of blogger and mah fan...

Wah… must have been ages since I updated this blog…. So many things happen so fast and also compare to facebook, blogger seem so mah fan to update already :D.
Anyway, Ah fie is now four years old already and we have finally relented and sent her to school. We originally thought that we will delay sending her to school and let her enjoy her childhood a bit longer, but mana tau, seems like school maybe did her good too. I mean previously she is just stuck in the babysitter’s house the whole day watching cartoons. And knowing ah fie, she likes to interact with people so probably the interactions at school is good for her.
As it turns out, she is having such a party at school and quite literally too. First day itself, she had so much fun until she didn’t want to go home… it’s been a month plus since she started school and she still have this impression that school is equals to reward instead of something dull or something like that. She will think of going to school as something fun or a reward for something good. So we as any good parents take this to our advantage. Instead of buying her present or goodies if she behaves at home, we just tell her that we will not send her to school if she is naughty.

Ah shawn pulak, is fast approaching two, but somehow still have not learnt to talk. Not even any first work. He is talkative though. On any good day he will mumble on and on and on in his own language but nothing makes sense to us. Maybe he is just like one of those kids who have achieved some super duper high level of consciousness and intelligence, and he is speaking at a higher level language that we could not comprehend.
Or maybe he already knows how to speak but just pretend not to be able to speak just to humor us… we wouldn’t know…

of pillow and 'hold my hand'...

I think Ah Fie hit a milestone of sorts last weekend. I think she is more aware of herself these days and that she is trying to differentiating herself from the rest of the furniture in the house.

Just the other day, while she was on the potty, she stopped me when I went to check on her. She said something like “you cannot come and see me because I will shame shame”. Good progress. I am not really sure if she meant shame shame of people seeing her piku or seeing the result of her poot poot. You see, we (Me and her) have been categorizing her poot poot into 2 categories. They will either be like worm worm (which is where the poot is long and thin) or pillow (short and fat ones which normally needs more effort from her during the process). The categorizing thing have been getting a bit lame so I that’s why I think the shame shame could swing either way.

Anyway, back to topic.
Friday night when I was about to put her to bed, she suddenly came to me and told me “I big girl oredi , I sleep by myself today”. You see, I have been sleeping in the same room with her ever since ah shawn was born and it’s no easy walk in the park. Little miss diva has a ritual and lots of demands when she sleeps like hold my hand (or don’t hold my hand), or watch small TV, or sleep with one of her doggies or sleep with papa and I think you get the hint.
So I was obviously glad when she said that she wants to sleep by herself. She even did the whole bed, arranged the pillows, open up the blanket and switched on her small tv…

But knowing miss diva, she that didn’t take long. After a while she came out and called me. But after she got comfy, she insist to sleep by herself again. This went on for a while and eventually, I just stayed in the room until she sleeps. In any case I think she made a good effort but since she did not mention any good behavior reward, I think it will conveniently forget…..
….. until she learns how to read and remind me…

of 3 miliseconds and my pants...

As i am writing this, my pants is draped over the laundry basket. There's a wet patch on it courtesy of Ah Fie.
We are in the midst of training Ah Fie to cue us when whe wanna do her poot poot and she she. So sometimes we forgo the diapers and let her wear pants only to air her butt, but it was quite nerve wrecking and wifey will go "Ah Fie, you wanna she she ma?" every 3 mili seconds.

So far, she only manage to tell us that she has she she'ed after she had done it. hopefully she can progress to telling us before the fountain really comes. *fingers crossed*

Update (5th Jan): Wah... i think Ah Fie took it as a challenge since my post above. Yesterday we continue with the training and everytime she wants to she she whe will tell. But she was slightly late in telling us about her poot poot. Anyway, she is making good progress and i am so proud of her.

or poppa and meh mie...

I did noticed that most of the parents blog will mention about their kid's vocabulary once their kid have started to speak. So here is my show off moment.
My Sophie also not bad la...

