Of creations and more

Most boys are into moving machines - cars, trucks, trains, planes etc.

However, I noticed that Ryan is more into making things e.g. Lego sets, engineering sets etc. He never had a thing for cars and trucks and so, each time I buy him these, it ends up being on the shelf and not noticed again.

Lego sets and his engineering sets are a little different though. Ryan makes things out and tells us proudly what it is. Most of the time, it does resemble something of the real thing.

This image he made is apparently his aeroplane car-car.

By adding in 2 blocks at each end, you will get a truck.

Next, you will see that Ryan has made 2 cranes - one a normal crane and the other a BIG crane.

Then he proceeded to show us how he sees KLCC - complete with 2 buildings and a car.

The next image tops it all (sorry, I don't know how to rotate it), but if you look closely, you will see that Ryan has gotten an eye at the top, and 2 protruding places at the bottom, which is supposedly the building's pen*s and the other is the leg. He pointed to the building's pen*s and said that there is where th building will wee wee on mummy's floor.

We all burst out laughing .... obviously Ryan took that cue to say that he has done a good job - which he has.

Last brestfeeding session - 3

I am not sure if it is the holiday season or that the weather has been crazy, but Ryan has developed a craving for breast milk in the last 2 days.

He has been asking for mummy milk milk yesterday and just now when he is in bed.

Funny, just when I thought he was stopping....

How kids react to mothers and others

I am not sure if this holds true to all kids but I think that kids tend to be more sensitive to their parents (mum especially) than other people.

Case in point.

Ryan has always got a soft spot for me .... I sometimes pretend that I am crying because he does not want to kiss/ hug me. And he will always give in and give me kisses/ hugs. Sometimes I will also pretend that I am sad and Ryan will always come around and try to hug me till I smile. There are also times when I pretend I am in pain (usually when I want to prove a point especially with knives/ scissors etc.) or I cut myself etc. and will cry to show him that it is painful. Every single time I do this, Ryan will end up crying louder and more pitiful that I will. And this is dreadful because it hurts Ryan to see me in pain and so this stunt is reserved for special cases.

Just now when putting him to bed, I'd asked for my kiss and he playfully refused. And I proceeded to be sad. Ryan immediately said "Mummy don't be sad, don't be sad. I kiss you. I give you big big kiss." Naturally I gave in for that wonderful kiss.

Last week when Ryan was at my mum's, my mum decided to play with Ryan and pretended to be sad and cry. Ryan was immediately in anger and this is what he said.
Ryan: You see your mouth. How many times must I tell you, you never listen to me. I take a ruler and smack you ah. You see my eyes, I so angry ah. (Ok, so I talk like this to him, but to have him repeat them logically, wow!)

My mum got a shock. She half expected to be sympathetic and hug her but instead got scolded!

Therefore I am convinced that there is a difference when a child reacts to the mother and when he/ she reacts to strangers, even if it is the identical situation. I am happy that Ryan places my happiness on such high levels now, hope he will continue to be like this as he gets older, especially when he reaches his teens.

Bless that child.

Please don't be angry

Whenver Ryan knows he has upset me, he will ask "Mummy not angry ah?". This is a cue to me that I have to quickly make my anger subside so that I can say "No, mummy not angry". Why? Well because if I insist that I am angry, Ryan will be extremely upset and he will cry till I say I am no longer angry with him.

It is heart breaking sometimes knowing that my emotions matter so much to him that sometimes I cannot bring myself to be angry even when he is at his naughtiest.

Today, this conversation took a twist to show how much Ryan has grown.

Ryan: Mummy not angry ah?
Me: Mummy angry ah .... I told you not to run around and to hold my hand. You never listen, so mummy is angry.
Ryan: No, no, mummy don't angry please, please. Please mummy don't angry please. You must talk nicely ma, don't scream. Please mummy don't angry.
Me: Okla, mummy not angry anymore.

My heart melted. I am convinced he knows what getting angry means and what needs to be done/ said to defuse me. The thing is that because he knows this, it has made it more difficult to be angry at him. Little devil.

Should I? Should I not? Should I?

That was the question that was going through my head 2 nights ago.

It was whether to send Ryan to school or not. Well, actually it is not really a school, but a play school where kids as young as 2 years go to learn and play.

I have been to the selected school twice before just to see if Ryan likes it there and to see how he would react to the whole concept. I am thankful that Ryan seems to like it and has thus prompted me to enrol him.

However, I always compare what I had and what he has. I only went to kindy for 1 year and then went straight to Standard 1 and I survived well and knew all my ABC and 123 before I went to Standard 1. Why then do I need to send him at 2 years and 10 months?

I think the most compelling reason is that I want to minimise his time with nanny. Not that nanny is not good, it's just that she does not exactly uphold the values I like and it is difficult to insist on it when it is not natural for her. E.g. I am not agreeable to have kids watching TV whole day ... she had the TV on quite a bit. I do not like kids (nor adults) to be shouted .... nanny does that. I also do not like to have Ryan screaming ... am hoping that school will help him develop emotionally so that he is less stubborn and more accomodating.

After mush deliberation, I finally sent him to the school yesterday and registered him. Total fees including 4 months fees and 2 months deposit plus 3 pairs of uniform came to be about RM3,000!!!! I don't remember my parents spending this on me when I was in kindy, more like when I was in university.

Anyway, I am consoling myself by hoping that school will positively contribute to Ryan's development and hope it will also enforce his interest in learning and reading. I think these 2 qualities are the most important basics to our life long pursue of academic achievements.

Ryan did not let me down either ... he proudly proclaimed that he will go to school next year to make friends.

Here is to January 3rd 2008 - when my baby goes to school!!!

Last brestfeeding session - 2

Just when I thought my baby does not need me anymore, he surprised me yesterday when he wanted to nurse to sleep.

He was a little restless, just as he always is and kept moving around while nursing. Ouch! But then after a while he settled down and continued to nurse till he slept.

It's a great feeling for me, to have him still nursing. Mothers who breast feed will be able to relate well, othrwise people will think I am crazy.

Just now when I put him to bed, I'd asked if he wanted to nurse. He shyly pushed me away and insisted on the bottle.

Sigh ... will yesterday be my last session?

Page vs sheet

What is the difference between a sheet and a page?
Well, this seems basic enough for my son to know, but apparently it is not so.

During my morning paper last Saturday, the head of invigilator was reading out the rules and regulations of the exam to us and then proceeded to break the seal to the exam papers.
After we had obtained our papers, she said to count the number of pages and to make sure we have 16 pages and 60 questions.

We all counted and counted and counted - there were 32 pages. Really, almost 200 people cannot be wrong right?? But she still insist that there were 16 pages. So, (thinking that we ALL made a mistake) we counted again .... still 32 pages ler.

So there were gasps and people saying "WTF???" and then she realised it - It's actually 16 sheets of paper .... not pages ..... aiyo, like this also can be invigilator, so memalukan la. And to top it all, her English was poorly spoken, wrong grammar, wrong pronunciation, wrong tenses, just wrong. Horrible!

