Musical Tong Yuen Weekend

There was nothing musical about the tong yuen balls that my mum rolled up on Saturday night. I was, though, happily singing as I was home for dinner with my brothers and the whole jing-gang last night to celebrate this auspicious ocassion. This me, this is even more memorable than Chinese New Year because I get to eat with everyone in my family. My mum cooked her shark's fin soup, prawns and claypot seafood pot while my dad whipped up his ever-superb "8-treasures" duck. Sorry, no photos as I had forgotten to bring my camera. There were 8 adults, 3 toddlers and 2 babies. Needless to say, it was a NOISY affair. I was stuffed to the brim with all the yummy food and it wasn't surprising that I dozed off soon after dinner.

The musical part of this weekend was treating my mum and MIL to watch Mamma Mia - the musical, which is currently showing at Istana Budaya. I had purchased the tickets on the first day they were sold just to ensure that we got good seats. And good seats we got. The distance from the stage was not too near so that we were only staring at the actors feet, but near enough to watch their facial expressions clearly.

Backtracking, I picked both the mums up for lunch. Initially, I'd planned to take them to San Francisco Steakhouse but I think it has gone bankrupt! To think that I pass by that row of shophouses every day without noticing that the shop is no longer there. We then decided to proceed to the Eurodeli shop at Damansara Kim to savour their pork chops. Both the mums were very anxious to get to the theather early so right after lunch, we set off to KL. We arrived very early (read: 1:40pm and the show starts at 3:00pm) so we browsed around at the merchanises. I bought the programme, which is a must for me each time I watch a musical, and a latte mug for VT the caffeine-addict.

The musical is one of the most entertaining ever, I must say. The scenes are almost identical to the ones from the movie, so no surprises there. What was a really nice touch was the end where all the actors continued to sing and dance, drawing huge crowds to their feet - all clapping and dancing along. Thankfully (?) my mums weren't one of them. By the time the show ended, it was close to 6pm and we headed home - back to reality but with a spring in our step.

Brandon @ 5 Months

And..........whoosh! Another month has gone by. Brandon turns 5 months officially tomorrow.

This little smiley, cutie-pie...

... weighed 8.6kg when we last went to the paed 2 weeks ago
... drinks 6-7 ozs of milk every 4 hours
... sleeps from 9pm through to 8am about 75% of the time, without waking up to feed
... is going through a growth spurt at the moment hence waking up 2-hourly at night to satisfy his hunger
... is happy whenever his kor kor kisses him or talks to him

... calls out to people who walks by him else he's quite happy to entertain himself with toys if he doesn't see anyone around. Mummy sometimes ducks while walking by so that he cannot spot me!

... is a rather predictable baby - he cries only when hungry or tired
... still does not know how to flip as yet but attempting

... mouths everything but favourite objects remain his thumb, pointer finger & a cloth nappy

And finally, this cutie-pie...

... melts Mummy and Papa's hearts each time he smiles!

The Chatter Box

As the saying goes, "Once they start, they can't stop". Bryan didn't speak much before he turned 2 years old. He could say many words but only the first syllable and he couldn't string words together either. But right after we celebrated his second birthday, his speech development went through a quantum leap. Over a few days, he could say not just two, but three syllable words ("straw-ber-ry") and could string words up to form sentences. Looks like he has picked up his mummy's jabbering skills. On top of that, Bryan is now calling me "Mummy" instead of "Mama". Sweet, isn't it? Of course sometimes his incessant "Mummy, Mummy, Mummy" when you're trying to sleep, gets a bit annoying. Never theless, him calling me is the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

Some of his favourite words:

- No way (mind you, he does this while wagging his forefinger at me! Usually said in response to sleeping)
- Many toys

- Mummy buy toys (even though he previously exclaimed that he has "many toys")

- Bryan wear nice shirt go party (we did have 2 birthday parties this weekend alone)

- Mummy make more nen-nen (this boy can drink milk the whole day)

- Mummy go (to) work

- Papa fix (whenever his toy is malfunctioning)

- Papa carry di di (whenever he doesn't want Me to carry Brandon)

- Mummy find tape (referring to his misplaced "Finding Nemo", "Madagascar", "Shark Tale" DVDs)

- Mummy build house (with his Megablocks)

- Bryan go su(per)mark(et) mum mum, go toy shop (refering to Toys'R Us)

Such innocence - I love it!

