Mah shooz

I bought this pair of Flipflops recently.  Opened the box at my parents' place, SE immediately said "Mah shooz" (my shoes) and took them away to try on.  OK never mind, let her play with them.  Took the box home and left it a few days.  Then last weekend I wanted to wear them out.  Took them out, SE saw and went 'MAH shooz!'.  Grabbed them and wouldn't give them back - "Thih ih mah shooz" (this is my shoes). What gives?  How can this pair of shoes totally not in her size become hers??

I'm busy, don't disturb. And cannot take mah shooz

Use mah feet to bring the cushion. Still cannot take mah shooz

Forcibly took them away.  Loud ear-splitting shrieks ensued.

This little kid. Gngngngnnnn.  Yet once she has calmed down and you ask, "Just now who naughty?", she blithely replies "Me!". Heh.

First photoshoot for SE

Took SE for her first photoshoot last November. Online deal as usual heh. It wasn't a great session as she hardly smiled, didn't get where she was supposed to be. Oh well, the studio does primarily bridal shoots so they aren't kids-oriented like JE's last one.

I went to select photos in February.... and just collected the results last weekend. Talk about sloowwww hehe. We'd been a little busy, what with hubby's new job and our current lack of maid. SE looks a fair bit younger in the photos! Here goes:

Shhhh

Sleepy

Picked these first two to be enlarged and framed. Next chose one more of SE, one with both girls and one of JE. I'd no idea JE could be included as well or would have put nicer clothes for her!

Me and some bears

Sweet?

This is one mega starfish!

It was good value though! At just RM88 we got a 1-hour photography session, 5 photo picks and two large framed up photos (with nice solid frames too!) They never tried to hardsell me into purchasing more either.

Maidless for a month

It has been a month since Ilyn vanished. How has it been? Well we had been maidless for 5 months before Ilyn arrived a year or so ago. This time, in some ways it has been easier:

1. The kids are older now. JE can be safely left with the TV or iPad. SE has a shorter attention span but can still be occupied for a while. She does bawl or come hunting for me all too soon though!

2. I stopped making baby food since SE doesn't like them any more. That took time as fresh food needs to be minced, cooked, cooled, deboned, pureed, stored. Repeat 2-3 times so she'd have variety. Ilyn was helpful as she'd patiently do the preparation part - I'd still do the rest. Using up freezer stocks now.

3. I'm having weekday dinners at my parents' place since hubby is still busy with his new F&B venture. So I don't have to shop and prepare food or to rush home to cook. And I have help at dinnertime to feed the kids and to watch them while I clean up (the kids, the dishes, the table, the chairs, the floor!) after dinner.

4. Hubby has a better attitude. Previously he wasn't working but was so irritable at having to sacrifice drinking time with his buddies. Now he's actively trying to juggle work and home.

5. Hubby comes home around 2am and sleeps late the next morning. The kids sleep late too so in the mornings I leave everything to him! I just prepare breakfast for all and go off to work.

6. No dog to clean up after. Shadow's previous area is large and needed to be cleaned every day.

Play play play... now who cleans up?

But it's tough sometimes. I clean house on weekends but the kids spill things within the day. SE can poo-poo 5 times a day and it's tiring to change diapers and wash bum that often! My current assignment is at KLCC and it often takes 2 hours through traffic to reach my parents' place after work. And in the space of an hour I will shower, eat, clean up, walk to and fro to the car to install 2 carseats, pack up to go home, get the kids in the car. Reach home around 10pm and reverse the process - get the kids out, uninstall the car seats, unpack, make milk and snacks for supper, brush their teeth, read bedtime stories etc. I start dozing off before they do hehe.

Surviving though. But... someone just dropped the iPad and the screen is busted. Argggh.

Lil posers

I've been complaining for ages that JE is camera-shy. She will run away, put up her hand to block her face, make dreadful faces, swing something thus making the whole photo blur, look down etc etc.  So I was surprised when she started posing for the camera...

Say cheese!

Say cheeeeeese

Quite nice, actually!  And the little one?

Oh mummy wants to take photo?

Say cheeeeseee

Sure hope this phase continues!

SE is two!

Had little Su Ern's birthday celebration yesterday!

Huff and puff out my candles

Happy birthday to me!

Didn't want to let the absence of a maid change my plan to have it at home.  It was a little hectic that morning though... had to clean house, wash and hang clothes, make and feed breakfast to the kids (who woke up one by one), cook, get ready chairs/plates/cutlery etc and once hubby woke up, go out to procure a cake.

Guests arrived around noon...

Everybody... play play play

(Ah Mah is actually playing blocks with the kids, not by herself hehe)

Balloon swords/sausages for all!

Then the resident balloon-maker made giraffes, dogs...

Menu was almost the same as for JE's birthday, only this time some dishes didn't turn out as well - a little overcooked or salty or just plain not-so-nice. Next time I think I won't cook, or maybe buy cook some, buy some. No need to torture myself nor my guests! Then again, I never learn and next time might well get all gung-ho to cook again heh. At least I have no plans to make the cake myself!

Happy 2nd birthday to my second little princess!

May 9 today

Wow has it been two years since I woke up dreading the day? It was the day to welcome Su Ern into the world! But I was dreading the C-sec procedure (elective for medical reasons) and post-operation discomfort. A childless friend once asked me on having kids, "Is it worth it?"  The answer would be yes, definitely YES!

My little Su Ern is fierce, affectionate, loud, a cutie-pie, a pain, a joy. She's very much a Mummy's girl for now.  She looks for me all the time, she goes to sleep with her head touching me, she wakes up in the middle of the night and comes over to me from whichever part of the bed she'd rolled to, she insists on standing in front of me when I'm in the toilet, she's fine to play when I'm around and starts hunting for me not long after I walk away.

Her birthday today... I'm so going back (in the office now) soon to kiss and hug her!

Almost 2!

My little firebrand is going to be 2 this Friday!  It does seem like she has grown up pretty fast.  She has refused to wear bibs since ages ago.  Currently she refuses to sit on her baby chair and STANDS on a normal chair instead. Wouldn't sitting be more comfy than standing??  Sigh.

I'll eat this cake. By myself. With this fork. Sitting on THIS chair.

She is JUST transitioning to eating rice.  She started teething late and new teeth was also slow coming in. She doesn't like her baby food any more (will grab and try to throw her food away!) but isn't quite ready for rice with dishes.  So now she gets about half baby food mixed with half rice.

Just let me do what I want, OK?

Ranking on the headstrong department?  Tops!  She definitely has a mind of her own and would scream/fight/bite if someone stops her from doing what she wants. For all that, once she has calmed down, she will be all sugar and spice. Like last weekend, she was being particularly trying and I gave her a smack on her hand. Immediately she started bawling and went over to hubby for consoling. But once she was over it, she came back to me and started kissing my arm. With tears still in her eyes. Heh how to remain mad at this little one?

Now I want to sit here with Ah Toh

(Heh SE still cannot call 'Ah Kong'.  Calls my father alternatively Ah Toh/Ah Tong/Ah Tau)