Happy New Year 2009

May this New Year 2009 be filled with Joy and Blessings!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Samuel's Second Cinema Movie

Samuel's 1st Cinema Movie was High School Musical 3. Last Monday, daddy and mummy brought Samuel to the Empire Cinema again. This time, we brought him to watch the movie "Bolt" a Walt Disney animated movie.

Samuel & The Bolt Poster

When we reached the Empire Cinema, we were surprised to see our friends there too, Uncle Tze Horng, Aunty Wei Ting, Zach & Luke.

Samuel, Luke & Zach

Potty Train

We started potty training Jesse about 2 weeks ago. This time, our method was totally different from Samuel. With Samuel, we bring him to pee every 15 minutes. We started off with 30m but sometimes before 30m he already peed in his pants. Even if he doesn't need to pee he will still pee (a little). We potty train him when he was 18 months and after about 2 weeks, he is diaperless during the day.

I wanted to start potty training Jesse at an earlier age but she wouldn't want to sit on the toilet or potty. So, we did not really train her until recently. We did not let her wear diaper during the day and will not bring her to toilet to pee until she informs us. We kept reminding her that if she needed to pee she has to tell us. The first few days she peed everywhere. It was pretty messy.

We let it be, but after the 3-4th day she started to give us the signal by saying "yeee" but by the time we bring her to toilet it was already too late. A couple of days later, she knows how to hold her bladder. She now lets us know by telling us "shi shi" and we will bring her to toilet.

During the day, except when she takes her nap, she is diaperless. We never expect her to be trained so easily. We have successfully trained her to inform us before she pee.

Our next mission : Diaperless during Nap time. Hmm... I do not know how to do this. We did not train Samuel during nap or sleeping time. He will wake up automatically and tell us that he needs to pee.

Can anyone give me any good ideas besides waking the child from their nap?

Shout To The Lord !

......... Samuel's favourite song. Everytime when he sits in mummy's car, he will request for us to play the song. He can request for the song again and again and again and again. Even when the song is not 100% completed, he will ask us to play it again. He can even sing better than mummy :p

Boo Boos and the Cupcakes

I ordered these mini christmas cupcakes about two week ago, to be collected on Christmas Eve. I only remembered about these cupcakes a couple of days before Christmas. But I don't remember the name or the phone number of that person whom I ordered from. (1st Boo boo...)

I got to know these cupcakes from the internet and on the very same moment I contacted the person to order these cakes. I can't recall the website either. The only thing that I remembered was she asked me to go to D'Anggerek Tailor to collect the cakes. I did not ask for the exact address as I thought that I will be contacting her again before I collect the cake.

I don't have any idea where is the tailor shop and all the while I thought it is around the housing area. On Christmas Eve afternoon, I went there and I was prepared to waste my time searching the right location. But God was and is with me! Once I reached the area, I saw a tailor shop signboard and I headed straight to the shop. Even before I step into the shop, I saw many cake boxes there. Thats the right shop.

After they got my order, I wrote down the contact person and was told by the worker there that their boss (who is the baker) stays in Jerudong, which is just 5 minutes away from our home. (2nd Boo boo...)

The cupcakes are not so presentable and too sweet for me but Samuel loves them and ate most of them.

Our Boxing Time

This is mummy's Christmas present - Canon 450D with Kit lens, UV Filter & Lowepro camera bag.

This is Daddy's new toy. Mummy bought iPod Touch for Daddy as a Christmas Present.

The First Christmas

Everytime we think of Christmas, its usually an occasion with family and friends. Giving and receiving presents. The true meaning of Christmas starts from the very First Christmas. It is truly about Giving and Receiving. God has given and we have received. This one timeless love story... Christmas

Daddy is so impressed that there is such a movie that daddy has never heard of. Maybe censored here in this part of the world. Daddy will try to look for this movie. The trailer seems amazing.



Being a Christian, Daddy shared the true meaning of Christmas again with Samuel. Now Samuel understands that Christmas is the Birthday of Jesus.

Children Boxing Time

Christmas Presents Under Our Christmas Tree

Opening His Presents

Samuel's Christmas Presents From Daddy & Mummy

Playing With His New Mouse Game (From Mummy)

Having Fun With Thomas Train Toy from Daddy

Jesse Opening Her Presents
V-Tech Toy From Mummy

Hugging Her Favourite Minnie Mouse Soft Toy from Daddy

More Presents from Aunties and Uncles

We bought our children's Christmas presents during our trip in Kota Kinabalu. All the toys were from Toy's R Us.

After we bought the presents, we tested them at the service counter and got them wrapped for free. At that moment, I regretted getting Samuel the "mouse game". I have no idea how it would be like but from the box it looks interesting. I felt that it was not worth the money I paid for, for such a silly game. I could have gotten him a more interesting game for the price I've paid for.

