Greetings from Paris

We are now in Paris, Wind here is strong and thus very cold, got to wear gloves and thicker jacket. Looking forward to visit Notre Dame. It looks great from the river cruise which we think it's not a big deal (the cruise itself) . Ha... and it's 11 Euro per person. Food is expensive and our first meal was lousy. So went to a supermarket and got ourselves some food and fruits to make our own breakfast for the next few days. :) I am already missing the good and cheap food from Rome. By the way.. the Eiffel tower is nice thou I always wonder what's the big deal with the tower? afterall it's all steel right? but when you are there looking at it... it's not just steel anymore.... it's interesting and the surrounding area also helps make it special.

Reese has no separation anxiety!

Is Reese missing us? It's been 5 days since we left for our holiday. Reese behaved well and never cried because of us not being with him! Only asking his grandparents where daddy and mummy were. So he is doing well, no separation anxiety.

I miss my son very much but also having a blast here in Rome. :) So far we managed to Skype twice with Reese and he was usually too distracted by other things than to chat with us.

So it's a good thing huh? He has no problem with us being away but I am a little sad that he is not really missing me... :)

Anyway... can't wait to see my son.

Greetings from Rome...

Having a great time here in Rome. It's our second day. Aches and pains everywhere... walking on cobble stone roads really is not easy. Sights are awesome! Food is fantastic... Looking forward to day three where we are going to the Vatican city.

One of the highlights for us is the food. We don't just walk in to any eating places as we sight see... hubby did alot of research on food in Rome. Some of the best food in Rome. These are frequent by locals and not tourist. First night here took us more than 30 to 40 minutes to locate a nice pizza shop... walking through alleys and backlanes and going around in maze! It was really worth it! Current favourite restaurant is Cul De Sac. Famous place. Was given a number initially and told to wait 30 minutes...but lucky us, they found us a place but we had to share a table with another couple! Nice experience and they have a wide selection of wine...thou we don't drink... :) Ah.... can't wait to go back and try other stuff.

It's been a long time since hubby and I went on holiday alone... :)

Me...so fat... really need to go workout...

Very thick fava bean soup

Involtini ala romana (Veal wrapped in some stuff and fried)

Fantastic pizzas... just different from the ones in KL

On the bridge (Ponte Sisto)

Santa Maria Church in Trastevere

Temple of Saturn at Roman Forum

Colosseum

Unknown... just found it nice...haha

In Rome and maid ran away!

Barely had time to unpack in the hotel and got a text message from my sister that it's urgent that I call back! When my sister called, she said.... Your maid just ran away!

What a perfect start to my holiday huh? Damn.... how can she do that? there is no indication what so ever. Now my poor in-laws will have to take care of Reese alone.

Hey... that maid of mind will not spoil my holiday!!! Yesterday after skyping with my father-in-law and sister, hubby and I went for a stroll in Rome's city centre. We went into the first church and was totally in awe of what we saw! Beautiful. Had our first pizza for dinner and it was really good.

Going to upload some pictures soon! When I get back, I will blog about my maid's story. Everyone seems to have one anyway. I though I was really lucky that my maid is not the running type...I am sooooo wrong.

Stay tune... today I am going to the Coliseum and Palatine hill and more yummy food!

Woot! I am flying today!

Yippie.... I am flying to Europe today..... it's now 4.03am!!! I woke up 10 minutes ago and can't sleep! bleh! Excited and sad at the same time. I am going to miss Reese sooooo much. Bringing our laptop and hope that we can do video conferencing!

Most probably no blogging for the next 3 weeks....but might have a post or two if I get connected and not too tired from all the walking! :) Bye for now!!

Got a favourite routine?

Waiting for breakfast

Can't wait to eat his doughnut

See the chocolate trail around his mouth? :)

I love my Friday morning routine with Reese. We will send the maid to my mom's place and then we go to the playgroup. Before going to the playgroup, we will have breakfast at a nearby bakery. It's something I really enjoy with Reese. Great bonding time. It's a nice neighbourhood and walking towards the bakery is always fun (We rarely walk on the streets!). We talk about the things we see and it's great learning experience for Reese. At the bakery, he will have his favourite chocolate doughnut and hot chocolate while I will have a pastry. Then it's play time to play at the playgroup. After the session, I will fetch Reese back to my mom's place before I head off to work. Can't afford to eat at the bakery all the time.... it's expensive! Hehehe...

Fun activity for this month....

Green beans (The easiest plant to grow)

Thyme growing after 4 days of planting

Isn't it lovely? Can't wait to harvest my own herbs!

