Daily Weekday Schedule

Writing down Elyssa's daily schedule seems like such a mundane thing to do. But looking back at my blog entries, the one and only time I wrote about her schedule was in August 2008. I enjoyed re-reading the entry (she was only 4 months old then) and I wished I had written a few more.

I guess it's never too late to start again, so here's her current daily schedule. (or at least quite current - this has been in my draft for more than a month now)

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Approx 8am - Wake Up

8.20am - I drop her off at my parent's house which is just down the road from mine. She loves going to Ah Kong/Ah Ma's house, so I have no problems getting her to go there or when I leave. After our standard morning routine of big hug-flying kiss-and-wave bye-bye I drive off to work.

8.30 am - 9.30am - Drink Milk. Then Play time at the patio and garden. She loves to "help out" with the gardening. Ah Kong pulls out weeds, she pulls out random stalks of grass ;)

9.30 am - Bath time

9.45 -12.30 - Potter around the house/help out with more gardening/play with toys/watch little bit of tv (usually less than half hour)/ disturb ah kong/disturb ah ma/disturb kakak etc

12.30 - Justin koko comes home from pre-school.

1pm - Lunch time. Then brush teeth and wash face.

1.30 - Ah Ma brings her to the downstairs room to sleep. She normally falls asleep only around 2pm. Typical excuse - "play little while first", "want to pee first", "want to poo poo first."

Approx 3.30 pm - Wake up. Drink milk.

3.45pm - Read Books/Sing Songs/Play time with Ah Ma or Ah Kong and Justin koko.

Approx 4.30pm - Ah Ma does yoga. Sometimes, the 2 kids imitate the yoga positions. (pretty hillarious... I must remember to take photo one of these days!)

Approx 5.30 pm - Walk to nearby Playground with Ah Ma and Justin ko ko

6.30 pm -Come back. Play at the patio for a while then bath time.

7.00pm - dinner time.

Around 7.45 - Hubby and I arrive. Then when it's time to leave, we go through a pretty standard routine : 1. I announce that it's time to go home. 2. She cries and says "I don't want to go home. I want to stay here". 3. I say, "Ok....Mummy going to leave now. You can stay here". 4. She cries some more. And says "Mummy wait.... must big hug Ah Kong/Ah Ma first". 5. I wait for the hugs to be completed. 6. We leave together. Happy mummy, happy Elyssa. (probably happy grandparents too.... can get some respite from the little monkey before the routine starts again the following day. he he)

Around 8.30pm - Back home. Play for a while.

Around 9pm - Go upstairs to drink milk (diluted since she just had dinner) and wind down.

Around 9.30pm - Zzzzzzz

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Some photos I took recently:

Fun time at the patio with Justin Koko in the evening

I asked Elyssa & Justin to smile for the camera and this is what I got.
So sweet...... I absolutely love this photo!

Oh yes, I should add this to her daily schedule too - "Fight with Koko".
Yup, one moment they play, then the next moment they fight like cats n dogs, then they play again like best friends !!! ;)

Jigsaw Puzzle

Elyssa's latest craze is - jigsaw puzzles!

About 3 weeks ago, hubby bought a 16-piece rabbit jigsaw puzzle for her. She tried it for a while but lost interest when she didn't know how to solve the puzzle. Then hubby came up with a brilliant idea - he started taking out a few pieces at time. Elyssa was one happy girl when she successfully put back the pieces to the correct place!

Gradually, we made the process more difficult - taking out corner pieces, then side pieces, then centre pieces, then taking out top portion, then bottom portion etc until she was ready to have ALL the pieces taken out at one time.

One other trick that we did was to leave her alone when she was solving the puzzle. If not, she would keep asking "Is it like that?" "Like that can or not? " Correct or not?".
So we just leave the room until we heard her loud declaration of : "Yay..... finished already! Elyssa so clever!". ( ha ha.... she self praises a lot)

Elyssa's first 16 pc jigsaw puzzle

Concentrating..

When she could finish her rabbit puzzle independently, I bought her another 2 sets - dolphin and hippo.

Very busy

2 nights ago, I took out a Barbie puzzle that I bought during my recent trip to Singapore (only SGD 1!) I was surprised that she could finish the puzzle by herself after guiding her twice.

