Now that we had shifted our dining set outdoor , the former dining area was left empty. Daddy had been very keen in transforming the area into a cozier corner for Mal. We decided to transform it into a mini play area for Mal. It will be a cozy corner for him to play, read and do his craft! Daddy would have went to a nearby store to get stuff to do up the place if not for Mummy who insisted that we should try our luck at garage sales over the weekend.
True enough, Mummy managed to get some good bargains for some real neat furniture for his play area. We had a wooden chest…those country looking one at a mere $8 and a book shelf (not too high, just the right height for Mal) at $15. It was a fruitful moring for Mummy and now, we were proud to say that the area looks more presentable and it only cost us peanuts!

Garage Sales, The Way to Go!!! I feel like a true blue housewife auntie !

Just a quick update to let ? ? know that we had received the lovely stickers and books you sent! Mal was so crazy over the stickers that he peeled them out and sticked them on his pants. He was especially fond of the Mickey Mouse ones. I am beginning to think that giving him stickers can be quite a waste of $$. It will be good to use it as rewards for good behaviour…but nowadays, that seems to lose its magic power as well. Mal simply loves it when he can have all the stickers he wants and need not wait till he behaves or done a great job. We ended up transferring the stickers from his pants to his new toy area furniture.

These new challenges are more for mummy and daddy then Mal. If you are one of those people who ask me how is Mal nowadays… I am sure you are familiar with my standard reply of ‘He is getting naughtier!’ I think I am feeling the brunt of his terrible 2s behaviour. I know this is not the 1st time I mentioned about his terrible 2s but this time…really…it is worse than ever!

You will hear me shout, scream and threaten…becoming a parent I don’t like to be. Mal is defying reasoning, explanation and is simply STUBBORN. These days, when he wants certain things, he will make sure he gets it even if we explain to him why he can’t have what he wants. He will cry and whine and create a scene. He is more vocal now thus his way of creating a scene is repeating again and again what he wants ignoring our explaination, when repeating his wants fails, he will whine and eventually cry. We think most of the time he understands our explaination but still he insists on having his way. To me, this is stubborn and maybe to a certain extend his pride. Just not so long ago we were rejoicing over his ability to vocalize and speak as that will mean that we will understand his needs better and we can communicate better. Now, I am feeling that he is using his new found skill to oppose, disobey and rebel against us! This can be so frustrating and tiring.

Maybe this is just a sign that he is too bored at home as nowadays he is in constant need of someone to play with. He will ask us to put down what we are doing so that we can play with him. Now I truly understand why some parents would rather send their kids to school instead of having them stay at home! With his recent behaviour, I am in need of ideas, ideas and more ideas for things we can do together at home that is fun and will keep him happy.

I do hope this is just a passing phase and we can soon grow and learn to become better parents and kid/toddler. Good luck to us and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Mal is getting more energetic nowadays. He seems to have endless energy when it comes to play! This was especially so for the last few days. Maybe it is really time to send him to school so that someone else can take over the role of playing with him other than Daddy and Mummy. I also considered his recent behaviour a sign of seeking more attention. If that is the case, then it will mean, less work for Mummy and more play with Malcolm! So here is what we tried today…making our very own play dough and letting our creativity flow! We had loads of fun and I sure don’t mind doing this again as it makes my brain works real hard too!

Here is the recipe we used :

• 1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• ½ cup salt
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup water
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence (optional but it makes the playdough smell nice!)

1. Put all the ingredients into a large saucepan, and stir over a medium heat until the dough forms into a ball.

2. Allow to cool, and then knead until smooth.

our creations…for the 1st time! Can you tell what are they ??

genius at work do not disturbHe snapped this pic for me while we were clearing up as he saw me fiddle with the camera. Not so bad huh?! But as usual, this was 1 out of the many many shots he had taken!

Mal had been playing faithfully with his cookware and tea set ?? bought him for a long while now. The cookware is pink and purple in colour and the tea set is blue in colour. For a while I thought that he wouldl outgrown those toys and play something more boyish like the train sets, cars and etc. Looks like I really had to cast away gender stereotype in the househould as till today, Mal is still very attached to his pots and pans! So yesterday, I gave him a little surprise. (Nowadays, we had resort to giving him ’surprises’ to motivate him to do the things we want him to do) It was a set of cookware. Looks almost lifelike and they are made of stainless steel. Ain’t they cool?!

