Goals for 2011

Tons have happened this one month. Sad stuff, thus have not been in a blogging mood for quite some time. But 2010 is coming to an end, and i want to write up a list of resolutions for 2011 so that i can have some goals for the new year and so here goes:

1. Eat more healthily - No more junk. Frankly this is quite hard to do because i love food! I love fatty fried stuff, junk food, breads, fizzy drinks, ice creams, you name it, I should like it! As I'm getting older and older (dammit!!), it's time to watch what i put inside my body. I should take care of it. Though i don't think i can stop completely, but I will try to limit myself as often as possible. especially:
   
   • Fizzy drinks - Less coke, coffee and more fresh juice and water
     
   • Food filled with preservatives nonsense i.e. canned food, sausages, bacons, chips etc.
     
   • Meat - For health reasons, i shall eat less meat
2. Send Peanut to a weekend playgroup / class where she'll get to socialise with other kids. When i was back in Kch, i went out with a couple of friends who had kids already and I could see Peanut was really enjoying herself. She was running around, screaming happily. It was really nice to see her having fun. And when my nephew was here recently, she had so much fun playing with him.......and his toy trains.
3. Shopping - I am frankly, an impulse buyer. If I like it, and the price is within my budget, I'll buy it immediately, without any second thoughts. And if i feel guilty for buying something, i will usually tell myself that life is too short wtf. I need to pamper myself too! It comes with some perils though, buying on impulse means sometimes i tend to have similar stuff at home already. So for 2011, I will try not to be so impulsive and will only buy stuff only if i do not have something similar at home. Which means, for eg. I've gotta stop buying black / white/ grey clothes cos i have too many of those at home. And that goes the same for groceries too. I like to buy things way in advance even when the stuff at home is not finished yet. So yes, time to be a more careful shopper!
4. Learn how to bake a cake successfully!
   
5. Exercise more regularly - Bet this is on most people's 2011 resolutions too..Easy to say, but most difficult to do. For me anyway. I hate exercising. I can be huffing and puffing after doing a 30 minutes walk around the park, but i can walk for hours and hours in a shopping mall. Talk about priorities.. So here's to more hours walking in the park for 2011.
   
6. Spend more time taking care of my skin. I do not have a routine for skincare. If i remember, I'll slap on some moisturizer and eye cream on before i sleep, but most of the time, I'll forget about it. Bad..very bad!! I will be very gung ho when i come home with new skincare products, and will religiously put it on for a week.. after that i'll get lazy..Hence i have loads of unfinished bottles of skincare at home.
7. Go to church more regularly too.
   
8. Do something exciting every month. Donno what yet, but i think it's time for us (as a family) to be more adventurous! I need to stop living life in a blur. My days are spend working and working except (for the weekends thank God), and very little on living "life" itself. Well, i still need to work for sure, but I will need to spend my off days more fruitfully.
   

I guess that's my "resolutions" or goals, whatever you'll like to call it, for 2011. There's something else I would like to add to this list but i'm a bit hesitant to put it on as i do not want to jinx it. I'll keep it in my heart for now. *wink*

xoxo Happy 2011!!

20 months

Lost bunny. Age: 20 months.

Omg...4 more months before she turns 2.

At 20 months, she has lots of teeth. And it's mighty sharp. So beware, don't put your fingers in her mouth because you're gonna scream bloody murder. I'm not kidding.I'm not sure how many teeth she has. I stopped counting after I saw she has at least 8.

She can sing a couple of songs, with jumbled lyrics. One minute she can sing BINGO, and the next line will be London bridge is falling down. I think she is konfiused.

Forced smile

She likes to eat on her own, and she loves to drink soups, true chinese baby or what hehe but with disastrous results. Just imagine oily soups dripping down her chin. Ack. But sometimes you gotta let go, you know? She needs to learn. So i'll just her drink and eat..and i'll try to close one eye and clean up the mess later. At least it's just confined to her high chair.

I gotta watch what i say nowadays. The other day i overheard her say "So many flowers, man!!" Yikes, when did the 'man' pop out?? And she uses a lot of "nehhhh" when i ask her where's this and that. And i had to correct her and tell her that she has to say "over there", not neh. Yes, she has picked up some distinctive malaysian english. and she uses a lot of "mahs" at the end of her sentences..oops..... Must make a concerted effort to speak proper english.

Ok gotta admit. I've not been diligent enough in potty training. I keep delaying it. She does use the potty sometimes, when she sees it in front of her. If it's not there, then it's out of sight, out of mind. So since she's already 20 months old...i think it's time for me to get serious on this. Starting this month.