One of the activities we are doing now. Planting beans and seeds! Last week we went to ACE hardware shop to get some soil and a packet of seeds. What did I get? I got a packet of Thyme seeds. I didn't have much expectation. All my life, never really successful in planting anything except some spring onions! :)

A few weeks back, Reese and I planted some beans and Reese was so excited seeing the beans grow. So last week we discarded the old bean sprouts and planted new ones. Then Reese kept insisting on planting a plant in a flower pot with real soil (Influenced by his books). So after 2 weeks delay... we finally got the soil, seeds and pot.

Last Monday, we planted the seeds. Reese love the entire process of putting soil into the pot to planting the seeds. Then very patiently he waited every day for the plant to grow and yesterday morning, when we went to my mom's place... surprise! little leaves are beginning to grow... I was so excited... thought it is going to be a failure. What a nice surprise. Both Reese and I squatted around the pot and admire the growth! Hahahaha.... If this is successful... I am going to buy more herb seeds to grow. Buying fresh herbs is so expensive here. Maybe try Oregano next. Oh.... and I am going to show Reese root vegetables that grows easily... like onions.... :)

It's getting closer.....

Ah..... 1 week to my much anticipated Europe trip. As the date gets closer I am getting more confident that Reese will be ok without us. I am not feeling guilty at all now. :) In fact, I can't wait to get on that plane and land on the cold country and 'pak toh' with hubby like what we used to do before having Reese. So excited.

This weekend is going to be busy busy busy. Hubby needs to work. We need to pack our bags, need to go to the market and stock up fruits, vegetables and meat. Need to precook Reese's sauces for spaghetti and mushroom noodles and extra chicken stock for 2 weeks. I am a bit fussy when it comes to Reese's food. I don't trust the maid to cook them the way I want it. She can only cook a few things for Reese that I approved. Oh I also need to work out the daily meals for mother-in-law. So grateful that my in-laws are helping out to take care of little rascal king!

Mmmmm... already dreaming of 2 weeks of pure relaxation and fun with hubby ALONE. No work, no need to watch over Reese and no need to supervise the maid.

Quite a mouthful...

This is one of Reese's current favourite book. The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco. When I first read the story aloud to Reese, I had some difficulties pronouncing the names of the characters! Even hubby finds it difficult... hehehe...

Here are the names in the story:

Marry Ellen
Mrs. Govlock
Baby Sylvester
Olav Lundheigen (this is a killer)
Petra and Dorma Hermann
Einar Tundevold
"Klondike" Berha Fitchworth (quite a mouthful when reading fast)
Feduciary Longdrop

I actually struggled initially to get used to saying those names as I read aloud the story to Reese and because the story is fast pace, I had to add in more expression and speed as I read along and thus makes it more difficult to read those names fluently! But it was fun... :)

Yesterday during our morning breakfast routine, I read him The Bee Tree while he munched on his cheese sandwich, he surprised me again. As usual, I will read part of the story and he will fill in the bits and pieces here and there. Then he started to say most of the characters'names in the book and with almost perfect pronunciation. I am truly surprised. I mean, we are Asians and these are not common names at least not in our 'world' and yet he can say them like everyday names!

This is a great book in the sense that it is a fast pace adventure involving a grandfather and his granddaughter chasing after some bees to the bee tree and meeting neighbours along the way...

From this book, Reese learned about bees gathering pollen from flowers, what is a bee tree, honey comb and how honey is made and also some other vocabs.

37th month Milestones

So what's new? mmmm... nothing much to report. Everything is going on the upward scale.

Oh, Reese is increasingly more sociable with other children. So much so that he scared away a little girl last week at Midvalley. He was trying to hold the little girl's hand and when that failed... he tried to hug her! hehehe... Wish I was there to witness that. He loves to imitate other children when at play. He loves to play chase.

He really enjoys programs that features dance and sing routines. He will dance non-stop for at least a good 40-60 minutes. We will have to repeat the dance song up to 10 or more times.... He has alot of energy!

Lately showing slightly more interest in drawing and the usage of pencils. Trying to teach him to hold the pencil correctly. I think he is a confirmed lefty. It makes it difficult to teach him to write in the future since I am right-handed.

He loves to listen to stories read aloud. As he gets familiar with the stories, he will participate in the story 'reading'. He actually has a pretty deep understanding of the stories read to him. He is able to answer most of the questions related to the stories. Very impressive. Current favourite is Hans Christian Anderson's stories and The Bee Tree.

He loves to build things from blocks, chips and whatever he can find.

