Double-storey-house what to do-s!

HURRAH!!! We are going to collect the keys of our new house this Thursday!
May even get to more in before Chinese New Year! But, let's hold our horses for a while!

Now, this is my first time in a double storey house with kids.

So, one question I can think of now.

When your toddler wants to sleep at 10 pm and you have a movie also at 10 pm, what do you do?

Coz the kid sleeps upstairs and your TV is downstairs.

I am planning to have a gate at the staircase but what happens if he wants something? Or if he wakes up and gets into mischief?

Planning to let them sleep in the master bedroom with us to reduce the cost of making an adjoining door. Maybe I can create another TV line in the next room and make another living room upstairs?

What should I consider when having a mischievious monkey of a child in a double storey house? And (*wink*) have to consider when the other baby comes along as well.

No words to describe it.....

High fever for 3 days starting Wednesday night.
Thursday early morning 3 am, temperature hit a mind boggling 40 degress.

Joint pains on Friday lasting till now still.

Red dots sprouted on Sunday lasting till now still.

Grandma SOS-ed down from Ipoh to help me take care of Christopher so that I can go back to work and show some decency of being an employee still!

Maybe another 2-3 days of annual leave required to take care of him.

I am also seriously ill due to 2 nights of NO sleep and 4 nights of interrupted sleep.

All effect of ? The MMR immunization.

Some kids have it bad, some kids have it easy. One of those things!
***
On a high note, my son knows how to come down from our bed now and come out of the room himself. Previously when he wants to get down, he would sit and call for us to come help him down.

Grandma says he is such a clever boy....
***
Even despite all the crying and all the fretfullness and all the demanding cries, he is still a darling pet and a clever boy!

I think I need a long weekend break all over again!

A random act, a purposeful thought

I put back on my ring today.
It could only fit on my middle finger.
But I wanted to wear it again.
***
I am a child of God. That, in itself is sufficient.
Lord, you are my son's Healer.
***
Things have been hard, days have been longer, nights have been cold and endless.
Hope sunny days and rainbows are in the horizon.

Stomp, pitter patter away

STOMP (squeek) STOMP (squeek) STOMP(squeek) .... off he went walking like a giant !

Here comes Missy with a scissors.

snip snip snip .... off the tag went.

Pitter (squeek) patter STOMP (squeek), pitter patter (squeek) STOMP....

Bend and touch, bend and touch ...

"Let's go", I say.

Don't touch me, GO AWAY !

There he goes again pitter (squeek) patter STOMP (squeek) STOMP !

"Come on, this way! Hey...hurry up!"

Go away.... let me go again.... pitter (squeek) STOMP STOMP (squeek) patter.
***
You know what happened?
We got Christopher a new pair of shoes.
And the left side makes a squeeking sound.
Which interested him to NO END.
And it took us 1 hour to walk from Bata back to the carpark!
He has a great interest in walking with his new shoes now.

Defining moments

I was sad. Not blue or moody or melancholic. But sad. Sad to the core of my being. Sad to the point where nothing else really mattered.

Thank God the bathroom was empty. I slumped to the bench and cried my heart out. There were no more tears to cry.

"Please God, take this hurt away."

"Please God, let me not rely on people to make me happy."

"Please God, give me peace."

I was in Form Six. I was not a Christian then.

From the bench where I sat, I looked up.
There was a little window in front of me.

And from that little window, I saw the cross.
The cross on the roof of the church beside my school.

And then a sense of peace enveloped me.
And a sense of warmth filled my soul.
There was no more room for sorrow, no more room for pain.

One defining moment - when God heard my cry and touched my soul!
***
My sense of excitement was marginal.
I was more anxious.

There was my graduation gown to collect. I wonder if they had indeed got my order and payment done. There was no reply from the email requesting confirmation that I had sent them.

I would be meeting my ex and his parents. They were "monsters"!

The 1 closest friend I wanted there with me was still in Australia. It's ok, I thought, there will be others. Sigh......but still....

I got my gown and walked around the hall taking photos with my family and other friends.

The parents were ushered in and we were lined up according to a list.

The speeches were short. I was not paying attention really! My excitement was heightening. Really because I was afriad I would trip on stage or that something or other would happen.