I was wrong. Samuel loves the game so much that he literally spent hours playing with it. After we got the batteries for the Thomas Train, he lost interest in the mouse game. He then spent another 1.5 hours playing with the train. We have to stop him because it was time for him to go to bed. We are glad that he loves both the presents we chose for him.

As for Jesse, she only spent less than 5 minutes playing with the V-tech toy and hugging her favourite Minnie. :)

Thoo Family Christmas Eve Dinner

We decided to change our dinner venue from Charcoal to Le Stadium. The main reason is Charcoal was almost fully booked and all the sofa seats have been reserved when daddy wanted to make reservations. Being almost fully booked will also mean that we will need to wait longer than usual before our orders will be served.

As I would feel more comfortable sitting on the sofa with active little Jesse who will never sit still on her chair for more than 2-3minutes, we then decided to go to Le Stadium. Besides, we do not need to wait for long for our food as there were only a few people having their dinner there.

Mummy the Pro Photographer

This Christmas, daddy gave mummy a christmas present. A Canon 450D with Lens Kit. Since mummy has been blogging & shooting photos of our little ones, daddy thought mummy will like the DSLR. Hehe.

Look at the picture above (taken with daddy's nokia e90). Mummy in action with her new camera. Hehe

2008 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and family !

The Bang Spoilt My Evening

When I left office today, I was pretty excited as today is Christmas Eve.

As usual, I got into my car and reversed from my parking lot. As I was very excited, I did not noticed the right side pillar was very near and while i reversed, my car right front bumper banged on the pillar. Almost half of the bumper was hanging in the air.

When I reached home, the bumper looks quite bad and I was very sad about the whole situation. After an hour, I decided to bring it to the nearest workshop. Since it will takes a day to repair and repaint my car bumper, they asked me to bring back after Christmas. Thank God they managed to put my bumper back in the right position.

This has actually spoilt my evening. But since the bumper is back on its original position, my mood was abit better. Having said that, the bumper now has scratches and the white paint from the pillar is stuck to my silver bumper. To repair and repaint the bumper and the dented area will cost me $200.

Daddy felt that it is pretty cheap. If we sent back to the agent, it will easily cost us $500 just to repaint the bumper.

Puzzles

When Samuel was alot younger, he has been very interested in jigsaw puzzles. It really amuses us to see how he can be engrossed with it that he can spend a lot of time doing it.

Few days ago, while Jesse was taking her nap, Samuel went into his room and played with his puzzles. He played with his puzzles alone for more than one and a half hours. He finally completed 10 sets of puzzles. Some easy, others more challenging.

Ma..Mee....

Jesse used to call me mama or mimi. Last Saturday night, out of the blue, she called mami. Finally! I have been teaching her how to say mami but she never gets it right.

When Samuel started to call me, he was also about Jesse's age. I can still remember that he refuses to call me upon request. Only when I'm not around he will call for mami or when I point at my photo he will say its mami. He just refuses to call me when I'm with him.

They are just so sweet when they first learn to call mami. Today, Jesse has been calling mami non stop. She sure know how to melt mami's heart.

Daddy's GPS (Garmin GPSmap 60CSx)

Early this month, before we went to Kota Kinabalu, daddy bought a new toy, a Global Positioning System (GPS). Daddy drove to KK with a sketched direction to KK and with lots of help from the GPS.

The GPS daddy bought is Garmin GPSmap 60 CSx. It is not the common looking GPS that looks like a DVD LCD screen but it looks so much like a walkie talkie. The main difference between this GPS and of those which are placed in the car is the looks and its functionalities.

It is absolutely mobile (can be carried around), waterproof and extra strong reception. It is made to be this way to allow daddy to bring it around whether we're in a car, walking in an unfamiliar city (holidaying), trekking up Mount Kinabalu (We didn't do this though. Not easy with 2 little ones. hehe) or even swimming in the beach or swimming pool.

It is quite amazing how daddy can be a tourist guide and a local expert of a place where daddy never even been before. In this case, KK. hehe.

When we checked into Tunes Hotel in 1Borneo. Daddy was checking the GPS for "Point of Interests" and found "Seasonal Durian Stalls". When we went there, it was literally small little stalls selling durians by the roadside. Amazing how this GPS works. Sometimes daddy feels that with technology like this, it feels like someone up there is always watching us. hehe.

Without this GPS, daddy wouldn't have known how to drive and bring the family to all the nice places in KK.

Catwoman? Nope, CatBaby

A couple of days ago, Jesse put on a mask all by herself and started posing on any reflection that she can see herself in.

When daddy saw this, daddy immediately went to get a camera to take some shots of cute little Jesse.

Don't Hit My Daddy!

