Sunday

Lately not in the mood for blogging but of course I'll still post something to make it going. Just to show you all my simple Sunday. I know not the first time I blog about Sunday, with the same title, but I think this is slightly something different.

Made cheese omelette for the boys, served with yoghurt, and oooohhh wafer sticks for Kz. I used 3 eggs and 2 slices of cheddar for the omelette.

They love it and Kz finished his breakfast! Then my omelette must be good. No, very good!

Lunch is noodles with old cucumber soup and assorted balls and sausages. 

They took their nap as usual and when they woke up, hubby and I brought them downstairs to the playground.

And some cycling.

No swimming. Just playing with water...

and drinking water from the pool.

We went out for dinner and I wanted simple Western food.

Salad that comes with our main dish.

Mushroom soup, this one I like, doesn't taste like instant canned ones with a lot of water added. This one is full of herbs and spices, very creamy too.

Some sausage...

and nuggets for biting.

Ooooo and beef meatballs with mash too.

Here comes the main course. Carbonarra for me.

Roasted whole spring chicken for hubby.

And fish &chips for picky eater Kz.

Buurrrppp. Ok bye!

Monster Truck Crashed Into Sexy Legs

Lately, Kz is into monster trucks, Bigfoot 5. 

Wait, trucks have names too? 

He watches a lot of monster trucks in the tube and he always says, "Monster truck car crash" or "Bigfoot 5 in action". Call me jakun, I don't know how a monster truck looks like until I see it in the tube (with him). 

Last week, we were shopping for groceries, and Kz spotted a monster truck. It was cheap, less than RM12, so yeah, I got one for him.

That night, he lined up all his cars and trains and whatever on my sexy beautiful legs and treated my legs as some sort of a highway, then used his monster truck to crash on those poor cars.

Well, a monster truck is supposed to work that way, isn't it? To crash all the poor cars underneath it ~ LOL.

If I could drive a monster truck in KL, I would. Then everyone on the road (including the traffic police) would be so afraid of me and give way to me, like a VIP.

Babysitting

Neighbor asked for help one Thursday to takecare of her girl on Saturday coz she has to go to work and her hubby has OT. I said yes of course. It's good to help our neighbors as we won't know when we need their help in future.

Woke up early to prepare breakfast ~ Bread with strawberry jam, scrambled eggs and bananas.

Little girl was amused with breakfast and those cute fancy picks. I sent the picture to her mum and she was impressed with all the oohhhs and aaahs and wahhhs, said she never prepared this kinda breakfast for her girl before.

Made Milo popsicles the night before and today, the kids could enjoy them.

After breakfast, it was time for shower. Then play. And when they started to get restless, I on the TV and *ding*, like magic, all quiet already.

Lunch time. Noodles in chicken soup with potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, onions and pumpkin.

Psst, nobody needs to know I boiled this the night before. 

Lunch for the little bosses.

Ok, time for afternoon nap. Two down, one more to go.

Yay, mission accomplished. Now I could sit down and rest.

When her mum came to pick her girl up, she said, "If you open a nursery or daycare or decide to make your house a playgroup for the condo community, I'll be the first to enrol".

Playgroup? Nah. I have mild OCD, I don't think I can hold for even a few hours.

Ordinary

A post before the upcoming holidays.

Many people I know are already making plans where to go, what to eat, where to eat, even where to go for a short day-trip. But for Princess Ribbon here, it makes no difference. Still another ordinary day. Means, I'm staying at home taking care of the kids again. Boring?

Back to the kids, if they don't fight, I am happy. It's tiring to be alert and keep an eye, especially after what happened to G. But well, am not complaining, this is what I have to do, as parents, comes together in the package if I want to have kids. 

G's not interested with toys or the TV. When Kz is playing with something, G comes and attack, and vice-versa. So, they fight - all the time. Here's their rack. Would you be interested with this? Do you find it impossible that G doesn't even like one thing from this loot?

