Elizabeth in Playhouse Disney's Birthday Book

Last November, Elizabeth's photo appeared in Playhouse Disney's Birthday Book. I missed it when it showed on TV but my mom managed to record it with her old VCR. Bless her! And I only got to watch it in January when I went back to Malacca. Took some photos although a bit blurry and I don't know why it didn't turn out perfect. Ah well, at least I have some evidence that it did appeared on TV.

I remembered I sent in her photos 3 months ahead her birthday month. Yes I was that kiasu. Come November and I always missed the Birthday Book programme because I don't know the scheduled time for the programme. Playhouse Disney was also late in informing us through mail and I only got it like 1 week before the end of November. By then I already gave up hope on it. Playhouse Disney should've sent it at the beginning of November. Sigh. In the mail, they inform us on the scheduled time and from there I seek my mom's help to look out for me because I can only catch it after work.

Can you imagine it finally appeared on the very last day of November and on the very last Birthday Book programme for November? So for those mommies out there who wants to send in their precious photos to participate in this Playhouse Disney's Birthday Book, you can send in as early as 3 months before the birthday month of your kid and one photo is sufficient enough. You can get their address on their website. It would definitely be fun to watch your little one on telly and your little one will be excited too! Elizabeth has mixed feelings watching it. Shy, embarrassed and excited. LOL.

Gong xi fa cai everyone and may the year of the rabbit hop you to greater success, abundance of wealth and excellent health!

A shot right from the telly. I don't know why those black strips appeared.

Another try by pausing the video cassette but I have those grey lines instead.

This is the original image..my lil' dahling

Big Dahling's Birthday Celebration

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. Although he couldn't take leave to celebrate, we still managed to do it after work. As it is his birthday, it would be nice for the birthday boy (man!) to receive a treat what more than from his wife. This is when they would take full advantage on us right? Hehe. So we went to this Korean BBQ Restaurant called Daorae. They had this quite new branch in Sri Petaling finally! I love Korean BBQ so for me this restaurant's dishes are really not bad.

The birthday boy, don't ask me why he isn't smiling. :P

I try to avoid giving him food from the restaurant as much as possible, so these are some blueberries for him first.

So engrossed with his blueberries that he didn't want to look at the camera.

Second try and he finally looked into the camera but I was not prepared pulak and the picture was kinda blurry.

This is a herbal chicken soup korean style, comes with rice. Ordered this specially for Elizabeth. At the top right corner of this picture are the two sauces to be taken with the bbq meat. Very nice!

These are pork and you can see the other small side dishes, one of it is my husband's favourite kim chi.

This pancake korean style was on the house! Tasted not bad with the given chilli sauce beside it on the left. If you can spot another type of chilli sauce at the top of this picture, that is to be taken with the bbq meat and it really is a complement to the bbq meat.

Another kind of pork, chunkier this time. We also had lamb but I forgot to snap a picture of it. Too busy eating. Hehe.



What I like about the restaurant is also the service. Very fast and efficient. The waiter also taught us how to eat the meat. I mean we know how to wrap it with the lettuce but he told us the steps with the sauce, garlic, onion and spring onion. Makes a lot of difference in taste!

By now Joseph had already finished his blueberries, luckily I brought along two slices of bread torn it to pieces for him to consume.

This is another soup, kim chi soup. This soup is more for us that's why we ordered the former soup for Elizabeth.

A birthday wouldn't be complete without a birthday cake. So that's exactly what I got for my hubby, a chocolate mousse cake. The chocolate choice of cake is actually more for Elizabeth's sake. :P Joseph only got to taste two small tiny bites. Heheh.

The birthday boy with the children and a cake!

Another shot with Joseph getting excited already.

Haha Elizabeth with her eyes closed but Joseph looks perfect. It's really hard to get a good picture huh?

Joseph seem to enjoy when we were singing the birthday song.

Finally with me in it. Joseph is already getting restless. That's his feet, not his hands on the table!

Happy Birthday Big Dahling!

Today is my hubby's birthday. And what more than to wish him Happy Birthday also in my blog. Since he merajuk because most of my postings are about our children. :P Thank you for being a great hubby although I might complain from time to time about some slight imperfections otherwise I couldn't ask for a better husband. Nobody is perfect and I have my own flaws too. Thank you for being patient and understanding when I switch into the challenging mode. I am indeed proud to have you as my husband and I know you are always working hard to provide more for the family.

