O!

Foooood Hall, The Gardens Midvalley

2 Sundays ago, Mr + Mrs Kong took JW to The Gardens for lunch, a bit of shopping and to check out the Christmas decorations.

Imagine our horror when on arrival we realised that we had forgotten the boy's stroller! We'd never gone on a trip of more than hour without it before. It felt like we were jumping out of an aeroplane without a parachute.

Anyway, we were there so we thought we'd make the best of it, thinking we'd have to carry the boy most of the time. To our surprise and delight, not only did he not need to be carried (much), he loved toddling around - looking at the decorations, window shopping, going up and down the escalator (and up and down, and up and down again)!

It really made Mr Kong realise how much JW has really grown. He's definitely not a baby anymore...

One of the best parts was after lunch at the Garden's food court when JW played in between the seats in the form of letters at the front and started saying the letters out loud. The pictures below say it all:

"O!"

The month of December

Much of life comes to a some sort of standstill in December. Its the school holidays and Mr + Mrs Kong are just becoming newly acquainted with. Its a life outside of mainstream commercialism, and a life one would know only too well if one were a student, parent of a student, or teacher.

Of course, JW is not of school going age yet, but the simple venture of finding a play group for JW is something clearly new to us.

Sure it is a month for family, Christmas celebrations, meeting with friends and holidays. Mrs Kong never imagined that even play groups took a break! Oh well, we will just have to wait until next year!

Happy Birthday Po po!

We love you and won't ask how old you are!

How to Boil an Egg

The title of this post probably sounds a tad bit patronising. Apologies in advance. (and feel free to click elsewhere on your browser)

However, Mrs Kong finds that perhaps too many, including the present, have forgotten how to boil an egg. Given that very little goes wrong in the process of boiling an egg, perhaps a more apt title to this post is "How to boil the Perfect Egg". All should be done before JW wakes up from his afternoon nap!

At the risk of sounding like Deli@ Smith, here is how it should be done...

How to -

1. Take the egg out of the fridge a while before cooking.

2. Bring the water to boil and turn the heat down to the lowest setting.

3. Lower the egg into the water. Keep the heat at a level below simmering or boiling point. A few rising bubbles is ok.

4. Guidelines on how long the egg should be boiled for: For a runny yolk, 5 mins; For a part runny yolk, 7 mins; For a hard boiled egg (but still moist), 10 - 12 mins. After 12 mins, the egg yolk will start getting dry.

Trouble shooting (when the egg is less than perfect) -

Egg shell cracks as it is submerged into the boiling water
Possible cause - egg is not at room temperature, or the water is too hot/ boiling too vigorously.

An unappetising greenish layer forms around the yokes (where the eggs have been hard boiled)
Possible cause - residual heat has continued cooking the egg after it has been removed from the water. Solution for this is to submerge the egg into cold water after it has been removed from the pot to stop the cooking process.

End Note

Once an egg has been hard boiled, it is also possible to tell of the freshness of the egg, from the position of the egg yolk within the egg white. If the egg yolk appears right smack in the middle of the egg white, we have a fresh one. If you see the egg yolk is visible from the outside of the egg (ie off centre) this is a clear indication that the egg has been sitting around in the fridge or the supermarket, prior to being cooked.

Head Shaking

We don't know where and how JW has learned this, but our boy now shakes his head to indicate "no"!

He does it mainly to refuse his dinner, and we are truly baffled.

Its a little cute but at the same time, quite alarming. Mrs Kong is raking her brains ... where did he learn this from? The "no" head shake genetically coded into our DNA?

How to Sew a Cloth Diaper

Now... if only Mrs Kong had a sewing machine!! :) (*hint hint Mr Kong!)

Other great links for homemade diapers:

free diaper patterns
how to replace the elastics on a worn out cloth diapers (Mrs Kong will be attempting this soon..)
cloth diapering for the frugal

Playtime at 16 months

With our 16th month fast approaching, Mr + Mrs Kong has been raking her brains on how to occupy our little JW. Fast moving to just one nap a day, we have more alert time to work with! Even Mrs Kong is getting bored of reading the same old books and playing with the same old toys.

So we have been told that we need not buy more toys at this age. Instead we have created a temporary play area in our living room for JW, with a cardboard tunnel (to decorated by Mrs Kong) and a little hill (aka bean bag). There is mount "sofa" which leads to fantastic views out the window overlooking the washing machine outside!

