Visit to the KL Zoo

Akong and Ama brought us to the zoo. It was a week day, it wasn't crowded, so it was quite nice to walk about.


I like the Safari area, at least the animals look as if they have enough space to roam about. We got to see a little zebra fight.

Sean's favorite animal is the giraffe, and there was plenty of those in the safari.

Surprisingly another area that he really liked was the butterfly enclosure.

While I thought the horned toads were quite cool. =D

There was these rather steroided looking bulls with huge muscles. I wonder if that's natural.


I think we'll go back again. It's really quite nice and not too far away. =D

Bullied

On Monday, Sean did not want to go to school. He was being quite difficult so I was rather testy with him. I told him to stop talking for a while while I concentrate on driving him to school and keeping a cool head. So he did. He went really quiet. With my son, being quiet means something is wrong. I asked him if he was ok, he said, " Yes, I'm ok." ( but rather subdued)

This was after a battle of getting him to eat before school. I gave him more than an hour to eat and he still didn't finish his food. The moment I parked the car, he said he was hungry. So we quickly nipped to the supermarket nearby to get him some pastries to eat.

So as we were walking to school, he said again
" I don't want to go to school. My friends are stupid."
I was surprised because that's not how he usually behaves. So I asked
" Why do you call you friends that? That's not nice."
"My friends are stupid"
I asked, " Did someone call you stupid?"

I was guessing, but I know that he hasn't been picking up mandarin at school. After 8 months at school, he still speaks mostly English at school. So maybe some of his friends who are more fluent may call him names, and then he said,
" Yes. My friend call me stupid."

He didn't want to enter his classroom. I talked to his teachers about it. They said they don't allow name callings in class, but they'll be more alert and talk to the kids about it. When he came home, we found out further who this 'friend' was.

It was a girl. She seems quite nice enough, and even passed me Sean's water bottle once when he forgot it. Sean says, " Yen Ling calls me silly and stupid."

I can quite imagine the situation because Sean is a joker and likes being silly. But he is very sensitive and must be feeling very hurt. My cheerful son who is always a joker has been rather subdued these last few days, and does not want to go to school. He hasn't been himself

I feel very sad for him. :(

I think it's hard for a boy to be bullied by girls. I always tell him to treat girls nice. But little girls can be hurtful in their words, and he has no defense against this. I do hope mummies with little girls would remind them that they should be nice to little boys too.

P.S.
This lasted only a few days though. After that things went back to normal.

Sean @ 47 months - Almost 4

He's not looking forward to being 4. I told him that once he's 4 years old, he has to leave the playgroup at the library. It's the rule and there is nothing that I can do about it. So he's been saying that he wants to always be 3 years old!

He's becoming more independent, but yet still a baby, for example

When he bathes, he closes the shower door and tells me that he wants to bathe by himself. But other times, especially when he's sleepy, he wails and asks me why does he need to bathe at all?


He can switch on the laptop, and play computer games all by himself, but still needs to be fed during meal times, otherwise he just won't eat.

He's still not interested in eating. The only food he'll eat without complain is Unagi. But on the bright side, he's starting to eat more and putting a bit more meat to his bones. But sometimes I feel as if I'm always telling him, " Sean, eat your food!" But in the evening, my MIL, would feed him, which makes things easier for me.

He tells me not to hug him when he goes to sleep, but he'll hug and kiss me instead. He still digs my belly button to sleep, otherwise he can't sleep. And I'm expected to close my eyes too. I'm not allowed to read or talk. * roll eyes* I have to sleep too ( or pretend to sleep at least =P )

He can mentally add numbers up to 10 when he wants to (it's a rare occasion though), but likes making up nonsense words which sometimes get really irritating because nobody understands what he's talking about, not even himself. *shake head*

He's got plenty of confidence, even though it's sometimes misplaced LOL.

