My two year old son

This is a backdated post.

My dear son turned 2 on the 23rd of September. I still can't believe that he's no longer a baby now. He's already a big boy, one who wants independence most of the time. He knows very well what he wants and would show his frustration when his demands and wants are not met.

He can now speak in short sentences. When he wants to refer to himself, he doesn't use the pronoun "I", instead he will say Joshie. For example, "Joshie drink water". His vocabulary is also increasing by leaps and bounds and it's really interesting to discover the new words that he utters each day.

He still loves singing and dancing. Just a couple of hours ago, he was singing the ABC song on the top of his voice. Missing alphabets here and there but it was a good attempt! And he loves to shake his bum-bum when he hears music.

And he caught me by surprise few days ago when I heard him counting from 1 to 13. I know he could count till ten several weeks ago but didn't know he could go beyond. Most times when we walk up/down the stairs, I'd stop after 10 and start counting from 1 again in Chinese.

I started potty training him nearly two months ago. When we are at home, he's diaperless and pantless too! Haha...........he seems to think it's ok to pee or poo in his pants so I strip him half naked so that he will go to the potty to do his business. He doesn't need me to remind him to relieve himself, he'll do it on his own. He'd also try to be helpful and pour the potty contents into the toilet bowl and then flush. Of course that also means extra work for mummy who has to clean the floor due to droplets of urine.

Joshie is indeed a good helper. Not only is he keen on helping us clean the floor, he wants to do the dishes too. He'd push his stool to the basin, and try to wash his bowl. Sometimes, when there's nothing cooking on the stove, I allow him to do so.

Tantrums wise, he's still controllable. However, I realise that it's more difficult to calm him down when there are other people around, namely family or friends. It's easier for me to handle him when it's just both of us. He is also more obedient when he's only with mummy. Why is that so? Can someone please tell me why?

Hmnn, can't remember what else I wanna write already. Will update when new thoughts come into my mind.

Anyway, to our dear Joshie, mummy and daddy would like to wish you a blessed 2nd birthday. May God bless you with good health and wisdom and may you always be a blessing to people around you. We love you very much.

Birthday dinner with maternal grandparents

Since we were heading down to Ipoh, my parents did not come down to KL to celebrate their beloved grandson's birthday. On his actual birthday, we drove up to Ipoh. Feasted on some delicious hawker food for lunch at old town. My favourite coffee shop (the one with lots of mirrors, don't know the name) was closed so we ate next door. Had Ipoh Hor Fun and popiah. Joshie enjoyed his food too =)

For dinner, we headed to Akamomiji Japanese Restaurant which is located near Tesco. My father had pre-booked a private room and Joshie was running around the room happily.

Cheeky trying to pull the strings of my spaghetti-strapped outfit. He was giggling away and pulled even harder when I said "no".

Sorry, no pictures of the food. I really salute all you mummies out there who can snap pictures of the food when you have to entertain a demanding child. I think Joshie'd throw a tantrum if I were to take pictures of the food instead of giving him food! He gets all excited whenever food comes.

Overall, the food was just average only. Nothing to shout about.

Here's a picture of Joshie & I with my good friend Seow Yin and her bf! I invited them to join us for the dinner too as my visits to Ipoh are always short. So must make full use of the time I have.

And a family picture with my parents and brother.

Joshie's KL party

Lucky boy..............we threw him another party in KL just so that the grandparents can celebrate for him =) It was held at our Sierramas West clubhouse, 4 days shy of his actual 2nd birthday. The weather was perfect, not too hot and a bit windy, although we feared that it would actually rain. But thank God it didn't and I'm sure everyone, especially the kids had a blast.

A picture of my 2 year old toddler. I know I always say this, but let me say it again. TIME REALLY FLIES!!!!!! It seemed not too long ago that I was cradling a newborn in my arms and now, he's all grown up! Running and jumping around, independently feeding himself and behaving like a big boy. Although I wish he'd grow up faster so that I can have me ME time, I still miss the little baby that he was........hmnn, I am so muddle headed right?

OK, back to the party. Food was from Mangkuk Ayam Catering by Chef Peter Pang. Just google him in case you guys are interested. Think we paid RM28 per pax. All the guests commented that the food was delicious =) We had fried beehoon, fried rice, beef lasagna, kung poh sotong, curry chicken, some prawn dish, some roast meat....haha, I can't really remember what we ate. There was ais kacang, an assortment of cakes, mini tartlets and fruits for dessert though. Furthermore, FIL also bought spring rolls and two types of kuih to feed everyone!

