Where are we now?

Haven't really blogged even though it's the hols cos we are busy having fun in California!! :P We 've already spent more than a week in California already! Phew, time really flies when you are having fun!! Some photo updates:

At the Farmers' Market in Ventura



At Universal Studios with the Simpsons


At San Diego Wild Animal Park



At Legoland, Carlsbad


Rainy day at San Diego Seaworld with Shamu


At Monterey Bay Aquarium with the cousins

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Another 20 hours to boarding! We are rather excited about this trip as it's been a year since we've last gone California! It'll be extra fun this time cos we've got Kiefer with us! :D The suitcases are more or less packed. We are carrying loads of stuff this time, the amount of milk powder?? Woohoo!! Thank goodness Kieran's off diapers already. That's like 1 suitcase less! :P

I guess this will be the last trip to the US for awhile. I don't see how we can afford long holidays, what with work committments and cost! So we'll have a blast this time around and maybe, in a couple of years, we may just go Disneyland again, but hopefully, DisneyWorld in Florida! :P

100 stars

We started this "Get Star" system sometime earlier in the year when we were trying to potty train Kieran. Rule of the game is simple, you do good (potty or otherwise) you get stars, if you don't then you don't! The aim was to reach 100 stars and the prize? "Sit aeroplane, go use-A, go Disneyland" :P And today, he stuck on his 100th star!! He would have gotten it sooner but we had to space out the giving of stars so that it'll last till the trip. hee.. also, sometimes we do forget to give him his stars too.

Bravo Baby!! For getting 100 stars!!! :D

Kieran's art gallery

Kieran (and Kiefer) is always drawing and doodling and I've always felt bad thrashing their doodles away! I think they really make great showcase pieces! Also, I thought that he'll probably feel more encouraged when he sees his artwork hung up for display. :D



See that little hole on the right-most art? We were all doodling on the floor and I drew a heart there. And since he (Kieran) was drawing an aeroplane, he decided that the heart cannot be there!! I tried colouring over it, but he said no. I had to cut it out!! ha.. perfectionist huh?? :P

I've been googling around to see how I can display/use children's art pieces and there were some pretty good ideas!!

Here are some ideas:
1) recycle as gift wrap
2) cut them up to make greeting cards
3) Scrapbook them
4) Blog about them
5) Create a portfolio for them
6) Take photographs of them before you trash them! :)

Read more at Kids's Craft Weekly

Kiefer's first professional hair cut!

Stylo eh...? :P

He was so calm during the entire hair cut. We knew that he'll probably not fuss, but he surpassed our expectations. He sat by himself, allowed the lady to cover him with the coverall, watched his Barney and let her cut away. At the end of the entire session, he allowed her to vacuum away all the hair even! The only look he had on the face was, "yah.. just cut quickly yah. just get it done." :P Bravo baby!!

Could see from the photos that his right eye is swollen. Some big (mozzie or something) bit his face darn close to his eye. And him being quite allergic to bites, had his eye all swollen from that tiny bite. :(

Feeling blessed..

M: I'm so tired, Kieran
K: Come mummy, I kiss you then you not tired anymore.
M: :)
K: Come, I hug you.
*Kiss & Hugs*
M: :D :D

Kieran's first ever concert

Kieran had his first ever kindy concert on Saturday. Boy! We are so proud of our not-so-little boy! He performed throughout the entire item, no "shocked-and-stood-there" like what many parents told me their children did. He thoroughly enjoyed the event too!



And Kiefer? Well, he was great too. Even though he didn't get to have a good nap before the show, he was a good sport and lasted through the entire 1 hour+ performance!! Bravo!

Ugly shoes

Kieran needed a pair of white shoes for his upcoming kindy concert. We've been looking around and we couldn't really find something for him. And then we saw this sesame street Bert & Ernie one at Suntec that was only $29.90. Initially I tried to convince him that the shoes were nice but he didn't want it (he has this thing for choosing his own stuff). He started whinning and said that he wanted to be ugly (yes, he is in the oppositional behaviour mode these days). So I simply said, "Look! Kieran. This shoe is so ugly! Do you want it?" And it did the trick. He loves the shoes and calls it his ugly shoes! :P

Well, the shoes are starting to grow on me, but the Daddy still hates it!! :P

Yummy Muah Chee!

