If I Were A SAHM

There was one day at the end of January where I had to take leave from work and stay at home to take care of Joseph. My babysitter had some important event to attend to. After I bid farewell to my husband, I started preparing Elizabeth for kindy. Seeing me still in my home clothes, I knew it was just a matter of time before she starts questioning me. Then the expected happened and I told her that I had to stay at home to take care of Joseph today because Auntie (the babysitter) cannot take care of Joseph today. Then she said she wants to stay home too but I said she cannot miss kindy today but I promised to pick her up early at 1pm after her classes end. She didn't agree at first but accepted it later when I promised to pick her up earlier than usual. Joseph got to go for car ride when I had to fetch his sister to kindy. The principle was at the entrance when we arrived. I saw Elizabeth's face was beaming with pride when the principle saw Joseph. She was proud of her baby brother. :)

I enjoyed the time I had with Joseph alone because it was a rare opportunity. Most of the time his sister would be around. So even though it was not a full day, I am truly grateful for it. It was quite a breeze looking after him that day. He even napped twice. When I went to pick up Elizabeth that afternoon, it seems she told her friends that I'm going to pick her up early and that I will be bringing along her little brother. So when I arrived, her friends rushed to the gate to have a peek at Joseph. She proudly introduced Joseph to her friends. LOL. When we are back at home, I had to juggle between taking care of two children and doing household chores.

At the end of the day, I started to ponder. If I were a stay-at-home-mom(SAHM), how would I be? Will I be enjoying it? Will I be bored? Will I start to miss my working life? Will the two children drive me to insanity? LOL. I was thinking to myself, "Hey I can get used to this". Even if the kids will drive me to insanity, if money is not an issue, I will rather be a SAHM to be there for my children, in a heartbeat.

Lil' dahling demanded for bread when I was having my breakfast.

Like 'apek' style of sitting. Tsk tsk tsk!

After finishing a slice of bread, he wants my breakfast instead! That's my bun!

Giving me that sweet, innocent look.

After brekkie, he took the remote control to me. So TV time while I quickly prepare his porridge.

Still watching the telly after I'm done with the porridge.

I decided enough of TV. So it's play time!

Even played with torch light.

Play time before nap time.

Playing peek-a-boo with me.

Even the laundry basket was not missed.

Welcome home Elizabeth!

Jie jie wants to read while di di wants to cook.

Whee!

You thought this wouldn't happen eh?

Happy Birthday Everyone!

Happy Birthday to everyone! Today is the 7th day of the lunar new year. It is the day where everybody grows one year older. Tonight especially the Hokkiens will have a celebration and we can expect the night to be noisy because of firecrackers or fireworks.

So fast one week has gone by so fast. Just last week we were preparing to go back to our hometowns to celebrate CNY. Now it's back to work. Heheh.

The children especially were the happiest. Having the chance to play with their cousins. They even forgotten that they have a mother sometimes. LOL. A short post today to let people know that I'm alive. Maybe I'll blog about CNY 2011 in later post after I've uploaded the pictures. For now, just make do with old pictures I've taken in January.

The cousins so happy together.

A goofy pic of them. Picture was taken during one of my trip back to Malacca.

My sweetie pie.

Lil' Dahling getting excited!

Joseph and his new found friend, Curious George!

So loving. It belongs to his sister actually.

Like pianist only right? LOL. I don't know what tunes were they playing. That's my twin I assure you. I'm the one taking the photo. Serious!

Joseph is so full of passion and emotion. LOL. That again is my twin..:D

This is what Joseph does now when he throws his tantrum. I guess it's a sign of protest by lying on the floor. LOL.

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.