Irresistible

How does one resist a smile like the above?

Meeting Uncle S

A couple of weeks ago, Uncle S came over from HK to KL for work and a bit of baby shopping and got to meet JW.

Here's a snap:

Uncle S, grumpy looking JW and Mr Kong shopping in Megamall

Next time we hope Uncle S will bring Auntie W2 and 2 playmates for JW. We know they're working on it right now ;)

The many faces of JW - age 3 1/2 months

This week has been quite exciting in the world of JW and Mr & Mrs Kong. JW has been growing and developing fast these past 3 1/2 months but this week has seen some major developments.

The ickle fella has started:

1. Babbling
2. Smiling regularly
3. Trying to laugh
4. Holding is head unsupported
5. Noticed his arms, hands and toys
6. Started eating his arms, hands and toys
7. Flipped on to his tummy (once)

We can hardly keep up!

And so, to commemorate, we present:

The many faces of JW - age 3 1/2 months

JW being cute

JW eating his hands

JW not being experienced in eating his hands, and getting his finger stuck
Either that or he's trying to pull his non-existant teeth

JW acting nonchalant & cool

JW smiling

And finally, JW laughing

What will next week bring? We look forward to finding out...

When JW met Josie

with Josie on the sofa at exercise class

Every Saturday morning, JW attends an exercise class with Mrs Kong, partly for Mrs Kong to workout while meeting other mummies, and partly for JW to meet other babies. And Baby Josefina and JW meet every week.

JW ignoring Josie

Unfortunately, JW is at the stage where he happily ignores other babies, even a cutey like Josie. No matter how hard the parents tried, they were blissfully ignorant of each others existance.

Josie seems to be trying hard to get his attention with a little thigh gnawing.

Gravity soon took its toll and before we knew it, they were both slanting crazily. It amused both sets of parents though and brought a good laugh to all.

To be fair, they both ignored each other but managed to link arms in the end

We can't wait till JW starts to interact & play with the other babies.

But we'll really have to teach JW the proper way to treat a lady when he gets older.

Feeling poorly

Poor JW has been feeling poorly since getting his immunisation shot yesterday (DPT, Hib & Polio + Rotavirus). Very fussy, wants feeding constantly and running slight fever. He's only just calmed down this evening.

Consequently Mr & Mrs Kong are feeling a little shattered.

Also, Mr Kong had put a wet hanky on JW's head to cool him but after reading our bible (What To Expect The First Year), found out we're not supposed to do that - interferes with the body's ability to dissipate heat apparently. Whoops!

Hopefully he'll be alright by tomorrow.

Still made for a funny photo though.

We thought he looked like George Washington with his wig on.
Mrs Kong thinks it looks like her as a baby.
Our little angel.

Any resemblance?

Midwife

Mr & Mrs Kong arrange for a visit from the midwife last Sat to check up on the little bub and give us some advice and pointers.

Overall, she was very positive on our care of Master Kong so far (i.e. we aren't going to be reported to Social Services) especially of the bum/diaper area. I guess its a concern for midwives - maybe most parents are apprehensive about the 'Thunder Down Under'. Not us - we love it! Haha ok, we are ok with it.

She had her concerns though, mostly the fact that he has grown so much in 2 months. When he was born, he weighed in at 2.3kg, he is now 5kg. That means he's grown from below normal birth weight due to being premature to now normal for a 2 month old.

Mr & Mrs Kong were ecstatic about that but the midwife thought it might be a reason for his colic. We don't really agree.

Another assessment from the midwife made us laugh. After examining a fussy Master Kong, she said that his fussiness could just be due to him being a bad tempered baby!

Of course, it could also be due to the fact that JW aimed one of his patented pee fountains onto her! Hahaha!

Mr & Mrs Kong are pretty happy with progress and it was good to chat with the midwife to get some tips and pointers. At the end of the day, JW is usually a little angel when he is not suffering from his acid reflux and gas.

What, me bad tempered? Never!