Managed to take a video clip of her 4th attempt -

I am glad that she likes her jigsaw puzzles. I think it's good for her development AND it's a fantastic way of keeping her occupied. (ha ha... I think I like the 2nd reason more than the 1st one!)

Now I'm now looking out for more puzzles to buy for her :)

The Versatile Blogger

I received this award from Irene and Leona.
Thanks for thinking about me!
Rules : To accept this award you must:
1. List 7 random things about yourself
2. Share the award with up to 15 other bloggers
3. Link to each of the recipients and let them know they've won via comments on their blogs
4. Thank and bring the love back to the person you won the award from by linking back to them.


Had to "scratch head" a bit (ha ha...cos I'm more used to writing about Elyssa than about myself!) for this. Anyway, here are the 7 random things about me that came to mind :

1. I am a natural left-hander. But "trained" to use right hand to write since early primary school. I think that's the cause of my ugly and slow handwriting!

2. I am absolutely terrified of snakes. Even a picture of a snake can give me goose pimples.

3. Since I was a kid, all the soft toys in the house have a name, specific character and a voice. (and yes, they do "talk" a lot!) In the beginning, hubby thought I was a bit weird but nowadays he joins in ! He he.

4. I am forever grateful to the inventors of contact lenses and auto cars.

5. One of my favourite form of exercise (when I actually get down to doing it) is home aerobics. I think I have about 15-20 of these vcds. I always close the curtains when I exercise, in case my neighbours wonder why this crazy person is jumping around the living room ;)

6. I love reading. When I read, I get "transported" to the time, place and events in the book.

7. I'm been in the corporate world for slightly over 10 years now. Am currently going through a rather disillusioned phase. Maybe this is a sign that I should do something completely different. Well, will see..


So, that's me. :) Now, I would like to give this award to the following great mummies (and 2ma). Looking forward to know more about you!

1. Jasmine
2. Stacy
3. MummyGwen
4. InspiredMum
5. Barbara
6. Kristie
7. Joanne
8. MayChing

Crying Photos

Posted too many happy smiley photos of Elyssa lately. Time to "balance up" with some crying photos! Ha ha...... *evil mummy grin*

Just finished crying here. Lots of goo from the nose + puffy eyes

Little Drama Queen in Action

Can you get more dramatic than this????
He hehhh...... real classic!

BIG Smile

Some days, it's difficult to coax a little smile from Elyssa for the camera.

But sometimes, she co-operates and gives a BIGGGG smile -


I just love her BIGGG smile - when I can see all teeth but no eyes :)

Hmmm....I really need help with the 4 picture thing. I did as suggested by my sis - Open with Microsoft Paint, reduce size by 50%, increase attributes to 3264 x 2448 for a bigger canvas to work on, copy and paste 3 times to one of the pics and finally look for little blue dot to reduce canvas size. After all that effort (plus the silly program doesn't let me adjust the pic once I move on to another pic), I get the not-balanced, unclear and small outcome above. Is there a better way to do this??? How???? Help !!!!!

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For this post, since the 4 picture thing is so small, must put up another smiling photo to compensate :)

2 Years, 3 Months Old

My little princess is now 2 years, 3 months old.


About Elyssa:

1. Weight - approx 13 kg

2. She's still greedy and even likes to take her medicine (syrup type). Best part is that instead of bribing her to take medicine, I can actually bribe her using medicine.

Like when she had a ring worm problem recently, I told her her "if you don't keep your toys, then you can't eat medicine". Ha ha... that made her quickly scramble to keep her toys!! I think she likes the syrup medicine cos it's sweet (I don't normally give her sweets) and it's something she doesn't get to "enjoy" very often. *touchwood*

3. Character wise, she is very strong minded - bossy, determined, fussy & very fixed in her way.
A few scenarios as an eg :
a) When my mum rested on the bed with her hands over her eyes : Elyssa kept saying "not like that, must do like that (asked my mum to put her hands by her side). My mum refused at first, but Elyssa kept pestering. The moment my mum did as "per instructed", Elyssa said "ok" then left the room immediately.
b) When she played with her cousin recently : I couldn't help noticing her take the lead by saying things like "Let's do this", "Let's jump", "Ok, go there now".
c) When she woke in the middle of the night and saw that hubby and I have switched positions : She immediately insisted that "No... mummy sleep here, daddy sleep there". I absolutely refused to give in ! She cried in protest but luckily went back to sleep shortly after.
d) When daddy didn't place his Blackberry at the phone holder in the car : she said "NOOOO, must put there!" When he did, she said "Ok, Correct"
e) When she played jigsaw puzzles with grandpa : She said "Ah Kong, Elyssa do this one, Ah Kong do this one". (pointed to another set). When grandpa teasingly requested to change, she refused and said "No! Elyssa do this one, Ah Kong do this one".
f) When grandma brushed her teeth : She said "Ah Ma, must put teeth together like that. Yes, brush up and down. Yes. Like Elyssa like that".

