Of Tickles and Giggles

Like her brother, Jayna is such a cheerful baby. It's so easy to make her laugh. In fact, she has an "advantage" (or disadvantage depending on how you look at it) over him since she is so ticklish whereas Joash was not. You could tickle Joash all you like when he was her age but he would just look at you and smile.

Watch the following two videos of Jayna and hear her laugh uncontrollably when I tickled her (the first clip) and see how amused she was at the silly sounds I made (the second clip).

Of tickles...

... and giggles.

This third one is a video of how I tried to make Joash laugh by tickling him in the past. It didn't seemed to work very well. He only responded a little to the funny noises I made. Very trivial but just so you can compare... :)

My Little Rabbit

Jayna loves to bounce on her butt while she's sitting down, something which Joash didn't quite do as much when he was that age. It's just soooooo cute when she does it and she can be at it for nearly a minute when she's in the mood. I've only managed to capture a little bit though. Please enjoy the following video of a little rabbit hopping along in the forest. :)

Luxury

I've been meaning to post about this but I keep forgetting. About a month ago, I went and bought this nice little contraption. It's a humidifier which can be used for aroma therapy too.

I've always loved to have nice soothing fragrances in my room but the traditional open-flame type can be quite dangerous if I fall asleep without blowing out the tea light first. Furthermore, I've recently been told by my doctor that my tendency towards sore throat and flu may be due to the dryness in the air of my bedroom since I use the air-con when I sleep. He suggested that I get a humidifier.

I looked around but most are large, ugly and expensive. So when I chanced upon this small beautiful, sleek Novita which will switch off on it's own when the water level gets lower than the safe line, I decided to pamper myself with this little piece of heaven. Now, when my husband massages me while this lovely discreet blue light is "burning", I feel like I'm in a spa on my very own bed. Ahhhh.....

Arguing

(Jaclyn was reading to Joash. They came to a page with a picture of a playground.)

Joash: (Pointing to the slide.) Aeroplane.
Jaclyn: No, Joash. That's a slide.
Joash: Noooo... Aeroplane!
Jaclyn: (Pointing to the toy aeroplane on the shelf.) THAT is an aeroplane. THIS is not. It's called a slide.
Joash: Aeroplane!
Jaclyn: Slide!
Joash: Aeroplaaaaaaane!!!

(Joash kept insisting violently that it was an aeroplane. Shaking her head at her son's stubbornness, she decided to change tactic.)

Jaclyn: Aeroplane!
Joash: No, slide!
Jaclyn: Yeah! That's right!

Hee hee...

Sleep Please

(Jaclyn was trying to coax Joash to take a nap. He was tired but was still quite hyper. Exhausted, she decided to lead by example.)

Jaclyn: Mummy is tired. I'm going to sleep now.
Joash: Mummy sleep. (Pointing to Jaclyn)

(Dutifully, she went to lie down. Joash started to smile mischievously and snuggle up beside her on the bed...
...and then pretended to snore!)

LOL

Colors

(Jaclyn was playing in the room with the children. She decided to make sure Joash knew his colors so she tested him.)

Jaclyn: Joash, What color is the sling?
Joash: Purple.
Jaclyn: Good. What color are Mummy's nails?
Joash: Pink color!
Jaclyn: That's right.

(She then pointed to the toy that Jayna was playing. It was red on one side with two black eyes and striped with two tones of green on the other side.)

Jaclyn: And what about meimei's toy? (Fully expecting the answer to be either red or green)

(Joash thought for a while and exclaimed.)

Joash: WATERMELON!!!

(On closer look, he is absolutely right. The toy looks like a watermelon with those colors!)

Power of Association

(Jayna started to cry because Joshua placed her in the playpen by herself so that he could make milk. Joash took it upon himself to entertain her. He took her toys and gave it to her one by one. When she continued crying, he started to talk to her.)

Joash: Quack quack!
Jayna: ??? *puzzled*
Joash: Quack quack quack!
Jayna: *giggles*

(Joshua went to his wife scratching his head.)

Joshua: Meow meow, why is Joash saying "quack quack" to Jayna?
Jaclyn: Oh, don't you know? Joash has heard me say "duck duck" to Jayna to make her laugh many times. I guess he got the animal right but he confused it with the sound it makes.

(Joshua bursted into laughter.)

:P

Identity Crisis?

During Bedtime...

(Joash was jumping around butt-naked on the bed. Joshua was trying to help him wear his diaper but to no avail.)

Joshua: What are you? A frog or a rabbit?
Joash: No, I'm a dolphin.

(Joash started to leap into the air and dive into the soft mattress.)

Joshua: Joash, come and wear your diaper... *exasperated*

(Joash continued for a while until an idea struck Joshua.)

