My friend, whose daughter is at Bryan’s age have had cavities many times. She told me to take Bryan to the dentist ASAP because cavities develop very quickly, and we should take the kids for regular dental checkup.

I had delayed taking Bryan to the dentist because
1. I check his teeth very frequently, and I don’t see any spots.
2. He never complains about toothache.
3. I did not want to scare him by taking him to the dentist too early.

But my fren said that by the time I see spots or when he starts complaining of toothache, it is too late. Yet, I procrastinated.

Until a few weeks ago, i found a very faint brown dot on his two lower incisor. *Panic* I quickly make an appointment with my dentist for Bryan’s checkup.

The dentist is quite popular and I could not secure any slots until today. Luckily I was able to book a slot that is within my lunch time. I took the kids out from daycare after their early lunch. Yeah, I took Dylan along. No harm to let the Dr have a look as well.

Neither kids were nervous about the dentist visit. Since a few days ago, i had been brainwashing Bryan about the dental visit.

Mommy: Bryan, mommy take you to the teeth dr. Dr will just check check to see if there are any chong-chong. If got, Dr will put medicine on the chong-chong so that the chong-chong die. If we don’t put medicine on it, later the chong-chong eat your teeth.
Bryan: Chong-chong eat my teeth, then I got no teeth issit?
Mommy: Yes, no teeth. Then cannot eat “sia ping” (prawn cracker), cannot eat ice-cream, cannot eat McD.
Bryan: No teeth like xxx? (a girl at his day care)
Mommy: Yes like xxx (I had no idea if she has missing teeth )

We had to wait a while when we got to the dentist’s office. So I took the opportunity to talk to the boys about opening their mouth wide wide for dr to check their teeth. There are also photos of dentist in action, so I showed them that this is what the dentist will do for them later.

When we got in, Bryan was very calm. He greeted the dr “hello” and then proceed to sit on the dentist’s chair.

The dentist told him that he will just count his teeth. The whole procedure takes less than 1 minute. And the dentist told me that his teeth are in perfect condition. And very good dental hygiene. *Yay*

The light brown mark on his teeth is just a small pit. It is not decay. It could have been there from day 1. Besides, he told me that the bottom incisors will fall out when he is about 6, and the top incisors 6 months later.

As soon as Bryan got down from the chair, Dylan was anxious to get on. He kept saying, “My turn, my turn”

The chair is pretty big for Dylan, so the dentist asked either hubby or me to let Dylan sit on our lap instead. So I sat on the chair, and let Dylan lay on top of me.

Dylan cleverly opens his mouth, and let the Dr “count” his teeth.. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. Just like his brother, his teeth are in perfect condition, and very clean too.. *yay yay* I learned that there are 4 baby molars that have yet to come out. One on each side. Arghh…hope they don’t cause any problem when they come out.

Since I was there, I took the opportunity to ask some questions to the dr.

Q: Bryan fell on his teeth a few months ago. It resulted one of the top incisor to be slightly crooked now. Will there be any long term side effects?
A: If he had a fall when he was about 4, there should not be any damage to his permanent teeth as the teeth would have been in place. But if he fell on the teeth when he was 2 or 3 years old, when the permanent teeth is still not fully grown, the impact could rock the permanent teeth out of its place. And when it finally comes out, it will be crooked. For Bryan’s case, the most there may be a mark on the permanent teeth caused by the impact, but he thinks the teeth should be fine.
=> It shows just how important it is to make sure that their baby teeth are healthy to ensure a flawless smile later.

Dr also asked me if any of them are on the pacifier. I proudly said “No.” In fact, they were never on the pacifier. I asked him why.

He told me that kids who suck the pacifier to sleep tend to have weaker upper incisor caused by dryness. The worst are those who take the milk bottle to sleep. The combination of sugar in the formula and dryness due to continual sucking will cause some of the kids’ teeth to be gone by the time they were 3, if they did not receive prompt dental treatment.

I had wanted to ask if bfg to sleep is ok bo, but I didn’t because I remember that their PD told me before that bm will help protect the teeth due to the antibacterial qualities. That’s why bf children tend to have healthier teeth. Good…because lil Dylan still bf before bed and when he wakes up in the middle of the night.

I am so glad that both kids’ first dental experience had been pleasant. And the checkup is free too! I didn’t even have to pay any admin/ registration fees. Hahaha..I should have taken them there earlier.

Now that both kids are much bigger, we decided to take them up there for a visit to enjoy the beautiful lights.

We left for the temple after dinner at home. By the time I had cleared the dishes, it was already 730pm. (the kids overslept). Initially hubb was not very keen on going since it was so late already But I told him, how much time do you think the kids can allow us to be there anyway. So off we go..