Bad tempered jet pilot?

Grumpy in Popo's arms - look at those sausage fingers...

Fussy in SJMC nursing room. Maybe he knows a jab is coming.

Ok lah, to be fair, he can also be an angel:

Tummy time

Tummy time with Mummy - check out the extra rolls of fat and the chipmunk cheeks...

Last Saturday Mr & Mrs Kong were forced out of our home by the carpenters putting in built in cupboards.

This gave JW a chance to have some tummy time on our old bed at Gung2 and Ma2's place.

Of course, this was only after the little fella had poo-ed all over the portable changing table, squeezed poo out the side of his diaper, stunk up the room, had to have an emergency bath and then pee-ed all over Mr Kong's shirt.

Cute isn't he...?

Acting all cute and innocent

Big feet... big shoes...

JW got some nice shoes from Auntie MC and Mr & Mrs Kong could not wait to try them out on him.

Trying new shoes @ Isetan Gardens nursery room (its a swanky godsend!)

Guess his feet aren't as big as we thought...

Quiz

3 guesses what this face means. Winner gets a prize.

He has a name!

By the way, baby Kong aka Mr Mapoo has a name!

He is Kong Jun Wei.

Meaning - Handsome, talented, capable man from the great river or Robust, extraordinary, handsome, talented, capable man from the river.

Something like that...

Some things they don't tell you about babies

Some things they don't tell you about babies:

1. Their poo smells like yogurt (at least for now).

2. And it looks like English mustard... with mustard seeds mixed in...

3. Cutting his fingenails and toenails feel like defusing a bomb... with a 10 foot pole... while wearing oven gloves...

4. Their pee-shooters are amazingly accurate - gets you every time... right on your recently changed shorts or trousers.

5. Poo stains are bright yellow. Almost fluorescent.

6. Baby farts are as loud as adult farts. Can blame it on the baby now.

Maybe its just true for our baby.

Why our house feels like a zoo sometimes...

Yeh Yeh, Mah Mah and Kau Fu observing the wildlife.

Random pictures of No 1 Son

Some random pics of No 1 Son (yes, he is still nameless) to document our 1st 3 weeks with him in our lives:

Just a few days old, in the hospital. How peaceful he was.

His more usual pose these days - the "Feed Me" pose. Not quite so peaceful.

Son ignoring father - sign of things to come?

One of his many sleeping poses. Perfect Savasana. His father's favourite pose also.

Father and son - kungfu sleeping

Trying to play but he's not interested...


Quiet moment between mother and son


Conducting his own little symphony

Things that make you go Awww...

These past few weeks, there have been many sleepless nights, lots of worrying and plenty of stress.

But also so many moments that have made us go "Awww..."

This was one of them:

Our son (also known as Mr MaPoo) is now getting a little rounder. We see lots of changes (and hope to document them soon in pictures) in the way he looks. One thing that has not changed is restlessness even in sleep. He loves stretching, moving his head and arms, lifting his legs into the air. Mrs Kong has even witnessed a flip to his side a couple of times, when he truly dislikes the position he is in.

Here is a picture of one of the interesting sleeping positions we see everyday. ... :)

Hiccup!

New Arrival

at 0020 27 August July 2008. (Mrs Kong is claiming lack of sleep as the cause of the error!)

Baby Kong aka the nameless one for now.

Citron Shocker

Last weekend, Mr & Mrs Kong were looking forward to a trip down nostalgia lane on Sat by having dinner at our old haunt (and pak-toh favourite) Cafe Citron on Lorong Stonor.

Imagine our surprise and horror to find huge apartment blocks surrounding what used to be a quiet, leafy bungalow - with Indonesian construction workers actually living in the bungalow!

Cafe Citron used to be a place where you felt you were in the middle of a park whilst having a gourmet dinner in the city centre. It was a sanctuary in the middle of bustling KL. Sad to say, leafy sanctuaries are no match for 'development'.