His school had an idol contest to either sing, dance, do martial art moves or recite poetry. It's really just to get the kids experience performing on stage. So Sean went up, sang really loudly (and a bit out of tune =P) the first 2 lines, and then he promptly forgot his next line. The teacher on stage siddled next to him to whisper the next lines. He continued singing (loudly) with no apparent distress. Both Sam and I were shaking so much from laughing that the video that Sam was taking with his handphone was shaky. He was really loud and out of tune. It was just really funny. =D

Updates for the last 2months

A lot has happened over the past 2 months so this is a long and condensed blog entry. I've been busy, but it's also because I've been too lazy to blog. =P

At the beginning of June, Sean's uncles John, David, and aunt Mary came back to celebrate Akong's birthday, and the whole Wee family and my sis-in-law's in laws ( Uncle Paul and Aunty Dorcas) went for a driving trip to Terrengannu, Kelantan and Ipoh. It was really fun. The first time we went together as a family on a long driving trip. Sean really liked playing with uncle David and uncle John. It was really good for him to have them around to play with. No photos because I forgot my camera and have forgotten to ask for photos from John. (Will upload the photos once I get them)

At first, I wasn't quite sure how he'll behave on the long car journey, but he behaved really well. We both sat at the back of the van and played together. He filled in his maze books, did some drawings and colorings during the drive.

This was also the first time we brought Sean to the beach. We were there only overnight, so there wasn't that much time, but we tried to make full use of it. We played in the waves and built a sand castle surrounded by a moat.

In Kelantan, we stayed at Ah Co house which has a fruit orchard behind. I tried to follow my FIL when he showed everyone around, but I wasn't wearing the correct footwear. Slippers are just no good for walking through tall grasses crawling with big red ants and bugs! But we got to see durian, rambutan, pomelo, lime, jambu trees. There was a lady finger plant next to the house. Actually there were plenty of plants and trees, I just didn't know what they all were! =P

On our way home, we stayed overnight at Ipoh. I like Ipoh. It's really quaint. Many of the older shophouses are still in good condition. It feels like a throwback in time.

When we came back to KL, as usual all of us fell sick for almost 2 weeks. I don't know why, but holidays give us the flu!

In late June, we flew over to Jakarta to spend time with my family.

I spent the whole week trying to get my IC done. It's a decentralized system and I had to get a letter of recommendation from the RT (Rukun Tetangga) first. It just so happen the RT changed in my neighbourhood and I got the wrong address. So I went to the wrong house and knocking on the door 4 times, before I got the right address, but then he sent me to the RW. And then it was to the RW (Rukun Warga), who told me to get a police report first. After the police report was done, I had to go home and get my birth certificate and Kartu Keluarga.



After which, I went to the Lurah, whose official said that my IC was expired, which meant the letter had to be sent to the Walikota! I had to asked the person really nicely to go to the Walikota office really soon, because it was already Wednesday. On Friday, when I went to the Lurah's office, the system was down. The guy said if I didn't believe him, I could go in and try to get into the system myself, which I did! I spent 20 minutes trying to get into the system on his computer. The system was really down, and so I had no choice but to come back in the afternoon again. Luckily the system was up by then and I could take my IC photo. But I had to go again later in the evening for pick up the IC.




During the week, I went on 15 visits to various officials before I could the darn thing done! It was a good thing I didn't plan to do anything else that trip. I knew it was going to be tedious, I just didn't realize how difficult it was going to be. But I was surprised that I didn't get angry at all. I thought the police and the government officials were really friendly.

My dad, who wasn't around, managed to get a flight back in time to meet us so we could celebrate his birthday with him. So besides the ordeal in getting my IC, the whole week was really relaxed. It was really for spending time with family. We also met up with friends, Eny and her cute daughters, Yulius and Paula. It's always great to spend time with family and meet up with old friends. =D

And what's best, we didn't get sick after we got back!

Sean loved his koko Fen fen and koko Frederick. I didn't have to entertain him this trip at all. He was quite happy to hang out with them. He followed them around all the time, they were quite happy to let him join them in whatever they were doing until inevitably the big boys complained that he disturbed them too much with his antics =P.

Fendi, Sean and Frederick.

Papa's birthday dinner

Sean and Lau Ma

Sean and Rena

The week after we came back, it was Kristen's 4th birthday. So we all trooped to Kristen's house to celebrate with her. But since the playgroup does not allow children above 4 years old anymore, the kids are not able to meet up anymore since they all go to different schools now or at different sessions. So this is becoming a rare occassion for the kids to play together.

Sean and Kristen

Nikita, Kristen and Sean

Aria, Kai, Sean and Isaac

The maid is back

The maid is back!

When the maid left, I was kind of glad to get the house to ourselves. By the end of the 2 months, I think we were getting the hand of it. I wasn't so hung up about getting everything done within the day.