Let's see what she can say oredi.
Papa - that's me lo.. but sometimes when she wants to call me while drinking her milk it will come out something like 'popa'

Mamie or Mie or May-Mie - That's wifey lo.. but sometimes our little girl also get herself confused and call MaPapa to which i think she either wants both of us together or changed her mind halfway.

Meh Miu - Cat. I also dunno why she say so. we tried to teach her miu miu, but it comes out as meh miu.

goggie - dog in general or sometimes her smelly stuffed dog. again don't ask why it comes out that way

moo moo - cow loh...

yeh yeh - grampa (my poppa)

ku kung - the other grampa (wifey's papa)

ah ma - granma (Wifey's meh mie)

mah mah - the other granma (my mieee)

she can count in mandarin from one to four. in engrish she can count to four too but she will drom the 3. so it will come out something like ' one, two. four..'

nen nen - the white stuff in the bottle that is making me poor

pau pau - to carry her

the auntie, unckle che che keke routine lo

oh yeah. she can say plizz too. Even when you ask her "Must say what?" she will tilt her head and say the cutest "plizzzz". you try and see... her plizzz is the cutest that you will ever see (but then again in my eyes my little Sophie is the cutest baby)

ah fie - that's what she call herself. We tried teaching her to say Sophie, but she just stick to ah fie... so we gave in loh...

and let's not forget 'Ah Nee', which is what she calls barney. She woke up calling for Ah Nee this morning... Sometimes i wonder if in her heart if barney is in higher priority than me and wifey...

i think got a few more la, but i also forgot all liao. so hopefully this list is good enough as a show off piece :D

of some sweedish place and some chairs and table...

We went down to kola lumpo for the long Hari Raya break. Wifey was over due for her annual pilgrimage to that sweedish furniture place and we have not really taken Sophie anywhere far before. So mah pack our bags and go lo.


Sophie being the curious little girl that she is was all excited. She keep standing up in the car to look throughout the journey, laughing and having fun all the way.


As this is her first trip we didn't really planned much. Just some shopping at midvalley, klcc aquaria and the sweedish place.


First day after arriving we just check in into the hotel and after some rest, went down to walk see walk see at midvalley. But i guess we got a bit lost track of time and kinda extended her meal time. She threw a tantrum and only settle down when she got her food. I guess we paid big time that night when she started having nightmares and cried her heart out. Don't even want to let anyone touch her. But actually i am not sure if this is good or bad because after an hour or so of crying she got tired and fell back to sleep.


then next day was off to klcc aquaria. but our little girl was either scared of the fishes or too amazed at them. I dunno which. She just had her eyes wide open. I think probably good also la, because at least she got to experience new stuff. :D


so next day mah check out of hotel and using a little device called Nuvi, we made out way to wifey's favourite place. Like most people, when go there have to buy something one. (After all come so far oredi mah) We got a table and chair set for sophie and some loose stuff (but mostly for sophie)


so that's all loh. Sophie's first long trip. I wonder when she will be ready for a longer trip say for example New Zealand perhaps...

of sunway carnival and that seberang place...

Wifey and I seldom go over to seberang. not that we have anythign against seberang, but what's there to see la. So anyway, there is this new shopping mall called sunway carnival that opened some time ago and i thought that probably that is a valid reason to step over the pond.

So a few weeks ago we took our little girl over to that sunway carnival place.

It's the girst time that sophie when over the other side and i guess this counts as a milestone of sorts. The sunway carnival place was not bad actually, but exactly like what the loctor mayat explained: 80% are shoes and clothes shop.

Little girl seem to have a blast and was checking out this and that. So much so until she miss her nap time. I just hope that she don't get to attached to that seberang place :D

this is what i saw in the back seat when i reach home and parked the car...

of mama and other finger...

Finally... after many many many moons of refusing to say Mama, Sophie finally said Mama. She started with Papa long long time ago and then went on to Ama, kong kong, jie jie and even er ke (brother no.2 - referring to our babysitter's second son), but never Mama.

