Jianna turned 26 months old on 30 May 2014. Here are some updates:
- She can hold her own in fights and arguments with her brothers.
- She has started weaning herself off the diaper :-) She is able to tell us when she wants to go to the toilet, but we don't feel confident to let her go completely off the diaper yet. We insist on her wearing a diaper at bed time and when we go out.
- Speaking of weaning, we are also in the process of weaning her from the breast. She's off the breast in the day, but still can't let go of her night 'fixes'. She doesn't sleep through the night yet...still gets up once or occasionally, twice.
- She seems to enjoy spicy food :-)
- She has now joined her brothers in their profound interests in aeroplanes. She has learnt to imitate flights taking off and play aeroplanes and airport like her brothers.
[Clipping something under her armpit(s), she would say, "I have fever."]
Julian turned 7 years old on 28 May 2014.
This year his birthday fell on the first day of the mid-year school holidays. We had a simple birthday dinner for him in Double Good restaurant in Penang with three grandaunts and his aunt from KL who was up for the school holidays.
[Ultraman and Spiderman figurines for Julian]
For the record, thanks to Julian, the mirror in the car visor is now officially the CCTV in the car. It's used to monitor the children in the back seats to make sure they are behaving themselves :-)
On 18 May 2014 we took the kids to the Taiping Zoo.
As usual, we took the train ride round the zoo and the kids enjoyed seeing the animals. Then we walked so the kids could a closer look at the animals. Since the train ride fare is already included in the entrance ticket, we took the train again to get to the exit :-)
We were lucky that it only started to rain when we were almost leaving. The kids came home with an Angry Bird balloon each as souvenir from the zoo.
This visit was actually upon the request of Justin. He even brought along a plastic film camera loaded with pretend paper photos inside. When we put together the idea of the zoo, camera, and balloons, we realised that Justin was realising what he saw in a Charlie and Lola cartoon episode *shakes head*.
[All aboard!]
[Jianna at the Taiping Zoo]
Read about our previous visits: 2012 and 2008.
On 8 May 2014 we welcome our Yamaha U3 upright piano.
The kids were extremely fascinated with the hammer action and frequently asked to open the top to see the hammers move as the piano is being played.
Julian practises his pieces quite often on the piano, Justin occasionally, and Jianna hammers her own version whenever she feels like it. Daddy and Mummy are also happy to hammer a few tunes every now and then :-)
[Music machine]
We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on 1 May 2014.
Naturally we spent the day with our children as it was a public holiday. This year we had a visit from a friend who happened to be in town for a short holiday, and my eldest sister who was up for a family event in the weekend.
Keeping with our tradition, we lit our Unity Candle and said our anniversary prayer.
[10 years on...the light shines on :-)]
Jianna turned 25 months old on 30 April 2014. Here are some updates:
- She can retort.
- She seems able to reason/justify using the word 'so'. E.g. She would say (on the use of scissors), "Very dangerous so Jianna cannot take the scissors. Justin cannot take also because very dangerous."
- She seems to suffer from some 'separation anxiety'. When Julian goes for piano class, she would cry and keep saying "I want Julian".
- In school, she's got several new playmates in her group. We were told that she is the 'teacher', telling the new children not to cry, to sleep, etc. *slap head*
[For the love of bags]
[Jianna]
Julian turned 83 months old on 28 April 2014.
He has begun learning the freestyle for swimming. He started off with the breaststroke but seems to have problems with overall coordination for this stroke. Apparently this is not something unusual as even some adults find difficulty doing the breaststroke. Hopefully he'll be more adept at the freestyle...
He had one of his upper tooth extracted on 28 April as it was already very loose.
[Photo taken by request of the model :-)]
[3rd milk tooth out]
Justin turned 57 months old on 25 April 2014.
- Recently he took to tucking in his t-shirt - something he had refused to do previously no matter what reasoning we tried. I asked him why he tucked in his shirt. His response: "Teacher S said I look handsome when tuck in shirt!"
- He seems good at twisting his way out of so-called 'unfavourable' situations. E.g. When told he can't have a chocolate which he took when it's not the appropriate time, he would say, 'I look only,' or when he wants to play something but is told that the time is not right, he would say, 'I mean play tomorrow (or any other day)'.
- He loves to draw. Every day he would come home with a few pieces of drawing - and he puts quite a bit of effort into his work!
- He's quite crazy over drawing calendars.
