Fuss Fuss No.1

All the fuss over the weekend and the last few days that has kept me extra on my toes, which leads to my being more tired than usual:

This baby came to celebrate his first birthday! (as mentioned earlier)



So on Saturday night was the big do for a little boy, Dinner for family members, an extended family affair. All the kids got a gift from the Birthday boy's Ku-Ma (Aunt on the father's side), and a party pack after that, prepared by yours truly. (Yeah, I love fussing with party packs. Another hobby? Potential business maybe? Lol.)



Then yesterday was the real birthday, and his Daddy came up all the way from Singapore just to spend the day with the family. Phew! What a devoted Dad!

And what did we do?

Sorry for sounding boring and repetitive, but,
upon the Birthday boy's parents request,...

... we went to the Science center,





And then to Marco's for a wonderful lunch.



The "party" ended about 3pm for us and the kids all fell asleep one by one in the car.

****

Today, after running some errands in the morning, my sister and her kids came to play at my place for the whole day.

Man, it's crazy having four children under four years old under the same roof.

Constant activities: Feeding them, bathing them, changing diapers, cleaning up spills, picking up toys, monitoring behaviors, ensuring security, did some grocery shopping.
3 adults and 4 kids and there's still a lot of yelling, the children screaming and Moms fussing.

After dinner about 7.30pm, we all played in the room. The three older ones did some rough housing, and the only screams were of thrills and delight. The one year old was mostly playing by himself and occasionally clinging to his mommy.

I sent them back to my mom's about 10.30pm. It was a full day of fun.

Tomorrow: Another full day, if not half...

Need a Nap

Need to mop floor.
Need to change the bed sheets.
Need to upload photos to update my last post.

Need to NAP!

Getting a very heavy head now, and think I want to sneak in a nap while the boys are also napping. Since the experiment with the Vicks last Wednesday (almost a week now), Max has been waking up in the middle of the night, and demand to be in the swing downstairs. It could be as early in the night as 3am to 6am. Sometimes he will ask for a song or movie to be put on, Sometimes just a drink and then sleep.

I am exhausted... especially after todays outing. Tell you about it later. Now much take my chance to snooze.

Yes, We have Fish

Was reading Toddlerdaddy's post about their gold fish, and so...

Let me tell you our fish story:

How We Got Our Fish


Couple of years back, near Christmas, there was a cable TV promotion at a shopping mall. They had booths with games and activities to entertain the kids while some of their sales guys try to talk to you about signing on with them. One of the games we participated in was to catch live fishes from a baby pool with a hand-held net. So we got to take home 2 fishes in a plastic bag. We put them in a clear plastic jar for a couple of days and then one of them died.

Micah was so upset, that the grandpa went out to buy a mini fish tank with an electric oxygen pump, and 2 more fishes. The next day, both the new fishes died.

So over the weekend Gadget-daddy and I took the 2 boys to a fish pet shop and to my delight I found very cheap fish, 10 for RM1. They were actually meant for feeding bigger fishes. So we ended up with 11 fishes in a mini tank... and as you can guess, over-crowdedness led to more fishes dying. At that time, we already had 2 terrapins (bought them about a couple of months before the fishes arrived). So whenever a fish died, the terrapins had a good meaty meal.

One day a relative gave us their old fish tank. Much bigger and on a stand even.

Finally, our clear plastic container that became a mini tank with 11 fishes has now "evolved" into a big tank (3ft x 2ft x 2.5Ft). Non of the original 11 fishes left, but now we have some other fish, also given by some other relatives, and now the terrapin (one died too) is also happily swimming in there.



Personally, as a kid* we had fishes as pets but no one was keen on cleaning the tank, we eventually gave up on that. With Micah, I would have just let the 2 fishes in the plastic container be the end of our fish story, but the indulging grandparents sure made it a much longer fish tale. :)



* Actually, because of my indulging parents and grandfather, we had the following as pets at different times:
dogs
cats
fish
tortoise
guinea pigs
quails
chicken
parakeet
turtle doves

The Pains of Friendships

I met a very dear friend for lunch today. She was desperate and needed to talk to someone.

She had been like my best friend from the time we were 14.

Today she told me of the mess her marriage is in and also how her work place had become like a circus. People she had depended on for comfort and advise let her down. Friends she thought she had at work were backstabbing her.

"I feel like my whole life is going to crash."

We talked over lunch. We both cried.
My heart goes out to her.


****

I got an SMS from another dear friend. I was planning to meet up with before she leave for a new life in Australia. She said she was already at the airport, about to board. Her working visa must have been approved suddenly and she had to get to work asap.

I don't know when I will see her again.

This is a friend I got to know through another friend. Since we met, we had been like bosom buddies. We shared through her struggle of a failed relationship. She shared with me in my days of caring for my ailing father. Now she will be many many miles away and I will miss her.


My late father once said this to me,
"The older you grow, the less friends you'll have. All you need is a few good friends."
At that time I did not want to believe it. But now it's proving so true.

My world has shrunk to a pretty small orb, revolving mainly around my kids and other family members.

My friends are like the stars that shine in the universe, lighting up my night.

Don't see much of my friends these days, but I know they are still there and I know they are always precious.

Today I cried for my two precious friends.

Finger Bugs

Just for fun, and to keep our earth a little greener, here's an idea:

Use old ang-pow packets to make finger puppets, namely ladybugs/ ladybirds.

So simple:

1. Draw out Ladybugs at the corner of the and-pow packet with a permanent marker;

2. Cut out the picture, make sure the corners are in tact;

3. Stick them into your fingers.





Great for parties. :)

Reading but Not Reading

Pressure for Mommy.

