Ryan's drawings today

I am one of those people who does not know how to draw, who cannot draw actually. I am just horrible in art. My parents had sent me to art classes thinking that perhaps I can draw something, anything, but they were badly disappointed.

When Ryan came along, I had read somewhere that it is important to nurture a child's creativity by encouraging them to try and paint, draw, scribble etc. with crayons, pencils, pens, paint etc. I tried not to faint each time I see any of the paints or crayons venture beyond the paper because it would mean I have to clean them up.

But luckily Ryan understood from young that painting. drawing. writing all must be done on the paper and anything beyond that, he has to help me clean it. Of course, sometimes, it gets out of hand and you will hear me scream.

Recently Ryan has taken his drawings one step further, he is able to draw complete circles. And he even gives them some colours. Usually he will do his creations on the floor instead of the table and I do not know why that is. Just now, Ryan was again on the floor with papers and his drawing tools and this is what he came up with.

This is his version of a bubble with many mouths ....

This is his version of Mickey Mouse, complete with ears and hands and legs.

And this is supposedly a smiley face with rainbow colours on his head.

Now, for someone like me who cannot draw, these are just good for a 4 year old. Don't you think so? Or is it because I am the proud mother?

Megan and Ryan

I think kids instinctively know who their siblings are. How else can I explain why Megan can tolerate Ryan's rough ways in handling her?

First, it was just sticking his finger into her mouth which she would suck on happily. I almost fainted when I first saw it. All my shouting and scolding did not make Ryan do this less and Megan did not seem to mind, so I left it.

And then there is the wriggling of the nose. Ryan wriggles her nose so much and so hard, I am afraid it will fall off one day. Again, despite us thinking it must be annoying, Megan actually loves it and does not mind all the rough ways.

Finally, there is the poke and run stunts that Ryan does on her. Every time he passes her on the chair, sarung or even the bed, he will poke her or rub her hair or wipe her face roughly. And not once did she scream or cry out loud. The most she will do is to make little sound to express her discomfort.

Really, I think they both know that they are somehow connected and hopefully, they continue to love and adore each other.

What goes around comes around

For a while now, I have been giving Ryan choices, either A or B, either C or D. This was supposedly to help him understand consequences and also for him to be more co-operative when asked to do certain things.

But I am also guilty of using this tactic to give him ultimatums. Things like either you put it into the toy box or I am going to put it into the dustbin. Needless to say, sometimes it gets onto Ryan's nerves and he will scream at me!

Today, while in my brother's car, Ryan was as usual talking so much that I said that I will throw him out of the car if he does not stop talking (I know, I should not do that, but it was really too much!) and so, this is what he said to me ....

Mummy: Stop talking la, else I will throw you out of the car.
Ryan: If you throw me out of the car, I am not your son, you choose.
Mummy: *gasps*
Ryan: Go on, you choose. If you throw me out, I am not your son, you choose.
Mummy: *gasps* even more .... while my mum was laughing in the background.

Sigh, what goes around comes around I guess. It was really funny for us to hear Ryan talk like this, but of course it should not be encouraged, which then led me to think about my approach .... motherhood is not easy at all!!

How I maintain my peace ....

There are a couple of people who are key to me in maintaining my peace throughout the day - the nanny and the helper.

I need the nanny to ensure that my kids are well cared for and are clean. I also need to know that they are safe. Of course there are times when she also annoys me, but largely, she has been invaluable to me.

And then there is the helper who is so so key in helping me keep my house a home. All the cleaning and tidying that takes place everyday, not to mention the ironing. I really hate that! But she does it so well and I am always more relaxed when I come home to a clean house.

But today, my world went into a spinning motion. First, the helper called me at 7am and said today she can't come - she is sick. And I managed to work up a whole sinkful of dishes already,damn. Luckily,hubby helped in this respect. Then I discovered Ryan does not have a pair of ironed pants for school, poor boy had to wear wrinkled pants.

And then at 6pm, while pumping milk, nanny called and said that she was sick too!! And so, I had to dash home to cook and bathe before going to fetch my kids. But then, I worry that nanny might be sick tomorrow too, so I took her to the doctor's so that she will be able to be up and running.

Sigh, all these things have made me really really tired. I am just hoping that they both will be ok tomorrow so that my world has some form of familiarity and stability again. And they say only babies need familiarity and stability ..... guess we all need it to feel safe and secure so that we can function properly.

How much are you willing to spend on a handbag?

I went handbag shopping just now after work. I have not been shopping for one for a while now. But my current one is already giving way and I thought, why not.