Still reeling from the shock, Mr & Mrs Kong then went for the backup option - another old faithful, Genki Sushi at KLCC. Only to find it closed! Being replaced by Sakae Sushi! Ptoooei!

I guess its true - some things are better left as memories. You just can't go back. Sigh.

At least The Rendevous Steak House is still hanging on...

Great Weekend

Nothing much to report except an expanding belly.

Great weekend all in all: managed to finally get a new shoe rack for our vast collection of shoes.... relatively speaking :). Looking forward to the next already.

Norwegian National Day Celebrations

where Mr Kong made some pizza...

and had some family over

... as it just happened to be Mr Kong's birthday too :).

Back to Life

Mrs Kong surrounded by little ones!

And yes we are.

After a hiatus of nearly 6 months, Mr and Mrs Kong are back living life. Mr Kong's knee is better (though still not back to normal after knee surgery) and Mrs Kong is finally able to stay awake during dinner!! We finally had Mr Kong's good friends come over to visit us tonight, and share a dinner of roast chicken and potatoes (and salad) with us. Mr Kong whipped up two delicious roast chickens and lovely buttery and herby potatoes.

Yes we also have had nice news recently, and have been looking forward to the month of August when our bun in the oven is due. Well, looking forward until tonight.

Observing our friends and their mini families tonight, we have realised that in only three months, our life as a twosome will change drastically. Smelly nappies, cries, and a lifetime of child training will probably be the norm. We will cease to be a twosome and perhaps with the finality in this change, three months now seems like too short a time now.

Well, as the Chinese say, cross the bridge when you come to it and the road will straighten out then.

Chinese New Year Again!

Almost a week to Chinese New Year, and everyone is frantically making preparations to welcome the year of the rat. Some do it which huge shopping and cleaning sprees; some others attend Feng Shui talks in the hope of gaining a perceived advantage over the rest for the new year. I have never understood the latter, but I suppose someone has to keep the Feng Shui industry thriving.

We on the other hand, are bumbling along as per usual, in full knowledge that our house is still in want of a lot of DIYs and cleaning up. We had hoped to be done by this time of the year, but "other" events have kept us busy enough to stall further efforts to clean up. Mr Kong has been busy winning Frisbee tournaments and Mrs Kong has been ... busy.

Nevertheless, those who choose to visit us during Chinese New Year can rest assured that there will be at least beer at our place. Hopefully we will be able to rustle up something in addition to beer for the chinese new year visits!

New Washing Machine ... !!

Yes, it is taking some time to get our house and all its contents in order. Nevertheless, we are happy to report that our washing machine is finally in working order, on its new cemented and tiled pedestal. The pedestal is courtesy of the construction workers currently renovating the house next door. One of them came over one day and built it in a few hours, under Mr Kong's supervision.

We regret to say that we have no pictures as our digital camera is sort of not around. (actually we need a new one!)

Now we just need a new clothes horse!

Happy 2008!

... even though this may be just a wee bit late!

This is the year Mrs Kong's 10 year US visa actually expires. Its been 10 years since the passing of her footloose and fancy free days. Boy is anyone feeling old?

It is nevertheless nice to welcome the new year; new resolutions, new dreams, and new hopes.

We hope to do more traveling this year, hopefully a trip to Melbourne end of this year. But then there are also dreams of a white Danish Christmas ... how wonderful that would be!

Guess who?

Some grumpy kid

Flying by the seat of our pants

Showing off the tickets to the last seats on the last flight of the day.

So we decided to take a trip to the much recommended White Beach of Borocay Island in November 2007. Much recommended as some have raved about their fantastic honeymoon on this beach, and I suppose we were going to be in the neighbourhood anyway.

But of course, we did not book ahead. Of course we would have preferred it that way, but found making travel arrangements to be quite difficult. Our tour agent could not make bookings for us, and neither could we as no one in the Philippines seemed to answer their phones!

