Roaming

These few weeks, I've begun to let Joash explore beyond his room semi-supervised. I'm not sure why but Joash would sometimes stay put at the area just before the kitchen to watch me do my cooking and hanging up the laundry. He'll be happy just to chew on his kiddish utensils and giant yakult bottle. At least I know why he doesn't come into the kitchen. He ever fell flat on his face twice after crawling at lightning speed towards the kitchen due to the big step between the kitchen and the small "corridor". Even after he already knows how to get down that one step, he is still stopping before the step. Maybe he simply likes some company... In case you think he has a phobia of the step, take a look at he following video...

But when he becomes really bored, he'll venture elsewhere with me tagging along in case he touches the forbidden areas (aka dangerous, dirty or delicate areas).

Joash: Mummy, what's in the container?

Joash: I wonder how this works...

Joash: Hey, this chair squeaks and swivels!

Joash: Hmmm... Which book should I read first? Ah! This one looks fairly interesting...

Joash: Mummy, why do you keep following me?

King of the Jungle

There is one place in the house Joash can do virtually anything he wants (bang things, climb stuff, mess up the place or even lick the furniture *yuck*) and that is none other than his room. This is what normally happens within minutes.

BEFORE

AFTER

Joash loves the drawstrings on my shorts. After a gazillion times having him lunge towards my groin area to grab for the strings, I decided to simply pull all my drawstrings out and tie them to his walker for the sake of my modesty. Look how much he adores the colored strings.

Another thing on me which makes Joash go wild is my pair of crocs. I wear them to protect my poor toes from being stubbed as I whizz around the house doing chores. And lo and behold, I have Joash chasing after me whenever I enter the room due to my footwear. So I scrubbed Joshua's unused crocs squeaky clean and gave them to Joash. Now he chases after them... and I can heave a sigh of relief.

Here's something which catches his attention due to the flashing lights, fascinating buttons and loud music.

Joash: Let me call Daddy. Hmm... I can't seem to remember his number...

Some pretty interesting things happen too when Joash is left to his own devices in his room while I do my chores...

Playing "house" under the IKEA table

Using the stool as a makeshift walker???

Obedience

It is truly amazing to see an eight months old baby obeying instructions and remembering what he should or should not do. Joash now is able to pause at what he is doing when I say his name sternly. After I tell him not to touch something such as the wires or the fan, he will look at me with the glint in his eyes to test the boundaries. I would smack the back of the offending hand and say," Mummy says no." He may cry in protest a bit but the next time he approaches the forbidden object, he'll look towards me for approval. Most of the time, he'll listen if I say 'no'. I'm so proud of Joash when I catch him look "longingly" at the off-limits things but is able to exercise self-control to resist reaching for them.

But of course, there are some anecdotes with regards to his struggle to obey.

Story 1
I was cooking in the kitchen when I had the premonition that Joash was doing something he shouldn't since he was way too quiet. I went to the living room only to catch him red-handed playing with my handbag, something which I had already told him not to do before. He had this really intense look as he rummaged through its contents, so much so that he didn't notice my presence till I called out his name. Immediately, he looked up with a distinctively guilty face and scampered away. He then sat up and gave me a look that seemed to say, "Nope. You didn't see me do that." Fighting back laughter, I told him with a no-nonsense tone that my bag is not for play. He giggled and crawled elsewhere in search of new amusement.

Story 2
I was at my Aunt's place and of course, I had to set new boundaries at the new place. Some places like the DVD player and the stack of paper at the corner were out-of-bounds. I did the same discipline routine and it worked except for the paper area. I tell you, this boy is so paper crazy, he will literally go wild with excitement whenever he spots paper and will rush towards it and eat it in no time at all! Anyway, as I was saying, he kept trying to grab for the paper when I wasn't looking but managed to stop reluctantly whenever I saw him make the move and call out his name. Then, he had this really indecisive moment when he paced back and forth, wondering if he should obey or give in to his desires. Eventually, he distracted himself with other permissible toys. The funny thing is, when we told him that we were leaving, he seemed to have understood us and all of the sudden made a mad dash to the stack of paper with a shocking sense of desperation. He was still grabbing tightly onto the paper even as I tried to carry him away. It was like: "Noooo!!!! If we leave, I'll never see this paper ever again!" I didn't know whether I should be amused or worried about his obsession with paper.