Made some muah chee the other day and i thought it was rather yummy. Found a really simple method off Little Corner of Mine.

Hubby enjoyed it and the little gremlin also loved it. Looks like we'll make it more often since it is just so darn simple to do so. Tho' it's really a chore trying to clean the bowl after that! :P

Some weekend fun!

Kieran is down with a runny nose again. They go through bottles of Zyrtec and Sinupret like drinking bottles of juice! Was at Guardian yesterday buying new bottles of meds and spent about $73 just picking up the kiddos' standby meds!! Gosh!!

That's the silly boy with a tissue up his nose to stop the mucus from coming down!! He's taken to wearing this hoodie when we are out shopping. And he wants the hood up to cover his head every time! *eyes rolling*

Some itsy bitsy cuteness from #2:

Some mischief that His Royal Cuteness was up to this weekend. He loves to climb up Daddy's swivel chair and then start tapping on the Mac. Well, he somehow managed to slip his legs through the armrest and got stuck there. He started yelling for help and when I saw it, I couldn't help but quickly whip out my trusty Ixus to snap some shots of it. And you can see, he's actually rather happy about it!!

The boys helped the daddy with the car wash on Sunday night. Needless to say, what we got in the end were 2 rather wet little boys and lots of trying to get them not to scratch daddy's precious...

Kiefer is starting to talk!

This little one is now trying to articulate. For sometime, he's been able to sound "allo" but now he tries to articulate more sounds. e.g. "mama" "da...eee" "ah... ma" "byeeee.." He is also more expressive, often able to communicate his needs through various actions and sounds. Yes, the little gremlin is growing up.. :P

Busy busy busy!!

It's exam period and thus I've been really bogged down with marking. And yes.. all the marking's done and so I can be back here blogging away! :P

Despite the busy marking, we've still managed to find time to have some outdoorsy fun with the boys. Our latest craze is kite flying and cycling!

Went (for the very first time) to the Marina Barrage with sisters and their kiddos. All I have to say that it's one whole load of noise and running around them. We didn't fly much kite, we simply spent most of our time there rounding up the kids and hoping they don't get themselves cut by the kite lines!!

Went through lots of organising and reorganising just to get this shot. Kids just don't cooperate! Somehow or the other, someone will be out of position and thus not one perfect photo!! Nonetheless, I still love these shots cos it really shows the energy the kiddos have!!

'twas easier getting them to make funny faces than to smile for the camera!

This is my little pro kite flyer!! :P

What should they be saying now?

Realised that Kieran couldn't do the 'L' sound and thus I was prompted to go look up the sounds that he should be making by a certain age. Got this chart at http://www.talkingchild.com/speechchart.html. It shows the average age at which children articulates certains sounds. I'm glad to know that Kieran is on track! :)

No wake up! No sleeping!

We all slept late last night and thus Kieran was rather grouchy in the morning. He stirred a little and starting whinning, so I asked him to wake up (cos he tended to kick and cry when he is unhappy in the morning). And here's the rest of the conversation:

K: I want nai nai (milk)
M: No nai nai. Hungry then wake up I'll give you cookie.
K: No wake up!
M: Then go back to sleep!
K: No sleeping!
M: Then wake up.
K: No wake up! No sleeping!!
M: :P

We went Melaka to swim again!!

Kieran always associates Melaka with swimming, cos that's we we do all the time while we are there!! We went back there for the last couple of days as we just wanted to get out of Sg for awhile and since there was really not anywhere we could go, we decided to go back to Melaka. We've always liked this little town and it's a great short drive, not too long a road trip for the kids. Kieran thinks that the hotel that we stayed at is Melaka. And every time we leave the hotel, he'll ask," why we leaving Melaka?" :P Since we've been staying at Hotel Equatorial the last 3 times we were there, we are now their "Repeat Stay Member"!! For that, we were presented with a pair of Hotel Equatorial slippers as a souvenir!! In the little letter that accompanied the gift, it says that we can look forward to more gifts on our 8th, 11th etc visit. :D We've been going back to Equatorial cos it's right next to the new mall and their rates are pretty reasonable. This time round however, the room that they gave us was not as big as the last. We were given a corner room on our last visit and it even had a 2 seater couch in it. But this time, only a small round coffee table and 2 arm chairs. :( Nonetheless, the kids had fun at the pool.