Told her i'm taking her pics and she quickly screamed "where's miao miao???" Miao miao is her bolster's name (that has a face of a cat at the end and a tail), which we christened for her. And that's why me and DH can never be in PR or Advertising. Lack of imagination.




Anyway, she AND miao miao must take the picture together. These two are inseparable. Well, i'm glad she has a best friend and not some "imaginary friend". That'll freak me out.

The love of my life :)

Solution for messy drinkers

Cleaning up after Peanut after each of her meals is no fun. She insists on eating her own food now, from her porridge to her biscuits...leaving a trail of crumbs, wet smudges and unidentified lumps in her wake. And i have to run after her with a wet hankie to wipe before everything hardens, or worse, i forgot about it.

To help me minimise the mess, I bought this packet drink cover in Daiso a few months ago. It fits small packets of drinks meant for toddlers i.e. Like the mini packs of milo. I usually give her one of these when I'm having the same thing, but regular size, of course hehe. This is also, by the way, one of my favorite drinks :) Love it when it's super cold.

Just pop it into the plastic container, and snap it close.

And she won't be able to accidentally ter-squeeze it when she gets too over excited with her drink. No spills. :)


Well, the downside is that it only fits those mini pack drinks. I probably need to find those regular sized ones soon..

New diaper bag

Found this diaper bag and a matching bottle bag in an obscure baby shop in Sg Wang. All for RM40.

:)

Life updates and Peanut

What? Has it been 2 weeks since my last post? It really seems like just a few days ago. i tell you..time seems to fly at a rapid rate. I wake up early everyday, spend the whole day at the office, pick up my Peanut and will only reach home at around 9pm. Sounds tough eh? But I got used to it. Well, we got used to it haha . Even Peanut, who has to follow us to her Popo's house every morning when the sky is not even bright yet..Well, what can I say, thank God for the weekends :) And i'm not complaining because really, what is this compared to other worse stuff and tragedies that is happening around the world. I'm grateful for a lot of things, no matter how small and inconsequential it is and I do not want to take things for granted.

I have been doing lots of cooking over the weekends. This is quite a surprise even to myself considering that i'm actually enjoying it. My mum will fall over her chair if she knows how much i cook now. And i'm so into it that i even got Jamie Oliver's latest recipe book: Food Revolution. Love it, i plan to go through the book, one recipe at a time.

Peanut, I love her more and more each day. She's truly the joy of our lives. 19 months old, is stubborn as a bull, doesn't have much hair, wants to do everything herself and I mean everything!! But of course, she still can't do it well so i still need to be the Peanut Monitor. She likes to wear her own clothes, but still very salah cos the other night she tried her hardest to put her leg through the t-shirt's neck opening, thinking it's her pants.....She's really curious, as most kids her age are, which means i have to watch her like a hawk. She opens the fridge like a pro even though a child lock has been installed, taking out her own little boxes of milo. Defeats the purpose really, this child lock. I got it from Daiso. Don't buy it from there! You've been warned.


Ah..motherhood. Full of ups and downs :)

Cameron Highlands

Went to Cameron Highlands a week plus ago for a night stay together with the in-laws. It's been 2 years since I've been there and things are still pretty much the same except there seems to be more cars and many people!! It's not even the school holidays so I can't imagine how it's gonna be like during the school holidays / public holiday. Two words: STAY AWAY! Packing to go for a night trip is a nightmare, as usual, as I seems to want to bring everything for "just in case". The packing alone took me around 2 hours, and mostly, it's Peanut's stuff. I have to tihnk of what kind of clothes to bring for her, diapers, snacks, her favorite bolster etc.

We left the house at 8am, but not before going for a bak kut teh breakfast :) The drive up there was smooth except that I got really really dizzy because of the winding roads. I have really bad motion sickness. We had to stop at this shop somewhere so i can buy some sour stuff. And i think Peanut is the same as me..cos she puked *_*. I really didn't see this coming. She was quite fidgety all the while, and suddenly she just went quiet and was very still...and before you know it, out came her porridge from lunch and went all over her cardigan. and me. I was pretty calm though haha I just let her finish puking, took off her cardi and wiped her with wet wipes. She was her usual self after this "incident".

