Reunion Dinner in Ipoh with the Ban's

As dinner was to be popiah and Ah Ma was going to buy the popiah skin for the reunion dinner, we only left for Ipoh on Saturday morning(the eve of Chinese New Year). Early that morning, Ah Ma and Ah Kong headed to Chowrasta market to buy the skin.

By the time they got back, we were still waking up! So after all was packed our two cars headed to Ipoh. Yup, we travelled in two cars as there were so many things to take, and this trip you both sat in your car seats. We reached Ipoh before Ah Kong and Ah Ma as they had to detour to buy some kuih.

By then, the wonderful cooks in the house had almost finished preparing (lots of cutting of the various vegetables) the ingredients for the popiah. Amazing!

Later that evening, I went to the kitchen to see them slowly stirring and mixing the many veggies into the one BIG cast-iron wok. Wow! Needs strong arms for this job. Ta-da.. here's the end result:

When it was dinner time, the table was set up in the main living room. And of course Evan helped out. My little helpful boy. I'm so proud of you.

Chim Poh gave you a tray so that you did not need to make so many trips to and from the kitchen. I was really worried that they little saucers might slip off the tray but you did a good job. Muakksss...  

Here is the food all ready and waiting to be eaten.

I'm drooling at the thought of this:

Here's the "bar" all ready for after-dinner drinks:

That night when we all went to sleep, someone decided to light up some firecrackers! Urghhh.. it woke us all up. Good thing you all went back to sleep easily.

First Reunion Dinner - With the Yeoh's

We had planned to go out for dinner.. but at the last minute on Saturday we decided to cook for the family instead. It would be easier as mei-mei was still so small and not easy to handle when we're out in the restaurant. So after everyone agreed on dinner at home, we rushed to Cold Storage to pick up what was needed for the dinner.

Daddy slaved in the kitchen the whole day with mummy helping while Kakak took care of Evelyn. You also had an important task. You were to be the waiter for the night and had to prepare the handwritten menu for our dinner guests.

Nanna, Grampy, Ee-ee and Teo-teo arrived just as you were finishing up the menu. I had drawn up an order form for you to tick too. Soon you were changed into your "waiter's attire" and it was dinner time. Ah Ma joined us too as Ah Kong had gone up to stay at the condo.

When everyone was seated, you went around to take their orders. You were so cute. My handsome little waiter comes complete with a little pencil tucked behind the ear:

Here's the handwritten menu (this was the original one written by mummy as a sample):

The little waiter busy taking orders:

Here you are holding up your order form which I had stuck to a hard cover book to make it easier for you to take orders:

After the full course was over, we sat around chatting and laughing and soon it was time for everyone to go home. That was the end of the first reunion dinner for the year. A few more to go...

A Little Reward for Evan

Daddy told you that if you did not cry for one whole week while he was away in Singapore (yup again..) he'd bring you to take the "Demon Drop Slide" in Adventure Zone. I know you tried really hard... and that weekend we made the trip. Daddy was supposed to come back on Saturday but he brought forward his flight to Friday night so that he could reward you as promised. 

You were supposed to go for Wushu but in the end you skipped lessons and we waited till Evelyn woke up then off we went. Daddy did not want you to have lunch first in case you decided to vomit while playing.

We arrived in the Adventure Zone at 12.30p.m. and mei mei upon arrival got excited and did a poo. So while daddy made payment and arrangement for you to play, Evelyn and I went straight to the washroom which thankfully had a changing table (although it was a very tight squeeze in the bathroom).

Soon you were going up and down the slides but avoiding the Demon Drop slide. I took one look at it and felt my legs turn to jelly. Here you were going down the slide which ends up in the ball pit:

After much convincing from daddy you went down the Demon Drop slide:

We stopped in between to have some sandwiches which they sold in the little tuck shop in Adventure Zone. Here you are all sweaty after the session.

You proclaimed the Adventure Zone to be more fun than the LEX Slide and wanted to come more times.

