Dress Up Day @ School

Aston started nursery in July.  So far I'm quite satisfied with the teachers and the school.  Most importantly Aston enjoys going to school.  Well, in the morning he just have to create trouble.   He refuse to dress up quickly and he will give the excuse that he wants to play with his toys, but eventually he will asked to be dress up to go to school.  When school ends he refuse to go home.  Again, he said he wants to play with the "truck".   According to his teacher during play time usually he doesn't get a chance to play with the "truck" because it's usually occupied by his classmates.  Teacher said that he will forgo and play something else.  Not aggressive in nature which I'm so proud.  

So far, Aston had attended two dress up days.  One for Hari Raya cum Merdeka and the other for Deepavali.  Both days students were encouraged to dress up in their respective cultural attire or any cultural attire is also fine.  The school organised a little party whereby they introduced them to traditional snacks and they will have activities relating to the celebration.  For Hari Raya, parents require to prepare some snacks or drinks.  The school prepared some Raya cookies and some parents even brought Roti Jala.  I've chose to bring fruits.  As for Deepavali, the school prepared some putu mayam and iddli.

I still remembered I couldn't think of what to let Aston wear for his first party in school.  I was contemplating whether to buy him a set of Baju Melayu only to realise that they are quite pricey for a one time wear! I doubt it can last till next year.  So as I was trying to search online for cheaper alternatives I suddenly had this idea and this is what Aston wore for Hari Raya.

Inside white singlet by Fiffy, Shirt from Zara given by Aunty Chris and Sarong sew by Grandmama

And this is what my fruits skewers look like....

As for Deepavali daddy bought a set of Kurta Pyjama.  ( I think that's what they call them).  It comes with a set of top, pants, vest, and a shawl and because we bought it one day before Deepavali in Brickfields all that cost only RM30! What a bargain!  Anyway,  the whole set was a bit big for Aston but I find the top was OK except for the sleeves as it was a bit long which we can fold it up.  So, I had this brilliant idea again.  I only dress him up with the top and pair it with his own jeans and keep the rest of the attire for next year!

Aston end up not putting on the shawl.  

Doesn't he look so grown up in this photo? Missing my little baby already!

Post Holiday Syndrome or Jinx?

All of us had post holiday syndrome after we came back from Bali.  One girlfriend missed the early morning swim and another missed the outdoor toilet.  Their respective other halves missed the driver and the 5 star service.

Aahhhhh! It was all nice and although I can't say that I'm rejuvenated but I am really happy for the holiday maybe because I finally can feel what it's like to be a family of 3 without the extended families. Just the 3 of us....basically I can just put my legs up and lie on the sofa as and when I wish...have a cup of tea while Aston is napping....cutting fruits for Aston while he is just there playing.  ( I always imagine that while I'm cooking Aston is always playing nearby)  I guess this is my post holiday syndrome.

Back to reality! The next day after we came back I met up with my friends and everything was fine until I drove into someone's car when I came out of the parking without me realising until I reached home! Bleh! It was horrible! I felt so guilty and sorry for the car next to me.  Don't ask me how I don't realised it because I really didn't felt it.  All I felt was a bump which I thought I hit something hard on the road.  I stopped and looked back and everyone was minding their own business..no one was chasing after me so I thought oh no problem.  Lo and behold this is what happened!

The Damage

The recovery by Daddy's polishing.  TQ!

Now why do I say it's a post holiday syndrome or jinx? Well, this is what happen exactly the next day after we came back from Bangkok in May.

:(

Needless to say, we had to send into the workshop to give him a reconstructive surgery.

So what do you think? Pure bad luck? Holiday jinx? Or ........ ?  Whatever it is...go away! 

Getaway to Bali

This is a long overdue post as we went to Bali early October.  Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable and memorable trip for us because it was Aston's first plane ride.  However, two weeks before we were due to depart we were so stressed because the dates that we chose to travel coincides with APEC.  It wouldn't be a big deal because come on it has nothing to do with us BUT unfortunately it has everything to do with us because the airport was scheduled to close on the days that were suppose to land and depart! To cut the story short we manage to delay our flight dates by one day at no extra cost.  Again, this wouldn't be a big deal if we were booked on premium airlines which unfortunately we weren't.  So you know what it's like when you bought economy promo ticket on AA.