15 Dec 2007

That's the date where my last paper of CFP was held.
If I am lucky, I will get a pass in February.
Else, I would be doing it again in June!!!

How was the paper?
Well, to be fair, it was alright.
But I did not have time to complete all the questions in both the papers, so I guess I could have done better.
The plus side is that most of my friends also could not finish.
So, I am hoping they will lower the bar : )

Anyway, the end was a good thing.
I guess I will stop studying for a while and go back to being a normal mum instead of a super busy mum!

How did I celebrate? I went book shopping and later to a movie with hubby.
The next day, I spent 2 hours keeping my notes away - I had strewn all the notes all over the floor, bed, sofa, everywhere!

Pray hard now .... Please God, let me get through this ....

6116

That is my number plate.

And yesterday, it came out as First Prize in one of those 4-ekor thingy.

Did I win anything? NO!
But dad just called and said that he won RM5k from it.
Good for dad and this Sunday we will be celebrating it....on dad of course!

... and I thought when the guards stopped me just now informing me of this, they were joking.
Wonder if any of them bought my number.

WARNING: Gambling and betting is not encouraged - please!

Last brestfeeding session

For the past 2 months, I always wonder when will Ryan's last breastfeeding session be.

Well, his last session was on 2nd December 2007 - that also I coerced him into it. He nursed for about 5 mins and then he got up and shook his head.

Sigh ... wonder if he will take another session again.

Otherwise, this "cow" is officially closed for business after been in service for 2 years, 8 months and 28 days.

Someone should give me a long service award!!

Prices going up!!

Bloody prices of milk powder is going up again next month.

I started buying mega amounts of milk powder since early this year when Ryan decided he wanted bottled milk milk.

The price then was about RM21.xx for 700g of Enfa Grow. Yesterday, I was at the Chinese Medical Hall (supposedly the cheapest place to find milk powder) and guess what?! the price is now RM30.xx! Almost 43% INCREASE in prices in the span of 1 year!!!

Apparently, the prices are due to increase again next month. The reason was because there is a shortage of milk powder globally. I am not sure how that is since I don't think that the birth rate has gone up substantially. Or maybe people are just not rearing these cows anymore??

How does the average family cope with this type of increase?? And of course salary does not increase as much to keep up. Bloody government claim that inflation is manageable and below 2%?? I think they cannot count properly or that their basket of goods is totally outdated!!!

Either way, I am bloody pissed!!

Parents

When we were in primary school, our teachers used to ask us to compose about our family, or my mother, or my father, or my grand parents etc.

I believe we all wrote about how their day is (from our eyes) and how they helped us and how they cared for us. However, I do not think that we really value them, nor do we really know how much they cared for us, nor do I believe that we really understood their plight, situation, conditions etc. Things which we ourselves go through now, be it in our personal or family life.

For e.g. did we really understand their situation where giving better food for us kids meant that they could not get the quality of food that they desire? Did we understand that giving us better clothes meant that they could not buy that evening gown or the khakis they wanted? Could we understand that buying us toys meant that they could not go on that fancy meal or the holiday they so long for? Could we really understand that giving us all the love meant draining them emotionally, well at least to some extent since we all know that parents are just oozing with love all the time? Granted, I am actually talking about parents who are in the middle and lover classes. I think the higher end parents would have it easier ...

I must admit that before I became a mother, I always took all these things for granted. I used to think that being a parent was easy, being the child (in my narrow opinion) was the difficult part. I mean, we had to deal with peer pressure, school, teachers, EXAMS, latest trend in town, latest TV drama series, latest crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, puppy love, EXAMS, parties, PARENTS!!!

Which kid have you met that said "I truly understand my parents and believe that they have the toughest job of all" Who? Who has actually said that being a child? Even now, I have some friends who still think that their parents are old fashioned, bothersome, naggy, horrid, unfair etc. It breaks my heart to hear them say these things, but then I thought, they have to go through this stage in order to better appreciate their parents when they themselves become parents.

Growing up as the elder in the family, my parents always had expectations on me "You are the older one, give in" "You are the older one, set a good example" "You must study hard" "You must go to the university and get a good job" etc. etc. the list goes on. As a child I used to think that I did not asked to be the first one and so I should not be subjected to these expectations and so thought of it as being unfair. However, having gone through it and now having Ryan, I begin to see my parents point of view and their many actions which I now seem to think is reasonable. I mean, I am the older one, if I do not set a good example, how will they teach the younger one right? And if I do not give in, how is the younger one going to learn manners and thus the setting of the good example. And studying hard and getting a sound education seems to make sense now. Althought I am sure Robert Kiyosaki will not agree to the part about going to university and getting a degree! Somehow all these things seem to make sense when I became a mother - am I stupid and inconsiderate all these while? Or am I on the path to maturity - which make me old! Gasp!!

Nett nett, I guess all I am trying to say is that we should take a moment everyday and think about what our parents have given to us and how their love and care have shaped us. Of course they will not be perfect, but at least they have tried their best to provide us with a better life.

I hope that someday Ryan will read this and think of me and his dad as being the best parents there ever were ....

Bumps and more

Just now I fetched Ryan from nanny and he was in an unusually happy mood.
He began to jump and skip and some where along the line, our legs met and he tripped and fell - face down, free fall, really.

Took him about half a milli second before he started to scream and yell.

Then the fright set in for me - he had a bad nose bleed and a big bump on his forehead. Really a lot of blood and really big bump.

He cried for about 1 minute, then he brushed his blood away and told me to "Go away" because he wanted to play.

I tell you, this guy is really scary. He does not seem to know pain, he only feels it for a while and then BAM! back to the usual.

Wonder if he will take all his future challenges this way ...

Of kisses and more kisses

I was watching "Failure to launch" last Sunday with Ryan by my side.
I know, I know, as a good mother, I should not do that.
But like any mother, I am subject to some misjudgements.

Anyway, there was a scene where Sarah Jessica Parker was kissing this Matthew McCougnehey (don't really know how to spell his name!) and Ryan saw that.

He then turned to me and pinned me down by my shoulder and said "I want kiss mummy on the mouth - like che che like that". Think I spent a good 2 minutes dodging him.

Talk about the things kids learn - they are really fast!

I want to go to school!

Ryan has been saying the above for a while now.
Always with the same reasons - to make friends, sing song, sing A-B-C and play Play Dough.

Two days ago, he came up with a new reason - Ryan want to go to school! Ryan got no friends!!

I was a little stunned and so could not reply with a witty answer.
I ended up saying - Why Ryan need friends? This only made him more irritated and he repeated the above till I said "ok, ok, next year Ryan go to school ok?"

"OK"

Phew!

5th year

Today I celebrate my 5th year anniversary.

Wow! I have never been the kind to imagine myself married and living with the same person for all those years.
And now 5 years has passed. Many happy memories, many sad moments, much joy, much sorrow ... but most of all, I got Ryan ... worth every moment we shared.

Here is to another year to come!

Argh!!

I am so mad!
Blogger just wiped out my new post!!!

Argh! I am so mad!
Cannot write anymore!

