Kids these days

Hubby got his ipad2 at last. It was my gift to him for the year - all occasions covered! :)

When Christopher saw it, he was like "hmmm....mummy, what is this?" He had that look in his eye. So I told him "It's daddy's things. Cannot touch."

Later in the night, hubby was showing me some of the stuff he had downloaded for me. Again, Christopher came up and sat beside me looking at the ipad2. He asked me again "Mummy, what is this? Is it a big phone?"

I looked at him and put the ipod next to the ipad. "It's something like this ipod. But it's bigger. It's called an ipad." No point hiding the gadget from him since it's going to be around alot. And better to tell him what it is rather than agreeing that it is a big phone!


Anyways, I have decreed that Christopher is not allowed to play with the ipad. He is to have limited use of the ipod and that is it.

Later that night, I was thinking about these days...


Travel these days is easier thanks to AA. Parents these days are getting more generous. There are more things these days that are seemingly good for us. And so kids these days are getting alot at an earlier time.


What used to be a luxury for us is now becoming common for kids. We never got to go overseas when we were young. If ever we got to go, it was when we were much older. Now, kids are travelling as soon as parents find they can handle them overseas.


And computers and handphones were only given to us when we were college students or we got it ourselves when we started working. And back then it was a necessity not a fashion statement. These days primary kids have handphones. Admittedly it is an easier way to reach them....but....parents can be creative if they want to be.

As for toys and books and presents! Gosh....I remember getting presents only for my birthday. And that too not all the time. Now, kids get presents every other weekend.

I wonder if the ball keeps rolling this way, would my grandchildren be travelling overseas every holiday? Presents becoming a daily thing? The 'i' (pod/pad/phone) or any other technology be a common appearance in their infant lives? What would be the reward for generations to come?

Our Weekend

Penang 2011. Lunch @ Lorong Selamat.

I actually had big plans to have lunch @ Old House in Lebuh Cintra. BUT I forgot to bring my print out map. The kids were getting agitated and the sky was getting dark. So, we ventured back to safe territory.

During lunch, it poured. Caylee pooped AND spitted out all her porridge on her clothing. Christopher was the saving grace - he ate up all his koay teoh t'ing! One less worry.

Decided to give Lebuh Cintra a go after settling Caylee. Set the GPS and headed there. Penang was super JAM! And I thought KL was bad.

Mission FAILED. We found the road but hubby made a turn off too early...and the shop was on the other end of the road. So, I never found it. And thus didn't manage to get my bak zhang either.

The kids were pratically WHINNING by now. As Christopher says "Where are we going mummy? Why are we stuck in the car? The place is so far away meh?" I can understand how he felt.

Hubby reset the GPS for Lebuh Chulia to Rainforest Bakery. We found the road (GPS cannot go wrong) and hubby asked me to look out for the bakery. I was too busy with the kids.....told him to forget it. Anyway, he found the bakery and went in to buy the organic focacia bread. We ate it up before I remembered to take any pics. It was GOOD! :)

Drove on to the hotel.

Caylee is one curious girl. Set her down in the room and she makes a headway for drawers and bathtubs and toilet bowls and the 'bar' food. See the kids going through the 'bar' basket. And Caylee grabbing 2 items and claiming it to be HERS!

We got her a cot. But she wailed her way out of it. She much prefers the bed. In the end, we had to carry her to sleep before putting her into the cot.

If Penang = food, my holiday was a disaster. I was eating up Caylee's porridge which she insisted on spitting out after her 8th bite while she decided to munch on biscuits instead. The only tidbits I had was Or Chien, which was the only thing I really wanted to eat after all. I had hotel biscuits for supper due to lack of a proper dinner! Sigh....

HOWEVER....I managed to get my totally yummy goreng pisang for a Sunday treat. On the way from Batu Ferrighi to town, look out for this van on the right. I saw it and force hubby to make a U turn to get it for me.

It was SOOOOO worth it. The batter was thin and crispy. The banana was sweet and ripe. Oh....just thinking about it now makes all the stress of the kids worth while.

As for beach and pool? Christopher was screaming blue murder when I tried to bring him to the beach. Days of watching the Tsunami on the news backfired on us. He was afraid the waves would eat him up like it did in Japan to 'those' people! And he literally screamed for me to come back to 'safety' when I wanted to at least dip my legs into the water. Sigh...

He had a good enough time at the pool.

As for Caylee....sigh....we didn't manage to get her a swimming suit in time. So she mainly sat by the pool. And daddy being the one managing her didn't want the hassle of making her wet and dirty. So, she was mostly safe in daddy's arms watching us from a near distance.

They had a snake show though. And brave little girl touched a snake. No pics coz I was in the pool.

We went to Hard Rock for the first time too. GOSH...the place is lovely. Christopher exclaimed "Mummy, we stay here. Don't go back to the other hotel!". I understand how he feels.

I would say my favourite day was Monday. Grandparents took care of the kids while I had 2 hours of retail therapy. Bought 2 pants from Giodarno, present from hubby. Parents also got me a Berry Choc Cheese Cake from Secret Recipie.

We came back to KL on Wesak Day. Took me 4 hours to clean up the place, change the sheets and iron clothes for work tommorrow. Had birthday dinner at this place. We were all tired and in not that great a mood. Managed to pull through the night with minimal fuss.