So here's wishing you a very Happy Birthday darling and wishing you good health always, great success in your career and eternal happiness. Looking forward to many more years to grow old together with you.

By the way ah darling, I really miss those bedtime stories we used to share before we go to bed each night before we had kids. Do you think we can have it again instead of you falling asleep each time before I even try to finish my sentence? Opps..hehe..:) Have a great day and I'll see you tonight..:*

Sibling Rivalry

What is sibling rivalry? Something I'm sure all of you know, heard and have experienced it yourself. We all know that it is common for brothers and sisters to fight. From KidsHealth website it says here that, "Often, sibling rivalry starts even before the second child is born, and continues as the kids grow and compete for everything from toys to attention." This is so true. Now that I have two children, there will definitely be this problem added to my already existing problems. This is what you can expect when you are planning for baby number two. But is also something we all have to go through.

I think I gave my mom her fair share of headaches when my sister and I fight. I remember if I hit my sister once, she will hit me double! If I hit her twice, she will hit me four times! LOL. Big bully, hmph! Now, in front of my eyes, I have to witness my two children fighting. "It can be frustrating and upsetting to watch — and hear — your kids fight with one another." That is again from KidsHealth and it's so very true too.

KidsHealth also said that, "It's also common for them to swing back and forth between adoring and detesting one other!" That's so funnily true too! I mean my sister and I were like that too and it amused my parents a lot. I get amused by my own kids too. Elizabeth is always the one who doesn't want to share her toys. She even snatches away from her brother. I also don't get this. I have so many toys at home that I think I can open a nursery and yet whatever big sister is playing, little brother wants it too. It's as if that the toy in her hand is the best toy in the world and he must have it. And so he tries to snatch away from his sister. Sometimes he is successful but most of the time he is not. Then he'll throw himself in a fit of anger and come running towards me 'complaining'. One thing about him though is he doesn't get angry when his sister snatches away his toy.

What do I do or how to I deal with them? It depends on the situation. Just today morning, Elizabeth was shouting at her brother, "No! No! No!" And not long after Joseph came running to me crying and 'complaining' as usual. Thinking it was because Elizabeth didn't want to share the toys, I asked her to share them but she replied back. "No! Didi is playing with Papa's phone!" So I went to the 'crime scene' and yes, my hubby's phone was indeed lying on the floor. I apologised to Elizabeth and explained to Joseph that he is wrong and that he is not suppose to play with our phones. I don't know whether it gets into his head because he laughed back at me but at least it's more like to appease Elizabeth that I took some form of action instead of just letting her brother get away with it. But later they were fighting over toys and to my horror I saw Elizabeth using her elbow to knock on her brother's head. I don't know why she likes to do that. I have to explain to her many times not to do that and to share toys. Like a broken record!

All that in the morning. Now you know why it's hard for me to leave home and reach office on time.

Elizabeth:"Go get your own toys!"

Joseph still not giving up. Sorry no pictures of hitting each other as I don't condone violence..:P

On good days when they just love each other soooo much.

Wah they look like lovers in this picture.

They just can't get enough of each other!

I wish this can go on and on without ending.

To Be A Bookworm Or Not?

I love reading. Story books, interesting blogs and only articles in the newspaper that interests me. I am not an avid reader though because I don't fill my house with books and read one book after another. Maybe that's because I don't have the opportunity. Time is not in favour with me when my hands are full once I reached home. My mom told me that when I was a child, I loved to browse through story books and my kindergarten teachers also noticed that and made a comment in my report card.

Now that I have children of my own, I would also want them to love books. I hope they can be bookworms la but I'm not asking them to be nerds. LOL. I've read from parenting websites or magazines that we can actually start introducing reading to our child as early as 0 months! But I was thinking crazy la. As if the baby would give a damn and I'll be like an insane person trying to read to a baby who can't even see things clearly at 0 months. But it seems it can be done and it's probably just to introduce books and cultivate the reading habit in our child.

The most recent picture I have of her reading.

