Negotiations lesson

While the 2 kids were busy fighting negotiating with each other; one mummy was busy tending to her baby and the other mommy…busy taking their photos. Neither really bother to help the kids stop the fight…just look and giggle at their antics nia…

But to our pleasant surprise, both kids manage to solve the problem themselves, and they learn how to share and play with each other, without any adult intervention.

It really goes to prove that sometimes we adult really have to leave them alone – to learn and grow.

Taiping zoo with a friend

I was off for 1.5 weeks during Christmas last year. It would have been a perfect time to take the family for a vacation IF Dylan was bigger, and IF the economy wasn’t going downhill and we need to be prudent in our spending.

So we didn’t go anywhere for holiday. This is the first year since I got married that I did not go anywhere for holiday – not even a local trip. Even after Bryan is born, we still go for at least a few local trips (Camerons, KL, etc) each year.

Dylan is still a little small to enjoy holidays at that time, but not Bryan. So we decided to take him to the Taiping Zoo. And I was so happy to learn that my friend is able to bring her daughter WX as well. Yeah! Bryan is going to be so overjoyed to see WX there.

We drove separate cars and decided to meet at the zoo. And true enough, both the kids were so happy to see each other at the zoo. I think they were happier to see each other than the animals.

Yeah, there are plenty of “NO FEEDING THE ANIMALS” signs in the zoo. But I can’t read when my kids can have fun.

So I let the kids feed the fishes in the pond with some white bread. (no photos, too busy pinching pieces of bread for the kids to throw into the pond).

The kids also fed some leaves to the deers.

Then they saw the bears and decided to imitate how the bears looked like.

We adults had a lot of fun too just watching those 2 jokers having fun and goofing around.

Pointing to the Paw prints on the floor almost the entire time in the zoo.

The weather was quite cloudy that day, so it is a good day to be at the zoo. It is not so hot and so the animals are more active instead of hiding in the shades.

We did not bring Dylan along. He will get tired real soon at the zoo and we thought the weather will be too hot for him. He’ll get cranky and will not enjoy himself.

So Bryan gets to be the baby and get all our attention.

The stroller is really getting too small for him

On the way back from zoo, we decided to stop by Tambun for seafood. We already had lunch at a  coffeeshop near the Taiping lakes, but we still want seafood, since we will be passing by Tambun.

We wanted to make sure that the kids get some rest in the car before we stopped for food. So JM’s husband purposely took the old trunk road from Taiping to Tambun. But Bryan was too excited  (kept asking “where is WX leh”) to get any sleep. Luckily his friend WX napped for a while in her parents car. Otherwise, his extra effort (and petrol) would have been wasted.

We arrived at Tambun with 2 active kids – who prefer to clown around instead of eating.  So we adults focused on our food and let the kids play by themselves. Food was disappointing – so no pics.

After a long day of activities, Bryan fell asleep in the car as soon as we left Tambun.

But he was a very happy kid that day, and he kept asking for Zoo again and again for WEEKS after that.

Sure, dear, we can go there again. And this time, we’ll bring Dylan and WN (WX’s baby sis) along.

Our very own pool

I borrowed the Carl Zeiss – Vario-Sonnar T* DT 16-80 F3.5-4.5 lens from my friend last week. And with a new lense, I need to find photo opportunities. Since I don’t have time to go out to find photo opportunities, I have to create one at home.

So I bought Bryan a pool!

Actually he already have one for his birthday present last year. But it was HUGE! 6ft diameter. It is way too big for him & Dylan, and will use a LOT of water. So I got him a smaller one, conserve water a bit la…

Bryan was very excited about the pool and patiently waits for me to fill up the pool. But what does he do when the water is ready?

Play teh-tarik… BORING-NYA.

Coincidentally, I had made a huge bottle of yogurt for my friend. She bought a new milk powder for her daughter WX which WX absolutely refused to drink. So I offered to make yogurt for her using the “rejected” milk powder, and she’ll come to my house to collect the yogurt.

I was back at the kitchen cooking lunch when I could hear my husband yelling for me. I peeked outside and I saw WX jumping up and down outside my gate. Surprise surprise, she came at the right time. I had smsed my fren earlier telling her that I will have the pool out in the morning, but did not get any reply if she is coming or not.

And see how happy Bryan is to see WX.

Both of them are classmates, so they have no problem playing with each other.