JW loves looking out the window and gladly climbs mount "sofa" to do so.

Good bye neat and tidy living room, hello play zone with tunnel and all!

Sizing diapers for a prewalker and worn out cloth diapers

I suppose this question is of less consequence if one were diapering on disposables but a little more important for cloth diapering, given the huge "sunk costs" involved in cloth diapering. Hence, the incentive to get it right.

So it seems, as we have discovered in the past couple of weeks, that pre-walkers slim down after they start to take their first steps. Mrs Kong did not realise this when she wrote the blog post on getting larger diapers, but is glad now that we did not jump the gun into buying more in the larger XL size. JW, which we anticipated would hit the XL soon, is now hovering at the L size since starting to walk. His is now trimmer, looks taller, though not any lighter. The conclusion is really to avoid sizing up a chubby pre-walker because there is a high possibility that they will slim down!

We have however worn out our Cloth Diaper Wholesale diapers, which have run loose on the elastics. It really is about time as these diapers have worked overtime since we got them in May this year. They don't even "rest" for 24 hours after they dry before their are pulled off the clothes line, and put onto JW's bum. The same goes for the fitted diapers in our stash, now that the CDWs are out of commission. Suffice to say the CDWs have paid for themselves many times over.

Meanwhile we are surviving on the minimal number of diapers, supplementing with the traditional white nappy when it rains, or we just plain run out of cloth diapers.

Our workhorse diapers:

4 Dream Eze fitteds;
2 Baby Beehind Bamboo fitteds;
2 My Precious Baby by April fitteds;
3 Bum Genius one size pocket diapers.
1 Starbunz AIO (which we really don't use at all);
2 wool covers.

As you can imagine, they are getting worn out real fast given we use an average of 5 diapers a day. More if we are on the traditional cloth nappies. Time to break out the new diapers!

The boy's new favourite word...

... is ''water bottle'', pronounced "wotterbotter".

Yup, its as cute as it sounds so its Mr & Mrs Kong's current favourite word also.

Standing on his own

picture from a month ago!!

Modern Cloth Diapers - a useful glossary

Mrs Kong found an excellent cloth diaper glossary! Takes the mystery out of modern cloth diapering. Perfect for the clueless like present.

Walking on his own

Mr Kong with JW at bedtime. After teeth brushing, before reading time.

We did it today!

On our own. Without help. A little wobbly at first, but we made it.. to mummy. Brought a big wide smile along too.

Someone is growing up too fast for Mr + Mrs Kong .... :D

Wool at night - Part 3

Our experiment ended at 3am, without a puddle of baby pee:

The BBH bamboo fitted cloth diaper was soaking wet at the tummy and groin area, but ok otherwise. It could have easily lasted another 2 hours if the right stay dry liner was correctly put in place (that in itself is another challenge given JW's recent aversion to having his diaper changed! It just takes so much longer and it so much harder. It would be quite a challenge getting the liner to stay in the right position). JW's bum was not sweaty which was a huge relief given that everything was wrapped under layers of the bamboo fitted diaper and the wool cover.

Mrs Kong did a quick diaper change at 4am, after realising that something was indeed bothering our guy. He feel asleep again soon after that.

Cloth diapering mission: stay dry liners and larger ones please to be able to cover the tummy area as well.

Wool at night - Part 2

It has taken a lot of research and convincing for Mrs Kong to use a wool cover over JW's cloth diaper at night. The reason being - its use is not completely intuitive - to someone who lives in the tropics anyway.

When the weather is hot, and all one does is sweat away one's body heat in the middle of the afternoon, it is hard to believe that wool can actually be cool! Of course, it can't be any worse than the plastic covers our mothers used to use on us over night. And is there any reason at all that it might worse than a disposable?

Tonight, after much thought and deliberation, Mrs Kong has decided to brave the wool issue again. Wrapped tight in a bamboo fitted diaper, with a liner and a BBH wool diaper over it, JW is sleeping his way through the night. Hope he sleeps through the night in the comfort of the cloth diaper. Hope we won't wake up in a puddle of baby pee!

With JW at the Zoo

Photo of JW and Mrs Kong taken at the Zoo Negara, with Mrs Kong crappy handphone camera. JW loves this photo though. He recognises it as a photo of "papa and baby"!