But it's nice to have her back. I no longer have to iron clothes for the 5 of us anymore. Laundry can be really mountainous in this household and all that ironing was really drying up my hands and giving me sore hands.

I also get more time with Sean now, which is what we both missed the most when I was so busy doing this and that. There was one week, when I was so busy working as well as doing the housework, that he told me that he didn't need any help anymore. That kind of broke my heart a bit because I know it was because I was always so busy.

By the time he woke up, I was not next to him because I was busy doing something about the house. Then I would rush him through breakfast, lunch and send him to school. By the time he comes home, I wasn't not home and was only back at 9 or 9.30 pm ( during that really busy week), and then I had to have a quick dinner and shower. By the time I'm done, I had to get him to bed.

I felt him change that week. He was more grown up, and maybe a bit sad that mummy was too busy to play with him.

So I'm really glad to have the maid back. Sean and I can spend more time together doing things we like now.

More water please

Today, Sean was eating dried sotong. He enjoyed it so much that he kept eating more and more. Since I was doing my work, I didn't really keep track on how much he ate.

He kept asking more more water. Now, Sean doesn't like drinking water. So I was very surprised when he asked for water. Only after the third cup of water and when he said, "Water, water, quick, my tongue is hurting!", that I realised that the dried sotong must be quite spicy!

He he he he.... This little boy of mine is developing a taste of spicy food. We are not much of a spicy fan, but we let him try anyway.

Now I know how to get him to drink more water! =P

Oooops!!

Now he has a sore throat! Okay.... no more spicy dried sotong for a while for him. =P

Sean @ 44 months

I've been busy with the housework, so I haven't been taking photos of Sean this month. This was from last month. He drew "Red" the fire engine from the book, all by himself. He was very proud of his work. =D

Until I started interfering and then he lost interest. So ok, mummy shouldn't interfere so much.

Here is his corner. He likes to stick his 'work' on the wall. I can already imagine how his room will be like next time. It's going to be really messy!

He cut the Chugginton section from the Toys'R'Us pamphlet and pasted it on his wall. He told us that he wants all the Chugginton trains!

He was sick for a whole week and lost some weight to the point that his school pants would drop to his butt when he jumps. So I'm trying to fatten him up now.

He stopped drinking milk a long time ago and is a fussy eater, unless it's Unagi or mushroom and Fung Chau. Since he doesn't want milk or yogurt on it's own, I've been making fresh Mango lassi or banana lassi for him, which luckily he enjoys. So at least, he gets something milky into him. But that craze only lasted a few days, so now I'm back to persuading him to drink a small cup of milk every morning again.

If you remember, in the last blog, he has been wanting to help me doing the housework. So I've been letting him help me when ever he wants to help. Cooking is still a no-no because of the knives and fire involved. So I'll ask him if he would like to help me clip the clothes when I hang them. So during the week he was sick, he helped me a bit and then went back watching TV.

I asked " Don't you want to help?"
He said " Helping you to hang clothes is boooring."
Boring!!???

I thought I wouldn't get this kind of answer until he's much older? He's not even 4 and he already thinks that certain things are boring???

He's been getting bouncier, in the sense that he literally bounces here and there, making us feel tired just looking at him, and getting himself sent to the corner, just so that we get some peace. Every time he goes hyper-bouncy, we ask each other, "What sweet drinks have you given him today?" We don't really want to deprive him of his apple juice, but it really shows when he drinks sweet drinks too much. But despite his hyper-bouncy behavior, he can be really sweet.

I get lots of hugs and kisses all the time, and he tells me he loves me several times a day. No complains there :D It's God's way to reward mummies after a long day. It's a wonderful gift.

The day before Mother's Day, while I was baking an apple pie, he came to the kitchen and asked
" What are you making?" I said, " Apple Pie"
He said, " Hhmmm... sounds yummy. Thank you for making it, mummy."

Isn't that sweet?

Of course, when it comes to actually eating it, he only ate a small piece, and only after I pouted and said, " Don't you want to eat mummy's apple pie?"
He said, "ok. Hhmmm that was yummy."
I asked, " Do you want some more?"
He said, "No."

Darn it....



It's like when I slaved over making these colorful cookies with him because he's been asking me to make cookies together. And how many did he eat? 3 cookies! and after that he wasn't interested in eating them anymore. What am I going to do with the others?

Oh well, we did spend quite a fun afternoon together shaping all these cookies. It's the time spent together that counts, isn't it?