Yesterday evening, we went to a friend's house for an early Christmas party. There were lots of people and lots of children from St Andrew's Church's Sunday School Carollers (Kids Of Our Lord, KOOL). After singing Christmas Carols, the children ran up and down and everywhere of the house playing.

They were playing "hit the monster" and chose daddy as the monster. When the children started to hit daddy with their toys, daddy heard a very loud and bold voice "Don't Hit My Daddy!"

It was Samuel. He didn't say it once or twice. He said it a few times loudly. (Something he wouldn't do cause he is usually very shy) He was very protective of daddy.

Daddy melted and gave him a hug.

Jesse's Last Swimming Lesson 2008

Jesse always loves to play with water. She has been attending swimming classes since 2nd quarter of the year. Her last lesson should be on the 6th December but because she was sick, she missed the last lesson and that makes 29th November her last lesson for the year.

During the past few lessons, I noticed that Jesse is not as anxious as before. She used to make alot of fuss wanting to go into the pool before her actual lesson started. Usually we will be there an hour before her lessons. Samuel's class starts at 4.30pm while Jesse's at 5.30pm.

I have also noticed that Jesse is only comfortable playing in that particular pool. If we bring her to other private or public pool, it will take her awhile before she starts to play comfortably.

Feeding Himself

Samuel is very good at feeding himself now. Finally!

Since I got the bento stuff, I tried to make shaped rice (most of the time its heart and star shape)for him. I try to make his food in a more presentable manner and request him to eat by himself.

He usually eats with the TV on. Most of the time when he is too engrosed with the show, he either forgets to chew or continue feeding himself. The maid will be there to remind him to eat. Although he needs to be reminded, we are already very happy that he is willing to feed himself.

I'm not sure if it is because of the so called more presentable food that makes him willing to feed himself. Before this, we have not really let him try to feed himself because he is very slow even when we feed him, what more if we need him to feed himself. But practise makes perfect. If he is hungry he can finish his meal pretty fast now.

Love The Mascot

While we were at Jungle Gym, the children were greeted by an Elephant Mascot.

There were mixed responses by the children. The younger ones likes the mascot lots but as for the older ones, some were afraid, the others were cheekily playing with the mascot, laughing, screaming and running.

Samuel and Jesse both likes the Elephant Mascot. Samuel shook the mascot's hands while Jesse gave lots of hugs and even allowed the mascot to carry her and hug her. She kept on going back to the mascot asking for more hugs and for the mascot to carry her too.

A hole in the Pool

During one of the splashing moments, the water from the side bottom of the pool started gushing out. Daddy has to think of something fast to stop the gushing water. Daddy then took a plastic bag to stick to the hold of the pool (from the inside) and let the kids continue to enjoy playing.

We do not know what actually happened. The hole was quite big.

After the children stopped playing, daddy drained the water and left the pool dry. The next day, we used the heavy duty patches to repair the hole. We certainly hope that the patches are strong enough to patch the hole.

Birthday Party At Jungle Gym

Today, we attended one of Samuel's classmate's 6th Birthday Party at Jungle Gym. It was a day filled with fun for all the children including Samuel and Jesse.

They were running all over the place, throwing balls, playing with the air canon, climbing, jumping, etc...

We were there from 12.30pm till 2.30pm and Jesse still was not satisfied and wanted to play longer. When we reached home, it was about 3.00pm (way passed Jesse's afternoon nap time)

Fun In Pool

Since it is school holidays, we decided to invite some children over to our house to play in the pool with the Samuel and Jesse.

Last Friday, we have 2 boys playing in the pool with Samuel. All of them love to splash the water. Their parents who were at the side of the pool were half wet being splashed by the children.

The next day, we invited Samuel's classmates over to play with him. This time it was not as rough because there were girls. Girls are more gentle I guess (LOL).

Initially we let Jesse join them, but she was alittle afraid, so we carried her out of the pool.

The boys continued to play while the girls had enough

The girls stopped playing in the pool after awhile, while the boys continued to play till dark. The girls, after taking their shower, played in the playroom.

I'm sure all of them enjoyed themselves except for Jesse. Probably we should invite younger children to play with her.

Bento Collection

Early last month, I bought some bento stuff from KL and had daddy's colleague brought it over for me. I have only tried to make bread for both Samuel and Jesse with the mould but Jesse wasn't interested in it.

When I was in Daiso, KK, I bought more bento stuff. Even though I know I won't be using these tools too often, I will still get it. I do not need to prepare any snacks or meals for Samuel in school as food is provided. I don't think I will be so hardworking to decorate the kids meal often. But these stuff are simply irrisistable, just because they look cute hahahha....

High Fever

Jesse was having mild fever (37+ degree Celcius) when we were in Kota Kinabalu since Wednesday. When we came back on Friday, her tempreture shot up to 38+ degree Celcius. We have been feeding her panadol but after about 8-10 hours shes down with fever again.