Walking walking walking

JW is doing it cautiously. :) And mummy is thankful for that. He is now doing so, pushing his little plastic car along nicely, and has even learned how to turn!

Another day of practice, heading to perfection.

My Precious Baby by April - love these diapers!

My Precious Baby by April diapers...

Mrs Kong went on a cloth diaper shopping spree a few months ago and got a whole lot of modern cloth diapers for JW. Yes, it is a little mad, but its a choice we gladly make. Admittedly, its not a choice for everyone, especially for super busy parents, but I suppose this is a choice we are most comfortable with. 6 months into cloth diapering (excluding the first 2 months of JW's life where we used the old fashioned nappies), we are pleased we took this route.

Anyway, JW is now growing and growing. We don't know where the weight is going, but he is certainly changing. Once again, we find ourselves in between sizes... L and XL. He still fits L but its a snug fit. Mrs Kong is bracing herself for another buying spree (don't worry, they pay for themselves as we save by buying less disposables). In the meantime, what do we do with the brand new Ls which have yet to be washed and used?

These are the L diapers Mrs Kong has yet to put into the wash for use. Use for JW or sell? hmmm. Are they not gorgeous?

5th Year Anniversary

Mr & Mrs Kong celebrated their 5th year anniversary yesterday with food food and more food.

Mr Kong's craving for pizza led to a pizza lunch at our old hangout - KLCC. Went to California Pizza Kitchen. It was as we remembered it - good food but very indifferent service. Still, Mr Kong got his fix with a good view thrown into the bargain.

Dinner was at Hajime Japanese restaurant where we gorged ourselves on Japanese food. We almost had to roll ourselves to the car! Both times we had the standby babysitters aka grandparents take the boy. All in all a good day!

5 years ago, we went through a crazy day and night of a full on Chinese wedding ending with a massive 60 table dinner. The stress, heat, tight clothes and lack of food during the day even caused Mr Kong to fall ill but luckily he recovered in time for dinner.

It was very memorable but extremely stressful and tiring for us. We both agree that it might have been better to elope!

Anyway, 5 years later and we have been through so much together. Lived in the UK, travelled, came back, had JW and everything in between. Those years together through the downs and ups have definitely made us stronger and we look forward to many more 5 years together.

Here's to us Mrs Kong!

Wool at night

JW in the Baby Beehinds Wool cover.

It is suppose to be cooler than PUL (Polyurethane Laminate); and to that Mrs Kong can testify. We have used it sporadically for a few nights now, and am glad to report that it is true. Hard to believe but true. It also manages to keep the smell of the pee in better, compared to the nights when we used our PUL pocket diapers. And surprisingly, turns out odour free after it dries out in the sun without frequent washing.

JW's first words

Phuh-phuh

The boy has been saying words for a few months now but it has always been in a non-specific, generic sort of way (e.g. "Pa-pa!" made Mr Kong ecstatic until JW pointed at the toilet bowl and said "Pa-pa!").

Lately, Mr & Mrs Kong have noticed that he actually knows what certain words (or sounds) mean and can repeat certain words said to him.

So here in no particular order is a list of words, and their translations, as uttered by JW Kong, age 14 months:

1. Ah-Pa; Ba-ba; Babababababababa = Papa
2. Ma-ma; Mam-mam = Mummy
3. Phuh phuh = lamp
4. Bauuu = ball
5. AnNNN = ant (followed by squishing of said ant)
6. Ne-mon = lemon
7. Be-baaa = zebra
8. Gigi, gigi = brush teeth (from the sound of brushing teeth, not the Malay word for teeth though)
9. Row-row = robot
10. Broom brrroommm = car, truck, boat, stroller etc
11. Wou wou = dog
12. Abel = apple

And last but not least

13. UUHHHHH (accompanied by pointing) = I want that! / I want to go there!

Will keep everyone posted on future utterances...

Happy Birthday Malaysia

Malaysia celebrates its independence on the 31st of August 2009. Mrs Kong celebrates this momentous event with a sleep in as Mr Kong will be home to feed JW his breakfast! Everyone is happy. :)

Happy Birthday Malaysia!!

ps - Mr Kong is wondering when Mrs Kong turned into a psychic?

The verdict on Potty training at 13 months?

Yes, we are indeed a little too young.

Nice try anyway, mummy.

