Merry Christmas

A belated greeting to all, that's is.

Christmas eve, we made a trip to visit Sue Lin and Cayden for an exchange of presents before they fly off the next day. It as quite a tough moment to say goodbye as we know we are going to miss each other badly, think the mummies more than the kiddos by the way. We gave each other a hugand I had to run before teary scenes start. All the best wishes to the Chiam family and hope to see you back real soon!

Next up will be our x'mas party at TJ. As it was a potluck party thus we had to go grab some fried beehoon and greens. We are the earliest to arrive there once again which is pretty rare for our family, haha. It was a tough night as Zethan vomitted twice and ran out of extra change of clothing for him. Culprit must be the strawberry Pediasure milk he drank in the afternoon. Had a fantastic party with loads of yummylicious food coupled with great company and roaring good time of games. Zethan is so blessed and well loved to be showered with many presents, in fact he should be the big winner with most presents. Thanks once again to the lovely aunties and uncles for the nice presents.

Next year, Zethan will have another 2 playmates for the party, no longer the only kiddo!

X'mas 2010

The babes had an early Christmas party on 11 Dec 2010 which was planned way in advance. Planning started way back in end Oct to identify a date since everybody would be really busy over the festive period and the Chiams will be flying to the states on Christmas day so it was crucial to book everyone ahead.

Each family had to be present with 3 gifts for the mummy, daddy and child. It was a potluck party and I had to volunteer the drinks aspect since I will be busy and away for more than a week so it will be a safe choice, do not wish to fail fulfilling. Mind you, the drinks are purchased much much was in advance, like early Nov for fear that the busy schedule will result in procrastination.

Food was great with pasta, nachos with various dips, cheese metlz, salad, some tasty blueberry dessert, and a beautifully roasted turkey thanks to ophe.

After the yummilicious spread of food, we played a few games. Rolling the dices to get a double and tearing off newpaper wrapped present with a pair of mittens (yeah, I am the winner!), pictionary (all clues related to christmas carols) and next the gift exchange. Supposedly we are to snatch each other presents to our preferences, however we are so nice to each other and satisfied with the presents that all else are not neccesary.

Our second christmas party together and definitely hope for many more to come though high possibility 2011 party might have to give it a miss since the Chiams and Angs will be abroad. Nontheless all the best wishes to everyone and hope that 2011 will be a beautiful year for the families.

Retreat

the yearly affair of year end meeting followed by a short retreat and we are heading to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Wuzhen which had the exact same itinerary as 2005 thus I was not very excited about the trip.

Left on a sunday morning when the little guy is still in bed which is might as well as it is still very hard to say goodbye, got all emotional with tears filling my eyes!

Had 2 days of meeting in KL and how can I missed the opportunity to take the time for some shopping even though there is nothing fantastic but yet managed to grab Christmas cum birthday gift for the daddy and lots more for the little guy.

Flew to Shanghai on 1st Dec and started our 5d4n packaged tour. The only thing I enjoyed lots will be the nice weather, cool of between 7-15 degrees. Bought more clothings for Zethan from Oshkosh and H & M. For the whole trip, the only things bought myself is so pathetic, a pair of shoe, a knitted top from H&M and some cosmetic from Etude House and Face shop! Enough said, let the photos do the talking.

Courtesy

Before I forget, had better jot it down.

Not sure since when, Zethan starting saying Xie Xie (Thank You in mandarin). He said it when he want us to carry something from him as well as when he need us to fetch anything for him. However when he ia taught to say Thank You, he will sign instead. This is a major headache for me now as apparently we have used the wrong word when we reinforce the sign langauges to him. We are used to saying "Can you say instead of can you sign" so now he seem to be confused over it.

My mum teach him to say Working when she ask for our whereabout in the morning.

Mum ~ Zethan, where is daddy?
Zethan ~ Parking (when he meant working)

The she taught him to identify himself by pointing to his nose.

Mum ~ Where is Zethan
Zethan ~ Point to his nose (meaning here)

Another hilarious action of Zethan.

Mum ~ where is Ah ma?
Zethan ~ point to his nose (mum taught him by pointing to her own nose which made Zethan imitate her action accordingly! haha)

Mum asked Zethan in my presence

Mum ~ Zethan, where is mummy? Working?
Zethan ~ No (smile and point at me!)

He can indicate his response by answering Yesh and No when asked.

JG

The last lesson of the term at JG ended with a very early Christmas party and we brought cocktail sausagesto the potluck party.

