Have a better picture of what Hao Re does at home during this "sick" week!
Mopping the floor


Playing with drawing board - the "abnormal" way


Playing with Megablock


Playing with musical instrument - the kidda normal way


Playing with musical instrument - the funny way



Crying because Mama didn't let him open the fridge. Nowadays he walks to the fridge and tries to open it very often. The IKEA lock really works!

The supposedly sick child..... but he is all very active and a great helper too :-)

What, baba said I shouldn't stand up on the high chair......
But it sounds fun.....
Let me try anyway
Yeah, it's FUN!!!

It is a drawing board (a new toy we bought for him recently if you remember)
But he kinda bored with it already, since he is not really into drawing yet.
He "invented" his own way of playing......
Upside down...... don't understand what he is trying to do though :-)


A little musician in the making :-)
Another new toy we bought for him recently - it's a mixed musical toy (like 9-in-1 or something)
This is the very rare scene whereby he plays it the "proper" way
Most of the time, he plays with his own way :-)
He loves music and dancing, we reckon!


Yes right, my very hardworking little helper
Imitating his daddy mopping the floor. He took out the mop and the designated mopping pale from the laundry area
And mopped the floor like his daddy does every weekend
And he is smart that thinking using 2 mops would be more efficient than just 1 :-)


And this too!
Imitating his daddy watering the bonsai
Like doing it for real ya (actually there is no water inside the watering pot)


Though he is still taking medicine, but he is all well. No fever at all for the past few days. Cough has improved a lot, running nose also improved a lot. Blisters have all dried up. Eczema also seems to be disappearing soon. So I don't feel like taking care of a sick child, rather it's accompany a very active child at home!

And it's really not easy to accompany an active child at home ALL DAY LONG! He is getting bored with his toys. And I can't bring him out, yet. For the past 4 days, daily activities are rotating betwee play and watch tv. He automatically sits on the sofa and asks to turn on the tv when he is bored playing, and vise versa. He is the PRINCE, he makes the calls. Me as his poor maid, just to follow his instruction :-) He hasn't gained back his appetite yet, else would have one more thing to keep him occupied.

Well anyway, just 1 more day to go, and that will (hopefully) end my 1-week long stay-at-home-mum contract. Pray hard he will "pass" his review on Saturday and will be allowed to go back to the infant care again on coming Monday.

I love these photos, hope you like it too!

It was taken by the photographer during Uncle John and Auntie Adeline ROM at the Botanical Garden back in end Nov (note: uncle John still HAVEN'T uploaded his photos on FB yet, will link it here when he does it, they are a very nice couple!). The new couple was so kind to put the photographer to be on same table with us. So he kindly took some photos of my cute little pie :-)

So here comes the photos (Hao Re was 11 months old then):

Ops, we were being too optimistic

As per my last post, we thought Hao Re has successfully fought off the germ, and recovered from his sudden fever, oh no, we were wrong........... there was more to come.

We spent most of the weekend at home, as hubby was rushing for some of his work. Hao Re was totally "normal", as in active and all, the only "abnormal" thingy was that his appetite was not as good as usual due to the coughing, but still willing to eat and still drinks lots of fluid.

On Sunday evening, hubby suddenly asked me could it HFMD, because he saw blisters developed on his palm and feet. After some discussion and researching on the internet, we thought it was not, as Hao Re didn't have any recurrence fever since last Friday. While for HFMD, the most obvious symptom is to have high fever. We thought it's just the spread of his eczema.

Still sent him to school on Monday morning. His teacher called me at about 11am, telling me that they thought it could be HFMD, and asked me to bring him to PD to confirm. With thier many of experiences, and for the sake of the other children, I immediately left my work place and rushed to Dr Keoy's clinic.

They were lots of patients at the clinic. I asked to jump the queue, so that Hao Re won't have the chance to play with others and spread the virus. That stupid nurse (sorry for being rude, but I was really upset at the time) asked me "how do you know if this is HFMD, have you seen another doctor already? There are about 20 patients in the queue, you know, I am not sure if I can let you cut the queue....". I was really upset and replied (with my angry, almost shouting voice), "if it's already confirmed HFMD by another doctor, why do you think I still need to come here for? If you cannot decide to let me cut the queue, go and ask Dr Keoy, and let him decide if he wants to see my boy first. If my boy has the HFMD virus and unfortunately spread to other children, are you going to take the responsiblity?". Only then she went in to Dr Keoy room. And yes, I was right, Dr Keoy asked to see my boy IMMEDIATLEY without anymore waiting.

When I was in there, I apologized to have to cut the queue, and Dr Keoy said that's the right thing to do. But I didn't complain about the nurse, as my boy is more important than anything else.

Hao Re was very reluctant to let Dr Keoy touched him, unlike the previous visit. Dr Keoy jokingly commented that it's actually normal for Hao Re to not to like him anymore, as he grows smarter now, and knows who Dr Keoy is (ya, the bad guy who might poke him on the buttock :-)). With force, we managed to lie him down (crying), and Dr Keoy saw some ulcers in his mouth. So, yes, unfortunately it's confirmed a HFDM :-(

Luckily Dr Keoy commented it's a mild version. So Hao Re should recover soon. Dr Keoy said the fever on Friday night could be the trigger. And this time round, Hao Re developed blister on hands and foot, unlike the last time when he was diagnosed with HFMD, only mouth and throat ulcers, but lots of them until he refused to drink and eat.

