Daddy's little helper

Last Sunday night, hubby got the baby cot ready by adjusting the bed mattress placing to the highest level with a lil' help from Ethan ;p

Telling his daddy what to do?? ;pEthan doing his 'thang' as a handy boy :)

There...he did it under the supervision of his daddy and with the help of allen key ;p

Gong Xi Gong Xi in the Roaring Year...

We've been quite busy for this year's CNY...it was almost like a CNY marathon celebrations as we've been house visiting since CNY eve with the last one just last Saturday..although it was only 1 house per visit but we stayed on for quite a while in each house...Such an eventful for us :)

CNY Eve - Had the reunion dinner at PIL's


1st Day CNY - Open house at Uncle Tony & Aunt Grace home


2nd Day CNY - Crystal's 7th and Zac's 3rd birthday party cum CNY celebration. We would have gone to another open house next to my parents' house but unfortunately it clashed with the birthday party which we've already committed earlier...


3rd Day CNY - CNY celebration at my best friend's home - as usual I'm the only non-family member around and after marriage I am (plus my own family now..) still always the non-family member around but I don't feel ackward as I always feel at home with all of them :)

8th Day CNY - Open house at Uncle Wong and Aunt Roslyn house

We had a bit of interruption during the lion dance...initially the dance troupe and hubby's cousin arranged the mandarin oranges, cans of beers and chinese vege as above...

But b4 the lions continue their stints, Ethan without much thinking, quickly decided to re-arrange the mandarin oranges as above without permission...sigh... this boy really has a mind of his own...tsk tsk tsk ;p

Picture: Taken from Aunt Anda's album in FB

It was tiring for me but it was good to see how much fun Ethan was having during all those visits especially the lion dance last Saturday :)

Not Needs juz Wants

I'm sure every mom to be, be it the 1st time mom to be or 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th mom to be, we always have our needs and wants when it comes to shopping for our new bundle of joy. I for one not excluded and even though we have most of the things we need since our precious Ethan was born almost 3 years ago.

We have almost everything except 3 items that I intend to buy next week or after Baby Eli is born i.e. Medela Mini Electric Breast Pump, Baby Car Seat (I'm eyeing a particular brand in Kids Avenue, Times Square) and Bengkung Moden.

But somehow there are still other baby stuff that I wish for or long to own but it is not a necessity;p Although a part of me would love to own them but instinct tells me not to buy simply because it may not be practical or worth buying as we plan only to have 2 children. Oh well, still no harm in sharing them with you right. Who knows you may find some of them useful especially if you intend to have more children and/or just started your family planning :) And who knows I might just decide to get some of them after all and sell them as pre-loved items later on ;p

1. Fisher Price Baby to Toddler Portable Rocking Chair

This can also be found in Little Me, CT Department Store, Toys R Us - this seems practical as can be used for Eli and Ethan. But Ethan may dominates the chair most of the time instead ;p
2. Baby carrier
I have baby ring sling and pouches but these seems tempting too ;p

Either Patapum Baby Carrier (in dark chocolate)

How it will looks like

Chocolate color

OR

Littlepods Soft Structured Carrier


3. Infant Stimulation Baby Crib Set

This set I sooo want to buy but I can't find online seller that ship to international address...sigh...How nice if any of the Malaysian online shops could sell more RBW brain stimulation toys...so far I can only find very very limited choices...sigh...
4. Kiddopotamus: Snuzzler Head and Body Support


5. The First Year: Close & Secure Sleeper

Can also be found in Little Me - doesn't seem to last long I supposed. The most will only be used for a few months hehe...
6. Bumbo Bay Seat in Lime with Tray


7. Thermos Combo Pack - either one of this sets

OR

These two sets are value for money coz the original price was RM199 but now they are only RM99 a set - very tempting indeed...I'll probably get a set...

Hair cut problem for your lil' boy?

If you're like us who has a bit of difficulty to persuade our lil' boy to go for a haircut, you might just want to try or to consider a child friendly or rather a lil' boy friendly hair saloon in Millenium. Well, I guess even if you don't have problem bringing your toddler for a hair cut, you can always bring your lil' boy(s) there for a bit of hair cut fun too ;p

We got to know about this particular shop thanks to my SIL. The shop is near CKS Millenium and in between Dr. Kissey Clinic and I-Ching Bakery shop. So far we've patronized the hair saloon twice and are pleased with the friendly service too :)

His first time at the shop b4 Xmas...the owner and her mom and staff were very friendly and managed to make Ethan feels at ease on the car. And finally allowed the hair stylist to cut his hair. Here him with a pack of biscuit thanks to the owner's mom :)

Ethan 'complaining' to the hair stylist that the hair made his hand itchy ;p (He refused to wear the apron..so we had to keep putting talcum powder on his neck and hand to avoid him itch all over ;p)

Can't recall what Ethan was telling the hairstylist..

