of stages of develoment and autobabysitter...

Based on my experience with Ah Fie and ah shawn shawn boy, I think I have pretty much formulater the various stages of a child development and how to manage it.

Stage 1- they are just infants, so pretty much they eat sleep and poop
Stage 2- they still cannot roll so just put them on crib and should be ok liao. Might be a bit noisy though
Stage 3- they can roll over liao, but two small bolsters stuffed on the side will solve the problem
Stage 4- they can crawl, so things will get a bit tricky, but nothing like a loud and stern “Haaaa” or “No” will not solve
Stage 5- that can stand up if they hold on to something but too chicken to lift their leg to move around. So can just lift them up to hole the edge of the sofa. That should keep them occupied and because they too chicken to move around, they will stay there
Stage 6- they learn how to ‘cruise’ (walking while holding to something). So put a stool in or chair in the middle of the room and let them walk around it. because they cannot walk unassisted, they will not be able to grab other things and just contained to the area around the chair.
Stage 7- they beginning to walk, time to bring out the playpen. This one may also get a bit noisy
Stage 9- they get distracted by TV, so, in comes the ‘auto babysitter’
Stage 9- they starting to grasp the meaning of cause and effect, so you can threaten them with punishment if they misbehave such as switching off the TV.
Stage 10- they have deeper understanding of cause and effect so, you can start to bribe them with rewards.
Stage 11- they learn more complex things like rationalization, so you can explain simple stuff to them, like if they don’t drink water, their poot poot will come out hard and backside will be pain pain.

Ah shawn shawn boy is currently in stage 5 and Ah Fie in stage 11 (therefore the last stage that I am able to formulate)

But I do believe that there are future stages where they are more self aware and when you can manage by threaten them with photos of them in cute but high embarrassing valued photos. Or one where you can bribe them with promises of a new bicycle or something

of cartoons and magic words...

the other day ah fie was asking me to switch on the cartoon for her;

Ah Fie: Papa, I want to see Cartoon.....
Me: What's the magic word?
Ah Fie: *think for a while*... Hocus Pocus....
Me: Woahahahaha no laaaaa

of being a parent and cleaning up mess...

i just realized that a side benefit of being a parent to 2 kids is that i am now able to clean up mess pretty efficiently

of waxing my legs and 3 doctors...

Either our boy just love to see doctors or we are worry warts. Last week alone we (or rather Shawn shawn boy ) 3 different doctors on 3 separate occasions. It all started when his temperature went up on Saturday evening. Initially we thought he was just a little warm but when his temperature reach 38 degrees on Sunday, we decided to take him to see the doctor.
Went to pantai, but was informed that there is already 11 people in line and since Dr Hasanah is not on duty we decided to take him to another clinic instead, but no chance also because it was lunch time and the doctor at the other clinic was out. Finally ended up in another clinic recommended by wifey’s friend. Doctor was in and since we didn’t see any other patients we thought that we will get some consultation immediately. After around 30mins of waiting in the hot reception area we finally got to see the doctor. Doctor diagnosed as a normal flu and prescribe Paracetamol + antibiotic. Somehow that don’t give us much confidence. The were no specific instructions on what the antibiotics course should be and weather we should finish the whole bottle or what. But we decided to wait and see and in the mean time manage the fever with panadol.
By Monday morning, Shawn is still warm so I decided to take leave and bring him to see Dr Hasanah.
Dr found out that t was due to early stages of tonsillitis. I guess that’s why I have confidence in Dr Hasanah. She is very thorough and explains everything which to me is very important.
Shawn’s fever went down on Monday itself after taking the antibiotics that Dr Hasanah prescribed.

Ok let’s see, that’s already 2 visits. Not the third one. Our babysitter and us noticed shawn start to develop a rash (yeah just one rash) on his foot on Wednesday. Initially we thought it was just a bad mosquito bite. But somehow the rash seem different , and also not like those that Ah Fie gets when she takes paracetamol. Then by yesterday he got another one the other leg and some on his mouth.
So we to take him to see the doctor again after work. And that is number 3 visit….

Now as I am writing this, on reflection, it does seem that we are a bit paranoid… but then again it’s shawn shawn boy and we just want to best for him.

On a separate note. Shawn shawn boy is progressing well. He is now in the cruising stage, which means he will grab whatever support and pick himself up to stand up and walk. Me, I am contemplating on waxing my legs because when ever the little boy try to grab my leg to pick himself up, he will grab hold of a bunch of leghair… ouch…

of break ins and ADUNs...

wah... this one i must update immediately.
Yesterday a buglar broke in into the apartment unit opposite to mine. fortunately the owner was at home and when the burglar saw the owner, he managed to escape.

