Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!!!!!!

Happy 50th Birthday to Malaysia

Today is the day that the whole Malaysia will be celebrating its 50 years of Independence, which I doubt any of you would not have known :)

I meant to do this post yesterday but my sis told me that she needed to use my PC (which is in my room) so I have to move it to the living room for her.

Hmm..... let's move away from the 1957 story first, since I think RTM1 would be covering that today :P and will skip the present for the moment. While thinking back to what I was doing 10 & 20 years ago brought back floods of memories...... :D

In 1987, I attended my very first parade, we were the invited marching school band for the opening ceremony of the Piala Bapa Malaysia. Although this just a normal band outing but it meant a lot to me because for this first outing of mine, I actually faced resistance at home, not allowing me to attend it, until my "kai ma" (godmother, who also my eldest maternal aunty) gave me her consent. That year I also attended my first Merdeka parade.
This marks the beginning of me gaining my independence/freedom.

In 1997, this year was rather meaningful to me because it was the year I got to know a very cute, pretty, petite-size, bubbly and understanding girl, in fact there was never a dull moment with her........ (wondering who she was? make a guess la)

If you are asking me if she is still available then I am really sorry lor but I think most of you would have guessed it right. Yes, it was the year I got to know Elaine!
This marks the beginning of me losing part of my independence/freedom.
This is the year I got my first credit card from MBf. This would mark the start of my credit card problems too.

Ten years later, this year, our baby is born, making this year just as memorable too.
This marks the end of my independence/freedom.
This is also the year I won the LCD TV from the contest by MBf. And this marks my credit card problem owings is now even more than ever. Elaine and her family was rather shocked when I told them that I have known them 10 years already.

Now I wonder how will my independence status be in my next 10 & 20 years

Keith is 6 months old

Keith has just turned 6 months (1/2 year old) last Friday but sadly we didn’t get to do any celebration because Elaine and I have to work over 14 hours that day (actually we put that many hours daily)

Well, we are very proud of him indeed, for being able to adapt to his environment so far with only minor hiccups, nothing major. Elaine has decided to continue her EBM for another 6 months (Despite all the negative comments she got from our relatives, I really fail to )

His progress so far:

Positive things that we have observed

• Beginning to grab things and pull them towards his mouth him.
• Seems to be fascinated by our hands/fingers (perhaps it looks like chicken fingers!) and he would take a bite of it too!
• Shows a preference in choosing whom to carry him, in a particular order too. (Me, Elaine, Grandma) Learning to walk forward on the walker now, but halfway walking he would turn his target to the buttons on the walker and start licking them!! (Initially he used to move backwards on the walker)
• His favourite pastimes have not changed, that is Sleep, Eat, Bath and Going Out. (but not for long trips yet)
• His solids are now 2 meals of rice cereal and 1 meal of mashed sweet potatoes. A very big eater.
• Would be very quiet and stop whining as soon as you put him on the carrier car seat because he knows that it means “Kai-kai”. If the stroller doesn’t move after too long, he would cry out.
• Likes to smile whenever we call his name and would be very excited whenever he sees me or Elaine.
  

Negative things we might wanna look into

• Dislike adults talking (or not paying full attention to him) while feeding him milk, as soon as he hears/sees me, he would stop feeding and want to play! So me close to him while feeding is a BIG NO-NO!
• Dislike feeder not talking to him when giving him solids. (Elaine learned that this Tuesday!)
• Likes to shout a lot, trying to gain our attention as soon as we leave him lying down.
• When he is given his pacifier, he would pull it out and start licking and biting on the clip of the pacifier holder chain.
• He would keep staring at your mouth whenever you are eating. Whenever he sees Grandma feeding Nicole he would start calling out.
• Whenever it is his turn for his solid meals, he becomes rather impatient because while grandma is halfway thru mashing up the potatoes, he have already starting his shouting and whinings.
• He can easily get frustrated especially whenever he is unable to bite on the teether he is given.

Choosing who to pick him up

Recently, whenever Elaine and I are around, Keith would not want grandma to carry him, indirectly he would look away from her and not respond to her calls. He would only respond to her when we are about to leave for work or are not at home.

It is really so funny to see our boy being so picky....... And I guess we know the reason behind that...... he knows that Elaine and I are the ones who would take him out "kai-kai" I think we have another "sou kai wong" in our house.

This picture is snapped when I called him his name
(the lil' hand belongs to Nicole)


And when grandma, who is standing next to me, called him
(Grandma was standing behind Nicole)


Lately I have been rather busy with the restaurant work because we are still short-staffed and Elaine have not employ a new waitstaff.

Sobbing after his cries

We tried to sit him on the walker and he wasn't too happy with that idea because he wanted to be carried so he tried to gain our attention by turning to all the three of us, Elaine, Grandma and I.



Then he would start whining, stop take a look, if no effect/changes he would continue whining, and eventually it became a BIG cry.(which I missed the shot!)