As for Evelyn, she had some fun watching you then shortly after she dozed off:

Evan's School Blues

It was a tough week of school. I'm not too sure for you or for daddy and I. Daddy had gotten back from Singapore after a busy week working there. You decided to cry like mad on Monday when it was time to go to school. You called me telling me that you did not want to go to school. In the end, we found out that last Friday you were told off by a prefect for not sitting properly. After talking to me on the phone and crying, you finally went to school.

Daddy got back on Monday night. On Tuesday, you cried again when I dropped you off. I had to stand around a while before you let me go back to work. On Wednesday, we dropped you off to school and you'd forgotten to wee wee before leaving home. Again you cried worrying about not being able to go to the toilet. When I reached the office car park, I received a call. There was a nice lady who saw you crying and took pity on you and used her phone to call me and let you talk to me. Sigh.. it was difficult for me to listen to you cry, but we had to be firm and insist that you still go to school.

This went on for the whole week. After Wednesday's incident, daddy refused to drop you to school. It got better. Hope it lasts....

Daddy and I were upset about your behaviour. But we were also disappointed that the prefect had to be so harsh on a Primary 1 student.. who is still trying to cope in adjusting to going to a new schooling environment. Then again, we know that the prefect is also just a young child and would not understand about what you are going through, coping in the new schooling environment.

We hope that this would not scar you about going to school..

Evelyn Turns

You've been trying to turn from your back to your chest for a while now. And when we woke up yesterday, I saw that you managed to turn on your chest. You accomplished this feat very quickly too!

Good job by our little girl.

Pizza Weekend with Evan

You love eating pizzas. And it is one of my favourite things to make. Easy and can be made anytime as we always have cheese of some sorts in the house. As I already knew in advance that Ah Kong and Ah Ma had dinner plans and daddy was still away, I bought some cherry tomatoes to add to our (many) cheese) pizza. Here's your smiley face pizza cooking in the oven:

 Ta-da:

Yummiest and nicest looking pizza made by assistant Chef Evan.*grin*

3 months old

Here's a picture of the both of you at 3 months. Evan at exactly 3 months and Evelyn at 3 months and 6 days. Yup, the rocker which was used by Evan Ko-ko is still in good condition for Evelyn to use. At birth you both looked more alike and now as Evelyn grows you don't look so similar anymore. But you both do have certain features which look the same.

Standard 1 Orientation for Evan

Today morning we woke up early and got ready. Orientation was to start at 8a.m. that day. Got you bathed and dressed then fed you breakfast and it was time to go to school. Not before I took some pictures of you. We had just got back late from KL the day before so no time for you to have a haircut. Doesn't matter...

Daddy dropped us off at school then went back to keep Evelyn company. We started  by waiting at the staircase nearby your classroom. I had thought that it was the school hall, but I was mistaken. Soon the children were brought upstairs to the real school hall. Children and parents were welcomed and briefed. After a Wushu demonstration and some information were shared on the school activities, the children headed back to their classrooms. Everything was in Mandarin. A good thing I had friends who were Mandarin speaking who could help translate the work for me and what was mentioned by the teacher. Textbooks and workbooks were given while the parents also submitted some forms which were given to us when we went to school in June to pick the classes. While that was done, you went with another teacher who brought you to important locations, such as the toilet and the canteen.

When all was settled, we headed home and as your textbooks were very yucky, we headed out to buy you a new set of textbooks. Looks like my little baby is all set for school next Wednesday.  

Evan's Concert and Graduation

30th September was an important day for you and a day my heart was bursting with pride. It was your concert and graduation ceremony from kindy. Sigh.. my little boy is growing up so fast before my eyes.

I was still in confinement and thank goodness Evelyn was discharged the day before. Daddy dropped you off and then seeing that there was already a queue of parents, he joined the queue. Mummy dressed up warmly and then headed to school in another car with Ah Kong and Ah Ma. After waiting for a while, we headed upstairs. As with last year, the school gave senior citizens priority to enter the hall, so Ah Kong and Ah Ma headed upstairs and got us prime seats *grin*.

