Gulliver's Theme Park- Round 2

Almost exactly 2 years ago, we brought Tobey to this park. Can read the first account here. I remember it was really packed and there were many rides that Tobey couldn't get on. Not because of his height (he's already > 90cm, but because he was still pretty young (1 year 10 months old)). Last Sunday, which was Mother's day, we brought him there again to take advantage of the 'mothers go free' offer. It was forecasted to be raining in the afternoon, but we decided to bet against the weather. IT DIDN'T RAIN :P was abit gloomy at some points, but no rain.

There weren't many people there(probably because of the misleading weather forecast) so there was really minimal queue. We kept meeting the same set of parents and kids on the rides. This time Tobey went on each and every ride, except 2 out of 3 roller-coasters. He went to the smallest one. Like me and SK, our son hates rides with gravatical shift. here are several pics,

Notice the lady in front of Tobey? He has a son that kept running off screaming every time he's let loose from the stroller.. So funny!
Tobey got scared on this swinging ship ride. I had to ask the attendant to stop the ride immediately. Thankfully, they were the only ones on the ship, so he stopped it. He said that Tobey is considered a brave boy already, seeing that he's willing to give this a go.
Tobey rode this ride on his own. The boy next to him has got Chicken pox! He came and sat next to Tobey when the ride was about to start. Too late to do anything about it without seriously causing a scene.

If only..hahaha!

In the miniature church. He looks so serious.
You see, father and son having so much of fun!
At one of the teacups ride, Tobey spurned the cup too fast on it's axis until SK's compass got shaken and he was nauseous. FINALLY, I had a chance to go on some of the ride with my firstborn. We had so much fun. SK commented that he had more rides so far with Tobey than he ever had in his entire childhood. More to come dear! Fix your compass! (in two weeks time)

Of Briyani rice, Cheesecakes and a getaway plan...

I've found a gem from Tesco that can bring authentic homemade Briyani to our table at home. It's Shan's Special Bombay Briyani mix (recipe here). I just followed the recipe at the back of the box (quite alot if work, as the box are only the spices) and voila, here it is.
Spring is here, so is the baking spirit. A week or two back, I baked a Japanese Cotton Cheesecake, but the hubby said not enough cheese! Tried out another recipe that require's 3 times the amount of cheese used in the previous one. Pass! SK said it's like his favourite Secret Recipe's New York Baked Cheesecake. It's from Tina Bester.

And here's my boys again :))

got him a bumbo chair from a car boot sale (like a flea market back in Malaysia) for £8

As the weather is warming up, SK took Tobey to the barber for a trim. He always looks all grown-up with a shorter haircut. Here's the big brother insisting on carrying little Euan.

So proud that he succeeded :)

I am quite productive today for some reason, After all the cooking, I went on to scout a Legoland weekend break.We'll be going for a 2 days and 1 night trip. The package includes 2 days park tickets for all of us. We'll be staying at the Brooklands Hotel. After scouting the net high and low, I am so happy to have found this hotel. Good and reasonably priced hotel in this country is like gold dust. I am the type that don't mind staying back in the hotel if I have to, rather than going out sightseeing. Bonus is that it's right next to the Mercedes-Benz world, where we can watch racing on it's track right from the window of most rooms. Tobey and SK will definitely enjoy that. It's like watching Top Gear live :P. Not forgetting, there's also the Brooklands Museum a few minutes walk away, where Tobey can sit on an actual Concorde! This will be Euan's 2nd getaway with us. First being the visit to my brother-in-law for CNY last month. Looking forward to it.

Pics update

I am sure you guys are here just for the goods, here you gaw......

He semi-seats now

Smiles/chuckles at his brother's jokes every day

He explores through his mouth, rather than fingers. Those golden fingers are reserved for the mouth too.

Big brother Tobey is fine too...a few weeks back he can swim by himself on the back...It's more like floating to me. He's very proud of himself nevertheless. He's into stickers now. Daddy indulged his new hobby by getting him Star Wars sticker book. I've been spending ages with him completing the pages with the correct stickers. Now I know about Anakin, The Imprerial Trooper,Chewbacca and Padme Amidala as if I grew up with them. He's been trying to read more too. SK attended another meeting with his key worker yesterday. Quoting Mrs. Garrick: "It's such a change to see a boy that is happy and independent all the time".

Also, (just so that I remember this episode, as this is not the usual virus) during the end of his half-term holidays, he was down with Hand, Foot and Mouth (not to be confused with Foot and Mouth from the Pigs. This is a common childhood illness according to the medics here). Mild fever for the first night and then ulcers in his mouth. (He's been having a very bad habit of putting things in his mouth again, for some strange unknown reason. Maybe he's trying to copy Euan. Probably got the germs from there). This is a very contagious illness, hence I kept him home from school and also away from Euan as much as possible. Eating and drinking brought him to tears for two days. All he could take in was yogurt drinks. He even said NO to ICE-CREAM. Sometimes he would ask for his favourite food, only to cry after the first bite, as he had forgotten about the ulcers. He lost so much of weight. No more rosy cheeks (that is like his 'health-o-meter'). On Day 3 I forced SK to get something from the GP to relieve the pain so that he can eat, else I'll die of heartbreak. GP gave us this spray to numb the ulcers before meals. Also an anti-viral for the thrush on his tongue. Those medication were God sent. Tobey could eat and hence got much better. He completely recovered on day 5. After a good talk with him about germs and how it got to him, he now know not to put his fingers or toys in his mouth. Also to not KISS his school friends!!! ( I caught him doing that one day and was gobsmacked). Only kiss your parents and Euan!