Even after we pick him up and consoled him...... He would still be sobbing, then stop for a while to look at the TV then when the thought of the earlier drama comes back he would be sobbing or even cry out...... (Ai, banyak pandai merajuk)


Until got tears rolling in his eyes some more but KPC already stopped the crying expression because he is so into the TV.


Sometimes he when one of us is not around and we sort of bullied him (by not carrying him) he would cry and cry until another person picks him up and he would mumble as though he is complaining about the person.

Keith on the high chair (no paddings this time)

Grandma came over to our restaurant with my sis and Nicole during my sis's visit last weekend. They forgot to bring the air padding for the baby chair but I insisted to let Keith have try on the chair without the padding.

Surprisingly he was able to sit on it rather well..... but he had to use one of his legs to push himself back la :P



I also took down a video of him too. We were rather surprised how talkative he was in order to gain more attention. He would smile, shout and mumble his babytalk to gain people's attention, perhaps by doing so he could get people to carry him :P

Not so familiar faces

Well in this matter, I think Keith is not faring as well as Nicole..... he is really very picky on who is carrying him.

This was what happened that day, we made sure that Keith saw me carrying and cuddling Nicole, and Grandma kept saying to him, "Look daddy sayang Nicole"

Keith wasn't so happy about me carrying Nicole, and even more uneasy with me cuddling Nicole. He kept whining for me to carry him as I put down Nicole and Elaine passed Keith to my sister...... This was what I managed to capture :D


Yup, he wasn't so attached to my sister and his maternal grandma too.... He is ok with the rest but just a few people only got this kind of uneasy treatment.

Keith's Walker

This is Keith's new toy, which my sis bought from the toy shop in Kimberly Street, Penang. (How I wish I was the one buying it, because then I can have some of the famous "Kueh Chiap")

Currently he is still adapting to it but the funny thing is he would lift up his legs for you to push him around and would only put it down when you leave him alone. I guess he doesn't quite like the idea of sitting on the walker. My guess is perhaps the music that cames out when you press the buttons is a little too loud for him.



Then I might as well also spam a bit with my picture too la...... just to compare a bit but in B&W la :P


With these picture of ours you can also see how the walker have evolved also!!!!

Holding his own bottle (part II)

Before this Keith was only able to take up the bottle in the rocking cradle, as in my previous - Holding his own bottle because he have had the support from the side of the sarung. Recently he is able to grab whatever interest him, and it all goes to the direction of his mouth! He is drooling a lot too!!!!

Now Elaine is trying to teach him to hold his own bottle and he does it quite well for a while before the silicone teat comes out his mouth.

This is the picture of him holding his bottle in the cot.

Nicole's Swing

Nicole have had a swing since she was about Keith's age. Her parents and grandma used to put pillow all around her for her to sit on. (I will update a picture of that later on because I have lost those pictures when I reformatted my old laptop.

Recently my sis brought the swing to my place for Nicole to play with. Whenever Nicole sits on the swing and started to swing Keith will stare at her attentively. Grandma kept asking him if he wanted to sit on it.

Look at how she put up one of her legs...... so BECAman leh!!!!! (Sigh! I guess it runs in the family...... my sis and my one or two of my cousins, I know of, used to like to sit like that too when they were small - I still remember that my cousin used to answer to the elders that if she don't take that leg up, she cannot eat so we ended up calling this pose "sitting like a lan chia pek")

BECAman - the trishaw man or the "lan chia pek" Lifting up one leg or squatting while they eat is the common practise of the trishaw man in Penang during the old days when they eat at their favourite stalls which were the ones located in Queen Street and Magazine Road. In fact some of the them still maintain the bench with the additional small wooden blocks, to sit on while squatting on the bench. (Sorry la, no picture because I haven't gone back to Penang for quite a while already) I think I am diverting out of the topic already

Grandma decided to let Keith try to sit on the swing too and she took some pictures with her phone (that will be the pictures on the right) and I took some today too.


But of all I like the one below.....

Her pose is really like her Zodiac....... A MONKEY :P

Keith turning over

Grandma advised me to snap the photo of Keith after he turned over because he is able to hold his head up now and for now he is still ok to stay at that position for a while before he start to whine again. Also just before he start to crawl away too :P

Yesterday Grandma cooked for us and we have our meals at home. She gave some potatoes, from one of the dish, to Keith and he started to want more too. Lately he is drooling more and has became more demanding and commanding too. Commanding you to carry him, walk him or play with him.