So, back to our holiday.  We stayed at Saba Villa in Canggu.  We took the 1 bedroom villa with private pool.  Apparently it was their honeymoon suite! Unfortunately, it was no honeymoon for us because we have a baby cot in our honeymoon suite.  All I can say is I truly enjoyed my trip despite not being able to massage and no late night gossips.

Please excuse the poor editing.  This is my first attempt on video editing using iMovie.

Below is what I can remember about the whole trip.

Day 1
. We went to the airport 3 hours earlier to avoid the peak hour traffic.
. Aston had his first taste of Mcdonalds.  Mama and Aston shared a big breakfast.
. The flight was delayed for an hour and we were stuck at the tarmac due to heavy traffic.  Yes, we had   a traffic congestion at the runway.
. Mama was so worried about Aston's ears I fed him kiwi during take off and gave him Ceres Junior juice during landing.  Again, this is the first time he finish the whole packet juice to himself undiluted!
. Checked into the hotel and we had our late lunch in the Villa.  No photos but it was quite good!
. After Aston explore the whole area including walking to other villas he told us "Let's go home"
. We went to Ku De Ta for dinner.  Food was so-so but love the ambience.  I can imagine if we were to plan a girls only trip this is the place we would definitely go.
. Aston was exhausted and we called it a night.

Day 2
. We had breakfast in the villa and Aston vomited because he didn't concentrate on chewing his food and he choke and vomited everything out.
. We went to Sukawati Market, Kopi Luwak Farm, Lunch at Ibu Oka for Babi Guling and back to villa for swim.  The journey back was horrible because we got stuck in traffic.  We had dinner in the villa.
. Aston slept early and we just chilled in the villa and called it a night.

Day 3
. Breakfast in the villa again.
. We went to the beach but the sea was really rough so no swimming in the sea.  It was Aston's first encounter with the beach and he was definitely not comfortable with it.  However, he loves the waves! He wanted to go into the sea!
. We went back to the villa and swam in the pool instead.
. Went to lunch at Naughty Nuri that served very delicious BBQ pork ribs.
. Aston and I went back to the villa for a nap while the rest of the troop went shopping and visited Tanah Lot.
. Aston had a good swimming session after his nap follow by dinner in the villa.
. The adults had specially catered BBQ dinner in the villa.  The food served was so yummylicious and the best part is the chef does the BBQ-ing for us! Talk about 5 star service!
. Aston and I called it a night while daddy and the rest of the gang had a good hour of massage and chat.

Day 4
. We had breakfast in the villa.
. Aston and daddy went for a swim while mummy start packing.
. We went to the airport early hoping to have lunch unfortunately we were so early that we can't even do a baggage drop/check in.  We then further found out there's nothing to eat in the new airport except for sausage!
. Flight was delayed and Aston was a little cranky because it was way pass his nap time.
. Aston finally slept half way through the flight and couldn't even wake up for landing!
. He woke up once we disembark from the plane but fell asleep again in the taxi on the way home and slept all the way till the next morning.

Wow! I felt like I was writing an essay! Hahahaha Anyway, here are some photos! We did not bring a single camera so photos are taken using our phone.

Queue to drop off our check in baggage

In the plane waiting for take off

Entrance to the our Villa

Aston chillin'

Aston playing in the pool

In the Kopi Luwak Farm

Random shot in the Kopi Luwak Farm

Aston's First Pampering Session

Yayyyyyy! Thanks to iCloud I manage to retrieve back all my photos.  I quickly transfer it to iPhoto so hopefully it will be safe and sound for now.  Anyway, these are the photos I wanted to share....

(Please excuse the lousy watermark!) This is quite memorable because this is the first time Aston had his haircut standing by himself.  Usually daddy will have to carry him and mummy have to distract him with the phone.  We are so proud of him!  Anyway, after that he was transferred to stand on the chair but I don't know why I didn't take a photo of that.  I thought I did but I couldn't find it.

Next the stylist offered to wash his hair.  So we gave it a try! I thought he won't even lie down on the chair! But just look at the him! The third photo does not do justice to him.  He look like he's about to burst out crying but he was not at all!

After that he even allow the stylist to wrap his hair up and walk out like a boss!

Well done Aston!! Next time we can all go to the saloon and get pampered together!

Oopsie Daisy!

I wanted to upload some photos to share on the blog.  I thought since everyone is updating their iPhone to the iOS 7 I do the same too while I write my blog.  Kill two birds with one stone.  Lo and behold I didn't realised that I have not even plug this phone of mine to sync with itunes at all! So when I first plug it in it asked whether do I want to setup as a new phone or as my previous phone? So I thought of course I want everything as previous because in my mind new phone means factory default settings.