As we got closer to the temple and the lights got clearer.. Both kids were started “Wahhh-ing….” away at the back of the car. Both were impressed and mesmerized by the beautiful lights. We pass by the temple from the bottom of the hills every weekend, but the kids were never attracted until we got to the temple itself.

Photos were taken by hubb during a separate photography trip with his friends. Yeah, he is slowly getting infected by DSLR photography.

When Bryan saw the pagoda, he asked me. “Is this Bangkok?”

Hubb was puzzled but then I remembered that hubb has a T-shirt with the Emerald Buddha Temple that we bought in Bangkok.

Neither one of us could recall if we ever told Bryan about Bangkok. In fact, hubb can’t even remember the last time he wore that T-shirt. So it goes to show how attentive children are to details.

Bryan insisted that that we pray and to ring the charity bell.

It was a windy night when we got up to the hill and there were not much crowd. So it was a really relaxing time for us. In fact Dylan did not want to leave at all. He refused to leave until I promised them to get them some icecream.

So we stopped by Maxim to get some gelato. The shop were about to close when we bought the gelato, so the kids had to finish their gelato in the car..or to be exact, at the boot of the car…

We arranged a small party for Dylan at his daycare on the actual day of his birthday. Hubb and I took half day off to celebrate this special occasion with him.

Dylan was preoccupied in a group coloring activity when we arrived. He does not seem to be surprised by our presence.

Both kids were happy to see the Mickey Mouse cake. Big brother Bryan also gave a kiss to Dylan. Dylan does not favor any particular cartoon. But since he knows Mickey and is a little mousie himself, we got him a Mickey cake.
The part all the kids have been waiting for…birthday song singing time!

Dylan was singing the song to the plush Tigger, a present from one of the teachers.

Cake cutting time!

A group photo with some of the teachers

How can mommy & daddy miss out on the fun, right?

While everyone is eating cake in the kitchen, my 2 boys are running around the hall, having fun. They know they can have their way and not get scolded by the teachers because their daddy & mommy is around.

Dylan is so “spoilt” at his daycare. Can you believe it that he received more presents from his teachers at daycare than the party at home. That is because for the party at home, all our guests gave him angpows instead. Daddy & mommy have yet to open the angpows to get him a gift. Most probably they will all go to his savings account.

How time flies…My little boy has to register for Standard 1 already. And the registration opens on Monday. For me, choosing the school is very easy.

1. As close as possible to our house. I never had to sit Bas Sekolah when I was in school. My dad always fetch me to & from school. So I want to be able to fetch my kids at least one way, to or from school. Bryan will most probably be attending the before school care, so I will have to arrange transport from the day care to his primary school. But in the evening, we want to send him home ourselves so that he can get home as early as possible, have dinner, do homework and then rest, play, sleep….

2. Location compared to his day care. If the school is too far from the day care, I may not be able to find transport. Besides, Dylan will still be in day care when Bryan starts primary 1. So I have to consider the route for picking & sending both of them.

3. Ultimately, I registered for the school that is less than 10 mins away from our home and 2 mins drive from their day care.

We took a short tour of the school when we registered this morning.

What I like?
1. The school is not directly ON the main road. It is facing the main road, but there is another smaller road separating it from the main road. That small road is closed except during the pick up/ drop off time. So it is safer to drop & pick up the kids.

2. There was a nice security malay lady around when I was there. Coincidentally, the afternoon session kids were starting to arrive when we were there. She supervised the dropping off of the kids to make sure that they go into the school safely. One little girl was crying as she walked in as today is the first day of school after the long weekend. She consoled the little girl and wiped tears from her eyes. How sweet….. OK la.. I know the lady will not be around when my boy join but it is a nice, warm sight for me as a mother.

3. My husband’s colleague has a kid in this school. Upper primary. He said that this school has a lot of extra-curricular activities (martial arts, 24 drum troupe, etc). Good. I would like my kids to participate in extracurricular activities and being close to home means that it would be easier for us to ferry them to & from school for the activities.

4. The colleague also say that the teachers do not pressure the kids. In fact, he said that the teachers are too lenient. Well, I don’t want my kids to be pressured, so this is good to me.

5. There should not be a problem to find bas/ van sekolah back to my house IF we really need them. My neighbor’s sons go to this school and they take the school van. I personally prefer the van to the bus. Less passenger means less travelling time.

What I don’t like?
1. The school grounds is small compared to my primary school. My school used to be the British government’s headquarters during the old colonial days. So we had big rooms, courtyards, plenty of trees, greenfields..BIG everything. During primary school, my friends and I had to make plans on which field/ garden/ spot to meet during recess or it will be almost impossible to find each other during recess. Too bad that it is not possible for him to go to my primary school. Cause my primary school years are filled with lots of pleasant fun memories. I wish theirs will be the same.

