My plant at the office over the weekend

I have always like to have plants on my desk. It makes me feel fresh and happy. And usually, it is one of those money plants which are quite easy to take care of. You can leave them and forget to water them and they will still turn out alright.

But my latest plant is not as hardy as that and look what happened when I left on Friday without watering it first. Isn't it sad?


I was a little horrified, thinking that it had died on me. I started to water it, hoping that it has still the strong will to live. After about an hour, voila!

It survived and going strong! I love that plants are on my desk making me smile each time I see them. Hopefully when I get back tomorrow, it is still sitting pretty!

I am happy but also jealous

When Ryan was small, he used to look up to me and depend on me a lot. It sometimes overwhelm me to a point where I wonder if he was ever going to be independent. And needless to say, he enjoyed a closer relationship with me than he did with his dad.

Although hubby did mention this to me, I brushed him off saying that Ryan adored him anyway so he does not need to be so silly about it.

4 years on, exactly around the time Ryan celebrated his 4th birthday, he began his process of breaking free from me. It started with wanting to sleep with his daddy instead of squashed with me in the middle and Megan on the other side.

He also began to go to school and go up the stairs on his own instead of clinging on to me. He also started to change his own clothes, button them up, bathe himself, feed himself and even helped to soothe Megan when I was unavailable.

And now, his relationship with his dad has improved a lot and I think his daddy is extremely happy about it. Although I know that deep down nothing can replace a mother's love, I cannot help but feel jealous sometimes when Ryan gets close to his dad or when he wants his dad to brush his teeth, change his clothes or even send him to school.

Some people I speak to seem to think that it is cute and he is so grown up, I just cannot help but feel jealous about it. But I have this deep sense of pride knowing that he is growing up just right.

There are still many years to come where he will display his readiness to break away and be independent, but at the moment I wish that those years will come slowly.

I am not ready to break free ... am I just being silly?

Megan is 5.5 months old!

Yay! Megan is 5.5 months old! And this is what she can do now:

* More mobile

* Able to roll right over and over and over

* Soothe herself when upset, most times I will be there though

* Be able to add new sounds to her vocabulary almost everyday, well almost!

* Be able to scan room and follow a moving object with her eyes as her vision improves

* Be learning about cause and effect, much to the amusement of her brother

* Be able to recognize herself in the mirror, she usually will smile and shy away

* Love repetition and enjoy doing the same thing again and again

* Try to sit up unaided

* Pivot whole body in preparation for creeping or moving

* Pull up to standing position from sitting

Was told that she too should:

* Practice her talking skills with single syllable words such as 'da', 'ba' and 'ma' - not noticeable yet
* Be able to do push ups with arms so that she lifts her head, upper chest up off the floor - not really
* Use her mouth to test the temperature and properties of different foods - I did not allow this yet

* Begin to understand object permanence - no quite since she cries whenever I move away from the room

* Be able to transfer an object from one hand to the other - not yet, Megan grabs with both hands though

* Start sleeping through the night - not a chance since she is still breastfeeding

* Babble combining vowels and consonants e.g. ga-ga-ga, ma-ma-ma etc. - not yet apparent

Isn't it fast? My little girl is growing so quickly now. I am just loving her more and more each day.

Happy Father's Day

Last Sunday was Father's Day and we went back to PD for a change instead of getting my folks up to KL. We intended to have breakfast on Sunday but instead became brunch. My mum said that their house in PD is a recuperation centre, everyone who goes back there sleeps exceptionally well!

Between Avillion and The Thistle, we decided on The Thistle, mainly because it is new in town. You can see below how nice the environment is from the lobby to the poolside to the garden.




We went to its Glass restaurant. We had called earlier and was told that the buffet ends at 11am. We reached at 9.45am. However, upon reaching, we were told that the buffet table will close at 10.15am! What a disappointment! But wanting to celebrate anyway, we went to get as much food as possible and then sat down to enjoy it.

Needless to say, we were all so stuffed with food that nobody really wanted to walk, much less in the sun. But Ryan was so excited about flying his kite at the beach that we all had to go with him. It was actually quite windy - luckily!

We spent close to 2 hours by the beach watching Ryan and his daddy fly kite and play in the sand, Megan was nursing and sleeping quite a bit despite the heat. We even undressed her to give her a quick shower, she was happy! We also bought some ice-cream and it was melting faster than we can lap it up! Although we were all ready to go, I think Ryan felt a little heavy hearted.

We left at about 1pm and came back all tired and happy.

It was my dad's 35th year of celebrating Father's Day and only the 4th for my hubby. May we all have many more Father's Day to come!

Ryan's words on me

Last night, I was in one of my particularly agitated mood. And so, I was scolding both Ryan and Megan. Ryan - because he was constantly talking and could not finish asking his questions. Megan - she was being agitated too because she could not sleep although she was tired.

In the middle of me scolding them, Ryan asked "Mummy, why are you always scolding people?" I stopped momentarily. It never struck me that I was having this negative effect on him. I always thought that I was only doing it for their own good, never because I wanted to annoy him or anything like that.

What he said made a mark on me, I guess in my day to day chase of the tasks I need to complete, I lost sight of what they mean to me and how I should handle them. His words made me realise that to be a good mum, it is not easy. But it served to stop me in my tracks and reflect.

Ryan dearie, mummy is sorry for scolding you. Mummy will try to control a bit more thanks to your words. Hopefully tomorrow I am not so "mang chang".

