Eat, drink and be married!

Before having a kid, I would not have stopped nor paused to observe the creepy crawlies that coexist in the same eco system. While there are some I deem harmless, there are clearly others I have no qualms squashing and waving it goodbye.


One of the nights we had a little visitor snug on the curtains and caught the attention of Cyrus. We took the opportunity to educate him on it. His Dadda even offered to catch it for him.







The father and son duo sharing a moment observing its shell and counted its legs.







Until he was nudged to touch it and then had this really funny expression - somewhat fearful, somewhat daring and so hilarious.


We all thought all was forgotten once he went to bed, the very next morning he asked for it, followed through to dinner and the following day. GOOD LORD.


I hope we never have to treat beetles as pets.

Dental health is so important and hearing of children as young as 4 or 5 undergoing root canals, it just breaks my heart. And it isn't even on their adult teeth! So then, fear definitely drove me to actively be on the lookout for dental care for Cyrus. We started brushing his teeth with Jack and Jill's finger brush before he turned 1, considering the number of teeth he had, we better start getting him acquainted with the dentist! So Health Promotion Board was highly recommended by a number of mummy friends - for affordable dental care!






It was his second visit there and at 8am, this boy was almost first in line to be seen by the dentist. The premises are a tad dated but kids don't really care when there are things to see and touch. If all else fails, there are running cartoons on the screens.


The routine check for a 20.5 month old involved checking the number of teeth and also for early decay if any. Phew, none spotted and 4 more molars to go before his full set is complete.


I had to don these superman sunnies together with him and a tip for moms with bubs, having them on your lap definitely helps. We were out and done in less than 10 minutes without any fussing.





Yay! Let's continue to keep those pearlies clean and cavity free for as long as we can. :)


We were told by the dentist to try to rinse after every meal, continue brushing twice a day with toothpaste (fluoride preferably) and if needed, use a finger brush to brush hard to reach corners i.e. the sides near the cheeks.


The visits are at a pocket friendly $9 but do note only nets, cda card or cash payment only. Blur us forgot our wallets and thank god for the car's cash card!

Our plans to visit the gardens for the umpteenth time was canned because of sakuras which got everyone too excited. So...we ended up at a public playground to let Cyrus burn off some energy.


And this happened, two girls politely asked if they could play with him. Of course, I agreed...and they took such good care of him, I was reminded...how children before they get tainted with the prejudices and biasedness of the world, can be so innocent.


A motherhood statement? Hardly.


I saw how they had so much fun, a 20.5 month old, 8 and 10 year old respectively under the watchful eyes of their parents...and it's that comfortable distance we shared.


Stay little...for that weebit longer, please?

I have been a disney fan all, perhaps it is about fairy tales to me and in this make believe fantasy, the good always prevails though somewhere down the line of watching Cinderella 100 times and growing up, the real world was hardly like it in Disney.


Disney on Ice it was then to introduce this magical world to C, maybe he would subscribe to this or maybe he wouldn't...but armed with rinkside tickets, I was keeping my fingers crossed about his reaction to these large mascots prancing infront of him. The worst case scenario would be us hovering outside the stadium away from the things that made him "scared scared".


I like how well controlled the crowds are - well this, unlike the usual concert goers I am used to is more tame. Queues moved fast and we were shown our seats in a jiffy. Even the snack and merchandise corner was kept small with larger than life prices.


We had the snack cart parked right infront of me, think $18 cotton candies and $19 slushie cups...but the kids all loved it. The only time I thought it was mayhem was when the beeline formed for these sweet treats during intermission.


It started right on time (yay) and the first installment saw us taking a trip down Disney's memory lane...and the big kid in me and the Hubba spent our time naming the characters and C was absolutely enthralled. Brownie points to DOI for being so engaging. There were moments he got fidgety but nothing we couldn't handle and it was until the last few minutes that we resorted to feeding him puffs and it was a finale!


While all was good, I have to say the snow irritated me to no end. It snowed nonstop and they were soap suds which smelt and left a sticky residue. AND...it snowed three times. Bummer!


Thank you for the memories, Disney On Ice, see you next year!