Seeing Joash's struggle and, ultimately, obedience are such great joy and indeed incredibly fulfilling for me as his mother. I am led to think about how we often relate to God in the matter of obedience. God must really be extremely delighted when we choose to ultimately obey him. However, we so very often wrestle with our fleshly desires and God's instructions. Aren't God's protective boundaries for our own good? Doesn't he stop us from doing something out of his great love for us? I cannot imagine how we could ever think that God is stingy and is out to kill our fun. I supposed we have so much pride in ourselves that we think we know better than the all knowing and all powerful God who created us...

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Budding Swordsman

The following video may cause many mothers to gasp in horror and trepidation as Joash does something potentially dangerous. At first, I was watching over him like a hawk after I gave him the 'sword' but I soon discovered that he is quite adept. He somehow will not poke himself with it. (though he may poke others :P) Anyways, like with any martial arts with weapons, novices should never practice unsupervised. Joash will thus be under the great kungfu master's tutelage till he is old enough to soar by himself...

Jogging "kaki"

It is just so unbelievable... Now that my friend's husband and my husband are colleagues (He even drives Joshua to and from work! How nice!), we are becoming fast friends too.

Realising that both of us love jogging, we fixed a running date on Tuesday mornings. I'll go down to her place, put her youngest daughter and Joash on the double stroller and we'll head behind her block to jog at the park. Then, I can shower at her place and spend some decent sisterhood time... Shiok! This Tuesday was the first time I jogged (slowly lah...) pushing a double stroller! Major work out, dudes...

Honto kawaii-desu-ne!!!
(Really cute leh!)

Another New Friend

Look who's joined us at Sunday service baby room!

Joash: Hey! Check out this ball!

Baby L: Cool... Let me try it.

Working part-time

Disclaimer 1: I have NEVER thought of taking up any part-time work while I'm caring full-time for my child(ren).

I am now working from home as a part-time secretary on a project basis. My boss will give me a SIM card so that I can use it for office purposes. It is a 9am to 9pm job and I take the phone everywhere I go, even to the toilet! Earns me 40 bucks a day. People call me and I screen them with 3 qns and arrange for interviews. It's just perfect for me as I am able to continue with my usual schedule of caring for baby, doing chores, going out to meet friends and still do the job. Cool...

This is such a mysteriously answered prayer. In fact, I didn't even pray about getting a part-time job. I only told God that my personal savings have been dwindling but I see no avenue of fattening it. I just asked Him: "How ah?"

Disclaimer 2: I have NEVER read adverts pasted at lift-lobbies, bus-stops and such.

As God would have it, I caught myself staring at a piece of paper pasted on the buttons panel in my block's lift and somehow started reading it. To my surprise, that was the exact day the advert stated to call the boss if anyone was interested! It was too much of a coincidence... So I thought to myself, "Here goes nothing..." Before I knew it, I was answering dozens of calls an hour. I actually still feel surreal about it all.

Let's just hope that my boss is satisfied with my work performance... ;)

First Haircut

Ladies and Gentlemen, be prepared for our famed baby hairstylist of the year... *drum roll* ME!!! Tada! Anti-climax, huh?

Anyways, I had been wanting to trim Joash's hair for a very long time cos some of his hair have covered his ears and there are quite a few extra long strands sticking out on all sides. His virgin head had remain untouched by any form of the blade since he was born and I thought it's about time he has his messy hair fixed.

I wanted initially to wait till Joshua is at home on a Saturday to cut his hair as he is such an active boy and I didn't want to hurt him. However, Joshua had to teach Saturday classes for a month so I decided that I couldn't wait that long (means I can't stand Joash's untidy hair lah...).