I was reading Lia's post on reading, and I know what she's talking about.

Everyone (OK, not everyone, but everyone of the old school when it comes to raising children) is telling me Micah should be in school and I should get him to start reading already. And by reading they mean that he should be able to recognise words and read to himself. I know it's never too early to start reading, but I don't want to be pressured to have to pressure my kids.

I believe it is really a matter of timing and readiness. Micah still can’t read, and I know it’s because he is, despite being so out going, very apprehensive of things that are new and unfamiliar. He is somewhat afraid to fail*. So I know he is holding back on reading for himself, although he really loves books and stories and can write his own name. I am not pushing him, as it’s really more like coaxing a cat to come down from a very tall tree. When he lands it, there'll be no halting that, that's for sure.

So we are reading. We are reading every day. There were in fact a few books from the science center's library that he enjoyed so much he memorised the words and pretended to read, flipping the pages and reciting the words, looking like he is actually reading, and with full of expressions too. So entertaining, that was.

On a more technical subject, there is the whole thing about reading by memory - word recognision - and reading phonetically - matching and stringing sounds of the letters. I would love to have him do both, but don't know if that would be confusing or complimentary. Mommy's still trying to sort this out in her brain.

Max can recognise some of the letters of the alphabet and some numbers too. He will sometimes point at labels etc. and say, "Look. It's ABC here." Actually quite funny and cute, that is if you don't feel he needs to be corrected and read the actual letters out to him.

Max can say the ABCs quite well for his age (by my standard), going smoothly till he hits L-Q stretch he needs some help, then he can just finish the rest. He can also tell you the different animals starting with each letter from A-Z, but needs some help with K, N, Q, U, W, X.

He has not quite recognised numbers yet, though he can count 1-7, sometimes 1-10, but misses a number in between. He can put out the number of fingers correctly from 1-5.

The main thing is that both the boys love books. We all love going to the library and book shops, sitting down and reading together. Maybe they also see this as a cozy time with Mommy or daddy, and also my younger sis (she too, loves to read and loves to read with the boys):
A time they climb up to your lap, or sit close next to you and hear your voice, smell your hair and watch your finger mover move across the page.

Of course I’d love to have them read so that they can enjoy reading for themselves, and not just because some one else’s kid can already do it.

* This I know because, despite his "extrovert-iness", he is somewhat insecure. He is afraid to play with boisterous older kids sometimes because he is afraid they might hurt him. He is afraid to try new games because he does not like to lose. He is afraid to try new stuff because he does not like to fail.

What I REALLY Want To Do On Mothers Day

Got tagged by Mumsgather some time back, but was not feeling up to it as we were all sick for about a whole week. Sorry, it's late, but not too late. :)

This year we will be away on Mothers Day. So I won't get to have the usual Mother's day dinner with my mom on the Saturday before the Sunday, which we have dinner with my new family.

Ok, What I REALLY want for Mothers Day this year....


What I REALLY want is a day of no fighting between the boys.
If only they could be as loving the WHOLE day as when they wake up in the morning,
the whole of Mothers Day would be sweet.



What I REALLY want is a day where I don't have to repeat myself to the boys so many times until I end up yelling at them just to so something as easy as to put on their clothes after they shower, or to put away their toys.


What I REALLY want is a day where the boys and I can all be in some kind of a mental-emotional sync, that we will enjoy doing all the things together with the same enthusiasm, i.e. painting, reading, EATING well, sleeping, doing some hand crafts, playing with their toys.


What I REALLY want for Mothers Day is a day I will feel it has been most positive and productive and I have not a shadow of doubt nor a hint of stress that it's the best thing to be
- A Mother.

BUT

What's going to happen for Mother's Day this year, is that we'd be travelling back from Penang after a weekend of meeting more new relatives*. But of course, no one goes to Penang without going to the beach.



So I am looking forward to Mothers Day this year,
for a day at the sea with the boys,
building sand castle, splashing in the sea, picking sea shells, drinking coconut water,
laughing, giggling and squealing with delight.


It's just a week to go. :)




* We are going up to Penang to have a dinner with my brother-in-law's in-laws.

Better Today

I took time off from sitting in front of the computer to recover from my flu and fever.

The boys are also doing better today, but Max still has borderline fever now and then. He also coughs in his sleep still, while Micah's running nose is still drippy (watery kind of mucus). Tomorrow is suppose to be a big deal - my sister's son's 1st birthday celebration. They are coming up from Singapore to do it here as all the other relatives, both grandmas and all the uncles and aunts and cousins are in KL.

Yesterday, since it was a public holiday, we just stayed home and rested, with Gadget-daddy helping to keep an eye on the boys while I slept for quite a few hours in the day. It was really good for my recovery.

Before my nap, we were playing downstairs and then I came up and Micah followed. After that I heard Max talking to his Daddy: You pick this up, ok? I'm going upstairs.

I laughed in the room. Earlier, he and Micah had poured out two box loads of toys and they had bulldozed over them with their monster trucks. Now he was planning a quick get-away and instructing his father to pick up after him. Are these guys so ingenious or what?

So I went down, whispered to Gadget-daddy what I over heard and we both laughed quietly between ourselves and then we got Max to clean up with us. Then we all went up to play in the room. After a while, I was knocked-out again with the medication and Gadget-daddy handled the boys till they napped.

Today, we took our time at home and had an easy morning. The we took the boys to have their hair cut. Now both are having their nap, and I'm gonna take one too. Yeah, just finishing our medication and hope all will be much better by tomorrow. It'll be a miracle to be completely well.