Bedtime

From birth until now, I have been the one accompanying Elyssa to sleep every night. (with the exception of a few nights when I was away) It started like that cos I was the one breast feeding her to sleep. Then it became our nightly routine. BIG MISTAKE!

Nowadays, she doesn't even let her daddy pat her to sleep. If she's in a bad mood, she'll cry and push his hand angrily away. If she's in a good mood, she'll say "bye bye" and "night night" to daddy. (ha hahh..... that's the "diplomatic" way of saying "get out daddy!")

This is worrying indeed as I'll be away in US for two weeks in November. So our current target is to reduce her reliance on me during bedtime. It has been about 2 weeks of trying, and we have failed miserably so far. The first night was ok cos we went out till late and she was pretty exhausted. The second night, she starting screaming once she finished her milk bottle. After more than half and hour of screaming on top of her voice, I couldn't stand it anymore. I went into the room and it wasn't a pretty sight - tears streaming down her face, hair all wet due to the exertion from screaming, goo coming out from her nose etc. *sigh*. Third night, hubby decided to take carry her while he took a walk outside. She fell asleep on his shoulders but starting the screaming routine the moment she was placed back on the bed. *double sigh*. Subsequent nights have been more or less the same. Last Thursday, I could hardly focus on my night telcon with my boss cos she was screaming on top of her voice.

Anyway, latest strategy is for BOTH hubby and I to put her to bed, so she gets used to the idea of hubby being around her during bedtime.

We still have a month and a half before my trip, so we hopefully she'll be ok by then. Worst case scenario - she will eventually exhaust herself with the screaming anyway, say after 1 hour? 2 hours? Poor girl :(

If only night time with daddy is as easy as morning nap time with daddy -

Kiss

When it was bedtime for Elyssa last night, I did my usual routine of lying next to her and patting her. (I used to pretend I was asleep but these days, she pulls my hand and indicates for me to pat her. I still ensure there is no eye contact and I don't say a word)

She did her normal babbling, sitting up, climbing on my body, playing with the pillow etc etc and then suddenly........ she sat on me, pulled my chin towards her and kissed me full on the lips..!!! Awwwww..... my eyes flew open and I smiled at her. In return, she gave me the sweetest smile then kissed me again, this time on the lower lip. I just couldn't help smiling as I hugged her close to me.

Hubby was pretty jealous when I told him. Ha hahh. He said he'll ask her to kiss him on the lips tonight! Not that I want her to start a habit of kissing people on the lips as it's an easy way for germs to spread. But I think I'll ask her to kiss me again tonight too. I just can't resist the smell of her sweet breath as she gives her little wet kiss :)

"Duck Eckk-Eckk"

A couple of nights ago, she showed me an old rubber duckie and said "Duck Eckk-Eckk". I was smiling ear to ear since this is the first time she put two words together by herself ! (instead of repeating what we say)

"Eckk-Eckk" is actually her version of the word "dirty". Noticed recently that whenever she falls down, she'll turn her palm upwards and say "eckk-eckk" which is the cue for us to wipe her palms. Not too sure on the origin of this term but my guess is that we sometimes say "yuck yuck" for dirty things.

Picture of the dirty duck. (with clean duck to show contrast) -

Hmmm..... maybe this is the indication that she'll say the magic word "MUMMY" soon !!!! *keeping fingers crossed*

Hari Raya Holiday (Part 2) - Melaka

For our Melaka holiday, we stayed at the Renaissance Hotel as hubby bought a 14 month package with them recently. One of the vouchers in the package was for "50% for first night, free for second night". So with a published room rate of RM600 per night, we got to stay for 2 nights at RM300. I really liked the nice and spacious room!

The Hotel Room -


One of the things that I wanted to do in Melaka was to take photos of Elyssa with the landmarks of the historical city. That way, she will know next time that she has been to those places. Well, I did get my photos but not in the way I expected it cos the little girl happily slept through the "important" bits!

From Day 1-


From Day 2 -


Ha hahh...... guess she's not too interested in history!!! She woke up just in time for cendol in Jonker Street though :)

Talking about food, we had a fantastic dinner at the Italian restaurant in the hotel. The pizza and salad was one of the best that we've tasted. It was pretty good value for money since we were entitled to a 50% discount.

@ the Italian Restaurant -


We would have gone there for the second night but the restaurant was unfortunately closed on Sundays. We ended up at a Nyonya restaurant instead. The food was so-so only but the place was just so crowded. I guess that's the downside of going to Melaka during a long weekend for both M'sia and S'pore.