The day was pretty eventful as it rained as we were leaving the house so imagine having to carry Zethan, umbrella, my bag and his present & food in another carrier!

Although the theme of the week was animals costumes but seriously it is very tough to find one and being the very uncreative mummy, Zethan was only cladded in a simple animal T-shirt, about all.

It is a day where everything single thing seem to go wrong. First of all, Zethan was not very cooperative this day, being rather sticky initially when lesson starts which soon worsen to not listening and not following instructions. Come to snack time, we start to dig in the yummy spread of food. Mi sat Zethan down in a seat and placed my camera on the table top, running off to get some food for him. Upon returning, he is no where at where he is supposed to be, camera still remain but with another child and parent seated. Found him and had to drag him to another table which is a terrible choice. Already bad that he is refusing most of the food, refusal to sit still, the super duper kiasu parent crowd around the child including the helper which add up to 3 cramping the whole table and space. I was so damn pissed that I brought Zethan to the side of the classroom, he stand while I feed!

As you may have guessed it right, Zethan was roaming around the whole classroom during story, music time and art & craft did not interest him a single bit. The timid boy is so scared of the Santarina that made him ran close to me upon the sight of her. The Santarina gave away the presents that parents have prepared and wrapped for their child together with the certificate for completing the term. I was a little upset that they had spelt Zethan's name wrongly, ZATHAN!

Just when I thought that the worst is over and we are all ready to go, the silly milk powder container gave way in my bag spilling its content all over my bag and there goes Zethan's milk feed! argh.

Anyway we will be back for the new term starting 8 Jan 2011 with Teacher Safina but the two chinese teachers will not be back due to some transferring.

23 months

Overwhelmed with his recent tantrums, I have totally forgotten about Zethan's turning 23 months old yesterday. If not for Aunty Ophe's reminder in Facebook (thank god Zethan and Caleb shared the same birthday thus it's great for the reminders to get both ways), I would not have any clue today.

Yes, although most people claimed that it is perfectly normal for the toddlers to step into their "Terrific TWO" or "Terrible TWO" depending on how lucky you might be, I am still having a tough time trying to cope with it. You would have guessed it right that what is thrown at us are the terrible twos and the challenges can seriously drive one mad.

Zethan does not really scream alot (crossed fingers and toes seriously) but he get on our nerves with his cries when things do not work his way for one reason or another. In particular he does it more to the daddy than to myself which can be a blessing depending on which angle you are looking at. For one I am not pleased as personally I feel that this tantrum throwing antics of his can throw the daddy off balanced which resulted in lots of giving in from the daddy which could be a big concern in the long run. We have not got round to having a discussion on the consistency in discpline methods which look hazardous. Well, will find the right time to get down to it. If caught at wrong timing, major metldowns from the parents will be anticipated.

More improvement in his speech, no signs of string of sentences as yet. He has shown much more interest in repeating after me the various words such as Duck, Quack, mouse, jump, dog (including Gou Gou, mandarin for dog) etc.

He showed his affection much more readily be it a cartoon character he love e.g Mickey or kissing us especially so when he knowwe are angry with him thus he try to reverse the situation by pouting his mouth and go Hmmmm...... He can identify and read our facial expression very well, quite an expert he is. These few days he is unseperable with a stuffed toy dog of his. He will always remember to pick up his companion and leave the house together.

If you might have recalled, we bought him a Ikea chair during Children's day for him to put on and removed his shoes. Well he has developed the habit, sitting on it before leaving the house and upon returning home. He is not taking very well the habit of brushing his teeth in the morning and night which worried me as I have observed plague forming on his lower front teeth.

Recently he has developed a unique palate with a liking for crispy foodstuff. Just earlier over dinner he requested for onions rings over mashed potato, enjoyed it lots. He goes for crispy crust of curry puff, crackers, youtiao for snacking purpose. As for main meals, he would still revert back to porridge, easy for swallowing. It is becoming a challenge trying to get him to chew his food when necessary and not swallowing everything that goes into his mouth. Gagging on food did not teach him a lesson despite constant reminder and nagging to chew.

One more month to the Big Two but I am still 2 minded about having a party or no party as we will be going away for a short trip in Jan 2011 in celebration of our wedding anniversary. Time is running out...party, no party???

Catching up

this time round, it's the mummy who has got lotsa catching up to do as Zethan's blog is growing cobwebs in every single corner possible.

By and large, December is always a very busy month for me especially the first 2 weeks of the month preparing for year end sales closing and our annual year end meeting with our colleagues in Malaysia.