2. There are many classes for each standard. I heard that for 2010’s std 1, there are 9 classes. Yeah, not exactly a small school, huh?

3. I heard that there are a lot of homework.
But then, don’t all Chinese school have a lot of homework. I talked to my neighbor’s son who used to study at this school. He is now in secondary school but his 2 younger brothers are still in this school. He thinks that the homework is manageable and both his brothers are coping fine.
*I oredi delegated half the job to my husb, since I am a banana*

Overall I felt good about this school choice. This is not the most preferred school in the district. There are 2 other more “famous” schools and I am staying away from those 2.

Though I do not want my kid to be in the top/ most competitive school, I also don’t want my kid to be in a too laid-back school as their UPSR results will determine the secondary school choices. This school used to be a just a small kampong school not long ago, but it has quickly grown into an established school in our area. I guess that in a way indicates the “competitiveness” of the school management also.

Anyway, it is still 2 years later. And anything can happen within this period….

Though I will say, “Aiyo, no need to do party at home liao la..just celebrate in school and go out to eat,” I will always end up doing a birthday party at home for the boys. And it is all because…the boys LOVES it! They love having parties at home. They can have dinners with family all year round, but a birthday party at home only comes twice a year, one each for them.

So a party I have…again…Besides, it is CNY, so it would be a birthday cum CNY get-together for the family too.

This time, we wanted to do something different. BBQ! Inspired by my niece who had requested a BBQ party for her birthday last year. But she did not have a party in the end because her parents got her a netbook instead.

Anyway, hubb loves BBQ and it has been a long time since we’ve been to one. So this one is also for the man of the house

As usual, both my MIL and my mom helped. MIL fried instant noodles so that the guests can have something to eat while waiting for the rest of the food to cook. My mom made birthday “jelly eggs” and santan jelly. I’ve asked my mom to stop making red eggs for the party since no one eats them. So we replaced them with red jelly eggs instead, and the kids loves them!

I marinated and prepared the rest of the stuff.

Lamb, spicy & non spicy chicken, chilli squid with vege wrapped in banana leaf & foil, sausages, fishballs and satay

Since it was such a hot season, I boiled a big pot of chrysanthemum tea for the guests instead of just cordial, beer and other canned drinks.

And now..here comes the cake. Since the weather is so hot, I decided to make a oreo ice-cream cake with a chocolate sponge base instead.

Hubb thinks that I should have just buy a cake instead of spending so much time to make one. Well, until the kids start demanding for cakes with fancy deco that I cannot oblige, I think I will continue to make their birthday cakes. It doesn’t matter if the kids may not know how to appreciate it now. It just gives me a sense of satisfaction that their birthday cake was made with LOVE by mummy….(syiok sendiri , cannot meh!).

Anyway, I asked Bryan, you want mommy to buy cake or make. And my boy proudly replied, “I want mommy to make.” *grins*

But don’t ask me to make cakes for 50-60 kids for school’s birthday party. That one I will continue to buy… kakakakakakaka

The best part of having a birthday party during CNY is ……..

FIREWORKS!!! Of course!!!!!

Needless to say, my boys had a blast playing with the fireworks. I had bought mostly the pop-pop crackers + the stick fireworks, since my boys are still small. But the seller gave me some of the more “fun” fireworks. Those that spins to the sky and explodes into colorful fires! Bryan loved those, but I got scolded by my cousins and aunts for buying those “dangerous” fireworks for my son to play.

Here’s some other photos from the night…

Another party celebration at school for Dylan on Thursday and then I don’t have to plan for another party for the next 8 months…*phew*

But as we were leaving our house, we saw a lion dance troupe going up the hill to the new showrooms at the neighborhood opposite our house. Looks like the developer is having a celebration there too! I checked the streaming banners that is hung everywhere, and realized that Saturday was the day of the celebration.

Silly me! I had received the invitation brochure in our mailbox and saw the banners everywhere. But I kept thinking that the celebration was on the 6th day of CNY. No it is Feb 6. *silly silly me*

Ah..better still. This is just opposite our house. So we changed our plans and decided to go for this one instead. Afterall this one have not only lion dances but dragon dances and firecrackers, and fireworks as well!

It was still early, 6pm + only, so hubb and I decided to go somewhere near for dinner first. The CNY celebration actually includes free buffet dinners. This developer is quite generous and normally serves free buffet dinners for all their celebrations. But neither hubb and I enjoy the thought of “fighting” for food and a table to eat. Ok la..there are usually no fights, but there is always a queue. We have 2 small children to take care off. It is no fun to find/ jom (book) a table, queue for food, watch over the kids and gobble down our dinner. We prefer to just relax and enjoy knowing that everyone is well fed.