Then today i came back during lunch hour because the plumber will be here to fix a pipe int he kitchen.
When i open the doot i noticed the padlock bracket on my grill door has been bent. wah.... the burglar must have tried to break into my unit today.
So now here i am at my apartment and don't dare to go back to the office. who knows, the buglar might come again to finish the job.

To kill time i wrote an email to the ADUN for my area. (Yeah the same guy who did not do a thing about the email i sent to him last time) This time i will monitor again and see how he will respond (or not respond) and maybe this time i will copy a few more people. Who should i copy in the email ah? and can give the email also ah :D

of princesses and pirate ships and seven drawfs...

After many many moons of not exercising, I went for a hike at bukit jamble last Sunday. Wahhh…. Fitness level definitely dropped… almost cannot reach the top… I guess I must be getting old (or weak or unfit or all the above)…
Anyway, I heard a very nice song sang by Taylor Swift and have been listening to it over and over again…. The song is “The Best Day”, it talks about her and her father’s relation ship….makes me wonder if ah fie will write something soppy like that for me when she grows up….
Oh ya… one part of the song says:
It’s the age of princesses and pirate ships and seven drawfs,
And Daddy’s smart and you’re the prettiest lady in the whole wide world…

Wah….. jiwang nyer… yeah... i am really getting old... and sentimental.... and soppy......

of rhymes and seven...

Ah Fie is now at this stage where she likes to talk. She can talk about whatever stuff and sometime she will recite rhymes.
So last ween when i was picking her from the babysitter's place...
Me: One Two...
Ah Fie: Buckle my shoes...
Me: Three Four...
Ah Fie: Shut the door...
Me: Five Six...
Ah Fie: Seven....

*aiyoyoyo*

of emails and DUN...

As much as possible i always try to keep this blog about my family and try to avoid other stuff like politics etc. But this time i think i'll make a small exception. It has been some time since we elected so called people to serve us. Speaking specifically the MP and DUN for our respective areas. So i thought of doing an experiment here.

Actually calling it an experiment is overstating it. Basically i just want to see if i am able to get the DUN from my area to respond to a small issue that i request him to resolve. So what i did is to search for the email of my DUN and then wrte him an email. The request i make will be a simple one which i think should be simple enough that a solution is possible.
Then i will track the time it takes for him to at least respond either in email or in visible actions to the issue i raise.

So today i sent 2 emails. One to the DUN for my area and another to the DUN to the area adjacent to mine (on another issue).

So now, just sit and wait and see when they will respond (if they do).

oh ya, just to ensure that this experiment don't last forever, i think i will set checkpoints at 1 week. and maybe another one at 1 month.

wish me luck

ei... bt the way, anyone know if gmail can have an option to track if my email is opened and read? i know that MS outlook can, but can't find it in gmail.

update 19th feb: Day 1. No reply from both DUN. Maybe they are busy. I mean they don't sit in front of the computer they whole day waiting for emails to come in.

update 20th feb: Day 2. Still tarak reply. Maybe they are usy la. and maybe they only cumulate their mails and respond on the weekend....

update 25th feb: Day 8. So now can consider 1 full week already and i still do not see any replies. Maybe they are busy la... Yeah , right. We put them to where they are ant they are suppose to represent us and serve us. So, in my opinion they should listen to the people ma. anyway, i think i can easily strike off "very good and prompt response" if i were to grade these two guys. On a side note, i wonder if i will get a faster response if i were to put "Gambar gambar Skandal Ahli politik" or something like that.

update 2nd Mar: Day 13. Yay, finally got a reply. But not from the ADUN in my area, but from the adjacent one. Anyway, he asked me to call the police and gave the police phone number in response to the traffic issue. "Highly paid messenger" but at least he replied. :) Oh ya, his reply was on 28thFeb. so technically only 11 days to reply.

update 5th Mar: Day 15. Yay again... got the mail from the ADUN from my area. Finally. So in terms of replying mails, it hink quite OK la. but.....
just look at what he replied...
"
Dear Mr. *something something* (Actually he reply to my real name la i paiseh to show ma)
Thanks for your email.
We are looking into the matter.
Hope to get more feedback from you.
Thanks.
"
that's all.... so I think some things never change...

of japanese food and wait...