View from our balcony

We stayed at the Cameron Highlands Resort. Nice place. We didn't go to any tea plantations because we went there 2 years ago. All i did was buy strawberries and cherry tomatoes, ate strawberries icecream, and just walk around in the cool air. And my goodness they had everything strawberry related over there. I couldn't resist because it was just too cute. And when you have a daughter...you will buy these:

A strawberry plastic ball, strawberry bedroom slippers, strawberry soft toy, and a strawberry umbrella lol

There were many strawberry umbrellas but I picked this one because of the handle...so cute!

And we had steamboat too, cos it seems to be the thing to do when you go up Cameron Highlands. Which i think was highly overrated cos our steamboat kinda sucked. And there were many steamboat shops around and all of it were super packed. All of it! We managed to squeeze into one, which looks good from the outside. But when we sat down, no one took our order; they just plonked down a steamboat set dinner for us, and the soup was tasteless. Normally when i go for steamboats, i look forward to their condiments because their chilli sauce are usually quite nice. But at this particular steamboat place that we went to , their chilli sauce came from a bottle. Yeah, those kind of chilli sauce that you eat with chicken wings fml.

That night, we brought some snacks out to the balcony and just ate there And to enjoy the cool breeze too.

Eating in the dark

A very tired Peanut after a walk around the morning market

Eating her daily dose of fruits

Breakfast for myself. The poached eggs were really nice.

it was a great trip overall..super relaxing. I think Peanut enjoyed it, with the cool air and all. Except the wind were really strong..whipping my hair around 24./7 wtf.We stopped by in Ipoh for a late lunch for some chicken hor fun. It was around 230pm when we arrived and again, there were so many people. But gosh, it was really yummy. The hor fun was so smooth...*slurps*.

I wish I took more pictures. But when you have a toddler, it's pretty difficult to take a camera out and start snapping photos. And I also want to enjoy the moment with her and DH. I want to "experience" rather than start fretting with the camera and documenting every photo op. So yeah, that's why you don't see much pictures of Cameron Highlands.

Next: Our trip back home to my "kampung" :)

Crushed Peanuts

This is one of my favorite childhood snacks i.e. Kacang Tumbuk. But i have a way of eating it. Others might eat it once they take it out of the plastic packaging, or at least store it into a container so it won't "lao hong".

I prefer it "lao-honged". So i'll open the plastic packaging, make sure all the kacang tumbuk is exposed (without unwrapping it), and let it air for at least a day. After a day, it'll somewhat caramelized, and it'll be very chewy. And that's when it's the best. and it won't be messy too. No messy peanuty crumbs on your clothes or on the floor.

It's really really good. Try it!

18 months

18 months, how time flies.

Parenting is not easy. At times, I'm left exhausted, and just need a time out. But it's so rewarding to see her grow and bloom.

Sometimes she'll drag me and ask me to push her on her tricycle.
Or ask me to open the book and "mummy see book".
Or she'll asked to sit on me when I'm in the midst of doing something.


Many a times, I wanted to tell her "Eva...wait!!!! mummy's busy /tired ". But i managed to catch myself in time, and tell myself i cannot miss this opportunity.


Peanut..

Her favorite pose nowadays when a camera is aimed at her.

My little helper

It's getting more fun as Peanut as gets older. She more or less understands us now so telling her to do stuff, is quite a breeze. Most days.

She's getting cheekier by the day too. Last night I reprimanded her for opening the drawers, so i gave her the "angry mom" stare. Where i tried to make my eyes as big as possible and stared at her. She looked at me and said "eyes big bigggggggg oh". Haha any anger that i have in me dissolved instantly. I'm surprised she could tell the difference though because frankly, my eyes are quite small -_-

Yesterday, she squeezed the empty milo box which was in the trash can. And as expected, there were little drops of milo all over the floor...which exasperated me to no end. So the lil one quickly took a piece of wet wipe and start wiping the floor. Ah..how to be angry at her wey..

While she was wiping the floor, i quickly took the camera to take her pics...

Wonder whether she'll be still smiling so happily when i ask her to sweep the floor in 10 years time. Heh.

Self feed

Peanut has recently started to want to feed herself. One day, she just took the spoon from us, and started shoving food into her mouth. She makes a lot of mess and most of the time the food ends up everywhere but in her mouth, but we're cool with that. After all, it's a stage that they need to go through. And it gives me a breather, asI have more time to shove food into my own mouth instead lol, though the cleaning up after that is a killer.

