Chenya at 11 months ...going on ONE

Time certainly does fly. Before we realize it, Chenya is now 11 months and turning to one this month. I can still remember blogging about the nightmare confinement lady we had and the trauma she put us through. It was just like yesterday. Children do grow up pretty fast nowadays and before too long, they will be off from the nest doing their own things, leaving behind us, the old folks trying hard to hang on to the wonderful and sweet memories we had with them when they were babies and toddlers, with our ever failing memory...

Chenya at the Loft, Bangsar Village, getting ready to order her food ....

Herein, lies the whole objective of this blog, to pen down as much as I could of the sweet moments I have with them and what I am experiencing now, so that I could always read back should my memory fails me when I grow a little senile in my old age....

So, how has Chenya grown in the past 11 months....

Physically, Chenya is definitely taller than Ryan when Ryan was 11 months old. We got a feeling that Chenya will take after me and would definitely be taller as compared to Ryan who is taking after her mommy who is ....emmmm....(need I state the obvious).

She was crawling all the house when she was barely 8 months old. By 9 months she was already attempting to stand up, the moment she grab hold of any support. By 10 months, she was already taking her first few steps. Today, she can walk unaided for quite a distance and is already climbing or trying to climb sofas and chairs at home without a single indication of fear....

She finally got her first front teeth last month, much later than Ryan. Her favorite toys are pretty much what Ryan is playing, which unfortunately turns out to be guns and swords. We have given her a nick name at home whenever she brandish her kor kor guns at home....Lara Croft!

Our very own Lara Croft ....

Unlike Ryan whose first few words uttered were daddy and mommy, her first few words were `nen nen' (milk) and 'ta ta ta ta' (beat beat) - I am not sure what and who she wants to beat initially, but now, whenever she gets hold of Ryan's swords, she will be 'ta ta ta' ing all over the house. Her grandma managed to teach her to say 'bird bird' when she brought her out to the park last month.

And one more thing, she whistles. Yupe. I was whistling in front of her one day and she was putting her lips together but nothing came out from it. One night a couple of days later, while we were about to sleep, I heard someone attempting to whistle on the bed. I thought it was Ryan but to our to surprise, it was Chenya and when we looked at her, she was giggling cheekily ....

From her character perspective, she definitely has a temper and patience is certainly NOT her virtue. We are still debating as to whom she has picked that up from...

And lastly, we discovered yesterday, that she certainly loves to eat. We were at the Loft Bangsar Village and while we were eating, she was making so much noise that she wanted some too. When we fed her with some bread crumbs, she was so so happy and was laughing out loud everything we gave her a piece. And the love to eat, certainly comes from the mommy .....

Unlike Ryan who is extra friendly, Chenya is the complete opposite. Ryan can be carried by almost anyone and till today, he can initiate and hold a conversation with a complete stranger. On the other hand, Chenya will yell at the top of her lungs if a stranger touches her ....(but then again, she is still a lady ain't she).....

I am dumbfounded ....

I was picking up Ryan from his daycare yesterday and he was all excited about a piece of sticker from one of his teachers. He was in his usual talkative self and was talking non stop in the car. I must admit that I was not really paying much attention, firstly because, he can get rather annoying asking you the same question over and over again and secondly, I was negotiating my way over some heavy evening traffic.

Then out of the blue, he asked me, "Daddy, did you listen to what I say?"

I was caught....

"What did you just said?" I asked.

"I said I got this piece of sticker from Ms Jess." he replied and waved the sticker at me.

Honestly, I was just entertaining him and was not really paying much attention.

"What did  you get?" I asked again....

"This sticker lar ....!" he replied, this time, rather impatiently ....

"What sticker?" I asked without actually looking at him...he was sitting at the back of the car...

"THIS STICKER LAR!" he replied ...

"Who gave you the sticker?" I asked, hoping to strike off a conversation ...

"Ms Jess LAR!" he replied, obviously annoyed with me for not paying attention ...

And the next sentence got me all dumbfounded ...

"Daddy, you must put on your BIG EARS and open your BIG EYES when I talked to you..OK?"

I was like "Huh?"...."Put on my big ears and open my big eyes..?" I asked...

"Yes, teacher said 'Children, put on your big ears to listen and open your big eyes to see'?" he replied.

What can I say except "I am sorry Ryan..."

This son of mine is growing up fast ....

Sooner or Later ....

Well, this is going to happen sooner or later anyway ....

