Joash's favorite toy

I've always thought that Joash's favorite toy is the ball but I've never seen him take the ball to bed. In fact, he doesn't like ANYTHING on his bed. When I put the pillow and the comforter on the bed after he upgraded to the toddler's bed, he squashed himself to sleep on the only spot which the pillow and comforter didn't occupy. When our neighbor gave him a soft toy dog, he kept playing with it. However, during bedtime, he put the dog away even though I told him he could sleep with it.

Recently, I've noticed him moving the crocs around as if it were a vehicle. Also, he started becoming frustrated when the train couldn't move as he dictated since it was designed to move on its own. Thus, I got him a small toy bus from Toys 'R' Us last weekend.

I simply can't believe how much he loves it!!! He was crying the night we got the bus during bedtime and when I gave him the bus to sleep with, he calmed down immediately and slept! *faint* He even wanted to bathe with it. Not only that... he actually hid the bus in Jayna's bouncer once. Thinking that he had forgotten about it, I kept it for him. Never would I have imagined that he remembered where he left his toy bus and started looking for it when he went over to play with his sister at the bouncer! All I can say is "Wow"! Maybe I should have bought him a toy vehicle earlier... or perhaps not. It could be he has only recently begun to identify the different types of vehicles he sees on the road and can therefore fully appreciate the toy? We'll never really know, I guess.

Fashion Show

Jayna has been very smiley and expressive since birth and so I have many good shots of her much earlier than with Joash. Here's a video of cute poses and pretty clothes. I'm sure there'll be a lot more of these in the future, judging from her wardrobe (seems bigger than mine!). She'll by and by grow into the clothes people have generously given to her. Thank you all so much! Note: If you want to see Joash's fashion show, click THIS.

"Following" Mummy

Whenever I put Jayna on the bouncer or the bed while I do my chores, Jayna will amuse herself by following me with her eyes and watch what I'm doing. Hopefully, she'll pick up the skills and do them herself in the future? LOL

The bouncer in the kitchen

Video of Jayna "following" me with her eyes

Interesting Day

Yesterday, I made an 8pm pedicure appointment for my Mum-in-law and I at Citybella. That was the first time we did our nails at night. (Our normal time slot is Sat afternoon) In order for me to get out of the house by 7pm, Joshua and I made special arrangements to put our kids to bed an hour earlier than usual. Joshua came home and I picked Joash up from school one hour before the usual timing. Thankfully, we trained the kids by routine (focuses on sequence of events) instead of schedule (focuses on the timing) making early bedtime possible.

Since I had cooked dinner and made some honey fruit tea, I decided to pack a bento for my Mum-in-law to eat before the appointment.

The 爱心 bento
(Got the idea from the beautiful bentos
I see in Jap drama and anime)
Hee hee...

What's inside...
1) Worchester sauce carrot+potato
2) Kailan fried with dried shrimp
3) Minced pork in egg
4) Baked beans (courtesy from my MIL)

I did nail art for the first time, inspired by the very pretty photos that my friend took and uploaded of her customers' nail art. 

My first nail art by Citybella

Getting old

We went to Joshua's colleague's wedding last Sat. A guy and a girl came over to me and asked me, "Are you Miss Ang?" I was taken aback as it had been quite a while since anyone called me that. I found those two really familiar but, for the life of me, I couldn't remember who they were and where I'd seen them.

When they told me they were my students, I was kinda stunned. Goodness! They looked so mature! And that just means I'm getting old... Hahaha... Afterall, I was a slender, pretty, swinging single back then and now I'm married with two kids. In fact, I'm so amazed that they could recognized me despite the weight that I've gained and the chopped off hair. Pity, it was way too noisy for any decent conversation or else I would have loved to chat with them.

Family photo
Hello? Where are my kids looking at?

Ah... That's better!

Polliwogs

We finally went to Polliwogs after talking about it for ages. But I still prefer Fidgets in the end cos the place at Turf City is bigger, roomier and has a nice cafe there even though the things are older. Polliwogs is kinda claustrophobic and stuffy. The air-con that day was not working very well which was such a disappointment with the sweltering heat outside. Anyway, Joash seemed to have fun so it was not entirely a wasted trip. Apart from that, the only nice thing was that they had those cute couches for kids which made very good photo opportunities.

Joash: Mummy, it's soooo hot! *sweat*
Note: The necklace around his neck is mine...

Having fun walking and crawling around

Joash's favorite is still the ball pool!

Got a little bored and played with the soap dispenser...

Jayna "chilling out" at the couch
(It was quite warm actually)

Joash is such a doting brother!


