Megan's first holiday away from home

September 19th, 2009 is the day my little princess went on her first holiday. We went to Bukit Tinggi for the night. The whole family went including my parents and brother. I was a little stressed since I was not sure how she will react to the trip ... specifically if she will be able to sleep just as well.

Here she is seen sleeping just before we left for Bukit Tinggi. Doesn't she look absolutely adorable? Thankfully, both the kids behaved well throughout the trip. The drive was good except that I felt a little dizzy going up those bends.

Cheeky Ryan seen here when we went to walk at the French street. There was a fair going on and there was a booth where you can use a long fishing rod to fish some ducks out. The numbers on the ducks tells you the size of the prizes.

Ryan's first attempt gave him a "2". It was a medium sized tiger. However, he was not happy since he had wanted a dolphin. He stood around the booth and pouted till the man manning the booth said "Aiya, here you go la." and handed him the dolphin he had wanted. Ryan was delirious!

Megan, the dolphin and Ryan seen here on the mattress the next morning after a blissful night. Ryan was kind enough to let Megan touch and feel the dolphin after holding on to it the whole night. Ryan brought his new set of colour pencils and pens to draw and colour.


The fishes at the Japanese Garden is really big. I was half afraid that Ryan will fall into the water and would be gobbled by the fishes!

Hubby went to pluck some leaves for my boy to feed the deers. Good that he was not afraid of them. However, the deers did not look very well kept. Pity.

Ryan feeding a little bunny here. All the bunnies looked like they could do with a bigger place. However, Ryan enjoyed himself tremendously.

And where was Megan? Asleep in her daddy's arms most of the time. Poor daddy had to suffer from backache from all the weight!

All in all, it was a good trip. For sure we shall repeat this some day. We were thinking of getting the kids to an island trip soon. Any ideas which island would be good?

Megan stands!

Monday was a public holiday and I was at home with the kids. While I was busy with some chores, I had put Megan in her crib. And when I put her down, she was sitting nicely.

And then suddenly, she was standing!! Yay!! She was so happy with herself that she too started clapping and then thud! She had landed on the mattress!

Up again she tried and so, she repeated her feat till she was all tired. I am sure she was just as proud of herself as I am with her.

My dear little Megan, all standing proud now : )

13 years together

13 years ago, on 17th September 1996, hubby and I got together as a couple and embrace life's journey. What a time it had been!

Many laughter, many tears and for most part of it, it was pretty cool.

We have our ups and downs and we also have a lot of silent moments in between. However, I think it is safe to say that it has been very eventful - we got 2 kids didn't we?!

As opposed to when we first started to go out and all, the celebration we had today was a simple dinner (without the kids) and then we headed home for the kids. Before, we used to take long walks and midnight conversations. Now, the hubby is asleep with the kids. How things have changed. Although I sometimes miss the way we used to celebrate, I am not complaining about the current state.

Hubby said this to me just now over dinner when I proposed we go somewhere after makan "Nothing is now more important than going home to the kids" ... wow, what a change from "Let's go somewhere nice for dinner and then we can catch a movie and then supper and then we can go for coffee/ tea and talk".

Nice change though huh?

Spoiling my kids with toys

When Ryan was a baby, I remember I used to go into a toy shop every week, sometimes everyday to look at toys. I was in the mode where I thought every second my kid was without toys, it meant that he was not going to be stimulated enough and that he was going to have brain damage etc.

Being in that mode meant that I was constantly buying toys and I would not settle for anything less than Fisher-Price. My hubby thought I had bought shares in them!

Today, I found myself at the toy section again, and I found myself once more fascinated with the toys they had on the shelves. After 30 minutes or so, I ended up with 2 toys for my kids.

This is the Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Cookie Shape Surprise toys which teaches kids about shapes and rewarding them with music when the right shape goes in. Although I bought it for Megan, it was more for Ryan to help teach her. I figured, that would be great to help them help each other. Too ideal? This is the Playskool Busy Chase n Crawl Duckies. Megan is creeping now and I figured this would be great for her to chase around. I love the way the duckies keep rotating each time it rolls.

And I am feeling a little addictive to my kids' expression when I gave them the toys. I think I might just go back to the toys section again soon. ; )

090909 - My baby turns 8 months old

My sweet Megan today turns 8 months old. Seen here, she is about a week short of that and already she has the strong character which I hope one day will help her go through the different phases in life.

Usually, she will be seen with a big smile on her face and it will usually melt your heart.

And recently, she has added 2 more teeth to her collection - look at the size of those teeth! Ouch!