We took Ah Fie out for jalan jalan at queensbay mall last friday. Actually jalan jalan is a bit of a misnomer because all we do is Ah Fie will run around and do some silly dance and we will be chasing after her. So in effect no one is actually Jalan-ing....


Anyway, for dinner, i thought that i'd give wifey and Ah Fie a treat. So we went to that new japanese restaurant near harvey norman. I ordered a few stuff and wifey got a bento set. Since they have kids menu (actually 2 choices only la), We ordered the rice set for ah fie. Can be considered a milestone of sort la because this is her first restaurant meal of her own. (usually we just share our food with her, we are cheapskate ma...). Surprisingly she did pretty well, she finished her whold bowl of rice, but I think Ah Fie over did it a bit la. She was a bit over possesive of her stuff. Won't even let me touch her chicken. (actually it turns out that the chicken was really awful... probably that's why Ah Fie don't want me to touch it :)


I caught a short videoclip of wifey feeding her. Wifey promised to her that she can have the watermelon if she wait and finish her rice. But Ah Fie being her, chose not to understand the concept of wait and snuck a few pieces when wifey is not watching :D

of 40km and clingy girl...

wah... looks like i am getting lazier and lazier with my blog updates liao...
Actually i have been quite busy also la. My office had moved to another location about 40KM away and I have to spend more hours on the road daily. Not sure if it is a good idea but the department have decided to start the office hours at 7am (vs current at 8am) so that we can officially go off at 4.30pm to avoid the jam on the bridge. This just means that i have to start driving at 6.20am :(
waking up early is not the problem but not being there when Sophie wakes up is. I miss her and her morning chirpiness ...

Speaking of her, Sophie have been quite clingy and whiny lately. she would want me to carry her and hug her tightly even when at home and watching barney. Not that i mind, but not sure if something is bothering her, but then some people do say that sometimes children can sense when something new is about to happen. In any case i do hope that she can be back to her normak chirpy self again.

of plizz and what...

We have been teaching Sophie to use the magic word when she wants something. So most of the conversations will go something like this:
Sophie: pau pau (carry)
Me: Say Please…
Sophie: plizz…
Me: OK
.
.
Sophie: dumm (go down)
Me: Say Please…
Sophie: plizz…
Me: OK
.
.
Sophie: nen nen (nen nen la, what else)
Me: Say Please…
Sophie: plizz…
Me: OK


And so on…


Then yesterday, wifey tried to be creative…

Sophie: ater (water)
Wifey: Must say what?
Sophie: what…

WOAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!

of ultraman and not too long ago...

when i was a little kid not too long ago (with emphasis on 'not too long ago') i remember i had hair....

another thing i remember is that when bathing and washing hair time i like to shape my hair on my forehead into a sharp triangle. you know, the Ultraman hair. (or those well versed in cantonese might call it 'Ham Tan Chiu Yan')

so now that i have a kid on my own i figured that i should start her early lo....

of lomo and abang fed ex...

Wowsh!!! i really have to tabik this folks at Lomography Asia. As you know hor, i recently bought some lomo cameras and due to my overenthusiasm, i kinda broke the winding mechanism of the supersampler. I thought "Wah habis liao la.... money down the drain and I only manage to go through 2 rolls" then i send mail to lomography asia and the person there replied with instruction for me to return the camera. So i mah promptly mail the kamera back to lomography asia (in HK by the way) on 2nd Sept. The Kakak at post office say that it will take around 10 days to reach (i was too cheap to use poslaju or express mail). So after sending and everything i mah go back home and try to tell myself that no more chance liao la. most probably they will chuck the camera somewhere and take their sweet time to look at it. and probably they will charge me for it.

BUT mana tau. today i got a call from abang fed ex saying i got a parcel and when i asked from where is the sender, he told me HK. Wah i was so surprised. When i got home, it's there the camera have been repaired and returned to me, within less than 1 week. no charge and they use Fed Ex priority mail some more.....

Wah... tabik sama these people at lomo....
eat your heart out you Canon and Nikon service center guys...

no la no la... this is not abang fed ex. this is Sophie la.

of milk and crap...

I think Sophie have reach this stage where we need to make her earn the milk that she drinks every day :) So we'll start with her crap. In this case get her to throw her own crap.

of the spoon and bowl grabbing stage...part 2...

ok continuing on from the previous part...