Aaarrghh! I definitely click on the wrong button! I lost everything!! All my contacts, photos everything was identical to my dad's phone!! (I passed my old phone to my dad) Waaahhhhh!! I want to cry! I had really nice photos of Aston and I didn't even manage to save it!

What was I thinking?!?! At the least I should have upload all into iPhoto first! Anyway, luckily I did activate iCloud so hopefully the photos manage to stream into iCloud because I just took them yesterday and those were the photos I wanted to share!

Fingers cross....

A Tribute to RUSS......

12 September 2013 @ around 9am I received a call from the vet.  The Dr told me that Russ passed away that very morning.  There's a guardian that stays overnight in the "hospital" and he did informed the Dr when Russ's condition deteriorate.  Unfortunately, when the Dr arrived back in the "hospital" Russ  had decided to migrate to a better place.

It all started on 3 September in the middle of the night or wee hours in the morning of 4 September  Russ started vomiting and having diarrhea and he did not ate his dinner at all.  We thought that he ate something that he was not suppose to eat while he was playing in the garden and was trying to regurgitate it out.  We didn't immediately brought him to the vet because vomiting and diarrhea is pretty common with Russ every now and then but usually it only last for a day.  On top of that, he had history of gassy stomach many many years back when we gave him too much unhealthy snacks.  So, on the 3rd day the diarrhea stop but there's still occasional vomiting episodes.  We suspected he had gassy stomach again because we bought a new treat for him!

Anyway, Russ condition didn't improve and we finally decided to bring him in to the vet.  The first thing the Dr asked was his age and that he suspected Russ is having problem with his kidney because of his symptoms and his smelly breath.  We admitted Russ into the "hospital" and tests were done on him.  Results came back not good at all when the Dr called.  His kidney was infected with bacteria and his blood had high level of toxins.  Dr said to monitor again and to test again the next day to see if there's any improvement after medication.  The next day, the results for his kidney improved dramatically but Russ was still very weak.  Dr said he just lie in the cage and did not want to move at all.  Therefore, more tests were done on Russ because now they suspect it was his liver as Dr find that Russ is quite yellow and there's bilirubin in his blood.

Finally, on the morning of September 12 Dr said that his death is most likely due to pancreatitis.  We didn't expect Russ to leave us so soon.  Today I heard Aston telling the new kakak (we have a new maid) that Russ is sick outside cannot come home.  All this while I thought that he had forgotten about Russ but today he had proved otherwise.  Ever since Russ migrated, Aston did not asked once about him which automatically made me think that he had forgotten about him.

Anyway, we did not have a personalised cremation for Russ as after seeing him suffer just before he migrated I strongly believed that he is in a better place now......

I am Back!!!

Helloooooooo Friends! (I learned this greeting from Aston and he learned it from Pocoyo!) It's been 7 months since I logged in to Blogspot.  So much have happened since my last update that I don't know where to begin!

Well, first and foremost let me explain why the long hiatus.. see first of all with the current security especially on cyberspace I don't feel secure posting photos on the WWW because anyone could just steal my photos and use it without me knowing! So, apparently we are suppose to watermark our photos before posting them on the WWW to prevent theft.  As expected I got stuck trying to figure out how to watermark the photos.  I know...I know I could easily asked Mr. Google but...... OK fine...I was lazy! Anyhow....I finally manage to figure it out and hopefully I can restart my blogging engine and post more frequently.

That's all for this post...hopefully my next post won't be 7 months later! ;)

Opportunity Costs of a SAHM

I've been feeling kinda moody lately.  Not sure how I should start describing but here goes...

You see, when I first became a SAHM I thought I could live a simple and contented life in the sense no designer bags for sure, limited traveling and basically no luxurious items / lifestyle.  Having said that I still thank my lucky stars that I can spend all the time in the world with my son while others have no choice but to contribute to the household income.

After coming to 2 years of being a SAHM and when the $$$ in the bank account is close to nothing and suddenly you have credit card debts AGAIN reality hits and it hit hard.  Don't get me wrong, I do get paid but obviously it won't be as much as when I was working.  I've been spending more than what I earned for the past 2 years and recently because I've spent nearly every single penny that I saved during my working days and realising that I can only spend X amount of money per month and suddenly I had to hold back on my spending it's pretty depressing I must admit.  It's not like I am a shopaholic but I do enjoy finest things in life and I also want the same for my son.  