I must admit that I am one of those who is very rough with bags. And so, I cannot afford to buy expensive ones only to be scratched by me later, very heartache. I usually go through 2-4 bags in a year, depending on how tough they are.

Lately, I have begun to explore with raw leather. And I like the fact that it is not smooth and therefore minimizing the chances of scratching it. I only use the shiny ones for work. And because my raw one is still in good condition, I went looking for a shiny one and found one : ) in under 30 minutes. Yay!

I don't have a camera with me, but it is a medium sized one, white with short straps. It also has gold buckles and zips, making it look good and easy to match with my clothes. But I know I will scratch the buckles in no time and for sure white is easily stained.

Sigh, I will see how long I can upkeep it ... in these trying times, every cent count and making a bag last longer will help me with that goal ; )

And btw, how much are you willing to spend on a handbag? I have never gone beyond RM300, that also only once. I know, some friends call me "kiam siap" (translated as frugal?)

Ryan and his stickers

I have always been fascinated with stickers, even now. And so, no wonder I started Ryan with stickers from a young age.

Recently, he has gotten his hands on some Teletubbies stickers and proceeded to reward everyone in the family with it, but I specifically told him NOT to go near Megan. Needless to say, all forbidden things are better.

A turn, and I saw Megan's hand having a little Teletubby on it. When I asked Ryan about it, this is what he has to say "I give Megan a sticker because she is a good girl!" Now, how can I scold him then when it was given out of love and encouragement??

Megan and 6-in-1 jab

On Monday, we went to get Megan her first jab, besides the ones she got from the hospital. We weighed her and she is a thriving 6.4kg baby and the doctor was impressed. Ah ... the wonders of a mother's milk.

When our turn came, I was a little worried about how Megan would react to her little bum being injected. The doctor asked me to breastfeed Megan so that the pain of the needle would be minimal. And so I did.

When the shot came, Megan paused for a while and she looked up at me. I was afraid this was the pause before the loud screams .... turns out, it was just a pause ... and then she went back to her feeding. No noise made, no cries and certainly no screams!! Wow! Talk about a tough little baby! And the next day, no fever came too. Boy, was I relieved. Sweet little Megan, she sure is tougher than she looks!

Sick, sick, sick

Sigh, I have been sick since the last 2 days - stomach upsets, fever, bone aches etc. The doctor said it is probably something I picked up from the air and not something I ate since I was having home cooked food all weekend.

This morning, my situation got worst and I had the worst of stomach aches. I was bending over the toilet bowl, ready to vomit and Ryan came running up and started to pat me on my back. He has his worried look on his face. Before that, he sat on the bed and looked at me, telling me to "Breathe mummy, breathe." He was huffing and puffing, seeing that I had the look of a terrible pain. He was being ever so sweet.

After sending the kids to nanny's, hubby sent me to the doctor's. It was confirmed that I had food poisoning, not actually by eating the food, but likely I inhaled something with a bug in it. I was thinking that it was good that only I had it and the kids are spared.

Then in the evening, nanny called and said that Ryan has fever and was vomiting. I was very troubled by that. I hate it when Ryan gets sick. It makes me very nervous, not knowing what to expect and all.

All the way to the clinic, Ryan was telling me that his stomach was aching and that he wanted water - he was dehydrated after all the vomiting I guess. Upon reaching the clinic, he started to vomit again. But despite all this, he still insisted that he walks instead of me carrying him.

The doctor gave him 4 different types of medication and he took them without a fuss. He started acting normal after that but his face was reddish and his lips looked like he had stole my lipstick! I gave him a pail in case he vomits again. He even downed a plate of porridge.

All was fine till about 10pm, when he vomited again. Sigh, I would be willing to undergo his suffering as long as he gets better. But again, he was brave and he even asked to go to sleep without a fuss. I think the poor boy was tired with all the vomiting and medication.

We decided to let Megan stay over at nanny's so that we can concentrate on Ryan and his well being. I miss her terribly but then this is better than the risk taken with her here. And I hope Ryan gets back on his feet tomorrow. And no more pasar malams for us in the near future!!

Online photo printing services

You will not believe the number of photos I have of Ryan, both printed and those not printed. I have to dedicate a hard drive just to store his photos, and now I have Megan ... the number of photos will just double!

But I am one of those lazy mums who dread to think about what I need to do just to have these photos printed. Typically, I would need to figure out which to print, how many copies of each photo to print, saving it to a thumb drive and then shop around for the best deals. On average, I have about 200 pcs to print and saving a few cents on each copy will save me quite a bit when all is added up. After that, I'd have to drop off the order and then come back to collect my prints.