We were signalled to start the line. I watched one by one go up the stage. When it came to my turn, the speaker stopped. I looked at her. She didn't start the usual way of just mentioning my name.

Oh....it would seem that in the whole batch of Economics and Finance graduates who have gathered here today, I was the only one who passed with Distinction in my degree!!!!

They gave me no clue. I did not know. I was overjoyed. I was so overjoyed.

There was a sense of pride and confidence that I walked up to the stage then.

It was not a competition of winning or losing among peers.
It was only the joy of achievement for me.

We had to say our pledge then. A pledge to always uphold etc.etc. It may sound cheezy to some but I said it with all my heart.

One defining moment, the joy of an unexpected achievement. No other has ever come close to that feeling to date.
***
It is good to keep stock of moments in your life that made you happy and contented. It is good to read back and reflect upon these moments.

Knowing that life is good and bound to get better.

Have a good weekend everyone. Think of your defining moments and let me know if you have written a list of them in your blog!

Ordinary or extraordinary

A mother was upset with her child. From an outsider's standpoint, it would seem that the mother was upset because her child failed to be extraordinary.

She must have some high standards. Or perhaps her definition of extraordinary was different from that of her child.

That got me thinking.

Ever hear of the phrase "Perfectly Ordinary" ?
Now ever hear of the phrase "Perfectly Extraordinary"?

I think I only have heard of ordinary being perfect. I have never heard of extraordinary being perfect.

Sometimes ordinary may just be the best thing for our child. And in accepting the ordinary, things just seem perfect.

Expectations = child's capabillity

In the end, the mother died regretting the way she had done things wishing she had a chance to do it all over again.

Do not let the guilt of our mistakes make us force our children to never make mistakes in their life.

Guess who, guess what

Guess who?

So, hubby and I were walking in 1U last Saturday when just outside of Watson, hubby meets an acquaintance. So, I brought my son to the side while hubby and Mr W starting talking just a bit. Mr W was waiting for Mr S to come out from Watson.

When Mr S came out, hubby introduced me to him.

We shook hands and after a few words both Mr W and Mr S left.

They were many steps ahead of uss when hubby leaned over to me and asked:

"Do you know who just shook your hand?"

"No, who?"

"Sonny San."

Oooohhhhh......so that was Sonny San. And this was how hubby knew him!

***

Guess what?

At last we took Christopher down to the swimming pool. He just got well and is due for his MMR jab, but we decided to give him (and us) a break this weekend.

He LOVES it. He was kicking around and splashing around.

I knew he was a bit nervous, coz occasionally he hung on to me for dear life!

(We were too lazy to blow up the float)

It was kind of like nervous fun for him!

A melancholic knot in my throat

There is something about ABBA that brings too much of melancholy to my day.

Perhaps the music reminds me of my grandfather.

Or perhaps it reminds me of those younger days when we stayed 2 weeks with my grandparents. My uncle was still dating then. And my life was filled with dancing, singing and drawing during the hols!

Or perhaps it is because of the love they shared and their life in the end (the two As and the two Bs, that is). Hard it is when a music group you love splits. Harder still it is when you know that marriages also ended.
Looked up Wikipedia lately on the foursome. And on Björn Ulvaeus, the final line of his personal life section wrote:

Ulvaeus has suffered from severe memory loss and no longer remembers much of his life. He has little memory of being famous and has even turned to hypnotism to try and bring back his memory.

Or perhaps it is the music, the lyrics, the slow melody.

Or perhaps it is just a combination of it all.

***
Sometimes we just want to hold on to that which is sweet taking out the bitter

One *sweet* moment

I plopped myself on the sofa. Hubby was out and I had just finished cleaning Christopher's poop-y bum, wiped him down and got him into his PJ top. He had followed me to the kitchen to throw his soiled diaper and was just catching up with me in the living room. After a minute of pondering, he started to walk towards the bedroom. I saw him go in from the sofa and started counting. Give him 10 and if he doens't come out by then, I would go investigate what treasures he has found. On the count of 4, he toddled out, swinging his right arm vigorously (we call it exercising!) and smiled at me.

I half thought he would walk to me and give me a hug. But he just stopped there half way, turned around and walked back to the room.