He is easier to control these days with reasoning and sometimes threats. He doesn't like mummy to be angry with him. :)

Loves to have mummy hug him to sleep and mummy loves that too! One of the weird things mummy likes to do is blowing raspberry on his armpits...and that will result in uncontrollable giggles and laughter from Reese. ;)

Trying to maintain his weight of 18+ kgs and last check of his height was around 104cm.

Did I tell you that he loves going to his playgroup and always refuses to go home? :)

As my child grows older...

As he walked confidently towards the fountain without looking back....
Met some kids and he smiled at them....
Saw a little girl and affectionately tried to hold her hands...
When he saw rejection... he tried to hug her...
When that failed too he went to another older girl who happily accepted him...
They played together...
They laughed together...
They had fun for a good 30 minutes...
My son enjoys playing with other children and it is getting more apparent that he wants company...
He is bored being alone... :)

Next year we will let him attend the playgroup kindergarten so that he will have more friends and he can polish his social skill. Even though I am homeschooling him, it is essential that he has friends and what I like about this playgroup kindy is that it only runs 4 days a week for 3 hours daily. Very small group, only about 12-13 kids (ages 3-6) with 2-3 teachers. They do not push children to excel in academic but rather let them learn at their own pace and learning through play. Reese is familiar with all the teachers and the surrounding. I know the teachers as well. I think it' going to be great for him! Can't wait for him to start in January....

Reese's Going High Tech...

After months of consideration, we finally bought Reese a Macbook (Just a week or so Apple upgraded the specs for it). So now with a laptop, Reese can play his favourite games (which is actually learning!) and I can use it for his homeschooling both at home and at his grandparents place. And hopefully I will blog more too! :)

The laptop comes with a multi touch pad which we thought it's too complicated for Reese but so far, Reese has no problem navigating his favourite sites with the touch pad. I guess we can save some money getting him a wireless mouse. :)

He was so excited about it that after his nap he looked at us and said "I want the Macccbook, I want to see the Maccccbook!"

So excited....

Using the multi touch screen like an expert

See the little fingers at work?

mmmm.... why so slow? (waiting for a screen to load)

Full concentration

Talking about Home and all the way to the Sun!

Something amusing that I want to record down. :)
Yesterday while driving home Reese and I played our imaginary planet game. Then after a while he said this:

Reese: Mummy!

Mummy: Yeah?

Reese: Where is home?

Mummy: Where is it sweetie pie?

Reese: Pxxx Sxxxxx. Home is in Pxxx Sxxxxx.

Mummy: Oh... clever.

Reese: Where is Pxxx Sxxxxx?

Mummy: Where?

Reese: In Seleeengorr. Pxxx Sxxxxx is in Seleeengorr (Selangor)

Mummy: *stunt* Yes baby... it is and where is Selangor? (In my heart... Daddy must have taught him)

Reese: Seleengor is in Malaysia. Malaysia is in Asia. Asia is on planet Earth. The moon goes round and round the earth. *taking a deep breath and continued* The earth is spinning round the Sun. And what happen to the planets? The planets got burned. The Sun exploded. *sound effect* Kaboosh!

Mummy: Wow! so clever. You are right Reese. *Smiling from ear to ear*

Reese: Mummy, Malaysia is on the globe....

Mummy: Yes.... :) *totally amazed*

Sunday Roast

One of our favourite meals! It's always very satisfying to see everyone eagerly consuming this in the shortest of time! :)

Roast Chicken and potatoes with Thyme and Rosemary

Healty salad with lettuce, grapes and apple in apple cider and mayonnaise dressing

See the garlic? It goes very well with the roast

Yummy....

See Reese's hand with the fork? Can't wait to eat!

The way he eats the chicken.... it's like he hasn't eaten for days!

So hungry.... hehehe

Me.... all smiles because I feel like a successful wife and mother at that moment...hahaha

At home
Mummy: What are you doing Reese?
Reese: (Arranging saga seeds in a row on the floor) I want to plant the Saga seeds!
Mummy: Oh! What will happen to the Saga seeds?
Reese: Grows into a beanstalk.

At my mum's place
(Morning)
Mummy: Reese mummy will buy you some green beans to plant ok?
Reese:Mummy, I wanna plant seeds and watch it grow into beanstalk!
Mummy: Ok, we will do so.

(Afternoon after his nap)
Reese: I want to plant green beans! I want beanstalk!
Mummy: Ok, let's do it. We need a plastic container, some cotton and your watering can with water.
Reese: (Watching mummy prepare the things) Mummy, I want flower pot!
Mummy: No need Reese, we use the container.
Reese: ????
Mummy: Here, your beans... now put them into the container...... and water the beans and watch it grow. It will slowly grow....takes a few days.
Reese: I wanna see it grow into a bean stalk! (looking closely at the beans)
Mummy: Not right now dear, they will take a few days.
Reese: The beans slowly grow into beanstalk......