Are we too young to start the potty training process?

Of late, Mrs Kong has noticed a pattern in JW's peeing. Of course it happens when the diaper is on, but it also happens, quite consistently, in a few minutes after the diaper is taken off, when we are either in our bathtub, or standing next to the water basin, playing with our bath toys. Mrs Kong notices because Mrs Kong cleans up before proceeding with the bath!

So this is an idea: can we start the potty training process now? (though JW will miss out on wearing cute cloth diapers... ) Can JW sit still in his new potty, and not try to chew at it like he did 2 months ago when we first got it?

We shall see what happens at bath time tonight.

Feeding at 12 months

JW has mostly been an enthusiastic eater. He has been willing to try new tastes, and up till a month ago, had his favourites when it comes to food. But just after his first birthday, we did notice a change in his behaviour: with increased fussiness, unwillingness to sleep, and distraction when it came to meal times.

Now, a month on, JW has taken to refusing his solids, sometimes going without a meal (or 2) and just drinking milk. At first, (and still to some extent) this raised alarm bells in Mrs Kong's mind. After all, isn't a well fed child demonstrative of good parenting? And what about all the time and resources to put the food on the table? It is certainly a waste of money and good food. Shouldn't we just feed it to JW anyway, after all, he is only a baby and we are acting in his best interest?

Yes, it is all too tempting to force feed JW at times like this: a thought that has crossed Mrs Kong's mind. However, after consulting several well recommended books on baby care and child rearing, this quite clearly isn't a simple solution for the reasons below:

It is believed that force feeding can lead to unhealthy eating habits as it teaches the child to ignore his own bodily signals - and to continue eating when he is indeed full. Further more, the right to decide whether he is full has been named as a component of a child's physical integrity, not too dissimilar from the right to be free of physical abuse. This is alleged to have far reaching implications to a child's emotional and psychological well being.

Hence we are now faced with the question: do we (a) force feed JW and ensure that he gets 3 square meals a day (assuming we are able to do this?); or (b) do we let JW decide for himself if he is indeed hungry and wants to eat, but waste all that food AND let him skip meals?

The latter choice is still too troubling for Mummy, but it might be the better course of action just to let him be.

[As long as he does not lose weight. ... !]

This is how much JW had for lunch yesterday... just the bit on the bottom left ..

Thankfully, JW had some broccoli and orange. The remainder fell into his "little pouch"

Of course, there could be other, more sinister reasons for JW's refusal of some of his meals. It could mean allergies for one, but we are not certain of this yet. Reading up on allergies at the moment, and hopefully we won't find anything serious.

Meanwhile, Mr Kong and Mrs Kong have now taken on DBKL like roles. We get rid of the wastage from JW's meals - Mr Kong being in charge of liquid disposals (milk in particular) while Mrs Kong is responsible for the solid disposals (all other foods not containing milk)! Lets see who puts on more weight from these new parenting duties!

12 months and 3 weeks we are!

Latest developments for our 12 month and 2 week old

We have been experiencing some pretty "interesting" behavior from our little guy of late. Interesting because it is in a way expected (as you would expect your growing child), although its also not exactly what we had expected to happen.

First on our list is refusal of solids. Ever since we started on Enfagrow (formula for 1 - 3 year olds) JW has been saying no to solids a little more than he used to. It is strange, but we suspect its because he is now not so hungry after the heavy milk feeds.

More so, JW is now a little bored of his mashed food, and ready for chunkier, non mashed varieties. He is no longer wanting scraped apple, but rather, wanting to bite at the apple himself. Same for the kiwis. JW now grabs the kiwi from Mrs Kong's hands to shove it into his own mouth. JW is not the only one learning at mealtimes these days.

Secondly, with increased awareness of all around him, he is able to identify sequences in the day, and knows what to expect from our behaviour.

For instance, at bedtime which Mr Kong usually deals with, JW will now know that Mrs Kong's leaving the room means that bedtime is looming close. If he is not ready for bed, he will protest and cry when this happens.

Yes, one might say that he has always been more aware of whats to come but now, its just harder to distract him.