I asked "Boy, want to oi oi (sleep) already?" He turned around to look at me and then continued his walk to the bedroom.

I counted again. Not after 3 counts, he pops his head out again, takes a few steps towards me and then heads back to the bedroom.

"Ahh...want to oi oi already ah? So early?"
It was only 8.30 pm.

I went to the room, turned on the fan and lifted him up onto the bed. He rolled himself into position, got out his thumb and fell asleep.

Life is easy when they can tell you what they want to do.
***

Around 9.45 pm, I was in the kitchen with my sister getting her a ginger honey drink. I heard a "Ma..ahhhhh, Ma..ahhhhh". I thought it was the TV coz sonny boy rarely gets up late at such hour. But he was up, sitting at the edge of the bed calling for me to come to him.

I got in and lied down with him. And he cuddled up to me, rolled around, sat up and plopped down again. Decided to get up to get his milk.

Oohh...no ! I don't get to go unless I carry him along with me too! So, yes, I have mastered the art of making milk with one hand and holding him with my other (painful, going to break) arm!

He is a total manja ("Spoilt") case when he is semi-awake.
***

Hubby was back from work, Christopher in hand.

As soon as I open the door, my little boy starts to smile and wiggle and reach out to me.

"Not yet boy! Wait for mummy to open the door!"
Hubby had one bag pack, son in arm and his other free hand carrying a pot of sour vege (chap sui) that our babysitter had made for our dinner.

I hurried to open the door and took him from hubby. Walked in and put him down in the living room.

Off he went to his toy bucket, got one and turned around. He did not see me behind him but saw hubby walk into the bedroom.

Lonely lonely him, he bawled/called "Aahh...Aahhh..AaaAaaHhhh!"
No, he doesn't knwo the magic word of Daddy or Mummy yet!

Since I was standing behind him, I called "Boy, mummy is here. Don't worry!"
Not like he was worrying. He just didn't want to be left alone/behind.

He turned around and saw me. Dropped his toy and waddled towards me, arms stretched.
Ahhh....hug hug time.

He will look for you if you are not around and will bawl after you if he cannot catch up with you fast enough.
***

He had screened through the entire condo, went through almost every drawer and peeked through almost every cupboard.

But once in a while he finds something new. And still loves to share his little secrets with mummy and daddy.

So, he toddles purposefully over to me, something in hand.

I know I am to ask "What did you find? What little treasure is that? Can you let mummy see?"
More coz I am afraid he found something dangerous.

He will walk over come close to me/lean onto me/stand in front of me (depending on his mood) and give it to me.

Sometimes when I hold it up, he goes "Wahhhh!" (in amazement) and I would have to go "Waaahhhh" too! That would get me a smile and maybe even a walk to put it back!

Chrsitopher finds things amazing and really does want to share in his excitement.
***

There is a new game he has leant. It really started accidentally.
We know it as horse back riding.

Christopher loves his horse back rides. And now whenever I sit on the edge of the bed and tap my shoulders, he would rrruuussshhh to get up, walk over and put his arms on my shoulders and get ready to have his legs picked up around my waist.

He would laugh when I jiggle around. And sometimes scare me when he looses his grip on my shoulder or on my shirt.

And he does that on purpose sometimes coz he knows I would then rush to put him down ont he bed and then pretend to fall down with him.

Then giggle giggle, roll roll and then up we go again!

Christopher loves action, more contact games these days. He knows how to ask for it by tapping on my shoulder and knows when I am ready to give it to him as well.
***

He was walking around and playing with his toys, occasionally looking around to make sure daddy or mummy is nearby.

I sit on the floor to be eye-level with him so that I can talk to him and play with him easier.

He catches my eye and smiles.

"Boy, hug hug?"

He looks at me, gets up and walks over to me with his arms stretched out.

And literally walks over to me and wraps his little arms around my neck!

There is no greater feeling in the world!

Christopher understands what is a hug, loves to get it from mummy and obliges mummy with one all the time.
***

Each to their own

Everyone has their own way or idea on how best to maintain good health.

Some believe in supplements, the western pill popping kind.

Some believe in Chinese herbs and swear by them.

Some believe in going the natural way....maybe organic now after the melamin scare?!

***

As you know, my current aim is to build up the immune system of my entire family.