The kids meal came in a boat which thrilled Christopher.

Caylee had some mash, again rejecting her porridge.

Kids update

Caylee is a late bloomer but she puts the phrase 'slow and steady' to full usage.

Her 2 bottom teeth spouted fully on her 11th month. And as of now, her top 2 teeth are just erupting.

She was a good crawler right till her birthday, walking only an occasional step or few. But now she is walking steadily everywhere she goes. Only when she needs to be FAST or cannot walk (like on the bed) she will resort to crawling. And she is very steady on her feet. Dancing aside when Christopher comes around her. And stepping over obstacles. And inching away when doors close.

She plays toys as how they are to be played. Fisher Price stackers are being stacked big to small and careful through each donut hole. She turns pages and presses all the right buttons to make noise.
She has better focus and is at the stage of mimicing, so she looks at how we play with the things and follows suit.

She is also a keen observer. Take her to a new place and you will have her staring away. Bring her to the park and she will be looking at everyone around.

And she loves to climb. She will climb everything she can get her little feet on to. She has mastered the bed and the sofa. And loves to follow her brother up the slide. Mummy has to be with her unfortunately coz Christopher is not patient enough to wait. And mummy is scared! hahahaha....

Last night, hubby and I were alternating asking her to pass us stuff. So, she knows who 'mummy' is and who 'daddy' is. She understands 'water'. She knows how to 'give' and 'take'. Doesn't do her byebye anymore. Bored already. When she puts food to her mouth, she goes 'ummm'. She understands 'nen nen' and 'mumm mumm'.

She knows what I expect when I say 'No' but half the time her curiousity get the better of her. She is a very stubborn and strong willed girl. If she wants to touch something, she WANTS to touch something. I guess survival kicks in coz she need to 'fight' for everything with kor kor - mummy's time included. Tried disciplining her that day and ended up she in hysterics and me giving her an alternative. It would take some time and effort. Reckon there are some things I would just not do to avoid her getting 'angry'.

Every night she loves her short play time. She will pretend to lie down on the bed and then when I am about to come to pat her, she will scramble for her dear life away from me. And then look back and laugh and laugh. We play 'chase' all around the room. And then take another 15 minutes or so to wind down, pray and sing songs.

I usually try to get her to bed by 9 pm so that I can have some time with the son.

Christopher.....

Well....he is a sensible boy. I have always prayed for him to be and indeed he is growing up to be one.

It is always tough for me when my parents are down to take care of him. Reason being, they coax him to do stuff. And wait for him and walk with him to do chores. Me? I will be hanging clothes and then yelling to him from the kitchen to come in to brush teeth like NOW. Of course I wait like 2 minutes and then shout again. So much as I love my parents to be here, when they leave, it will be a few days of tantrum throwing and heavy disciplining.

But he is sensible in that he knows I mean business and that the 'honeymoon' period is over. Time to get his butt moving before he gets a slap on the butt! But well...he also realises that if he is good, that would mean mummy would spend more time with him (instead of fuming in one corner).

He loves colouring. I tell you....we can make money selling all the colouring pages he has done. He also loves writing and counting. Every night, we would do 20 minutes to an hour of colouring/writing/counting. He is not much of a reader, so only some nights we read his Peter and Jane. However, he still loves picking out words in magazines and brochers and newspapers that he knows. So, reading is not totally lost on him.

Picking up his mandarin pretty well. But the teacher says his interest seem to have waned. Partly coz he doesn't like the fact that he has to continue studying while some of his friends are downstairs playing.

Now a Ben 10 Ultimate Alien/Alien Force fan. Believe me, these kids know the difference. And which monster/alien is in which cartoon. So, 6 pm is HIS time on channel 616.

As for the 2 kids together....

Sometimes they play together. Most times they fight.

Caylee cries before she intends to take any of kor kor's stuff.
Christopher hardens his fist and growls at her.
And I have to take her away before either she hits him or he hits her.

Occasionally, kor kor will stroke her hair when she cries. And he can really distract her out of her crying.

Penang Penang here we come!

Just confirmed a booking to Penang on the 14th weekend. It will only be one night. So, Please God let the weather be good. Hope the police don't do their raids that night. I really want to get my GLEE DVDs.

Any GREAT suggestions where to eat? CHILDREN friendly places please.

***Addition***
By the way, my colleague told me there is this air con place which has good hawker fare along Lebuh Cintra. Downstairs selling antiques and the shop is upstairs. Anyone know about this shop and if it is open for lunch/dinner?

So the rant has become a cheer now! :)

I'm tired.

I wish fullstops could be bigger. Then I would write I(fullstop) AM(fullstop) TIRED(fullstop).

My colleague is in a rotten mood. She is doing an assignment and I guess she is at the stage of almost wanting to throw it away. So, I better stay a feet away from her until she is done. Her books are quite thick and will surely cause harm if she flings one my way.

Hubby is still away in Bangkok. Coming back Saturday evening. But I reckon he would be too poofed to entertain the kids. Considering he has to wake up at 5 am to catch his flight.

And he just told me he would need to travel again next month. And one more longer one in October.

Which means in between he would be rather busy catching up on his routine work. And the extra effort of orientating himself with what he has learnt.

Sigh....I wonder who has it worse? The one doing the travelling or the one staying at home?

Anyway....this is just a rant. A tired rant.