The events start at 730pm with loud and very long firecrackers. I enjoyed it…kekekeke..It reminds me of the good old CNY days when we could burn firecrackers freely. But both my kids do not like it. Dylan was a bit scared. Bryan was not, but he said it hurts his ears and is so smelly!

Then there was the lion & dragon dances.

There are actually a lot of activities that night. Free calligraphy, free CNY cookies, free fortune telling, free tong yuen soup, dragon beard candy making demo and distribution, concert, acrobatic shows, china face changing shows… Lots of things to photograph but no mood cause I did not bring my DSLR. It was no fun to take photos on my compact camera .

We watched some of the performance and let the kids play at the playground till about 930pm. Then we go home, everyone showered, freshen up, kids changed into their PJ, and wait for 10:30pm..for the fireworks!

Yay! I have access to my DSLR back home. Since there is time, I setup my tripod for the shoots. It will be my first time to play with bulb photography. Unfortunately, I did not get any good photos. The first few shots, I was still experimenting with the timing of bulb. Just as I was getting the hang of it, the fireworks show have ended.

Sadly, I unclipped my camera from the tripod and put away the tripod. Just as I was about to finish keeping it away, the fireworks start again! This time even more brilliant, but I was too lazy to set up the camera again.

Don’t know what was going on up there. After the second round of fireworks ended, about 15 mins later there was another round. My neighbors’ kids was scolding… “Haiyo, I already switched off the lights and was ready to sleep, start again…Why cannot continue straight one.”

Hahaha..but cannot complain la..since nobody asked us to watch

To everyone who is reading this…GONG XI FA CAI. Have a Tiggerific New Year!

I thought Bryan was an exception and he was considered very advance. So I do not expect the same from Dylan.

Dylan started to sleep without diapers last week at school. And through the recent long weekend, his afternoon naps were dry too. *great job Dylan*

And this morning, he woke up with a dry diaper too! Hubb was very surprised when he changed him this morning as his diaper was so light! He thought that I had just changed his diaper.

Is this an indication that he will also be “fast” like his gege? I don’t know but we are not going to pressure him. He is not even 2 yet! I am already very proud of the fact that he can stay dry through afternoon naps and that we can take him kai-kai diaperless, so anything more is a BIG BONUS!

When it is time to wake up in the morning, they will….

Sometimes it is so hard to wake them up. Not even with the curtains drawn away and hubb and I chatting away..LOUDLY.

Kids oh kids….

I watched over Dylan while hubb watched over Bryan when he had his hair cut. I know that hubb just told the hair dresser to trim the sides, nothing major.

But as she worked on Bryan’s hair, she suggested cut here, cut there because, this place is too thick, that area is too tall. Hubb just went with her suggestions and allowed her to work on Bryan’s hair as she please.

Bryan is now very cooperative at the hair saloon, and the lady really could have her way in experimenting with the cut that fits Bryan’s face. Furthermore, Bryan’s hair was quite long already, so she could basically cut anyway that she wanted to cut.

Finally, she settled in a look that “she” is satisfied. Of course, she also keep asking us if we are ok and happy with the new look, that is very different from Bryan’s old haircut.

BEFORE

AFTER

Hubb likes the new hairstyle more..says Bryan looks more “yeng” (stylish). Besides, he have been complaining that Bryan’s old hairstyle is soooo “soh chai.”

I think the new hairstyle is definitely more stylish..but I also miss his innocent mushroom looking hairstyle….Awww..my boy is growing up….

p/s: Dylan also had his hair cut. But his hair is so thin, there’s nothing much the hairdresser could do. Just trim the ends nia… Besides, he is still not as cooperative as his gege yet.

Now I am glad that their age gap is so close, as they really play very well with each other. Last weekend, we let them out of the house to play on the porch, while I prepared lunch.

It started with bubbles play, then some cooking play with water…and then it turned out to a full fledge water play!

And all these while, what is mommy & daddy doing?

Mommy = Cooking in the kitchen
Daddy = Watching tv at the living room while keeping an eye on them (of course)

I think that they are so lucky to have each other. No matter how much we love them as parents, we can’t play with them as “crazy” as a sibling can. And no cousins or friends can spend as much time with them as a sibling can too! And me and hubby are glad to have some extra time to ourselves since the boys have each other.

Can’t wait for them to grow up and watch how their bond continues to grow deeper. I think they are going to be a great brother and friend to each other!