Wifey keep trying to program her to say mama or mummy, but our girl is tough as nails and has her own mind. if she don't want to say. it means it will not come out from her mouth even if you force her to. So having her finally say Mama is definately a good sign. At least now she can get wifey all wrapped round her other finger. :D

I really like this shot because i took a shot of her lying on the chair and showed it to her. then i ask her to do it again so that i can take another shot. and she did!

of small steps and tiny house...

As you can see from the previous video, our little girl can now walk. It's been a step by step process for her. Initially, she was reluctant. We would put her up on her feet and encourage her to wake but she will just stand there and then sit down. Or she will just drop on all fours and crawl.
So it came as a surprise when we came home from home one day. As usual we would put her to stand near the sofa and play with her doggie while we go about putting things away and do stuff in the kitchen. Sophie, being the curious little girl that she is will always crawl to the kitchen to see what we are doing. But on this particular day, i guess she got too curious and toftally forgot about crawling and tool a few steps towards the kitchen. (as you can see we have a very tiny house where the distance from the living room to the kitchen is only a few baby steps away:)
I manage to see that and quickly grabbed the camera. but we did not manage to record it.

Anyway, i guess form one or two steps , our little girl seems to have got the hang out of it and have been walikng here and there ever since. I think she like it so much that sometimes she will walk to somewhere and then didn't know what to do when she got there aznd then walk back. silly girl...

of long time and no post...

wah... so ling time never post oredi.
well here's what Sophie have been up to.

of 7th february and a year ago...

Yay! Sophie turned 1 year old today. As usual she woke up happy this morning. Talked and talked non stopped and making funny happy sounds the whole morning.

It seems so surreal that she is already 1 year old not. Or should i put is as Wifey and i survived 1 year of taking care of our little diva. I guess time really flies when you have a kid. Things have to be more planned out and not that spontaneous anymore. You always have this buzz of excitement when you get home because you can see your baby after a day of work.

I did a search in wikipedia for today's date and found out that Sophie actually share a the same irthday as a few famous people such as; Steve Nash (yay!) which could explain why our little girl likes her hair unkept and ruffled (like Steve's before the prior to 2008 season), she also share the same birthday as the emperor Puyi of China which again, could explain her 'divaness'. Not only that, the guy in limp biskit Wes Borland was also born on this day, which could also (again!) explain her angry tantrums.

oh ya, today is also Chinese New Year. So happy Chinese New Year to all!

Ging Xi! Gong Xi!

of early celebrations and thunder...

We will be cashing in on celebrating Sophie's birthday tomorrow. Her actual birthday on the 7th, which is Chinese New year. So we decided to celebrate early so that she will not steal the thunder out of CNY :)
Anyway, i think it'll be a small party of sorts. We'll have some family members and friends over. If you are reading this and feel like coming, do join us, but remember to bring big and expensive presents :)

If you see Sophie doing this face hor... stay upwind of her ok?

of New year's present and curious buffoons...

Sophie gave us a small new year present yesterday. We were playing with her on the bed before putting her to sleep when she suddenly picked herself up and stood up unsupported. Thus far she can only stand up when she have something to hold or pull but I guess she must be in a good mood last nite that she decided to pull that stunt. I missed the picking up part because I was looking the other way. We encouraged her and clapped and typical of our little girl, she gave us her goofy laugh before falling down on he bum. Then wifey asked her to do it again and like a good showman, she picked herself up and stood up again.
Being the excited and curious buffoons that we are, wifey and I asked her to do it again, but I think our little girl knows how to maintain the value of a good performance. Overexpose it and it loses its value…

of more teeth and bad mood...

We spotted Sophie's 5th tooth this weekend. The tip is just appearing on her upper right jaw. Not sure if this teeth growing thing is supposed to be like this but it has been some time since she sprouted the first 4 teeth.

And with the sprouting tooth, someone's mood was not good this weekend....

an old photo of Sophie enjoying her favourite desert, papaya.

of rough patches and milestones...

Sometime last week wifey asked me to feel Sue Yi's gums. She mentioned that there is a small pathc of rough surface on her her gums on her jaw. I put my finger there and sure enough there was a small rough patch indicating that there might be a tooth underneath the skin.