Totally unglam shots of her eating her spaghetti:

Yellow lights

Long long before when we move into our new place, i told DH that there's one thing that I won't compromise on when we did the renovations. And that is all the rooms in the house need to have yellow / warm lights. No white lights for me! It's a no no ehehe. I cannot live with fluorescent lights because it makes a place seems so sterile, or hospital like. So yes, all our rooms now, including the bathrooms have yellow lights. it just makes the home seems warmer, and everything looks nicer. Even myself, when i look into the mirror lol

Even when we go to mamaks / cafes, i tend to be drawn to those that have warm lighting so yes, to me lighting is very important!

oh hello..

Long time no see!

I finally reached 56! ;) 1.5kg more to go.

find out how here!!

Slowly but surely

So.......for the past one month, i have been wearing this corset. Actually buying this was my only hope to lose weight. My last hope. I don't have time to go to the gym. I did join the gym before a few years ago, but unfortunately, i was too lazy to go to the gym everyday. More so, even now, when i go home late from work everyday, and my weekend is just too precious (gotta spend time wif Peanut) to spend it at the gym hahah and also, i want to give my MIL a break lah. I can't expect her to take care of Peanut in the weekends too rite, while i slog it out at the gym...

Been trying to go on diet too..For the longest time, since Peanut was born, i have been trying so hard to lose weight. I eat one scoop of rice for lunch everyday with vegetables and stuff, and same for dinner too. Occasionally, during the weekends i'll eat more than that of course... But still, my weight just never budged..despite all the controlled eating. It just stayed stagnant. I imagined my "fats" have turned into solid lard in my body..lol hahahhah..

So i bought this Premium Beautiful corset finally. Desperate de. Wanna lose some weight by September. For reasons only known to a few people *wink wink*. So i started wearing on July 12.

After a month of wearing my Premium Beautiful corset, I managed to lose from 59.2kg to 56.7! a 2.5 kg weight loss..so happy. I feel even more motivated now. I wear this corset every night without fail. At first, it was uncomfy. Cos i'm not used to something gripping my body..I would say the first day is the hardest. But by the 3rd day, my body got used to it. I can walk, bend down, everything as per normal. And it's not the wear until u wanna suffocate kind. No no..it's the kind that just flatten your tummy and grip at all the places that it's suppose to grip. For example..lift up your buttocks and boobs (wah, like Madonna's spiky bra type of height just that it's soft), and push all your fats into the right places.

Gradually i could see the result. My tummy became flatter, my pants and jeans become looser, i can feel my waist de..doesn't feel so thick anymore. Frankly, and to be honest, i really love it! In fact, i can't go to sleep without it already, feel as if something's missing if i'm not wearing it. It's very comfy. I feel it's a very very worth it purchase. I'm not saying it just because i'm selling it. But because i can really see and feel the result. Best part is, it has a lifetime warranty. So if the stitches unravel, or it's torn, no worries, can send back to the stockist and they'll fix for you! For free. That's one of the thing that sold me lah. That and the fact that I can use this forever and ever. Unlike, for example, if you were to go to one of the slimming centre. This corset is also good for health too, it helps to reduce your stretchmarks, reduce bloatedness as it can really expel all the wind in your body, heals your backache and much more. The first week i wore it, i can feel I let out *ahem* gas a lot. Sorry, gotta say it. Really buang angin lor. I feel not so bloated anymore.

Now let's hope i can reach my target weight soon!

Novena of Confidence

I discovered this prayer a long time ago, in a leaflet in an old church, placed for people who come in at all odd hours to pray. In moments of worries (and you know i worry a lot lol) desperation and sometimes sadness,I have used this prayer countless of times. All good things must be shared, so here, I'm sharing this wonderful prayer with you, the Novena of Confidence.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
To your most Sacred Heart,
I confide this/these intention(s):

(State you intention(s) here...)

Only look upon me,
And then do
What your Sacred Heart inspires.

Let your Sacred Heart decide
I count on it
I trust in it
I throw myself on Your mercy,
Lord Jesus!
You will not fail me.

Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I trust in You.
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I believe in Your love for me.
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Your Kingdom come.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I have asked you for many favors,
But I earnestly implore this one.
Take it.

Place it in Your open, broken Heart;
And, when the Eternal Father looks upon It,
Covered with Your Precious Blood,
He will not refuse it.

It will be no longer my prayer,
But Yours, O Jesus.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I place all my trust in You.

Let me not be disappointed.

Amen.

16 months

Peanut is almost 17 months..and i have yet to update her progress for 16 months yet..My bad.

Anyway, she has finally managed to walk without our help! Though she looks like a drunk when she walks..she wobbles left and right..like the "drunken kungfu" style lol.