This year, we are having it much earlier like 2 weeks early thus towards end of November, it's the crazy time of the year again. Leaving on 28 Nov to KL and our retreat to Shanghai commence on 1st Dec. Shall blog seperately.

It certainly does not help when upon returning to realise that my notebook adapter died on me which further aggrevate the lack of updates. In fact I have not got round to getting a new adapter, crossing my fingers and toes it is the adapter which have been put to rest for good and nothing else. So for the time being there will be very minimum photos sighted as most if not all of them are stored in the notebook.

Some updates coming up shortly, hopefully. The last lesson of JG term 4, the Shanghai trip, early X'mas party with his buddies and his 23 months updates!

22 months

delayed post since I have been under the weather for a few days and yet still nursing a flu and sore throat.

Zethan have shown improvement in the department of speech although he might still be slightly behind his peers but I should think it is good enough at this moment.
yes = Is

star (can identify and coorelate to the shape when he see one)

fish = bloop bloop

Hi

stop = top

He is starting to get more sociable and acceptance or tolerance upon seeing strangers improved drastically, at the very least the hiding away is very much reduced. He might attempt to smile and played with others if one caught him in his very good mood. However interesting, we have noticed that should he be frighten by a stranger or any situation deemed to be scary to him, immediately he would wave and say goodbye.


Gradually he is accepting more variety of food such as rice, spaghetti, chicken and duck etc. He certainly looks like he require more time to polish up his chewing skill but I must say that he is starting off well and looks set for improvement coming along the way.

wrong

it is just one of the day where all things and everything just feel so very wrong.

apparently almost all seem to be getting on my nerve.

the best thing to do is laze around and watch TV programs, brainless activities.

Better still, hit the sack early!

Long weekend

Another long weekend as Friday is Deepavali.

went to Tampines 1 to take a walk since we have not been there since the mall open quite a while ago. had our lunch in Ikea which is a mistake as even though we reached at about 3pm, the whole place is packed like mad. The daddy had wanted to get some new work clothes as he had just started in a new environment but it ended up that I bought instead.

Sat was lesson as usual and we did not dressed up in Indian costume. Zethan tend to get pretty sticky and keep demanding to be carried though can distract him rather easily. He can be pretty extreme, either sticky or run wild esp during music time. I appear to be on my own singing and dancing in the class!

A new observation during class, he saw a toy fish puzzle among the rubber blocks on the mat. Picked it up and walked towards the baskets where the toys are kept! Sorting skill, he is practising! After class ended was a nightmare, firstly he refuse to leave the playground despite being the last and then after pacifying, passed waterplay and fuss big time. Threw a big tantrum, lie on the floor, cry & yell hysterically and it did not stop for a good while. Took a lot of effort before calming him down amid the hard stares from parents and teachers. well I have built immunity to all these stares and I am not going to give in to him purely because of fear of embarrassment.

At night, we were invited to movie marathon at Taman Jurong and the lil guy slept for half an hour after midnight and woke! as we had to wait for the daddy who happily suggested mahjong, we left at 3am which meant the lil guy did not sleep, not untill we reached home, had his milk.

Attended Chace's full month party on sun, reached at about 12pm and fed Zethan chicken rice with chicken and xiao bai chai. He was well seated having his lunch thanks to the balloon which keep him occupied. No doubts the balloon followed us home subsequently.

Next, the plan to go Anchorpoint was changed to Suntec and again Singapore Expo. We spent a good 5 hours there and the lil guy is so tough and refuse to nap totally while waiting for the daddy to finish his shopping which by the way took more than 3 hours! Had Texas chicken for dinner and the lil guy was such a handful, refuse to be still, walking around the bench and messing with my hair. Indeed testing my patience tolerance and boundary, argh! passed by Gain City fair and recalled to check out HDD since the one I am holding is full (only 60GB). Decide to buy the Imation 640 GB for $103 so as not having to keep buying one and storing too many units though it is a better idea to have more units of smaller capacity to disperse the risk of depending on one and risk it crashing. Bought another 8GB SD card as spare which cost only $19.

On the journey back, finally the lil guy succumb to fatigue and fall asleep, holding tightly to the balloon and forgo his pacifier instead.

for the past few mornings, Zethan had been acting up with screams and cries especially when the daddy is around. What annoy me is not the tantrum he is throwing but how the daddy is handling it who is obviously not attempting to pacify and calm him down. Need some communication here.

wiser

prefer to acknowledge that I have turned wiser yesterday embracing one more year of priceless experiences and knowledges (hopefully)!

if I am granted 3 wishes, these shall be the ones: -

I wish upon the star that our family will stayed healthy and happy.

