Global Footprints

Got the link from Nicole's blog.

Mama's footprints:

My Visited Countries

Get your own Visited Countries Map from Travel Blog

As for Ryan, he had been to China (while in mama's womb), Thailand and Japan.

My Visited Countries

And lastly, Jaden - a bit pathetic. Only been to Japan (while in mama's womb) :p

My Visited Countries

Busy busy weekend!

Activities were lined up for the weekend even before Saturday arrived. I always find that weekend passes by so quickly that if you don't plan ahead, nothing gets done at the end of the day.

Saturday morning, papa and mama went separate ways to fulfil our duties for the day. Mama went to market to stock up on fresh vegetables/fruits and meat/fish for the week while papa took Ryan and Jaden to the hospital for their vaccination. Jaden was 2 weeks late for his final(3rd) pneumococcal vaccine while Ryan also took the same jab (only need 1 jab after 2 years old).

At the hospital, Ryan and Jaden apparently had a well of a time, making friends with all around them, especially Ryan. He was seen sitting on an auntie's lap at one time and munching away on chocolate and snacks given by yet another auntie later. Sigh...this super-friendly-son of ours is so adorable but quite dangerous in a sense that he could be kidnapped by a stranger or something :(

Generally, the boys' physical development are on track:

Jaden

Height: 80cm Weight: 10kg

Ryan

Height: 105cm Weight: 15.6kg

After mama came home, the salesman from Roboclean came to demonstrate his product. It seems like a good product, suppose to clean/sanitise the air (like an air purifier) and the best part is that it can clean the mattress and sucks up all the dust mites, the droppings, etc etc.... Papa has sensitive nose, so the product would be good for him, as well as other asthma and ezcema sufferers. There are many other advantages but these 2 stand out the most. It's quite expensive though, so we may only consider after we have moved.

Later in the afternoon, we went to a furniture mall at Old Klang Road. They had quite an impressive collection and at one children's bed shop, we were quite tempted to buy 2 'mini cooper car' beds for Ryan and Jaden. Ryan particularly like the steering wheel at the end of the bed frame....hmm....see how our budget goes :p

At night, papa went to church alone.

On Sunday, papa woke up early to play golf. We waited for him to come back to meet the curtain measure man from Macy at the new house. The poor chap must be circling around the neighbourhood for quite a while as he called mama around 12.30pm and again at 1.30pm to check if he could come earlier. Anyway, the measurements were done swiftly in less than an hour and now, it's papa and mama's job to move our butts to their store at Ikano to choose materials and discuss about cost.

We went home to pick up Jaden before we went to our next destination - Mid Valley Modern Home Living & Property Fair. We reckoned that Jaden would feel sad if we leave him at home all the time, so had to bring him along to the fair lo. We didn't decide on any piece while we were there, but rather took the time to scout around to look for furnitures and fittings that we like.

At day/night end, we were so tired that we slept like a log!

The Boys' Chinese Names

We were at popo/gong-gong's house yesterday to celebrate Ryan's birthday and mama took the opportunity to ask popo how to write the boys' names in chinese. Mama had asked many times before but the paper always seemed to get lost, so this time round, mama will post as a blog to make sure the names are kept somewhere.

The top name is that of Ryan Yuen Zhen-Lin with the word 'Zhen' meaning 'politics' or 'political affairs' and 'Lin' meaning 'continuous heavy rain' or 'aplenty'.

The bottom name is that of Jaden Yuen Zhen Han and the word 'Han' means 'writing' or 'scholar'.

So in essence, Ryan's chinese name means abundant health, wealth and water to flow in his life while Jaden's chinese name means scholarly or studious person.

Below pix taken back in condo with his presents:

Happy 3rd Birthday Ryan!

Today Ryan is officially 3 years old. He has indeed grown up to be such a wonderful and energetic boy, bringing so much love and joy to the family. The things he can do to make us happy or drive-us-up-the-wall, be it good or bad are countless. He can be mischievous at one time and angelic the other. Like what Pastor Daniel mentioned during Vincent's son (Jovin's) birthday party last Sunday, Ryan is also our little guardian in the house, reminding us to give thanks for our food during mealtimes whenever we forget to do so, or when he did not hear us say the prayer aloud.

Ryan, you're such a darling and we love you so much!!!

Happy Birthday!!!





Below pix taken at Hartamas shopping complex recently:

Ryan's 3rd Birthday - Early Celebration in school

Invaders in Pangkor Island resort room

Over the weekend, papa had an ISACA Board meeting at Pangkor Island...so mama and the 2 boys also tagged along. We stayed at Pangkor Island Beach Resort for 3D2N. The deal was not bad considering that we travelled in a big group of 30+ including children. Children below 6 are FOC. But I'm sure papa had something to say about the BBQ seafood dinner on Saturday. The seafood BBQ only had fish and prawn and many other misc. - what a ripoff...haha!

The journey from KL to Lumut jetty was a pleasant one even though we nearly missed the ferry at 3.45pm 'cos we took quite a while to look for an 'open' restaurant at Sitiawan at 2+pm. (Obviously the Sitiawan people also practice siesta time, like the Greeks...aiseh).

Friday was rather uneventful (as compared to Saturday, which I will elaborate in a while). We reached the resort around 4.30pm and papa was actually quite tired from the driving. Ryan, the super-duracell boy, insisted that papa bring him to the pool immediately...and papa had to negotiate with him - that the sun is too hot lah, tired lah, etc... but Ryan finally got his way at around 5.30pm.