Malacca & PD in 14 hours

Warning: Long post ahead

My PILs wanted to take Bryan for a short get-away in PD during the Hari Raya Haji long weekend. I couldn't take leave as my boss is away and it is also too troublesome to pack all of Brandon's stuff, like bottle steriliser and his bath tub. So VT and I decided to make a day trip instead. As it is, I packed 3 bags just for Bryan - one for clothes, one for diapers (swimming ones too), and the final one for snacks & milk (and milk bottles). I can't imagine what it would be like if I had to pack for Brandon too.

We chose a bad day for travel - it rained the entire day. Our initial plan was to leave by 8am so that we can get to the Malacca Zoo before 10am. Oh yes, we did get there before 10am, only to be greeted by more rain. We decided to hang out in Mahkota Parade for a while, hoping that rain would subside. But alas, it was still raining rather heavily by lunchtime. We then decided to find a place for lunch in Melaka Raya. All the restaurants were packed - not surprisingly since it was a public holiday (yes, for the Singaporeans as well whose cars out-numbered the KL-ites). We waited at Restaurant #1 for 45 minutes for our food, and when it didn't looked like it was coming (plus the waitresses were rude), we got up and left after paying for our chinese teas. Restaurant #2 was the same but by then, we just ordered whatever was available immediately as Bryan was hungry and figgeting. Food was sub-standard, and price was high standard.

After lunch, Bryan followed by MIL in their car, which ended up to be a good thing. We had to stop at two different petrol stations. Once because Brandon was fussing and we only then realised he was probably uncomfortable in his PJs (long-john style) when it was already 3pm!! So we changed him into a T and he was much happier. Silly parents, eh? Shortly after, I could hear him grunting away in the backseat hence it was time for another stop to change his soiled diaper. By the time we hit the highway towards PD it was 3:50pm and thanks to an accident, we arrived at Avillion at 5:15pm. Bryan was already eagerly waiting for VT to take him to the pool.

VT and I had a quick dinner at the resort and after packing Bryan off to bed, we started our journey home at 9:30pm. True to our "good" luck that day, we were stuck at the Senawang-Nilao stretch for more than an hour. When we arrived home, I almost cried because I was so tired and sleepy yet I stayed awake to keep VT awake while driving too. VT crashed out that night, while I took over the night shift. Luck turned after the stroke of 12 as Brandon gave his mummy a good night rest by not waking up till 9 the following morning.

It was an enjoyable trip but I'll think twice about long day trips again next time. Getting too old!

The EL and the VEE

Due to popular request, I had to surf the net for a good photo of the bag. So here it is.

The one which I got for my mum is in plum and not red. I personally liked the red one better but I had already bought her a bright red bag from Coach 2 years ago.


Here's a shot taken (with the bag!) when we went out for her birthday lunch at our family's favourite chinese restaurant - Overseas.

Extravangance

I know that this is the wrong time to be extravagant. Afterall, my boss just told me that there will be no increment nor promotion (I had been hoping for one) next year in light of the current financial situation. As you know, I work in the financial line so I suppose I should be lucky enough to have a job.

Anyway, back to my being extravagant. What did I spend on? Wellllllllll.................last Friday over lunchtime, I took a stroll to the Louis Vuitton shop (the huge one in Starhill), browsed for 10 minutes and bought a bag!

WOW, you might say. Before you congratulate me on owning my first LV bag, I have to make this qualifying statement: The bag was for my Mum.