Her vocabulary is expanding.. she can say quite a few words now. Among those that I can remember are

* laptop
* bicycle
* uncle / auntie
* camera
* flower
* scared
* don't want
* Monday to Sunday..though not necessary in that order
* she knows how to count 1 to 10, in english and malay.

At least we can understand her better now, and better manage her needs. she has a voracious appetite, and she eats almost anything so far..definitely her mother's daughter haha

Here's a short video of her. Until i learn how to rotate the video, you'll have to bend your head to the left..





Here, she counts 3 to 10 in malay..




She spells her name

Remembering

Once in a while, on a long drive home from work, a memory will spark in me...

I remembered her from work. She was around 19, a sweet young thing, and she always come around with her friend. Once in a while we will have a quick chat. I don't know her well, but she always looked happy..

Then one day out of the blue, came the news. She was hit by a van while crossing the road to get to the other side. Her dad was waiting on the other side of the road, to pick her up from work. She was standing in between two lanes on a highway, unsure on whether to cross the rest of the road when suddenly a van came zooming by. I guess the van driver did not see her. The vehicle banged into her, and the impact caused her to fly up in the air before landing on the road. Her dad, who saw the whole thing, was screaming when he came to her. She died.

The news was made even sadder, when i heard almost a year before, her brother, too, died in a car accident.

How cruel life is sometimes, and it's times like this, when I remember and remind myself not to sweat the small stuff, and to just live life to the fullest.


"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle" - Albert Einstein

One of those days

i get very down, emotional, bordering on depression almost once a month, and it can last for a few days. Just as it comes suddenly, it goes away easily too. I had a bout of the "attack" a couple of days ago. I called it "attack" because there's no other words to describe it. I feel really down, sad, for no apparent reason, and i feel really negative as if the world is closing on me. That nothing seems right. These are the times when i need people around me physically. Just to be there so i don't feel so alone.

Strange eh? I'm usually a very happy person so I hate it when this happens and I feel like shit. And i can only blame it on one thing. PMS! Just two nights ago, I told DH while we were lying in bed I think I'm gonna get my period soon cos i feel down. And my guess is right when my period came today. PMS is real and I'm glad it only happens once a month. Once it's over, i feel like singing again and screaming I love life! wtf

Short weekend in Singapore

Over the weekend, we went to Singapore for a short working holiday. The work part belongs to DH of course :) me and Peanut just tagged along. We sat in Firefly for the first time and my goodness, the plane is really tiny! Since the plane is tiny, the trip took longer than usual. 1 hour 10 minutes instead of the usual 45 minutes if you use MAS or SIA. Flight was good. Stewardesses were very friendly. But there was a marked difference this time with Peanut as compared to the flight we took back to my hometown in February this year.

She just refused to sit still! Thank God she didn't throw any tantrum or was cranky but I had a hard time entertaining her in that short flight. I had to bring out all my 'special weapons' to placate her lol. This includes raisins, tissue paper, magazines, and her "tiger" soft toy. She wants to stand up, she wants to drink our drink, she wants to look out the window, she wants to climb all over us! She's so freaking fidgety!! I wonder how parents take care of their toddlers during long haul flights. Can't be easy.

That Saturday morning, DH had to meet his colleagues for a workgroup meeting so...I braved myself and took Peanut shopping by myself. This is the first time I brought Peanut out by myself since she was born lol, and using public transport no less. I didn't want to be stuck in the hotel for the whole day since DH can only be done by 5pm. So since our hotel was on Clark Quay and there's nothing much to see around there, we took a taxi to Ion Orchard. The thought did cross my mind on how I'm gonna cope with a stroller, a hyperactive toddler, and a big baby bag alone, but i told myself to just do it, and worry later! The lure of shopping is stronger haha

Luckily I met some really nice Singaporeans. They helped me carry the stroller up and down the stairs when there's no ramp, they help me open doors, and taxi drivers willingly come down and help me collapse the stroller and open it up again when we reach our destinations. I'm really grateful. It's not easy juggling a stroller through a massive crowd of people, and in a shopping mall that i'm not familiar with no less. I now have a new found respect for mums who go out with their babies alone using public transport! Salute!

DH's meeting ended at 5pm and so we spent the rest of the weekend just chilling...We took Peanut for a walk around Clark Quay at night, spent half a day at Orchard again on Sunday, and took Peanut for her first train ride lol before departing back to KL again in the late afternoon. Super short holiday, but it's able to rejuvenate me again :)



Peanut goes into a frenzy every time she sees a glass with a straw in it. I had to ask the waitress for a glass of water and to cut the straw shorter, so the little munchkin can have her own drink.