Smart Tunnel

Completion of the Smart tunnel brought a huge relief to me cause it means that there is no more mess on the KL Seremban road and there is an alternative road to the city, which means then lesser jams and smoother journey - WRONG!!! well, at least the second part that is.

When it was free, everyone got on to it. Then Samy dearie said it would cost us RM2 to enjoy the Smart-ness. Fine, it is still better than getting caught in the jams.

Then one morning, I paid my RM2 toll like a good girl would do and SLAM!!! I was met with a terrible jam in the bloody tunnel! Then I looked right and saw that the "old" KL Seremban highway was a breeze!!! Grrrr.....

Then, there was another morning I was going into the lane leading to the tunnel and BANMM!!! another jam even before I got to the toll!!! And there was no U-turn for me.

This evening was another mess. It'd had been rainning and traffic was crazy. The tunnel was what I was looking forward to so I can reach home faster. I turned into the road beside Times square and wondered what the jam was about ... then I saw it - Terowong Smart di tutup, something about aktiviti banjir sedang dijalankan....wtf?!?!

First, I was not aware that the bloody Smart tunnel only does one thing at a time - not very SMART right??
Secondly,why was there no sign BEFORE reaching the junction to alert drivers of this? Why wait till everyone drove into the lane and the surprise us with this?!!! We then had to drive onto some gravel lane to U-turn. Honestly, this is so ridiculous!!!

But then, Malaysia boleh-la

A day in Boleh-land

In the Star some days back, there was an article which caught my eye. Refer here.

It talks about the importance of early education for our kids in order to have a better educated generation. The whole talk he had was actually to address the majority of this country, talking about how a better educated generation will help steer the nation into greater achievements and how mindsets must change in order rise in the world etc. etc.

But the thing is that, early childhood education already exists in our country and unfortunately this is a privileged sector which not all can afford.

So what will happen? In the end, those who can afford will have better educated/ developed kids and those who cannot will lag behind.

Question is, why is the Boleh-land government not doing anything about this? Why is it that we do not see many (or at all??) government sponsored kindergartens/ nurseries/ play school etc? Why is it that we have kids in the rural areas not even having a proper school? Why is it that we are spending millions and millions of ringgit in sending people to outer space while the inner space is not properly addressed? Think about how these ringgit will be better utilized had it stayed in the country and help develop the education system ... heck, we may even be able to have the capability to build our very own space launcher instead of sending people over to other countries!

If you read the article, some other comments which gave me a slight increase in blood pressure are:

“It's only when we become a developed race (that) we can be confident” - wtf?? So if you are not developed, then you have no confidence?? I don't think that that is how we define confidence, ya?

"In advanced countries, two-year-olds, and sometimes even younger children, join planned education processes" - no, you i*****, we already have this in Malaysia, wake up la!

“Perhaps their learning techniques are different. They focus on fun learning but, more importantly, they believe that the process to build a person must begin early” - you don't have to be a genius to know this wei ... oops ... I forgot it's you!

He said Malays were still expecting handouts and did not pay back study loans but if they want the nation to be developed then their mindset must change. - this is because you guys started it!! Why not do away with this handouts and force all to compete fairly?? I am sure we will be getting the developed race status pretty fast!

“We may want big houses, expensive cars, imported furniture, but the most important thing is to invest in education.” - NOoooo .... really ah??

Wau! I really love Malaysia!!

Good night Ryan

When Ryan was a baby, I used to put him to sleep while nursing. Thereafter, I can just put him on his bed and he will sleep till the next feed.
After a while, things got a little crazy and then we got the sarung to help rock him to sleep.
This went on for several months till I realized he was getting too heavy for the sarung and so decided to migrate him fully to my bed.

Some months ago, I decided that he needs to get out of my bed and start sleeping in his bed ... else it would have been a bloody waste of money to buy his bed!
And so we started this ritual where I would tuck him in and then sing and pat etc. till he sleeps.
Middle of the night, he would wake up and walk to my bed and wants to nurse/ have his bottled milk.

About 2 weeks back, I decided that I have to let him fall asleep on his own. And so, I tucked him in, kiss him on his face and then leave the room. For the first 2 nights or so, Ryan would protest but then he would close his eyes and sleep. In the last few days, Ryan has been proclaiming that he is not tired and don't want to sleep.
However, because I inisist on it, he would toss and turn in his bed and even went on to singing till he drops off to sleep.

Truly, this has been great for me. At least I can now tuck him in and then come out of the room and do my own work.

His few sleep-through nights are getting rare now. Hope he continues with it soon.

Nursery rhymes

When Ryan was a baby, there was a song which I would sing to him.
Now, I do not know the title of the song, but it goes like this ...

"Hush now baby don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird,
If that mockingbird can sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring"

Some time back, Ryan would come to me and say "Mummy fan-cook Ryan".
For some days I was struggling with what he wanted to say till one day I sang this song, Ryan said happily "Mummy fan-cook Ryan ah" .... then I know ...

Till now I still cannot figure out which part of the song has any resemblance to the word fan-cook but he says it every time he wants this song.

Lately he has also begun t sing it and it is great to see him picking up words and rhythm. Other songs which he also sings are:
1) A-B-C-D ... all the way to NowI know my A-B-C, tell me what you think of me!
2) The above song
3) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
4) Row Row Row Your Boat - some parts of it
5) Baa Baa Black Sheep - some parts of it
6) Gymboree songs
7) Friends forever Gymboree album which contains one the most catchy songs ever regarding making friends ... Ryan took the cue and said he wants to go make friends.
8) Elmo song
9) If you are happy .... just started with this today.
10) El Divo somes - he will just mimic away.

The beauty of all this is that Ryan is learning to sing songs without actually realizing that he is actually learning and all this comes to him much easier.

Now I am looking forward to him going to the school and learning some songs for me!

Firat post meme

I got this from Suzette some days back.
The idea is to copy my very first post on my blog and compare to see if I have changed in any way - writing that is!

My first post was on 21st June 2005 under Ryan's blog on MSN spaces.

"This morning I woke up crying at 4am ... mummy could not pacify me so daddy had to take me out of the room to pacify me.
After an hour, I was still crying, so daddy brought me back to mummy for my 'milk milk'. I lay beside mummy gulping down my 'milk milk' while mummy fell asleep.
Later, I saw mummy waking up and looking at me ... I gave her one of my 'milky smiles'. I am sure she was very happy!
Tomorrow I am going to PD, to Poh Poh's place. Mummy is going to go to Avillion for her Department Away Day. I will miss mummy while she is gone."

I had started a blog with the intention to write down all my thoughts and experience with Ryan from his point of view. It started out just fine until one day I found that I have more to say from MY point, so I created one for myself here.

Then I decided that I want to combine both - much easier to manage, so here I am.
Now, I am not sure if I have improved, but I definitely have a more challenging time now putting my thoughts in the blog with Ryan around constantly trying to get a hold of my keyboard!

Looking back at my initial posts sure brings back sweet memories of my initial days of motherhood!

Amazing conversations wih Ryan

Some conversations we have which never fail to amuse and amaze me ...