(Yes, hubby has been falling illl more often lately too although he gets to sleep through the night!)

So, I really have to do something. I am not really for or against any particular theory. Reckon sometimes a mixture of all does help. And of course a good diet is the base.

But there are things that I have choosen to help me along the way.

Regular doses of Vitamin C - hubby, boyboy and me!

A teaspoon a day for general health - boyboy only!

Trying to take this monthly - though my tongue seldom cooperates with me and LOVES to thrust all those teeny weeny pills left and right around my mouth - only for me!

My most expensive buy yet. But the content of cactus juice, royal jelly and wild honey is known to work wonders - hubby, boyboy and me!

Other things I (and sometimes I push some to hubby) have resorted to taking include Noco, Pearlin, Triflora, Lidan and Refresh - all products of E-Excel. And also Pharmaton and ginseng when required.

Other stuff include Lo Hon Kor, Barley and Ho Yan Hor. And the once in a while Chinese herb-mixture soups!

***

Sure seems like alot of stuff! What about you?

Friday night out and weekend in

The streets were pretty empty on Friday. So, hubby and I decided to have a night out and venture where we would never have gone otherwise.

We took a drive to check out this new place told to us by PN.

Fullhouse is in a new development called NZX Complex. When I google searched this, I was very surprised to find that NZX actually was a short form for NiuZeXui (a Chinese name!).

NZX is accessible either through a small entrance/sudden roadturn opposite the Subang LRT depot OR a more obvious entrance opposite the Crimson Condominiums.

The concept of Fullhouse is really unique. You can either choose to hang out in the garden or indoors or upstairs. The place is relaxing, maybe becuase there were not many people there that night. And the waiter/waitresses are very friendly.

Food wise, the selections are quite wide from Western fare to noodles. The selection of desert is superb. Small cakes cost RM2.50 each. Small enough for you to try a few without seeming too greedy! The drinks were also fairly priced and had a large variety.

We had the Soft Shell Crab, Wok Seared Chicken, 2 deserts (excellent!), lemon green tea and chocolate peppermint shake. Total bill approx. RM45.

After dinner we walked around the complex and took some shots of the shops there. The Chinese shop sells alot of wedding stuff. And the Starbucks cafe is 3 storeys with a rooftop sitting.

Christopher boy enjoying his Friday night out as well.

***

And then over the weekend we were stuck at home.

Why? Little one had hives (fung mok, in Cantonese). So, no wind, no bathe and a whole lot of calamine for him.

Took him to the Chinese doctor and cost of medication RM88 for his prolonged cough, slight flu and the hives.

New Illness Rule

- when Western medication doesn't work after 1 week, then it will be Chinese medication for him.

After his recovery, it would be his MMR jab and then a great need to boost his immune system!

2nd year anniversary lessons

I was reading back on the lessons I wrote on my 1st anniversary. I think it is good that year in year out, I reflect back and see if I have improved as a wife and if we have improved as a couple.

I am a firm believer of moving forward and improvements.

Communication was one of my 1st anniversary lessons. And it is still in progress.

I am a person of high expectations and I always get a wee bit irritated when hubby doesn't seem to know how I like things done or what I would have liked to have!

The other day, I asked him to get "it" for me and he was looking around seeing where I had put "it"! So, of course I got a bit irritated. Common sense dictated where "it" should be. And I showed it in my voice and actions. Which resulted in hubby also being upset and acting out!

At the end of the day, I told hubby that his acting out really upsetted me. And on my side, I should not have expected him to know where I had placed the "it".

So, you see, it is still in progress.

But at least we are talking about our mistakes and moving on.
And we still share loads of stuff about our past, present and future together.

House chores are no longer a big deal for me. Ironing is a matter of fact. And so is sweeping, cooking, mopping, washing clothes and etc.etc.

I have requested hubby to help me in the folding clothes which he does faithfully now. And sometimes he helps put it away as well - as in into the different rooms!

***
Lessons for me to take into the next year would be to nag less, I guess. It comes requested from hubby.

I tell him "If you remember to do what I told you the first time, I wouldn't have to remind/nag you about it right?". But if it concerns him as much as that, I guess something has to be done.

Does your hubby complain you nag too much? Do you have any anniversary lessons?