Sean @ 43 months

There are positive and negative things with a 3 year old boy going on 4. He is at this exasperating but lovable stage.

On the positive side:

Since I've been doing the housework, he's been wanting to help out, I guess to spend more time with me, and it's something new to him. I'm sure when he's a teenager, it'll be something he'll be trying to avoid all the time!

Mummy, I want to help you cook,wash the dishes, wash clothes, sweep, etc, etc.... Of course, I'd have been happy to let him help if Sean was 6 years old already, but at 3 going on 4,there are many things he still can't do. So I have been giving excuses why he can't help me.

I don't want to deter him from offering his help in the future when he can actually help. So I do allow him to help out, such as helping me put on the clips while I hang the clothes, which of course takes us twice as long to do it than if I do it by myself. Once in a while, he'll help me water the plants and feed the rabbit, unless he's watching TV and can't be bothered.

He wants to help me wash the clothes, so he kept opening the washing machine to look inside. *roll eyes* He keeps offering to help me cook, which of course, I'm always saying "No!" to. But I did let him wash the potatoes which didn't make too much of a mess.

He's getting better at sweeping the floor to clear up his own mess after cutting papers with a small broom and dustpan. Of course, it's not perfect and I have to finish the job, but it's a start.

He's been trying to wash the dishes whenever I send him to wash his hands at the sink. I'm always telling him not to touch the dirty dishes, but tonight, I let him wash his own plastic cup after he drank.

At school,

I'm quite positive that he's a class clown (not sure if this is a positive or negative =P). He is a bit of a joker at home, and it looks like it continues at school. He seems to be rather well known. His classmates often point him out to their parents. " That's Sean!" And when I asked him if he knows his classmates names, he says, "I don't know." Ok lah, he's getting better now, he remembers maybe 3-4 names now.

His classmates keep a look out for him when we pick him up from school. "Sean! your mummy/ daddy is here." Yesterday, one even passed me his water bottle which he forgot to put in his bag. They're really sweet.


On the negative side:

He still can't sit still unless he's watching TV. When watching TV, he'll be so glued to the TV that he's deaf and blind to everything. At other time, he'll be jumping here and there. So much so that his teachers lament that he can't sit still during lessons. He'll be monkeying around the class while he's supposed to sit and listen.

He's quite lucky his teachers dote on him and don't punish him often, and if they do, he probably gives his sad puppy face that they let him go free. But it's still a problem because his next teacher may not dote on him so much, and then he'll be punished very often.

The aftermath of being robbed

The act of crime was done within seconds.

I was sitting in my locked car waiting for the gate of my student's house to be open. As it was opening, there was an explosion of glass on the passenger glass. I screamed. Turned my head to the left and saw a hand lifting my handbag out of the car. The person went out of my vision and immediately ran off with his accomplice on their motorbike (which I didn't see but the maid did). I drove into the house. The gate was closed, and I went in to borrow a phone to call Sam.


The ordeal started after that.

First, I had to cancel my handphone, bank card and credit card.

The police report took 3 hours and we had to go to 3 police stations. We went to the one nearest our house first and had to sit through the excruciating slowness of the police officer typing the report into the computer with 2 fingers. We actually did our own report and printed it for the Police, but they needed to type it into their system. When he pressed enter, the whole report disappeared. He retyped it 3 times, and it disappeared 3 times!

So we went to another police station. The 4th entry also disappeared! Luckily the 5th time was successful. Then we had to wait for them to get a reply from whoever it was. We were then told to go to another police station to see an inspector. Luckily, that was the end of the reporting line.

I wasn't sure what I could tell them that wasn't already in the report. Basically, I didn't see the perpetrator. So I knew that it was futile since I couldn't give any descriptions. But it took 3 hours anyway.

Next, I had to replace my hand phone, new bank card and get new SIM card, which didn't activate, and therefore I had to go to Maxis again. It's a good thing, the people at Maxis are efficient. But Sam wanted to register with Maxis for land line and internet. So this week we’ve been to Maxis 4 times!

I still haven't had the time to report to the Embassy about the loss of my I/C and driving license. The car can't be used too because we need to order a new window. Unfortunately, our car being an old Opel, spare parts are hard to find.