Sleepy heads!! These little fellas had the best seats in the car!



Lunch at Seri Nonya (Hotel Equatorial).
Otak Otak . Prawn ommelette . Ayam Pontek . Stir fried vege


Our favourite pastime in Melaka!


Tried to get Kieran to swim on his own with his "muscles" on. He still prefers to cling onto us. :(


Night market at Jonker Walk.

More than words..

Kiefer says "sss" and nods his head for "yes"! :P And he says "ball" too!

it's the end..

This is a really delayed post. Wanted to blog about this some time ago, but never sat down to do it. So here it is now.

Being Biology trained, I strongly believe in the benefits of breastfeeding. Kieran was exclusively breastfed till he was about 10 months? old and after which, I only supplement 1 milk feed a day with formula till he was 12 months old. When it came to Kiefer, I guess after having gone through one round of breastfeeding with Kieran, everything felt much easier and I was less stressed about providing sustenance for my baby. Thus, Kiefer was breastfed for 12 months (i.e. not FM given at all.  6 months exclusive breastfeeding and 6 months breast milk with some solids introduced)!! After which, he started with 1 FM per day with all other 3 feeds being either EBM or direct latch. The EBMs were slowly replaced with FM until he was totally weaned off BM at 15 months old. So in fact, he had breastmik for a good 15 months! And with him, it was simply a decision made to stop breastfeeding because he was it was time to start getting him used to formula and that well.. he's been breastfed long enough!

Nonetheless, I still felt the slight sadness that I no longer have that special closeness with my baby when I latched him on. And with Kiefer, I felt it more as he should be our last baby already. Stopping breastfeeding was like saying that, "hey, the baby has grown up!" So when it was done, it was really a mixed feeling of sadness and relief, all rolled into one.

I'm glad to have breastfed both my babies for as long as I did. I do see that they fall sick less often than other children and when they do, they do not fall as ill either. And especially so with Kiefer, my boys are close to me. So with anyone who is expecting a little one now, I strongly encourage breastfeeding your baby. Don't worry about whether the milk will come or how long you'll be able to keep at it. Just do it for as long as you can and as many feeds you can manage. Any amount is a great amount! Any duration is a great duration.

Here are my breastfed babies!!

And this picture is just to record how long I've breastfed Kiefer!

Anyway, here some random updates on Kiefer:

Words:

Jor Jor (Kor Kor)

dar dar (Daddy)

Mummy is still pretty non-existent :(

Apple

points and yells for things

understands instructions like "bring/give to xx", "come", "hold tight", "sit down"

kisses when asked to

Big kiss (flying kiss)

sticks out foot for you to tickle

smacks Kor Kor

gives things to people

*LOVES* keys

stretches out hand with palm facing up when he wants something that you are holding (mostly it's food)

has about 4 teeth on top, 2 below with 2 more popping out

runs when possible. walk with arms in the air, almost like a lemur :P

*Training* days

Not actually training. We believe that the boys generally will do whatever it is that they are supposed to do when they are ready. Some people may think that we are just being *lazy* but I think that there is no point in trying to push a kid ahead of time to achieve milestones. As hubby says, you'll never see a kid in diapers at 10 years old!!! :P I guess that is the reason why we have a pretty easy time getting Kieran out of his diapers. We simply went along with him. And the actual "training" process took only about a week when we really encouraged him to go off diapers and go to school in briefs. Now, he is COMPLETELY diaper-free! He has been waking up from his nap an overnight sleep with a dry diaper. And 2 nights ago, he said he didn't want to wear diaper to bed anymore. So here we are, having loads of leftover big sized diaper pants. (Just a note, I think it would have been easier to just be diaper or diaperless. forget the in between training pants. It confuses them. Tho' his school wanted him to be in those then.) Anyway, no leaks on the bed yesterday when he woke up. And he is still sleeping now. Had a late night last night. Slept at almost midnight. Then again, he's been sleeping for almost 12hours now, think I've got to hurl him to the bathroom when he wakes up. I'm sure there loads of pee!! :P

Another "training" that has been successfully completed is that we've weaned Kiefer off his pacifier!! I'm sure he'll want to suck at it when he sees it. But it's been a week since we've given it to him. He has been sleeping fine without it and no more yelling for it anymore!! Yipee!! See, they'll do it when they are ready!! Started off by letting him hold the pacifier but telling him that he shouldn't put it into his mouth. Initially, he was irritated by it and when I kept taking it out of his mouth, he simply threw it away after awhile. I think he feels that it was just too frustrating to keep it in!! Haha.. Great job baby!!

