Countdown to Moving Out!

Three more days to go before Papa, Mommy and Juan Or move out from the in-laws' house! Mommy is really looking forward to moving out because it means the start of a new life for the three of us. It also means the end of some unhealthy aspects of Juan Or's upbringing as a result of having his paternal grandparents in the big picture when we were still staying under the same roof.


Today's post is going to be very short because Mommy is really rushing for time to juggle between office work (piling and pending!) and getting the new house ready for occupancy (at least where cleanliness is concerned ^ ^). The last stages, i.e., installing air-conditioners and installing a water filter unit was finally done last week. Now what's left to be done during the countdown are sweeping and mopping the floor of the entire house (considering that the air-cond installation process can cause the house to be very dusty). Of course not forgetting also are those essentials (especially office clothes and daily house clothes) to be shifted only on the day of moving out.

This photo shows the room (in the new house) that serves as 'collection centre' for all the 'rubbish' that Papa and Mommy have moved from our bedroom in the in-laws' house. Hehehe.....you will probably wonder how our humble bedroom can fit in so much 'rubbish' plus the three of us in the first place! The 'rubbish' that you see here is not all. There are still some more 'rubbish' to be moved over gradually whenever Mommy stop by at the in-laws' house while picking Juan Or up from the babysitter's house.

Finally, here are the leftover Chinese New Year 2010 goodies (plus Juan Or's milk powder supply) that are still not finished, and Mommy has just transferred them to the kitchen cabinets of the new house. Hehehehe.....Mommy believes it is good omen to stock up a new house with food first before the actual date of moving in. It symbolises abundance in the new house ^ ^!  

Sleepy Episode

Yesterday, after dropping by at our new house, Papa wanted to go window shopping at IOI Mall, Puchong. By the time we reached IOI Mall, it was already something like between 2.30 to 3.00pm and a very hot sunny afternoon as well. When we were still in the car (almost reaching IOI Mall), Juan Or already looked quiet - a sign that he's sleepy (he last woke up at near 10am). After getting out from the car, Juan Or appeared to be revitalized, probably because he was excited to see all things associated with kai-kai (outing).

With Juan Or sitting in the shopping cart, we went up high and went down low in the shopping mall. Finally, we decided to make a quick stop at IOI's Jusco (the Jusco sale is on!) before leaving the mall. By then, it was already 4+ pm. It was at Jusco's electrical goods department when Mommy spotted Juan Or like this:

(With tiny hands holding on to the shopping cart's railing, Juan Or's head dangled forward and sideways like floating in air.)

On seeing this, we decided to go back home immediately. Papa picked Juan Or up and out of the shopping cart and carried him with his face resting on Papa's shoulder. Mommy followed from behind and managed to capture this:

(Eyelids too heavy - already dozed off at Papa's shoulder!)

The conclusion from this sleepy episode is that Juan Or has 'grown up' already. In the past, whenever we go for outings and that if it happened that Juan Or felt sleepy and we were not in a moving car, Juan Or would end up crying non-stop. With this sleepy episode, looks like Juan Or is able to settle himself to sleep anywhere (hopefully not just this time, but next time as well!) minus the fretting and crying.

Premature Ageing?

Yesterday night, after Mommy came back from teaching piano, Juan Or came to greet Mommy. Mommy spotted this red pimple dot on his face (at the nose).

What!? A pimple on the face!? Juan Or is becoming a teenager already!? Hahaha, Papa and Mommy laughed off the silly idea when here he is - acting like a baby!

Anyway, by Sunday night, the pimple is almost gone, without putting any ointment. Glad that his baby-smooth skin is back! ^ ^

Learning to Wear Japanese-styled Rubber Slippers

Long time ago, when Mommy was just one to two months before giving birth to Juan Or, Mommy saw Tesco sold a pair of Japanese-styled rubber slippers for only RM1.90 or RM1.50 (can't remember). That price was very cheap so Mommy bought it as preparation for Juan Or's toddlerhood.

After sitting in storage for slightly less than two years, finally Mommy decided to take it out to try on Juan Or. Turned out, his feet are just the right size for the slippers! Had Mommy taken it out later, Juan Or's feet would have overgrown the slippers.

The first time Mommy wore the slippers on Juan Or, he didn't quite know how to control his feet in such a way that when he walks, the slippers won't slip out. Everytime Mommy fitted the slippers onto his tiny feet, the slippers slipped out immediately when he started walking! Then few weeks later, Mommy happened to see this cute pair of blue hippopotamus plush indoor slippers sold in The Store Sri Petaling for RM5 only (it was Baby Fair and is still on now). Mommy just can't resist buying it since it's so cute and cheap. This hippo indoor slipper has garters at the heel to help secure little feet in the slippers. Turned out, walking on the hippo slippers was good practice for Juan Or to walk with the Japanese-styled rubber slippers!