With the first quarter almost over, I have to finish all these backlog entries! So before he started school for good, we went off for our last vacay of 2017! I'm sucha huge hello kitty fan and his face is telling of his nonchalance.


I cannot believe we let Christmas and New Year slip us by. There was just too much happening and I should start clearing the backlogs.






December came and went, so did Christmas, we stole a few days off to KL. Speaking of which, I haven't gotten down to blog about our maiden trip overseas too. *facepalm*














That bossyness. Goodness me!







Thank god for window decals, our 45 minute flight with an almost 18 month old was fussfree!







This trip we saw how he managed to scare the people around us so much! We were gifted this slice just because he was creating so much noise and thought that would keep him quiet. Hehe! At least we all got to enjoy this on his behalf.





The cheeky boy running amok in our serviced apartment. I cannot recommend Elements KL more, it was a 2 bedroom apartment complete with a kitchenette, living room and dining room!





He explored our apartment and had so much fun playing hide and seek. My main grouse is the size of the cot was really meant more for newborns and babies more than toddlers. He filled up 3/4 of the cot without much space to toss or turn.





He was so happy he woke up this happy over the 3 days we stayed. How precious!







The view was so enticing, he spent a moment too many starring at the passing vehicles and being deep in thought like above!





The Christmas trees around the property got him all wide eyed and excited.





We snapped a lot.





Played a lot.





And guess what got him stopping in his tracks, motionless.





....the housekeeping staff and the vacuum cleaner! HAHA.







How lucky were we to also score a playdate with Mummy's best friend!







I wish he can have a bite of all these goodies we had...from dimsum feasts...





To chilli crabs...





The city's best nasi lemak and he was squirming nonstop wanting a bite of the fragrant chicken. Babies don't lie, yea?





Homecooked food was all he had...HAHA! Three solid meals of pasta with chicken and greens.





And even had time to get a first proper haircut at the salon! This boy cried the roof off the moment the scissors started snipping for a good 8 minutes until the shaver was turned on.







Still at it...BOOHOO.


Nothing much was planned - except for a haircut and indoor playground if it wasn't too crowded. I'm glad we managed to check off the urgent one and C got his first professional haircut after many tears.


Apart from the trip we drank lots, ate lots, watched many free mall parades and that's when we realized how much he loved these mascots! I guess it's time to invest in Universal Studios Pass?









His cheekiness knows no bounds and here's him bargaining for another slice of orange.

The fear has not died down since the number of cases has not stagnated and we ended up with more from the other classes and older kids.




Day 26:


He was supposed to be joined by new friends the week before but nobody showed up still, I guess we could say this 1:1 attention was "worth the money" yet not in an ideal manner.


I don't think there is a surest way of keeping HFMD at bay but we sure did what we can within our means and pray really hard!


Day 27-31:


Everyone was on high alert and we still continued school. We trust the school would know how to handle the crisis and keep the situation controlled. For the second time the school was sanitized before CNY.


Whew, we made our way to CNY safe and sound. One HFMD outbreak averted.

With bated breaths we took on a very fun-filled weekend, he smiled and laughed and threw his tantrums but weekends are always such fun times I fear Monday. Particularly when we were progressing to longer hours in school.


He showed some interest in staying with his classmates when they napped towards the end of Week 3, so I guess that was a sign we could go ahead with our plans.






Day 16: Napping in school


Armed with a heavier bag, we dropped him off rather happily. I snuck out in a corner stealing peeps at him as he made his way to his second breakfast unaware of the longer than usual day ahead. Guilty me even prepped his favourites at breakfast - blueberries!


First extended half day and he actually napped! I was prepping for a situation where he fought nap because of a strange environment.




Day 17: New bedtime preferences!


By the second day he had a opinion about his grobag, a sleep aid that we've been using since he was 3 months old. On day 16 we thought it was him being naughty and by night of day 17, he kicked, resisted, pulled off the milk bottle to holler his preference of doing away with his grobag.


And we wonder, was it because of school? Where nobody actually slept with one and he probably associated it to being a baby and suddenly did not want it anymore. Sigh, my dear boy...just remain little a wee bit more?