This was Ethan's second visit to the hair saloon b4 CNY...we had to wait for about 5-10 minutes to persuade him to go on the car and play with it before the hair stylist could proceed to trim his hair ;p Here him warming up with the car...he even asked for his sunnies. Such a vain lil' boy eh ;p
Busy vrooming away...

"Kedai bundle" anyone?

If you have not explored "kedai bundle", perhaps you may want to consider it one of these days. I have been to a couple of really huge "kedai bundle" in Tawau and Keningau and I must say although I didn't know what to expect...but I kid you not how surprise I was looking at the things that can be found at such places. Mind you, those are second hand stuff but they are mostly imported from Korea or Japan and of good brands and in good and some in great/excellent conditions."Kedai bundle" as they are popularly known have a lot of things to offer in terms of shoes, handbags and mostly clothing. I've bought quite a few still in good condition handbags many years ago in Tawau and quite a few jeans clothing for kids from Keningau few years back too. I have always wanted to visit one of the "kedai bundle" nearby in town like the one near to the Phillipines Market and the one in Dongonggon but I've yet done so.

I guess many may not even consider going to such places to shop. But I have quite a few friends who can pretty well afford brand new branded clothing yet still go to these places to shop. When I asked why, they said why not. Those are authentic and it is the same as buying used items from ebay. The only difference is that "kedai bundle" are found in the "pasar gantung" area - not a glamourous area to be seen shopping I must admit ;p But from what I gathered from a friend who is married to a Japanese guy and have moved back here from Japan, Japanese likes to shop so most of their clothings are still in good conditions or not even worn when they give away. I personally don't mind to shop at these places especially for jeans clothing and kids clothing as kids do grow up very fast and normally those items are used only for a short while. So to me even if they are used, (of coz we need to use our common sense when choosing and buying right..) they are not heavily used if you know what I mean :)

Anyway, when I read Joyce S.'s entry yesterday, I was really surprise and excited to know that they even sell diaper covers too! When it was time to wake hubby up, I excitedly woke him up and persuaded him to bring me to the one in Dongongon ;p But we had an appointment and came home late yesterday so we didn't manage to go. Fortunately I left a message and asked Joyce S. to help me buy and much to my delight, she has kindly help me buy 2 sets yesterday and even managed to get 1 free diaper cover!! Wooohoooo!!! Here are the diaper covers she helped me buy. All 7 pieces for RM20 only! FYI, the bottom picture, I've bought an exact piece - the one with the stripey light blue print from JS Shopper in Japan for around RM60 (pack of 2)! So u tell me, worth buying or not???!!! ;p But I guess it will not be suitable for fussy buyers la ;p

I loikey.............thanks so much Joyce S.!! :)

Gong Xi Fa Chai & Happy Valentine's Day!

Red the color for CNY and VD.

Our attempt to get a family pic during last nite CNY's eve dinner at MIL's. But as you can see, with Ethan busy playing and picking the carrot from the dinner table, we didn't actually manage to get it quite right ;p

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy and prosperous Chinese New Year!!May the tiger year brings you good luck and may good things in life come your way always :)

Happy Valentine's Day to all too!!

Busy bee

Father and son

These pictures were taken at MIL's while both hubby and Ethan were watching one of Ethan's dvds last month..I just love the expressions of hubby and Ethan in these pics so I've decided to keep them here for remembrance :)

Serious looking hubby while Ethan pose for mommy :)

The opposite...

Ethan got scared at one of the movie scenes and asked hubby to close his eyes ;p

Both busy watching the tv screen...

Ethan are you picking your nose??!! Tsk..tsk..tsk...

Ethan in Playschool

We've enrolled Ethan in playschool since 4th January so that he will have more activities thus be able to learn more new things. Furthermore, he will be able to socialize more with children of his age and hopefully be more discipline and independent. I think teachers seems to be better at it then parents or grandparents as we tend to be soft hearted and spoil our own children or grandchildren ;p More importantly I want him to have some activities so that he will not feel neglected when Eli arrives since he will be pretty occupied at school during my confinement and maternity leave.

We've have expected that there will be some resistance from him or any child that goes to playschool, day care centre or school for the first time. He didn't realised that we will leave him at the day care on the first day. He probably thought we brought him out for an outing to play at the school and have some friends around. He didn't even realised we were gone when we left him alone there. It was only after sometime that he realised we were missing and started to sob for a while. But his teachers told us that not for long as he was more fascinated with the amount of toys in the centre ;p But he learnt pretty fast as the next 3 days was a bit of a struggle to leave him there as he protested and cried when we left him.

It was a heartache to hear him cry but we just have to bear with it as that's what all parents will have to go through once the children starts going to school...and not only the crying but also having to bear the possibility of the children getting sick more frequent while adjusting to the school bugs. In fact Ethan had to rest at home for 2 weeks the other day as ordered by his paed as his cough and flu didn't go away for almost 3 weeks plus high fever after kept getting infected...his paed did warned us that this is expected till his antibody get adjusted to the new environment ...he even told us that he won't be surprise if he keeps seeing us for the first few months...I thought to myself oh dear what have we done...but then again it is something we will have to go through sooner or later anyway...