Then fast forward to last Friday, during one of Sue Yi's heartwrenching rendition of her famous cry in C minor, I saw two slightly whitish and greyish patched on her gums. So I guess Sue Yi have hit amother milestone. I told my mom just now and she said that mow is about time that her teeth start to come out.

So looks like other than grabbing everything within her reach and tasting them, Sue Yi, will also be leaving her tooth mark on them.

Nope, this is not my attempt to show you the two patches, just a random photo filed under "Photos to show Sophie's potential boyfriend if she does not behaves"

of struggles and random sounds...

We had the first hand experience at feeding Sue Yi solids this weekend. Apparently all the good news from the babysitter on how easy it is to feed her solids were all just an elaborate propaganda did not hold true for us. Sue Yi struggled when we tried to feed her and we on the other hand struggled to feed her. Anyway, our babysitter's tip was to lie her down so so that the food can flow down easily, but I told wifey that i prefer not to use that method lest Sue Yi gets used to eating lying down. I mean since we have not really see any restaurant that serve you food for you to eat lying down, i figured that we'd better not get Sue Yi used to eating lying down.

Wifey have also been brainwashing teaching Sue Yi to say the word Dada (as in Daddy). I guess she is preparing Sue Yi to call me when she reach her teenage years and wants money to go out. Anyway, i guess i was rewarded today. I was lying on the bet with Sue Yi talking cock and bull sh*tting like we always do when she suddenly turned to me, smiled and said 'Da da' then went back to her high pitch squealing. I was dumbfounded, (like that scene in forrest gump when he saw his girlfriend's boobs for the first time) and tried toget her to say it again. But like they say, the 8 o'clock news comes only once a day and she did not say it anymore...

Ya ya i know, i know, it is just a random sound that she blurted out from nowhere, she is still too young to start to talk. But who cares, it's the sweetest sound and it is my memory to cherish.

Oh ya. If you are a penangite or you happen to be in Penang, please please go to eat at Swensen's. No i don't have any stocks nor gain if more people go there to eat. My reason of asking you good folks to go there is this. I took Wifey and Sue Yi to the one in Queensbay on Sunday (someone celebrated her birthday). We loved the food there and also the price were reasonable, but we noticed that there are not that many people eating there (Lunchtime on Sunday and only 4 tables). Looks like it might not survive. Which is a sad thing because we really loved the food. So do go and eat there so that it survives and me and wifey can go there again. ;)

I know, I know, the fashion police are sounding the alarm on how i can match the blue sweatter thingy with a pink dress. But don't you think she lookes so cute in blue?

of flipping and cheeks...

Big News! Sue Yi flipped over last Sunday. For some time now, she have been trying to flip. At least that’s what I thought. Whenever we lie her on the bed she will usually curl up and most times she will either fall or push herself on her side. And when that happens she will get stuck and shout for help. But lately whenever she got herself stuck she will just keep quiet and proceed with doing whatever that she was doing (which usually is staring at her fingers).
Anyway, it finally happened last Sunday. Wifey was changing her diapers and and I was lying beside her on the bed. While wifey turned to get the baby wipes, she suddenly turned to my side and flipped over. So there she was naked from the waist down lying on her tummy. Her head was lifted and she had this silly puzzled look on her face I guess she must be confused with the way the world looks from this new perspective.
Wifey and I burst into laughter because of all times, she had to choose nappy changing time to hit this milestone! So there she was showing her two rosy buttcheeks to wifey as if to ask wifey to wipe her ‘ka chui’.

of mother's day and IOU...

Today is mother's day and it will be the first time that wifey celebrates it as a mommy. Since Sue Yi is still not old enough to shop on her own yet, I took the liberty and got this for her to give to wifey*.

*Sophie, you owe me some money...

of jabs and 3 months...