There, I tucked away his well used, well worn, squishy as hell grobags with milk stains to prove how far we have come together. I stole a glance at the almost brand new 24-36 month old grobag meant for his transition and cannot help but sigh.




Day 18: First time mama didn't drop off


And he waltz in like a champ, no tears, no fuss...I guess we can officially say our boy's a fan of school...except nap time which seems to have dwindled from a decent hour to just 15 minutes.


Day 19: Little mister fusspot


The day began cranky because he officially decided his socks were so precious to shower without. The crying and tantrum bout lasted a good 10 minutes before I decided to ruthlessly yank the dripping wet socks from him (yes, he insisted on showering holding them).


I guess that kind of set the tone of the day too for him. Fingers crossed he wouldn't tekan his teachers too much!








Day 20:  He fell...splat!
Drop off was good and I was almost lamenting the week coming to an end and Monday could be another of those blue days until I received a call from his teacher. Calls from the school are hardly a good thing and he fell and grazed his nose. Some cries later and he got so interested in the ice used to ice the grazed area, we were all good until he fell again. No further updates from the school but thankfully nothing major.






4 weeks in school and at 82 weeks old, I am just relieved we are on plan. His main caregivers have kinda gotten a decent bit of freedom back and now let's keep him as healthy as possible though HFMD cases have started in some parts of the island and our first case of ZIKA?!

I was looking forward to this week because it'd be his first water play session in school and I had all his items labeled and packed.





Day 21: THE call


By now, we kind of formed a routine with the drop off. We'll head over to his classroom, drop off his items and then to breakfast. Say our goodbyes and then do a pick up late afternoon.




Sometime early lunch I received notice from his classmate's mom that her daughter saw a PD and she's confirmed of HFMD. ARGH. Then in between the first few minutes of exchange and trying to update his grandparents, I received THE call.




The teacher broke the news to us about the HFMD case and they had to send C to the sick bay because he registered a higher than usual body temperature, noticed some spots at the back of his neck (he has had this neck rash since day 1 and...sigh, I mean the teachers mean well but...) and his poop was mushier than usual. We had to take him back, send to the PD to get a clearance letter or keep him in for the next day.




Thank god for support, his grandparents picked him, did the run to our family doctor's to get the clearance and there...our Monday ended on sucha high note. Time to start oiling him and loading up vit c's!


Day 22 - 25 : All by himself


Turns out with the scare, we took on the rest of the week mostly by himself in class. His peers were probably too afraid and preferred to stay home. He wasn't particularly huge on school with the change in check in procedure, no longer could we walk him to class and settle him properly before waving our goodbyes.


Sigh, stay healthy baby boy!

With 4 months away to the big 2...part of me is reluctant to let you grow up so fast. (And I say it on a good day)...on bad days I so wish you are already 18.


And here's some updates!

• We tried getting him to speak Chinese, at least mimic what we say and good lordy, sounds like a potato speaking!
• Cantonese was way more hilarious.
• Boy he can run...and you run so fast, sometimes we feel he's a hamster on wheels!
• He makes friends so well, from the waiter in the restaurant (he even held his hand and went off to see the water fountain) to the person on the road...
• He saw my newly acquired beauty and the beast cup and immediately claimed it as yours. DAMN. Well who can say no to you baby boy?
• His appetite is ginormous - in a single seating he inhaled a portion of brown rice, baked cheese ginger lemon fish and pork, corn kernels, corn and celery soup, 2/3 apple, 1 strawberry, 2/3 avocado, some mozzarella cheese strips, a handful of blueberries, 2 spoons of avocado banana icecream. We all feared he would throw up thereafter! Bottomless pit this one!
• We started swim classes too! More updates to come.
• He's starting to have a mind of his own, he insisted on wearing socks before swim class, got so upset one morning when we removed his socks and he realized there were no potatoes (we had turned to natural remedies for that nasty flu that wouldn't go away!) and...demanded Momma open my mouth because he saw me swallow the rest of your avocado in lightning speed so you wouldn't inhale the remaining 1/3! Man oh man, your antics never fail to make us all laugh.

We all love you so much...and wish you know so dearly behind every "no" is so much love for you.