Ok, now come lunch. Lunch when I'm alone is simple. I only cook simple food. I will be making something like this - again. Soupy noodles with egg and assorted balls. Boring?

After the kids nap, my turn to eat. No, I don't sleep when the kids sleep. That's the time for me to eat and do house chores. I don't eat instant noodles all the time, but if I want something fast (so that I can start doing my house chores) this is the easiest thing I can whip up - Mamee Chef tomyam instant noodles! *Slurp*

Yep, I'll be eating this in my smelly pyjamas, oily face, messy hair, oohh with a stinky mouth too. *I only brush my teeth when I shower in the afternoon after both of them nap*

So dear readers, I guess this is how my holiday will look like - from this Saturday until next Wednesday. Happy holidays!

Starting Young

NO, I'm NOT a tiger mum who force my baby to read a book at the age of 8 months. As if I can force him if he doesn't want to. 

But I always think two things: Start young, and start from home.

I started Kenzie with story books, nursery rhymes and flash cards at around 8 months of age, then by the age of 9 months or so, I exposed him to phonics (DVD) and also showing him alphabetical wooden puzzles while reciting the phonics with each alphabet. Before he turned 12 months, he knew his complete phonics from "Aah" to "Zzz" and some simple ABC's.

Oh, here's Kenzie boy when he was around 1+. Look at all his educational activities (except sleeping, hehe). Please note that he enjoyed it very much, ok? He chose these himself on the toys rack (over dinosaurs and wagons and trucks and guns) and I did NOT and would NOT force him to do things that he didn't like.

So to be fair, I started baby G with the same activity. But baby G has different personalities with his elder brother. He doesn't seem to be very interested in books, or when I'm reading to him. Unlike his elder brother, he would concentrate and listen to me when I was reading. His elder brother was very interested in books, numbers, alphabets and shapes before he turned 1.

Baby G would lick and chew on almost anything. Flash cards, books, cardboard, you name it. And last night when I was singing nursery rhymes to him from the book, he ignored me and kept targeting at the remote control (to chew). I continued singing anyway, LOL. I treat this as our bonding time.

Isn't baby G a cutie pie? Oh, I love smelling that bald head and I can do so for hours!

By the way, just for sharing, the below video is one of Kenzie boy's favourite phonics video. Wah, I "behtahan" because it is very "disco-ish". It is very "pop" and way too "noisy" for me. Maybe I am old already and cannot take the "loudness" of the video. 

Whenever Kenzie boy watches this video, I turn giddy and feel like screaming. But you may like it if you are a hip-pop person. ~ LOL. Enjoy.

*Please please, if you have time to layan, check out this video, k? I guess most kids (and adults) will like this (I like it too ok, but if I have to listen to this 100x a day with full blast volume, I think I will go cuckoo).

/a/ - "aah"

/b/ - "buh"

/c/ - "keh"

/d/ - "duh"

/e/ - "ehh"

and so on........

Would You?

When Kenzie boy was still a baby, I told myself that I would not do these, not until he reached 1 year old:

1) No TV 

2) No Tab or Ipad (for games, etc)

3) No YouTube

But, I broke all my own rules when he was just as young as 1 month old!

1) I let him watch the TV when I needed to do house chores

I strapped him on the bouncer, on the DVD, and he would quietly watch until I finished my house chores. Each time I let him watch the TV, I felt guilty, but I needed to do my chores and have some me-time too. How?

2) I gave him the Tab when we went out for dinners or eating out in restaurants. 

That way, we could eat in peace for at least half an hour or more. Before we decided to bring the Tab out, he would not sit still when we were eating. The hubs needed to carry him and walk around, while I hurriedly ate. When I was done, I would carry him around and the hubs would eat. We hated attending wedding dinners because we really could not enjoy the dinner with a toddler around. Not to mention the long hours, from 7pm-11pm and the couple only marched-in around 8.30pm. The toddler would get pretty restless by then. 

The Tab solved everything.