Of course, with no license, I am practically legless. I'm going to have to get a Malaysian driving license since I won't be able to replace my Indonesian one any time soon. And that's going to be another ordeal. *Sigh*

Sam told me I have to sit through a 5 hour instructional video. Something about the danger of driving. I'm not looking forward to that. And then of course, go through driving lessons, which I don't think I really need, but have to do anyway.

I'm also going to have to replace a library book that was in my bag. I'm not looking forward to report it to Maria, the librarian. She can be quite sharp. *Shrudder* Especially since the book is an old edition. I wonder if it's still being sold in the bookshop. It's the first book of a series. So it's quite important to get it replaced. And I'm rather upset that I didn't get to finish reading it too!

If sitting in a locked car while entering a house compound is no longer safe, I wonder if any single woman driver is safe from these criminals. This definitely hasn't been a good week.

Maid-less in KL

The maid had to leave suddenly because her mum was very ill. We got her a plane ticket on Wed evening but she was too late. Her mum died on Wed morning.

I haven't been happy with the maid. She talks back to me, and since she's not my maid, she doesn't listen to what I say. I feel bad that this had to happen to her though.

Anyway, we're maid-less for the next 2 months. And it so happened that the first day we had no maid was my busiest day of the week and it was one of those days when you just didn't get enough sleep. I think I barely had 4 hours of sleep.

So the first day went like this:

Morning: Woke up, washed clothes, cleaned rabbit's cage, fed him, watered the plants, put the dry dishes back, washed dishes in the sink, hung clothes, made sure that Sam got Sean to bathe and brush his teeth, fed Sean breakfast, rushed to playgroup at 9:30am.

We were a bit late but that's ok. Returned and borrowed books, did a craft with Sean, cleaned up playgroup with the other mums at the end. We skipped story telling and rushed home. Heated up food for lunch. Got Sean to eat lunch (Feeding Sean is one of the most tasking tasks!), got him to bathe again because it was such a hot day.

Afternoon: Sam sent him to school that day while I took down the laundry and ironed. Then at 1.30pm, rushed out to teach 3 students. Came back at 6pm, had dinner that Sam cooked, washed dishes, ironed more clothes. After that, I was too tuckered out and had enough for the day. There's always tomorrow, right?

I was feeling rather kindly towards the maid. I thought: Oh, she must be so grumpy because she was worried about her mum, blah, blah, blah. Until......

I actually did the housework while still having to work (part time) and send Sean to school and playgroup, do grocery shopping, etc.

She really doesn't do her work very well.

After I mopped the floor, the floor felt so much cleaner than it has ever before. We resorted to walking with slippers at home because we couldn't stand the dust. We thought that the new place is extra dusty because of the proximity of the road to the living room, but I realized that it's just because she doesn't mop the floor.

She doesn't vacuum that well either because when Sam vacuumed the carpet, they were very dusty.

I wash, dry and ironed the clothes within the day, while clothes would take days to come back when she does it.

We wash the dishes right after we use and regularly put the dry ones into the cupboard, while with a maid around, the dirty dishes seem to pile on the table or the sink.

I do realize though that all these housework that the maid used to do is taking time away from Sean. Sean has had to entertain himself more and more. And sometimes the result is disastrous, like him spilling a bottle of sand-like basil seeds all over the carpet and making a huge mess of his toy area, smearing playdough all over the table or playing with bottles of paint when I'm not looking.

But he's been behaving well otherwise. And I think this experience with no maid is a great time for him to learn to do things for himself.

As for myself, I'm hoping the housework will give me a good work out. After not exercising for 4 years has made my body rather soft, and my belly big. People keep thinking I'm pregnant when I'm not! So hopefully I get to lose some belly fat during the next 2 months. =D

Bed sheets are important

I never realized how important bed sheets are until Sean slept in his own bed. The maid washed his bed sheet are replaced it with a plain one. He went back to sleeping with us.

I thought, Oh, maybe it was only the novelty of moving into a new place that caused him to move toward independence on his own. He hardly slept on his bed for the whole of last week. Sometimes Hubby or I would sleep there because it gets crowded with the 3 of us on a Queen size bed.

Then I had a thought. I changed back his bed sheet into the Mickey Mouse bed sheet. Just an experiment to see if he would behave differently. And YES! He went back to sleep on his own. =P

He still creeps into our bed in the morning, but that's ok. We kinda miss him sleeping with us. So this is a good arrangement. More space for me at night (and I don't get kicked when I sleep too!) and we get to be cozy in the morning. =D

On a side note, this morning I said to him, "Wan An" I mean " Zhou An" (good morning). He asked what was "Wan An" because he usually calls out to his teacher "U An" (good afternoon) when he goes to school. When I told him that " Wan An" "Zhou An" means "Good Morning" in Mandarin.