We have also been seeing better sleep patterns from JW of late (touch wood!); with us seeing him sleeping for longer stretches of time. (I hope I don't jinx this by blogging about it!!) Unfortunately, he still prefers having us around, though we do understand this too... it is pretty lonely in his room without us and we miss him just as much ;)

Having said all the above, JW is now so much more of a little boy than just the little tyke we had under our roof 2 weeks ago. He is into copying our actions (holding the second Wii remote and pointing it to the TV while Mrs Kong tried to work the first one), pointing and identifying objects around the house like "fan", "doorbell, "(toy) zebra", "piano", and "joining" in on conversations with his baby babble (e.g. pointing at the lamp and going "ph ph ph").

It is just too cute most of the time, and we can't help but talk about him especially when he is tucked under those sheets at night in his bedroom.

We could go on and on with regards to what JW can do now, but suffice to say that what he is capable of takes us by surprise each day. Mrs Kong suspects that this will be the norm rather than the exception from now on.

And we are back from Singapore

We had a good time in Singapore even though it was more of a working holiday for Mr and Mrs Kong. With JW's curiosity level on the rise, he just wants to be everywhere now, with protests if he does not get his way. Without a car seat, a simple ride in a taxi feels like a mini work out in the gym for Mrs Kong.

Needless to say, JW just did not sit still this time in the plane. Thank goodness it was only a 50 min plane ride.

Having said all that, it was so much more fun seeing JW interact with people around him and smile so much. He is becoming less of our baby and turning more into our little boy everyday. It is truly an amazing experience - to be able to witness all this first hand.

Glad to say we survived yet another trip out of the country... with JW being the most relaxed, and pampered. :)

Baby Friendly Singapore?

Just three days to our trip to SG, Mrs Kong is now trying to google "baby friendly Singapore" just to make life a little easier. Sadly, this baby friendly Singapore does not seem to exist .. at least online anyway.

Will this be another Hong Kong experience? Will we find a cubby hole in a shopping centre parading as a baby room?

stay tuned...

And so it begins...

One day into his second year, the tantrums have begun. The possibility is of course, JW's inability to voice out his desires in a manner we would understand, and wishes and desires JW has. There is a purpose for those baby sign classes!

Today:

We did not want to nap - so we went into a crying fit.
We could not wait for lunch - so we crawled to mummy's legs when she was in the kitchen.
We did not like lunch after 5 mouthfuls - so we cried for fruit instead.
We did not like dinner after 5 mouthfuls - so we cried for fruit instead.. again.
We cried at nappy change time, we cried when mummy walked away to go to the kitchen. We cried cried cried.
We basically cried when we did not get our way.

Mummy has concluded that JW misses the very exciting weekend we just had, when he received toys, had birthday cake and enjoyed the going out. Welcome to toddlerhood!

And that's the end of babyhood for us...

We turn one today; though JW probably does not have slightest clue of how momentous this event is.

It has been a truly amazing year, starting from the moment of Mrs Kong's headache at about 8pm on the 26th of July 2008. From then on, it has been a roller coaster ride; with laughter, tears, stresses and immense pleasure.

It isn't possible for one to remember one's own birth moment. But it also isn't possible for a parent to forget the moment he/she became a parent.

Happy Birthday JW!!

Broccoli

Mrs Kong will be the first to admit that we are terrible at updating this blog. For some reason we get so caught up in daily life that we just don't have the time to write about it.

But nevertheless, it is accepted that this is not a legit excuse.

Our latest excitement is broccoli; or rather baby eating broccoli!

This was first rejected some 3 months ago when introduced but surprisingly, JW started to take it (quite enthusiastically in fact) last week. He gets so excited, the entire floret is coaxed into the mouth (by JW, not Mrs Kong) even before he has a chance to chew on it. Initial attempts were a little cautious of course (our guys MO) but now, JW even grabs the floret himself if Mrs Kong is not quick enough.

At the last meal this evening, JW was found scratching the bottom of the bowl which previously housed the broccoli. He was searching for more broccoli which he had just finished!! Poor JW. We shall be steaming a little more for him tomorrow.

Cough Cough

We were admitted to the hospital for 24 hours last week for acute bronchiolitis. JW's paed recommended 24 hours worth of nebulizer treatment. Hence, while Mr Kong was in Bangkok for work, Mrs Kong and JW "checked in" to our usual hospital for a night's stay.

It wasn't too bad though JW did have a rough night and Mrs Kong's was the same as a result. JW initially thought he was on a holiday (like the holidays we have taken him on) because we were in a very nice room in the hospital. It was the "single Exec" which Mrs Kong would equate to a "suite" in a normal hotel. There was sofa, a bed for Mrs Kong, massive floor space, ensuite and a cot for JW. (JW's cot was the size of a single bed!)