Ryan: My shoulder pain pain ...
Me: Cut if off la ...
Ryan: No need, go see uncle doctor, get medicine because Ryan sick ...
Me: Ok lor ....
But actually there was nothing wrong with him, he just wanted some attention.

Me: Eat la, eat la, good good one ...
Ryan: No! I eat already! (Cantonese: Ngor sek pau cho)
Me: Eat la, eat la ...
Ryan: No! Otherwise I vomit ah!
This is when I try to get him to eat more.

Last week, at my parents' house, my dad bought Ryan a cup of ice-cream.
Me: Wah! Ryan eat so much ice-cream, stomach pain pain ah ...
Ryan: No! This one goong goong (grandpa) buy one, eat already won't pain pain one...
Me: Who say?
Ryan: I say one.
See, this one I cannot argue. It's just amazing how Ryan thinks through. If only all the people we work with thinks like a 2 year old.

My mum: Ryan, nah, eat this amachi (my mum could not prounouce properly)
Ryan: No, not amachi, omochi!!
My mum: Oh, I don't know ma. Omochi is it?
Ryan: Yes, omochi, not amachi.
My mum complained to me that a 60+ years old woman was corrected by a 2+ years old. Indeed Ryan is not shy to correct us when he believes he is right. So far, he is about 90% right in his correction. The other 10% he is clearly wrong but insist that he is still right!!

Truly amazing ...

My name is ...

A friend once remarked that it must be terribly irritating for his kid to answer this questions repeatedly daily - "What is your name?"

Well, I must admit that I am guilty too. I always ask this question to Ryan.

2 nights ago on our way back from nanny's, the following conversation happened:
Me: What is your name?
Ryan: Pink!
Me: *Doink*

Mummy, I laff you too!

For months I have been repeating this phrase "I love you" to Ryan and have been teaching him on how to respond.

Most recently, when he was away in my mum's house, we have numerous conversations which I will say "I love you" and Ryan will respond "I laff you too!" Everytime he says these words, it will melt my heart.

Tonight, there was something new ... I said "I love you" ... and he thought about it really hard and said "I laff you three!!!"

Hubby asked "Aii ... where did he learn to say that?!!"

Ryan is away

I must admit, I am terrible in being away from loved ones.

When I was living with my parents, I used to think about how wonderful it would be to be away from them and have my own life. Truth is, when that moment finally came, it was very difficult for me. I actually missed them! But then, I learned and adjusted well.

Then it came when my husband (then boyfriend) had to work outstation ... it was terrible! It could be a month before we meet again and it was just terrible. However, I also learned to live on my own.

Then came when I got married ... hubby left for Sudan months after we got married. Imagine my loneliness! But then I had a long hour job, so I got through.

Now, the biggest thing in my life - Ryan. When Ryan was really young, we used to leave him with nanny a night in a week when I would use the night to recuperate from my sleep deprivation. However, it is usually a rough night cause I would be missing him till I can't sleep properly. Also, I would wake up to pump milk cause I would have serious engorgement. And then in the middle of the night, I would wake up finding myself wondering why I had gotten up - the next day I find out that I woke up roughly the same time when Ryan would have woken up and cried.

As the months go by, Ryan got easier for me and so, he was never away from me. Then came the time when nanny had to go away on holiday. I would have no choice but to have Ryan sent to my mum and I would have really missed him terribly.

In the last 2 weeks in particular, I was away from Ryan when I went to Bangkok for a short holiday with friends. It was not easy, but I had a fellow mother who reminded me that I needed to be happy in order to have a happy child and so, I went. Phone calls were made 2 times a day to my mum's place and I would have a short conversation with Ryan. It really helps when he is able to make short sentences and by the 5th day, he could no longer bear missing me and was crying the whole day till the time he saw me at night.

Today, I had to send Ryan again to my mum's place cause nanny is away in Taiwan. I have been mentally preparing for this week of absence (longest separation!) for about a month and still, it has not been any easier. So, Ryan is away this week and I had chided myself to think that I was going to have a swell time by myself ... but at last, that is not true!
I came home just now with no sweat from carrying him, no raised voices to a child who purposely push my buttons, no messy floors from toys left from this morning, no messy floors from his wee wee accidents and certainly no sweet voices calling "Ah-mi ah" .... oh, I so miss him right now!

Looking forward to your return this weekend ...

Oh My God!!

In today's news, there was an article of a little girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered. Check this link http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/9/18/nation/18914532&sec=nation

As a mother, I find this piece of news really traumatizing. Is this the kind of society we have evolved to? I mean, what kind of an animal would be capable of such a thing? I remember reading about cases like these happening to adults many years ago and already then we were horrified. But now, the murderers are moving in to kids! Why? What have they done to deserve this? I am actually crying now, thinking of the pain and fear that the little girl must be feeling when the murderer did this to her. Can you imagine if you are the mother of this child? I would rather die then to be subjected to this pain I know my child suffered.

I guess only when one becomes a parent would you then truly understand the pain when your child is hurt. Before I had Ryan, I was always indifferent to these things, thinking that I do not have a child yet, so the pain is not "felt". Ever since Ryan is born, I fear for almost anything out there. What is some stranger kidnap him? What if he falls on his head and breaks his neck? What if he broke his leg/ hand./ wrist etc? What is someone deceives him and cons him of his money? What if he gets his heart broken by some girl? What if he cannot study and has no aim in life? What if he gets some sickness no medicine can cure? What if he turns out to be a total brat? What if what of what if??? I am so fearful and everyday I live thinking the worse that can happen and yet I tell myself constantly that God will watch over us and keep us safe ... but still ... the fear is there.

However, as I observe day to day, there are still little things that us parents can do to make a difference to our child's life.

1) Always strap the child in when in car. Do not take for granted that the distance is near and the speed is not fast. Nobody knows what can happen!

2) Always make sure your child stays close to you. Never let him run off on his own and disappear from your eye sight, even for a second especially in crowded places. All it takes is for one person to snatch him and he will disappear for good!

3) Never allow your child to go out on his/ her own, even if it is going across the road. You never know when someone is outside lurking waiting for an opportunity to kidnap your child.

4) Never frighten your child with the dangers that he/ she is exposed to, instead explain and reiterate and repeat. i.e. never frighten the child with fire - instead explain why playing with fire is not acceptable and the consequence of his actions. Although they may not understand it fully, at least they are taught the right thing and not unnecessarily frightened. This way of managing kids will ensure that they understand that there is a rationalization process in hand and that there is an outcome to all actions. Although it is tough to do this, I believe the long term benefit is there.

5) Know basic first aid, keep some medicine and bandages at home. Know the nearest hospital, the doctor's numbers etc.

And so, this is my 2 cents worth of safety procedures we can all carry out to make a difference to our children's life.

May they be safe today and everyday, always.

All these nights

I have been one of those blessed mums who have been rather successful in breastfeeding my child.

Regardless of what one may say about the hardships and the cumbersome routine, I still strongly think it is the easiet arrangement one can make for the benefit of the child.

Just before Ryan turned 2, I stopped pumping at work. Mainly because my produce was low (due to lesser stimulation) and also Ryan is depending less and less on milk now.

