London for good Dim-Sum (we have yet to find any nice Chinese food in Cambridge) and visited to the Mudchute Park and Farm, recommended by Tsulin. Tobey really enjoyed himself, visiting each animal, feeding them leaves and try to immitate the noises they make. He wasn't afraid of almost all of them, except the pig with slimy nose.

Feeding himself lunch and enjoying the lolli given by one of the waitress.

Tobey got a chance to meet up with little Shean Wenn again at the restaurant.

Both coincidentally were dressed in white tops and brown bottoms

Park entrance

Tobey visiting all the farm animals (mountain goat, pigs, chicken, birds, Guinea pigs, etc)

my favourite are these chicken with puffy white-hair.They look as if they blow dry their hair for our viewing pleasure. SK called it JUDGE CHICK

Tired..."Let's go home daddy"

Water Fun

We've been having sweaty and humid heatwave for the past week. It's just like Malaysia minus the air-cons! Here's making the most out of the situation

Who do I look like?

I've got asked this many times. "Who do you think Tobey looks like?" or "Who does he takes after?". I can understand those observant eyes, staring at him, as if trying to match him to us. Because I love doing that to other kids too.

Answer is, he's quite a mixture between SK and I. both in terms of features and character. He has my facial features, flat nose, deep smile lines, my eyes and chubby cheeks. His body build, ear shape, small nose and fair skin is like his daddy's. He's happy most times just like his daddy but inherited my impatience and bad temperateness. He's straight forward like daddy but cheeky like mommy. He has my hair texture and colour but they mess up into a bird nest right after waking up, just like daddy.He has my infinite appetite for food and daddy's infinite appetite for all thing tecky and electrical. He has the love for pet and not afraid to be near them, just like daddy. The list goes on.

So there you go. There's no short answer to those questions. You'll need to sit down and have the patience of a saint if you really want me to know my answer :)

Gone too soon....

I'm dedicating this to another great person who left this world earlier this year. I still can't believe that you are no longer here. You'll always be missed and remembered.

Like A Comet
Blazing 'Cross The Evening Sky
Gone Too Soon

Like A Rainbow
Fading In The Twinkling Of An Eye
Gone Too Soon

Shiny And Sparkly
And Splendidly Bright
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like The Loss Of Sunlight
On A Cloudy Afternoon
Gone Too Soon

Like A Castle
Built Upon A Sandy Beach
Gone Too Soon

Like A Perfect Flower
That Is Just Beyond Your Reach
Gone Too Soon

Born To Amuse, To Inspire, To Delight
Here One Day
Gone One Night

Like A Sunset
Dying With The Rising Of The Moon
Gone Too Soon

Gone Too Soon