Just for record, Dr Keoy prescribed these medicine for HFDM:

1. Zovirax suspension - an anti-virus medicine (and an expensive one, costs me $56.64 before GST).

2. Zoral cream - to be applied on the blisters

Also, got medicine for Hao Re's cough and running nose (just started on Monday morning) and the itchiness due to the eczema:

3. Rhiniramine syrup - for cold

4. Mucosolvon liquid (Axol) Ventolin - for wheezing, cough and phlegm

5. Atarax syrup - for itch and allergy

And will need to go for a review on Saturday to make sure he is fit to go back to the infant care centre again.

I am sure my boy is going to recover soon. So this week, I am staying at home with 24hours a day, cannot even leave the house, both of us will be "guarentined" at home for the next few days. And I am sure we will both enjoy this special week for exclusive mum and son bonding :-)

2 photos to show the blisters:

Luckily it's gone after a mere 12 hours, phew!!!

Hao Re's teacher called me on 5pm+ on Friday, informing me that Hao Re had just developed fever and got very cranky. I was already on the way there and so I alerted hubby we might need to make a trip to Thomson to consult Dr Keoy (again, we went on Monday for the eczema).

When I arrived at the school, Hao Re was very please to see me, and got stuck on me immediately, refusing to let go. His temperature was not that high, so we decided didn't have to bring him to see Dr Keoy right away, monitored for 1 night and see how it went. We went home right away. I was actually planning to bring him to have some fun at the CCK park, oh well, that has to be put on hold, obviously.

Throughout the night, he was okay, still wanting to play though he was tired and energetic level was low. Fed him one dose of paracetamol, which he obediently took it. Played with him and continued to monitor his temperature. Highest recorded was 39C. When hubby arrived home, Hao Re was ready to be put to bed. He only drank very little milk, like 30ml or so, and preferred to sleep.

Throughout the midnight, I woke up almost every hour to touch on his forehead. Not too alarming. Except when it's closed to 4am, it's a bit hot, so I used the wet tower to sponge him lightly.

When we woke up in the morning at about 7am, HURRAY, no more fever!!! But what we found out later was that he has some phlegm, which caused a bit of coughing. But not bad, just very mild one. So I concluded that Hao Re has SUCCESSFULLY FOUGHT OFF the virus! His body has somehow managed to get rid of the virus, resulting in the formation of phlegm. And this made me to think that Hao Re has really built up a very strong immunity, I said this pretty confidently, because when his little friends at school have flu etc, he didn't get any from them. I hope I am right. Now only left with the phlegm to be cleared off, which we will let it clear by itself without giving any medicine. His appetite was affected, but still he was willing to eat something and still drank plenty of water. I won't worry, especially that many people thought he is a bit FAT :-)

Keep yourself healthy, my darling boy!

Since he was well, we went off to run some errands today as planned, which I will tell you about it in my next blog. It's passed midnight now. Need to sleep :-)

It's fun time!

Recently Hao Re is very much into BLOCKS, that is, the Megablock and the Lego. Hubby bought Hao Re the Megablock back in 04th August 2008, when Hao Re turned barely 7 months old, while the Lego was one of his many birthday presents back in 04th January 2009.

We let him play with the Megablock once in a while, rotated with other toys, since he was 7 months. The Megablock has helped him to develop his gross motor skill. Initially he didn't really play with it, I think to him, it's just many different subjects with different colours and sizes lying in front of him. Later on, he started to learn how to stack one block onto the other, slowly and the blocks were not pressed closely against each other, and could only stack a few blocks together. Apparently, to be able to stack blocks IS an important development milestone for toddler (according to the Healthbook). So we continued to expose him to the block. We were glad he mastered block-stacking skill later on. I can't remember the date, but since that day, he is able to stack >10 Megablocks of different size firmly on each other, and effortlessly.

Later on, when he has stopped putting in everything into his mouth, I opened the Lego and let him play with it. Reason being the Lego are of smaller sizes and may pose as choking hazard for young toddler. He was happy to have some new blocks to play with. The Megablocks and Lego have different colour tones and sizes, so I supposed for a young kid like Hao Re, it's totally different kind of toy? And also, they make different sound when fall onto the floor, and Hao Re obviously observed that. Though Lego is of smaller size, Hao Re managed to stack them too, effortlessly.

Just these few days, we observed some new development of Hao Re. Firstly, he started to stack blocks of the same size together; he diligently picked up those of same size without the help of an adult. Secondly, he started to stack blocks of the same colour of same size. Thirdly, he stacked block very fast, only took him a couple of minutes to stack >10 small blocks together without any help. We were all so delighted to see these developments on him, which may seem trivial to you, but obviously it's something can make us happy for hours or even days!

Stacking blocks of same sizes and/or colours, smart boy, isn't he?
Megablock




Lego




Yes, I think blocks are great toys! To make the full use of the blocks, parents have to be creative also. Don't just think of it as stacking blocks, they are many ways you can play with the blocks. Have fun!

That's what Dr Keoy said when he saw Hao Re

The rashes on Hao Re has been persistantly appeared for weeks now, and there is still no sign of disappearing. We were being too optimistic previously, when we thought the rashes had disappeared without the needs of any treatment. We decided we shouldn't drag it any longer, whatever the diagnosis it is for the rashes, we have to bring him to see Dr Keoy, to have a peace of mind, at least. And it's actually very heart pain to see Hao Re scratches the rashes so hard until it bleeds.......

We were lucky today. The shortest queue ever! Maybe people avoided to visit hospital due to the swine flu thingy? After waiting for about 10min or so, it's our turn. When Dr Keoy saw the rashes on Hao Re's arms and hands, before I said anything, Dr Keoy "oh no, your son has very serious eczema!". The fact that it's not too crowded tonight helped. We can have more of Dr Keoy time, without feeling guilty of holding up the queue. Dr Keoy explained to us very clearly.