When times like this I will think maybe I should return to work and just close my eyes and send my son to a daycare.  Well, as you can tell if I could just close my eyes and do it I won't be in such sulky mood.  Arrghh! I guess there really isn't such thing as best of both worlds whereby you get to spend time with you child and earn more $$.  The problem is I do enjoy being a SAHM the only thing I do not enjoy is the financial restriction.

In conclusion, the opportunity cost of a SAHM is money.  Well, to me anyway!

Just an Update......

Wow....it's been 3 months since my last post.  Time does fly by so quickly! I can't imagine the year is ending soon and Aston will be 2 in 4 months time! Someone told me that it gets easier once they are 2.  A girlfriend of mine also just told me yesterday that they are very different when they are 2.  Well, all I can say is I will cherish every moment I have with my son because you never know when they will stop bugging you and decided to close the door right at your face! I know... I'm think way ahead but I can't help it because when I was a teen I was well pretty much in my typical teen years.  You know the lock yourself in your room, blast the music and read some magazines.

Anyway, the reason why I was away blogging is because I just couldn't find time during the day.  Well, technically I do have time just that I prefer lying in bed watching some old sitcoms like Seinfeld! Got to have some silly sitcoms to brighten up the day! It's not all rosy and nice being at home with a 19 month old who still refuse to communicate in english even though he can utter a few words like hi, daddy, mama, yehyeh (grand father), dog (his favourite word) and duck but yet manage to give you instructions by pointing and pushing you around! Kids are amazing!!

Well, actually there's so much that I would like to blog about but I just don't know where to begin.  Let's see, I have some issues with my face now.  Yes.... ever since my beautician left the centre that I usually go my face went down the hill.  I've been having really dry skin, break outs and redness all over! The condition just got worst and because I still had a few more sessions to complete so I sucked it up and just went for it.  Now, I am back with my beautician and I had to go through a major makeover as in full on dig everything out from beneath and just wait patiently till everything heals.  So, basically, I can't go out without any makeup.  Yes, it's that bad...if you know me well, a zit here and there don't stop me from going out with a naked face but THIS...oh No...THIS is a totally different story all together.  I looked like I had measles!  Needless to say the amount of money I spent for a whole new set of make up, and a whole new line of skin care...I don't even dare to think about my next month's credit card statement!

As for Aston, well he just recovered from not 1 but 2 virus one after another! It started off with a sudden fever which comes and go for 3 days and then it just stopped and out came the rashes all over his face, body and back.  Just when the rashes subsided he somehow caught another virus and had fever again but this time after the fever subsided he was down with a flu, cough and very thick phlegm.

Other than that, I am still planning for a holiday where I can bring Aston and that he will enjoy himself and not make a big fuss and ruin everyone's mood.  I am envious of parents who can just pack up and bring their babies along to anywhere in the world for a holiday.  Maybe I'm just being fussy and over protective.

As usual, I will end with a few of Aston's latest photos...

Wakey! Wakey! Mummy...it's 3AM....

We had a little commotion this morning.  It all started by Aston waking me up by standing at the crib rail.  Usually, when this happens I will just give Aston a hug and he will fall right back asleep.  However, this time I noticed that his body was really hot.  I quickly take out the digital thermometer, switched on the night light and check Aston's temperature.  The thermometer read 39.7 degrees! I was shocked and was completely awake even though I had a drowsy cough syrup before I slept.

I quickly took out the suppository and lay him down on my bed thinking I should quickly insert it before the temperature goes up any higher.  So, I changed his diaper first and then I tried to open the suppository but couldn't tear open the packaging with my hands.  Desperate moment calls for desperate measures so I called daddy who was sleeping in the next room on his phone to bring in a pair of scissors.  Daddy was shocked why at 3am I called him for a pair of scissors.  I told him that Aston was having high fever so he quickly brought in the scissors.

Somehow, when I see daddy I started to calm down a little and thought do I really need to go to that extend as in to administer the suppository without even trying to give him some oral medication to bring down the temperature.  So I asked daddy to check his temperature again and it was 39.1 degrees.  It was a slight relief that his temperature came down a little so I decided to forgo the suppository and administer him nurofen instead.  Daddy helped to cool Aston's temperature by wiping his forehead and neck with cloth soaked in ice water.  After all that, we checked his temperature again and it was 38.7 degrees.  Phew! I was relieved that his temperature reducing slowly.  However, with all that commotion Aston became wide awake and started climbing up and down of my bed as if it's morning!