The funny thing is that once Ryan got the hang of powdered milk, he started to ask for "mummy's milk milk". I was a little worried that he might reject the powdered milk and continue to latch on to me.

However, moving past these last few months, Ryan has been showing more and more signs of weaning - he does not ask for breast milk so often now, he wakes up lesser during the night for comfot suckling ... most of all, he has started to ask for bottled milk milk.

About a week ago, Ryan started to sleep on his own bed. He also started to ask for Milo, which we mix with milk. After his bottled "chocolate" milk, he will sleep on his side. For the first few nights, he will wake up asking for mummy's milk milk ... then one night he woke up rejecting me and asked for Milo!!! Wah, I never knew till now the torment one has to go through to make milk in the middle of the night. It is not an easy task at all ... most times I wake up and not being able to sleep again. Sigh ...

However, last night, a breakthrough happened. Ryan did not wake up at all and continued sleeping till the morning. I was really happy to see that he is so grown up. However, even thought he did not drink his midnite milk, his diaper was still overflowed .... I wonder why.

Now, he is already asleep.
Wonder if tonight he will also sleep right through ....

Ryan goes to school

I have been toying with the idea of sending Ryan to school for some time now.

After much hear-say and reading, I am almost certain that I will send him to this kindy in Jalan Gasing. Granted, the fees are not cheap, but I am happy with th word of mouth recommendations as well as the way the teachers are teaching.

I have also been there once and I am impressed with the level of activity that goes on there. I am also happy with the way they teach the children to read as well as the emphasis to let children be.

Yesterday, I decided to bring Ryan there again to see how he would react. The last time he was there, he was not even 2 years old. Now, I think he should be able to accessed better.

To prepare him for this visit, I have been talking about school for a few nights. All the time I just ask if he wants to go to school. The answer is always positive, with the exception of when he is angry.

During the drive there in the morning, the following conversation took place.
Me: Ryan, tomorrow we go to school ok? We see the teacher.
Ryan: Ryan go to school ah?
Me: Yes, Ryan go to school.
Ryan: Ryan want to go school.
Me: Go school for what?
Ryan: Go school to make friends.
Me: *Doink*

In that visit, I thought that he will probably be too shy and keep sticking to me. But surprisingly, he held on to me for like 5 minutes and then he warmed up to the teachers and then he even joined in the younger class and had a good time with them.

I was busy talking to the principal and so was out of his sight. His daddy also made periodic appearances, but surprisingly, Ryan did not batter an eye lid. He just occasionaly looked up and see if he can spot us. Regardless of whether he sees us or not, he will still carry on with the kids. I was so relieved. When it was time to go, Ryan actually frowned and shook his head. Luckily, we managed to leave without creating a scene.

When I went to pick him from nanny's in the evening, the following conversation took place.
Me: Ryan went to school this morning ah?
Ryan: Yes, Ryan go school.
Me: Do you like the school?
Ryan: Yes ... school got toys wor ... can go play toys.
Me: *Worried*

... so Ryan is saying that he wants to go school to make friends and play toys ... mummy is wondering when he will say "stuyding"

Ryan's arts

These are some of the art pieces which Ryan did last weekend. He is extremely proud of himself and keeps telling his daddy that "ryan make one".

The one on the left is something which they drew on the wall. The red patch beside his name is supposedly his version of "ice-cream" and the 2 darker lines below that is what he calls his "dolphins".

The one on the right was made with the kid's prints ... he enjoyed this very much.

Arts ... one subject which I can never understand.

My weekends

Previously, weekends were considered heaven for me, it's a time where I can do my own things and a chance for me to recover from the week and to sleep as late as I want and doo all the things that I like. Heck! It may also be the days I do nothing!! Ahh ... the good old days.

Ever since I had Ryan, my definition of weekend has changed dramatically.
I can no longer sleep as late as I want to, rather I have to get up early to prepare for the day, the most I sleep as late as Ryan sleeps, no later.

I also no longer have time for myself, now, all my time surrounds Ryan.
The only possible me-time I would have is when he naps in the afternoon. But then I would have been too tired and I also nap!

Last Sunday was particularly tiring. I sent Ryan to Gymboree in the morning for Play Gym and then paid a visit to the bookshop - this is my effort to make him love books, not sure if it is working, but I know he finds some books facinating. Then, after that it was time to go home for his nap and lunch ... but my dear boy decided to sleep on the way back and so I am stuck in the car till he wakes up. This usually happens and I spend most of my weekend naps in the car until he wakes up. Wht not wake him up? Well, simply because I do not want to risk having a sleep deprived child who will throw tantrums the whole day! After napping, he wakes up (with good temper, thank goodness) and we went to have my pre-prepared lunch at home. The we head out again to Gymboree for his Arts class. What?! Arts!?

Well, you see, when we signed him up earlier this year, it was a 3-in-1 package - Play, Arts and Music. Play is good, music is ok, but Arts was really not so exciting for me. Maybe that is because I am totally a flop in this area. But anyway, Ryan enjoyed the class and he made decent stuff, most importantly he was very proud of himself with the things he had created.
Will post his creations later.

But all in all, no matter how tiring the weekends are, it cannot beat the high I get when I see Ryan being happy and growing so well.

Ahh ... the joys of motherhood.

NS trainee dies of fever

This was in the news 2 days ago.

When I read it, I thought, "Hmm...another case". Honestly, I cannot remember the exact number of articles I had read on the negatives of this NS training thing.Really, can you remember one single article that had said something positive about it? I mean something positive from the participants or their families, voluntarily.

I am sitting here thinking about the similar training that our neighbors have and I am almost embarrassed to think how we can fall so far behind them.For sure I cannot remember reading about their trainees getting lost in the jungle, getting slapped by the trainers or dying of fever?? How can this happen? And yet, every time these things happen, the authorities come out to say that they will "investigate" and there will be "transparency" - hullo! what did they expect the public to expect? No investigations and more things swept under the carpet??

But somehow, things are like that ... I bet you, after today, there will be no mentions of this poor boy who had died of fever in the camp. Most most they will say that he died of natural causes which attacked suddenly and there was nothing they can do to prevent it blah blah blah ... trust me.

As of yestreday, there was a short article on this which said that the boy had received proper medical attention and that the allegations where he was not given proper medical care was baseless. Come on man, what did you expect them to say?

I am dreading the day which Ryan reaches the age when he is supposed to be in this program - but wait, as with all things in Bolehland, this program is probably going to be abolished by then ... else, someone please tell me how to get a quickly approved PR from the land down under, quick!

Yes, No and Can according to Ryan

Some major developments for Ryan:

1) As of 2 months ago, every time I ask Ryan a Yes/ No question, I will always try to get him to respond with either a Yes or a No. It the beginning, it was difficult to get a response cause he may not have fully understood the concept of Yes/ No.

However, recently he has been able to communicate clearly what he wants with a strong Yes or No. I am so proud of him although it can get a little annoying when I actually want him to say Yes (like in the case of him brushing his teeth) and he decides to say No!


