feasting and walking

hello, weekend.

after a whole week of feasting (yes, we’ve been eating quite a bit during this CNY), all the celebrations seem to be slowing dying down.

chinese new year is really nothing like christmas, especially with regards to food. and though christmas has the ability to make you feel really fuzzy, chinese new year is, truly the more “exciting” holiday season around here.

women (and some men) make a point to get new clothes, children get to play and collect red packets, everyone gets to eat good food. need i say more?

of course, this new year is exceptionally special because we finally managed to see elliott start to walk around on his own. he’s doing it quite a bit now, and these little steps that he’s making are something that we’ve been waiting for.

when he first started to walk, i got teary-eyed. i couldn’t believe my little boy is now able to walk on his own. this has got to be one of the biggest milestones of his life (and mine).

now, getting him to walk on his own takes some coaxing (though not impossible). he still loves to cling on to someone but after he does get a little more confident after a while and with that, he begins to walk better.

of course, it does help (i believe), if he’s around other toddlers. seeing them do it, makes him want to walk by himself as well. perhaps it’s peer pressure, eh?

in any case, chinese new year this time has been a great feasting season, one of great food,  and of achievements.

if everyday could be like this, and we’ll still get paid.

that would be the life.

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getting lazy

sigh. it’s funny how having a child can make you super lazy, and ignorant about things.

like, thinking of activities for your child to do instead of just watching television.

i wrote previously about how elliott loves television, and right now, it’s pretty much the same. except, that i’ve realised that i’m using television as a way of keeping him occupied so that i can get my own things done and/or so that he can keep himself occupied.

which does sound pretty awful, because it makes me look very lazy and bad.

not that i don’t want to play with him – but when you have pretty rough days at work, sometimes i just want those brief moments to just catch a breather, and to just be on my own for a while.

of course, my son doesn’t understand this. he knows that when his mom is back, he gets to play, and walk around and have a whale of a time. but since i know i’ll be in a very awful mood, i use the next best alternative : the television.

and feel terribly guilty thereafter.

it’s the weekend, and i have much lesser work going on. so i am going to try my utmost best to keep him entertained and occupied with everything else except the tv. it has to be the last resort.

so even if i have to struggle and fight with him while he tries to climb up and down the stairs, even if i’m very tired of doing the same thing again and again, i will try my best to keep him entertained and happy.

and give him mama’s undivided time and attention.

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happy 2012

happy new year everyone.

i have a long list of new year’s resolutions, but i wonder how long it’ll take for me to forget that i’ve made them, and not follow anymore.

  • i will exercise more.
  • i will cook more.
  • i will read the Bible faithfully.
  • i will nag less.
  • i will be less irritable.
  • i will blog more.

etc.

told you the list is long.

but yes, looking back i’m thankful that i’ve survived. we’ve had our ups and downs and there are days where things just become so messy that it frustrates me, but these things happen.

and as we enter 2012, i hope more good things come our way, that we learn to appreciate the simpler things in life, be happy, be in love.

happy new year.

p.s: happy anniversary, my man. i thank the Lord for you everyday.

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to watch or not?

I have this on/off debate about television for a toddler.

Studies have shown and proven that it isn’t a good idea to expose your child to television, if he/she is below the age of 2.

When I tell this to the older folks, they say that their kids watched television too but they turned out fine.
My mother even told me that she used to record commercials and play them on tapes to keep me occupied, and I turned out fine too.

When I tell my friends about this study, some tend to agree that it’s not a good idea for a kid to watch any television and advised me to refrain from doing so.

Unfortunately, Elliott loves television.

He loves to pass me the remote control everyday, asking me to turn it on for him. sometimes I’d not, and those times, he will turn it on himself.

I can tell you what shows he enjoys (anything that’s a song and dance), what bores him (news), and what time he will want to be watching television (almost every moment when he has nothing to do).

I know, this makes us sound so awful as parents. But believe me, we try. We play all his toys with him, we take him for walks, we tried reading to him, teaching him nursery rhymes (sans ipad), everything in an un-technological manner. Sometimes, it works and he doesn’t go for the remote; other times we wrestle for his attention when his eyes are glued to the tv.

perhaps I’ve not tried hard enough.