I tried to calm him down by switching off all the lights and it took him about an hour before falling asleep again.  I checked his temperature again and it was 37.5 degrees.  I finally fall asleep only to be woken up by my cough! At 6.30am I checked his temperature again and it was 36.8 degrees and so I moved him back into his crib so that we both can rest well.

Aston woke up at 9am this morning and his temperature went up again to 37.8 degrees.  I fed him his milk and I freshen up myself.  After feeding him breakfast, I checked his temperature again and it was 38 degrees.  I gave him another dosage of Nurofen.  This time, Aston had another problem.  He was having constipation! He was trying really hard to push his stools out that he even cried! I can tell that he was very relieved after the stool was out and went back to his usual self.  His temperature remain at 37.1-37.5 degrees through out the day.

Just before dinner, he let out a mega explosion of soft stools and daddy said Aston has recovered because he looked much more contented after the poo.  Well, I certainly hope so too! What triggers this 3Am commotion I really have no idea!    

Aston's Progress @ 15months

My little baby has grown so much.  He can understand most of the things that we asked him to do.  He definitely knows what 'NO' means but choose to ignore it.  We are still waiting for him to utter his first words.  He still babbles a lot but none of us understand what he is trying to say.  He can walk really well and recently he even walk backwards.  Sometimes he gets so excited that he try to run but usually we will ask him to slow down because he had too many little accidents at home!

One of the major changes I noticed in him is that he is slowly outgrowing his separation anxiety.  *Touchwood* Hopefully, I don't jinx myself by saying this.  He does make noise when I try to leave him alone for a moment but after I explain to him that I will be back really quickly he will continue with whatever he was doing.  Nevertheless, he do still feel insecure when there's visitors around and that includes relatives.  Some relatives will say that he's too protective by me and that I don't expose him enough but for me I'm OK with it.  I rather he is more cautious when there's someone he is not familiar around him.

I can tell that he really enjoys Gymboree both the playclasses and music classes.  Although, I must admit he much prefer to be in the play classes because he gets to roam around freely while the music class his movements are being restricted.

Physically, he looks like he has lost a lot of weight.  I suspect that he looks thinner because he has grown taller.  Well, either he has grown taller or his pyjamas shrunk! He usually wear one piece sleepsuits to sleep and I intentionally bought it one size bigger so he will always have extra space at the foot but recently the sleepsuits fit him perfect with no extra room!

Let me end this post by sharing a few photos of Aston.

Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup

Last week I cooked chicken and sweet corn soup with pasta for Aston for his lunch.  Not to be boastful but it was so tasty! I would say I was about 90% closed to restaurant standard.  The only thing that was missing was the cornstarch to thicken the soup which I omit since my intention was to cook it for Aston.  I was so surprised how easy it was to make it.  Initially, I thought of just a simple chicken soup because Aston was down with flu and I used the sweet corn just to make it more "sweet".  I didn't expect it to taste so similar to those I had in chinese restaurants.

Anyway, below is my own version of Chicken and Sweet Corn Soup:

Ingredients:
2 pieces of skinless chicken breast cut into cubes
1/2 cup of frozen sweet corn
500ml water (estimate because I never measure)
1 Egg
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste ( No pepper for Aston)

Cooking Instructions:
Cooked in Slow Cooker
1. Put in slow cooker the chicken breast, sweet corn and water
2. Cooked for 4 hours under "Auto" function
3. Transfer to normal pot to continue cooking using stove

Cooked using Gas Stove
1. Bring the soup to a boil
2. Break the egg into a bowl (no whisking is required)
3. Pour the egg into the soup as slow as possible while stirring the soup.  This will create a "egg flower" effect in the soup.
4. Salt and pepper to taste
5. Serve while hot.

I put some shell pasta into the soup for Aston and he loved it.  Unfortunately, I did not manage to take any photos because it never came across my mind until I finished it.

 

Feeding Too Much Healthy Food?

As I mentioned in my previous post, doctor mentioned that I have to cut back on feeding Aston vitamin A because Aston is turning yellow.  Eeek! Immediately, my mind was like Oh Gosh... no more butternut pumpkin and sweet potato...what else is there to feed?