Now, isn't that a load of work?? Then, I learned about an online photo printing website called eoe Online. They are an online photo portal which offers good rates for 4R and 5R prints. Their 4R is going for RM0.30 and 5R going for RM0.50 per piece. Now, isn't that a good deal? Not only that, for orders above RM35, your photos will be delivered for free!! Yay!!! All my barriers to print photos of my babies are solved!!

Besides this online printing, they also provide reviews and comparisons of cameras as well as video cameras and even MP3 and MP4 players. There are also activities like photo competition, photo gallery and photo dedication which can all be done on this website.

At the moment, this website is running an offer for bloggers. All you need to do is to review eoe Online and get 50x4R and 2x8R photo prints for Free! You can read more about it here. And I am so happy something like this is here in Malaysia. Apparently it is already quite popular in the Us and the UK.

I am getting my photos right now, why don't you do the same too?

Dino bathing

Last Sunday night, we went to a pasar malam near my parents' house.

It was already drizzling, but we still went ahead with umbrellas and slippers. While we were half way donw, it started to rain. We each had an umbrella, including Ryan. He looked so adorable with the over sized orange umbrella and his dinosaur slippers.

On the way back to my parents', I said that his dinosaurs are wet. He replied saying "No mum, they are not wet. They are dirty, I am bathing them." I was a little taken aback with his statement and then laughed out loud, thinking about his remarks.

This boy sure knows how to make my day!!

Strong Ryan

Yesterday we came back to my parents' house. It was late and the kids were in the car - one sleeping and the other one non-stop talking.

Upon reaching the house, Ryan got off the car and ran into the house. We were fussing around a bit with Megan and we suddenly realised Ryan was not around anymore. Mum went into the house and saw that he was on the exercise machine.

Mum was a little shocked because she had put a sack of 5kg rice on top of the machine and now it has disappeared. Ryan then told my mum that he had carried it to the stove top. 5kg of rice and he had carried it across the kitchen!!! Wow, isn't he a strong boy??

Now I must be careful, he might decide that he is strong enough to lift his sister one day!

Spot my 2 darlings

Which do you think is Ryan and which do you think is Megan??

Don't they look alike??

Happy Megan

I am holding Megan in my arms after her nursing session and suddenly, she laughed out loud!

Old folks say that she won a squabble in her dreams. She is sleeping soundly now ...

First day back at work

Going back to work today was easier than expected for me. I had thought I would have been dead tired and lethargic and constantly dozing off, but none of that happened.

But to be fair, I was not doing much since my laptop got logged out of the system due to my long absence. Most of the day was spent catching up with colleagues and boss as well as pumping my milk for Megan.

Before I know it, it was evening. I only managed to log in at about 6pm and the system was downloading my many mails. It was quite horrifying to see all those mails coming in, with warnings of mailbox exceeding its limits!

I left early for dinner with my ex-boss and ex-colleagus before heading home to see my kids. It was such a beautiful sight to be greeted by a happy pre-schooler and a sleeping baby. All is good and calm. I look forward to more beautiful days like these.

Me going back to work

After about 3 months away from work, I am finally going back tomorrow.

How do I feel? Mostly mixed feelings. On one hand, I am looking forward to going back to work - mostly for the adult conversations as well as having friends around. However, on the other hand, I am starting to miss both my babies.

Even though Ryan is older, I will miss his mischief as well as his sharp toungue although these are things that drive me nuts. I will definitely miss Megan's cheeky smile when I feed her as well as when I change her. And who can forget the nappies changing routine coupled with the feedings and bathing and screaming!!

However, after all said and done, work remains something I want to pursue and reality dictates that this is a neccesity. I know I will miss my babies tomorrow, so today I will give them extra kisses and hugs ; ) so long maternity leave ....

Happy 4th Birthday Ryan

Happy Birthday to my darling Ryan.

Mummy, daddy and Megan love you to bits.

Ryan's 4th birthday in school

About this time 4 years ago, I was ready to kill anyone who came near me or anyone who dare say "Relax, take it easy". Really. It was at about this time that I was in so much pain that I cannot find my voice to scream nor could I cry.

4 years on and my little boy is not little anymore. He is a pre-schooler who is just as lovable, but occasionally gets on my nerves. He is so active now, it takes all of my energy to keep up with him. And today, we celebrated his birthday one day earlier in school. Last year, we did it on the actual day but this year, they are going to the zoo tomorrow as part of their excursion program.