He said with this incredulous face, "You know how to speak mandarin too!!!!???"

LOL..... That really cracked me up, because I only know a few phrases, and my son was so surprised. Ha ha ha....

Sean @ 42 months

Sleeping in his own bed.
A few days before we moved house, Sean said, " I don't want to sleep on a baby bed.", referring to his bed. And yeah, he'd never liked his bed. He's always crawling into our bed and proceed to kick us around the whole night, going round and round while sleeping.

So in the new house, we gave him John's old single mattress, covered with brand new Mickey Mouse's bedspread,on the floor next to our bed and he had no problem sleeping in his own bed. Getting him to sleep early is still a problem, but once it's late enough and he's tired, he'll go to his bed and I'll cover him with his blanket, and he goes ZZZZZZZ.......

Another change is bathing.
It used to be really difficult to get him to bathe. But somehow over here, it's much easier. He picked his own bath soap in the Supermarket," I want to buy this soap ", a Mickey Mouse Strawberry soap. And bathes himself in the shower. I help him to wash his hair and back, but when hubby bathes him, he let's Sean bathe on his own.

This is Sean's Corner. It's usually rather messy because he's into cutting papers now. He's also been doing a lot of drawings. His latest craze is drawing masks. He tries cutting them himself, but they end up in the bin. So I have the task of cutting his masks neatly for him.

And you can see in his photos, he's becoming more and more a cheeky monkey, quite like Calvin from "Calvin and Hobbes", who makes faces in photos!

Biting his classmate

Sean bit his classmate yesterday and today. He also bit another classmate once last month. When asked why, he answered that he was hungry or just plain, "I don't know", which is his typical answer.

We're a bit surprised actually because he doesn't bite at home. But his teacher said it could be because he was frustrated and couldn't say what he wanted to say that caused him to bite his classmate.

We're a bit at a loss in this area. We've told him not to bite, and hubby even scolded him for it. I've also made him say that he won't bite another person again. But I don't know if all these are even effective.

Moving House

We finally made the move.

Gosh, even though I packed part of the items and moved them in advanced, on the few days we moved the big furniture, there were still a lot to move, throw out or give away. We aren't done yet because the old house still has leftover items that have been stored in the store rooms for years.

I know the in-laws have tons of things because they haven't done spring cleaning for years, but I didn't realized how much Sean and I have accumulated through the last few years. I think you'll only realize this when you actually have to pack your things and move them from one house to the next.

I carried so many boxes up and down stairs, I think I finally managed to reduce some of the belly fat that has been bothering me. Or it could just be the trick mirror in this new house. The mirror makes everything look slimmer and taller!

I think everyone should have at least one of these mirrors. They make you feel good about yourself. =P

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Dear everyone,

Gong Xi Fa Cai, Xin Nien Kuai Le.

First visit to the dentist

What did we do on Chinese New Year eve?
Brought Sean for his first visit to the dentist!

He was in pain yesterday and couldn't eat much. I knew that his teeth weren't in good condition but I wasn't sure when is a good age to bring him to the dentist. I didn't want him to be scared of the dentist if we bring him too early.

When I shined the torchlight at his teeth yesterday evening, I was shocked at how huge his cavities are!

First thing I thought, "Oh no.... where are we going to get a dental appointment on CNY eve?" Luckily, Sam's friend, Jo Ee, is a dentist, and we called to ask for an emergency appointment today.

And the diagnosis is bad, of course. But the dentist cleared away all the decay and patched it up. Sean behaved really well throughout the visit, except for making a lot of noise while playing in the waiting room. I'm very proud of him because he was very brave today. No crying, just a lot of curiosity. And Uncle Jo Ee, the dentist was very good and gentle with him.

Unfortunately, he has so many cavities, that we are going to see the dentist very often from now on.

I pee like Daddy!

Sean's school teacher brought them to the toilet yesterday to get them to practice peeing on their own. As usual Sean would drop his pants down, exposing his rear, pee without holding onto his penis and dribble on to his pants. Then loudly he said to his teacher, " I pee like Daddy!"