The cause - difficult to predict - can be due to 1) the food intake or 2) the environment or even just 3) the heat, or 4) genetic factor.

1) Food - Dr Keoy asked us to stop all the food and fruits that are highly allerginic, including all types of berries, seafood and nuts. I have been giving Hao Re blueberries and strawberries during the last month, which could be the cause? And the prawn and a little bit crab meat. And a bit of macademian and peanuts too. Have to stop all these immediately. Luckily Hao Re's reaction to the food was not that bad, if at all, it only caused eczema, so after the rashes have cleared, can try to give these food/fruit and monitor what's the reaction. There is no need to stop these food altogether. So I take it positively, not that bad after all, just some not-so-favourable reaction only :-)

2) Environment - could be dust, dust mites, etc. Dr Keoy advised to sun the bed whenever possible i.e., when the sun is shinning high, and to wash Hao Re clothes with warm water, i.e., to soak Hao Re clother in warm (>60C) soupy water before putting in to the washing machine (initially I thought he meant I have to hand wash Hao Re's clothes, luckily not :-)), and this could help to kill dust mites effectively.

3) Heat - it could very well be the cause for Hao Re. As most of the rashes appeared on the "junction/folds" of the arms and legs, which could be due to excessive perspiration because of the heat. No prevention, but just to keep him dry and clean as much as possible.

4) Genetics - hubby has got sensitive nose. Dr Keoy said Hao Re may have inherited those genes and now having sensitive skin? Just a prediction, maybe, can't say for sure.

The medication - Dr Keoy gave 1 type of cream (Elomet) to be applied on the rashes once in the morning. Also 1 bottle of special bathing soup (Oilatum Plus), to add 1/4 full of the cap into half full of bath tub. Let Hao Re sit inside and bath. Don't need to rinse off with water, just pat dry will do. Also, Dr Keoy advised to apply mosturiser (any type that is without perfume) as often as possible. He said taking fish oil could help, but since he didn't prescribe to Hao Re, I won't buy for Hao Re.

With this, I hope all those rashes will be cleared in no time, and my little Hao Re will gain back his nice smooth beautiful skin again. I have the confidence in Dr Keoy. Surely Hao Re will get well soon, and be the handsome boy again!

(p/s: Just to add on - Dr Keoy administered the Pneumococcal jab after the consultation. The jab will be due in 0.5 month time. So Dr Keoy did it earlier and saved us one trip. The next jab(s) will be 3 months later, and hopefully we won't need to see Dr Keoy till then (touch wood!!!)

Singapore Zoo and shopping at Tebrau City, JB

16th May 2009
Hubby went to work in the morning after taking bath with Hao Re (yes, top secret - they bathed together - their very special time, mummy can't get involved :-)). With the two of us at home, we had our breakfast, played, did a bit of house cleaning (Hao Re was helping by not creating more mess), and watched tv together, a nice morning passed just so quickily. Hubby called at about 11am and said he has done with his work. So we decided to make a trip to the Singapore Zoo, again (it's the 4th time for Hao Re). While we were waiting for the time to pass while watching tv, I saw that Hao Re was almost dozing off already. So I quickily packed his lunch (boiled sweet potato) and rushed to the car, as I reckoned it's better to let him sleep in the car for a longer stretch rather than waking him up about 20min later to start our journey. And I was right, as soon as I put him into his car seat, he fell asleep almost immediately. There was still about 30min before hubby arrived to the CCK MRT, so I went to the CCK park, and parked the car there to wait for hubby. Since I have nothing to do, called my mum and chatted with her for about 20min or so.

Arrived at the Zoo at about 1pm. Hao Re "automatically" woke up once hubby stopped the car engine. First thing to do was to have our lunch at the Ah Meng Coffee Shop near the entrance. Hao Re didn't want any food, just look around curiously and excitedly.

The first brief stop when we started exploring the zoo was where they showcast the parrots. See from the photo below how excited when he saw the birds! Immediately stood up on this strolle, with his big eyes lighted up, and later kept pointing and said "oh, oh, duck, duck" (he recognises and calls all the duck, bird, etc as duck, his favourite word, for now).

Excited toddler!


Then we went straight to let Hao Re ride on the elephant. Since about 2-3 months ago, his teachers have taught him to recognise and mimick an elephant. He would do the elephant act (cross his hand, 1 on his nose, the other hanging out, mimicking the truck of the elephant, if you get what I mean) and make the "aw" sound, whenever he saw an elephant, be it on a book, an elephant toy, or even some logo with the elephant picture in the mall. But this was his 1st time seeing a real elephant! We wondered what would his reaction be? Haha, as what we expected, he didn't get too excited when seeing the elephant, he didn't do the elephant act nor make the sound. He looked a bit, errrr, unsure of what he was actually looking. See, it is definitely not the same to learn something from the book/flash card than seeing the real thing.

First elephant ride for hubby and Hao Re
He was actually scared when first board on the elephant. Only settled down after a few minutes.


After that, went to walk around the park. Hao Re met Ah Meng, the statue. He was very curious at Ah Meng. And actually touched Ah Meng's hand.

Ah Re and Ah Meng


Until this point, we let him sit in his stroller. Our problem is, for now, that when Hao Re wants someone to carry him, he only wants Mama. He doesn't want Baba to carry him, don't know why. He would wail and cry and scream to ask for me. And poor me with my big tummy, as much as I would love to carry him, I just couldn't do it for long. To save my energy and my back, we let him sit in his stroller as much as he is willing to.

