The journey begins (Part 1)

I'm feeling a little bit of everything, feeling overwhelmed is the correct word. I am excited that I am finally going home but a little heavy hearted for leaving a such a nice town as Malacca. We have established some good friendships here, Malaccans are generally very down-to-earth people and it's so easy to sit and chill around them, they share about their lives, they are willing to go that extra mile to help, now...this is a huge difference between Penangites and Malaccans.  We're going to miss them. Bidding farewells is never easy. But life moves forward, and I am glad that we are finally going back to the place where I know we belong.

So...the journey begins.

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges and sacrifices...

I have been asked many times, "Are you a full time mother now?" What is the definition of a full-time mother? 

 

Being home with my children is the best thing that I could possibly do in my life, I never really considered carrying on with my business once my sweet baby arrived.  Working from home was never my plan. 2 years ago when Hayley came into our lives, I made a decision to ‘let go’ of my business, and to let my partner who is also a good friend of mine to manage it, the least I could do was to be a sleeping partner, as that's the only way I could sit back, (I thought) and receive a small income, best of both worlds, right?  Things did not work out the way I planned and I had to make a choice that was not mine. Long story cut short, I have since been a  working-at-home mom.  Yes, I have the flexibility to work at my own pace, I can choose my own hours (not all the time though), take time off when needed.

 

2 years later, today, I adore what I do and it would be hard to give it up, especially when we are talking about the raise in the living standards which call for double income earners per family, about frugality and money management, is it still possible to raise a family on single income? The impacts of having a sole breadwinner in a family can be challenging in this season of life. One can only imagine. However, it’s not all perfect. There have been hard times as well. As a business owner, you know how easy it can be to push yourself too hard, to let the lines between personal and work time blur too much, to allow priorities to become out of order, and for relationships to suffer.  A business owner who works at home, I am required to be on call to provide urgent support at almost any time and in this aspect, I find it really hard to know how, when and where to keep my laptop and smartphone in check. It is an issue I deliberately manage every single day, though not always successfully.

 

So, solution? I self-imposed a strict working schedule, only check emails in the morning, usually in the wee hours of the morning when she is fast asleep or during her naps in the afternoons. I needed a strict schedule for two main reasons:

• even if there was no urgent matter looming, I found myself responding to so many e-mails some of which do not need urgent attention, so much so that I couldn’t get the things in the house done, like preparing meals for the whole family, laundry which usually piles up for a week, running errands, etc. 
 
• if I did find an urgent issue pending it would add so much stress to my day, and to my little girl who could sense the tension

However, my so-called plan backfires most of the time. Just last week, I was busy attending to a flurry of emails and a critical conference call with my associates in the US on an important issue. It lasted for hours.  Would anything be more important than preparing a breakfast meal for a growing toddler? My girl had to skip the most important meal of the day, poor little girl.  I know I should not thank Disney Junior for her availability to baby sit my girl the entire morning, but the way things turned out, left me with no choice.

Sacrifices have to be made.  Things I have sacrificed, but have learned the hard way.

TIME with God. I have heard this over and over again, "just when we think we don't have enough time, that's when we need to make time" 

 

TIME with my girl.  Knowing that she will be in preschool soon, I just want to spend more time with her.

TIME with my dearest one.  Need I say more?
 
Beauty sleep 
 
Work out.  How I need that!

I am not regretting the decision that I've made but I have at times regretted the way I have done things, which could have been better or more efficient.  Along the way, I have had to make a lot of changes and adjustments to work less but smarter and....I’m still learning.

- Michele - 

I am 2 years 3 months old

Hello Por Por, Gong Gong, Mama, Ye-Ye, aunties , uncles, jie-jie and gor-gor,  I am now 2 years 3 months old.  Here are some updates about me.

 

 

                                                        `~ I chipped my front tooth falling ~

How I grow

 

• Growth Chart: 15kg : 92cm

 

• I like the feeling being free, running around. M&D always have a hard time getting hold of me whenever I’m in the playground, parks or in the malls.
   

• Whenever I see my friends jumping up and down, I want to jump. Each time I read the sentence in one of the Peter & Jane book “We are jumping up and down”,  I’d bend my knees and jerk upwards but my feet never left the ground. I still can’t jump. I hope I can jump soon.

 
• I often have to look at my feet to keep from stepping on things that are in my way

• My hair does not seem to grow much, it’s just long enough for a really small hair clip. (As you can see here)

 

• I just found out how fun it is to walk backwards and I enjoy walking backwards now, I have lost count how many times I fell walking backwards.

How I talk
 

• I can carry out simple/short conversation now.