*taste taste*

*auummm*

* Love it mummy! *
iIn the cab on the way to airport
Always the same ribbon eh? hahaha these are one of the very few hair ribbons that she wanna use

New adventure

It's been around 2 weeks plus that we've been staying at our new home. To have your own home again, after 16 months, is quite liberating :) .I can finally take out all my stuff out from storage and put them on display, I can finally cook my own meals, and i can be a sloth! Not that I cannot be a sloth in at my in-laws but you know lah rite, not so nice kan :)

Our schedules have also changed. Before, when we were still staying with the in-laws, we will just hand over Peanut to my MIL before getting out of the house at 7am for work, but now, yours truly needs to wake up at 5:45am to get ready for work, just so that we can leave the house by 640am. We will then deposit Peanut at my in-laws' place before heading to work. Their house is ngam ngam 10 minutes away (i timed it every morning). After work, DH and me will return to the in-laws for dinner, and then we'll bring Peanut to our own place after that. And we will usually reach home around 9pm. Phew! It sounds tiring physically but surprisingly, we're adjusting pretty well. Before, I thought i wouldn't be able to get used to the new punishing schedule.

i have to drag a sleepy Peanut out of the bed early though, but so far she doesn't seems to mind, as there is no cranky episodes. Yet. She will usually go back to sleep again once she reaches her Toto's (that's how she calls her Popo) house.

So, life is so busy that we still haven't find the time to shop for our ground floor toilet door and replace the current bathroom doors. Yes, you can't pee in our toilet at the moment cos there's no door. We still need the painter to come and touch up the walls. We still need to fix timers for our porch lights. Minor stuff, but we still got to find time to to do it.

And that's life up to now :)

Recent happenings

Wow, so much has happened since I last updated. Okay, it's not a lot actually, but when you have a baby and you're working full time, you have very little time to do anything else.

So what has been happening?

We've finally moved into our new abode!!! Finally! We actually got the house keys two years ago, but Peanut "happened" not long after that, so we had to stop all planning and renovations while I was pregnant, and we moved into my in-laws' place from our rented condo the night before I gave birth. Talk about good timing eh. And I think we got a tad too comfortable at the in-laws because renovations at our new place only started when Peanut was around 8 months old. And we've been doing things at a leisurely place. As we are both working full time, we only have the weekends to go hunting for tiles, kitchen designers, bathroom accessories, wall paint colors, curtains and we need to go to each place a couple of times! Talk about time-consuming.

Thank God, everything went without a hitch. Our contractor is very reliable and fast and he didn't give us any problems. In fact we hardly have to monitor him. My FIL will go to to the site once in a while but that's it. The people who lay our tiles are very efficient too. They got everything done within two days, and no mistakes were made.

Things only went fast paced last week when my Mum decided to go and see this person ( I don't know what you call this people) to find the best date for us to move in. She reasoned that we're only moving house a few times in our lifetime so we might as well make the best out of it. So when she gave me the date last Wednesday and told me we have to move in the following Monday, everything really speed up. We cleaned up the place again (for like the 100th time), hang up all the curtains, make sure all the lights are working, move our stuff over from our in-laws place and we officially moved in on the 5th of July 2010. I guess it's good that we have a deadline if not we'll be dilly-dallying till the cows come home. And that's how we move in finally!

Phew. We still have minor stuff to do. Like, we still need to get Astro installed. Ok this Astro thing is causing us a problem. We got a new tv which offers free Astro Byond service for the first year. So the Astro Byond installer came to our place last week but he said he can't install Astro Byond for us because we do not have our old Astro dish at our new place. We do have the dish and our own account at our in-laws, which is separate from theirs. So this installers, want us to install our OLD Astro dish into our new house (and they can't do it for us some more as they're not supposed to, we need to get another Astro installer who's an expert in this WTF), make sure our account is active and everything's working, then only this Astro Byond installer will take it down and install the new Byond Dish for us. Where is the logic lor??! Essentially, they want us to get another person to install our old astro dish up, and in effect, pay around RM100 to RM150 for this to be done, only for these Byond installers to take it down after that. Huh? I was in disbelief when they told me this, so I called the Astro hotline up, only for them to confirm that this is the procedure. Wow, talk about bureaucracy eh? We managed to resolve it finally, but I just think this procedure is so strange and redundant.

Let's just hope when they come again this weekend, everything will be okie!