After about 30 minutes or so, we let him out of the stroller and let him explore. It's poor thing to just sit there and not to explore the surrounding. Luckily he didn't ask me to carry, he preferred to walk/run on his own. Phew! Lucky me! Once we let him down on the floor, he has totally forgot about his stroller. He was so happy, running here, running, there, pointed to this and that, and he "talked"/babbled non-stop. We were happy to just observe him and let him explore. Actually Hao Re was not attracted to the animals, he was more like loving to be running around, and interested in whatever he was seeing.

Hao Re: "Daddy, who's that?"
Daddy: "That's Hao Re!"
(actually this is the leopard "house", but Hao Re couldn't spot the leopard as it was hiding under the shed).


There was one when he slipped his feet and fell on the floor (gently though, didn't get hurt), both me and hubby were not rushing to "rescue" him, but just stood there, watched him and let him get up on his own. Some of the passer-by gave us that "why-don't-you-help-your-child" kind of look. But never mind that. Every parents have their right to set their way of parenting and how they would want their child to grow up. For us, we certainly don't want to over-protect or set too much expectation from our child, we just have to make sure we give him enough care and love, and let him grow at his own pace.

Daddy and son admiring the beautiful giraffes


After making the round looking at all the "wild" animals, i.e., the lion, the leopard, rhino, deer, etc, we made our way to the polar bear display. Since there are fans there, we made the stop, and let Hao Re has his sweet potatoes. He loves it and finished all of them! Hao Re didn't really see the Polar Bear, yes the bear was there resting, but even after we pointed and pointed to Hao Re where the bear was, there was no reaction from him :-(

Playing with Polar Bear's toy, see his big laugh!


We ended our zoo trip at about 3pm. Last thing, let me show you a few photos of Hao Re's signature gesture - pointing out 1 finger, which can mean many different thing. But that's another story altogether!


(p/s: If you noticed, it's the same short khaki again that Hao Re was wearing. He only has 1 short khaki and 1 long jean that are suitable for going out. As long as he looks clean and neat, that's it. I am really worry how am I going to dress up my baby girl nicely...... HELP!!!)

17th May 2009
Hao Re woke us up at 7am. We still tried very hard to laze on the bed until 7.30am. Then got prepared and off we left the house at about 8.30am. Heading to JB today. Made Hao Re a bottle of milk, buckled him up in his car seat while I sat at the front seat. Once he finished his milk, right before we arrived at the Singapore checkpoint, he had fallen asleep. Nice, super duper nice trip for us to enjoy!

Met our dear friend, Michael, for breakfast. Hao Re likes Michael very much, don't know why, they just "clicked"! Since Hao Re was very young, he likes uncle Michael. He wants Michael to carry and always smiles and communicates with uncle Michael :-)

After that, we went to Jaya Jusco at Tebrau City for a bit of shopping. Hubby got his hair cut. Hao Re supposed to have his, but he refused to have his hair cut. We didn't force him, just let him be. I wanted to buy 1-2 pair of flat shoes, but couldn't find anything I like. So at the end, everything was for Hao Re. Spent some time at the Toy-r-us. Bought him a magnetic/drawing board, which can be convert into a small table. We wanted to get him a study table, so this 3-in-1 toy just met all the purposes! He loves the xylophone toy, but didn't get for him, next time maybe.....

(NOTE: I compared some of the prices, as much as I can remember, the selling price for the same toy same brand is actually cheaper in Malaysia, for some of them at least).

Hao Re and his new toy.He loves it, especially like to sit on the stool.



n sales, 2 tins of 1.7kg only selling about RM78 per tin. Nice! Later went to Popular to get a parenting book, I have long been wanting to read up something about parenting. Hopefully can learn something from this book. Had our lunch and headed back.

Went straight to IMM, as hubby wanted to get some scissors for trimming his bonsai. We found everything we needed at Daiso, the $2 shop. I just simply love this shop - reasonable to good quality, great price, and lots of variety! And easily accessible from where we live. The only bothering thing is that finding a parking lot during weekends could make us swear (!) sometimes :-)

I was very tired already in the evening. So I wanted to just stay home and rest. So I asked hubby to bring Hao Re out to pack dinner for us. When they were out of the house, Hao Re realised I was not with them, so he turned back, picked up my sandals and passed to me, asked me to put on, and went out with them. Aiyoh, this is so sweet and so touching, even though I was dead tired, still went out with them, luckily just downstairs.

Today's dinner was KFC Zinger burger for me, and the fried chicken for hubby. I didn't feel like eating rice or noodle. The burger was just nice :-) For Hao Re, it's also simple. I have nothing left in the fridge, as we didn't do marketing this week. So cooked a very simple pasta for him.

Here is my super easy, super fast ABC pasta, for those who are interested:

Simply boil some ABC pasta
when the pasta turn soft, knock 1 egg to add inside until the egg york fully cook
Scooped out the pasta and egg or drain the water
Add some olive oil
Add 2-3 drops of soy sause for taste (optinal)

To my surprise, Hao Re finished the entire bowl!!! It's either he was too hungry, or the pasta tastes too nice :-)

Looking forward to the next weekend, again :-)

Our baby girl is growing very well :-)

This is the monthly routine checkup, scheduled on the 14th May 2009, about 1 month from my previous checkup and detail scan.

Since I was going to Thomsom, I dropped hubby to work, resulting in the damage of $4 for the ERP charges! But it's an enjoyable time to have a good chat with hubby without the disrupting kiddo :-) Oh ya, meaning hubby didn't go Thomsom with me, as he tries to save more annual leave so that he can help out after my delivery, and it's just a routine checkup anyway (though it's the first time I saw Dr Tan without hubby). Arrived at Thomsom at 9am sharp. It was definitely MY day, as I only had to wait for about 30 min (best record for the shortest waiting time ever!!).