There's actually loads of other scenarios! The way she says things can be very firm and forceful. *Sigh*. She definitely didn't get this gene from me. Maybe a bit from hubby but a more extreme version.

4. Based on her personality so far, I don't think she will be bullied in school. But there's a possibility that she may end up as the bully!! Oh Uh!! (but who knows.... mebbe she'll be a mouse in school next time. he he.)

5. Although still greedy, her interest in food has dropped a little. Last time, whenever there was any "food announcement", she would just drop what she was doing and run towards the food. These days, she sometimes says "Wait, I want to play first". "Wait, I want to finish this".

6. Since my parents started taking care of baby Jo Ern (her 3 month old cousin), they noticed she has been acting up more. She's probably a little jealous of the baby. Hope this phase will pass soon.

7. It's very easy to make her laugh these days with simple games and actions. I just love the sound of her laughter! Funny thing is that I can repeat a simple thing that made her laugh 10 times and each of the 10 times, she can laugh as excitedly as the first time. he he.

Like last weekend, I played an impromptu "Where's the onion?" game with her in the car while daddy ran some errands. After 10 minutes (of me going : where is the onion? maybe it's under the pillow, maybe it's outside, maybe it's here, maybe it's there, before her final punch line of "It's here") I was starting to get bored, but she still laughed like that :

Holiday Highlights - Ipoh

After spending 2 nights in Penang, we drove south to stay at Clearwater Sanctuary, Batu Gajah.

Yup, Clearwater Sanctuary AGAIN. It's actually our 3rd time staying there so far - 1st time when Elyssa was about 6 months old and 2nd time when she was 11 months old. I just luurve the place! So peaceful and calming. Really a "sanctuary" for me, to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Just look at the photos -

Trees at the parking lot right outside the chalet

View from the Chalet's balcony

More Trees

Elyssa with daddy in the swimming pool, next to the lake

Another Daddy n Daughter moment

Swimming Pool

Another view of swimming pool & lake

Happy Girl posing for mummy's camera

Such a beautiful place! One of my favourite spots is the infinity swimming pool which overlooks the lake. We swam there on the evening we arrived and also the following morning before we checked out.

We didn't just stay in the resort this time. For dinner, we drove out to Ipoh town. After all, can't be so near Ipoh without eating a plate (ok, we actually had TWO plates) of fat, crunchy bean sprouts !! ;) Had that plus plenty of "liu" (fish balls, taufu stuffed with fish paste, fried wonton etc) and tau fu far at our favourite shop in Pasir Pinji. Yummy! Definitely over-ate there!


On the way back to Batu Gajah, we saw an old-fashioned fun fair. He he.... plenty of loud music and bright gaudy lights, with a carnival-like atmosphere. Really nice! Don't think we can get this sort of fun fair in KL!

We didn't go for any of the rides though, as I knew Elyssa was tired. But I regretted it later when Elyssa kept saying she liked the fun fair. Would have given her a nice experience if she actually went for one of the rides. Ah well, next time then.



That's it for our 4D,3N holiday in Penang/Ipoh. Felt like it went by with a blink of an eye. I want to go for another holiday !!!

Old Already??

My mum told me this story about Elyssa last night :

One afternoon, Elyssa placed her unfinished milk bottle on the dining table.
Ah Mah : How come you didn't finish your milk?

Elyssa : *stared at milk bottle for a while*.
Then she knocked her palm against the side of her forehead and said -
"Oh, Elyssa OLD already. Elyssa forgot!!"

Ha haaaa Hahhhhhhhh ! My parents had a good laugh. It was definitely something she picked up from them!