 

• There are a few phrases that I really like, most of which I have learnt from books and I use it often in my daily conversation with M&D and my friends.  Sometimes I will say it out of the blue and M&D and uncles/aunties would be laughing out loud. 
 

o   How that bump made us jump (whenever we drive over a road bump, I will say this and M&D just could not stop laughing)

o   How can that be? (Sometimes when somethings don't work, I will say this)

o   What a sunny day (Usually when mommy takes me out for a walk)

o   Wow...awesome

o   Oh dear

o   I can't get it, help me

 

o  Funny sunny (when I see something funny or when M&D are laughing over something)

o  I don't get it

 

o  I don't know about that

o  Thank you God for everything, Amen

What I have learnt

 

• I can say A-Z, count 1-50 but I can’t write the alphabet and numbers, I hope I can write soon. 
 

• I know my phonics and I can spell words.  However, I have problem pronouncing words with the letter 'L'.  For example, for the word 'Please', I will say 'Pis'.  

• I can recognize words and read a book now, but if there are words that I don't know, I will point it out to mommy and she will teach me how to read it, that's how I learn new words everyday. The Peter & Jane series have taken me through a fantastic reading journey and thank you Mommy for homeschooling me for the past 1 1/2 years.

 

• I can answer simple math question like additions, (on number blocks and iphone apps because I can’t write numbers yet), but I still don’t understand “take-away”, I usually get confused and then I will walk away, I give up easily for things that I don’t understand.  

• I can color but I usually complain to mommy, "I don't want to colour,it's b-o-r-i-n-g"
 

 

• I understand why some things happen, like turning on a switch makes the light come on; whenever I’m in the car, I will say,“Daddy is driving the car, car is moving fast” “TV Remote pis, I want to watch cartoon” "phone battery died, mommy pis charge your phone".
   

How I Get Along with Others
 

• M&D said that I'm one of those slow-to-warm-up children when faced with new surroundings/people. Whenever I'm in a big group such as gatherings with other children and adults around, I usually cling to mommy or play right next to mommy or daddy. I typically don't open up until when we're about ready to go, so it's always a missed opportunity for me to meet new friends in a group. I love playing with other children. I hope I will outgrow my shyness soon.

• I call other children who are older than me ‘Baby jie-jie, Baby gor gor” I call babies who are younger than me “Oh-Baby”.

 

• I like to shake people's hand.

• If you ask me to do something I will usually do it, but if I’m reading, playing with my toys, or watching my favorite cartoon, I will play ignore

What I Can Do for Myself
 

• I can use a spoon pretty well now but I prefer to eat with my hands. Mealtime can be a messy affair at home and restaurants.
 

Toys/Play I Enjoy

 

• I love Jigsaw Puzzles, daddy bought me a new set of Mickey puzzles and I’m loving it.

 

• I like to push the toy baby pram around with my favorite baby doll in it.

 
• I like my new lego set, I can build a train, robot and tall buildings with it. Thank you Aunty Joyce for the lego set.

 
• I like going to the playground because I love going on the slide and see-saw, I want to go on the swing too but Daddy says I’m too young. 

 

 

 

 

• I like to watch cartoon but my TV time is limited to 30minutes each day.

 
• I like to play the memory card game that Mommy bought for me from the US.

Activity I like most

 

Books - M&D visit the bookshop very often, and will usually end up buying a lot of books for me and for themselves. These are some of my favorite books:

 

The Lost Rabbit (Topsy and Tim)

Yellow Boots Red Boots

Farmer Fred

Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat In The Hat”

Dr. Seuss’ “The Big Honey Hunt”

Dr. Seuss’ “Put me in the Zoo"

Three Little Pigs

Heidi (my all time favorite)

Red Riding Hood

Dick Whittington

Jack and the Beanstalk

Cheeky Little Kittens

Little Explorer

 

Things I do not like

 

• Milk and Corn Flakes
 
• Colouring
 
• Counting (Numbers)
 
• Being pushed in a stroller
 
• Barbie Doll. Mommy gave me her Barbie Doll which she kept for a long time, but I just don't like to play with it, mommy says I'm very special or maybe I'm too young to play dressing-up.
 
• Potty. I think I'm not ready
 
• Pacifier.  I have stopped using the pacifier since last year. M&D are very happy that I'm finally weaned off pacifier.

Till my next post. 

 
~  Hayley ~

Happy Birthday!

September 24th was hubby's birthday. We had a simple birthday celebration.

Like most birthdays, hubby always tries to shrug it off like it does not matter and tells me not to make a big deal over his birthday.  His quote of life: Birthdays/Valentines/etc are simply just another day.

But hubby, (if you are reading this), I beg to differ.  Birthday is a time to celebrate who we are, how far we have come and to celebrate in advance what lies in the year ahead. It's also a time to allow those around us to celebrate the special 'you' that God has created and placed in our lives.

To the man that I have known for close to a decade now, thank you for being who you are, for being the amazing father that you are to our princess, a caring and loving son and above all, for being my wonderful husband~the love of my life.   I know my life would not have meant half as much, without you in it.