The cute pair of plush hippopotamus indoor slippers for RM5 only! Mommy had wanted to take a video of Juan Or wearing this but was always unsuccessful because either the handphone was not conveniently around or by the time the handphone was ready, Juan Or refused to wear it!

So the following weekend, when Papa and Mommy brought Juan Or to visit our new house (where the Japanese-styled rubber slippers are put), Juan Or don't seem to have anymore problem walking with the Japanese slippers. The slippers don't slip out easily from his little feet anymore unless he is lifting his leg high to cross a barrier, like this video:

But then, if Juan Or is to put on the slippers himself, then that can be quite a problem. ^ ^

Updates of Juan Or's Development

Shortly after Chinese New Year 2010 (i.e., Juan Or at 1 year 9-10 months old), Mommy noticed Juan Or was already able to 'sing' in his own way. Whenever Mommy sang up to the last word of a line or phrase of a nursery rhyme, Juan Or is able to anticipate the word and 'sing' it together with Mommy. However, Juan Or is only able to do this for 3 nursery rhymes (Twinkle, twinkle little star, Baa baa black sheep, and ABC Song) because Mommy sang these 3 songs the most when rocking him in the spring cot or when settling him down to sleep in the car.

Before Mommy took out the handphone camera, Juan Or was 'singing' happily with Mommy, but after taking it out, Juan Or became conscious and stopped 'singing'. That's why the first two songs that Mommy sang, Juan Or did not sing, but by the time Mommy sang the third one (with coaxing), then he started 'singing' along.

Other developments of Juan Or that Mommy noticed and remembered (not all appeared at the same time, some appeared long before this time of writing):

• count from 1 to 10, but can't pronounce 'seven', instead when he counts up to six, he will skip seven and go straight to eight and then continue counting.
• able to recognize and pronounce about 80% of the full sets of alphabets regardless of whether they are in capital or small letters. His most popular alphabet is 'A'.
• able to mimick people's actions (e.g. mimick his Papa kicking the leg high up in the air, mimick his Great-Grandmother's way of walking).
• able to understand and follow instructions such as asking him to throw a rubbish into the waste paper basket, or take a roll of tissue paper for Mommy.
• Juan Or's tongue is getting more versatile already as in being able to repeat words after Mommy when asked to. He has no problems with pronouncing one-syllable words, but when it comes to 2-syllable words, the pronunciation may or may not be accurate. But if it's 3-syllable words, then he's likely to pronounce just the last syllable or merely say something gibberish!
• able to point out body parts of his own body, other people's body, animal plush toys' body and also animal or human illustration in books.
• able to show a remorseful face when scolded by Papa or Mommy, but when 'scolded' by grandparents or the Second Uncle, no facial reaction! ^ ^
• willingly (and gladly) show how an action is done if Mommy asks him how to 'walk', 'run', 'hop/jump', 'wash hands', 'smell', 'fall', 'eat', 'sleep', etc.
• calls out a name of a particular object, but also used the same name to call other related objects, e.g., he tends to call all insects that crawl as 'ant' although he knows the word 'cockroach'.
• able to point out most objects correctly in book illustrations when asked to.
• able to look for 'protection' from other parties when scolded or reprimanded by one party.
• love to 'read' books by flipping the pages and also initiates reading by sitting himself in between your legs.
• indicate his material desire by showing a picture of the thing that he wants (e.g. Thomas and Friends toy, wanting to go to the waterfall again), pointing at it and then nodding his head repeatedly as he says "Ai, ai, ai" (Want, want, want).
• hold a pencil or pen properly in both hands, but Mommy noticed he seems to hold it more properly with his left hand, so he may turn out to be a left-hander like Mommy.
• able to combine two words to express himself but tends to use multiple languages e.g., ai toys (want toys), ai kai-kai (want to go for outing), ai close (want to close), ai sit (want to sit), ho chiak (tastes good), ai bung (want to be carried).
• has lesser tendency to put things into the mouth, but once a while, he still puts them into his mouth!
• able to use spoon to scoop food into his mouth
• able to drink from cups (with or without handles) and bowls
• able to pour small objects accurately from one container to another, but sometimes didn't aim accurately
• more or less knows which wire should go into which hole when Mommy sets up the laptop.
• has desire to look into your handphone or videocam or digital camera screen after you have taken his video or photo.
• able to blow raspberries, but loves to bite people for fun!
• starting to show progress in being able to fall asleep on his own without any rocking or singing.
• move other objects in position so that he can step on it and climb to higher level.