Goodbye 2008

We have decided to usher in 2009 at home. Not too keen on jostling with other New Year revellers.

Here's wishing everyone a Peaceful and Happy New Year 2009!

The First Big Cut

Julian cut his foot today (30 Dec 2008). It was his first serious cut. Fortunately, it didn't require any stitches. Julian didn't cry during dressing. Brave boy. Mummy & Daddy are proud of you!

[Update: He was playing with a calendar at that time. So, we suspect it was the calendar paper that cut his foot]


[Julian with his dressed foot]


[Julian's wound after cleaning]

Korean Kuisine

On 20 Dec 2008, we decided to try Korean food for dinner at Kim Chi Restaurant in Tanjung Bungah. The main meal was quite nice. We ordered Yook Ke Jey (a spicy soup) (RM20) and Nak Ji (octopus noodle) (RM30). They served it with a range of side dishes, which unfortunately, we couldn't quite appreciate.

Julian enjoyed his newly stocked Promina cereal from Indonesia (Thanks, Gee Koh!)


[Vegetable side dishes]


[Octopus noodle]


[Spicy soup]

Julian at 19 Months

Julian turned 19 months on 28 December 2008. He:

• likes to imitate what adults do
  
• loves drinking from a straw; sometimes he holds water in his mouth for a while then lets it drool out...!!!
  
• is showing some signs of wanting to wean; he quite often asks for bottle milk at night
  
• doesn't hesitate to spit out food that fails to please his palate
  
• doesn't hesitate to clean his dirty hands (after eating) on us
  
• is throwing tantrums more often
  
• is showing signs of becoming a TV addict :-(
  
• has increased his vocabulary: "no-meh" or "meh-meh" (snowman), and "ta" (star)
  

[Sliding fun]

Christmas 2008 Proceedings

This year's Christmas was spent in Penang. Mum & Dad came up from Menglembu. In the morning we attended mass at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, where we sang in the choir. Julian was in the care of Ah Kong & Poh Poh who were also up in Penang.

We had Christmas lunch at Sea Palace Restaurant in Taman Pekaka. Dessert was home-baked date cake :-)

We opened presents and rested at home in the afternoon so Julian could have a nap. In the evening, we had dinner at New World Park.


[Our presents]


[Julian's bicycle from Ah Kong & Poh Poh. Grandpa & Grandma got Julian a remote control car]


[Julian's rocking horse]


[At New World Park]

Christmas 2008

We are as usual highly unprepared for Christmas but we are glad that we will be spending Christmas with our loved ones in Penang.

Wishing one and all a Blessed Christmas and Happy New Year.


[We decorated one of the walls in our apartment with the nativity scene, stars and Christmas cards]

Stacking Sensation

Julian's latest fascination is stacking objects. He would exclaim "oo" or "oooh" when doing so. This can occupy him for quite a while (for now).


[Stacking stuff]

He is now able to climb onto the dining chair by himself (horror of horrors!). He also likes to sit on the chair like an adult.

On the gourmet front, it's a good thing he likes feeding himself because we can sometimes get him to eat something he has rejected from us by letting him feed himself with it :-)

Speech-wise, he is fond of saying "moe" (mole) and "knog, knog" (knock, knock). "Ba" is 'Barney' and many things are "pak" to him (including Mummy!). Funny thing is he seems able to say "mama" when he can't see, but wants mummy. When mummy is present physically, he would never call mama!

Butterscotch Bread

We're not really fans of sweets, toffees, etc. but after day-in-day-out of buying the usual white loaf of bread, we decided to try Gardenia's Butterscotch bread yesterday. They cost a hefty RM4.00 but as the tag line says, they taste "really, really, really good!!!" :o). Yes, with 3 exclamation marks even. It has milk and butterscotch chips embedded in each slice. Yummy!

The Barber of Sungai Dua: A Reprise

We took Julian to the barber for a second time last Saturday (6 Dec 2008). As soon as we entered the shop, he said "mai" (hokkien for "don't want").

On this trip, it was also time for daddy's haircut. So, we let Julian watch daddy and other customers get their haircut hoping he would like to join the bandwagon. As it turns out, he doesn't subscribe to the herd mentality. He refused to have the cloth over his clothes or the towel over his shoulders; and he started wailing soon after the barber started work.

Luckily we opted for a crew cut and therefore precision was not the order of the day. Plus, it would make the next trip to barber later than sooner!


[I would like it "short on top"... pardon the pun]


[Julian "blown his top"]


[Julian never "short on cuddles"]

Julian at 18 Months

Julian turned 18 months on 28 November 2008. He is about 9.9kg.

On the talking front, still no "mummy" yet but has progressed to saying "dehduh" (daddy). Other sounds/words that he has been saying of late: "dohdoh" (dolphin), "boh" (boat), "moak" (smoke), "ba" (bird, plane, sheep), "mmm" (cow), "mau" (mouse), "pa" (pig). He has also learnt to say "no" in Hokkien, i.e. "mai". For "lion", he usually raises his hands and tries to roar like a lion.

The last month has seen him hooked on a nursery rhyme CD. Armed with his nursery rhyme board book, ABC book, and his 1st birthday photo album, he happily points out the relevant pages. He can even anticipate certain songs, i.e. he would say "pahpah" just before "Popeye the Sailorman" comes on, or "oh!" for "Bingo".

On the tube, his favourite, we were told, is Wonderpets. He also watches Teletubbies.

He was also seen tumbling on the bed and has even sommersaulted - much to our amusement and horror. Photos of him sommersaulting are hard to capture because he gets distracted by the camera. Daddy has also taught him to play "set, set, set, bom, bom, bom" (a popular children's clapping game), which he loves.

He's also displaying bossy director traits, ordering adults to do things for him like pull his buzzy bee, retrieve toys that have gone out of reach, etc. Must keep this in check.


[Julian and Mummy at the Botanic Gardens]


[Don't Mess With Me]


[Sommersault!]