- As part of his creative play he likes to give names to toys and people. His name for Daddy is Clarence and Mummy's is Jessie. His new name? Bar Classic Bicycle Kong. (Update 1 May 2014: Upon investigation, we have found out how he came up with his name. 'Bar' is from Barney (the dinosaur), 'Classic' is from a CD at his babysitter's, 'Bicycle' is from home, and 'Kong' is from Hong Kong.)
- He is quite expressive of his 'displeasures', often vocally, sometimes physically.
Here's Justin making a postcard.
[At the start of the project]
[Applying glue on the stamp]
[Putting the stamp]
[Writing the address]
[Tadaa...final product]
Wednesday, 23 April 2014 saw Julian down with HFMD. He was fine in the morning but when Bart fetched Julian from school, he had blisters and ulcers in his mouth and on his hands. A visit to the doctor confirmed HFMD. He was given 2 days MC in view of the weekend. On Sunday, we took him to the doctor again and his MC was extended for another 2 days. He went back to school on Wednesday, 30 April 2014.
We were stressed when we learnt of his HFMD due to our earlier experience 2 years ago.
On Thursday and Friday, he could hardly eat anything. Yoghurt drink and milk was his main diet on Thursday. He couldn't even eat yoghurt - complaining that it was too hard. He only ate taufufah (soft bean curd) on Friday. He was also lethargic and spent a lot of time in bed (which is good for him). On Saturday, thankfully, he could already eat solids although his appetite was not so good. By Sunday he could eat and was generally alert. His mouth ulcers were almost gone, but there were still spots on his lips, hands and feet.
We're praying very hard for the other two children (and us) to be protected against the virus.
Julian turned 82 months old on 28 March 2014.
This month (March) he started piano lessons. We are pleased that he seems to enjoy it and is motivated to practise (on the organ) at home. Must look into getting a piano soon... :-)
[Julian doing his homework]
[Julian ready for his horse ride]
Justin turned 56 months old on 25 March 2014.
- He's been off diapers at night since early March. Yippee!
- He is our in-house fashion critic wannabe. His most recent critique is that Mummy doesn't wear dresses. He also told Mummy that she must wear dress for the children's birthdays.
- He engages in a lot of creative/imaginative play, and can often play on his own.
- He started music lessons this month (March) after attending a free trial lesson in the last week of February. It's a group lesson for keyboard.
[Justin inspecting a horse]
Although somewhat delayed, we would like to share with you (with permission) some of Julian's stories which he wrote at the end of last year at age 6+, during his kindy's year-end holiday programme. Errors are deliberately left in the story for authenticity.
Story #1: The princess has a pet
Once upon a time a little castle, there was a princess. One day, she had a pet. It was a puppy. She named her Sally, as her mother died. She was feeding her puppy, she take good care of her. Then she die like her moter. The End.
Story #2: The Witch and the Crocodile
Once upon a time, there was a witch. One day, as she was fishing, she saw something swimming in the river. She catch it. Then it was a crocodile. It was green, and it goblle the witch and the witch had died. The End.
Story #3: The woman, the father who had no child
One snowy Chrismas Eve, there was a woman and a father. They were very poor and had no children. The woman said, Hmmm...Let's hope we have a child on Chrismas. So the next day, they had a child. They calle Him Tom. He was tiny, he can grow, he can talk. Then they lived happyly ever after. The end.
Story #4: The man and the talking egg and banana
Once upon a time, there was a man. One day, as he was cooking, he took the egg begun to talk, the egg said, So I can't be fryed. and the banana begun to talk, It said, Hello my friend, I want to marry you. But the egg don't want to marry him. So it went away. The End.
Story #5: The princess and the apron
Once, there was a princess. As she was walking, she saw a woodsman. He said, you look beutiful to me, you can come to my party if you want. But the next day the princess went to the party, she saw there was lot's of food and drinks. They lived happyly every after. The End.
Here are some amusing conversations with the boys.
Justin and KFC
Passing-by the Greenlane KFC the other day, Daddy tested Justin.
Daddy: Justin, if you eat at KFC, would you be eating chicken, fish or pork?
Justin (without missing a beat): All also I don't eat!
We were all stunned, and then Mummy had a laughing fit. By the way, Justin is our little die-hard egg-atarian. Just goes to show how faulty adults' questions can be!
Julian and the porcupine
After the boys completed a task, Daddy rewarded them with a bottle of Vitagen each.
Julian: How much does it cost?
Daddy: RM1.20.
Julian: What an outrage!!
Daddy: Why?!
Julian: Too cheap!
Daddy: Why do you say it's cheap?
Julian: It's cheaper than a porcupine.
Daddy: ??!?!
