Sibling love

I am so thankful that my boys love each other a lot. Even though Joshie may be rough at times, he loves his little brother to bits. Of course there are numerous times when he snatches a toy from Bryant, hits him etc etc but he is still a very loving and protective brother.

Bryant has also been very cheeky lately. He snatches toys from Josh and hits him too...... But each time he sees Josh, his face lights up. He would smile and laugh happily. Josh is the only one in the family who can make Bryant giggle uncontrollably. 

Thus it is so difficult to separate them when one is sick. They hug and kiss many times a day. I have to repeatedly remind and warn Josh not to hug and kiss Bryant. It is really very heartwarming and I pray that they will always remain loving and protective towards each other. 

Some CNY snapshots

Posing together with the paternal grandparents on the 1st day of the Snake year. Every year, we go to church on the 1st day of CNY, followed by visiting a stream of relatives. By the time we arrive home, it is dinner time. 

Day 2 of the Snake year. Back to mummy's hometown, in Ipoh. Josh playing with fireworks in front of maternal grandparents house.

Next door neighbour's open house on Day 7. Josh posing with the lion head. He enjoyed the lion dance but started trembling when the 'lion' came over to offer him an orange. 

Hubby and I took turns closing B's ears. B seemed ok with the lion dance, but then he was not standing very near them.

The 13 month old

That is his trademark cheeky smile.

At 13 months, he is 76cm tall and 11kg in weight. Much smaller than koko.

He has been very vocal in the past one month. Talking a lot. And without us prompting anymore. He automatically waves and says 'ba bai' when he knows it is time to go out. And he has started kissing too. His flying kiss is no longer just an action of placing his palm over his mouth. Now he kisses his palm before thrusting his hand forward again.

Not limited to flying kiss. He can also kiss mummy, daddy and koko. He seems to prefer kissing our lips than our cheeks though.

Another cute thing that he does is waggling his index finger and saying 'no no'. He knows what he can or cannot do. When he goes near the forbidden stuff, he will waggle his finger and say 'no no'. However, curiosity usually overtakes obedience, so we still have to reaffirm our 'no no' and carry him away from whatever is forbidden.

During the recent Chinese New Year celebration, we taught him to clasp his hands together and do the 'gong xi gong xi' action. He learnt pretty fast and soon managed to say 'gong' as well.

Joshie is delighted that his brother has also started saying 'ko ko'. Bryant doesn't say it very loudly yet though. It is really cute to hear him say 'ko ko' when we wait for Joshie dismissal from school.

Oh..... And this little boy loves dogs. He is not afraid of our neighbour 's big dog too. He would point to it, saying' dog'.

It is really amazing how quickly babies learn.

The walking baby

The day after he turned one, my little B turned from a crawling baby to a walking baby. He just started walking longer distances. It was so cute to see his two little legs toddling away in the playground. And he's been trying to walk really fast, to keep up with the older kids. 

Well done, little B. 

Here are two snapshots of my walking baby. 

The baby is 1

My dearest Bryant,

You are 1 today.

The little baby of the family is growing up. Not much a baby anymore as you are progressing to your toddler stage. In fact, you have started toddling around about a month ago. What started as a wobbly step forward has progressed to 6-7 drunken steps :-), I know you still prefer to crawl as you can move around much faster. But don't your knees hurt, my dear?

Today, your daddy is not around to celebrate with you as he is working very hard overseas. Nevertheless, he misses you dearly and wishes he can plant a kiss on your cute puffy cheeks. To make up for your daddy's absence, mummy has arranged for a few close friends to celebrate with you. As soon as you wake up from your nap, we would be going downstairs to meet them. Mummy's friend has baked 63 mini birthday cupcakes, which have been arranged to spell your name. Your beloved koko is looking forward to blowing your candle (again)!

My dear baby boy. I know I have said it many times, but you are really cute! Cute, cute, cute. An overload of cuteness.

You are trying to talk. You babble a lot. All sorts of sounds come out of your little mouth. Your trademark is 'tekoi tekoi tekoi', thanks to your daddy who just simply babbled some baby language to you and it just stuck to your tongue. When you were 10 months plus, you started saying 'ba bai' when told to wave goodbye. And you have been calling 'ma ma', countless times. That is so sweet to my ears, my dear boy. And when you want to call someone or attract attention, you would say 'ah daaaaaaa' loudly. You say 'ba ba' many times too, but unlike 'ma ma', it is not directed at your father.

You love to point. With your cute little index finger. I am still trying to teach you to point to your head, tummy, eyes, nose, ears, mouth correctly but you don't seem to want to pay attention. Or mummy is a real bad teacher :-D

And you love to press buttons. You itchy little index finger is always pressing the forbidden switch, trying to switch on/off the electric point pad. Not to mention pressing the buttons on the table fan in your room.

Just like your brother, you love books. Your current favourites are 'lift the flap' books. I like to sit and watch your little fingers trying to lift the flap. This is something I really treasure as I know this valuable moments will soon pass. Books can occupy you for a longer time than toys and I am really proud of that. I hope your love for books continue to grow.

You love your big brother a lot. You will smile and laugh when you see him. Even though he can be rough to you, you love him nonetheless. And you have learnt to fend for yourself during your fights. Sometimes when koko doesn't bother you, you 'stir up trouble' by starting to hit him. You are a real naughty and cheeky one. No wonder koko calls you 'my cheeky baby'.

So my dear boy, mummy wishes you a Happy Birthday. My prayer is that our good Lord continue to bless and protect you. Keeping you safe all the time. And may happiness, health and the favour of the Lord always be upon you.

Mummy, daddy and koko love you dearly. And so do your grandparents, uncle and aunt.

With love,
Mummy

His first day at big school

Since we are neither Singaporeans nor PRs, chances of our boys getting into a local school of our choice is very slim. Thus, we enrolled Joshie in international school in 2010, and Bryant was subsequently enrolled two months ago. Wait any longer and Bryant would have been on wait list. I know, Bryant was hardly 1 when we registered him. 

I had a prep talk with J about big school, and gave him a lot of assurance that all will be fine. It helped that a few of his playschool friends had also started international school in the past few months so I could use them as examples to motivate him. 

His big school had also organized a 1 hour orientation in November so he was quite familiar with the classroom environment. 

This is my firstborn on his first day. We were on our way to school. I could tell he was excited, yet a little nervous. 

His classroom. Parents were not allowed to stay, even though it was their first day. We were asked to keep our goodbyes simple. Joshie teared a bit but I gave him a hug and reassured him I would return very soon. Luckily there were a lot of toys to distract him. 

Dismissal time. I was so glad to see a happy happy face. Even happier when my son said 'I like big school, mummy. School was fun'. 

Joshie says

Scenario 1
(walks into lift and crosses his arms across his chest)
Joshie : Oscar is not going to marry Emilie
Me : Oh really? Who is going to marry Emilie then?
Joshie : Me! I am going to marry Emilie
Me : When is the wedding?
Joshie : Next week

(and the next morning)
Joshie : Mummy, Emilie and I are going to have a wedding party. There will be chocolates at the party. But Emilie and I are not going to dance, cause I am shy.......

Scenario 2
Maid : Josh, drink your milk first
Joshie : But I am playing......wait first
Maid : No, you drink now. And play later.
Joshie : Aunty, I said wait first. You need to be patient.

Scenario 3
(we were on the escalator and he was observing the signs showing the do's and don'ts on the escalator)
Joshie : Mummy, you cannot bring the stroller on the escalator
Me: Why do you say so, Josh?
Joshie : It's wrong, mummy......(points to sign).....look there, cannot bring stroller coz it is wrong!!!