We celebrated this Chinese New Year with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle in Penang. Ben was so happy to have guests at home rather than getting ang paos. I guess he doesn’t know how to appreciate ang paos yet. And as usual, it was hard to get him take group photo with us.
Happy new year to everybody! and Thank you so much for the ang paos for our kids!
These are some of the good ones that Ben drew in recent months. We put them up on our living room walls.
If you are interested in children and their drawing development, you can check out
http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html
He named it “Tunnel” and wrote it there himself asking us how to spell.
His creation with stickers.
Ben I am Not??
Daddy and Mummy like this one very much except the background coloring.
He drew it before his concert. He said it’s him with 2 big eyes performing on the stage
and flowers are given by audience. ha ha..
We don’t know where he has seen audience give flower to performers.
These days, we put more effort to bring them to playground. No game is better than outdoor activities. Yes we also want to reduce their TV time or straining at screens.
Ben often makes friends with other kids at playground. The other day he was playing ‘run n chase’ with another kid. He was teasing the kid to chase him. Mo Mo has mastered sliding at her second time sliding. She was so daring and did not want us to help her. She even tried new style lying down with head down.
Mo Mo: “I slide myself Daddy”
Mo Mo: “Ko Ko let’s slide together”
Mo Mo: “I’m sleeping”
Ben was so excited to see and pluck Papayas Pwar Pwar planted. Now Papaya trees Pwa Pwa planted are giving us the fruits which are quite sweet besides a few other veges… Thank you Pwa Pwa!
Ben used to spend much time with Pwa Pwa (Grandma) at their garden. They used to plant and clean up the garden together. Now Pwa Pwa has gone back, leaving Ben to man the garden alone 
Upon seeing the “rubbish”, Ben immediately picked them up and gathered them at a corner. I think deep inside, he misses his Pua Pua
This is the place both of them enjoy the most in a shopping mall. They just get occupied themselves with minimal control.Ben would take books by books and read. I wish we have one just next to our house It will be the best babysitting place.
I was thrilled and happy when Ben’s teachers told me that there would be an annual concert and all the kids would be performing. I was wondering whether he’d cooperate or not as he could be moody at times. It took about 2 months to train them for 4 performances. Before long, he could show us a bit of his performance at home when we begged him to. I was quite disappointed when I saw the costume that we had to buy for the concert. It wasn’t nice and too big for him too. Anyway, I adjusted it to fit him a bit better. The other parrot costume was rented.
He was quite excited the day before the concert. When I told him Mummy and Daddy will go to your concert to see you, he said “I want Mo Mo to see me also”. Ha ha.. so I told him that Mo Mo will make noise or fall asleep. On the concert day, he woke up in a good mood, took shower, dressed up and was ready to go! The concert started at 10am but, we got to be there at 9am. Later we found that it is not good to go there too early, as he got bored a bit while waiting for his turn and almost lost his good mood and excitement. Anyway, Daddy and Mummy really enjoyed the show and were busy taking photos and videos. We were so proud of him as he could perform all the shows steadily and seriously with a smile. Well done baby!
Teachers doing make-up for him behind the curtain.
Ben with make-up for the first time, smiling with his good friend. hee.. hee.. lip sticks and blush!
After waiting for about 1.5 hours, there he was! First time on the stage, getting ready to perform, 3rd from right.
The first performance was “Repercussion”, playing some musical instruments. He was beating the small instrument which we did not get a chance to look at. He was beating it in his hands like clapping.
Second one was “Have you ever seen a lessie” and the third was “Ni Wa Wa”.
The last one was Parrot Dance and he danced very well, 2nd from right.
Singing out loud wholeheartedly.
Mo Mo had to say bye bye to her favorite ‘suck suck’ at 21 months. Suck Suck is what she calls mummy’s milk.
It was both relieved and sad moment for mummy when I had to stop breastfeeding. Relieved because, she will be able to sleep independently without habitual wake up to look for milk. Besides that, I will be able to travel for conferences to make a good CV if she can sleep without mummy. Sad because I had to deprive something she likes so much and also addicted to and entitled to. Sad also because, I enjoyed breadfeeding as it is very bonding & cuddling. I can’t really describe the real feeling of breastfeeding. Sometimes, it caused a little hassle when I had to rush back to home to BF or wake up at nights but I never felt it as a chore. It is the BEST DIM (Done it Myself) gift I could ever give to her, not the beautiful dresses.
I could breadfeed Ben just for 6 months as I was working at that time and did not know how to prolong the production and the output decreased itself. But now since I’m doing further study, I have more time for Mo Mo and even planned to BF till 2 years. But somehow, the output is getting less and I find that it is better to stop her addiction, the ealier the easier.
Well.. it’s been 2 weeks she has sort of forgotten about it. On the first night, in fact, we tried to let her sleep with daddy but failed coz she cried too much for mummy. So we changed to Plan B, i.e, slept with mummy, no BF. To my amaze, she was fine, she fell asleep on my chest, instead of sucking. She woke up 2 times and cried a little but not long, I tried to offer her milk bottle but she refused. It was not what she needed. It was just habitual wake-up. The next days, she fell asleep on my chest and then gotta put her down slowly. She woke up 1 or 2 times just to make some noise and continued to sleep. Now the second addiction is sleeping on mummy, not on the bed. I guess she needs body touch to fall asleep as baby sitter carry her to sleep in day time. So, I tried to make her sleep on the bed by praising her “wow, Mo Mo can sleep on the bed”. So, she tried to please me.. she just fell asleep on the bed for the first time after 2 weeks!
Power of Praise works extremely well for her but not always for Ben.
It’s been a long time we haven’t gone for a family trip by road due to a few reasons. We have made trips by flights which seems to be easier than driving for hours. Recently, we realized the need to have some fun and planned a day trip to Taiping, which is a neighbor to Penang yet, never been explored. To add more fun, our good friends, Andrew, Kylie and their lovely princesses, Chloe & Shanice joined us! They were born just a week and a month away from Ben & Anniina. We all had fun in Taiping Zoo and children couldn’t stop running and flying around like butterflies in famous Lake Garden which offers breathtaking view.
This little girl is really making us laugh by her new words day by day. You know what she told me recently? “Mummy, I want to see cartoon, 612″. Yes that’s one of her favorite channels whereas, Ko Ko always ask for 616. She also said “Mummy, what are you doing?”. I was like “huh?”. Is that what 20-month-old supposed to ask? It may not sound funny to you but to me, it really is. She is talking as if 24 months+. Based on our memory, Ben was still saying 2-3 words sentences at this age. Her cute words these days are “Excuse me” when she wants ways in or out and “I’ve got it” when she found something she’s looking for :*)
Her latest development is “toilet seat” which she calls “baby chair”. Yeah! she can now pooh and wee on baby toilet seat, saving us the job of washing the potty.. She has actually overtaken Ko Ko because Ko Ko uses toilet at school but still sticks to potty at home especially at TV time as he does not want to miss it. She is proudly telling everyone “Mo Mo sit baby chair”.