Immediately when I had the time I quickly did my research on what food that I should avoid and oh my practically my whole week's menu!  Below is a list of food that is high in Vitamin A that I usually feed Aston (not in any particular order)

1. Carrots
2. Spinach
3. Rockmelon
4. Papaya
5. Sweet potato
6. Butternut squash / pumpkin
7. Broccoli
8. Salmon

So now I have to re-think my weekly menu for Aston.  I really have no idea what to cook for him because he definitely do not fancy porridge anymore but food that has slightly more texture he doesn't like it either.  Ever since last week, I've been feeding him just rice/pasta/noodle with soup and occasionally add in steam vegie which I find the diet is not balance at all!        

The Sick Bug Is In The House........

Aston and I have been sick for a week now.  I started of by having sore throat follow by cough while Aston have flu and swollen tonsils.  I would say I am 98% recovered while Aston doesn't seem to make any improvement.  Well, also because I was on antibiotics and cough medicine while Aston was left to defend for himself.

When we went to the doctor's last week the moment the doctor look at Aston, he told me I have to cut down on feeding him Vitamin A.  Aston is a bit yellow.  He was showing me the nose and the cheeks but I just couldn't  see it.  Anyway, immediately I knew I've been feeding him too much yellow vegetables.  The butternut squash and the sweet potato.... There goes my staple vegetables for Aston!

The doctor also mentioned that Aston's throat is a bit sensitive just like his daddy.  At his age, his tonsils shouldn't be swollen.  Doctor advised no french fries ( No problem we have not introduce to him), no chocolate (Also not a problem because mummy is not a fan of chocolate) basically no fried food and when I mentioned Durian it was a big NO NO.  All this will have to wait till he is much older.  There goes yeh yeh's dream of feeding Aston durians at such young age.  Yeah....yeh yeh have this thinking that if he trains Aston early eating durian, he will love it when he is older and then Aston can accompany yeh yeh eat durian.  I obviously do not understand the logic behind this because no 1 durian is a fruit that either you like it or not.  I mean my whole family can indulge in durian but not my brother.  How do we explain that? No 2 yeh yeh is diabetic.  He himself mention that he cannot have durian.  Basically, he will only eat one seed in the morning.  That's all.  So I do not see the significant whether Aston MUST eat durian or not.

Aston's flu is viral so there's no point having antibiotics.  Doctor did prescribed flu medication and also fever medication for standby only.  Well, mummy couldn't take it any longer because it has been a week and Aston's flu doesn't seem to be going anywhere so today I decided to give him his flu medication.  Hopefully, recovery is on the way because looking at Aston couldn't breath properly especially when he wants to sleep just breaks my heart.

Surprise! Surprise!

My little baby gave me two surprises today.  Remember how I was mentioning that Aston is super clingy recently, this morning as usual I was expecting the 'waaaaaahhhh!' the moment I want to walk downstairs to wash the bottles and what not.  It did started a little but again I reassured him and told him that I am just going downstairs to wash and bring some bread up for both of us to eat.  Then, he happily walk to his toys and started playing! I was like wow!

Then, right after his dinner and bath about 7.15pm he was a bit cranky.  Initially, I thought he wanted a hug so I hugged him but that was not sufficient.  Then........*denotes actions*

Mummy: What do you want Aston?
Aston: *Walk to his room*
Mummy: *Followed him into his room from behind*
Aston: * He turned back towards the door and tried to close the door which was latched to the wall*
Mummy: *Helped him to close the door*
Aston: *Saw mummy closed the door and walk to mummy's bed*
Aston: *Climbed up the bed and stand next to his own bed making noises*
Mummy:*Hands him his beanbag and pacifier*
Aston: *Put his pacifier in his mouth and hold on to his beanbag and lie down on the bed*
Mummy: *Lie down quietly beside Aston*

10minutes later.....
Aston:ZZZZzzzZZZzzZZ
Mummy: *Changed him into his pyjamas*
Mummy: *Carry him back into his cot and still couldn't believe Aston went to bed all by himself*

I'm so proud of my little baby! This is the first time that he went to bed all by himself.  Usually, we will go through a routine of giving him a nice rub with warm towel, change him to his pyjamas, milk then he will twist and turn in his crib before falling asleep and usually he will take at least 30minutes in his crib before falling asleep.

I still can't believe it!

A Romantic Night to Remember......

Last Friday, mummy got stood up by one of my girlfriends for dinner at the very last minute.  Yes! Let me reiterate it was one of my GIRLFRIENDS (you know who you are!) and it was VERY LAST MINUTE.  It was so LAST MINUTE till any minute later I received the call I would be out of the house! So, my GIRLFRIEND you OWE me a cup of hot Chai Latte and a slice of cake somewhere with COOL weather preferably.