Moving up the level is the next method where there might be some dirt or higher chances of contamination on the floor. At this level, there are no documented data on the dirtiness of the floor, but also there is a lack of data to indicate the exact cleanliness. Therefore, in keeping to the cautious side, it is recommended for the parent to employ the method suitable for this level. This method states that for the object that have been dropped, the parent will need to flick the object in the air for a few shakes. The theory behind this is that the movement of the object will cause it’s surface to have friction with the air at the molecular level. This friction will cause of object’s surface to get heated up. The germs, upon feeling the heat will jump off from the object thus making the object free from germs and safe for your child.

Next on the list is the level where a certain level of contamination have occurred on the object and is visible, but unknown risk level. Something like you see some stuff sticking on the object but you don’t know what it is and weather it will pose a danger to you. The method to disinfect for this method is pretty simple. The parent just need to use the finger (usually thumb or forefinger) to wipe the area of the object that touched the floor. It is believed that the action of wiping the surface will rub away any visible contamination on the object thus making it clean, but recent studies have shown that that is in fact not the real reason. Through rigorous testing and experimentation, the actual reason is due to the “good guys bacteria” factor. When the person wipe the object with his/her finger, the “good guys” bacteria will be transferred to the object and these bacterial will go into war with the germs. As we all know, good guys will always win, do the good guys bacteria will eventually kill all the germs and thus disinfect the object.

The fourth method of disinfecting an object that had touched the floor is to rub it against the parent’s clothing. This is normally employed in a situation where the parent have only one hand free (while the other could be holding the child or fending off food splatter from the child). The area of the clothing to rub are mostly (but not limited to) the stomach area of the shirt for normal or round shaped objects (often times ball or bowl) or the side of the shirt, near the hip area for smaller or odd shaped objects (e.g., choot choot/pacifier or spoon). Alternately, the parent sometimes use the thigh area of the pants to clean the object but this is more limited to occasions when the parent is in a sitting position. The rationale behind this is that by rubbing the object to the clothing, the germs will be transferred from the object to the clothing and therefore making the object free from germs. But those goodie two shoes will argue that what will happen to the clothes now that the germs are transferred onto it. Not a problem at all because floor germs will die at high altitude (just like how those folks who climb everest cannot survive for long in the ‘death zone’ – I knew this fact because I watched discovery channel!).

Continuing up the chain, the next method is usually employed in more extreme situations where it is pretty certain that the level of hygiene is confirmed to be low for example, the floor in a Chinese restaurant. The method recommended for this level of contamination is to put the object into the parent’s mouth and lick it. This assures the parent that the object will be disinfected. The mechanism behind is simple. When the object is put into the mouth, all the germs on it are suddenly plunged into darkness. This will send them into a panic mode and when they get licked, they go all beserk and start to attack and kill each other. Eventually all the germs will die, except of course the last lone germ (the last one standing), but don’t worry, it will die too because when the object is taken out from the mouth into daylight, it will see that it had killed it’s fellow germs and could not live on with the guilt thus committing suicide by jumping off. And this leaves us with a clean object! One caveat to this method though, it is only effective if the mother of the child does it and not the father. The reason is really simple, it’s icky for the father to do that.

Finally, there is the ultimate. The mother of all contaminations, a contamination so bad that there is very little hope left. I am talking about the ‘Someone pee’d on the elevator floor’ dirty. For this level, it’s no other choice but to throw the object away.
Oh ya, there is also the part of quickly go out and try to buy back the exact same thing so that your child don’t throw a tantrum and ruin your day.

So there you have it, the “Three aunties and six grandma’s Methods of disinfection”. Use it wisely and don’t say I didn’t tell you…

of the spoon and bowl grabbing stage...part 1...

Sophie have now reach ‘the spoon and bowl grabbing stage’. This is the stage of development where the child will want to grab the spoon (or fork or chopstick) when you have her by the table during your meals. In turn the parents, feeling a sense of incompleteness will hand a bowl or plate to the child to play with. I dunno why, but we do (just like how some people will close the bathroom door when they pee even when they are all alone at home).

So anyway, with all up, there will be downs and with all grabbing, there will be throwing. Our little girl is no exception to that rule and she is at this sub-stage of throwing things on the floor. And again, as parents, we dunno why, but we continue to pick up the stuff and hand it back to the little girl. Thus, the vicious cycle.