When everything was ready and everyone seated, the concert began with speeches followed by the graduating children singing the national and state anthem. Next was the speech from the children. I am proud to say that you were one of them. You presented the speech in Bahasa Malaysia.  

We were so proud of you. You did really well and our hearts were bursting with pride as we watched you up on the stage. Then it was time for the presentation of the graduation scroll. You children came in dancing to an upbeat tune. It was so cute. Here you are waiting to receive your scroll:

And here you are receiving your scroll from Pastor Isaac:

Then it was time for the concert. Your dance "Lantern Festival" (as it was the Lantern Festival on that day)was with another class: 

The finale for the day was a medley of songs sung by all the children. Here you are standing in the corner of the choir (strategically right in front of us):

Then it was time to collect our children from the specified rooms. As usual it was a well organised and wonderful concert and graduation ceremony. The effort put in by the teachers really paid off well.

Our Sexy Evelyn

I woke up this morning as I could hear you making noise in your cot. I put on my glasses to peek at you and I wondered why you were wearing something brown. Took a closer look and saw this:

Our little "Harriet Houdini" did an escape from the PJ sleeve and mittens. Although.. Ee-ee reckons it's more like a strip tease! Haha!!

Evan's Lost Tooth (14 Nov)

While daddy was in Singapore on work, your tooth (lower left lateral incisor) which had been shaky for a long time had to be removed. It had been shaky for a very long time and also bothering you a lot as you could not bite on food.
So on the night of 14th November, we were on the bod watching "Hole In The Wall" on You Tube as Evelyn slept, and then you told me that your tooth was REALLY lose and asked me to help you pull out the tooth.
That was the scariest thing to do. My legs felt like jelly at the thought of it! I told you that i dare not. You comforted me and said it's ok. So we both went to the bathroom and then YOU told me that you were scared. Aiyo.. But in the end, I just had to yank at your tooth gently and it came off. And you were so happy... the tooth fairy was visiting.
So I told you to quickly go to sleep or else the tooth fairy cannot come. Soon you were fast asleep and the tooth fairy visited and gave you RM2 in exchange for your tooth.
When you woke up the next morning you were so happy to receive the money.
Now you've got so many missing teeth:

Daddy Cooks Lasagna

Since Ah Kong and Ah Ma had dinner plans and we weren't too keen on going out for dinner yesterday, daddy and I decided that we'd have lasagna for dinner. Also as the last time the result didn't turn out too great, daddy wanted to try his hand again. And I would say this round was a smashing success:

Daddy Bathes Evelyn

On the weekend after Poh Poh left, daddy tried his hand for the first time to give you a bath. As it was his first time giving you a bath and you are not a very trusting little lady, you screamed and screamed as he gave you a bath.. just like how you screamed for the past few days that mummy bathed you after Poh Poh had gone home. Here's a few pictures of daddy bathing you:

Tummy Time for Evelyn

I read that tummy time was supposed to be good for you one of which would help strengthen your neck and back muscles. So here you are doing your tummy time, and growling at the same time:

And here you are taking a break from your tummy time and also sneaking a "snack".. hehe you were having your KFC drumstick:

Government Nurse Visits Evelyn and Mummy

In the first month that you are born, the government nurse will come to our house to visit and check you and mummy for three times. On the final time, which was when you were 20 days old, the nurse came to the house and took your weight. This is how they took your weight:

First they put you in a nappy, then tie a knot on the nappy then you were hooked to the scale and your weight was taken. Cool. Eh?

You looked like how babies are delivered by the storks.

She Took Care of Evelyn in her First Month

This is the Poh Poh who took care of you in the first month. She lived in our house, took wonderful care of you and also mummy. She cooked for me all the yummy and healthy confinement food while she also took care of you especially at nights which was the time you decided was the best time to be up and have a long chat with whoever was in the room with you. She cleaned you every time you did a biggie or a small one and also gave you baths every morning.