2) His Yes responses lead to another development which came about last weekend. Last Saturday Ryan was playing on the bed when I called out to him.He looked up and replied "Yes?" Wah, this is the first time that he has answered my call. It used to be just looking up, so it can be a problem when I am not physically around him and he "looks" at my voice. Now that problem is gone!

Truly, the magic of a kid growing up is really amazing.


3) If there is one thing a kid knows, is that there is no such thing as Cannot, really. They will attempt and attempt and attempt till there is really no way, then they will howl for you to help.

In an attempt to help Ryan steer clear of this frustrations, I have always encouraged him to try and when he fails, I just say "never mind, try again".

Sometimes he will try again, other times he will just answer "Cannot!" And everytime I will say "Can, Ryan try again". Now, when Ryan asks for something and we say "Cannot" ... he will tells us "Cannnnn..." I am stumped!

We wah we wah wah too too, wah too too

This morning Ryan was singing "We want we want Gymbo, Gymbo" to the music of We will rock you.I am so pleased.

He has actually be singing this in his own words for some weeks now. It's just that we did not know what it was since it went something like this "We wah we wah wah too too, wah too too".

After some baffling weeks, I managed to interpret it yesterday when he was in Gymboree and this song came when they "called out" for Gymbo.

Whoever says that paying money for these classes is a waste - it is not true when you compare what you pay and what your child gets out of it.

Really, there is really no price for a child's development.

Loving Ryan

Ryan has been developing very well, I must say.
Recently he has demonstrated his softer side (or maybe all kids are like this?!).
Everytime he feels like he is sad, he will say "Mummy hug hug Ryan", or he will say "Mummy sayang Ryan", or "Mummy kiss Ryan".

My mum commented that he needs so much of love and not every child is like that.
I am glad that Ryan is turning to be a loving child rather than one who likes to bash people and be violent.

Of course, sometimes when we pissed him off, he will say "Go away! (In Cantonese)" or he will turn his face away and pretend to be angry! Sometimes he will also sit on the floor and mulled - a sign to show us that he is angry with something. Sometimes he will just be direct and say "Ryan angry!!"

Haha ... I just cannot help but to laugh, even though I know I should be disciplining him : )

Slurp slurp

We went out for dinner just now and Ryan had some of my fish head bee hoon.

I think he really likes it and proceeded to empty the bowl by downing the soup - hands free!!

Thi is what is left after Ryan was done eating.

A-B-C

Ryan has this set of Sesame Street DVDs which I'd bought a while ago.
One of it was on the alphabelts.
Recently, this is Ryan's favourite and he has been asking for it almost everyday.

About a week ago, he was playing when I heard him singing the A-B-C tune.
Thinking that it was a coincidence, I sang it out to him.
He surprised me by being able to say the alphabelts in the correct order!
Granted, his pronounciation may not be entirely accurate, but for sure he can say them out to the tune of the A-B-C song!

I was delighted and his father was grinning ear to ear. Ryan, of course, not aware of what he has accomplished, continued singing and humming the song. He even ended his song with "Tell me what you think of me..."

well, mummy thinks you are an absolute delight and a real boy wonder!!!

Aquaria

Yesterday we went to Aquaria. This is our second attempt to go. The first time, we encountered a queue which was estimated to be 1.5 hours before we got to the ticket counter. Needless to say, we took off.

Yesterday, hubby said to go again. This time it was better as there was practically no queue!!

The first thing that we saw was a tank of fishes which included this sting ray.

Ryan was facinated with it and told his father that it was a "Kite fish!" We were laughing.

We then went along some more tanks and there was one tank where a tortoise was put on the ledge ... presumably for kids to pat. Ryan was patting its back and then he said "Turtle (he does not know the difference yet) bak bak (means bathe) come out already lor" ... meaning that the tortoise came out from the tank after its bath! Look at the tortoise below ... amazing.

Then proceeded to a show case which has this animal in it. I'd forgotten the name of it but it was some rare species. Ryan took one look at it and said "Koala bear!" See if you can make it out from below.

Almost at the end, there is a tunnel which we pass to see the marine life. It was indeed a bedazzling sight. One of it was this where the baby sharks were nursing from the mother. I pointed out to Ryan saying "Baby shark milk milk". He looked at them and then pointed to my chest ... "Ryan milk milk"... I guessed his craving must have been aroused by the sight of the shark nursing.

All in all, it was a great experiance for Ryan. I was really tired when we got back. Ryan and I napped for a while before we got up for some more play and food. What an evenful Sunday!

Lego

These are 2 Lego inventions of Ryan's.
He did this last Saturday and was the first time that he demonstrated his skill in building things out of Lego. This was a set which some friends bought on his first birthday. Before this, he could not build anything and pretty much relied on me and his father. I was a little panic as I am TOTALLY not creative ... luckily his father could help out in this area. Little Ryan proudly declare these as his car and a house. He proceeded to ask me to open the window .... My little darling is growing so well!!

Mummy, Ryan "leng leng" ...

Ryan got hold of a marker pen on Sunday afternoon and proceeded to apply it on his lips ... after many times of watching me put on my lipstick.

He was very happy and said "Mummy, Ryan leng leng (pretty, in Cantonese)" See his green lips?

*Pengsan* Better not let him see too much of what I do ....

Balloons

Ryan is crazy about balls and balloons, really, not joking.
He has a great fascination for them ever since he was a baby.

I have always a never ending supply of balloons in the house and this has been one of the ways which I would cheer him up when he is cranky - pull out the balloons!!!

Recently, he found the place where I stash away the balloons and he has begun to pull them out himself. Today, he managed to push the stool to the cabinet where I had put his balloons and managed to empty the entire pack onto the floor. He even went a step forward and blew one of the balloons ... but he could not actually blow it up, just sufficiently so that the balloon expanded. He was very proud of himself ... and mummy was too.....

Whisper, whisper

This afternoon, Ryan came up to me and whispered in my ear.
I'd never thought that he would do such things at this age - I mean, what would they want to whisper about right?? They are really loud these days.

Turns out, he actually does not have much to whisper about, just that he wants to act out the act and he was actually quite good at it. He went soft when he had to, but I had no idea what he said because I was too caught up with how my hairs were standing all over!

But, I have to admit, he has made my day with yet another milestone achieved.
Way to go Ryan!

Puzzles

I bought Ryan his first set of puzzles when he was about a year old.
I'd read about this in a friend's blog and it seemed to me that this was a great activity for a kid to do in order to train his attention span as well as to enhace his motor skills.

As I was a little desparate that day to buy this, I wasted no time to hunt around KLCC, instead I walked straight into Mothercare and bought the one that I thought would appeal to Ryan.

It was a set of 4 2-pc puzzles which had transportation as the theme. Imagine my satisfaction in getting this that the price was not a barrier to the purchase although my friend had said that she got hers at 25% of the price I'd paid.

Well, needless to say, Ryan was just as excited as I was when he saw the puzzles .... but mummy had over estimated his capability, cause he has not yet developed the "linkages" and had to be told which goes with which and then also helped to put them together. Also, at that time, he was more facinated with the texture and shape of the pieces that he actually chewed on them!