Though JW did not like the nebulizer at all, not one bit, we did have a fun time rolling around in the hospital bed, watching astro and playing with the remotes - one which controls the bed and the other to control the TV/ light and nurses!

OH YES... and JW ate the cot. paint actually peeled of :P

p/s: JW is much better now.

Choice

You can't choose the type of parents who are given to you but you can choose to be the type of parents you want your children to have.

Sleeping for Malaysia

JW was on a growth spurt last weekend. His naps were perfect and night time waking was minimal. Eventhough he woke up a few times during naps, he just sent himself back to sleep. We enjoyed the peace and quiet while JW napped. He also ate A LOT! And Mrs Kong thinks his feet grew while on one of his naps. :O

Can only conclude ... a growth spurt!

Cloth Diaper Wholesale - CDW

... is a brand of cloth diapers we recently acquired at just RM35 each from Tiny Tapir. JW has worn these for about 4 weeks now, and they have been used very frequently.

We love the cut as in many ways, its a better fit than the Bum Genius 3.0 on JW. Light and in white, it feels less "hot" compared to the Bum Genius. Since JW is on solids now, and has more solid p**s, leakage is not so much of a problem.

However, as a long term investment, the CDWs may actually turn out to me more expensive.

Firstly, the care instructions differ from other cloth diapers. That is, lukewarm water is to be used for washing. This is cumbersome on a few fronts. While washing a whole day's load of cloth diapers is already a chore of some proportions, separating out the type of cloth diaper for washing would involve additional use of water! We have been doing lukewarm in anycase.

Secondly, as recently observed, the PUL on our CDWs have separated from the cloth. They look as normal from the outside but it is looking a little precarious from the inside. With our vigorous washing (mostly to remove poo and smell) its just a matter of time before a tear occurs!

We will still use these of course, given the initial investment but will probably move to using more fitted diapers.

Will be writing a review of the Dream-Eze fitted diapers once we have pictures of these!

Cloth Diapers

JW wearing the Bum Genius 3.0

Is that or is that not a cute little bum in the Bum Genius 3.0?

This is Mrs Kong's current obsession. .. and I mean Obsession with a capital O! Its a day and night obsession even Mrs Kong does not understand how this has come about. Never would have expected such an obsession given Mrs Kong's OCD for cleanliness. Perhaps its the benefit it does for the environment, or the money we save (doubtful on the latter). Maybe its the fact that the lack of chemicals (from the disposables) is better for JW's skin. Maybe its the colours, designs and prints. Maybe its how cute JW's bum looks in them.

We started off with the Bum Genius 3.0 pocket diapers (ie super absorbent inserts with outer shell made with PUL laminate) and the Cloth Diaper Wholesale pockets in white. Mrs Kong has just purchased more inserts for the diapers to ensure that we have enough to use during the day (admittedly, Mrs Kong perhaps went a little overboard on this)

So now, the hunt is on for a good fitted diaper. .. that will suit JW. Who knows.. we might even find one good enough to use at night!

The boy has found his voice..

... today!

JW was not his usual grumpy self this morning. For some reason and maybe the following reason, JW was all smiles right from early morning. He smiled at me when he woke up, when he went to visit ah mah and ah gung; he smiled at meal time, and play time and most of the time!

In addition, he started speaking.. non stop - at every opportunity. It was "te te te" and "da da da" and "da di". It was amazing to watch this new milestone today, and just amazing to see an almost over 2 days transformation from our little fella who only knew silent laughs not too long ago.

Update on JW's eatings

Today our fella decided to start chewing. In the absence of a actual video, it goes like this "slopsh slopsh slopsh".

After many weeks of feeding his fussing and crying during meal times seem to be a little less of a mystery now. He fusses for the following reasons mainly: he wants more (in which case he raises his arms for the spoon); he has had enough of a particular type of food; he has not swallowed properly; or he is full and wants out of the chair. Its the same cry for all scenarios though.. so a little more mystery to figure out still.

Will try to catch him on video tomorrow. Too tired today.

Meeting the Twins of Tung Chung

We had heard all about the Twins (JW's cousins) from the day they were born.