When I got home from work last week, the moment I opened the door, my MIL (mother in law) who has been staying with us for the last 2 weeks to help watch over our new pinay maid, complained to me that Ryan has whacked his sister with a toy on the head!

I went over to Chenya and discovered a red line on her forehead! Heartache! She was fine but gave me one of her `manja' look. (but then again, she always give me her manja look because she knows she can get away from almost anything with that look...so far that is)

I went over to Ryan, whom by this time was sitting quietly in one corner of our L-shape sofa, with his very guilty 'I am sorry' look.

"Did you hit mei mei?" I roared ....

"Yes ..." barely a whisper..

"I did not hear you. Did you hit mei mei?" I repeated.

"Yes ..." he replied ..and immediately followed with his standard `getting out of trouble' phrase ..."I am sorry ...I am sorry daddy."

"Why? Why did you hit mei mei?" I asked..

He kept quiet .....

"Why? Why did you hit her?" 

Another moment of silence. He looked at me with his guilty and apologetic eyes. But then, what answer was I expecting anyway. "Because I hated her.." or "Because I was naughty.." It then dawned to me that in my anger, I have not been constructive in correcting his mistake. I am asking him questions that I would obviously not get any satisfactory answers....

Without getting an answer to the `Why?" .... I rephrased my questions ....

"Do you know it is painful to hit mei mei ...?"

"Yes....." he replied ...

"Do you want to hit mei mei again?" I asked

"No daddy ...I'm sorry daddy...I am really sorry ..." he answered ...

"Is it right or wrong to hit mei mei then? " I asked ...

"Wrong ...I am sorry." he continued...

With that I gave him a hug and told him that he should be protecting his sister and not hitting her. He is his BIG brother and BIG brother don't hit their sister.

I knew that this is going to happen sooner or later anyway when they played together as they grow up and as long as it accidental and he is constantly reminded that he is the elder brother who has to watch out for his little sister and as long as he continues to demonstrate his love (like he always did), I would take this as part of the excitement, pain and experience of growing up together.

I wonder whether my sisters remembered me whacking them when we were growing up together ....emmmm....

3 years old Party - Third Wave !

This is will be his third 3 years old small celebration with several people who have grown to love him very much and have literally watched him grow up.

There is this Chinese restaurant where we stay and we have been frequenting it for almost 50% of our dinners. The lady supervisor, the chef to the kakak who brings us our drinks have grown to adore Ryan over the last 3 years.

Every now and then, they will buy toys for Ryan or take him to the 7-Eleven located a couple of shops away. Ryan absolutely adores them and even called the lady supervisor, 'Kai Ma' (god mum). She is of course absolutely delighted.

For his birthday this year, they bought him a cart that he could ride at home.


So, it is only a reasonable thing to do when we bought a small birthday cake and make it a point for Ryan to celebrate his birthday with them and get them to blow out his birthday candles. We wanted Ryan to remember (I certainly hope that he does and if not, I hope that this blog will remind him) of the people who have watched him grow, who have become part of his life as he journey through life and the people who have loved and adored him. We wanted him to learn to be thankful and grateful and know from a very young age that he is indeed a lucky boy with so many people around him that loves him.

His first DSLR

I've busy taking pictures whenever I have the chance with my new Nikon D90, enjoying a passion that I've since my younger schooling days and which I have set aside until recently. My younger sister too has got her new Canon iXUS and hence, we have been busy snapping away, either at food, places we visit or our model, Ryan himself.

Obviously, he has been observing us and recently, he has also learnt to pose for us whenever we asked him to.

A few days ago, my sister bought him a toy camera and what transpired about that was nothing short of amusement and awe. Immediately, he was imitating us, turning his camera this way and that and even attempts to take his subjects from different angles or from under the table.

We have now the youngest photographer at home......

Looking Cool!

Ryan is learning words pretty fast nowadays. This is particularly evident once he passed his 2nd birthday. The other day, while tidying up the room I gave him my Hardrock black golf cap. Then gesturing with my hand, I taught him the word `Cool!' Then he took my wife's swimming goggles and put it over his head.

What you see above is his version of being cool.

"Ka......!!!!!!!"

"KAAA.......!!!!!"

We found a old malaysia flag and gave it to him over the weekend. As he was waving it around, we were teaching him to shout "MERDEKA!". After a few rounds of us shouting excitedly, suddenly, without realising it, he was waving the flag and was shouting "KAAAA....!!" " KAAAAA...!!!" What a hilarious time we had seeing him running around the house with the little flag and shouting "KAAAA....!!!!"

Starting them young to love the country...hahaha