Anyway, so since my dinner and gossip plans went out the window, I came crawling back to daddy to be my partner for the night.  I mean it is Friday night afterall and Aston was well taken care off by grandmama!  Well, to prove my love to daddy that he's not my standby partner, I made all the plans and I decided to try out one of the "Chef Creations by UOB".  We were contemplating either to have it in Daily Grind in Bangsar Village or Prego in Westin.  Mind you all the set menu is only RM168++ per COUPLE.  I must admit, I do like finest things in life and this include food so in my heart I was rooting for Prego.  I asked daddy does he prefer Burger or 450g of Angus Beef and I actually answered on behalf of daddy and said Angus Beef and straight away I called up to make reservations.  Luck was by my side, and we manage to get a reservation in Prego and to top it off we were expecting really bad traffic to town but surprise surprise we were there in 30minutes! Phew, otherwise the Angus beef is going to be a buffalo because daddy will be so mad.

So, we were all smiles all the way to town, dropped off the car at the valet and walked into Prego and I totally forgotten to take any photos from there on.  So, I can only describe what happen next unfortunately.

We were taken to our table with special "Chef Creations" menu on our table.  We ordered a bottle of stilled water and a loaf of bread was served with tomato salsa.  The bread was so good that the both of us could have just finish the whole loaf but we stopped half way.  We ordered our food and this is what we had:-

Barbequed Quail, Fig Vinegar, Grapes, Pecorino Pepato and Thyme

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Chargrilled Yellowfin Tuna, Borlotti Beans, Salsa Verde (Mummy)

450g Angus Grain-Fed T Bone Steak, Ortiz Anchovy Butter (Daddy)

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White Chocolate Panna Cotta, Coffee Caramel, Coffee Praline

Daddy loved the steak so much that he completely ignored the Ortiz Anchovy Butter because he said the butter overpower the beef.  The beef was really juicy and tender and it was cooked to perfection.  As for mummy, the fish was not too bad too with very tasty beans.  However, I must say the texture of the fish does resembles a little bit like chicken so it's really filling.  I couldn't finish my portion.  As for dessert, I loved the Panna Cotta but I couldn't finish it not because it's not good but I'm just too full and we wanted to have coffee to end the night.  Daddy said the coffee praline was really good too.  It leaves our mouth a nice coffee aroma hence we ended up having tea instead of coffee.  We ordered a pot of lychee rose tea to share. I remembered the last time I had lychee tea was when I was studying high school in Perth! Such sweet memory.  We thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

I complete my night by watching episodes after episodes of One Tree Hill Season 9.  Yeah...can never get enough of teen series.  Gossip girls are Next!

When to Let Go?

I have noticed that I am getting more and more attached to Aston that I can't let go of him. I mean besides from his usual weekly sleep over at grandmama's house, other than that I can't imagine myself leaving him with some one else while I do my own thing. As I mentioned in my previous entry, sometimes I do go bonkers when Aston is clingy and whiny the whole day. Then when I thought about returning to work all this negative thoughts come haunting me. Actually, why I suddenly thought of returning to work is because recently I realised that I am getting more and more impatient with Aston to the extend that I felt like hitting him or sadly slapping him did came to my mind for that spur of the moment. I thought that perhaps having such thought is not right as a mother which brings me to the big question should I return to work? Well, I did imagine returning to my previous job then when I imagine how my son is I just told myself forget it. Even if I get a helper I will not fully trust her until she proves to me otherwise. Even if she had proven she is capable I just cannot imagine what is going on at home without any supervision from some one that I can trust. I mean a helper is a helper. Just like for instance today, I was feeding Aston some steam rice when we were having our dinner and then I saw something that shouldn't even belong in the bowl! I found a freaking worm in the rice!! Luckily, I somehow manage to spot it and stop feeding Aston. I just completely lost my appetite. I mean come on a worm! My FIL saw me fiddling with the spoon because I was trying to make sure what I saw is really what I saw and asked me what is it and I told him there is a worm in the rice. He said that it's cook and it's extra nutrient. Or something to that effect because to me a worm be it dead or alive in your food is just foul! Anyway, I answered him politely that once I see it I don't like it. Then he started saying some worm from I don't know what tree is as thick as a human thumb and it tastes sweet. I just told him I am afraid of worms. So back to my point, how do you let go and trust your helper especially when there is a little one involved...? Looks like I am stuck with my precious son till the day he decides that he can take care of himself. So Aston, please don't be so whiny mummy still can't figure out your baby talk so sometimes I really don't know what you are unhappy about.