Kiefer is 15 months old!

Kiefer is already 15 months old! He is learning to walk, though I think that he is actually quite reluctant to do so. He's a smart one, he knows that he gets to places much faster on fours!! Here are updates of him at 15 mths:

Communication:
eh.. and points to anything that he wants
nods his head up and down for "thank you" and "sorry"
kisses and hugs kor kor
knows when not to touch kor kor's stuff. :P

Eating:
a voracious eater. loves watermelon. Can smell/see food from far far away and go really quickly towards the food source.
is totally off BM and on Enfagrow A+ (3-4 feeds a day, about 750ml a day)
3 main meals a day + loads of snacks in between i'm sure


That's my "no longer a baby" baby!! :P

Our Fer Fer is walking!! Woot! Woot!!

I just realised that I forgot to blog about this! Yes!! Our little one is finally walking. He stood up at walked across the hall on 16 July 2009 (it was fortunate that I updated my FB's status, thus I could still backtrack the date!!) Tho we can walk, albeit unsteadily, he still prefers crawling. I guess it gets him places faster. Ha.. still. KIEFER IS WALKING!!!! Yipee!!!

of peeing and markers..

We've been trying to get Kieran to go off diapers for a while. However, the effects seem sporadic. We didn't really actively train, we took more of the "when-he-is-ready-he-will-do-it" approach. Kieran has always been very much a rather routine person. So he figures that he will only go diaperless at home and diapers to school. In the last couple of weeks, we've managed to get him to go diaperless even when we go out and usually when I bring him to the toilet every 1 hour or so, he stays dry. I don't think he really understands the need to go pee sensation yet. But I guess he is improving. It so happened that we were out at Marina Square that day and I kept asking if he needed to go to the bathroom and he kept saying no. And about 2 minutes after he said no to me, he peed on the floor in front of the counter at Sakae Sushi. :( We had to clean up the mess and I had forgotten to take the spare pair of shorts out from the car. Thus he had to change into diaper pants and since no shorts, he had to wear my long Cotton On cardi!! He was really embarassed about it (which was great!) but at the same time, he thought it was funny to wear a long shirt. He kept wanting to pull it down and button everything cos if not "everyone will see" :P

The story's not finished! The next day, we went out to IMM and again the same thing happened. I kept asking if he needed to go toilet and he kept saying no. And 2 minutes after I last asked, he peed on the floor again. This time, to teach him the lesson, we refused to change him out of his wet shorts and briefs. He was whining and crying about his "wet wet shorts" and how "people will see". Though I brought him to the toilet to try to pee again (immediately after he peed on the floor), but there was nothing already. We walked all the way back to the car in his wet shorts, him whining and crying. After which the daddy asked if he understood. He said yes and he was wrong and then we changed him. I hope this episode stays cos this little fella often learns when something big like that happens. (see lift episode: will post this one another time!) At least something good has come out of this, he wore briefs to school today!! :D


so.. what about the markers?
Kiefer sucked an entire Ikea blue marker till the tip turned white!! :( I hoped everything passed out of his system as he had a few episodes of wet stools yesterday. I googled around and yes, loads of toddler ate markers and crayons as snacks!!

Growing up with the flyer

Yes, we went up on the flyer monday ('twas Youth Day!) again. Those who know us are shaking their heads again. Wassup with this family and the flyer? It's just cos we've got the annual pass and thus we are just making full use of it.



It dawned on me that day that Fer Fer kinda grew up with the flyer! When we first went up, he was just a 2 months old baby and now? He's a big toddler already! Ok, not exactly toddling yet, but soon, we hope!