When you have work ongoing daily, and you come back exhausted, its easier to go for the easy way out, and let television do all the entertaining and educating.

i feel guilty and bad after that and i would sometimes berate myself for being lazy, but I can’t help it. It’s just so much.. easier.

just another day of being a mother, I guess. you will never be able to figure out what’s best.

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elliott – the 14th month update

i can’t believe just how quick he’s grown in the past few months.

it feels as though everything happens so quickly once a baby becomes a toddler.

elliott is learning to walk at this stage. i’m pretty sure he’s able to walk on his own but he has got no guts to do it. so most of the time, he will be holding on to our hands and he walks around the house very quickly.

he’s also speaking a lot more now. we hear “papa”, “gai gai” daily, and we’re able to communicate with him much better (ie, understanding him). he knows that he needs to wear shoes to go out, he knows he needs to hand me the remote control to turn on television, he knows the difference between a fake telephone and a real telephone, and he knows you need to slide across the screen to turn on mobile phones.

OMY.

i try to spend as much time as i possibly could getting him to focus on non-technological stuff, so i spend a lot of time stacking wood blocks and playing shapes with him. he doesn’t enjoy stacking the wood blocks much; destroying the towers seem to be more to his liking.

as for food, he loves it. his favourite words must be “mum mum”. he’s been eating everything we would allow him to eat, so there’s some rice from time to time, some noodles, some yoghurt, and he’s pretty much a bottomless pit. he’s also grown to be quite the picky eater. ever since we started giving him other types of food, he’s also learnt to realise that there are plenty of dishes that are much tastier than his boring porridge, and he’ll point and indicate to us that he’d rather eat adult food.

at restaurants, he will want to “order” food as well, and will be tugging on the aprons of waiters/waitresses who are taking orders or bringing our food in. it’s quite fun to watch, and he’s really a great joy to be with.

he’s growing well, and he’s very happy.

sometimes i’d wish he isn’t growing up so quickly, but i guess at this stage, we really have nothing to be complaining about.

everything’s just good.

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the difference between then and now

so, for the past few weeks, the man has been staying at home.

after a good long 5 years, he has said goodbye to his previous company, and is starting afresh, on his own.

we debated back and forth about this for a very long time, and though i love the financial security his previous job had provided us, it was the possibility of what could be even better that had won me over, and i gave him my endorsement.

yes, it does mean i might have to work a little harder, it does mean that i might not be able to own a vehicle, but should it work out (and i should claim it by faith), we are able to provide for ourselves and the family better.

since he didn’t assume the role of stay-at-home dad, i am still bringing elliott over to toa payoh for the afternoon, and bringing him back in the evenings.

but with this change of lifestyle, life doesn’t seem that hectic. the man doesn’t have to drag himself up, he gets to wear home clothes a lot more, someone’s here to watch over my laundry, he works on times where he’s most productive (and hence gets more done) and elliott gets an increase percentage of more time with his father (which, to me, is the biggest difference thus far).

of course, there are some things we can’t have that much, like eating out, or thinking about spending on luxury goods. but isn’t this what it’s all about, when you want to strive on your own? it can’t be easy, or smooth. it will have it’s bumpy places and roads, but you just gotta do your best, and keep believing in what you think would work.

besides, it’s always about the journey to the finish line that makes you a much stronger and better person.

so our journey (of brand new beginnings) has begun.

and here’s to success.

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happy birthday mom

today will be one of those mornings where elliott is still asleep, and i have some peace for now.

today’s also my mother’s birthday.

before elliott came along, i was one of those people who are very ignorant of the roles of parents. i was probably one of those take-for-granted bunch who would always just take, and never really think about anything else.

having a child really puts life in a different perspective, and makes you appreciate parents so much more.

the man and i are very fortunate to have family members who indulge on elliott, and my mother probably tops the charts in this category. she has spent way too much money on clothes, shoes, and other interesting (sometimes, weird) stuff for him. not to mention the amount of effort she spent on getting food ready, the amount she’s paid for, and the amount i’ve managed to save because of her willingness to pay for it. she’s also been pretty willing to take time off work to care for elliott while the man and i go for our little mini-escapades, and it helped to ease my mind a wee-little (i’m a overly worried person after all), knowing that elliott’s in safe hands.

she’s been of a great help. and i am very appreciative.

so happy birthday mom. thanks for everything that you’ve done.