 Happy Birthday, my dear.

Oopsie...where is the candle?

I 'mm' good

I took Hayley for her Kindergarten Readiness Assessment at her school today. (This may not be new for preschools nowadays). Not sure if it's a good idea or not to have your kids go through this, especially when your kids are under 2). But, there is not much of a choice for me. Initially I was quite worried over the conversational assessment, as I was not told that there would be one. She still baby talks a lot at home.

Here's the conversational assessment

Principal: What is your name?
H: My name is Hayee Foo (she still can't pronounce her name accurately as yet...:)
Principal: How old are you?
H: Two (we always tell her she is 2)
Principal: How are you today?
H: I mm good (her way of saying 'am')

I said it came as big surprise because I never expected that she could understand the questions asked and responded in her own way. Do I have to thank Barney, or Pooh Bear or some of the movies she has been watching? The question 'How are you today'? I am still wondering where she picked that up from.

I'm so proud of you, baby! (Mommy is getting a little emotional at this very moment, penning this down).

My Baby is Growing up!

Short conversation between daddy and little Hayley, that took place this morning.

Daddy: Hayley girl, daddy's going to work, see you in the evening
(Daddy was escorted to the door with a..
Hayley: buh-bye daddy
(then came the hug)

Quite a heartwarming sight, I must say. My little girl is growing up..just too fast. I was also wondering at the same time, if I was the one leaving the house for work every morning, would my little girl do just the same? I don't have the answer but being a stay-at-home mom, you have her beside you the whole day, every day, 24/7, it might just be different kind of experience, an experience that stays with you for a lifetime. I love being a stay at home mom, no regrets for the decision that I made 19months ago and I don't think I will trade off anything to be with her, nurturing her and sharing my part of the world with her. It's a joy to be able to be there with her when she took her first steps, when she uttered her first word and witnessing her intellectual growth in every aspect.

Milestones

It seems like Hayley had her first birthday just yesterday, but today she is officially 18 months old! She is less and less baby-like and more and more toddler-like everyday and she could not be more awesome. She amazes us every day with new words and signs, adorable mannerisms and even spontaneous hugs and kisses.



Intellectual milestones

13mos. - Mastered shape sorting and matching skill, she learned how to place the shapes in the correct spaces without any help. At 17mos+ she still digs it out to play with it.

14mos - At 14mos, she has mastered her colors and alphabet. She loves colours. At this tender age, she already has her favorite colour - Yellow.

15mos.

Numbers – She knows her numbers from 1-10 and she could arrange the numbers (block) in order of 1-10. Sometimes, she got mixed up with 6 and 9. She adores this game from the iphone apps called '123 Counting'. She counts the number of objects and select the correct number. She would clap her hands and signs 'good' when she gets it right. A highly recommended game for toddlers.

16-17mos

Alphabet - She is able to do ordering (A-Z, using alphabet blocks).

Words - Recognizing some words from books/cards and matching words to pictures
=====

Language milestones

Words she can say now

Apple
Baby
Bye-bye
Poopoo
Papaya (papaya means something else to her)
Um (her version of umbrella)
Ambuls (ambulance, she learns this word from iphone apps)
Peter
Daddy
Mama
Papa
Moo moo (cow)
Doog (Dog)
Abajik (Abacus)
Mm (milk)
Schot (scotts emulsion)
Bee
"Sshhh" to hush someone
Chi (cheese)
A-me (Amen)

She says “bay-bee!” when she sees other toddlers and babies, in life or in pictures. She would kiss the babies or dolls on the pictures. She knows her pooh bear is “baby.”

She clearly understands tons of stuff, and follows simple instructions like “put that back where it goes please” or sometimes, I will ask her to look for my things (I’m a disorganized mom, you see), “Darling, can you help find mommy’s handphone?” (It's amazing she always knew where my things were, Observant? I think so), or “Darling, can you help find mommy’s hairclip? (She always tries to clip it onto her somewhat scanty hair, and when it slips off and she giggles out loud). She is just amazing.

What amazes us as parents, is her ability to recognize the words in the books and cards, some easy and some really difficult ones. She just loves this letter and word recognition game.