Today when hubby sent him to school. They stopped by the toilet before going into the classroom. He went to the urinal, pulled down his pants and exposing his rear, and proceeded to pee, while telling his classmates who happened to be peeing at the same time, " I pee like Daddy!"

The classmates turned to look at hubby. Hubby was embarrassed, obviously.

What happens is that Sean used to take off all his pants before entering the toilet to pee. So hubby taught him to go to the toilet bowl and lower his pants before peeing. Unfortunately Sean still needs to lower all of his pants before peeing. Now, everybody thinks hubby moons everyone when he pees. Bwa ha ha ha ha =P

Sean @ 41 months

Favorite accessories : straw hat and sunglasses
Favorite color : red ( he uses red for everything)
Favorite drink : Yoko Strawberry, Coca Cola, Apple juice
Favorite food : banana, pao

Current Behavior : He swings from " I want Mummy to do it for me" to " I want to do it myself" this past month.

One minute he says, " I don't know how, help me." The next moment, he's like "I want to do it myself" and won't listen to instruction. For example, in the supermarket, he wants to push the trolley himself and refuse to let us even touch the trolley. It's a real headache trying to make sure he doesn't crash into things or people.

Or if he really doesn't know something and I tell him what they are, then he'll say, " Oh yeah, I know that." Aarrrgghhh...

The other night, he went to the toilet to poo and told us,
Sean : Don't follow me. I want to poo and wash myself."
Our eyebrows went up. Normally when he goes to the toilet he says, "Mummy, follow me"
Me : Eerrr.. No, you still don't know how to wash yourself."

Later I asked him, " What do you mean by wash yourself?"
Sean : I spray water and wash the toilet.
I asked, " What about your backside?"
Sean : Mummy and Daddy wash my backside

Oops... as I'm typing this blog, the little rascal calmly went to the toilet ( I assumed to pee), came back out, sat on the bed and put on his pants, and then went back to do what he was doing before. Reeeaaallly quietly..... not his usual self.

My hubby had the inkling to ask him, "Did you pee or poo?
Sean said, " I pee pee and poo poo"

*Eyebrows went up*

I jumped to the toilet to check the toilet bowl. He pooped and didn't wash! He also left a poo streak on the edge bed where he sat while putting on his pants. Of course it was back to the toilet to wash up and change pants. LOL....

As I was cleaning the bed, the floor felt crunchy.
I said : What's this?
Sean : I sharpened my pencil.

He had sharpened his pencil and left all the debris on the floor.

*Shake head*

This " I want to do is myself" stage is full of surprises. Hopefully there'll be more pleasant ones. I don't want to be finding poo streaks on my bed!!!!!!

Activity : Baking

I made the easiest mini sausage puff pastries ever. All you need is a pack of ready puff pastries from the supermarket. Thaw it. Cut into half and roll mini sausages into it. Cuts slits with butter knife, put a dash of milk and sprinkle sesame seeds. Then pop them into the oven for 15-20 min, and Voila! They're done and totally delicious! and finished faster than it took to make. =P



Next I tried the other half packet of puff pastries with chocolate. Same method, but unfortunately I put too much milk on top, which made the layers of the puff pastries stick together. So they didn't raise as well as the sausage. Taste is still good though. But people at home prefer savoury food, so this took longer to finish. =(






And last night Sean and I made apple pie together. He helped me to cut the apples into small pieces and sift flour and rub the butter with the flour. It was a messy affair, but he really loved it. He didn't always listen to my directions but maybe we'll do more of this from now on. =D

Activity: : Letter writing

Last week Sean showed an interest in writing. It came up out of the blue.

Sean : I want to write to Opa Oma (my parents).
Me : Ok.

So I gave him a blank piece of paper and spelled out the letters. He couldn't manage the size really well. It's a good thing the letters are really short, otherwise the letters would be everywhere on the page.

The letter simply says:

To: Opa Oma. I love you. (I helped him with the spelling, of course)

He also drew a red truck for them.




I told him that we'll send the letter by mail. He was really excited about it. I managed to convince him to write 2 more letters. This time to Fendi and Frederick, his cousins and to Akong and Ama. I made boxes for each letter in the next letter. He needed help with letter 'k' and 'r' initially, but managed to get it quite well on his own later on. It came out a lot neater, but not as original as the first one though.





Maybe once he gets the idea that he needs to size each letter so that he can fit a word on a line, I'll get him to write without the boxes.