Our first hours in Manila, involved taking a 1.5 hour bus ride from Clark (the Air Asia terminal OUTSIDE of Manila), 'wrestling' with local taxi jaga boys, and begging for an internal flight from Manila to Borocay on the same day. We did it, thank goodness!

After the domestic flight, we took a taxi to the ferry to the island, and then a taxi from the ferry point to the hotel which we had NOT booked! Luckily for us, there were a few places which were not so popular (though still a little pricey for what you get) still available just as the sun was setting.

the ferry

Hibiscus in our apartment

Diniwid Beach

We stayed in a small hotel on White Beach on the first and second night, to enjoy the life and bustle on White Beach. Nothing anyone has told us about Borocay would have prepared us for what we experienced, as we found the place to be quite busy and inhabited. There are of course quieter and more expensive parts of White Beach, but instead of forking out small savings, we decided to make migrate to a service apartment on Diniwid Beach on the 3rd, 4th and 5th night. Here we absolutely enjoyed the privacy, and seclusion of Diniwid. For one, there were less vendors trying to see us stuff.

Here we enjoyed a massage on the beach, and just chilling out in the clear blue waters. We made our daily pilgrimage to White Beach ten minutes walk away for groceries and just food. we had grilled seafood, Mexican and local dishes such as the chicken adobo and sinigang.

We did not learn any Filipino words, though lots of people spoke to us in the language having mistaken us for locals.

Here we fell in love with the very relaxed lifestyle, the sound of waves crashing against the rock cliffs, and the art of just simply doing nothing! Anyone want to share in an apartment in Borocay? Check out - http://www.sprboracay.com/ and let us know!

Renovations Over!

So here we are in our new house! We still have a few little kinks to iron out but the good news is that we have finally moved in! Some say its an achievement in itself... but renovations did take some time. So for the moment, we are just trying to enjoy the house!

Our first House, our family

When Mr Contractor completes work (hopefully) next week, we will be moving into our very first Home.

We have lived in several categories of rented accommodation before, but this is probably the most exciting of all our previous domestic experiences; partly due to the time it has taken us to prepare our house, but mostly because we will be planting our roots for the first time in 3 years.

Everything from land assessment to the plants in our garden will be within our realm of responsibility, and from this, we anticipate a less care free life. Notwitstanding the added responsibility, we do look forward to a life together in a place we can truly call our own, in every sense. Perhaps this is a significant part of being a grown up, and building a life together.

It is a sense of pride, that we feel, that flows beyond words; or perhaps it is the case that we just can't find the words to accurately express our happiness.

Things are finally looking up... I think (Part 18)

The good news is that our house is finally done. Save and except for some minor touch ups here and there, Mr Contractor is moving in the right direction.

Further good news from since our last post is that Mr Contractor has finally commenced rectification work on the long bath. Today, Mr Scared Looking Indonesian boy came with Mr Contractor to add cement to the bottom of our bath. We were hugely relieved that that is all they needed to do (ie remove one tile and slot cement in) because otherwise, the whole long bath would have had to be removed. We are even more relieved that Mr Contractor is taking this seriously (as we still owe him 20K!). We certainly hope he keeps this up till the end!!

Still we dare not say when we will be able to move in just in case it gets jinxed! We have been very stern with Mr Contractor over the last week and thankfully Mr Contractor has played ball & cooperated.

Can't wait for the Holidays!!

Anywhere!!

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? (Part 17)

The standard question asked of us these days is "have you moved into your new house?" and our standard answer is "almost". The whole experience feels like a long car ride to some unknown destination when what we'd rather be doing is lying on a secluded beach somewhere!

A lot has happened since our last post. Mr Contractor has gotten his act together on a few occasions, and then slacked off, and then gotten his act together. The good news is that the house is done (yay!)

The bad news is there are a lot of defects, with the bath tub being a major one. Mr Contractor has installed the bath tub incorrectly, causing the bottom to be slightly flexible. Mr Contractor did not think anything wrong of it mainly because he did not test it when installing. This certainly raises alarm bells, but what can we do now but to insist he hacks it up and redo the job?

