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We have a slight problem here. We’ve been buying too many cars / toys for Ian and now, each time we go out, he expects us to buy him something. Something’s gotta be done, before we get chased out of our house by his toys!
It all started when we went shopping during the weekend, and I bought Ian a FisherPrice “shake and rattle” car. Cost me RM 35 after a discount. Loves it to bits because he didn’t allow the cashier to place it in the bag. So he carried it around while we continued shopping. Until we met daddy. Daddy’s first words were… “Another car?”
I knew I was doomed. A nice long lecture would be coming my way and I just braced myself for it. It did come and we did the “talk” like most adults did. Darren’s reasons were, “It’s okay to get him a toy now and then, but what happens when it gets out of hand?.” “He will never cherish his toys.”
Okay, ’nuff said, I’m a shop-a-holic. I can’t help it if it’s something that Ian really likes, I just love to see the smile on him when he gets a new toy! My bad.
After coming up with ways and how-to’s the whole afternoon, I remembered both my friends Jenn and Andrea using the Rewards Chart thingy so that their children will work towards the toy that they wish for. Yesterday I spent some time trying to find some online Rewards Chart to download or I can just print it and use it. Found one finally which was supposedly for “potty training” but I altered it a little and looks kinda personalized now.
Explained to Ian how it works, like how keeping all his toys before taking another set out to play, or when he finishes his meal all by himself, or finishing a few pages of colouring will earn him a “Star” that will be stuck onto his chart.
The result? Dinner was finished in a jiffy!
We had our monthly checkup this morning. As usual, the gynae would do an ultrasound then we’ll have a short chit chat or if I have any questions to ask. Today’s ultrasound felt so special, like all the vomiting and morning sickness didn’t matter anymore…. or if my old clothes didnt fit me anymore…. Why?? I could see the baby’s head, both the hands and legs, as if telling me “Hey mommy, check out my fingers, and my legs, hey look! I’m stretching.” Suddenly, I felt tears welling up, and quickly I wiped them away. Shy-lah, incase the doctor saw me…
Darren was there with me, he was equally amazed on how much the baby has grown. From the last checkup, it was just the size of a bean. While walking to our car, after the appointment, we just said to each other, we have so much to thank God for, giving us the opportunity to be new parents once again.
After my long hiatus on blogging, and having nothing much to say, I thought this would be a good and encouraging piece for this month. My 35 month old boy is growing up, look at the little cartoon face here, seemed like it was just yesterday when I heard him cry the first time, now, he’s having hearty conversations with me especially on days I drive him to his grandparent’s house.
Yesterday, we had a good surprise, my mother in law told us that she managed to train Ian to go without diapers. And he did! No accidents so far, and I’m crossing my fingers that it’ll go well. What perfect timing, just before he turns three.
Last month, we went looking around for pre-schools for Ian. Short listed a few, and finally decided that he will be attending a Montessori near our house. Convenient for us to drop him off and pick up, also, in case of emergency, my mom is just a 2 minute drive away. We saw the way the kids are taught, and as we spoke to their staff, they reassured us that kids would be taught to use their motor skills, learn their manners and to manage on their own. Not so much on books at this stage.
And does anyone remember these old-school biscuits? Last weekend at the wet market, I was scratching my head on what type of biscuits or snacks to buy for us, when I came across these sugar topped biscuit. I remember eating them during our morning break when I was in Kindergarten. I presented them to Ian, and he was amazed with the bright colours and started licking on them, wasn’t sure what he was eating, and suddenly he found joy in them. He started pecking on the sugar top, leaving the biscuits behind. Finally when he was done, he came up to me “Mummy, you can eat the biscuits now”.
He’s definitely growing up.
We had a relatively quiet and fun weekend. All started from Friday night, was raining, so we thought we’d stay in and watch some TV, and just pig out. Bought some really yummy Thai/Malay dishes from Vichuda in DU. Just sat infront of the telly and finished about 6-7 episodes of Boston Legal. It was good fun just spending time with Darren and Ian.
Since we’ve got a potluck party to celebrate our friend’s housewarming, I thought of preparing a cold dish. Relatively simple to prepare, and everything can be done in the morning, just the last minute decorating on the platter. Turned out quite a success, considering it being my first time at this dish. Husband was impressed that his wife could whip up something apart from potato & chicken!! He even asked, “hey… what are we bringing to Iwen’s house tonight?” First time I didn’t have to answer “Let’s go pack something …. “. Not bad eh? Check out the photo of my cold dish below.