I decorated an envelope and then we went to the Post Office to buy a stamp and to post his letter on Monday.

Today, out of the blue, he wanted to write again. So this time he wrote to Uncle John and I helped to post it on his Facebook page for Uncle John. Of course, he got a reply really soon from Uncle John. But I only saw it after he fell asleep. So I've got to remember to show Uncle John's reply to him tomorrow.

Playcenter Library

I'm attaching information about the Playcenter Library.

It's a library for children books. They have fantastic children books. Membership is only Rm15 for 2 books, and you can have as many membership as you want. So you can borrow more books if you want.

I currently have 6 memberships, so I can borrow 12 books each time. Sean doesn't always like the books that I borrow but since I borrow so many, there are always a few that will grab his attention. When I know which books are his favorites, I keep a lookout for them during sales or in Scholastic quarterly newsletter and get them for our personal library.

A dilemma

Ever since Sean started school, I don't really know what he does in school anymore. Obviously I can't hang around and peek through windows to see what he does at school. The teachers would probably shoo me away! =P

But I do miss the time when we go to playgroup together when I can be with him and meet up other mums.

We could still go for the morning playgroups because our names are still on the list. Playgroup in the morning has started for 2 weeks now but we haven't attended a single one. One reason is because Sean has been trying out the extra activities, which started at 11.45am, at school last week.

He tried

Modern dance - Nope. He can't follow the instruction, he was doing his own things. All the little girls were following the dance movements really well though.

Mental Maths - Not that we really want him to send him to Maths. It was supposed to be Singing, but they made a typo error. So we were at school almost 2 hours early with nothing to do. So I just sent him into the Mental Maths trial so he had something to do. He couldn't sit still. Anyway it's for the 5 and 6 years old. =P

Art and Craft - The teacher said he could follow instruction but he just drew his aliens anyway, which he can do at home for free!

We decided not to enroll him for the extra activities for now.

So now some of our mornings are free. But I'm just wondering whether or not I should rush him from the playgroups in the morning and then to school in afternoon. It's not necessary that he goes to them. But I do want to meet other adults too. Seriously, the playgroup is more for me to meet other mums. =P.... ha ha ha

I'm still undecided. We'll try it out next week and see whether or not it'll be too tiring for Sean.

The quirky things he does and says

After having a good first day of school, he came back and said he liked school but only wants to go to school for ONE day only. He thought that was it. LOL.

One morning morning he asks why he needed to go to school. He says, "I have many toys at home and 2 computers to play." Hhmmm.. I didn't really have an answer to that. In his shoes, I would prefer to stay at home too. =P

He loves his indoor Optimus Prime slippers so much that he will not leave at schools like all the other children do. Sometimes he won't even wear them but keeps them in his bag, just in case he forgets to bring them home.

Sean @ 40 months

The latest development is of course starting school full time.

In the morning, he'll say that he wants to stay and play at home. But in the afternoon, by the time he sets foot in the school compound , he's on a different mode. He'll grab his bag and start walking to his class. He doesn't even want to hold my hand. =P

When he reaches his class, we'll take off his shoes and change into indoor slippers. He's so keen on going into class that he often forgets about his bag. he he he...

He's in his full school uniform complete with the white Bata shoes and socks. Isn't he cute? =D

Sean's 1st day at Diyana

Yesterday, we went for Sean's orientation and I found out that school starts today!

I was mistaken because I thought he starts on 18th like the English Nursery students. We went to his class and met his new teacher. We liked her. She is smiley and friendly. She speaks English well too. So that allays my fear about not being able to communicate with his Mandarin teacher. It was a short meeting and he didn't want to leave so soon. =D

Today, he was excited to start school. From the moment he stepped into school, he was in a hurry to go to his class. His class was right at the end of the large school compound. It was a long walk but he was rushing to go to school. No uniform yet because we haven't confirmed and pay the school fees. Will do it in the next few days.

I love that he is excited to go to school. =D It's a great start of the new year.

We had to think up a chinese name for Sean. So like anyone of our generation, we Google for ideas. Finally we decided on a name: Wei Sheng. FIL passed on a book they had on chinese names. I just found out that the chinese character I chose wasn't the right one. The Sheng we picked out meant holy, wise rather than the one we wanted which means victory. So tomorrow I'm going to have to inform his teachers about the change of chinese character.

Ha ha ha... It's a good thing this is not official.