Sunday Action (part 16)

After much pressure, telephone calls, temper tantrums, Mr Contractor has finally move into fifth gear with respect to renovations on our house.... for the last 2 days anyway.

Yesterday, Mr Wooden Flooring arrived at 8am to start work. Mr Marble Floor was here at 3pm to fill in the gaps, in preparation for polishing tomorrow, Monday. Painter boys arrived at 10.30 am started painting, and finished the second coat on the interior walls downstairs. The basins and WCs were installed, and Mr Contractor has finally gotten thinking about the fittings.

Today, Mr Plumber even attended briefly to look at an outdoor pipe. Things are finally moving. More has been achieved in the last 2 days than the last 2 weeks.

So we are finally hopeful. We are not relaxed yet, but hopeful.

Blood Sweat and Tears (Part 15.5)

Mr Wooden Floor has given a verbal, albeit personal guarantee that the uneven colour will be of the same colour once they finish polishing the floor. Mrs Kong, being so mad already, told him that she will put this down in writing. Mr Wooden Floor did not look too happy.

Too bad for him.

Blood, Sweat and Tears (Part 15)

I can quite confidently say that there has been effort and tears spent on every inch of our house,
ONCE COMPLETED! We are no where near completion in case you are wondering, with only less than 8 sq feet worked on this week - and yes, I am referring to the flooring!

Last week, Mr Wooden Floor laid wooden slabs on an uneven floor, causing a disparity in levelness of at least 1/2 an inch. At least this was the obvious mistake. Today another different landing has been subjected to even more mistakes: colour of the so called "teak" we paid for is off.. resulting in 4 different shades of wood, ranging from the darkest to the lightest... all within 5 square feet.

I wish we had better news to report. I wish we had some progress for a change.

Our Trip to Singapore

We went to Singapore last weekend, for the SUO 2007 tournament. For one weekend, we did not think about our construction site. (A Good Break!!)



Instead of the usual hotel off Orchard Road, we stayed at the Perak Hotel, which was only 10 minutes away from the fields. It was a brilliant choice, for Little India is just filled with colours, sights and sounds. It is perhaps a part of Singapore that we have not seen, which is strange since we have both been so many times over the years.


Perhaps we have never seen Little India for the essence of this place for the sake of experiencing something different on a holiday. If you squint very hard, and look down the streets and the buildings, you could think you are in Penang! The shops and people itself remind us of Brickfields. A little like Brickfields, but a little more organised and less rubbish.

It is in places like Little India that we get slightly confused. In so many ways, it is like home in Malaysia, and yet, it is so different in other ways. I think many of us forget that Singapore used to be a part of Malaysia, and that we used to be the same country. Many will say that Singapore has progressed much further on in just 48 years, and that it is now completely different from Malaysia. (though this is in itself is a point of contention between Malaysians and Singaporeans... for we don't believe progress can be measured in economic terms alone)

Then again, no matter how different Singapore becomes as a country and society, its history and culture will remain very close to that of Malaysia.

More Delays (Part 14)

Just when we think we have our house renovations done, up springs more surprises. Yesterday evening, we discovered the wrong grills installed on our doors and windows. Mr Contractor called Mr Grillman this morning and discovered that Mr Grillman had used the wrong design!!

Now is that ever possible? Well apparently so, and not surprising since no one writes anything down in this business!

Mr Kong is extremely disappointed with this outcome and Mrs Kong is thinking of buying the Mr Contractor a notebook.

Singapore

On a brighter note, Mr & Mrs Kong are off to Singapore on Friday till Sunday.

Mr Kong is going to play in a tournament where a bunch of people chase after a flat plastic disc. Mrs Kong is going along to lend her support, cheer and party.

Looking forward to it, Mr & Mrs Kong need a break.

Crazy (Part 13)

Mr and Mrs Kong - absolutely knackered - absolutely fed up with mistakes Mr Contractor is making. Too tired to list the ones made today!