She did not really allow your poor Ko-ko to be near you as he had a cough, but mummy would still allow him to sneak kisses to you.

After a month, she went back to her home and we were on our own. Before she left, mummy had to undergo "training" on how to bathe and care for you from Poh Poh. The first night was very taxing on me as you are a restless sleeper who "talks" in the sleep. You kept making noises and I woke up almost every hour that night. But after that, I learnt to ignore the little noises and only woke up to feed you when you made louder noises, indicating you wanted to feed.

You are now two months old how time flies. Mummy has been caring for you bathing and feeding you (although we did have some "war" over bottle feeding) for the past month and now it is time for me to return to work on Monday. Ah Ma also had "training" from mummy on bathing you while she already had been helping out on feeding and putting you to sleep in the daytime. Next week onwards it will be you, Ah Ma and Ah Kong.. and of course Kakak Wati too.

Playing with Evelyn

Before Evelyn was born and there was still space in my tummy, Evelyn would be moving around especially in the evenings when I am resting. And you would be so amused when you see my tummy moving as Evelyn moves around inside. Here's a video I'd taken of you being entertained by Evelyn. It was suggested by Alan Ku-ku and I'm glad I did make a video:

And now that Evelyn is here, you love her so much. You keep wanting to kiss her and hug her..

Sunday Afternoon in Straits Quay

Today we went out for lunch in Straits Quay. Ah Kong wanted to try the restaurant, Cheeky Duck's dim sum. A problem we are facing at the moment is Evelyn being unable to sleep on her back, thus not wanting to sleep in her stroller *sigh*.. so Ah Ma and I took turns to carry her. You on the other hand, enjoyed your lunch, especially the lor mai kai and you even tried the wu kok which you liked. Here you are finishing the last of the lor mai kai:

As we did not manage to see the Christmas tree when we were in Straits Quay on Friday, we headed to the front where VW was having a display of their cars for test drive and there was a clown who was making balloon figures on request. So you queued up and requested for a "blue sword"

And here you are with the giant tree and your sword:

And what was Evelyn doing while we got your sword? Sleeping in Ah Ma's arms in the air-cond. After that we headed to see the renovation in the condo before heading home. Daddy was not with us as he's in Singapore. We sure miss him, even though he's just gone to Singapore on Thursday.  

Evan Loves the Rain

We had gone to Island Plaza with daddy and Ah Kong one of the weekends before Evelyn was born. Ah Kong was there to look at some furniture. We were bored so we went to look at other shops and ended up in Guardian. This shop in Island Plaza is quite big, so we just wandered around when you saw them selling umbrellas.

You asked me if you could have one. I wonder why it is so fascinating to you. I guess it's because you never get a chance to use it. So in the end I agreed to buy you one. Then we brought it up to the house and never got a chance to use it. After my confinement was over, there was one day when we went out with daddy and it was drizzling. When we got back it was still drizzling, so I allowed you to play outside in the rain with your umbrella.

And here you are grinning from ear to ear playing with the umbrella.

I love it that something so simple can make you so happy. The happiness on your face is really priceless. 

Evan's Last Day in Kindergarten

You had been telling me that you and your friend will be sad on the last day of school. Next year you're all going to the "big school" and sadly none of the children in your class will be going to the same school as you.

Well in preparation of the last day, we picked the papers and all to make a card for your teachers. I had also made my own card to thank the teachers and bought the wrappers for the little gifts for the teachers. Here's everything all ready this morning:

This morning you were up even before I got to your room to wake you up. I guess you were excited. You quickly showered and dressed then we went down for breakfast. Soon it was 8am and time to go to school. I took a picture of you in your school uniform (the T-shirt) which you would be wearing for the last time.. before you headed to Ah Ma's car. Daddy is away on travels so Ah Ma is your driver for the day.