Sue Yi is 3 months today and we celebrated it by taking her to the govt. clinic for her monthly jab (note to Sue Yi, no lah, we are not that sadistic, it’s just the timing of the jabs la)
Anyway, it seems like only yesterday that Sue Yi was born and with a blink of an eye she is now 3 months old. An interesting thing happened at the clinic today. When we went to see the nurse, they got all excited. They keep mentioning “Eric, Eric”, “Eric Datang”, “Eric, Kasi sofa sebiji boleh ka?”. They even called the nurses from other rooms to come over and see. Interestingly the commotion was centered around me. The thing is, I bear a resemblance to that guy from Casa Impian, Eric Leong. Although not related, I must say that he really does look quite a bit like me and I have been mistaken for him before. Anyway, I explained that I am not that guy and made some small talk out of that. By far, this morning’s commotion was the biggest thus far. Maybe time, I should play along and see if I can weasel out a free meal or two.

Back to the clinic visit, the jab was quite uneventful. I guess we kinda know what to expect from our experience during our first visit. The nurse asked us to hold Sue Yi down and Sue Yi being her (dislikes being held down) protested and cried. And she continued crying through out the jab, but calmed down within 5 minutes or so. Wifey did pretty well too as she manage to hold back her tears. Me? I was the cold hearted, non-feeling dad, business as usual dad. It hurt to see Sue Yi cry, but I guess being the practical engineering minded person, I rationalized that it’s for her good and it did not bothered me.

Some updates:
We have a new nickname for Sue Yi. “The Empress”. The origins should be pretty obvious, but I think is started when I told wifey that now that Sue Yi is here she have overthrown wifey as the empress.
Sue Yi is growing to be quite the PR person. Whenever we have visitors or when she sees someone new, she will give out her best smile, coo and make all the baby sounds which will draw comments like “oooh how cute”, “So crever” etc. Seems like everyone is her friend. Then people will tell us that “wah you so lucky, you baby so behaved” but in the back of wifey’s and my mind, we will be thinking “wait till you experience her atomic-red-faced-pressure-cooker-high-octave cries”
She is getting to be quite chatty too. When her mood is right, she will respond with her ‘coo’, ‘aa goo’, and whatever in her bag of tricks of baby sounds. This can be a lot of fun but sometimes she like to talk even when we are trying to feed her. As if she is excited to tell us about something or maybe trying to tell us how crappy the milk taste. Every evening when we bring her back from the sitter’s place, she will talk and talk and talk. I guess she must be telling us about her day.
Other than her vigorous kicking, she is now developing the habit of trying to lift up her head when we lie her down. She will try so hard until her face will turn read and you can see the stress on her face. We are not sure if it is good or not but she sure look funny when she does that until she fell on her side and can’t get turn back.

Sue Yi and her sleeping buddy

of milestones and diaper size...

I guess Sue Yi hit another milestone of sorts yesterday. We have been using Mamypoko diapers for her during the night and since day one we have been using the newborn size. Wifey have mentioned that probably we should be getting the S size the next round we restock our diaper supply as we noticed that the current size is a bit snug for Sue Yi.
So last night we tried on the S size and it seems to fit better. So I guess we have physical proof now that our daughter is growing (at least in the ass department) and it’s not just me imagining that i thought i saw her looking differently everyday.

of haircut and boyish look...

We took Sue Yi to her first haircutlast Saturday. Folks have suggested that ver shave her head on her first month, but we did not do that as her scar from the vacumn procedure during her birth have not fullly healed yet. So after much procrastination we finally took her to a hair dressing saloon our babysitter recommended to have her hair cut.
We were initially quite apprehensive as we don't know how she will react to her hair being cut so we were kinda prepared. As soon as we entered the saloon, she was like her normal self in new environment. She looked everywhere and was very quiet. Then the moment came. She was initially oblivious of things, but when the hair trimmer came and made contact with her head, she cried and cried and cried. Even the lau ees who were dyeing and perming their hair laughed at her. Poor Sue Yi. But 10 minutes later, it's all done.
Check out the results:

Before

After

I think she looks a bit boyish after the cut, but in retrospec, you don't see many bald girls ddo you.

Anyway, to mark the occasion and just for fun, i shaved my head too.