You may wonder where Dylan is the entire time. Well, he doesn’t really like the pool.

I think he is really uncomfortable in the pool. So not long after WX arrived, hubb took Dylan out and took him upstairs for a bath.

And the 2 schoolmates continued to have a splashing good time.

I am really proud of both of them. They played really well together. No fighting. And they took turns to play with the giant teapot (my watering can la).

Now, I can’t wait for Dylan to be old enough to join his ge-ge for some good & fun splashing around.

Paint & lunch

I bought a paint set for WX some time ago. Her grandma accidentally threw away the paint set. Since then, she had been bugging her mommy to take her to my house.

So 2 weekends ago, her mommy finally was able to bring her over.

Bryan and WX are classmates in school. So it was really easy for the 2 of them to play together. Though Dylan was tired, he was really KPC when he saw his bro having fun outside, and he wanted to join in the fun as well.

I like the way Bryan folds his legs in the lotus position in the pics. I didn’t really notice that he sits in this way until I saw the pics.

WX’s mummy even cut out some potatoes for them to stamp with. But the 2 kids seem to prefer painting.

WX is more “serious” in her painting. She told me that she was drawing a spider (I think, forgot liao).

Meanwhile, it did not take Bryan long before he lost interest in painting. Soon he was fooling around and decided to stamp the floor with paint instead.

While they were painting, I prepared a simple lunch for them. Corn & egg salad, hard boiled egg slices, steamed edamame and steamed mantau. (Healthy eh? But these are the easiest to make, and less cleanups to worry about. )

We decided to let them have an alfresco lunch (cos this mommy lazy to cleanup after them ). We thought that it would be easy for them to finish their food since they got partner. But no… WX decided that she din like the egg in the salad. Bryan did not like the corn in the salad. And both of them did not like the mantau.

In the end, I made some cheese sandwiches which both of them walloped happily. And for desserts, 2 cups of Calciyum yogurt each.

I told WX mummy, next time just order pizza for them. Save me the trouble to prepare food :p

What are friends for?

Hubb’s conversation with Bryan some time ago…

Hubb: En See* chuo sen mo te? (What is En See for)
Bryan: Nar lai kan te (to see one)
Hubb: Ah Yue* nar lai chuo sen mo te?
Bryan: Nar lai tah te (to hit one)
Hubb: Ah Fong* nar lai chuo sen mo te?
Bryan: Nar lai ti te (to kick one)

* More Info:
En See: a cute little girl who plays with Bryan a lot – Bryan’s classmate
Ah Yue: Also a cute little girl. But this one fights a lot with Bryan. I started getting reports from his teacher that Bryan fights with this girl a lot within the first week of him starting school.
Ah Fong: Ah Yue’s elder brother. Also fight with Bryan one.

Fun filled Saturday

I thought that poor Bryan will be confined to our house when daddy is away. Coz daddy is the one that normally takes him kai-kai in the weekend.

But, no. First weekend that daddy is away, mummy got an invitation from his favorite auntie to go swimming. At 5 Star hotel sommo leh. Sommo this auntie volunteered to drive us there. Such good auntie, where to find eh?

So 4 of us mommies with our lil tots met up for some swimming fun. I thought that Bryan would be ecstatic when he sees the pool. He wasn’t. He was afraid of the water. He diden want to go in. And when he finally did, he diden want to let go.

I am utterly puzzled by this behavior because this boy LOVES to swim. My guess is he is unfamiliar with that pool and that right now he is dealing with security issues due to the recent changes around his life.

While his friends are all busy playing or tasting pool water, he clung to me tightly. Even WX who was usually afraid of water was very adventurous on that day.

It was only when we are about to leave for lunch that he warmed up and was willing to let go of me. But we can’t play anymore cause the mommies’ tummies are hungry and we had made arrangements for a Japanese buffet.

Initially, I was worried that having 4 kids at lunch would be unmanageable. But it was not. It was rather pleasant. I still get to eat everything that I wanted, and Bryan did not go wandering around during lunch as well. Of course, it helped tremendously that auntie HL brought some crayons and papers to keep them entertained.

Before we went home, the kids enjoyed themselves at the koi pond.

I was so afraid that Bryan will spot the pond before we went for lunch. If he did, I would have a hard time taking him into the restaurant. Or he would be demanding to see the koi fishes all through lunch.

It was certainly a wonderful way to spend our Saturday afternoon. Have to thank HL for organizing it.