Pleased as punch

Last night i told Peanut to throw her soiled diaper into the trash bin. So she took the diaper from my hand, crawled to the bin, and dumped it in.

I gave her a round of applause and shouted bravo cause she understood me and she did it right. She was very happy and she clapped her hands after and we both giggled. Simple pleasures. Before having her, i never understood how exciting and fulfilling it is to experience the world through your child's eyes. I now do.

Penang, again

Two weekends ago, we went to Penang for a long weekend. My MIL went for a retreat with my FIL, so she won't be able to take care of Peanut. So me and DH took two days off from work and we decided to go there for a short getaway. And also, we need a break!

View from the Penang bridge. Unfortunately it was a bit cloudy when we arrived. Otherwise, it would have been gorgeous.

The next morning. Check out the blue skies. So nice..*sighs*

This street reminds me of Phuket and Pattaya. These sidewalks are filled with stalls at night.

Still jolly even though she was in the seat for close to 5 hours.

Overall, it was a great trip. Relaxing, fun, and very laid back. All we did was to eat, sleep, played in the pool and walked around the night market. And oh, we went to a mall too. I think Penang is one of my favorite states because it's surrounded by the sea. I love beaches! It gives me such a warm, nice happy feeling when I see one. We stayed at the Holiday Inn which is right next to the beach so that was great. And we ate tons of food. From orr-chien, to plates and plates of char kuay teow, cendols, asam laksa, you name it, we should have eaten it!


It was a great, manageable trip and I look forward to bringing her to more places in the future.

Readjustments

When you have a kid, it's all about readjustments in your life. Below are a couple of "areas" which i think needed major readjustments when Peanut first came into our lives:

a) Sleep
The No.1 major change you need to do. No longer can you wake up whenever you want. Think you can laze around in bed till 10am, while sipping a cup of hot coffee and reading the papers on the weekend? Think again. You'll be lucky if you can sleep past 7am, or she doesn't slap you awake first, or knock your coffee on the bed. I have been the unlucky recipient twice when she whacked my face cos i was still sleeping. And no, pretending to sleep doesn't work when she's all awake and bushy-tailed and might get herself into trouble if she's left on her own device.

And bedtime. For the most part it's been okay. Some days she just needs to drink a bit of milk before she falls asleep. There are some days when she's still rummaging through my drawers at 1130pm at night. I have tried various means to make her go sleep. From counting sheeps, to pretending to sleep, to holding down her down on the bed (gently la of course) so that she'll get the signal that she's supposed to sleep, to singing various nursery rhymes. Most of the time i'm successful; other times i'll be too tired to try, and will just try to stay awake until she gets too tired and fall asleep herself.

b) Eating
Yes, meal times are no longer the same, especially when she's older ( 1 year plus and above). She now wants to be "'part" of mealtimes. If I drink something, she wants to drink as well. And God forbid if there's a straw in my cup, for she'll be drawn to it like a magnet and will want to start stirring the drink and drinking from it. So i have to get the waitress to get me a cup of water with a straw in it, just so that she can have her own drink too, and leave my coffee or tea alone.

And I now order baby friendly food. Meaning, i'll eat food that i can feed her with too. No curries or other spicy stuff .And me and DH are still not doing the "you take care of her while i eat first". We like to eat together so we try our best to fit her in into our mealtimes. Not easy, but still doable for now.


c) Going out
My gosh, going out. It's like preparing for war. Before we even step out of the house, there's a whole bunch of things on the checklist which we need to get ready. Milk bottle, water bottle to refill her water, sippy bottle, hankie, milk powder, porridge (and if we're going out for the whole day, two set of thermos for lunch and dinner), a small blanket / cloth, extra clothes just in case she wets herself, small toys, her snacks, wet wipes, diapers wtf! I no longer bring my handbag out. I just toss my wallet and phone into the diaper bag, and hope I don't forget anything. I'll usually bring two bags out. One diaper bag, and one of those recycle bag so i can chuck those stuff that needs to be within reach fast inside. By the time i'm done, i'm exhausted. And coming home after a day's out is another event. I need to wash the bottles (i prefer to wash these myself, rather than asking our helper to do it) and unpack most of the stuff. Phew.

d) Choosing your destinations
Nowadays, we tend to go to places that has more space. Places that can accommodate our stroller. Like those cafes and restaurants. And places that has clean baby changing rooms. I think Gardens by far has the best baby changing rooms. The room is clean, it has a sink and toilet in it, and it's spacious. In baby changing rooms in other malls, they tend to just have the changing table and the sink. No toilet. How in the world do they think mothers who are out ALONE are gonna use the toilet and pee?? We can't possibly push the stroller into those normal toilets. These toilets are usually very cramped, and there's no way you can park a stroller inside.