It was a simple affair with cupcakes being the main attraction. Last year, it was just a chocolate cupcake and the kids licked the chocolate off and dumped the cake. So, this year, I figured, we have to make the cakes more attractive and so, the cupcakes below came about. (I think it is a little small) but on each cupcake, there is a cartoon of Mickey and his gang or of Winnie and her gang.

The kids were so excited that they each chose a character and ate it whole heartedly. I had anticipated that they would not be able to down more than one but then some had 2 helpings and were asking for more!!

After all the mess and the song session, we ended the brief affair with party packs. I was mindful not to give sweets and chocolates and so the party packs look like below.

It was good to see that Ryan enjoyed his birthday with his friends. He had earlier asked me for a party at home with his friends, but I said no - because I did not need the mess nor do I want to set expectations. He was a little sad about it, but he seemed to be happy with today's little party.

Tomorrow he will be going to the zoo (I smile thinking about the birthday song associated with the zoo ; )) and then I will bring him home with me. I plan to spend the whole day spoiling him ; ) Looking forward to more years to come!

Drawing a pig

I got this from a friend some time ago and have used it in interviews, just for fun.

At the end of the interview, I sometimes get candidates to draw a pig. They usually give me a look which says "Huh? You crazy bitch!"

Anyway, when they are done, the following helps to interpret the person.
Pig facing front
- Direct, enjoy playing devil's advocate and neither fear nor avoid discussions.

Pig drawn on top of the frame
- Positive and optimistic

Pig drawn with many details
- Analytical, cautious and distrustful

Pig drawn with 4 legs showing
- Secure, stubborn and stick to your ideas

The size of the ears indicate how good a listener you are

Length of the pigs tail indicates the quality of your sex life

So next time, if you are so bored with the interview process, spring this on the candidate! I am sure it will be at least fun for you, even if the candidate was a bore.

A week to go

I am due to start work in a week's time. Frankly, I am not sure if I want to go back.

At first, I thought I was dying to go back to work. I had enough of changing diapers and cleaning pooh and dealing with a pre-schooler's tantrums. However, having adjusted to all the screams, cries and laughter, I am thinking that staying at home is not so bad after all.

But then reality strikes and the numbers in the bank accounts tell me that staying at home is not the option now. So, one more week to go before I go back to reality and hopefully, I will adjust well to having adult conversations instead of babbles and cries.

One more week now ...

Megan's outing to the park

Today marks another milestone in Megan's baby life - she went to the park!! Yup, barely 2 months and she has gone to smell the fresh air and hear the birds chirping. Of course, she also had her meal under the trees with the light breeze. It was great.

We woke up and decided that we should be going to the park to burn some of the excess energy the kids have. It was almost 10am when we left and when we got there, the sun was already burning. But this did not stop us. Ryan got on his bike and we strapped Megan to the stroller and off we go.

Ryan had a little accident when his daddy accidentally pushed him a little too hard and he fell off his bike. To help him overcome the shock, his daddy brought him to the stream and that was enough to stop the cries.

I pushed Megan around the park and I can see that she was taking in all the sights and sounds well. The light breeze provided some comfort against the hot sun. We forgot to bring the shed, thankfully, Megan did not kick up a fuss.

Megan only started to fuss at the end of the walk and I was rummaging in Ryan's Bob the builder bag when I discovered that hubby had brought Ryan's diapers but not Megan's!!! Earlier I had asked him to bring 2 pieces of diapers. I assumed that he knew it was for Megan since Ryan was not wearing them when he was dressed. Imagine my face when he said "Oh, I thought you asked me to bring Ryan's diapers, you did not say it was for Megan." I was too tickled to be mad at him, so we just head home.

It was a whole new experience for me bringing the kids out to the park. Hubby was great as a support despite the diaper blunder. I must remember to be specific next time.

Today's workout

I had been itching to go to the gym since Friday but did not manage to. Last night I had this grand idea that I will be hitting the gym early in the morning before the kids get up - no such luck as I was up late last night watching a DVD with hubby.

So, when I finally managed to put Ryan to nap and Megan well fed, I left hubby with the kids and I went to get my 600 calories workout. I did the Wave and clocked 500 cals in 31 mins. Still behind my target. But the good thing this time is that I do not feel the after effects as much. Guess my body is finally getting it.

I also managed to squeeze in some chest pumps before I left to be home in time for Ryan to wake up. I hate it when he wakes up and find that I am missing, makes him teary each time.

It is indeed rare that I get to hit the gym on a Sunday, it is even rarer to have my kids and hubby all behaving well when I got home after my workout! Hmm ... I may even think to have this routine every Sunday!