A few days ago, I trapped Joash in the bumbo seat, placed him at the toilet, used a nappy as a cloak, put clothes peg on the nappy to keep it in place, used a toy to distract him and wielded the nose-hair trimmer (the tip is rounded mah) to trim his hair. It sure was hard work, man! I felt like I was doing some mission impossible trying not to hurt Joash while he was frantically attempting to whack my scissors away. I eventually got the hang of it using a "hit-and-run" method: Rattle toy, aim, snip, rattle toy, aim, snip, rattle toy... erm... you get the idea.

In the end, Joash was none the worse for his first haircut experience. I accidentally snipped my own thumb though which made me very glad I used the nose-hair trimmer instead of the regular scissors cos the wound didn't even bleed.

Too bad I was alone so there wasn't any photos taken. Perhaps next time...

Taking my "annual leave"

Since Joash's birth, I've never left his side for more than the few of hours during couple time with Joshua which happens on an average of once a fortnight. Joash is becoming like an extension of my own body! I also spent about 80% of the time taking care of him alone without anyone else's help.

Last weekend, Joshua (aka my boss) gave me a day off and completely took over the care of our son. He has never taken care of baby without my help prior to this. But I had great confidence in him since I have already passed on all my skills to him over the past 8 months. 我已经把所有的招数都传授给他了！Bwahahahaha!!!

It was a much welcomed rest as I could suddenly remember how it was like before Joash arrived. I left the house on Saturday night to meet Joash's Godma (aka my biker chick best friend). I rode pillion on her motorbike to East Coast Park where she treated me to a nice cold cup of chamomile tea, after which I stayed over at her place. I must really be very "suaku" nowadays cos I could hardly recognize the ECP! It has evolved into some place so hip...

The next day, we went for a hearty breakfast at Ya Kun before heading off to church. That was the first time I had worshiped in the main sanctuary as I have always been in the baby room. It was totally awesome as I could give my full attention to God as opposed to constantly keeping an eye on Joash and attending to him once in a while during service.

After that, I joined my churchmate and her family for lunch. Also for the first time, I could simply help somebody else with their kid instead of having my hands almost full with my own kid. When they dropped me off at Lot 1, I treated myself to a really nice pedicure and even allowed myself to be persuaded into a package deal! (Haha... That doesn't happen very often, as my friends would know! :P) Then, a friend from university treated me to the movie "21" and a sumptuous dinner at Sakae Teppanyaki. The movie was much better than I thought and I tasted foie gras (goose liver) for the first time in my life! It tasted marvelous!

I returned home satisfied and recharged on Sunday night. I didn't miss Joash nor he me as much as I worried. Furthermore, Joshua totally rose up to the occasion and did a terrific job handling everything alone: packing baby's bag, carrying him using the sarong sling, bringing him to church, reading the bible to him, making his cereal+puree, feeding him, bathing him and putting him to bed. I'm so proud of my husband! *muack*

Now that I have enjoyed my one-day annual leave, I am fueled to go on for the next 8 months... Nahhh... Just kidding. :) I definitely wouldn't mind doing this more often. *hint hint*

A pic of my pedicure to remind me of that relaxing day. Aaahhhhh~~~~

The Two Js

Remember the new friend that Joash found in the new church? Here are the happy photos of Joash and Baby J in the baby room during service...

Joash: Yo, brother...

Baby J: What's up, dude?

Joash: I can see another baby inside this thing...
Baby J: Really? Let me take a look...

First Baby Teeth

Joash's Baby Tooth Chart

Joash is officially no longer "bo-gay"!!! After two weeks' worth of agonizing fussiness and frequent night-wakings, (Daddy and Mummy have become pandas already...) two pearly white milk teeth have sprouted from his lower gums. Here's a picture of the infamous two front teeth. I pried open his mouth when Joash was sleeping to take the photo cos he kept wanting to eat the camera when he was awake... :P

You can see them whenever he smiles too... Can you spot them? This is what the Chinese mean when they say “笑到见牙不见眼” (smile till you can see the teeth but not the eyes).