e) Your shopping habits
There's no more time for facials, massages, or whatever u wanna pamper yourself with. And shopping? I think online shopping is a haven for mums out there. And even when you wanna go out and shop with baby, i always feel that i need to be fast when browsing for stuff, and you know some shops are just so small to bring the stroller in you'll be bumping into those clothes racks, and mannequins? And oh ya, you gotta pause and stop when salesgirls chat you up with the usual questions "berapa umur bayi you ni?? Can walk already? Lelaki ke perempuan?" Oh and these doesn't happen in shops alone. It happens in restaurants and lifts too! I don't mind la actually, who doesn't wanna talk about their own baby right? :) And you can get interesting info and facts from other mothers out there too at the same time.

f) Your outfits
Cannot wear high heels anymore when you're out with a baby!!! I don't want to trip over and fall when i'm carrying Peanut. So it's all flats. And I normally wear a blouse with a not so low-neckline, lest your baby pull your collar and expose you for all to see. :P

g) You gotta have four, scratch that, SIX pairs of eyes and a new pair of lungs.
Peanut is at that age where she's curious about everything. She'll stick pencils into her ears, attempt to drink my hot water, open and close drawers, pick things up from the floor and put them into her mouth and goes Yummm and it's all up to us mamas and papas to shout "NOOOOOOOOO......" "STOP IT" "DON'T TOUCH THOSE!" "DON"T GO NEAR THERE" I feel myself turning into my mum screaming at all of us when we were kids, but honestly peeps, there's no other way to do it other than raising your voice when you see them picking up some dirt on the floor and putting them into their mouth when they're like 10 ft away and you're too far away to physically stop them. So, shouting a bit, helps. It helps to distract them before it happens. And your eyes need to be on them 24 /7 like a cctv in the bank. No compromise.


So many things to change eh? But that's life when u turn into a momma. It's all about changes and it's all worth it! xoxo.

15 months update: Taking instructions

Peanut is beginning to take instructions quite well, but that really depends on her mood. If she's happy and thinks you're the best thing since milk, then you're in for a treat. She'll do whatever you ask her to do. Otherwise she'll just ignore you. She's getting more and more demanding, she knows how to tell you if she's wet and hating it, she knows how to ask for milk, she can point to a flower and says "fawerr", she knows how to say "baby" if she sees one on tv, and she calls men "uncle" and women "auntie". Even though you're only 20, so don't be offended if she calls you one :)

She can walk a few steps, only to falter and sit down. So she's not really running like a road runner yet. She's very curious. She opens up all drawers, books, bags, whatever you have with you at the moment. She hates being hugged tightly. Her face will turn red and she'll start screaming. She always laughs in delight when she sees her picture on our phones. She kisses everything. Her pictures, her bears, books, our mobile phones; she'll kiss them when we asked her to kiss it. But ask her to give you a kiss, she'll extend her forehead out to you, and yes, you'll have to kiss her instead. She's quiet around strangers and people she doesn't know well; she doesn't even make a squeak.

At 15 months, she discovers how to use a straw. So she'll want a taste of everything that you're drinking, which is not that great cos i'm constantly drinking coffee. I now have to opt for healthier drinks when i'm eating with her, just so that she can take a sip of it too. She wants a piece of everything that we eat too, so eating peacefully has been quite difficult nowadays.I'm not sure how heavy she is at the moment. We only weighed her at the doctor's during her vaccinations and even that is a struggle to put her on the scale. So I'm now estimating her weight to be around 11+kg, as she's getting heavier and heavier.

She imitates whatever we do, so we gotta be mindful of our actions. If I take my vitamin pills, she'll take the bottle and pretend to throw a pill in her mouth. She likes to pretend to drink from a cup, and she loves taking her ear temperature, just because I constantly uses the ear thermometer when she's sick.

So it's pretty easy to teach her some actions. You just got to demonstrate it a few times and she'll do it the next time you tell her to.

This is the "elephant"

This is the "flying kiss"


This is the "lion"

This is the "chicken dance"

This is the "bunny"

And this is "lift up you legs"

She's not really looking at me in the pictures. Her eyes were glued to the tv. Some korean boy band with like 10 to 13 members wtf were on tv dancing and singing. A future groupie or what?