However, 2 days before my birthday, he sat down and was quiet for a while. I looked at him and to my joy, found that he has successfully completed all the sets of puzzles without even asking for help! Hooray!!! He was so pleased with himself that he clapped and clapped and clapped!!



Since then he has attempted

Aeroplane

This is a model of something Ryan has built and happily declared as an aeroplane. He was clapping his hands wildly and insisted that mummy "take a picture".

I still cannot see where the resemblance is.

Any thoughts?

Accidents

Today Ryan had an unfortunate day.
He encountered 4 accidents in a day!

First, he kicked the altar at nanny's house when he attempted to kick the ball and ended giving himself a rather big bruise. Nanny put on a plaster on him.

Secondly, he caught his little finger between the grilles and got himself a small cut. There was plaster here too.

Thirdly, nanny said that he walked himself into the head and got himself a nasty bump on the head.

And fourthly, when I got him back, I motioned him to run to daddy ... he did and he fell flat on the road! I was dismayed, but luckily Ryan is one tough boy and so he got up and brushed himself and continued running to his daddy!

Phew! I am thankful that he is a tough guy, else I would have been in real fix! Bless that little boy!

Plant drink milk milk!!

That was what Ryan said when he decided that the plant needed all the goodness of milk.
He poured half his cup of milk into the plant and proudly declared that the "Plant drink milk milk!!"

Mummy is still smiling thinking about this :)

Mile stones

It has been a while since I last blogged about Ryan, or anything else for that matter.
Here, I will attempt to provide an update of Ryan's developments to date.
However, I may miss out some details, which I will make up when I return.

Ryan is now 27 months and here are some of his mile stones to date:
1) He can count straight from 1 -11, but sometimes he will skip 6 for some strange reason.
2) He is able to wear his own shoes, although not always correct.
3) He is able to build models which he will proudly declare asaeroplanes ... but I cannot see which part resembles what. However, I will still go along since he is so adamant about it.
4) He sings some phrases "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star..." "Row row row your boat ...." "Lalala Lalala .. Elmo song..." His phrases are not always right, but he gets the tune right though, at least I know he is not tune deaf!
5) Able to hold pencils and has started with a colouring book. however, the lines are always ignored and his colour are all over the place. What is more, he will get us to sit with him so that we will also have to hold his tiny pencils and start colouring with him!
6) Is extremely loving towards us, me especially. He has a very manja way of calling me, melting me every time.
7) Is able to identify 21 pictures on his ABC chart.
8) Is a very good talker. Next time I will record his exact sentences and I guarantee, it will make you laugh!

Hmm ... think this it is to date, although I believe I have missed out quite a fair bit.
Never mind, I will blog about it when it comes to my mind.

Buzymum is extremely buzy ... will update blog later. Have a great day!

Of thoughts & wonders

Wednesday was both a happy and sad day for me.

The happy feeling was 0that my new car came.
It was rather unexpected as it was originally planned to be yesterday, so needless to say I was really happy. The sales person went to Seremban to help me register my plate. All was done within the hour, so the car was planned for delivery at around 5pm . Swell.

For the rest of the day, I could not really focus on work cause I was very busy anticipating the arrival of my new gadget.

At about 5pm, the sales person called. My car was downstairs. She was sweet enough to drive it to me. I went down .... and there it is ... my brand new Alabaster Silver Civic, all shiny and new. Cool!

We drove to the car park where my old car was parked. It looked as if to say that it was hurt that I was giving her up. That was my sad moment. I never really thought about how much I will miss her until the moment came where I cleared all my stuff and I had to see her being driven away by strangers. I will miss her truly.

So here I am with my new car .... looking all sexy and cool .... and I have to learn to trust her and built my trust again. And in time, she will form part of my life.

Isn't this how we usually approach life in general. We build interests over time, people and things, then one day you feel like you have out grown them, you have a change in needs and you want so much more. You decide to take that step, nurture new things, interests ... and you take a bold step. You discover so much more, just like me discovering my new car. In time your new interests will be part of your life.

And you will be struck with the same thought as I see my old car being driven away .... Did I really need that change in the first place? What would have happened if I had stuck with the original plans?

1-2-3

3 days ago, Ryan had another milestone achieved.
He was able to count 1-2-3 till 10, all in order!

He was extremely pleased with himself, although I am sure he does not know what he is counting, nor does he know what counting is. But the amazing thing is that at my bro's place the other day, he started to count the fake fishes in the tank and he stopped at 4 - exactly the number of fishes in the tank! So maybe he does know what he is counting after all!

Kiasu mum has started to teach him 11 and 12 and also started with the A-B-Cs ... then I read the article in the newspaper which said kids nowadays are more suicidal because of pressure from the parents ... aiyks!!

33

For most people, 33 is just another number they see everyday.
For me, this number brings a whole new meaning - this is my age in less than a week's time.

How do I feel?
Well, as weird as it may sound, I actually feel very happy.
I am not one to hide my age and declare I am 5 years younger, on the contrary, I have always embraced my age as it comes and this year, I will be 33 years old.

I am not sure if I can say that I am wiser, but I am definitely living every bit of my age. I hope this year will bring me better health and happiness to the family and friends. Of course, some additional wealth would not hurt as well.

And ever since I have Ryan, I have also begun to reflect on my mother whenever my birthday comes - thank you mum for bringing me to this world and for building all my initial years to what I am today.

Here's to a brand new year for me!

Taxes Taxes Taxes

April 30th is fast approaching.
To me, April 30th means only one thing ... the fact that taxes have to be paid by this day, else you will get a big fat fine.
And I think it is no secret that people hate paying taxes, me, no different.

It is not like I disagree with the concept of paying taxes, I think that it is fair we get taxed some % and the government uses the money wisely so that we can all enjoy the facilities and development as a nation. But to be taxed 27%? Hmm ... maybe it is a little too much considering the silly things we have to put up with.

For example ... the IRB. They are really an inefficient bunch. 2 days ago when I went to submit my forms to the Pandan Indah branch ...first of all, upon reaching the lobby of the building, I was looking for a place to drop my forms and get an acknowledgment receipt. There were some boxes there, manned by several people, but you cannot get an acknowledgment stamp if you dropped it there ... you have to go upstairs to get it stamped. Hmm ... one would have thought that the stamp would have been a mighty big stamp full of complex mechanisms and obviously expensive cause people are not willing to bring it downstairs .... but no, it was just a small normal stamps that we usually use. So why can't the people manning the boxes downstairs have this???

Secondly, when we were told to go up the building, you would have thought that being the department who collects so much of money, the lift services would at least have been decent. But, are you in for a surprise! There were only 3 lifts on the lobby, servicing the 20+ floors ... and each lift can only hold 17 people!!!! and it was damn slow. Can you imagine waiting for the lift for a good 10 minutes? And every time the lift came, people will be rushing to it, crowding the entrance until the people inside cannot come out. Even the pregnant lady was not given a chance, she also had to squeeze for her chance to go into the lift!!