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falling ill is not fun

it’s a brand new ball game when your toddler falls ill.

you are constantly checking his temperature, making sure that he’s eating/drinking well, making him comfortable, giving him extra TLC to make sure that he knows that you feel his pain.

and i don’t know about most parents, but there’s a part of me that constantly wanted to run to the doctor to hear him say that my child’s alright.
of course, that didn’t happen. i could only constantly assure, and reassure myself that he’s alright.

it’s been a week since we heard phlegm developing, and since that saturday, it had escalated to a pretty high fever, a little flu.. in short, a viral infection. elliott is all better now, except for that phlegm that constantly seemed to be bugging him, but gone are those initial days where he couldn’t even sleep well, and was running a high fever.

and thank God, though he was initially very ill and uncomfortable, he still had quite a good appetite and he was eating well.

but trust me, this is something that i can honestly say i wish i won’t have to go through often.

it’s not like it’s an adult we’re talking about. this toddler cannot communicate except cry, and cry, and when he was having problem sleeping we would have to carry him, sit upright, and help him to be comfortable so that he can rest (which also meant that we didn’t sleep much).

but of course, God does work in ways you’d never have thought of.

as i thought back about the rough week we’d have, i’m amazed at the timing of this. the man had taken a few days off work, and i wasn’t really back to work yet. we didn’t have to be rushing back and forth from work, we were at home to watch him, to take care of him, to have sufficient rest.

so yes, though it was difficult, it wasn’t that bad.

though i must stress yet again, it’s not something that i’ll be willing to go through ever so often.

it’s not the most fun thing, you know.

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passport chop #3

we just returned from genting/KL, a 4-day trip with elliott, and the first time we’ve ever travelled by car with him for such a long journey.

and within a year, elliott has done the plane rides, the boat rides, the cruise, and the car-ride. all that’s missing is a rail ride (but probably won’t be happening anytime soon).

getting there wasn’t difficult for us. elliott is usually very happy and contented with sitting at his car seat so we didn’t have problems with going there.

it was the return that had bigger problems.

by the end of our trip, he has already gotten too bored with sitting on his car seat for long so he got pretty cranky for most of our journey. we tried to sleep when he got sleepy and dozed off but that was only for a good hour and after he woke up, he got pretty cranky again.

other than that, it was nice for us all to try something different.

we weren’t staying in the hotels, but was actually staying at an apartment at the foot of the hill, but the weather was still pretty cool, and we slept with our windows open. the food in malaysia is always pretty fantastic and as usual, we’d try to have some bak kut teh and hokkien noodles (malaysia style).

and as usual, i’d pop into vincci and come back with a new pair of shoes.

but everything’s good, and we’re all back, safe and sound. no pictures, unfortunately. all too tired to be snapping.

perhaps, the next trip.

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going away, never

so, the man and i did indeed go away (as in, plane ride and all), this time further than Krabi (though only a difference of 30 minutes). we made our way to Bali two days ago, and i think we’ve decided (quietly) that we probably won’t be going there ever again.

see, all the hype that you read and know about a place can get you very excited. i was very thrilled with the idea of having a private villa (with meals), a massage, a 12-hr driver, and airport transfer. but all these, all within a day (since we were there on an evening and left in the noon leaves you with very little time), does make you feel quite trapped.

how to do the massage, and still get the 12-hr driver? how to go to ubud, and do jimbaran at the same time?

and worst of all, HOW to communicate?

see in Krabi it wasn’t so bad. we had company (tina and kevin whom we met there), language wasn’t that much a barrier, and we knew where we were going. in Bali, communication was harder, the place looked and felt messier (no offence), and we were by ourselves.

ok, i admit. it would have been much more fun if we had company.

furthermore, because elliott’s separation anxiety seemed to move to greater heights in the past few weeks, i was worried about him.

but i realized, i needn’t have to. because once again, elliott was a champion.

so the man and i decided, should we want time away again, we’d stay in town. get a stay-cation and just lounge around. we have internet, i would be much less worried, and we will have zilch problems with communications.

and travelling? i think i’ll just have to bring the little champion along with us.

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