The 37" LCD TV from MBf

The LCD TV have arrived on the 26th July morning, just before I leave home for work. As the delivery man was carrying the box in, my god-mother (also my eldest maternal aunt) called my mum. I was rather surprised to be informed that they didn't know that I have won the MBf promo for June. Sigh! Despite me posting it on my blog :(

Here is the picture I took of the box before I leave home


The someone wanted to take picture with the TV box as well


That night itself, upon reaching home after work, I took down my old 34" TV (which was so bulky that it requires 2 people just to lift it up (my sis took this one back in her new Myvi) But the LCD was much more manageable that I set it all up and even carried it all by myself. I took the Belkin Surge Protector off my home PC and used it on the LCD TV instead because it came with insurance and lifetime warranty too.

Picture wise it is good enough for me and I like the VGA input because I can use that with my laptop.

Sorry that I have to take this picture with the flash on.
(Please ignore the exposed wirings...... I am yet to find time to conceal them :P )


Those of you whom wanted to find out more of the LCD TV, especially those whom were waiting for the arrival of their winning TV, it is the S8 Series and here is the link to the catalog

My apologies for not updating this blog as often....... As you all know that I multitask between working (making drinks) and surfing during my working hours. But recently we were rather short-staffed and we were not able to cope with the sudden big crowds that kept coming and going all at the same time. I guess this situation would persist until Elaine is able to employ a new wait staff.

Funny Sleeping Habit (part II)

I have mentioned of Keith's funny sleeping habit, he needs to cover his head/eyes while he sleeps. I did manage to capture a few more of his and his cousins too, Nicole and Yong Jin.

Covering with the hanky, sometimes even to the extend of his whole face too.

But at times he would make do of whatever he find comfortable, like our comforter and the ear of his soft toy cat


Then we have Nicole whom would always hold on to her teddies when she is going to sleep. As soon as she falls asleep she would be swimming around and everything would be thrown everywhere


As for Yong Jin, he would tire himself (and it will take 3 adults to tire him) and fall asleep with the help of the corner of his sleeping pillow stuck to his nose.

Buffet at Jogoya

As promised, I have managed to post up this one after spending quite a while. I hope you all would understand my situation. I write my posts whenever I can spare the time while working in the restaurant, which is very tough because I am the one who makes the drinks and laptop & water doesn't go along very well.

You must be thinking that I would be showing you with a lot of food pictures, if you are then you have my apologies. That night was a rather eventful night for all of us. As too many things have happened but I will just briefly narrate the pictures.

After we were guided to our table, which was the same table that we sat the last time, all the adults, including Elaine, got themselves rather busy locating the food, with all the clips taken too. I was left to care for the 2 kids, Yong Jin and Keith

Keith was relaxing on the baby carrier


And Yong Jin got busy imitating a drummer with the chopsticks


The first adults to come back to the table was Aunty May and her husband, of course they started eating too and Yong Jin stopped drumming as well :P


Then Elaine came back with some food too and she insisted she wanted to try putting Keith on the baby chair.


In the end she decided to let Keith sit on the baby carrier and she went to get more stuffs off the buffet. Next to come back to the table was Grandma, who got herself a plate full of scallops (those with shells on)


Last but not least came Uncle Jason and his girlfriend (wife to-be soon)


After they finished their first round of meal, they took turns to carry Keith, giving Elaine and I some opportunity to gobble down some of the goodies :P


At that point of time, Yong Jin was chowing down some fruits already. I think his parents are already on their 3rd round :P


Then suddenly Keith whined and after a few minutes he vomitted. Funny thing was he was smiling while Elaine was busy changing his clothes.


As a complimentary we were given a birthday cake but was informed twice that we are not allowed to take it back.


Then comes the birthday song, with Yong Jin getting all excited and clapping along because that is his favourite song


Before the candle is blown, someone took a cherry out, which he aimed at for quite a long time.


Ummm..... Tasty!!!!


This is how the cake looked like after having the cherry taken. I wonder why the birthday boy(uncle) doesn't want to blow the candle leh?


Now everyone wanted to take more pictures with the cake. It is so hard to get everyone to co-operate to look at the camera all at the same time :(


Like Keith whom suddenly burst out his cries


And on the other side Yong Jin was playing fish with his mummy with his grandma carrying him and holding his hands too.


Another look at the cake, see how short the candle have gotten and still the birthday boy is yet to blow it. Btw, did u notice that 3 cherries are missing already.


When he settled down and was about to blow his candle, we realise that we were not given a knife to cut the cake :P


But anyway he went ahead to blow his candle but not without any help. In fact it is not one whom helped but two.


After blowing the cake, nobody seem interested in eating the cake as there is much more better selection on the buffet. Even Keith wanted some from the buffet. Look how he kept staring at the cakes


He even tried to grab the cakes too


Upon returning to the table, this is what I saw happened to the birthday cake.
There was a video taken too, might upload that if I've got the time
(Picture taken by May)


After eating such a BIG cake, he did some exercises and showed us some of his kungfu moves
(Picture taken by Jason)


Last but not least, this is the picture of the mess we left. Of course there would be more if the waitstaff have not clear the plates as we finished our food

Sadly I realised that I was the only one without a picture taken that night :(