As with every morning, I'd stand upstairs and wave to you and you'd wave back either making silly faces as you waved or waved in your funny ways. Here you are waving and making faces as you drove off:

Then you went off to school. As a surprise, Ah Ma and I planned to pick you up. When we reached school, most of the children had gone off. Before saying goodbye to the teachers for the last time, we took some pictures with your teachers and even your friend Ari who was also taking pictures with the teachers. After finally saying goodbye, we headed to a surprise lunch. You were given and choice and (not surprisingly) you picked Spasso Milano (your favourite) in Straits Quay.

Here's what we had for lunch; Buffalo Mozarella Pizza, Pescatore and Pasta Formaggi:

 After lunch, we had to leave immediately as you had art class. Too bad we did not have time to look at the Christmas tree which is already up in Straits Quay. We will go another time with daddy, ok.
And here's Evelyn all KO-ed after the busy day (I wonder how come she's so tired, when she slept most of the time we were out *grin*)



Lucky Evelyn and Evan

I'm very glad that we took the time and effort to ensure that you will be loving towards Evelyn. Most importantly was that we'd bring you along for all of my check and you'd get to "see" your mei-mei while she was in my tummy. Another thing we did (as suggested by a good friend) was to let you pick a present for Evelyn to be given to her when she arrives.

So when we went to KL in August we'd stopped over in Ikea for a quick lunch and pick up some things one of which was a soft toy for your mei-mei. You walked around and finally picked up this cute little rabbit. When we got home, we put this toy into a little bag for you to bring along when Evelyn arrived. At first you told me to bring it with me as it's a "girly" toy and you didn't want to be seen carrying it. After a lot of persuasion and convincing you agreed to bring it with you.

So when mei-mei finally arrived when you came to visit (and have dinner with daddy and I in the hospital) you brought this little gift along for her. So now, this little rabbit sits on the baby cot downstairs and accompanies Evelyn when she takes her afternoon naps.

After Evelyn's fullmoon, you were a little sad. You asked me how come Evelyn had so many gifts while you didn't get anything. I reminded you that you did have a present. Kelvin had brought you a gift when he'd come for the party. But that wasn't enough to convince you. You said you'd only gotten ONE while mei-mei had so many. So I explained to you that it was Evelyn's fullmoon that's why the presents were for her. There would be no presents for her when it's YOUR birthday. And you understood.

Then I'd told daddy about your disappointment. So he said that he'd let you pick a toy for yourself and consider it was a gift from mei-mei. So this is what you'd picked when we went to Toys R Us last Saturday:

So looks like you're both lucky to "give" each other a present.

A Little Gift From Mrs Shanti

You came back from school and excitedly showed me that you had a gift. It was from your class teacher, Mrs Shanti Lee. You were so excited that you had problems trying to open the nice bag which the box was inside.

At last you managed to get it out. Wow.. such a nice box. And inside was a pen. 

It was such a thoughtful gift. It even had your name engraved on it.

How sweet.. I'm sure you'll miss all your teachers in your school.

Precious Ones

Here's a picture of our precious ones..

Happy Halloween with Evan

Came across a mummy blogger sharing on how to make some Halloween decorations, so after you had completed your homework and Evelyn had finally dozed off, I quickly went upstairs to gather the materials we'd need and we started on our project.

As there were 3 items, you picked the pumpkin and I picked the cutie bat. You drew out the outline and the shapes of the eye and mouht of the Jack-O-Lantern and then cut out the shape while mummy helped you to cut out the eyes and mouth. While I helped you cut these shapes out, you helped me to stick on the googly eyes and then draw the smiley mouth with the two fangs.

It's fun doing this quick craft... especially since it's been a while since we've done any crafts together. In fact, our stash of toilet paper rolls in the bathroom is getting more and more and daddy is wondering why we need so many of them!

Another Lost Tooth

On Tuesday when we were still in the hospital, my phone rang early in the morning, even before Evelyn was brought to mummy for a feeding after her morning bath. I was still sleeping when my phone rang. I was wondering how come daddy was calling me (based on the ring tone) when he was sleeping in the guest bed in the hospital. I took a look at the caller ID and it was a call from the house phone. I answered and it was you calling. You were so excited and told me that your tooth had fallen off.