Joshua: Dolphin, come and wear your diaper.
Joash: Okay.

(!?!)

Father and Daughter

Jayna: "I love my Daddy!!!"


Jayna: "Hiak Hiak Hiak..." (Cheeky laughter)

Jayna: "Let me show Daddy my split!"

Jayna: "Giddy-up, Daddy!"

Spring Cleaning

No, not my house, which is pretty well maintained thankfully. It's my husband's work cubicle. I heard him mention enough times that his work space was way too cluttered and that he found it hard to get down to packing up since it's not exactly his strong suit. I thought that I might show my love to him by helping him do it.

So today, I lugged Jayna with me and followed Joshua to work. I was rather reluctant to put Jayna in the sling while I clean up since it was very dusty but she refused to be put down. Instead, she preferred to watch what I'm doing close-up, albeit sneezing frequently. Ah well... Can't be helped.

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER


BEFORE

AFTER


Tada! Nice cubicle to work in!
I wonder how long this can last... :P
Jia You, Bear Bear!

Joy ride

The way Jayna sits up straight and holds onto the bar in the pram reminds me of Joash at the same age. They both love sightseeing as opposed to leaning backwards in a daze as I often see other kids do while on the road. Not sure why, but it sure makes me glad. :)

Hair trimming

I've been meaning to take Joash to have his haircut but we've been so busy with the BTW that he is starting to spot a very delinquent look with hair covering half his ears and most of his neck. Yesterday morning, I just couldn't take it anymore.

I grabbed the electric razor that his Godma passed to me last year, took him to the toilet and started trimming the sides and back of his head. The razor was very blunt so it irritated Joash that I had to go over the same spot many times to cut the hair but he was otherwise rather obedient. So here's the result:

Before

After

I wonder if it'll be a better investment to buy a new one and cut his hair myself or save myself the trouble of cleaning up afterwards by spending the $20... Maybe I should try letting him have a go at those QB or EC shops which makes it half the price. Hmmm... I'll think about it.

P/S: Dun you find his sweet droopy eyes resemble those of Precious Moment plushies? *grin*

Marriage Break-thru Weekend

A few days ago, I went for a marriage Break-Through Weekend (BTW) conducted by my church with Joshua. We would not have considered going for such a trip if not for the fact that attending at least one BTW is a requirement for membership in Covenant and we have committed to the Lord to transfer membership to this church this year.

As some would know, our kids have NEVER spent a night without us parents before. So this was indeed a major faith step. God was very gracious to have my mum quit her job recently so we could leave Jayna with her while we left Joash with my in-laws.

It had been a hell of a logistical nightmare to make the best arrangements, pack the things for both kids and orchestrate everything so that we could make it in time for the coach at 7.45am on Friday morning! (Joash's school starts only at 7am, so it was a mad rush) I can't even begin to describe the amount of planning that goes into it all! Praise God that He cleared the traffic for us and we managed to arrive on the dot.

Needless to say, the evil one was not idle with our faith step. He had inflicted upon us many physical wounds: Joshua's stomach problems came back with a vengeance, Joash fell down while playing with my brother, Jayna developed constipation, fungal infection and caught the flu, my mum-in-law strained her back and so did I, I had an allergic reaction to some mosquito bites and developed mouth ulcers... It was no coincidence that it all happened so close to the BTW.

So when we finally made it to the Marriage BTW with everyone recovered from whatever ailments plaguing them, we knew that God protected us and had answered all our prayers! Praise be to God!

Yippee!!! We arrived on time for the coach!

You must be wondering why I'm posting a picture of my bag. When I was looking at it hanging there at the coach seat, I was taken aback by how different from usual it looks and how BLACK it actually is. You see, my bag is always stuffed with wet wipes and diapers with milk bottles sticking out of it which makes it look kinda colorful. Without those things, it's just a plain little black bag. Ah... it's been a long time since I last saw it's "true color"!

God even gave us a rainbow to assure us
of His presence in our lives
on the way to the hotel.
Thank you so much God!I was indeed very touched...

We've arrived!

Our name tags for the weekend.
We added our nicknames too.
Hee hee...
Nobody seemed to have noticed though :P


Our room

The first thing we did was to enjoy a nice warm romantic soak in the bathtub together. Ahhh... pure bliss. No kids to demand our attention.

A timely reminder that we must include God as the third strand in our marriage cord. We were asked to braid the three strings for our bookmarks as an object lesson. ;)

We even had a romantic dinner planned for us! It had the full works: beautiful decorations, soft music, candles, flowers, bottle of colored soda, nice food, wonderful company and we dressed up for it too. Heh heh...

Waiter of the day???