We brought her to see doctor yesterday morning and found out that she has throat infection again. At about 11pm, her temperature shot up to 40.1 degrees. She was so warm her face was blushing like a tomato. We immediately sponged her and gave her a suppository.

She has never had such high fever before. Her health has always been better compared to Samuel when he was younger. If she has fever usually it will be mild or the most 38+. This time her fever has been unpredictably high and worrying.

New Mummy

Last Saturday, I decided to cut my hair short after having medium to long hair for more than 10 years. It has been so long that I have short hair style.

I chose a hairstyle for the hairstylist to cut and then have my hair highlighted.

When I reached home, Jesse couldn't recognise me. She was afraid of me and she hugged the maid tightly. No matter how I try t comfort her, she still doesn't want me. The feelings of rejection really hurts me as she has been very sticky and clingy to me. Not only she rejected me but she was afraid of me.

With my new look and hairstyle she prefers daddy and maid rather than me. I brought her in my room alone for a while and played with her the things we used to play. I sang the songs I used to sing to her. Only then, she slowly accepted that mummy has a new look.

Daddy felt as if he has brought back a new mummy for Jesse and she rejects the new mummy hehehe....

Family Getaway

Daddy and mummy decided to bring the babies on a holiday. This time, we didn't sit in an airplane to go anywhere. Instead, daddy drove from Brunei to Kota Kinabalu. It was a very long drive that took us roughly 7 hours to go and another 7 hours to come back.

When we first arrived, we stayed in Tune Hotels at 1Borneo Hypermall which we immediately checked in when we arrived. After putting our things into the rooms, we went out for dinner in California Grill. Samuel & Jesse had spaghetti carbonara and daddy & mummy shared a large pizza.

Right after dinner, we went window shopping to check out the shops in 1Borneo. We called it the night and sent Samuel and Jesse to bed early after a long day travelling.

Day 2, we had breakfast at the opposite shops from 1Borneo. We went to Ampang Yong Tau Foo. Its been ages since daddy & mummy had Yong Tau Foo. That was the first time around here that we managed to find true KL chee cheong fun too (the one with the brown sweet sauce). In Brunei (for the past 7 years) we still can't find any shops selling the proper KL chee cheong fun.

After having breakfast, we went shopping again but the shops only open at 11am. We went to Giant and bought some food (fried meehoon) and surprisingly, Jesse loves it. She kept on requesting for more and we have to hide it from her so that she doesn't take too much. hehe.

When the babies goes to sleep, daddy and mummy went shopping. We were so tired shopping that we felt like getting a good foot reflexology. We came upon this shop that had those "foot massage machines" and the salesman actually asked us to try it out. hehe. It was good but a little too pricey. Nonetheless, we got a good foot massage. hehe.

After the babies woke up, we went to Nexus Resort, Karambunai.

At the end of day 2, we managed to have fun by the beach in Nexus Resort, Karambunai. As for shopping, daddy managed to buy a proper watch for swimming and diving. Daddy also managed to get Samuel and Jesse their Christmas presents from Toys'R'Us. Mummy went crazy shopping in Daiso and bought lots of stuff too.

Day 3, We checked out of the hotel by 9am++. Had breakfast at the same place as day 2 and went back to do some last minute shopping in 1Borneo. Mummy went to Daiso again while daddy and the babies went window shopping. Mummy also managed to buy Christmas presents for Samuel and Jesse.

After lunch, we checked into Pacific Sutera, Sutera Harbour. It is a beautiful hotel/resort and the children loved it. Daddy and mummy both think it is a lot nicer than Nexus Resort, Karambunai.

Once checked in and settled down, we immediately brought the babies to the swimming pool. After swimming and bathing the babies, we went out for a good seafood dinner in Portview Seafood Restaurant.

Day 4, had breakfast in the hotel and immediately brought the babies to Manukan Island (15 minutes boat ride from Sutera Harbour). Manukan Island is simply AMAZING! Our holiday in KK wouldn't be so memorable and enjoyable if we didn't go to Manukan Island. The moment we went to the beach, and when we went into the shallow waters, fishes were everywhere. The water was so clear that we actually fed the fishes and swam together with them.

Samuel and Jesse, both had the chance to feed the fishes from the Jetty too. The colourful fishes are simply beautiful.

We went back to Sutera Harbour after a long day in Manukan Island. At night, we went out for shopping in KK town and KK times square. Daddy managed to buy Jesse's Birthday presents too.
Day 5, we had breakfast in the hotel.

After breakfast, we brought our babies to the beach. Since Jesse didn't want to play by the beach, we then went to the swimming pool and the babies had lots of fun there.

We checked out of the hotel and then headed back for home. We only reached home at about 10.30pm after a long drive.