3) Kenzie boy started watching YouTube as early as a few months old because he saw us watching the YouTube. So he was curious and wanted to know what was it, and not long after that, he could swipe and select his own programs from the Tab. Now, Kenzie boy types on his own what he wants to watch.

Example: He types "Wheels On The Bus", and all things related to the song will appear. 

He even knows the developers such as "Muffin Song" or "Hooplakidz", so when he types those words, all nursery rhymes and programs developed by Hooplakidz will appear.

Not bragging, but just for my own record:

1) He knows his (complete) phonics by 10 months

2) He knows his numbers by 14 months

3) He knows how to recite A-Z by 15 or 16 months

4) He knows how to write (on the doodle) A-Z and 1-10 by 24 months

5) He can now type, spell and read! Write anything on the doodle, he can read it out. Even "Maggi mee kari" or "Selamat Hari Raya". I tried letting him read Peter & Jane 3A, and he reads like they are peanuts.

And from where and how did he know everything? 

Yes, YouTube.

So, would you, like me too, let your kids play with the Tab and watch YouTube?

I know it's not good to let them start young on this kinda gadgets, but: 

Would you, like me too, give in, when you wanted to do house chores or rest or need a break or have some me-time?

Would you turn to the gadgets for help when you want to have a peaceful dinner or when you are eating out?

Would you let them learn from the YouTube so that they could learn more? Or would you, like me (initially), insist that you can teach them yourself, read stories to them and teach them ABC's and 123's every night after coming back from work.

Sorry for my long-winded-ness. but here are my two boys, age 2.5 years and 6 months, watching the YouTube yesterday. I was down with flu, the hubs was not around, I felt giddy, but I still needed to do house chores, wash clothes and hang clothes and mop and vacumn and cook. How? 

Would you have done this if you were me? 

Kenzie Boy And His Nursery Ryhmes

Just to record down the moment of my boy singing nursery rhymes.
Ahem, he's just 2+ and he can read well.

Little Jack Horner

Rock A Bye Baby

Mulberry Bush

Jack & Jill

Baa-Baa Black Sheep

Hey Diddle Diddle

Mary Mary Quite Contrary

The Emergency - Babysitting 1 Baby & 2 Toddlers Alone!

Occasion ~ Emergency Babysitting

My neighbour SOS-ed for my help on Saturday morning around 8.15am. Luckily that time I had finished vacuming the house and bathed Baby G.

The nanny could not find her house keys. And this neighbour needs to work on Saturday (the nanny takes care of he kid on Saturday for half day). She just switched to this new job one month ago, so she felt uneasy to have to apply for emergency leave, hence, I agreed to help (although that time, I wasn't sure whether I could handle), but I still said yes.

She left her kid at my place, empty handed. No milk, no bottles, no clothes, no diapers. But hey, not a problem because I have everything she needed in my house.

This is the kid whom I had to babysit - Baby C

After bath @ 9am

Breakfast @ 9.15am ~ cereal

Then hard-boiled eggs

She finished one egg

Playtime

Snack time - apples

Milk time @ 10.45am - I gave her Kenzie's formula, and luckily she accepted (using Baby G's old bottle and teat)

More playtime

I cooked porridge for lunch

Lunch @ 12pm

Dessert after lunch ~ yogurt

Rest time

Baby C finally dozed off in the afternoon @ 12.45pm

I felt clever. I felt satisfied. I felt successful. I felt happy that I could help. I felt good.  

I never thought I could handle 3 kids (1 baby and 2 toddlers) alone (although it just for half a day). I think if I have 3 children, I still can handle. I am a supermom, remember? *Self-praise*

Stickers First, Then Lunch

17.08.2013

Did some stickers activity with Kenzie. The sticker book and stickers were bought by my mum. Only Hello Kitty sticker book was available, who cares if it looks girly?

We did some vegetables and fruits stickers. Oh and some Mr. Men characters as well.

See his OCD gesture? He made a fuss when he could not stick properly in the book and when the glue kena his fingers.

And then, lunch. Ikan bilis porridge with wolfberries, carrots and potatoes.

He ate the whole plate, yay !