Yummy cold chicken, with prawns & some century eggs.
Sunday started out with a little “sisterly” outing with my sister Audrey. We had a fun time walking the aisle of Bangsar Village Grocer’s. Also visited the Curve’s bazaar, and bought a few cutesy items. Since Ian woke up from his nap with a slight fever, we stayed in again for dinner and enjoyed some yummy BKT!.
Oh Yes! I’ve managed to train Ian to sit on the trainer seat when doing his “poo-poo”. I hope to do this every weekend or any other opportunity to slowly toilet train him. Even put a small step up for him to access the seat easier. This is what he asked after a few face-crunching moments, “Mommy, can you take for me the car book?” HAHA so here he is, reading his car magazine on the toilet bowl! I could hear him talking to himself “Ooo nice Subaru” yadda yadda yadda…..
ooo *shy*
Today's lunchtime was eventful. I managed to catch a glimpse of Ian paddling on his tricycle at my mom's place. Reverse, forward, reverse, forward, then he went really fast around the chairs. Just a little after his 30th month mark, he's able to ride the bike, asks us questions, act blur when we ask him to do stuffs, and do this Huh! Shock face!
Didn't managed to snap any picture of him riding the bike… Will probably do so during the weekend.
His vocabulary has definitely increased, and because of all the hype about American Idol at our house and my mom's, he's knows the Ah..can Idol, and when he sees McPhee performing, "oo… nice girl". My goodness, I'm happy he's attracted to the opposite sex, but do they normally start that young???
He knows his colour really well, because yesterday my mom tried to trick him that purple was blue, because he demanded for "Blue yoghurt" but where in the world to find blue yoghurt? So she took out the purple one. Conversation went on like this…
Ian: mmm Nice yoghurt
Pohpoh: Yes Ian, eat your "blue" yoghurt okay?
Ian: Pohpoh, purple yoghurt.
Pohpoh: No Ian, it's blue (trying not to make him cry so she changes the colour from purple to blue)
Ian: Pohpoh, no! it's purple yoghurt
Grandmother finally rest her case after being corrected twice.
Through the 2 and a half years, I've seen Ian grow from a little baby to who he is now. He started liking cars and marvels whenever daddy came back with a Motor Trader magazine. He'll be the first to go through the magazine before any of us do. Looks for his favourite cars, currently and has been the Volkswagen Beetle which he calls "car eyes" and daddy's car. Wondering why he calls the Beetle "car eyes"….? In one of my earlier blogs I mentioned that he loved watching Herbie, and at one part where Herbie was still in the junkyard, the headlights blinked. And so, it caught on as "car eyes" from then on.
And just a month ago, he was able to differentiate an Alphard from an Estima, and now he knows Mini Cooper but pronounces it as Mimi Cooper. Kinda cute I must say… especially for a 2 year old to be able to tell these cars apart. He is able to unlock / lock our car doors, start the car (yes, I'm extra careful when he does that), knows which is the brake and accellerator, gear and what nots.
Initially, we were quite worried because he was mostly the silent type, but as kids grow up, they tend to learn faster if we constantly repeat to them. Not in a nagging way but just to refresh their memory.
Mission is to try potty train him in the next few months. It's gonna be hard because he goes to both grandparent's house on weekdays and I only have full days on the weekends to train him. Sometimes laziness tend to creep into me, and I just sweep off the thought but I know it's gotta be done someday.
Wish me luck!
Yesterday, after attending the birthday party, we realised that as much as we love Ian to be the quiet boy that doesn't cause much ruckus with other kids, we thought it was time for him to attend pre-school.
"It'll be great to toughen him, and not let him bully us most of the times instead of bullying other kids" quote daddy.
I agreed with Darren. Ian would play with other kids, but he's very selective. There are some kids he just won't play with. We figured it's time to let him try and "fend" for himself. hehe What a way to put it. During the past few months, I've made numerous enquiries to a few schools that provides pre-school facilities for toddlers and we've sort of decided to let Ian attend daily classes at Vital Years at Desa Sri Hartamas.