That leads me to the topic. As we all know, the floor is full of those nasty icky stuff when the rule of thumb is that whenever an object touches it, the object will be rendered ‘not fit for a child’s mouth’. Therefore the issue here is how do you deal with a child who constantly drop something (that she will eventually put into her mouth) on the floor while maintaining your sanity. This is where the “Three aunties and six grandma’s Methods of disinfection” kicks in. For the uninitiated, this is the tried and true set of methods that has been used (but unproven on its effectiveness) through the generations.
*Since this is a long post and I need you to put high focus on this critically important subject I will post it in 2 parts.*

The first method is for when an object is dropped onto the floor that is fairly clean and pose little risk of contamination. In fact the step is carried through just for show only, so that the child sees that you at least concern for their well being and did something to something that she dropped onto the floor. In this level, the parent will pick up the object and stare at it for a while. The act of staring the object itself does nothing to the object but it was believed that the germs got so freaked out at the sight at someone staring at them that they just drop dead, thus making the object safe. But this method does not have a guaranteed effectiveness due to the fact that some germs might not be paying attention and did not notice someone staring at them (couple to the fact that there might also be some blind germs).
To be continued in part two...

of career and newspaper...

Sometimes hor.... as a parent i often wonder what kind of career Sophie will have when she grows up. Assuming she did not strike a lottery and retire at 25 la.

So do you think she got any potential in the newspaper industry?

i mean not the publishing end.... the recycling end la..... woahahahahaha...

of :( and :( ...

Wah…. Today seems like a very black day for me.
Per plan, I wass supposed to take a day off today because I applied for leave last month but have to go to work on that day. So I was supposed to take Sophie for her Chicken pox jab and then bring wifey’s car for polish and wax.

But…

Last night I got a call from my boss that I might need to go to China to help out with a factory issue. But when I check my passport, I found out that it has expired, so that means I have to go to the immigration department in the morning to get it done. So mah have to tell the babysitter that we will not be taking Sophie to the Hospital tomorrow lo.

But this morning, on my way down to the immigration department, got a call from my boss that his boss did not approve the travel. So no point in wasting 300 linggit if not going.
Turn back after reach the immigration department. Called my mom to tell her of the change of plans (she was originally supposed to go to the hospital with Sophie and me).
But when I got home, our babysitter have taken her out to the market and while waiting I got a phone call from work (a long one I might add). But when the babusitter got back, I was still on the phone and then my mom arrived and start asking about taking Sophie. Obviously the babysitter got confused because I have not tole her about the change of plans But luckily I managed to sort it out (aiyoyo)

Sophie was in her joyful mood at the hospital. Even when Seeing Dr Hasanah she was in a happy mood. Then the interesting part came. When it was time for her jab, She just look at the needle. She even look when Dr jabbed her and she didn’t even cry, not even a shriek or squeal. Just a curious look and a slight flinch when the needle came out. I am not sure if it is a case of high tolerance to pain or just a heightened curiosityu that overcame the pain that she kinda forgot to cry. But one thig for sure is that I am terribly proud of my girl!.

Anyway, back to black black day. So after the doctor’s appointment, I checked my mail and found that I had to call in for a meeting. I have been running around the whole morning that I did not even had time for breakfast and now have to call in to meeting pulak. Halfway through the meeting, my house’s cordless phone ran out of battery pulak, so have to call in from handphone. Meeting ended at 12.30 but by then I have pretty much have to go back to work because have go back to office for another meeting at 2pm. Went down to the hawker for a quick lunch. But that prove to be another frustration becase the guy I ordered drinks from took sooooo long that even after I finished eating, he still have not brought the drink. Cannot wait, so I went to him and told him I want to tap au, but the guy who was supposed to tap au also took so long that I just left.
Then another big bummer, when I whent to the car, I saw that someone have scratched the bumper. Must be when trying to get out of the parking…. Aiyoyoyoyoyo

So when got to the office, thought that I might just relax a bit and make some popcorn in the office microwave. But that one also got screwed because halfway thru, my department admin came over and talk and talk and talk until I forgot about the popcorn and it got burnt. Haiyoooo popcorn also can get burnt…

But fortunately after about 3 hours of frustrating meeting (calling in to a bunch of folks in china who have a factory issue but won’t listen to good suggestions), I guess the black-ness ended, because no more unfortunate things happen and I get to go back to pick up Sophie. So now it’s 11.20 pm and nearing the end of the day, If you ask me did I have a good day, I’ll probably say yeah, because I am the proud daddy of little girl who look at fear (in this case needle) in the eye and did not even shed a tear.

of left shoe and right shoe...

sometimes hor.... when putting on you your daughter's shoes, you gotta pay attention, or else this will happen...

of birthdays and mamiya...

oh ya. this year, i got myself this fella for my birthday :)