Dr Tan measured my blood pressure, listened to baby's heartbeat, and then did the scanning. Baby is growing so fast. During the last visit, Dr Tan still has to zoom in to show baby clearly. This time round, can see baby so clearly without zooming. I actually got a little shock seeing the baby that size on the screen immediately. Can also see the heart beeping so clearly. Baby weighs 597kg at 23 weeks and 3 days old. Dr Tan said I have plenty of fluid in my waterbag, making it a good environment for the baby, as the baby has ample space to move and grow. She said baby is like living inside a swimming pool, what a funny description :-) It's so heart warming to hear everything is well. Even though I put on 2kg for the past month, I didn't get the scolding from Dr Tan, that's because most of the weight goes to the waterbag, and it's a good thing.

No scan image given this time round.

I asked Dr Tan if it's safe for me to carry Hao Re. Dr Tan said it's okay as long as I don't tired myself up, and don't get back pain because of this. But she also asked me to try distancing from Hao Re slowly, as it definitely becomes more difficult for me to carry him once my tummy gets even bigger. But I really don't know how and when I can do that. Right now, he is like super-glue, stick on me most of the time. I shall see how things go.

Since I got the medical certificate from Dr Tan for 1 day of absence at work, I made use of the time and went to the Malaysia High Commission to renew my passport. And guess what, as a pregnant woman, I have got the privillage to get a "express queue" number. I got to know this reading from a blog, and I have to ask the security guards for one, as they were inside the room and couldn't see my big tummy from where they sat. I went straight to the counter, without any waiting or queuing and all the procedures done in 10 minutes, while for the "normal queue", it takes 1-2 hours at least! It's good to be pregnant :-)

Went back home for a rest. Then went to Sushi Tei at Holland Villlage to have my lunch. I have craving for their handrolls. After that, went back to the High Commission to pick up my renewed passport. After collecting it, I suddenly remembered I then have to go to ICA to transfer the re-entry permit from my old to new passport. After getting it done at ICA, luckily very fast procedures, only then I realised I can actually do this online! Duh, will remember this and save me lots of time.

Initially wanted to pick up Hao Re on my way back, but I was a bit tired. So went home to take a nap. Then prepared the ingredient for dinner. Then went to pick up Hao Re. He played in the kitchen while I was cooking. Half way cooking, he requested for me to carry him as he wanted to watch me cooking. So pushed his high chair into the kitchen, and let him sit on it. He watched me stirring the vegetables with much interest. Hey, boy, you wanna be a cook when you grow up?!!

Hubby arrived home right before the dinner was ready. Have a great dinner (though not very delicious) at home, with just the 3 of us! We had sambal petai (the smelly bean) as one of the dishes. I let Hao Re tried the petai (rinsed off the sambal), and he didn't reject it. Hao Re really IS a greedy eater, whatever you put into his mouth, he will just swallow it! The day before let him try rambutan and durian. He loves rambutan a lot, maybe because of its sweetness, and have 6 rambutans and kept asking for more. I have to hide the whole bunch of rambutan, only then he stopped and aimed at the durians :-)

From very little hair to "standing" hair to "flat" hair style :-)

Introduce to you:

Hao Re with very little hair, and was grown in patches here and there.


Still very little hair, less obvious patches though


Started to have more hair, nicely covering his top


Getting nicer and nicer, and his hair started to "stand up"


Totally "standing" hair!!!


His hair started to get "flatten" down


Totally flat hair, as of now.


Wonder if we bring him for a hair cut this weekend, would his hair style reverts to the "standing" style, ha, don't know. Let's see.

No matter what kind of hair style he has, he is the most handsome and lovely boy, in our eyes. My dear boy, please continue to be a happy and healthy baby :-)

A day for Appreciation of LOVE!

It's a special day for all the mummies, including myself - Happy Mother's Day!

More importantly, I think it's the day for me, as a daughter, to think of my mum at this very special day - to think of what she has been gone through for the past years, what she has done for me, what she constantly worries about me even I have already become a mum myself, and the great support she gives me all the while, and needless to say, her unconditional love! She is always there whenever I need her. Thank you so much, mum!

I haven't been celebrating Mother's Day with my mum as we don't stay in the same country for the past 9 years. But I have never failed to give her a call, to send her my warmest wishes. But as a kid brought up from a traditional Chinese family, I still don't have the courage to say "I love you" (only did it through greeting cards before) to my mum, nor to give her a hug, it's all in my heart but seldom (or never) express it to my mum face to face. What ashamed! I don't know, maybe one day, I would change my mind set and give my mum a big big hug and say the magic word to her.

My mum is the greatest mum of all. Everyone loves my mum. The four of us, all my cousins, all her grandchildren, etc, everyone loves my mum. She has the best temperament, she is so kind and understanding, she doesn't/never nag, she respects our way of living and ideas, etc, etc, and she is a great cook! I wish one day, when I get old, when it's the time for me to be someone else's mother-in-law and a grandma, I wish I could be like my mum - be the best mum, grandma and mother-in-law to all my beloved one! Oh, and of course, I would definitely continue to be the best wife to my dearest hubby :-)

As for me, as a mum myself, I do no expect anything these few years as my Hao Re (and #2) are still so young to do anything for me. But then when they grow old enough to understand what a Mother's Day is, I will explain to them it's a day for appreciation, it's a day to tell your mummy how much you love her. I can definitely ignore the gift and flower (I would rather receive a handmade card) but I must teach my children how to appreciate love! As of now, for these few years, I would continue to do my best to be a mum, to care for my children at the best I can, and to shower my children with as much LOVE as I can afford (ya, still have to "divide" my share of love between children and hubby leh :-))

We do not do any celebration today. It's just a normal day, to spend with my Hao Re and hubby. But my little darling decided to go to bed at 8pm! So me and hubby have the whole night to ourselves - I take it as the gift from Hao Re :-) Thank you my dear boy!