18th February 2011-Euan Weaning

Euan has been showing signs of wanting to eat our food for weeks now. Initially, I was really adamant to wait till 6 months, but upon seeing his' longing for food face', trying to grab our plates and doing his munching and sucking motions, I gave in at 4 1/2 months. Actually I did try to a week or two back with a sample pack of rice cereal with FRUITS which was abit sourish, and he didn't like the taste of it ( i didn't have any plain ones). Today I fed him propper plain rice cereal mixed with warm water to a smooth consistency. He smiled widely upon the first spoon. I think in total he managed to keep down 2 spoonful. Good enough.

Moving on to Tobey. On the way to school today he asked me "Mummy, why have FIVE Tobeys in my school!?Why Why WHy???" Yup there are FIVE of them. All in the same CLASSROOM! So much for trying to name our kid something "uncommon" back in 2007. I just told him I don't know why. Maybe because his name is such a nice name :P

Chinese New Year 2011- Picture update

SK took a few days off. We went up to Birmingham to visit the brother-in-law to celebrate.

Here's Tobey standing beside a stationary "dragon" in Wing Wah restaurant

Euan first time on a high chair- not ready yet :P

Found frozen durian!!!!! from Wing Yip chinese supermarket. I was beyond happy.

Bunked at the BIL's apartment. I really like the floor to ceiling windows.

My men.

A friend gave Tobey a lantern. He thought it's simply a colourful paperback to store his toys! We lighted it up for him...

He and daddy went out to the back garden for 5 minutes with the pretty lantern...cold...brrrr!

My cousin went back to Malaysia for CNY and came back with THESE little treasures from home :) Thanks to my mum and auntie for these lovely munchies :))

I finally bought a rug to create some kind of segregation (TV area and bookshelves area) to my long-ish lounge.

The Brothers

Tobey- Ever cheerful and friendly, Euan- Ever serious and reserved. Their personalities couldn't be anymore different. Only thing in common, they absolutely love and adore each other.

Euan at 16 weeks & Tobey at 3 years 7 months

My darling Euan smiles alot nowadays. His hobby is finger sucking. I remember Tobey didn't take to soothing himself by doing so, although at that time we encouraged it so that he can use that to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night. He preferred the pacifier. Euan on the other hand couldn't take the pacifier. It triggered his gagging reflex when I tried introducing it to him. I guess because he doesn't take the bottle at all. At a luncheon yesterday, a French mummy friend of mine was kind of 'disapprove' of me letting Euan do so, saying that it'll become the hardest habit to break and so on. But seriously, how do you stop a baby from sucking his own fingers??? I am quite relaxed about it to be honest. It's a small matter in the grand scheme of things. YUP. totally different from the first baby. Not that I am adopting a 'tidak apa' attitude towards my second one, it's just that I know what to worry and what's not worth worrying about. I've learnt that they grow up at a blink of an eye, so it's most important to enjoy them as much as possible, rather than worrying about why is he not drinking from a cup yet, or flipping to his side yet, etc. Like SK said, "Have you met a healthy baby that grew up not knowing how to walk ?" (Edit: I misquoted him, it's actually "Have you met an adult who is still crawling?")

Euan recognises us now. He cries when someone he's not seen before carries him. He loves us to carry him about and hates to be put down on his bouncer/cot/bed, unless it's nap time. He loves going out. When we put him in his winter jacket, he gets all excited! He naps two 30 mins naps and one 2 hours nap during the day. His night time sleep commences from 9pm to 9am. He still wakes up for feeds, especially so last week, I think it was his 3rd month growth spurt. He's showing alot of intrest in solids. Whenever he sees anyone eating, he would do his 'munching' mouth movement. I will definitely wait till month 6 to introduce him any solid. It'll be rice cereal followed by chinese rice porridge with added vege/meat/fish one at a time as I slowly introduce them to his diet. This time I will forgo western style of steam and mash vege, etc. Easier and tastier. I can't believe he's in his 4th month already. Time really flew by. Here are several pics taken today :)




My darling Tobey has started his swimming lessons this month. His lessons are being held at the hotel's indoor pool behind my house (1.3 m throughout). It's just 5 minutes walk. But I still drive as it's still too cold for him to walk now after a swim. I just dry him and bundle him into the car after his lesson. He takes his shower when he reaches home, rather than doing it in the hotel changing rooms. He's being taught by his instructor Jeremy together with another student Lian. (not Liam, but Lian). I think he enjoyed himself, although at one point when Jeremy let go of him so that he can learn to float on his own, he started to protest and wanted to get off the pool ;)

He can write his own name now and started writing it on everything he owns(like his cupboard!!!) until we stopped him.His current favourite TV programme is the Octonauts. He's started to venture into really spicy food. Kept saying things like "Hot noodle that one, more please". Still loves school 3 hours a day. When I asked him whether he wants to sta 6 hours on some days (so that I don't have to do the school runs on some days , as he has 15 hours a week free schooling) he said "No , it's too long mummy". My son is truly a creature of routine and loves his home comforts. Oh well, maybe later :)) Here are few pics during him during his swimming lessons.