Sun, sand and sea

I read Angeleyes posting on her beach outing with her family, and I remembered that I have not taken Bryan to the beach in a very very loooong time.

Bryan loves the beach, but I have not been able to find the time to take him there.

I mentioned this to HL not long ago, and she suggested that we take our kids to the beach near our house together one day. I know that there are some beaches near our house but I have not been to any. I have only been to the ones at Tg Bungah/ Bt Ferringhi.

And little did I know that the opportunity would come so soon. HL sms me last Saturday asking me if I want to take Bryan to the beach the next morning. YES of course!

Sunday morning
Bryan woke up abt 830am, and as usual, he is not very interested in his milk. I need to be at HL’s house by 9am, and there is little time to let him finish his milk and some solid breakfast before we leave the house. Besides I have not packed the necessary items for the outing yet. Luckily HL lives just a few doors away from me.

Bryan was very excited when he saw his swimming trunk, and he has not worn it for at least 2 months (another reminder for me to take him swimming). And even happier when he saw his sand castle building tools.

Hubb could not come with us as my parents are going out. So he stayed behind to bbsit Dylan.

By the time we got to HL’s house, everyone is ready to leave. JM was also there with her daughter Wei Xuan.

We went in JM’s car and HL’s husband lead the way. The beach is really pretty near to our house. Less than 15 mins away. But I would never have found the beach by myself. We had to go through a housing area and a malay kampung to get to the beach. It is definitely not visible along the main road.

As soon as we got there, I thought Bryan would be running to the beach in no time. Just like the last time he was there.

But no, he was uncomfortable with the feeling of sand and he wanted me to carry him. He also dared not venture into the water and he was even afraid of the sea shells on the beach. LOL

It took him a while and soon he was enjoying digging sand with his friends Charlotte & Wei Xuan. And of course running to the sea, and throwing sea shells into the sea.

Oh yeah, remember his milk? I took it to the beach, and I had to feed him while he was enjoying digging sand or playing with sea water.

And his solid breakfast? I did bring some biscuits but he did not have any. Because JM made a lot of very delicious sandwiches and even cocktail sausages with cucumber. Yum yum! I would have taken a lot more if I diden have to watch Bryan all the time, since hubb did not come along.

After a while, Bryan was getting pretty adventurous at the sea and asked that i take off his singlet as well, so that he can “swim”. No swimming la..just squatting in the sea water nia.

The girls are more afraid, Xuan more than Charlotte. And to get Xuan to be less afraid of the sea, her daddy made her a miniature “swimming pool.”

It was so cute to see the 2 kids fighting for space in the miniature swimming pool..

Since we all live so near to each other and the beach is not far away, I have a feeling we will be doing this again in the near future. *Bryan clapped happily*

More photos here:-
Wei Xuan’s blog
Charlotte’s blog

Bubbles and pool

A couple of weeks ago, Charlotte’s mother prepared something different for playgroup. Usually we will just meet and let the kids play together. But just before the playgroup meetups, I received a sms from Charlotte’s mommy to bring Bryan’s swimsuit. The kids are going to a bubbles + pool fun time.

We arrived as Charlotte’s mommy was filling up the inflatable pool at her porch. But unfortunately, it started to rain soon after that and therefore we were hesitant to let the kids into the pool. So we let them get started with some bubbles fun first.

Wei Xuan arrived later just as the skies were clearing. So we decided to let the kids into the pool. It is too cruel to let them see the pool and yet not let them in. Besides Charlotte’s mummy was so thoughtful to boil some hot water for the pool also…so the water is nice and warm.

In the pool, the girls happily learn and mastered the art of blowing bubbles.

Bryan, meanwhile was contented with his “teh tarik” game and playing with the toy fishes in the water.

Good thing also, coz we have only 2 bubble wands. so if he too wants to blow bubbles….there will sure be fights and cries.

Given that it is such a jolly good fun time, you bet that it was a struggle to get the kids out of water. Bryan was especially difficult. He was throwing tantrum and refused to get out of the pool.

After I got him out of the pool, gave him a shower, he fell in love with Charlotte’s new volkswagon toy car. He refused to let anyone else play with it and he refused to go home….

Given that it was late already and hubb is waiting for us at home, I had no choice but to forcefully carry a screaming baby away. And guess how to calm him down in the car…a promise of a meal at Mcdonald’s for dinner. *slap head*