And not forgetting to do some update on my little boy's progress on the very Mother's Day itself:

1. Able to drink from cup independantly!
> That will be his weekend breakfast at home, prepared by mummy, usually toast, noodle, egg, etc, and accompanied with a small mug of fresh milk. He is able to drink the fresh milk on his own with almost no leaking, except when there was very little milk left, he would have tilted the mug too much resulting the leak.


2. He is now sleeping in a "semi-grown up" bed
> Hubby has changed one side of the cot with the guard rail for grown up. With this, I don't have to bend with my big tummy to carry him up or to put him down, and he can now sleep (sort of) independantly on his own in his cot. In the middle of the night, if he really wants the comfort from us, he would just crawl over to our bed (just next to his cot) without us having to wake up, once he is positioned between the 2 of us, he goes back to sleep almost immediately, great arrangment for the family!

The special way of bonding!

Hao Re loves his shoes, and also Baba's shoes. He plays with his owns and sometimes Baba's, but never played with Mama's. Hey, man instinct here ya, don't want to be girly :-)

Here was his attempt to fit in to Baba's shoes, and he did it well!





Comes nap times. The 2 of them definitely enjoying this special only-dad-and-son moment!



When comes to food..... ya, can be good friends too, sitting together and enjoying their food together!

Mummy gave each of them a piece of guava (yes, Hao Re eats guava on his own, just give him a piece like what adult eats, and he would slowly and steadily and happily finish the whole piece).

Initially, the two of them sat apart, looking at each other afar......



Then, Hao Re went to sit next to Baba, maybe he realised Baba's was a much bigger piece than his??? Anyway, they enjoyed the fruit together. I simply LOVES this photo so much, my two men in my life!!!



Oh, and another special time - watching tv together! Hao Re loves to come to his Baba when it's tv time. Maybe Mama likes to disturb him. So he prefers Baba when comes to tv time. They are definitely the perfect pair, best buddy when comes to their common interest - TV!!!

Greatly appreciated, my dear son!

One day daddy was late from work. While mummy was busy preparing dinner in the kitchen, my dear boy abandoned his toys in the living room and came in to the kitchen to accompany mummy. He entertained himself by taking out the soft drink cans from the carton one by one, and arranged them nicely under the kitchen cabinet, and he didn't make any fuss at all, just played on his own for a good 30min or so. With a such a cooperative toddler, mummy was able to cook a nice rendang curry chicken dish. Thanks, Hao Re!

Here is Hao Re's creation:


And Hao Re thought mummy and daddy may be too busy cleaning up the house. So my little helper helped us to sweep the floor, quite professional ya? What do you think :-)

Hao Re sweeping the floor (note: what was Baba doing.....):

Drawing game

Yes, Hao Re loves drawing, as the same with most of the toddlers this age.

Sometimes, we let him draw/scribble using the "real" pens or markers, but when we do this, we have to keep our eyes very close on him - because he loves eating the pens/markers as much as use them for drawing!

Here is one of Hao Re's masterpiece (baba said he will file all your "drawings" nicely) with a black ballpoint pen and a blue marker (highligeter):



Sometimes when we don't have the time to keep our eyes stuck on him, we would let him draw on this doddle drawing board, it's a much safer (and cleaner) way.

Here is another masterpiece captured on the doddle:



The doddle actually brought back a lot of memories. Many kids, including ourselves, would have a doddle to play with and we all loved it. This doddle that we brought for Hao Re actually divided into 4 grids which give different colours. So different from the pure black version we got back then. There you go - the world is changing and changing, even with this little toy!

My poor baby......

Hao Re has developed some rashes on his hands and face 2 weeks ago, but have totally gone before we travelled to KL last week. While we were thinking that those rashes were just one-off thingy, it came back again when we came back from KL, and has got worsen and worsen day by day, and he sometimes he scratched so far until it bled lightly. His teachers advised us to bring him to see doctor in case if it's eczema and need proper treatment. When we decided to bring him see Dr Keoy on Thursday night, miracally, the rashes had disappeared once again before we brought him to the PD, saving us $$$ :-)

This is how the rashes looked like on his face and hands:




Could this be eczema or hives, or just simply heat rash??? The best we could think of was that we let him sample a prawn while we were at KL, and he ate about half of it - could that be the trigger? Anyway, if it were to happen again, I won't hesitate to bring him to Dr Keoy immediately for a proper diagnostic. Meanwhile, we will try out best to keep him clean and dry as much as we possible can (ya, he perspires A LOT!).

Our first visit to Fo Guang Shan at Punggol

Initially planned not to go anywhere, thought just to lazed around at home this weekend. But at the very last minute, we thought we should do something since today is Wesak Day. So we decided to go to Fo Guang Shan 佛光山 at Punggol. Why Fo Guang Shan? Well, no particular reason. Just because we know how to go to this place and we don't know much about other buddhist association. And also, after Punggol can go to airport to pick up CT Jiu-jiu, who is transitting to Japan, but would stay a night with us.

As one of the main activities for Wesak Day is 浴佛 (shower the Buddha). I did it together with Hao Re. Hubby was busy taking photos so he gave this a miss (what ashamed!). Then we just walked around the place and left after a while.

浴佛 - Hao Re was curious what's mummy doing. Good that he "guai-guai" watching me and didn't attempt to touch anything.