Saturday was jammed pack with meetings for papa, so mama had to entertain the kids. After breakfast, mama brought Ryan and Jaden to the pool. We swimmed for quite a while until 11am. To kill time, I also brought the kids to the Kid's Club. There weren't many activities there, except for T-shirt painting at that time, and Ryan and Jaden were much too young for that, so we left after a while, to have a short rest in the room, before joining papa and the gang for lunch at 12.30pm. As we walked back to the room, we were fascinated by some monkeys hanging around the balconies and roof top and as I was watching, I noticed a familiar packet being held by one of the monkeys. I panicked and ran back to the room. When I opened the door, I saw 2 monkeys in the room, scavenging our belongings, in particular foodstuff. I panicked again when I saw milk powder on the floor!! SH**! That is so important for my 2 boys! HOW HOW!

I calmed down, called house-keeping to send cleaners over to clean up the room and later, headed to the receptionist to ask for help. They told me I can either go to Pangkor town to get the milk or his staff can try to buy the milk for me from Lumut. With the latter, I'll have to wait for the next ferry to arrive, which was 2.45pm. I thought of waiting since the kids will be having their lunch soon and wouldn't be asking for their milk. Also they charge exorbitant fees for the return taxi to Pangkor town - RM30, which is like the cost of my milk!

I also found that there was an untouched milk powder for 1 feeding (8oz) in the plastic milk container (phew!). After lunch, the kids were tired and wanted to sleep. And they will always look for their nen-nen. We gave Ryan 4oz first - not enough, the boy asked for more - 2 more oz - not enough, Ryan cried for more again - another 2 oz and milk all gone. Jaden how???????? Solution : breast is best!!!!!!!! (Thank goodness I have not stop BF :p) After a short while, both boys were in zzzzzzzzz land. The milk finally arrived at around 4.45pm, as they missed the earlier ferry (tension only!)

Lesson learnt: MUST MUST remember to bang and lock the balcony door real hard. We actually closed the door but maybe didn't lock the door properly.

(We observed later that the monkeys actually climb from one balcony to the other and check/open the doors - real smart fella's ya - darn)

Hannah's Party and Trip to Ipoh

Ryan attended Hannah's 3rd birthday party at KidzSport (1 Utama) last Saturday, 07/07/07. Being such a 'special' day, many parents took the opportunity to celebrate their kids' birthday as there was also another concurrent party that took place.

Ryan sure had FUN FUN FUN!!!! And when it was time to go, the lil' man sure needed some enticement. I had to tell him that papa and mama will bring him to the swimming pool in Ipoh later. Yes, we had to travel down to Ipoh for 'tai pak gong's' birthday.

Ryan loves slides but he was actualy afraid to go on the giant slide alone. So, the poor mama had to go down the slide with him. And imagine this clumsy mama, wearing a super smooth pants (with no friction) going down the slide.... *bong*... landed at the bottom... how embarassing... thank goodness my legs didn't flip upwards *wink* SO no second time for Ryan, who kept pestering me.

Other entertainments during the party include face painting, tattoo printing and sand art.

The highlight of the party was the party pack that was distributed to each chilid. It was actually a party BAG, full of goodies (for Ryan) but junk (as mama see it :p). The spiderman bag has about 20 items in it - mostly junk food, biscuits, drink, a bottle of bubbles, sticker and stationery set.

Ryan's Little Transitions

As Ryan approaches 3 in 3 weeks time, mama would like to do some blogging on his transitions from the Terrible Two stage:

1. He can now actually sit through a meal, eating peacefully (thus giving papa & mama time to finish our meals too), unlike previously, when he had to run about all the time during lunch/dinner. Just like last week, during dinner at Souled Out, we happened to sit next to a couple with a young boy, who refused to sit quietly on his highchair. The mother pointed to Ryan and told his boy...see koko, so good boy, sit down and eat his dinner....I was secretly thinking...Hah! Ryan was like your boy too, last time...

2. He can now sleep much earlier, by 10 - 10.30pm, thanks to his normal kindie routine, which requires him to sleep early and wake up early. Previously, he like to sleep at 11.30 - 12am, which really frustrate us 'cos we don't get to do our own things...

3. He can now pee-pee and poo-poo by himself. He even told kakak...kakak, you go outside first, smelly, I ngm-ngm first...Previously, he refused to shit in the toilet but insisted to do his business in the diapers.

4. He can take shower/wash hair without much fuss. Previously, a little water down his face will send the lil' rascal crying like there's no-end.

5. He is more independent now, in terms of the things that he does. He insists that he feeds himself at times (even tho' mama really detests messiness :p). We can also leave him to swim/float by himself.

6. What really brings a smile to our faces is that he can alleviate a tensed situation. Just like the other day, papa and mama were having some disagreements over renovation works. Ryan, who was sitting with us, supposedly heard our conversation and said 'Papa/mama don't be angry' in the midst of our conversation and we were stunned for a while.

7. At times when we were down, especially when mama is moody, Ryan will ask 'Mama, why you angry?' I will explain the reasons and he'll try to cheer me up. Like on Monday, I came home from work and he told me that he broke a toy. I was tired and saw some broken wheels. I was furious that the maids left those broken pieces lying around, especially when it could be choking hazards to Jaden. Ryan sensed that I was angry and he tried to make me happy. He followed an action on TV and repeated 'You are so cool' with his lil' arms stretching outwards. It tickled my heart and made me laugh. Until today, whenever I'm angry, he'll do the same actions to make me happy....'Mama, you happy?' 'Yes..... I love you'

Decisions Decisions...

We have been scouting around for new furnitures lately but we still have not decided on any yet. We'll let the boys decide :p

In the pics below, Jaden seemed to like the coffee table at Lorenzo. It looks slick, sturdy and rounded - definitely a plus point when you have children around. Ryan, on the other hand, seemed comfortable reading his truck book on a lazy chair at Rozel. Pa...should we let the children decide?? hmm.... :D

We also checked the home furnishing at Ikea. Ryan definitely had a good time there.