neofamily

Joel started to eat rice!

After many months of rejecting solids, Joel finally started to eat rice in June 2010!  And he enjoyed fried rice the most!

While Milred went back to Philippines on 6 June, Poh Lin bought fried rice from the zhi-char store nearby and Joel finished eating them in no time!

Joel didn't cry during injection

I brought Joel to his long due booster jab for DT/DPT and Dr Foo did such a swift job at his thigh that before both of us knew it, he has finished the injection.

Joel was playing with his white toy car and didn't quite register the pain... and it was over!!  He was up, laughing and exploring the clinic without any display of pain!!!

Many thanks indeed to the great skill of Dr Foo (who practiced a lot on his own daughter).  It's now over for the time being for Joel, until his primary school days!

Joel finally get his hair cut sitting down in the salon

Today marked an important day for Joel Neo -- we brought him for a hair cut as usual and when I noticed he didn't whine and cry as in the past once he saw the salon, I decided to get him to go in to sit down.

Sure enough, he was very obedient and cooperative as we showered him with loads and loads of praises ("Yang Yang, you are such a good boy!"). 

So with the cloth and towel wrapped around him, he looked at himself quietly in the mirror as the hairdresser cut shaved off his hair.

No tears,  just a little fidgeting at first, but once I gently asked him to stay still, good boy, he obliged.

I was just so proud of my boy today.  So was the auntie who was so relieved she needn't fight and wrestle with him.

At 2.5 yrs old, Joel finally learned that hair cutting experience wasn't that bad....

Joel peed into the potty for the 1st time!

Finally after months of trying, Joel finally peed into the red potty after Mildred let him try for around 5-10 mins in the morning.

Good job boy!  It's the first step towards potty training!

Joel's vocabulary increased

Joel's speech was growing leaps and bounds recently.

I realised he can utter One to Ten effortlessly, and sometimes up to Nineteen (with a few missing numbers in between).

When I read to him the picture books, he can repeat after me "clap clap" or "crab" when he saw a crab.  Or simple 'a' sounding words.

His favourite question was "Watz that?"

His favourite sibling was "Gor-gor".... always calling out to so many of them whenever he wanted them to play with him.

And I finally hear him call me "Ma ma" when he 'yang-or' and wanted me to carry and hug him.

At least now he called out his "Nan Nan" when he waited for Mildred to make it.

Thank God for helping Joel expressing himself slowly. 

Finally, Joel stayed calm during hair cutting!

Today is a special day to remember, because Joel did not cry and yell as usual when he went for his monthly hair cut. 

Auntie Kim wrap a cloth around him this time and sweet-talked him (Yang Yang what a good boy, so handsome) and somehow, after he cried initially while she was preparing the gears, this time he actually kept still and observed as she shaved the hair off quietly and swiftly.

Thank God for a milestone.  Hopefully next time he will get to enjoy the experience.

Joel recognises alphabets

Today Joel was pointing to some alphabets on a book cover and it stroke me that he could read "B", "A" and some simple ones like 1, O !!!

Joel started to speak (21 months old)

In late December Joel started to make more meaningful speech like 'tar' (Star), car, sit, Gor Gor (Brother), Daddy, 'tee' (dirty).  Even though before that he also made these sounds but I felt he has began to realised the strong associations better this month.

Genting Trip Day 2

Genting Skyway

Nice way to go up the highlands from Awana.  We took the hotel shuttle bus there and the Genting Skyway was quite fast in speed.  Took about 20 mins to ascend an altitude of 2.4 km. 

Outdoor Theme Park

We bought the Family 1-Day Pass with unlimited rides at 125 RM for 2 adults and 2 child, plus another adult tix at 38 RM for Mildred.

Entrance to the Outdoor Theme Park

Longest Queue for Joel

Antique Car Ride

Joel enjoyed all the rides... keeping very quiet and enjoying the companionship with his mummy. The only time he was very fed up was while waiting for the Antique Car ride, which took more than half an hour.  He was dashing in and out, going nowhere and screaming out of impatience...

When it was finally our turn, phew good thing the ride was really well worth it.  The  scenery around the park was interesting and the speed of the car can be controlled by us so it's very fun.





Lunch at Causeway Bay Restaurant

Joel ate Nestle rice cereal with chicken flavour.  Mildred actually forgot to bring the rice to cook porridge after I went through all the trouble planning the food and borrowing the travel cooker from Sok Hoon!  Good thing we brought 3 different types of cereal for Joel.

He actually behaved pretty well after eating his lunch, sitting in the high chair and playing with spoons, wet tissue, chopsticks and his little cars...

First World Hotel Room

After lunch we brought Joel to have his afternoon nap at Ulva's room at First World.  The Superior Deluxe Room at around 140 plus RM per night was spacious and the furnishing very decent and nice, much better than the ave room at half the price! 

Joel and his cousins Samuel and Isaac had a nice time playing around the adjoining rooms after he woke up!

Josiah and Jevon's first attempt at Archery

Cheap and good way to pick up a skill!

Learning archery

Their target :  Josiah's was No 2 and Jevon's was No 3:

Jevon also had a good time trotting around the stand:

Last ride of the day: The Rio Float (also my favourite!)

A funny video of how impatient Joel was while in the queue....

The beautiful night scene from our hotel balcony of the highlands:

Night scene of Genting from our Awana Hotel room

Genting Highlands Trip

Our family went for a 4 day 3 nights trip to Genting Highlands from 3-6 Dec 2008 with Ulva, Jack Pin and Jeck Min's family.

The challenge was actually bringing the food for Joel, who was still eating porridge and not very adventurous in food at all. 

After checking out different parents, I actually got some interesting Pigeon brand packet cooked baby food from Takashimaya to be mixed into porridge for him.  So that he can still have his share of protein and vegetables during the 4 days out there.  Here are some photos of what the Japanese have invented for babies like him:

Lunch at Kulai

As we set off really late at 10am and got stuck in jam at causeway almost an hour, so we decided to eat at this nice restaurant at Kulai where Poh Lin ate recently:

The 月光河 hor fun is the special one Poh Lin loved... with 2 raw eggs served on top which you mix yourself:

The other dishes like the toufu, cod fish and fried noodle are all of decently good standard.  So even though the bill come out to be 76RM for 5 of us I would think it is worth it, considering the service and relatively quiet atmosphere there.

Awana Golf & Country Resort

After finally arriving at Awana we were very happy at the tranquil surrounding with lots of greenery and spaces.  Our room has 2 queen beds and was quite spacious... enough to put the queen mattress onto the floor!

The best part is also the free wireless access!  And we actually brought 3 laptops there!  PL, Josiah and mine!

Joel & Mildred had motion sickness

After a smooth checking in at Awana, we went up to First World Hotel to meet Ulva and the rest for dinner at Hainan Coffee House.  The first thing Joel did after eating a few mouthful of porridge was... vomiting out what he has just eaten.  Poor thing... he must have felt some upset after all the winding road just like Mildred... no wonder she has no appetite and didn't want to eat. 

Anyway we celebrated Rachel's 8th birhday at the same time:

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Indoor Theme Park

After the dinner, the fun began.  Here is my self-made video of the highlights of the trip I took on video:

Genting Trip 2008