(The next day...)
Mummy: Reese, come look... your beans are growing!
Reese: Mummy, the beans hatched! (Smiling and very excited)
Mummy: (Laugh)

Wonders how he will react today when he sees leaves on the beans! :) Reese has been fascinated with beans and beanstalk since he saw an episode of Mickey Mouse Club House and the book Tictch. I took the opportunity to read him Jack and the Beanstalk and Freddie and Flossie Plant a Seed. So for science, he is learning about plants and how they grow and what they need.

Doll House Anyone?

This is one of the latest toy we bought for Reese. It's a doll house complete with furniture and figurines. Reese is at a stage where he likes to do imaginative play. So this new toy will give him alot of that. It can also teach him about household chores, responsibilities and many more.

The best thing is I got it cheap! Apparently a friend told me that they already closed down due to intense competition from China. They killed her friend's market with cheap imitation. So since the creator did it as a hobby or something like that, he decided to close down the business after many years because he was just fed up and angry with the imitators!

He is selling all the doll houses at a fraction of the price which includes 20 pieces of furniture, figurines and even two woven rugs from Turkey! What a super bargain.

All furniture are functional. It means all doors and drawers can be open. Soon we will get some miniature accessories to complement the house and perhaps when Reese is a little older we will teach him to paint the house and furniture! Ah.... so much fun.

The living room with daddy and mummy. Can you spot the rug?

Closer look

This doll house is huge!

Check out the bathroom. The toilet seat can open and close too.

The kitchen complete with fridge and oven..... all can be opened!

The nursery room with a wardrobe, mirror and dressing table....etc

Dining area

Building Blocks

Reese has been building blocks alot the past week and this is one of the many castles that he built entirely on his own. Mummy only helped to stabilize the structure and helping him put the blocks straight or properly so that the castle won't topple! :) He will build and rebuild again and again.

One of his castle creation

Then we took out the Lego blocks for him and this is what he built...

Do you know what this is? We asked Reese and he said "Little city"

Then daddy built him a castle of some sort... :) with four towers...

Reese decided to take charge of the garden and this is what he did...

Wanna guess? He said these were seeds that will grow into beanstalks!

Another view of the garden

He then decorated one of the towers with flowers and marbles.

My son is getting more creative and I am glad that he enjoys building.

Now I am just waiting for him to be opinionated. You know, alot of children at this age will tell you off when they don't like something or explain to you why they want something and so on..... Reese doesn't. He will just tell you he wants/don't want something and that's it. He can be cheeky but not in words. When you ask him a questions, he doesn't even know how to answer you with a yes and no and only the past two weeks we started to teach him to do so. Hehehe... He can speak well but just doesn't know how to answer questions or give opinions or explanation. We are teaching him to do so now.

When Being Bullied...

Although Reese is big in size for his age, he gets bullied easily. Even kids younger than him can bully him! He doesn't know how to fight back, if a kid tries to take away something he likes, he will just hold on to the toy and not let go. He doesn't hit or give you evil stares but maybe make some noises.

We always taught him to say please and thank you whenever he wants or given something. He is pretty good at it. 90% of the time he will use please and thank you. My heart always feels uneasy whenever he tries to take something from another child with a please and yet he doesn't get it. It's hard to explain to him that you don't always get what you want even with a please! :)

Just the other day, we took him to Ikea playland. It was his first time. He was all excited and for the first time we parents are not allow to accompany him inside. So we sat outside and watch through a glass wall anxiously. Afraid that he will fall or hurt himself.

Not too long later, we saw a boy probably 1 to 2 years older than Reese pushed him in the pool of balls. Not just once but 2 to 3 times very roughly and Reese cried so badly. He was hurt. We parents were standing outside watching in horror and can't do much! Poor Reese, the parents of the naughty boy had the cheek to laugh until they realized that we were Reese's parents then only they started to feel embarrassed and apologized! Inconsiderate parents I tell you...

Daddy was so mad that his precious got hurt. I told hubby that sometimes, we just cannot be over protective and Reese will have to learn to defend himself. Then hubby said we will have to let him play with swords and guns! *gasps* What? Is that the way? Hahahaha....

After the whole incident, while driving home, I casually asked Reese what happened at the playland, did a boy push Reese? I told him, next time if someone pushes you or treats you badly, you push the person back and walk away. He somewhat repeated after me. I wonder whether he fully comprehend what I said. In my heart I still don't feel quite right. Ask him to push back? fight back? Is that right? but if not....how do you teach your child to defend himself? At their age, reasoning with other kids definitely cannot work because they cannot communicate well.... Any good suggestions?