Picture of Twins A and M, before meeting, courtesy of their mama, Auntie WW

(mama, if you want a different photo to appear, please provide.. )

So on the last day of our visit to Hong Kong, we took these photos. We don't have one of JW playing with A and M but its probably for the best, for now, as JW made M cry on our second last day! Will have to wait for twins to grow up a little more, and give as good as they get! :)


So cute though, and getting cuter by the day! :)

We are drinking from a big boy's cup now!

JW and his cup. ... and not the sippy cup! So excited, he dropped the two spoons he so tightly held onto, and immediately reached for the cup!




All wet, no doubt, but definitely happy! :)

The Hong Kong we have just discovered

The Kongs on their first HK trip together

So, holidaying in Hong Kong has always meant one of a few activities for us. Mainly, its been shopping and meeting relatives (if any!).

For instance, we made a special trip to HK in 2003 just to buy 'equipment' for our wedding. It was well worth the trip as the same would have cost a little more here in KL, minus the quality and choice we were looking for. Its just more fun to shop in HK.

This time around we basically ditched any idea of buying anything that involved walking or looking for more than 30 mins. We tried to avoid busy streets and didn't even dare think of any activities past our fella's bedtime (which is 7!! what a life...).

checking out the museums

So what did we do?

We went to the Museum of Art, after discovering JW's interest in Chinese brush paintings. Then we went to the Museum of History, and had a good stroll around while JW had his afternoon nap. Nothing loud, nothing involving narrow streets, or bargaining or dodging crowds.

Stars on the Avenue - Uncle S, Auntie WW, Cousins A&M, Mr Kong & JW

We managed a lovely walk, as suggested by cousin WW, along the Avenue of the Stars.

And to our surprise, we loved it! Did not buy a single cheesy item from the markets (only clothes for JW oh and some nice cheap jeans for mummy), and totally loved the experience.



So, travelling with baby may not be the easiest and might even disqualify a holiday from being categorised as a 'holiday', but we would never dream of leaving JW at home!

Newsflash on JW's Solids

Mrs Kong baked a beetroot today, and JW ate a quater of it happily!

JW in Hong Kong

JW taking his morning nap before we leave on our sightseeing..

JW's favourite item in the whole of HK: cheesy hotel art

So much of a favourite that Mr Kong had to take ANOTHER picture of it with JW. Maybe we should have taken it home with us.

We took JW to Hong Kong over Easter, for his first taste of air travel, and just to see how he would fare on an overseas holiday. We were apprehensive at first, believing that Hong Kong is just not baby friendly. We were right. It isn't!

And definitely not breastfeeding friendly. ...

...zzz...

Anyhow, it was a fantastic trip. JW slept on the plane... when we were not expecting him to! He slept well in his hotel cot - probably clocking in more sleep than he does on an average night at home. And most amazingly, he slept in his stroller at the correct times, on the bustling streets of HK!

All in all, the weather was agreeable and we managed to pack in some sights and eateries.

Mr Kong and Mrs Kong both agree that this was the best HK trip we have both had so far, maybe because we got to share it with JW. Though probably the most tiring carrying 9.5 kg around ... ;) (9.8kg since!)

More posts coming up ! ... :)

Mrs Kong's Cooking

there is more spinach on the face than in is tummy, unfortunately.

Procrastinating (as usual) and this time from doing taxes. Lots to blog about but we just have not found the time recently. There seems to be so much to do each day, and the days just fly by!

Anyway, here is a picture taken yesterday of our little one's face after a fight with chinese spinach (bayam). Mrs Kong mixed it into the potato, JW's favourite and even then, it was not well received. Mrs Kong is shattered (as you can see in the eye bags, though Mr Kong's are incidentally much bigger) from losing precious sleep time cooking three meals a day for JW.

So... the solution .. frozen food for the picky eater next week.

Just random thoughts of a parent

cheeky JW staring into mummy's computer while mummy surfs the internet

There are moments in the day when a mother wishes time would just stop for a while. And the perfect moment frozen in time. There are many such moments these days, as we watch JW learn develop and mature. Each day he develops and learns a little more. Each day, he becomes a little more like our little man. These moments are akin to little oysters with pearls in the vast sea of experiences. These moments are truly magical.

JW was ill last weekend, but is all better now though he never ceased to be his active and cheeky self. It is of course worrying when one's child is sick, but its a relief that its something he can recover from - something that could only make his immune system stronger.