A look at her development to date:

1) Apparently she is showing signs of independence.
~ Hmm, yes, she is able to play by herself for a while. She is also able to lie on the bed a while in the morning after she wakes up and I am not around. But I do not think she is able to self-soothe herself though. If at all, she gets even more worked up each time she does not get her way.

2) Apparently, she will develop some attachment to inanimate objects e.g. pillow, blanket, soft toy but to date, it is still not showing yet.

3) Able to/ develop the curiosity to self-feed.
~ For sure she does this, weeks ago! She is able to cupped her hand to take the cup in her hands, able to hold the spoon and stick it into her mouth. I bought her some organic finger food. She has learnt to bite off it now.

4) Separation anxiety is taking place now. Last week, at my mum 's house, I could barely put her down as the wails will bring the wall come tumbling down! All she wanted was to be in my arms. And then when she saw Auntie Wati, she started to sob too! But so far, she did not cry when I leave her with the nanny.

5) Megan is also able to hold 2 objects, one in each hand. And I have started to teach her to bang against each other so that she will understand consequences of her action.

6) If you take something from her while she is playing with it - expects wails of protest!

7) She understands that if she does something and we give her positive (or negative) reaction, she will expect similar reaction when she repeats them again.

8) And she has started creeping!! But she is a little on the havoc side. Unlike Ryan, Megan will literally creep off the bed edge!! Really have to be careful with this one.

9) Megan has a super straight back when she sits. Again, unlike Ryan who keeps falling backwards, Megan is able to sit properly for a longer period of time. If at all she falls, it is likely to be forward rather than backwards.

10) These last couple of days, Megan started to attempt to stand while supporting herself.

There, 8 whole months, looking forward to her next month.

Our weekend outing

Ever since the flu bug came along, our visits to the malls have been decreasing by the weeks.

And so, in order to expand my kids' energy, I have decided to bring them out to the park as well as to the hill near our house.

I must say that it is way better than being stuck in the malls with so many other people, not to mention the damaging effects on my wallet.

Ryan seen here in front of a pile of sand. We were kicking balls when this caught his eye and he decided this was way better to play with then the very colourful ball. I decided to turn a blind eye on the potential manifestation of bacteria there.

Megan seen here in her stroller. I think she is a little agitated seeing her brother having so much fun. I suspect she will learn to walk faster than her brother!

Last weekend, we also went to the park to cycle and run a bit. Helps me burn some calories too.

Looking forward to this week's outing.

My online store@ www.busybeemum.com

Yay!! On 1st September 2009, I opened my online store at http://www.busybeemum.com!

I have been considering my own shop/ store for the longest time and I always have constraints in my ventures. Be it time or capital and it has always held me back. However, with the power of the web, I figured this seems to be quite a logical route to take and try out.

Further more, I am very motivated by Penny and her online store. Since my kids are my life now, I figured something to do with them would blend in very well. And so, I decided on offering kids' clothes, from newborn to about 5 years old.

Since the thought got stuck to my head, I have been spending quite a bit of time sourcing on products as well as deciding the terms and the layout of the website. Thinking of the brands to carry and who my target is has also taken some time.

While I would not say that I have nailed it down to a T, I have gotten some basics in place. And so, my Busy Bee Mum Online Store was launched. I am still figuring out things on the way and I am still trying to source for products, so frequent visits to the site will bring you pleasant surprise!

Come visit then!

Talking about death with my 4 year old

Sometime last week, we were having our nightly prayer session with Ryan when he was about to sleep. I was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that he has grown up so much over the last 4 years. so I said to him "Mummy thinks you are growing up too fast, I miss you so much already"

Ryan then looked at me and the following took place:

Ryan: Why mummy? Why did you say you miss me? Are you going to die?
Me: No, no, I just think that you are growing really well and that I miss you very much.
Ryan: But why do you say you miss me? Are you going to die tomorrow?
Me: No, not so soon. It will be quite a while more to go.
Ryan: But you will still die?
Me: Yes dear, one day, I will die eventually.
Ryan: But why must die?
Me: Well, that is God's design.
Ryan: Why does God want you to die?
Me: Well, everyone has to go one day.
Ryan: But I don't want that. Will I see you again?
Me: Yes dear, we will see each other in another life.
Ryan: But that is such a long time!
Me: I know dear, but it is ok.

And so the conversation went on for about 2-3 minutes. As the minutes passed by, his tears were getting more and more and closer and closer together.

My heart was going out to him as he struggles to understand why we will die one day and why God designs it in such a way. I guess death is something which we all know will happen but we never really talk about it. My 4 year old however, till today, still wonders why we cannot live on and on and on and is still asking me about it whenever he can.

You have any suggestions on how to tackle this?