How to be separated for 2 weeks?

Hubby and I will be going to Europe next month. This will be the second time we travel without Reese. The first time was when Reese turned 10 months old. We left him with my parents for 3 days. It was difficult at that time for me because I just stopped breastfeeding him and first time away from my baby.

Coming November will be difficult for me again. I think this time it will be even more so because we will be away for 2 weeks! Now that he is aware of things, I wonder how he will take it. We have been preparing him by telling him that we are going far far away to London to buy his favourite Little Einstein Rocket (Can't find any Little Einstein merchandise here).

We have been telling him that his grandparents from Penang will be taking care of him while we are away. He seems to understand. I really hope he does. Will he cry every now and then looking for us? Will my in-laws be able to handle him when he throws his super tantrums? So many questions in my mind.

Alot of what if? too.... What if we died on a plane crash? What will happen to my child? No more parents? So scary.... what if...what if...... so much anxiety and yet so excited about my trip!

Mummies, care to share your experiences when you first left your child for a long period of time? I really need some advice and assurance..... :)

At 3

Haven't update on Reese's milestones for a long time. Here are some updates.

Height and weight: Tall and about 19kgs+

Speech: Talkative

Vocabulary: Growing and way ahead of this peers

Reading/spelling: Reads phonetically and by memory (only when he is in the mood) and knows how to spell 20-30 words(3 to 6 letter words). Longest word that he can spell is 'rocket' and almost can spell 'mountain'. Thanks to Word World.

Numbers: Can count up 30/40 and more if prompted with 50... 60... 70... (He understands how the naming of numbers work). Can count very well.

Story Reading: Always want us to read stories to him. Every night before he sleeps, we will read to him at least 5 different books!

Memory: It's fantastic! He surprised us a month or two ago with reading his entire Goodnight Mood story without missing a word! To date, he has memorized 5 stories. He will read to you with expressions and intonation too!

Just to give you an idea of what he memorized:

I Am A Bunny (by Ole Risom)

I am a bunny.
My name is Nicholas.
I live in a hollow tree.
In the spring, I like to pick flowers.
I chase the butterflies, and the butterflies chase me.
In the summer, I like to lie in the sun and watch the birds.
And I like to watch the frogs in the pond.
When it rains, I keep dry under a toadstool.
I blow the dandelion seeds into the air.
In the fall, I like to watch the leaves falling from the trees.
I watch the animals getting ready for the winter.
And, when the winter comes, I watch the snow falling from the sky.
Then I curl up in my hollow tree and dream about spring.

This is one of the shorter stories that he had memorized. All we did with him was read to him before he goes to bed the past month.

Science: We talk about food digestion in the body (stomach, intestines....etc), where human waste goes to (talk about sewage pipes and plants), body parts (from penis, nipples to anus...etc) and we also talk about the 5 senses and how the 'messengers' will send messages to the brain. Talks about weather, planets and etc.

Social: He mix well with other children even though he still doesn't know how to get other kids to play with him. We noticed he just get into the group and start playing. :) He can play with anyone and warms up with anyone quite fast. Still doesn't know how to defend himself when being bullied.

Arts and Craft: Not interested at all.

Singing: Still sings out of tune. :) He likes adult music. Daddy has been influencing his son with rock music. At times we see Reese jumping with hands up in the air like those concert goers! Daddy is proud of him... hahaha...

Dancing: Oh boy! Reese loves to dance. He is not shy and will dance whenever he wants to.

Emotion: He has his good days and bad days. Thank God the not so good days only comes about once in a while. He is good natured in general but can be very demanding when he wants something. One thing I hate about him is when he wants something, it has to be right now and he will jump and stamp his feet and grunt! Don't know where he got that from! He is easily distracted so it's quite easy to get out of a bad situation.

I am being more firm with him now with punishment like standing at a corner. So far, cane is not necessary yet. Phew!

Food: I am thankful that now, Reese will eat almost anything. He even takes roti canai with sugar! :) His favourite food is still western but at least Chinese food he has accepted. We even took him to a Lebanese restaurant a week ago and he had pita bread with mushroom soup, some briyani mutton rice and falafel!

Play: Reese is creative in his play. He likes outdoor play alot. No longer afraid of the tunnel slide, or swing. He even go on the flying fox. He loves the Ipod. There is a chicken game that he can easily play up to level 6 or 7 on his own. Of course daddy has to show him a few tricks here and there. :)

Reese is a always smiling and also super active. He is very cheeky too.