So on 25th September you lost your upper right incisor. Now you have a gaping hole. It's very appropriate to sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" *grin*. Hugs for my little brave boy. No tears, only excitement when you lose your teeth. And of course all excited because you know the tooth fairy is coming.

And now another tooth is also loose. I wonder when that one will fall off.

My Precious Little Boy

Your mei-mei has been back for and while and I love it when I hear you refer to Evelyn as "mei-mei". And you keep telling me that you love her so much and that she's so cute. You even exclaim that she's grown (every other day). Then sometimes you'd compare yourself to her size wise: your feet, your hands and once you'd even tried to lie next to her to see how "tall" she is compared to you.

You were still coughing when she first came home but occasionally I'd let you carry her for a while (with our help). And the happiness shown on your face.. is priceless. After putting her down, you'd say that you are very strong and can carry weight over 4kg, showing us the exercise weights that we have.

Here's a picture of you carrying her (with daddy's hands supporting)

A big hug to my good boy who adores his little mei-mei so much and who has been a very well behaved little boy throughout my confinement.

Another Checkup

We had to go in to see Dr Mary again on Monday after we'd left the hospital on Saturday. Again you had your blood taken and we were given the syringe of glucose. So when we went down to the lab, half was given to you and then you had your blood sample taken a few minutes later. This lab technician seemed to be better at taking a sample. You were not bothered by him at all.
After your blood test results were out, we went to see Dr Mary. Your bilirubin level was at 145. Yay! All cleared. As it was the day after the school concert, Evan Ko-ko came along with us to see the doctor. And Dr Mary heard his cough which did not clear yet. So she even prescribed him some medicine before we left. You were also given an appointment on the same day as I'd have my next appointment with Dr Low. It was to check up on any possible heart problems. According to her, any problems would start to show after 2 weeks.
Ah Ma who'd left us at the hospital to run some errands picked us up and home we went. I'm glad that everything went well.

Back to the Hospital

You had an appointment to see Dr Mary on Thursday after you were discharged on Tuesday. Daddy took the day off to bring us to the hospital. After we arrived, your weight was taken and I was given a little syringe of glucose. It was for you to take which apparently reduces the pain when they take your blood for the jaundice test. We went down to have the blood taken and despite the glucose given to you (half before the blood was taken and the balance for after) you decided to scream at the technician who took your blood. Poor thing.

We went back up to the paediatric floor to wait for the results. You slept happily in daddy's arms. Then we were called. Your bilirubin level had shot up to 295 that day. So, there was no choice but to admit you and I. Yup, I stayed in with you as I was breastfeeding you. You were immediately stripped and a mask put over your eyes and put under phototherapy.

We stayed from Thursday and on Friday, your bilirubin level had dropped to 190 but Dr Mary wanted it to go lower before she'd allow you to go home. So we stayed another night. On those days, you were under phototherapy most of the time and was brought to me in the room opposite the NICU when you awoke and wanted to be fed. During that time, I also expressed my milk for that the nurses can try to feed you (by spoon) so allowing you to remain under the light for longer periods. I'm so glad that my milk started to come and that there was enough for nme to feed as well as express for you.

Nights seemed especially difficult and there was one night when I could hear your crying away and so I went over to have a look. In the end, you just wanted a little cuddle. Maybe you missed me... I managed to take a picture of you with your eyes covered as I carried you

On Saturday morning, you were given a bath a little later as it was an off day in the hospital and the nurse had informed me that your blood would be taken later too.. at around 10a.m.. We waited and then Dr Mary arrived. She gave you the all-clear and we could go home. Yay! Your bilirubin reading was 140.

Daddy came shortly after along with Evan kor-kor as they had gone out for breakfast together. After the bill was settled we headed home.

So as daddy says, at 4 days old you had your first tanning session. You seemed ok from it all. The only effect we noticed was the peeling of your skin, which the nurse said was normal for babies having had the phototheraphy.