I wish upon the star that Zethan will be well behaved

I wish upon the star that ............(3rd wish must always be kep a secret *winks*)

back to reality! we had a simple celebration yesterday by having Japanese lunch at Iodori. The choice were wide though variety not so. In a nutshell, generous serving of sashimi, nice teppanyaki minus the poor presentation and value for money.

Zethan is such a good boy and supposed he's being so sweet to this mummy by behaving himself throughout the 2hrs lunch without much fuss. Yes we did enjoyed our lunch in bliss, a luxury not experienced for a long while

Next we brought the little guy to Polliwogs and he fell asleep 5 mins before reaching so we allowed him to nap in the car for 30mins since I gathered that if not, we are going to risk a meltdown and he is not going to enjoy himself. Being weekday and Zethan under 2 YO, we just have to pay $8 for unlimited play.

It was challenging following him around in the play scape area since he is so nimble and fast, a vast difference from our last trip when it is much more managable. after a good 45mins, I had to 'drag' him back for a rest and have his milk which brought huge protests!

Then it was daddy's turn as I can hardly catch my breath now! He was thoroughly enjoying himself having a whale of time and fuss when he was brought back for a quick rest and water break. major meltdown which left him yelling on the floor out of which I pay no attention to. took a while for him to calm down before I insisted that daddy bring him for the last round before we go. I am seriously amazed by the endless energy he has!

now whose birthday was it by the way? apparently the little guy had a blast more than the mummy. oh ya, suddeny dawned on me that for my last birthday, we brought him to Polliwogs as well!

Halloween

no formal party or celebration for Halloween, never in our practise to celebrate anyway.

Zethan slept till 8.30am which is a bliss for us and he did something so uber sweet to me. I was still half asleep when I felt the blanket pulled over my feet and was drowned with sweetness realising that it was Zethan who did that, awww.

In case you might be wondering why am I so meticulously blogging a post on a daily basis is because for the month of Oct is Blogtoberfest which requires blogger to publish a post everyday. well I did not participate formally by registering in the founder's website but thought to do it for fun and try it out. I was pretty surprised myself that I could hold it out and accomplished like 99% of the 'mission' that is only missing out on one day's post. It goes to show that if one set your mind to complete a task, nothing is quite impossible, at least true for me in this case. Initially was very skeptical on where on earth would I be able to find so many topics to blog about each day but I did it! Anyhow since today is the last day of Oct, it mark the end of Blogtoberfest as well. Although posting will no longer be on a daily basis but will try to keep it as updated as possible.

so how did we spend this halloween? suddenly woke in the morning recalling that there is a public holiday in mid of Nov so went to check it out. Was elated to find that 17 Nov 2010 is a PH thus we will be able to make it for the additional show at 2.30pm for SSO Babies Prom. Got all excited and tried to surf the Sistic website for booking of tickets. Now this is the first time I am going to a concert thus hopeless in online booking. after fiddling around for 20mins, decided to try my luck at the Sistic agents.

went to IMM for breakfast @ Cafe Cartel and Zethan does not seem to be keen in french toast and omelete but still down half slide of french toast with some sausages.

The experience at the Sistic counter was not a pleasant one to start with. They displayed a sign on the counter stating that due to technical faults, services are not avail but I waited anyhow. The lady attend to me after a 10 mins wait and she actually asked me to join the long queue at the Redemption counter! So I questioned her what is the differentiation between this Sistic counter and Redemption counter. She replied due to overwhelming response of duno what it is and she mumbled on which I take no notice of by cutting her long story short asking if it is down or avail. It was only then that she told me avail and went on to ask for details of the tickets to be purchased. Selecting seats is another nonsense, initially she leave only 2 options to choose from which is similar to each other being in the far end, just a matter of left or right. When I hesitated and queried again if there is no other options avail (she said no the first time I asked), then she 'released' the better seats which I booked with no questions asked. Not that they are very well located but at least much better than what's offered earlier and closer to the stage, aisle seats.

So yes, we will be going to SSO Babies prom. Have heard so much about it and response is really overwhelming, selling like hot cakes. It did not help that they open sales of tickets to SSO members being public so it is no wonder the intial 4 shows are totally sold out. So glad that there is this additional show and it fall on a PH! will write a review after attending!