I also hired an entertainer for the kids. He was really good with the balloon twisting and the kids kept crowding around him. I don't think he had a chance to eat, poor fella. If you are interested to hire him for your child's party, do get his details from me =) Besides balloon twisting, he also sang some songs and played simple games with the kids.

Here's a picture of all the kiddos in the playroom.

The playroom at our clubhouse was really good. There was a playhouse and other smaller items like tunnels, train tracks, and playgym equipment which are child friendly.

Oh, and this is the highlight of the evening. The birthday cake! An expensive one! It was hubby's idea to splurge on the cake =) Nice huh? Sesame Street themed cake, surrounded by Mickey & Friends cupcakes. Initially, I ordered a Winnie the Pooh cake, but since Joshie's recent love for Elmo, I decided to switch the theme. Unfortunately, the cake didn't taste that good, it was a marble butter cake. Tasted rather bland, or maybe it's supposed to be kid friendly? Not too sure about that but Joshie enjoyed it =)

Here's Joshie admiring his cake. He managed to blow off one candle and ah ma had to help him with the other one.

He received lots and lots of presents. Hubby says our house is too small to accomodate all his toys! =) Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone for the presents. So far, we've opened 1/3 of his presents for him to play with and he really likes them. And with the amount of presents that we have received, it's a miracle that there's not a single duplicate present. You guys are smart!!!!! Haha......

We are back

It took us 5 hours from KL to Singapore. Wasted 40 minutes because we left hubby's work bag at home and had to turn back home to get it when dad-in-law called. Then, it was raining and there was an accident. Furthermore, when we reached Singapore, it was after-office hours, so the traffic was heavy. Joshie was a bit cranky and I had to give him food or let him watch Elmo on our portable DVD just to placate him!

Tiring but good trip. We were in KL for five days before driving down to Ipoh to visit my parents and thereafter to Penang to visit my grandma and also to attend my high school friend's wedding. Spent a lot of time on the road! And the weather was hot. But we enjoyed the company of our parents and of course Joshie was doted on by his grandparents.

Will blog more on our trip next time. Busy uploading the pictures now. =)

In love with Elmo

Few days before the Sesame Street concert, Joshie got really attached to Elmo. I don't know the reason why. I just found it a bit funny and amused that he suddenly loves Elmo so much. He requests to watch Sesame Street DVDs and would ask me to change if I had switched on another DVD for him to watch.

After Haley's mom lent him Elmo, he loved Elmo even more. Elmo must accompany him everywhere. The photos below will give you a clearer picture regarding his attachment to Elmo.

He brought Elmo to the toilet and said "Elmo, wee wee".

"Elmo, drink honey."

Drinking milk with Elmo.

And he wanted to sleep with Elmo covering his face. He screamed when I took Elmo away.

Simple but tasty lunch

I was running out of ideas on what to cook for lunch last week. Since Joshie sleeps after lunch (around 1pm), his lunch must be light. Furthermore, he must have his bottle of milk before his nap. Otherwise, he'll be crying and fussing away.

Looked into the fridge and saw the pasta sauce which I had opened yesterday when I cooked spaghetti for our dinner. Rummaged through my freezer and took out the small piece of chicken breast which I usually reserve for his porridge. Chopped some onions and capsicum, threw them into the pan, stir fried the chicken and added the sauce. Transferred the meat pasta sauce onto the toasted bread and added cheese. Ta-da..........lunch is ready!

Joshie enjoyed his lunch! No problem getting him to eat. So will cook this again =)

Sesame Street - When Elmo grows up

Kids nowadays are so blessed and lucky huh? I did not have a chance to watch any kiddy concert when I was a little girl. However, Joshie who is not even 2 years old yet had the opportunity to watch Sesame Street live at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Friday. I think I was more excited than him, since he didn't know what was going on till he entered the concert hall and saw the characters on stage!

Joshie and his friends, Oscar and Rion in the taxi on the way to the stadium.

We were a little late and the concert had already started when we were finally seated. No pictures of Elmo and friends on stage as this smart mummy had forgotten to bring her camera. Pictures taken with my phone were not clear. We had quite good seats, so we were quite satisfied with the $48 that we paid =) Very near the stage and the kids had a really good view.