Jayna with grandma

Jayna's Babbling

Jayna has begun to babble and respond to people. Seeing her at this stage reminds me of Joash as she also moves her limbs vigorously while she "speaks", albeit not as violently as her big brother. You can take a look at an old video of Joash HERE if you like. :)

Worst day ever

I think yesterday was by far one of the worst days regarding Joash. Thank God that my mum was around to help me take care of Jayna while I handled my dear son. (She took leave for the day to help me out knowing that Joshua has gone for reservist)

The day started innocently enough but things started becoming tedious when Joash refused to nap at noon. He grew more and more sticky and fussy as the day progresses, wanting me to carry him and rough-house with him. I could tell he was getting overly tired and stimulated but he refused to be put to bed. By 2 plus in the afternoon, he started crying non-stop and nothing I did could soothe him. Even carrying him and walking around didn't help which has NEVER happened before! In fact, he also refused to drink milk!!! (shocking cos he's such as milk baby) I began to worry if he was hurt but when I kept asking him what's wrong, he could not calm down enough to be intelligible.

After the millionth offer, Joash finally accepted the milk at 3 pm only to wake up after half an hour's worth of nap. He kept crying the moment he woke up and despite having me cradle him which he has always loved. It was only when my brother and his wife came over for a visit that he got distracted from his distress and went back to normal. *phew* I was totally wiped out having to carry a heavy toddler for hours.

My mum suggested that he probably missed Daddy but didn't know how to say it and I think it rang true. Weekends has always been fun going out as a family and ever since my pregnancy, Joshua has been the one bathing him at night and putting him to bed. Though Joash seemed happy enough for me to do the bedtime routine with him, he felt Joshua's absence most keenly when he realised that only Mummy was around to play with him all day.

And that was not the end of my ordeal. Jayna strangely refused to sleep after the bedtime routine and kept crying too! I fed her and burped her plenty but she refused to sleep. Dead tired after three hours, I put her in the kitchen (there's a bouncer there) so that her crying was less grating on my nerves to catch some rest. Surprise, surprise. She fell asleep almost immediately. I guess she might have felt cold at her playpen with the fan switched on just for last night. Funny, cos I didn't think it was a cold night.

So that was a horrible day to remember. Thank God that this kind of madness doesn't happen often. *sigh* I pray that things will not be as bad until Joshua comes back to us next Wed... Pretty please?

Lala Land

I wonder what they are doing together in Lala Land...? *grin*

Joshua's reservist started yesterday which means I'll be alone with the kids a lot more for the next 1 week. Our king-size bed looks really empty without Joshua's large frame occupying the space. This morning was nice, cool and rainy, perfect for sleeping in which was exactly what the children and I did. I allowed them to come over to join me in the master bedroom. It was such a precious moment as I watched them sleeping. God has been so wonderful to me!!!

Twinkle, twinkle little star

It wasn't easy getting a good video of Joash's singing. He'll always stop singing and request to look at the pics and videos if he sees the camera. So Joshua had to sneak up on him to get this shot while I distracted him. However, cos Joash was doing two things at the same time (singing and playing the 'tamborine'), his pitch and pronunciation were not as accurate as usual. Not bad for an [almost] 2 yr old, huh?

Triple Birthday celebration

In a symphony of pink, red and black

Joshua, my mum-in-law and sis-in-law have birthdays very close to one another. Usually, we'll celebrate the birthdays in 3 consecutive Sundays but due to Joshua's reservist and SIL's trip to Hong Kong, we had to combine them all in one Sunday. We had dinner at Ah Yat's Seafood Restaurant and had Anderson's ice-cream cake. The Alaskan chilli crab was really fantastic! Yum yum!

Eye Exercise

It's simply so enjoyable watching Jayna follow the animals on the mobile with her eyes. She is really expressive while she does that... Kawaii!!!

First success at home!

This evening, Joash successfully pooped in the toilet at home for the first time! However, before the success, there were two false alarms. I think he finds the process of going toilet fun cos I would make the exaggerated "gnn-ing" sound with him at the toilet which tickles him.

So after the second failed attempt, I spoke to him firmly about not playing a fool and that he should only say he wants to "poo poo" if he really wanted to. It was a lesson about meaning what he says or else people will not believe his words anymore. He looked contrite when I chastised him and even "said" sorry. (by stroking my head which was what I taught him to do)

Praise God that the next time he said he wanted to poo, he really did! *beaming* What a wonderful boy Joash is turning out to be!!!

Children's Day

Today is Children's Day and Joash has no school. It's my first time handling both Joash and Jayna alone for a whole day and it has been a pleasant experience. Joash threw a few tantrums though. I simply activated my SOP (which is NOT to reward the bad behavior with my attention) and soon enough, he fell in line.

Joash was able to play on his own quite a bit and Jayna was also fine being left alone while I played with Joash most of the time. (Maybe she was entertained by our playing???) I managed in the end to accomplish all my tasks e.g. cook, do housework (Joash helped with the laundry a little bit), finish my bible study and later bring the kids to the ARPC homemaker's bible study session.

Thank God for the fun day with my children! :) I'll have more of such days when Joshua goes for reservist next week...

And oh! I almost forgot to mention a really cute incident. Joash's nap time is usually 12pm but perhaps the novelty of being at home on a weekday kept him awake beyond that. He was still happily playing with me when he suddenly asked for milk. So I gave him some. After he finished it and handed me the bottle, he said, "Nap nap.", climbed onto his bed and fell asleep immediately, leaving me standing there surprised at the speed of it all. Thinking back, it still brings a smile to my face. :)