JG Week 7

miss out on last week's class due to work reason. the daddy send us for class today as he is on leave before starting his work in a new company soon. Thinking that with extra help on hand, we would be able to leave for class on time but who knows....rather not go there.

anyway today is one of the rare occasion whereby both mummy and son slept from 10pm last night till 9+am this morning. as usual the sensor in him was activated 5 mins after I woke to wash up. and it was partly due to this reason thath Zethan missed his morning nap and had to attend class without one which worries me big time. crossing my fingers and toes that he will be fine in class which luckily he did except being much more sticky as usual, always demanding to be carried.

we learnt about letter M including Mary mouse, monkey and monkey not to forget Huo Zi (monkey in chinese). as for art & crafts, we did a paper cup monkey of which Zethan is not very keen in. He hardly spread the paint on the paper cup and did not bother to help stick on the face, hands, legs and tails. Though the glitters interest him abit an besides spreading on the monkey, he glittered himself too. For the chinese bit, it was a jack in the box monkey using a plastic container which is largely parents work. However Zethan is rather amused by the end result with the monkey popping once the cover is removed.

Snack time did not interest him much as well with sausages, papaya and this cereal looking snack which is sweet and hard. I was pleased that he brought the plate and cup to be kept away all by himself which received Safina's praise of him having good eye hand coordination. Music and story time is tiring as he cling on to me and had to be carried thoughout the whole session thanks to no morning nap, hardly have time for me to catch up on my breathe! As for outdoor activity, it was playground time and as usual he spent more than 95% of the time playing with balls.

Brought him to Changi Airport for some running around and exploration. He is fascinated with the conveyor belts and the baggages moving around and this weird fella insisted on playing at the playground when it did not interest him in JG and they are exactly the same. Threw his tantrum when I have to get him to change his diaper but was easily distracted. Dinner was bad for Zethan when he had a serious meltdown, reason unknown. He as eating fine untill the point he decide to fuss and cry badly. The daddy did not manage to pacify him or calm him down and clearly was embarassed by the situation yet again. I had to carry him away, brought him to a quite corner where nobody passed by and try to calm him down. It took a while repeatedly telling him to calm down while giving him a hug and it worked! we went back to finish his dinner quick and nice without a whimper.

Oh, Halloween tomorrow, no plans yet and not sure what to do.

Old

on this day 3x years ago, a premature baby girl (7 months gestation) was borned in KKH according to the lunar calendar.

mum said that she was being induced uncertain of the reason why though and she had to go into labour for more than 24 hours.

so today she insisted that having mee sua with TWO eggs is a must and that is actually what I have for dinner tonight. The mee sua & pork fillet reminded me of my confinement 20 months back....

Here it come

the true significance of Terrible Twos or some rather say its Terrific Twos...

Testing boundary in public is a very challenging affair not so much to myself but a great deal to the daddy. The first sign showed up earlier this evening.

As it is a known fact that Zethan is a super duper big fan of Mickey Mouse and it is amazing how he can spot one hidden in a corner behind a row of magazines, the smallest figurine in the showcase or even just a quick glance while passing by. So just now we were in the supermarket when he spotted the Kleenex tissue boxes printed with Mickey Mouse. He walked over and exclaimed very loudly Eeeee which is a norm by the way. He insisted on carrying a whole pack of 5 boxes and will not take no as an answer. We walked away while he stood there firmly crying out loud, refuse to budge. Naturally for me, ignorance is the best strategy and walked away oblivious to any stares. Within seconds, the daddy walked back to him and picked him up.

Part II ~ he held my hand and walked into the game arcade. We explore 2 rounds in the tiny confined rowdy space and I told him it's time to go. Meltdown once again, insisted on staying in the arcade. I opened the glass door walking out while he had no choice but to follow suit not before putting up a fight, crying and yelling while walking!

brave myself for more to come!

chores

as in household chores....

Zethan showed keen interest in helping out with the chores at home even though most if not all the time we does them when he is having his nap esp vaccuming, mopping, cleaning etc. Only during his naptime we do not have to spend double the time on the chores as the other half of the time is spent guarding against him and his disturbances.

Few days back, he dug up the packet of wet wipes from the diaper bag and started pulling them out piece by piece. Don't they just love doing that, uncertain of the reason why. Upon knowing that I am watching him, caught in action, he displayed super duper good behaviour by helping to clean with the wipes pulled out. Clean the floor repeatedly, clean the wall, clean the couch in living room, clean the dining chair etc.

Earlier in the evening, we were keeping his laundry so I sat on the couch folding them. Instead of his usual stunts of messing up the folded laundry, he chose to help and fold the clothes. It was a hilarious sight and I could not help giggling and had to ask him to pause and re-fold to be captured on video. A moment not to be missed!