Hao Re loves to have me carrying him on my back.
Note: He doesn't like to be on Baba's back. Why??? We figured that's because I am short, so he can still see the world over my shoulder when being carried on my back. But daddy is so tall that his body will block Hao Re's view altogether :-)


A photo with the Buddha


My handsome boy exploring the new environment


Oh yes, Hao Re loves to pull and pinch and poke my ear, while having milk and when trying to soothe himself to nap/sleep. My pooooooor ear!


Mummy, I know I made your ear pain-pain. Never mind, I gave you my (empty) milk bottle to soothe the pain.


Note - daddy not in any of the photos today, as he was busy taking photos. And Hao Re only wants me to carry and stuck on me all the time!

When we were young, i.e., when we still a student many years back, we used to celebrate Wesak Day the big way, every year without fail. We never missed any Wesak Day, and it's usually up to week or weeks of preparation work and then 1 full day activities on the day itself. Even since we left to England back in year 2000, we have not been actively participating in any activities, let alone chanting, meditation, attending Dharma talk, etc. We follow the Buddha's teaching as much as we can. Maybe when Hao Re grows older, we should start joining one of the Buddhist associations and let him learn the Buddha's teaching from young.

A nice Labour Day long weekend

Our initial plan was to visit Hao Re's little cutie cousin, Kai-Jin, at Pulau Perhentian, east coast Malaysia. I was totally excited about the plan, imagining me and hubby lying and relaxing by the beach, and Hao Re busy running around the beach, playing with Kai-Jin, and Kai-Jin's parents can teach Hao Re how to swim! But, well, they were fully booked (Kai-Jin's parents run a resort and diving classes) for the long weekend!

So the plan changed to a short trip to KL instead. Initially plan to book in to a nice hotel for a relaxing weekend. But then my best friend, KM auntie, insisted we should stay at her place, which is fully furnished and vacant at the moment. This actually turned out to be a much better option, not only she has a nice condo, convenient location, nice view, etc, also because of the recent swine flu, it's good that we didn't have to stay in a hotel, felt much safer that way. All thanks to KW auntie :-)

Back to our trip.

1st May 2009

Left our house at 5am on Friday morning. Picked up PK uncle as he desperately wanted to meet his wife at KL, so we gave him a lift. We were lucky that we only got stuck at the custom for about 30 min (oh yes, even this early couldn't avoid the traffic as it's a long weekend, lots of people "escaping" to Malaysia for a short break).

Arrived at KL at 9am+. Just a good time to have our breakfast. Met my cousins CT and CS for breakfast. A typical KL coffee shop breakfast. I had curry Chee Cheong Fun and hubby had wanton mee. Both not bad, really. And Hao Re finished my whole mug of orange juice, and it's double portion some more (they use 2 oranges instead of just 1)!!! And so I had to order another one. Gave him some Chee Cheong Fun also, surprised that this time round, he was not bothered by the hot (just a tiny bit) taste of the curry.

Went back to my cousins' place to chit chat while waiting for my sister, TY to come over to join us for lunch. Hao Re was very happy meeting his CT Jiujiu and CS Yiyi, happy playing with them, laughed a lot and we were really amazed by how well and how fast he adapted to a totally new environment. He was too tired after a while (woke up at 5am, fell asleep again at 6.15am to 7am, and stay awake then after). When my sister arrived, she accidentally woke Hao Re up. That poor boy only managed to nap for 45 min (and that's the only nap he took for the whole day!).

We went out to my cousin's aunt vegetarian restaurant for lunch. The food tasted really good and we felt healthy too. Went to Times Square for a walk as it's just a few minutes walk from the restaurant. Hao Re was very active and happy in the mall. My sister felt exhausted after looking after him for 15 min or so :-)

Then it's time to say goodbye to CT Jiujiu, CS Yiyi and TY Yiyi. Next stop was to visit my brother, TE and my nephews, ZJ and ZY. When we arrived, ZY was still sleeping. Hao Re was playing very happily with Jiujiu and ZJ Gogo. My brother made Hao Re laughed out loud! And my beloved ZJ was willingly sharing and teaching Hao Re how to play with his toys. Hao Re had a great time there, but too bad that we were running short of time and have to rush out after spending about 2 hours there.



Met KM auntie, as our last programme of the day. And that's our main purpose for this trip - for Hao Re to meet his potential future girl friend, KM's lovely daughter, Xuan Xuan!!! The two little fellows communicated pretty well. Hao Re hugged and kissed Xuan Xuan, and so did Xuan Xuan :-) Hao Re is about 8 months older than Xuan Xuan (Jan08 and Sep08 babies), so in terms of age different, just perfect to be girl-boy friend :-) Haha, 2 desperate mummies here can't wait for their babies to grow up and get married :-)

When we were having dinner with KM auntie and Xuan Xuan, my poor boy was way too tired, for only taken 45 min of nap for the whole day and had to "entertain" so many people and we were on the run. Started to make noise and got really upset, he grabbed my glasses and threw it on the floor as a protest! I didn't blame him, for that it's our fault for running a busy day and late night. He felt asleep soundly in his car seat and slept to the next morning, skipping his last feed of the day. Both me and hubby were very exhausted also, quickly bathed and knocked out!

2nd May 2009

Today, the plan was to explore a little bit of the KL city on our own. To our great surprise and relief, for yesterday and today, we managed to find our way quite smoothly, without getting lost, Though I have lived in PJ/KL for 5 years, I have no confidence at all finding the roads in KL, it has changed too much since!