I was trying to think of all the words she knows :- (I will usually say the words and she points to the words)

abacus, aeroplane, ark, ball, balloon, boat, apple, door, dog, cat, umbrella, ducklings, daddy, hello, Jesus, baby, king, queen, book, oranges, hippo, helicopter, flower, goat, Heidi, leaves, garden, Peter, Jane, shop, porridge, sun, star, tiger, lion, monkey, penguin, vegetables, comb, hair, zebra, car, fox, pig, ladybug, cow, duck, moon, boy, girl, hand, bed, eye, foot, mouth, cheek, chin, nose, forehead, ears, arm, finger, banana, yellow, red, green, pink, purple, green, blueberries, pea, pear, grapes, tricycle, dress, piano, pot, fish, frog, giraffes, horse, snake, wasp, rabbit, awake, asleep, elephant, big, little, Goliath, purple, rainbow, circle, square, heart, oval, rectangle, triangle, bees, bag, Noah, cockerel, goose, water,

She is able to match all of the above words to the pictures that I arranged randomly. (A bit of hard work on mommy’s side, having to find those pictures, usually I'd go for printables from the web☺)

She looks more carefully at the pictures in books now, and points to different things in the illustrations. So everyday, she learns new words and things, and those that look or sound unfamiliar to her, she stares intently and signs to me, waiting for me to tell her what each one is.

Oh, did I say that papaya actually means something else to her? To little Hayley, banana is called papaya. Whenever she sees bananas, she says Papaya, we always correct her but she insists that it’s called papaya.

Since last month, it has been an EXPLOSION of language for my little darling at home. She realized that using signs and words can help her get what she wants, beyond just food and milk. For instance, everytime after shower, she would point to the cotton swab and lotion because she wanted me to clean her ears and give her a sebamed massage. She loves being 'sebamed-ed', probably because she gets some oil on her hands and she can suck it off of her fingers and you will see me screaming my lungs out during this after-bath time.

She is also getting more specific with her food requests. She points to the general areas of the kitchen she knows things come from. For instance, If she’s pointing at the fridge, she probably wants her apples, yoghurt, Laughing Cow cube cheese or Scotts Emulsion. The counter is definitely her Gardenia bread (She loves them), cookies or bananas. But when I ask her to clarify, and say the word out loud, she would say 'schot' or 'papayas' (for bananas, that is)

Pottying

She would tell me with sign language or say 'ng ng' or 'poo poo' (or sometimes by getting her potty and bringing it to me) that she either had to pee or poo or that she JUST did. I am excited and thought maybe we could do the real potty training this month. Yes, if I'm not too lazy.










Social milestones
It’s so cliché but my little girl is a ray of sunshine. She’s quick to smile and she can brighten an entire room with her sweet voice. She's giving us kisses and hugs and she blows kisses to everyone she meets, friends, relatives, her doctor and even strangers who stopped by to play with her.



And she absolutely hates the playpen though, it doesn't matter what toys are in there, she just does not want to be in there. This is what happens in the playpen.



Our little darling has got the rhythm in her and she just loves dancing to any type of music (whether she's in the car) or in the malls.

She loves pretending to talk on the phone and when I get on the phone she'll pretend to get on hers and start mocking me. She loves wearing shoes and asks for them all of the time. She likes wearing them around the house even when she doesn't need to wear them. I've caught her already trying to put my shoes on.

During my devotional/prayer time with her, she will have both her hands clasped together with her heads bowed down, sometimes she looked up just to peep at me, and when I say Amen, she will start clapping her hands. I can't tell you how very blessed I am to be able to do this with her everyday.


Some of her favorite things


Her favorite books for the past 2 months - Heidi (she loves Heidi, wants me to read it to her in the morning after breakfast, after lunch and bedtime, I can recite the whole book to you now, hahaha) Peter and Jane (early readers), Noah and the Ark, Baby's First Bible Stories, The Very Busy Spider, Ladybird - Big and Little (learning opposites now), Ladybird - Counting



Her favorite cartoon/movie

The Sound of Music is a huge hit with little Hayley. She's seen it dozens of times now, (we would only show her the musical numbers although she has watched the movie with us once, from the beginning to the end, to which we were surprised that she actually sat there with us right through). She loves Do-Re-Mi, My Favorite Things, So Long, Farewell, and especially Lonely Goatherd, she would clap and dance along.

She is okay with Barney now, so will be playing that for a change. Honestly, as much as I love Sound of Music (talking about growing up with the film), I'm getting a little bored with it now.

Her current favorite toy/game -

Word puzzle, picture puzzle (Bought from Daiso, only cost RM5 for 3 mini puzzles, she adores it)

Her self-invented "Stack and Topple" game - she stacks all her books, then pull a copy from the bottom and watch the books topple over.

She loves her 'Sketch and Erase' Board, I'd usually leave her alone, and she'd scribble to her heart's content, but most of the time, she brings it to me and have mommy draw for her. (but the fact is, mommy can't draw, so mommy usually ends up teaching her how to write the alphabet, numbers).

Abacus - She loves the abacus we got for her from Ikea. She enjoys sliding the beads back and forth as she counts 1-10. When she gets bored with counting, she would dig out her color flash cards or any toys and point the beads of each color to the matching colored cards/toys. Sometimes, I could hear her saying 'blue'.


I can't believe she's growing up so fast. Writing these updates kind of makes me sad thinking about how fast time is going by. At least I'm getting to spend lots of time with her and enjoying these years.