This was taken after the concert. Three kids on the floor, checking out the items their mummies had purchased for them! Again, aren't they a lucky lot????

Dinner at Soup Restaurant, United Square

Last week, I decided to venture out with Joshie to United Square shopping centre. I had intended to buy him an Elmo soft toy at Toys R Us. However, this particular store was very dusty and dirty. There were boxes of toys on the floor and Joshie who's allergic to dust sneezed a few times. When we finally walked into the soft toys section, I was appalled to see a bunch of Elmos on the floor. Changed my mind about buying Elmo, after all he already has many toys and it's not a necessity to own an Elmo just because he'll be watching the Sesame Street concert. Moreover, Haley's mom had offered to lend us her Elmo hand puppet, so I'd just graciously accept her kind gesture =)

So we walked around a bit before finally settling down for dinner. Actually wanted to eat Western, either Jack's Place or Bakerzin, but both of us were down with diarrhoea. Must be the breakfast that we ate. Since rice is a natural remedy for diarrhoea, we headed to Soup Restaurant.

Here's what we had:

Beggar bowl rice with steamed chicken. The rice was a tad hard but the chicken was very delicious. Meat was very tasty and tender.

And claypot tofu. This was not what I expected. To me, there's always vege (some carrots, mushroom or beans), chicken/prawn meat together with the beancurd. However, this dish only came with a few tiny pieces of sea cucumber. Nevertheless, it was very tasty although a tad sweet (maybe too much oyster sauce)!

Joshie enjoying his food. He was picking up pieces of chicken to eat.

Soup Restaurant has many outlets in Singapore. You can check them out at www.souprestaurant.com.sg. We have tried their soup before and they were good, you wouldn't feel thirsty after drinking them.

Can you walk on these?

I don't know the correct term for this walkway. Could someone please enlighten me?

My son can walk on these. I am surprised, because I can't. Am I that unhealthy? Bigger stones ok lar, but I'll stay away from the small stones.

Sick

Poor Joshie was sick last Saturday. He seemed a bit too quiet and even sat in his stroller without any complaints at all when we were at Marina Square. Never even asked to get out of the stroller when we passed the toy store and indoor playground. I began touching his forehead and realised that it was a little hot.

When we reached home, his temperature was already 38.5C. Inserted the suppository and he was off to dreamland really soon. The next day, he was still feverish and by Monday (3rd day), I decided to bring him to the paed since his temperature was hovering at 38C plus, even after taking paracetamol. As he was also coughing already, doctor prescribed Rhinathiol and Benbac. Also gave Zithromax (antibiotics) as standby. Zithromax to be given only if he still has fever by Tuesday. Come Tuesday, his fever was even higher and that made me really panic. I am stressed each time his temperature goes beyond 39C. So no choice, but to feed him with Zithromax.

This picture was taken on Tuesday morning, after feeding him his meds. He seemed very listless and took a long morning nap of 2.5 hours followed by another afternoon nap of nearly an hour. I think he could have slept longer but he woke up crying and when I went in to console him, he vomitted all over me. And as I was cleaning up the vomit, he ran to the bathroom and pooed! Watery poo all over the bathroom floor.

He wasn't in a very good mood throughout his sickness. Cried off and on and rubbed his tummy. After googling the side effects of the antibiotics, I discovered that one of the side effects is diarrhoea and abdominal pain.

Joshie sleeping with his Burger King party hat. He got upset when I removed it so I just let it be =) He really slept a lot.

And he had no appetite. Even breads and cakes he pushed away. Only wanted cheerios. Checked with the doctor and he said it's fine to give him cheerios.

His temperature finally went back to normal on Wednesday. But by then, I was infected and down with fever, runny nose and cough =( Guess I have to do something to boost my immune system!

Joshie's birthday party

Yesterday, we had an early birthday celebration for Joshie at the clubhouse of our apartment. Invited his little friends and some of daddy's colleagues.

Here's a picture of Joshie with his two closest playmates, Rion and Oscar. The three of them have known each other for more than a year already.

The kids and parents being entertained by Professor Popcorn's magic show.

Birthday boy was asked to assist the professor.

And this is his birthday cake, specially made by Aunty Melinda.

Joshie attempting to blow the candles.

Stuffing themselves full with the birthday cake.