We sat beside our new friends during the dinner. It seemed so much like a double date. Really enjoyed ourselves tremendously!

Time to go home...

It had been a wonderful experience. We were reminded once again of what makes a good marriage, greatly encouraged by the many testimonies of how God has worked in the lives of other couples, had loads of fun and laughter hearing one another's love stories and had an extended relaxing time together without the kids constantly clamoring for our attention. The couple dialogues we had were refreshing and enlightening too. I will definitely treasure the sweet memories of the days we spent there for long time to come.

I'm also grateful for the efforts the committee put in to make this such a meaningful time for us. There were little gifts here and there, cards to encourage us and even a time of renewing our wedding vows complete with a certificate and a picture they have taken of us pasted on it! We can tell that a lot of thought and prayer have gone into all this.

Here's our very own video to promote the BTW. LOL

Bye bye, Zud zud!

Now that Jayna has mastered the art of grabbing things and stuffing them right into her mouth, she has forgotten about the pacifier! Hallelujah! Congrats Jayna, for needing zud zud only for 1 and a half month!

Very trivial... but I just wanna remember it by posting. Hee hee...

Drum Parade

Watch the video and see the amazing display of drumming talent! LOL He seriously "pattern zuey kway badminton"! (a Singaporean saying in dialect meaning: doing something with a lot of variations)

Getting Active

Jayna has become more and more active these days. Even though she is definitely less boisterous than her brother, who was already bouncing off the walls by this age, she has attempted to flip with some success, lunge forward from a sitting position and pull herself up to a kneeling position. Instead of jumping as with her brother, she is more fond of standing when she is held upright. (So there's no need to rent the jumperoo for her.) Ahh... my lovely little bunny. My hope for her to skip the crawling stage and go straight to walking might very well be realised. *grin*

Jayna: "Wow! This is fun!"

Jayna loves the ball as much as Joash

Trying out Kung-fu moves???

*singing*
How much is that baby in the trolley?
Boo Hoo!

Doesn't she look like a ballerina?

Superbear Returns

When Joshua encouraged me to serve in the worship team at the beginning of the year, I didn't think he knew what he was getting into. However, even after I painted the scenario of many hours of alone-time with the two kids while I serve, he was still game for me to try out for the audition.

I've never thought I would start serving at such an intensity while the kids are so young. Frankly, I think it is far harder to look after them then to be involved in ministry and thus I thought my husband would not be up to it till the kids are much older and more independent. It blows my mind that Joshua is so gung-ho in releasing me to serve in my natural capacity.

This just makes me admire my husband even more. The commitment on his part is no mean feat: he has to be with the kids not only for rehearsals and training, but also for the 3 whole services on the Sunday I serve!!!

Of course, wanting him to survive well through it all, I mapped out a plan to preserved his energy.

6.15am
We left house and bought some breakfast on the way to eat in church so as to fuel all of us for a long day ahead.
7am
We reached the church sanctuary and let Joash explore the auditorium while Jayna sat on the chair. Joash was thrilled to have the space to himself and Jayna was happy to feel the texture of the seat and be distracted by our worship practice for a while.
8.30am
Start of 1st service. Joash went to Sunday school while Joshua proceeded to the infant room to attend service with Jayna while I serve for the 1st 45 min. During the sermon, I went up to join him and relieve him till I returned to the sanctuary for the closing song and the start of the 2nd service.
10.30am
Joshua picked Joash from class and brought him to the playground till I finished the first half of the 2nd service and came down to join them for brunch. We handled the kids together till I headed back for the last part of the service.
12.30pm
Joshua brought the kids up to the toddlers' room and let Joash play by himself while he attended to Jayna. I went to help him during the sermon too. When I zipped back for the last time, Joshua took the kids to the car and drove them around so that they could sleep. Once I was done at 2.30pm, I called him to pick me up too so that we could go for my grandma's birthday celebration.

What a hectic day! Praise God that it all went pretty well and we were all tired but happy. I'm so proud of my husband to be able to accomplish all that! He did a marvelous job! :) I'm much more in love with my Superbear than ever before...

May the Lord bless the works of our hands and may He find our offering fragrant and pleasing!

First Haircut

My mum had been nagging me to trim Jayna's hair cos she naturally had a few locks which were especially long. However, I'd been resisting doing so since I think that those stands of hair were precisely her girlish charm.

Today, I found that her fringe was getting long enough to poke her eyes. Thus, I decided on an impromptu haircut while I was carrying her in the sling. Armed with the trusty old nose-hair trimmer, I snipped off the ones that were exceptionally long.

So here's her new look.

I was right. She now look a little boyish without those unique bangs of hers. Let's hope she'll quickly grow back the hair at a more even length. :)