And so I was quite gung ho about it and being a first time mom before Joseph came along, I started quite early (considered early la by my standards). I read to Elizabeth I think at the age of 6 months. I read to her pop-up books and lift-the-flap books to make it more interesting and encourage her to interact. You can imagine the joy I had when after a few times she was able to anticipate the right time to lift the flap herself after I finish a sentence. I usually read to her before bedtime and it became a routine. So I'm not surprised that she loved reading books. These days, I still read to her before bedtime and ever since she started kindy she can recognise many words and finish reading a book by herself. She was the top reader in her class last year. I hope she will maintain it this year. :) Somehow, I've noticed she became a little lazy recently and only read before bedtime. Thanks to the idiot box! I guess consistency is the key and we must continue to introduce new books to maintain interest. I do buy books but not all the time. My house have no space for too many books and I will be poorer la. Fortunately, we have the national library and I'm a regular there. ;)

Now with Joseph it was a bit tricky. Lets admit it. After being promoted to a second time mom, we can get a little lazy due to age and limited time. We're aging and have less energy. We have two children to divide attention now and it comes with even more chores to do. After doing all that sometimes we have no energy to pick up a book and read to them. You just want to rest and take a breather for a while. Many excuses and reasons huh? But it's true. Maybe I did a mistake or maybe he's just a boy. I started later reading to Joseph. Probably after 6 months but before he was 1 year old. I did the same thing but wasn't that consistent. Sometimes I miss a day or two. He was quite interested but he was also interested in turning the page so quickly! LOL. Maybe boys have shorter attention span.

Imitating the way I read to him by pointing at the words.

Relieved to finish a book? LOL

Aiyah..have to read some more?

These days, I tried to be consistent and read to him everyday. The difference I noticed between the both of them is that sometimes I have to drag him for reading time but not with Elizabeth. I have to read faster with Joseph before he shifts his attention. He can't wait to turn the page and he is more in control rather than me. After finishing a book, he won't browse the book again for long. When Elizabeth was his age, she used to browse quite long until I had to snatch the book away from her because I want her to go to sleep. So will he love books as much as his sister and become a bookworm? I can only cross my fingers.

   

What Happened To The Turkey?

Happy New Year 2011! Year 2010 has come and gone in a blink of an eye. Now we're welcoming another new year and I hope this year will be a good one for me and my family. We haven't been celebrating or doing the countdown thingy ever since goodness knows when. My hubby doesn't like crowds and also because we skipped all these after we have our first child. This year was also no different from the last. The children were already asleep by then. Hubby and me would just kiss and wish each other at the balcony and watch the fireworks display until it ends. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to share because yours truly left her camera at the office. So I'm left with my camera phone which I don't really like to use because it's more cumbersome.

I actually wanted to blog about the day after Christmas. My family were still around and were only planning to go back Malacca late afternoon. So we brought them all to the Bukit Jalil Park after breakfast. Weather was quite nice and not too hot. Our walk in the park wouldn't be complete if we didn't feed the fishes. So that was what exactly we did. We also went to the children's playground. The park has quite a huge children playground.

This was actually taken earlier on one of the weekends. Just thought I might share with you the pics.

This lil' dahling learning to feed the fishes.

Success! Can you see some of the hungry fishes? They were pretty aggressive as if they haven't eaten for 1000 years.

My family at the park. We fed fish food and also leftover expired bread.

The kids enjoyed feeding the fishes.

My lil' dahling often ended up dropping the fish food on the ground. Poor aggressive fishes looked disappointed.

Getting a go at the playground.

Looking so proud.

My nephew, Brandon always ensuring Elizabeth's safety.

Roaring like a lion.

This exact scene and venue reminded me of Elizabeth 3 years ago. The photo above was taken 3 years ago when Elizabeth was 14 months old.

Now she's this big already. Time really flies.

Look at this little monkey.

So excited to crawl through the tunnel.

And again wanting to climb up the slide the wrong way!

You might wonder why is the title of this blog post like that. I was actually going to tell what happened to the leftover turkey. We gave away nearly half of the turkey to my babysitter and the rest my dad cut it into small pieces and then fried rice together with it. It was really tasty. My dad's a great cook. Then the time came for them to pack up and go home. While they were all set and ready to leave, someone was keeping himself busy and didn't really mind them leaving to my surprise. Hehe.

This is the tasty fried rice with turkey meat, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions.

This is the busy someone who thinks it's tea time. You can see my mom at the background leaving. LOL.

Now he thinks it's time to cook.

Huh? Did you just say you want some tea?

That evening, we had a wedding dinner to attend and we only took Elizabeth along. My babysitter was so kind to volunteer before hand to take care of Joseph even though we insist that she rest. So here are some pics and blessed new year once again!

Having some cocktail before the dinner starts. Hubby teaching lil' dahling how to "cheers".

Me and my lil' dahling

Elizabeth getting hyper already.