That was going up the building ... when I was going down, I witnessed something really hilarious ... that it was almost embarrassing. The lifts took a lifetime to come as usual. Then, when it came, people rushed into the lift. Then the lift beeped ... overloaded .... and cannot close the doors. What do you think people would do? Step out right? But because lifts were difficult to come by, NOBODY got out! So, everyone was in the lift and the doors kept opening and closing and then the BRILLIANT security guard came. He attempted to close the door by forcing the doors to close! Can you imagine this? We usually force the doors to open, which was still within logic and capability, but to force it to close?? Hello! Where is the common sense man? Then finally, someone sensible decided to get out ... lo and behold, the doors closed.

While I was in IRB, I was approached by an officer there who gave me a waiting ticket. He seemed overly eager to hand out tickets cause he did not seemed to hear what I wanted. You see, for the first time in 9 years, I overpaid taxes, so I wanted a refund and I asked if there was a counter I can go to to fill forms, whatever. Then he said "Aiya, kenapa tak cakap?" Grrr ... I did you stupid punk, you just did not listen!!

And so, I went to the counter and told the girl of my wanting to get a refund order in place...then she stared at me "Kita di sini cuma terima form sahaja, cik perlu pergi ke cawangan cik untuk buat tuntutan refund" .... arghh!!! stupid stupid, how can you have so many counters doing only one thing? And I remembered last year, I paid my additional taxes here at the counter, so why can't I do that this year? So the lady said "Tak ada, sini cuma untuk terima form sahaja" ... stupid stupid.

Then I said, can I fax in the form instead? She said "Boleh cubalah". So I asked for the fax number to Wangsa Maju's branch .... "Hmm....nanti duluah say tanya pegawai" Hello? Don't they have a list of phone numbers that all of them silly people can go check with? Well, apparently no. Then another lady came to me and said "Apa hal?" So I explained and then she went away and then another lady came and asked "Apa hal?" Can you imagine I repeated myself 3 times just to get a bloody fax number?? Aiyo, then finally got it. But they say "Tak tau ada orang nampak fax you, lebih baik pergi sana sendiri" ... *Pengsan*

Nett nett, I am not sure why the government makes it so unfriendly to us tax payers when we want to pay taxes. I was actually thinking of going there to register for e-filing, but guess what? I have to go 6 floors higher to do that. Then I imagined the lifts condition ... hmm maybe not.
Why can't the government pick somewhere sensible for the tax offices to be located and have all the relevant facilities put up front so that people do not need to go and queue for lifts, numbers, counters with singular functions, then to be told that they have to go back to their relevant branches to put in a request to pay additional taxes/ to ask for a refund of excess payments etc.

Relevant parties should recognize that we are doing our civic duties to pay those exorbitant taxes and it is their responsibilities to minimize our pain in doing so. At least make the experience pleasant ler so we don't feel the pinch so much.

Buck up "Malaysia Boleh"!!

Happy happy

Today I am very happy for several reasons.

For one, I managed to finally buy my car!! Yeah!!
Signed the papers yesterday when the sales woman came by the office.
Paid the booking fee and was told that I will get the car end next month. Yahoo!!!
Fingers crossed on whether that will actually happened or not. Otherwise, it will be early June.
Either way, I have ended this search and the debate with hubby is finally over. We are both happy.
Now, having to start paying car installments all over again is a little upsetting though, but still I have a new car!!!

Oh, I bought the 2l Civic in silver. Apparently it is a over powered car, so I will really like the rush driving it.

Secondly, my new phone came today to the office. Yipee!!!
Maxis has been having this promotion with my company and we have 2 packages that we can take.
I took the 125 package, which means I commit to pay RM125 + 5% tax every month. If I use more than RM125, then I will have to pay more. Although it sounds a lot, it really is not. My current bill is about RM70 talk time and RM35 access fee. So the total is about RM105. Now, with RM20 extra, I actually do talk RM125 worth instead of the previous RM70 as I now do not have to pay the access fees. On top of that, I get to buy specific Nokia phones at a cheaper rate. So I got myself a N73. It is not really a sexy phone, but am happy with it nevertheless. Still figuring it out now, but I think my phone is really due for replacement already having using it for so long.

Thirdly, if you have read my previous entries, you will know that I have been complaining that I do not have a car park and how that bothers me.
Well, today I managed to secure a parking space in a nearby hotel for a cost of RM105 only!!! That works out to be approximately RM5 a day versus RM7 I am paying now. Plus, this space is covered, so my new car will be happy to be away from the sun. You have no idea how difficult it is to get these spaces, and I cannot believe my luck when I accidentally stumbled upon it through a colleague. I will start using it tomorrow.

Fourthly, my bro was in Singapore today and I asked that he gets me one of those Ipods ... and he got it for me!!! Ok, I still have to pay la, but still, I have one!!! Lately, I have been smitten by the gadgets bug, so I am really excited about all these gadgets I have. Will be going to his office tomorrow morning to get it. Really happy ... now if only I can convince him to pay for me, that would have been awesome!!

Lastly, one of my counters performed well in the stock exchange, making me smile really widely at 5pm when the market closed.
Looking forward to tomorrow when the market opens again. Hope the support is still intact then.

So happy now, I cannot sleep wor. Silly me.

My car

I really hate it when I do not have my car. Really really hate it.

Last week my car was under major repairs (according to my standards) and as a result, I did not have my car for the entire week! I was really annoyed as I spent a lot of time on the public transport and much more time waiting for the bloody things to come!

I also had to arrange to have some of my friends send me home. By the time I got home, it was close to 10pm and after bathing, it was time to put Ryan down to sleep. I hardly had anytime to unwind!!!

Luckily on Friday last week, I got my car back. Not 100% "cured" but sufficiently so.

Which brings me to thinking that I am really going to get a new car now. We have spent hours debating on this subject and we finally decided that we will change.

The question is - Is that car we decided THE car and WHAT A LOAD OF MONEY GOING OUT MAN!!!

So, if all goes well, I will sign the papers within the week. Keep you updated on it then.

The Potty

Ok, I must admit, I am one of those mums who is just contented to have her kids running around in diapers/ nappies until one fine day, the kids themselves will say "I don't want it!!!"

Therefore, I have never been the one who is anal about having Ryan wee wee in the potty nor the one who will make a big fuss when he poops in his diapers. I have had many mothers who came up to me and gave me "friendly" advice on how to toilet train Ryan. Info from books and magazines are also aplenty. But I never really cared much about it.

Recently, about 2 weeks back, Ryan has been coming home from nanny's with a bare back ... i.e. no diapers. I was a little worried that he will start peeing in my car, but that only happened like once. So in the past 2 weeks, Ryan has managed to hold his wee wee well and he has been able to reach the potty in good time ... most of the time.

Over the weekend, I tried having him in the house without his nappies, it was really good. Not only can he hold his wee wee, he is also able to reach the potty in time AND pull down his pants and hold the potty himself to wee wee. I am so proud of his achievement. He is even able to hold his shirt under his chin while he is at it.

I am looking forward to the day when he does not require nappies when he sleeps at night.
Hmmm .... wonder if the nanny will help in that area as well.

Kudos to the nanny.