Woke up this morning and realised that it was almost 9 am. It’s Wednesday which is his library day. Looks like we gonna miss it since we need to be out of the house by 9.15 am to be in time. So we continue to laze in bed while Daddy was snoring away. I turned to Mal and asked
“What do you want for breakfast?”
“eerrhh…’pigit’”
“You want waffle or ham and cheese sandwich?”
“I want ‘pigit’”
“What’s that?”
“It is pigit!”
“Can that be eaten?”
“yes”
“Do you need to cook it?”
“yes”
“How u cook it?”
“with hotdog and water and soya sauce”
“What color is that?”
“blue”
“What shape is it?”
“rectangle”
“Are you sure u can eat it?”
“yes!”

imagination at work?!

It was a hot saturday afternoon. Mal was sleeping in the car with the engine running while we were out under the blazing sun…waiting for the angels to appear. It was a show I was looking forward to watch. Even thought of travelling somewhere to catch their show…looks like fairy godmother had waved her magic wand and grant me my wish, and brought the Blue Angels so close to where we stay. The show was held from a mere 10 to 15 minutes drive from the place we stay!
As usual, we did not pay for the entrance tickets but chose to find some remote area near to the airshow display to catch the display. We weren’t the only cheapo ones as the road side was already lined with vehicles.
Soon the show began. The best part was when they flew directly over us as the sound was deafening! About 10 minutes into the show, we decided to wake Malcolm up. I felt that this was too good to be missed, even though he didn’t understand much. So there we were, bearing the heat of the scorching sun, just to catch a glimpse of the display! It was Mal’s first time watching an airshow display.

The weather is getting so cool that it gets a bit cold in the morning especially outside. Still we had been having our breakfast outdoor as we had added a new ‘plaything’ outside. Daddy had his dream came true when we set up a dining table outdoor. Actually it was the set of dining table and chairs we used to put in our kitchen. We had shifted the bigger dining table from the dining area into the kitchen and now the dining area is a big play area for Mal, still pending for some work to make it a cozier corner for Mal.

So ?? and family were here over the last weekend. It had been quite a while since we last met up with them. Qing qing had grown to be a big girl with spectacles on She and Mal are 6 years apart but they can play so well together! In the morning, while the daddies were still sleeping. The 2 sneaked out to the back yard to have their breakfasts even though it was quite chilly outside. They had fun playing with the swing, dancing to the music and just picking stones and sand to make soup and stew for us. Very soon, they forget about the cold…

For a long while, we were contemplating whether to use the rod to discipline Mal. Though there were times where Mal was disobedient, he usually listened when we explained to him or when we raised our voice. Such ‘good’ times are over now. At 2 1/2 years old, we think the real ‘terrible 2s’ sydrome had emerged. Recently he loved to disobey us. He would ignore us and continue to do things he was told not supposed to do. We think he was really testing our limits and his own boundary. So explaining doesn’t work, shouting doesn’t work. We used to put him on his naughty chair and that still work as the moment he hears that he will need to sit on his naughty chair he will start whinning and sometimes even tearing if we insist. But recently we had resort to something more drastic…the rod…where grandma used to use on us.

On Halloween day morning, the cane had its opening ceremony! I used it on Mal’s hand. Can’t remember exactly what he did but it was one of those instances where he insisted on doing something he was told not to do. Prior to using the cane, he was told that he will get stripes of cane mark on his body if we were to use it on him. After the 1st spanking on his hand, he innocent turned to me and said ‘Mummy, how come no stripes stripes on my hand?!’ So he was expecting the cane marks…not knowing that those were come with harder spanking! That was the introduction to the rod for Mal.

When I used the rod again for the 2nd time, the spanking was harder and he cried immediately after the 1st stroke! Now when I mentioned about bringing out the rod, he will begin to whine and show fear in his eyes.

I guessed I succeeded in making the cane and the naughty chair a symbol of discipline , pain and fear or to put it simply…a weapon of terror. WHAHAHA!

Time flies, we had our 2nd Halloween celebration here. This time, we had a small pot luck party at our place. It was so fun to see all the kids and babies turned up in their halloween costumes. There were witch, cat, flower, chicken, bumble bee and even froggie…all so cute!!! Mal’s one was the chicken where he chose himself. Other kids came knocking on the door early for tricks or treats. This time round, we were well prepared cos we had asked everyone to bring some sweets along as we do not want to end up like last year where we ran out of sweets ! Some of their costumes were rather elaborate and scary as Mal had to come running to me a few times asking me to carry him as ‘there were scary monsters outside!’
Finally, at 8 plus, Daddy was back to bring him and some other kids out for their rounds of tricks or treats. It was Mal’s 2nd try on that as he had a rehersal practice at a neighbourhood library a few days away:) Though not many doors opened for us but it was a great experience for him. We knew he had loads of fun when he woke up in the middle of the night saying ‘tricks or treats’ and the 1st thing he said in the next morning was ‘Mummy, can we go tricks or treats again ?’ Had to disappoint him by explaining to him that Halloween only happens once a year.