After the 2 weeks rest from playschool and him fully recovered, I thought we will have to start all over again sending him to school...but surprisingly it wasn't as bad as I thought...although he did resist and sob for a while but only for a very short while before he started playing with the toys there.

As of now, I'm glad to say that there have been improvements and changes in him since he started schooling. He listens to instructions and can wait for his turn as opposed to previously. He also plays with his new found friends there and got pretty attached with one particular teacher i.e. Teacher Jojo ;p Just this morning he didn't want to let go of hubby's hand when he sent Ethan to the playschool but as soon as he saw Teacher Jojo, Ethan totally forgotten abt hubby! haha...The only concern I have is that he is still not eating the food at the centre...the teachers said he is still new and still adjusting to the new environment...but luckily he still drink his milk and now mixed with cereal since he doesn't want to take rice at the centre..and he eats his bananas without fail everyday. I'm please with that coz at least banana is still carbo so he won't be starving. I do bring him some biscuits or toasted bread from home too in the morning. So at least he still have something in his stomach...just hope he will start to accept the food prepared at the centre soon..

Overall we think he does like being in the school despite the mild protest in the mornings coz each time we fetch him after work he will not exactly want to go home per se. In fact, he will sort of want to show us what he can do in the school by playing with some of the playground 'toys' like the slide, the rocking horse etc. He even protested when we carried him to the car to bring him home ;p

But what I like most is seeing his happy smiley face whenever he sees us in the evening...just show how glad he is to see us and that he misses us hehehe....the thought of it just melt my heart :)

On the way to the playschool for the first time

He was pretty much occupied with the toys there that he totally forgotten abt me and hubby ;p

Enjoying himself :)

In his school uniform and sunglasses ;p

Off from work

Yup am officially having my advance maternity leave as ordered by my gynae since Monday. Why? Basically because I had a premature birth previously with Ethan which was rather complicated. He was 35 weeks and 2 days when he popped out :) My gynae informed me that I'll have 35% chance of a 2nd premature birth. Hence, to prevent this from happening my gynae has asked me to rest at home from week 32 onwards which I started at 33 weeks 4 days instead ;p Honestly speaking, I'm glad I got the chance to rest at home (which is contradictory to my initial concern of having to take early maternity leave for fear of being bored at home...) as I was getting heavier by the day and climbing up the staircase which is like 3 floors up (am not exaggerating, the staircase is that high..) though our office is on level 1 is no joke for me or any heavily pregnant ladies ;p Besides that I've been pretty tired the last few weekends as was busy getting things ready for the arrival of Baby Eli...

Anyway, here I am at home resting and enjoying some quiet me time besides getting things ready for the special day :) My hospital bag is almost done and so is baby Eli's bag. Just need to get some snacks nearer to the date. So most likely we'll be bringing 2 bags plus Eli's stem cell kit and some snacks.

Baby's clothes etc are all arranged nicely in his chest of drawers. My confinement chinese meds, herbal bath for both me and Eli and vitamins are all arranged nicely in the kitchen cabinet. What is missing are some herbs/ foods during my confinement which we will get nearer to the date...will need to wash and sterilize bottles and the breast pump too.

So you'll probably see me posting more entries especially the so outdated ones now that I have more free time, so stay tune :)

Elijah

Yes, we have a name for our second baby. We have actually chosen a name for our second baby boy many moons ago but we've only decided to announce it in my blog today :)

So yes, Elijah (meaning => the Lord is my God) will be his name and "Eli" (pronounced as "Eee-lai") will be his nick :) And this is how Eli looks like :)

Eli weighing 2.2kg at 32 weeks. His estimated weight during fullterm is 4kg!! ;p

I think he got my high forehead and thick lips don't you think hehehe...his seems to have high bridge nose from this 3D scan...oh well, what really matter most to us is that we'll have a smooth labour and Eli will be born healthy and at the perfect time :)

Die mozzy die!

As night falls particularly during Ethan's bedtime, we especially moi will turn into a murderess..not your normal human kind of murderess but purely as mozzies murderess ;p

You may say why not use the normal insect spray or the usual green mosquito coils or the plug in ones...well for one, Ethan has sensitive airways so his paed does not recommend any of those which are chemical based..we tried anti mozzie lotion, even bought the insect repellent bracelet but sometimes the smell of lemon grass is just too strong to my liking especially during my preggy situation now...so we normally end up using our bare hands to kill those irritating mozzies. But recently hubby's friend recommended a solution to our problem... the "Eletrisk insekt fanger"!! I have no idea what language is that but so far it has worked for the past 2 days that we've started using it. Just this morning I electrocuted 8 mozzies!! Am I happy? You Bet! :)

It uses 2 AA batteries and only cost RM 12.99 - we bought ours from Servey

This is how the 'magic racket' looks like. You just press the red button and swing it around the room or whenever you see the mosquito and...

zapppps.....the mozzie will be electrocuted and kapis!! ;p