Blogging From the iPad

Gosh! I didn't realised that blogging from the iPad the outcome will be so different. I mean look at my previous entry no paragraph at all when I actually did. I didn't know that once publish is not as per what I've written. I can't upload any photos too. Oh well, daddy said that the installer for unifi is coming next week. Fingers cross hopefully our wifi will be back in action so that I can update my applications and use the laptop instead and upload some photos of Aston. Oh by the way, can someone teach me how to do watermark on the photos? It seems that people can just take the photo and use it elsewhere without getting your permission! How rude!

Mummy Lost Touch In Blogging

I've been so lazy lately...well not lately it has been three months since I last blog...I just couldn't make myself log in to blog. I enjoy reading other people's blog by the way so YES i've been on the internet but just not in blogspot. I think the major issue was due to Astro on Demand. Hahaha excuses! Excuses! Well I think that contributed about 20% of my laziness. The balance were either not much ME time during the day and by night I am exhausted. Aston just turned 14 months by the way. So for mummies out there you can imagine at this stage where they just started walking and enjoying every step of it that at times they decided to run and then they trip and the loud "wAhhhhhhh" begins. They also enjoy walking so much that they just look at their own feet or at their toys that they are holding and BANG into the wall or a piece of furniture! Recently, Aston even manage to climb up the sofa! He knows how to come down leg first but I am just worried one day he may fall from the arms of the sofa because they are quite low. So now I officially have an active toddler at home. Aston still can't call mummy or daddy. He babbles all sorts of sounds throughout the day but none of it makes any sense to me. There was once daddy scolded him for touching something that he shouldn't touch he started babbling away till he cried! The tone of his voice was like "why are you scolding me all the time? I didn't do anything wrong! I just want to see what is that thing" Then he cried and come running to mummy. I saw the whole scenario it was so funny I wish I had my phone with me at that time so I can record it. Yeah now he is like my shadow. I must be seen ALL the time! I can't even go to the toilet in peace because nowadays the moment I get up he will start making noise and come running and hug my legs. It was a very sudden change in him. I really hope this is just a phase called separation anxiety as per the book and it will pass real soon otherwise I am going bonkers! At times like this I wish I am back at work! Now I really understand why some mothers prefer to be at work. If it is like this all the time oh gosh I am gonna tell daddy that i QUIT! Well, that is all for now. Hopefully, I can get the momentum going again....

Aston's Progress @ 10months

I can't believe it! My little baby is turning one in a couple of months and this mummy still have no clue about his birthday party. Should we have a private one where we celebrate among close relatives or shall we have an elaborate party to make up for his fullmoon? All I know is that I must buy him a number 1 birthday cake. If mummy had a big number 1 cake I can't accept my son only had a small miserable cake.

Anyway, back to Aston's progress. He progressed so quick that i don't know where to start. He's been moving and exploring around as much as he can. It's a pity that his boundaries are very limited because the house is not childproof. There's always the dirt on the floor, the dust on the carpet, the little step before you enter the bathroom, the backdoor, the things in the cupboard, the things on the table and the list goes on...and mind you this is only the beginning because Aston just started moving around in his walker or crawling. I can't imagine what it will be like when he starts walking!

In terms of meals, mummy again been repeating the same food over and over again. Only this month I tried not to puree too much to encourage him to chew more. I noticed that he is a bit lazy to chew. Anyway, eversince I started mashing using the sieve and giving him tiny bits of fruits he's a lot better at chewing now.  By the way, he now has 4 bottom and 3 upper teeth.

Behavior wise, he is getting more and more mischevious. His temper is getting a little bit out of hand. I don't know what makes him shriek and once he starts he doesn't stop until you distract him with something which usually requires you to carry him. I am very worried because he puts in a lot of strain to his throat and everytime he shriek his body will shake and his face will turn red! I hope it is just a phase and hopefully it will pass soon.

Everyday there's something new about him that I don't know what to write......so I shall leave you with some photos

Aston is able to hold and stand up by himself and loves doing it too!

I am 10 months old today

First day of CNY in his new attire.

Aston can't wait to go visiting on second day of CNY

Aston with Grand Uncle Kevin

Aston and GreatGrandPapa

Aston and Grand Aunty Stacey

Aston first up close and personal with the lion