She celebrates her birthday tomorrow and this year being her 65th birthday, I had wanted to get her something I know that she would never get for herself. All this time, she has been sacrificing for the family and saving up for us - yes, even now so that my brothers and I can lead an easy life. So I definitely think she deserves it. I don't mind not owning one and buying for my Mum. Not only do I think it is money well-spent, but I even battled through crazy Friday evening, rainy traffic to drop off the present so that she got a surprise when she returned from Penang the following day.

What I've done is so immaterial, compared to all that she has done for me. Funnily, all the pieces finally fell into place after I became a mother myself and understand what a mother goes through. God made us to be amazing creatures!!

Snapshots

Brandon enjoying a good suck of his fingers

The brothers together - one still sucking his fingers, the other busy watching TV

Austerity Drive & Toilet Training

What is the connection between an austerity drive and toilet training? You're right! Disposable diapers cost a bomb!!

I was happilly putting groceries and other necessities, such as diapers (3 packs of Mamy Poko), milk formula (a 1.8kg tin of EyeQ Gain), in Tesco. Then Wham! I was slapped with a RM420 bill at the checkout counter. I went through the bill again to ensure that nothing was mis-priced or calculated twice after I'd reluctantly handed over my plastic card. No such luck. All was in order.

Which brings me to potty-training. Bryan is still not yet potty-trained. Nope, not even for big business. Call it laziness, call it his own non-readiness, call it anything and the fact remains that the diapers are burning a hole in my pocket. And more so now that my boss has confirmed that there will be no increments/bonus/promotion in 2009. Shites! Some books say that a child is ready to be potty-trained when he can go by for a few hours and the diaper is dry. Not Bryan. This little fella drinks milk like a fish so his diaper requires a change every 1-2 hours. Admittedly, I have not been putting in much effort to potty-training this toddler. Looks like now I have a real motivation, besides from the fact that he will outgrow the XXL size soon, at the rate he is drinking milk!

If anyone has any good tips to share on potty-training, or better still, if anyone is willing to stay in my house (all meals provided) for the next 3 months to potty-train Bryan, please, do give me a call immediately!

Strange Sunday Evening

As I sit here in my room in darkness save from the light from the laptop screen, pretty much touch-typing, I'd looked at the clock and it is only 6pm. And what is so strange about it? Well, I am posting up this blog when usually I won't get the chance to until at least 10pm after the boys are asleep. And why? Both boys ARE asleep now!

For Brandon, this is his usual sleeping time. As he grows older, he dislikes being left on his own more and more. We still try to let him play by himself most of the time although sometimes he is too darn cute to resist. There are the smiles and the coos that keep us mesmerised to no end, and of course, his screams when he realised that he is alone in the room.

As with Bryan, his usual bedtime is 9pm but this cheeky monkey refused to take any naps the whole of today. He was running around and quite happily entertaining himself while I cooked dinner. But when it was time for him to have dinner (which I'd brought forward to 5:30pm seeing that he skipped his nap), the poor little boy's head was slumping with every bite he took. Seeing that, I had wanted to give him his usual bath and milk before bedtime, but alas, he fell asleep on my shoulder while I was removing his diapers! I ended up woping him down before putting on pyjamas on him and moving to the bed - all this while he was already asleep!!

Now it is time for VT and I to spend some quiet time together - quiet dinner, quiet dessert, quiet TV (we turn it down really low so that we can hear the boys upstairs).

P/S: Sorry for absence of photos. My laptop USB port is locked hence can't download the photos from the camera. Soon, yah?

Who Said Headgears are Only for Girls?

Ok, so VT wasn't too impressed when I put the McD's promotional Madagascar headband on Bryan. He does look girly, doesn't he? But I couldn't resist because it was so cute! By the way, I decided to put up this post after seeing how cute Ashley looks in the headband :)

Bryan looks pretty *sweet* yah