First stop was at KL Tower. Well, it's not that great, it's just a place where you are at a higher point looking down at KL city. Certainly Hao Re didn't appreciate it, okay for us, but don't think we will make our way back here in a few years. The plus point for Hao Re was there was a free horse riding complimentary of the ticket to the KL Tower. So Hao Re experienced his first horse riding! He was quick puzzled by what it was, but he quietly sat on the horse back and ride 2 rounds, with daddy's company.



Just Hao Re and daddy.
Hao Re: Mama, come and join us!


The 3 of us!






Getting ready for the horse ride




Next stop was KLCC, to visit the Aquarium. Probably he was still tired, he fell asleep during the very short car ride and continued to sleep after we put him down to his stroller. That left us with nothing to do but to wait for him to wake up. While we were having a drink near to the Aquarium, we saw the flyer for fish spa. I have long been wanting to try out, and this was just the best opportunity! So both me and hubby went for the fish spa, with our boy continued to sleep in his stroller next to us. It's a special experience to let the little fishes fed with the dead skin of our feet. We probably need more than 1 session to help getting rid of all the dead skin. But well, a nice experience anyway, and it's only for RM20 for a 30min session, what a bargain! Hao Re woke up in the middle of our session, but we managed to hold him down by giving him a milk feed and looking at the fishes.



Then, headed right to the Aquarium. Overall, Hao Re enjoyed this new experience. But I think for the fact that the whole room was with low light, thus he didn't explore as actively as he usually did. He particularly enjoyed spending time at the small pond where there are a few tortoises and some fishes, and also one big tank with the cute Nemo and other beautiful fishes. When we were on the conveying belt going through the "open ocean" (as in you go through a tunnel, where the fishes were swimming around you, left, right and above, just like what they have at the Underwater World at Sentosa, Singapore), this little boy was not interested at the fishes at all, no matter big or small, and no matter how much effort we put in to get his attention. Guess what he was looking at? He was focusing on the moving belt. He kept walking/jumping from the belt to the walkway, the from walkway to the conveying belt, again and again, and looked at people, especially when there were kids around. And me, busy looking after him, so that he didn't knock onto someone else or someone might have knocked him down. And hubby was busy with the stroller and camera. Then we went out to the KLCC park and took some nice photos with the KLCC as backdrop.



Exploring the KLCC park. The park itself is very nice, but...... lots of smokers puffing at almost every corner of the park :-(


Nice photos?!


Only spent about 1 hour there. Next had our lunch at the "Little Penang Cafe" at KLCC 4th floor - of course was to satisfy hubby's craving for Penang laksa (see, pregnant woman doesn't have craving but the husband does :-)). The laksa really not bad. I had Penang prawn noodle, ok, but not as nice, because this shop is an halal shop while prawn noodle is not an halal food. We also shared a plate of char kuey teow, not very good either. But both of us were super duper full, felt like my stomach was going to explode anytime :-)

Having satisfied or rather overload our stomach, next was to meet up with KM auntie again, as we have to return the keys for her condo, and also to visit her families (haven't met her mum for >10 years!) and she wanted to pass us some clothes from Xuan Xuan to our baby girl (thank you so much, KM!!!). Spent some time there, for Hao Re to show off his activeness and playfulness and for the 2 little friends to take more photos together. KM's families kept praising Hao Re that he is a very handsome boy woh! Thanks, thanks!





Last stop was to visit hubby's secondary classmates. It has been a long time since he met with his friends. Spent a good an hour there for them to chit chat. Unlike me, hubby doesn't put much effort to keep close link with old friends. Sometimes forced him also no use. Depending on his mood, really (see again, woman is not moody, but the man is!).

Then it's time to say goodbye to KL. Hao Re was sleeping soundly on our way back home. He woke up briefly when hubby stopped to pump petrol. I patted him back to sleep. The second time was when we were stopped by a traffic police because of speeding (hehe!). Here is the story with our talented police force:

Police A: Encik, tunjuk lesen.
Hubby passed to the police his driving license.
Police A: Encik tau kenapa tak? You speeding lah. Hubby: Oh, sorry. Police A: You nama Kam ah? Kena bagi saman lah, speeding. Hubby: Oh, okay lah.
Police A walked to the back to the car, like going to issue a saman. Then came back with a yet-to-fill-in-saman.
Police A: Encik, you kerja Singapore ke? Balik dari kampung ah? blar blar blar..... Hubby: Ya. Police A: I bagi saman lah, you boleh bayar mana-mana saja. Hubby: Okay.
The police walked away again and came back with an empty saman, again.
Police A: Bagi saman, you boleh BAYAR MANA-MANA SAJA. You ada budak kecil huh (Hao Re just woke up and cried). Saman boleh BAYAR MANA-MANA SAJA, kami ni tolong-tolong sikit lah.

Oh, then we got the hint, and hubby passed him a RM50 note (could be less according to our friends, but we didn't have smaller notes then). We were "released" without a saman and story ended. For those who can't read Malay, guess you figured out what had happened - basically if you pass the police a note, you won't get the saman, the well-known Malaysian highway scene.

Anyway, reached home safely at around 10pm, after having a pretty nice noodle soup at JB. Luckily no heavy traffic jam at the custom, think we queued for about 15 min and that's it. We were are exhausted, after taking bath, all 3 of us zzzzzzz, didn't bother to unpack the luaguage.

3rd May 2009

Total stay at home day. Didn't go anywhere at all. Went to wet market in the morning to buy some food and then had breakfast. Then the rest of the day was at home, cooked lunch and dinner. All 3 of us have a good rest. Figured is better this way. If we changed our mind to stay 1 more night at KL (actually we were very very very tempted to), it would be a very tiring week ahead for us. Hao Re took a 3 hours nap from 3-6pm, and so both of us also napped for a short while. Nice.

That's end of the long nice weekend.