Vital Years is a learning center that focus on reading and writing. Which proves to be a good foundation to learning. Essentially, we both think that reading is important.
We had to consider a few factors. Mainly location and time. I work in Mont' Kiara and Ian goes to my mom and my in laws on different days. So, we've decided to let him attend the school in Sri Hartamas. I can send him to school and pick him up during lunch, and Darren will then send him to his mom's on days Ian goes over.
Sounds like a good plan? Definitely to us. Price is also okay, not too steep and doesn't require unnecessary deposits. Most importantly, I'm 5 minutes away. I've arranged for a first trial visit on Friday. He will attend 1.5 hrs instead of the full 2.5 hrs as a trial. If all goes well, he can start pre-school next month.
Going through the mails that I've been receiving from Babycenter [www.babycenter.com], I came across this really cool poll which goes "What comfort object does your child sleep with?" Would love to put a reference link here, but something's wrong with the link option on wordpress. Along with the question, came with 5 options. a) a Stuffed animal b) a Favourite toy c) a Blankie d) Nothing & e) other.
My little boy Ian, has 2 things he needs when sleeping. A stuffed bear and his over-used bolster which he got from birth. I don't have a picture with me, but I'll try to snap one tonight. So… why this topic? Since mummy dearest still have something that she still has with her since her teens, I guess my son must have rub off some of me into him.
Strangely, whenever Ian gets an earful from my mother (who cares for him while I'm at work) or myself, he'll find comfort in his bear. He'll look frantically for it and give it a hug. Should I be alarmed at this? nah I don't think so, they're harmless. Maybe when he tells me that he has an imaginary friend, I'll start to! HAHA
Mind you, he has a bear at every corner of the house! I've got Five of these. yes F-I-V-E of these bear that I got from IKEA.
So yes, Ian has a Stuffed animal and bolster & mummy has a blankie.
This morning has been a very noisy one. You see, I bring Ian over to my mom’s place every morning so that she can help me with breakfast for him whilst I scoot off to work and it also gives Darren some time to get ready and to bring him over to his mom’s.
It has been a ritual since my sister started driving her new car, that every morning, Ian does a “chant” to indicate that he wants to start up “zizi’s” car. First two times we thought it was cute, but it’s been a week, and it’s still going on! This morning he caused a little chaos at my mom’s, simply because he wanted to start the car, and we were all having our breakfast. So, mom tried to carry him over the table and his leg sort of swung by and hit the mug of coffee, and coffee spilt over the table and floor!
I immediately sat him down and gave him an earful. Telling him that he should be behaving more like a sane boy and not like a whiney one… I must have sounded like a broken record. I didnt touch or whack his hands but I just gave him my stern look and started rambling that I didnt like that kinda attitude …. next minute, I saw him putting both index fingers into his ears! Like as if he was trying to shut out the noise. MY goodness! One moment, I’m angry like mad, next, I’m trying to keep my still angry-but-I-wanna-break-out-in-a-laugh kinda look. I wanted him to know that I was angry. I just couldn’t help it but to laugh! Then he smiled and he gave me the apologetic look. Somehow it melt my heart…
He sat still, didnt move and his fingers still in the ears. We all broke up in laughter and immediately wondered where he got that from. After all the hoo-haa, floor was clean, table was dry, he went up to my mom and tried to “sayang” or rather show her affection, because he knew that his “por por” would definitely give in to him.
When I went home and relate that story to Darren, we both laughed and sighed…. our boy is growing up.
Yesterday when I picked Ian from my mom’s place, she told me something that somehow amazes me. Ian being a car-freak, he will talk anything and everything about cars. So my mom told me, this morning she showed him a newspaper advertisement on The Shaggy Dog starting Tim Allen. It was the dog seated in a red sports car, but when my mom showed him, he only said out “dog in car”… but just before he had his afternoon nap, my mom asked him “where’s the dog?” and Ian replied, Dog in the red sports car. He remembered. It was as if he had photographic memory. I’m not sure if all kids have super memory, but I’m amazed Ian could remember what he saw earlier.
Also, just before going to bed at night, he tucked himself under the quilt, along with his bear-bear & bolster and cars, he looked at me and said “Good-night”… then closed his eyes and went to dreamland. I had a very goodnite sleep myself.