For the 3 days, we spent quite some time walking around (partly cos the traffic was pretty bad). It was really nice to discover the little nooks and crannies that we would have missed if were were driving instead.

As for Elyssa, she was in her usual super-happy holiday mood! She enjoyed spending time within the hotel itself - be it walking around the lobby, walking up and down the carpeted corridor, exploring the hotel room, bathtub time with her rubber duckies etc. And of course she also enjoyed "kai-kai" time outside the hotel. So it's a win-win situation for us.

Her happy-holiday mood is one of the reasons why we've been going for so many short local trips lately. Next one to look forward to -Pangkor in November :)

Hari Raya Holiday (Part 1) - Seremban

We spent the recent Hari Raya holidays in Seremban (2D, 1N) and Melaka (3D, 2N). The original plan was just Melaka but we added Seremban at the last minute as hubby wanted to meet up with his friend. We stayed in the Royale Bintang Hotel cos that's where the friend lives (perks of being married to the hotel GM!).

Good thing for us was that we got upgraded to a suite. It was pretty huge..... it had a living area, dining area, 2 bathrooms and big master bedroom. Nice place though I personally prefer a more contemporary type of furnishing.

Living area -

Bathroom -

The traffic was quite bad from KL to Seremban. Took us almost 2 hours to get there. First (and only) stop was for lunch at my favourite beef noodles stall above the wet market. We checked into the hotel around 3pm and didn't leave the hotel at all until we checked out the next day. That's my type of relaxing holiday!

Let's see - on the first day, we had our nap, watched tv, read books, ate our "siew pau's"and fruits, went for a swim, soaked in the bathtub then enjoyed a nice buffet dinner with hubby's friend and her hubby. Started the second day with buffet breakfast at the executive lounge, then more lazing around before we left for Melaka around noon.

Some pics taken:

Dressed Up for dinner -


Breakfast Time (why daddy so slow???) -


Running around Buffet Table -


Running around the Exec Lounge Area -


Fooling around with her Float -


- to be continued with Part 2 in Melaka -

1 Year, 5 months old

About her:

1. Weight - approx 11kg
Height- approx 74cm
Number of teeth - 7

2. She has started saying more words lately, though about 90% is still baby talk. Some new words - "No" (last month, she was still shaking her head), "pao pao" ( when she wants to be carried), "duck", "door", "drop", "eat" , "uok uok" (for walk walk), "baa baa" (for sheep), "bubbles", "ah kong".

Although her words are limited, it never ceases to surprise me when she says the right word in the right context. I'm still not really used to this "talking version" of Elyssa. It kinda reminds me of the Enid Blyton storybooks that I used to love- there was this story about a girl being given a life sized walking-talking doll. Ha hahh..... I remember hoping and praying that I'll get my own walking-talking doll too. In a way, I suppose my wish has been granted in the form of Elyssa :)

3. She's still like a perpetual drooling machine although there has been no signs of new teeth for quite a while now. Noticed in her previous Gymboree classes that she was the only one still wearing a bib! *shy* Her bib is on almost all the time. If she's not wearing a bib but she sees one lying around, she'll immediately try to wear it or indicate to us to wear the bib for her. I think she now regards her bib as part of her normal outfit!

4. This greedy gal rejected her very first food item recently - none other than bittergourd. First time we saw her push food out with her tongue! Hubby said we should have bought a lottery ticket that day.

5. She still eats her daily porridge without any seasonings. I read that it's ok to put seasoning after one year old, but it's best to delay as long as possible. We haven't started since she still eats her porridge like a starving kid. Her porridge normally consists of 1 meat item (chicken/pork/fish) and 2 or 3 types of vege (carrot/cabbage/spinach/long beans etc). On weekends, I use anchovies as the "meat" item and add in a egg to compensate.

6. She gets a lot of comments about her dark complexion and flat nose :(
*Sigh* what to do?? (but luckily she has her dimples and big eyes)

7. She's a real tv addict. If we put on cartoons or kids dvd (like Brainy Baby or Sesame Street), she can practically stare at the tv without blinking. We do try to limit her tv time. She doesn't watch much during weekdays at my parents place, but during weekends lazy mummy and daddy tend to rely on the tv as a babysitting tool..

Shower Time

Before I go to work each day, I give Elyssa her morning shower. It's something I quite enjoy doing. Why?? Just look at the pic below. Cute eh? Gives a nice start to my day :)

"Mummy... don't ever put this picture up !!!"