Influenza A (H1N1) virus

The Star has this piece of news on line. And personally, I am very concerned about letting Ryan go to school tomorrow. There is just no certainty anymore about this. Seems to be anyone who is anyone could be affected by this virus.

And the weather lately has not been helping too. We seem to get sore throat and fever and flu quite easily. And all these are symptoms of this terrible flu.

Some weeks back when Ryan had a fever, we rushed him to the hospital fearing the worst but thankfully, he was alright. Back then, we did not have any children in schools being infected. Now we do. I am just thinking how we will be handling it if any of our kids suddenly develop fever or anything like that. Do we immediately rush them to the hospital? Do we wait to see if our usual fever medicine works first? I am really at a lost.

I just texted my kid's principal asking her if she thinks it is still safe for the kids to go to school. I am not sure what I am expecting her to say, I guess I just want to get it out of my system. As it is now, I am very worried.

What about you? Have you pulled you kids out of school? Are you staying indoors more? Or am I overly paranoid?

Of flying kites and glow sticks

Some weeks ago, we took Ryan and Megan to the park to fly a kite. Apparently there were loads of people at the particular park and we thought joining them would be loads of fun.

However, when we got there, it started to rain and then it poured! Arghh, all the way there and can't even get out of the car! But then, being the stubborn me, we waited in the car. And then, the rain started to slow down to a drizzle and then, it stopped!

Yay! We got down to get the kite going, but then there was no wind!! But we still refused to give up and got Ryan running along the park with the kite barely lifting off the ground! Poor boy. All this while, we were trying to convince him to stop trying to fly the kite since it was going to be tough with the slippery grass and all. Finally, out of breath, he threw the kite on the ground and proceeded to the playground.

Once on the swings and slides, there was no stopping him. He was enjoying himself so much that it was such a joy to see him. After a while though, the wind came back and we were finally able to fly that silly kite. Actually, it was WSL's kite since she came along to join in the fun as well.

All this while, I was thinking "Thank goodness Ryan did not see anyone selling glow sticks". Can you imagine if he saw them and then went on and on about wanting those glow sticks? I think I would have screamed (in my head, of course) at him for whining about it. I am very sure that he will like it and then I will at a lost as to where to buy them.

But thinking about it, have you seen anyone selling glow sticks lately? I want to know so that I won’t have to be at a lost should Ryan ever want to have it. I think kids should be exposed to it and have at least an idea on what it is.

So, do you know where I can find it?

I have heel spurs

A couple of months ago, I injured myself while doing Body Combat at the gym. I felt a sharp pain when I landed on my right leg in the middle of the workout and it had not been the same since.

At first, I thought that I would just leave it, but then it got more and more painful to the point that I cannot walk properly. That is when I decided to seek help, but who??

Thankfully my neighbour is a sports doctor (well, he told me what he was, but I forgot, so we will call him the sports doctor) and he has seen my cases all too often. While he assured me that it was not very serious, I cannot help but to wonder why then does it take so long to heal.

Apparently, heel spur is a condition where you will feel a sharp bony projection on the bottom of the heel that pokes the bottom of your foot causing you pain. Painful heel spurs are actually a result of damage to the soft tissue at the bottom of the foot.

So you can imagine me with this pain. Gone are my heels as well as flats. I have to wear soft insoles to support my wrecked foot. If left unchecked, my neighbour said it can lead to chipped bones at my heel, and then a surgery is needed.

I have been going to my neighbour to seek relief but sadly, it is not very apparent yet if my pain will go away. It doe feel better after the treatments but it is still not back to normal and I have yet to go back to Body Combat yet.

Arghh!!! Please pain, go away!

School holidays

So fast, the school holidays are over. We have not been doing very much because I was reserving the big items for the long holidays in November/ December.

The first week of holidays, Ryan was at his school camp for half the day while Megan was at nanny's. I was having FGDs for the whole week and that pretty much took care of whatever energy I had to think and carry out any activity with Ryan.

the second week, Ryan and Megan were at nanny's on Monday and Tuesday. on Wednesday, only Megan went to nanny's while Ryan and i went to 1-Utama for a movie and a visit to Toys r Us. his daddy came along too.

Thursday saw us driving back to PD. thankfully Megan and Ryan were well behaved in the car, else I would probably have to stop somewhere to scream at them! A visit to my parents' place is always good as it is like a place for recuperation. Everyone sleeps and eats and sleeps some more.

Today is Sunday. Our drive back was smooth and school starts tomorrow. I am actually looking forward to school re-opening since I think it is better for Ryan to be learning and socializing in school than to be watching TV and screaming at nanny the whole day.

And as usual, I am looking forward to work too ...

Megan fell off the bed!!

On Thursday, I slept at 1.20am. At 2.30am, I woke up when I head a loud "THUD!"

I thought it was Ryan knocking against the wall or something in his sleep. Actually it was Megan falling off the bed!!! Thankfully there were some bags on the floor and so, we was spared from feeling the hard floor on her body and head. It did not stop her from the shock though and she cried for a while.

I figured it must have been when she turned and flipped herself off the bed despite me putting some pillows to prevent her from falling over. I was in such a shock that I did not know what to do apart from calling out to my mum.

after examining her, we thought that she was ok and after nursing her, she went back to sleep. I am so thankful that she is ok. Now, I think I have to get the bed rail for our beds. I already have one on one side for Ryan and think now I have to get the other side's for Megan.

Sigh, I must be more careful next time.