Some updates:
1) FM 3x a day 150ml
2)BF 1x in the morning. (Bedtime BF weaned last saturday :( )
3) says "duc" everytime anyone (including himself) sneezes
4) eats 3 meals a day
5) sings "ah" to "how I wonder what you are"
6) has 2 teeth at the bottom, 3 on top
7) can stand for about 1-2s
8) loves water and swimming
9) yells his arrival
10)kor kor is the only one he *ALWAYS* kisses when asked to. All others? see his mood! :P

Yeah.. i think he looks a little *tooot* here. Blame it on the daddy who combed his hair that morning! :P

Makin' & Bakin'

Kieran wanted to make cookies on Monday (and only cookies..) and since I already made cupcakes earlier, I scaled the portions down to only 3 servings. I measured the ingredients and put them into the bowl and this little fella creamed the butter and sugar, folded in the flour and scooped out the batter onto the baking sheet! And the cookie turned out yummy! He ate almost all of them for his last 2 day's breakfast.



Just a note, he woke up with a slight swollen eye on saturday and it swelled to a full blown swell by sunday. With zyrtec and opticrom it has since subsided and he as gone back to school today. He's already missed school the whole of last week cos mummy's a kiasu mummy and just wanted to play safe, what with the H1N1 being around. :P

And yes, these were the cupcakes. They were a white cake base with maraschino cherries and buttercream icing.

At 外婆's house

The boys had to go 外婆's house on Friday morning while we were at work. I stayed with them till about 10am and then left for work. Both the boys had loads of fun there. I guess it was just something new for them.

Kieran had a great time with all the toys (Josh and Janelle were at school, so he had all the toys to himself!) and Fer, well, he was happy with the tissue papers!! :P

This is how I get my marking done!

Had to stay home with the boys on thur and had marking to do, since the MYE is here. I remembered that we had a inflatable pool in the cupboard and thus decided to blow it up for them. I didn't realise that the pool was so huge! I thought it was the same size as the one we previously had (which was probably 1/3 in size only) and I nearly blacked out from blowing it up cos the electric air pump wasn't at home. Anyway, they had fun in there for about 1hr while I sat outside the bathroom door marking. I think it was quite a great way to spend the morning! The boys had fun while I got work done!

Dun wanna stop...

Feeling just so reluctant and sad to eventually stop nursing Kiefer (and really soon). :( Maybe it's the thought that he'll be our last baby to nurse and that I'm not going to enjoy that feeling anymore. I'm glad that I kept at it for so long and yes, it's true, Kiefer is really quite close to me. :D And he is 14 months old today! This means that he's been breastfed just a little longer than Kieran (and i'm kinda proud of this little achievement!!) However, with the current H1N1 situation, I had intended to continue with nursing him but it seems that the supply is really running low. I am only latching him 2x a day, before bed and early in the morning. I know that he is not drinking much early in the morning anymore, and the bedtime feed, I have to supplement with about 2oz of formula even after he nurses. So I guess this is *almost* it. I still have about 2 weeks supply of EBM in the freezer, so I guess *THE* end of all breastmilk drinking will come sometime in 2-3 weeks time.

Here's his feeding schedule usually:
6am - BF
730/8am - Breakfast (cereal)
930am - EBM 120ml
12pm - Lunch
230pm - Formula 150ml
6pm - Dinner
9pm - BF + Formula (60ml)
AND... loads of sneaking food from everyone in between!!! :P

Had loads of fun making this!

Saw this on Scrapbook Inspirations, just had to try it. Took 2 days (with interruptions by the boys) and yeah! Did it! Tho' the actual product is actually a lot messier than how it looks on the photo!!

Kiefer sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

M: Twinkle Twinkle little star, how I wonder what you...

F: Ah..!!!

M: Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky, twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you...

F: Ah..! 

M: :P :P

And oh yes, his 2 front teeth have appeared!! =|3

Fun in the sun!

Just got back from Melaka. We stayed at the Hotel Equatorial and the boys had a really great time frolicking in the hotel pool till they are all brown and toasty. Talk about being the TAN family!! =P

Stuff we did:

Eating...

More eating...

 

Some sightseeing..

Caricature drawing...

More eating...

Lots of swimming...

And homeward bound..

Weekend activities

It's been a really long time since we've gone swimming! Kiefer has even forgotten about the pool and he yelled his head off when we dumped him in!! =P Still after 5mins or so, he thoroughly enjoyed himself in there. And yes, today is Melaka day!! More sun and fun!!

And this is Kiefer's latest love...