Holiday Highlights - Penang

Highlight #1 : Friend's wedding at E&O Hotel
We have known the bride for many years so it was great to be there for her big day. It was a unique Peranakan-themed wedding as the bride is from a Peranakan family in Penang while the groom is from a Peranakan family in Melaka.

I think about 70% of the ladies were dressed up in Nyonya kebayas. I wished I had time to shop for one too!

Even the food was different - I enjoyed the "kiam chye ark theng" (sour duck soup) more than the regular sharks fin soup :) We cleaned up every dish served! Usually, the second last dish in a chinese wedding dinner is the fried rice which is often untouched. This time, we had some fragrant "nasi ulam" (errr... or was it kerabu rice?) which we all finished. Yumz!

Some photos of the wedding:

@ the Pre-dinner Wine Reception by the sea

Parade of lovely ladies all dressed up in their Nyonya kebayas
Up on stage is hubby who was the MC for the night. (he heee..... Elyssa said "Daddy talk so much. Daddy "Zhi Zhar Poh")

Elyssa and I
(I just love this photo! A friend was trying to take a photo of us - don't know why but Elyssa decided to press her palms against her cheeks. I couldn't make her smile for the camera, so I did the same loh......)

Highlight # 2 : Visiting some of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites :

(a) Khoo Kongsi - RM 5 per adult
Elyssa slept through the entire visit. Ha hah.... this girl is obviously not very interested in history. She did the same thing during our last trip to Melaka!

Face all squished up but still fast asleep :)

b) Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion - RM 12 per adult
I was really impressed with the place! But such as waste - Cheong Fatt Tze built a huge profitable empire, but when he died, his sons sold off everything bit-by-bit and to this day, there is no trade that bears his name. People say it's difficult for wealth to survive 3 generations, but in this case it didn't even survive 2! Before this mansion was bought over by private businessmen in 1990, it was a run down dilapidated house. The house would have been sold off too if not for his will which stated that it could only be sold when his youngest son in Malaysia died - which was in 1989.

Now the mansion has been restored to its former glory. No photos were allowed inside the mansion though.

Highlight # 3 : FOOD !

Shucks..... I really need to exercise after this food binging trip. Some of the yummy hawker food we had:

Char Kway Teow

Assam Laksa

Chendol

Rojak
(thick rojak sauce with plenty of good stuff like squid, pink guava and green mango. So yummy! And for only RM5!)

Refreshing Ais Kacang (with 10 types of fruits + ice-cream)

Next post - Ipoh!

Short Holiday - Penang & Ipoh

Just came back from a short holiday in Penang & Ipoh. Main purpose of the trip was to attend a good friend's wedding in Penang. Since we already had to drive up north, hubby and I decided to make it our little family holiday as well, by taking 2 days off from work.

Both of us always have this "happy holiday mood" when we go on holidays together and Elyssa is just like us! When we arrived at the hotel, she was already in that happy mood.

He heee....... just look at these photos taken at the hotel lobby. She ran around with a big grin on her face while waiting for daddy to check in.


Then she enjoyed walking down the hotel corridor :
And exploring the hotel room :

But went all serious when she found the TV !! ;)


*to be continued* Plenty of photos ahead!

Hello and Bye-Bye Routine

Everyday, Elyssa goes through the same Hello and Bye-Bye Routine with her "friends".


In the morning, just before leaving the house to go to "Ah Mah/ Ah Kong's" house, she says :

Bye Bye EeYore !
Bye Bye Rabbit !
Bye Bye Winnie the Pooh !
Bye Bye Xiao Ting Tang !
Bye Bye Tigger !
Bye Bye Piglet !
Bye Bye Annabelle ! (not in the pic above. She took her doll to sleep with her the night I took the pic)


And when she comes home at night, she says :
Hello EeYore !
Hello Rabbit !
Hello Winnie the Pooh !
Hello Xiao Ting Tang !
Hello Tigger !
Hello Annabelle !
Hello Piglet !


He heee.... kinda cute EXCEPT when I'm already late for work in the morning. Just imagine this scene - me getting ready and dashing out the front door like a mad woman, asking her to quickly wear her shoes and then she goes : "Oh, forgot to say bye bye" and then starts "Bye Bye EeYore, Bye Bye Rabbit, Bye Bye........." one-by-one ;)


Photo of her saying bye bye in the morning :