There are of course illnesses that are not overcomed so easily. And these form the nightmares of every parent as ailments which have longer term repercussions - like stones weighing down on the heart. Dramatic as this sounds, it is true. I know no words to describe such pain, and the chaos that clouds the mind as a result. For I too have been lucky enough not to have experienced it thus far. For this is a helpless child - one who only deserves loving kindness, and yet, suffering instead. For today, JW is healthy in this regard.

Hence for today, I am grateful for JW's -
1) waking up healthy, creeping on all fours, reaching for the air conditioner remote, the cordless phone and my water bottle - to be put into his mouth!!;
2) checking out his own reflection out in the shiny surface of the piano and kissing it! (along the the pedals and the piano seat)
3) crying for attention and his ability to convey that he would rather breast milk than oats cooked in formula milk.
4) trying imitate my use of the mouse but subsequently ended up having it in ... you guessed it ... in his mouth.
5) sitting up to play with his toys and had the energy and strength to shake them about, exploring, and learning new ways of playing with them.
6) showing interest in the towel rack, tripod and his toy box, by shaking and pulling and tugging amongst other actions!
7) feeding well, albeit several times in the night and contributing to my perpetual backache, neckache and headache;
8) trying to talk to us at 10pm, as if to tell us that all is well, and that he is a happy baby.

On the basis of the above, today was a perfect day.

Mrs Kong.

You snooze you lose!

These photos speak for themselves. Not the best lighting, but Mrs Kong has done her best to salvage them.

Obviously JW's dexterity is not so advance yet. Poor JW: look at the expression on his face!

Bath Time

Getting a baby hair wash from shampoo boy Mr Kong

Posing.... :)

JW has his warm bath in the evenings, just before his baby massage, milk, winding down and sleep time. It calms him down and signals that his milk feed and bedtime is around the corner. We have stuck to this bath routine since he was 4 weeks old and it has helped settled JW for his bedtime - most of the time!

We love our bath time. We love the water on our backs and hands. In the special bath tub popo bought. We don't really like water running over our eyes though.

At the rate JW is growing, we won't be in our baby bath tub for long more! Can't wait to bath in the big bath tub with the rubber duckies and bath toys...

7 months old

JW in his favourite corner of his cot

JW loves play. He loves peek - a - boo and loves anyone who will devote time and effort to play with him. At 7 months old, our little baby can sit up well, flip onto both sides - and back with little effort, protest when a toy is taken away from him and does baby push ups (in his effort to get on his knees and begin crawling). He is working on the crawling bit, often creeping backwards and whinning in frustration instead! :)

He knows his mummy and his papa now and gives his papa the biggest smile ever when papa returns home from work. A sight for sore eyes at the end of a hard day!

Solids

first bite

We started introducing solids into JW's diet when he turned 6 months old; slightly more than a month ago. The day was greeted with much anticipation, as we have suspected JW's readiness for months now and only held back because we were warned that he may not be ready due to a immature digestive system. Yes, another one of those differences in experience in caring for premie albeit only a month early.

give me more!!

At the first sitting, JW was super excited at the sight of the bowl, food and spoon. He grabbed Mrs Kong's hand and shoved the spoon into his mouth. At the end of the meal, there was another round of crying as there was no more food!! Poor JW, not enough to eat when he clearly wanted more.

We had stopped solids after a few days of introducing rice because it seemed to have given him a tummy ache at night. A month on, we have started him rice cereal for the morning and rice & carrots for lunch & tea.

Today's menu: rice and pumpkin!

Chinese New Year for JW

papa putting on a bib for the waterworks

receiving the red packet from popo and gunggung

receiving yet another big one from ah ma and ah gung

The Chinese New Year celebration lasts 15 days and in this two week period, we have seen so many changes in our little one.

On the first day JW was brought on a marathon CNY visiting trip to see the elder relatives. By 12 noon, JW was struggling, and he slept within seconds of our settling him for a nap. JW loved the attention but even superstars need their naps.

By the second day of new year, JW mastered the art of receiving the red packet. He shows great interest when someone hands him these angpows now, but only because they are red and its something new to put into his mouth.

All in all we are not sure what JW thinks of Chinese New Year. Nevertheless we are looking forward to many more Chinese New Years to come with JW!