Mattel Warehouse Sale

Few weeks back, I went to the Mattel warehouse sale. Pretty near my office so I thought why not just go look-see.  Well, I went, I look-see...... and I bought and bought and bought. ;-)

Queue to pay on the first day
Why do I say first day? Cos I went AGAIN the next day.  hehe. 

Angry Birds Hotwheels for RM 1 only!

I bought 2. Then realized I should have bought more for Elyssa's birthday party pack.



And ta daaa.........here's my loot!

 

 

Before I took out my loot from the car, I told Elyssa the toys were mainly meant as presents for other kids. But I told her she could choose ONE item for her birthday.

 

Practically every single day since I said that, she did this :

 

Agonizing over which ONE item to choose

I tried sooo hard not to laugh when she told me she wanted Item A, then changed her mind to Item B, and then Item C etc and then back to Item A again. She said she liked all of them and just couldn't decide. She also kept pestering me which one I liked most and why.  Back and forth, back and forth she agonized for almost 2 weeks.

Well, what she didn't know was most of the stuff were meant for both of them anyway.  *evil mummy grin*.  At times, I nearly wanted to give in and tell her she could choose a few, but hey, I have to keep my word!  Plus I think she'll appreciate her ONE item a lot more.

 

Elyssa with her final choice. She loved it!
With a touch of a button, the butterfly wings can transform into a skirt and vice versa.

 

 

I'll probably let the girls "earn" some of the toys with stickers for good behavior  :-)

Hong Kong Family Holiday - Day 5 (Disneyland)

Woke up well rested for another day at Disneyland :-)

 

All ready to go out   

 

You know its a family hotel when they ask whether we wanted bed rails :-)  

 

This time, we were at the entrance at opening time. Yipeeee.......no queues yet!

 

Our first ride for the day was Small, Small World

 

Super cute moving doll displays inside

Then we went for a couple more rides -

Giant Teacup

Astro Blasters

Elyssa drove this car round the tracks.  She was thrilled!

Erin pretending to drive.

Getting ready to watch the 3D Stitch show.

Then we headed for photo session with Disney characters.  Average of 45 minutes queue for EACH character! Just Elyssa and I in the photos cos Erin was fast asleep in daddy's arms.

With Minnie Mouse

Winnie the Pooh

Mickey and Minnie taking a short break

 

 

High 5, Mickey!

Sitting in a Honey Pot for Winnie's Storybook Ride
Erin loved the honeypot!

We watched the parade AGAIN  :-)

 

Mickey Show

Last photo in Disneyland

We left around 6pm for our flight back home.

 

Bye Bye Disneyland! Bye Bye Hong Kong!

 

Oh yeah, besides souveniers from Disneyland, my main loot from our HK trip was this -

 

Dried goodies from Tai O

 Dried scallops, mussels, prawns and cuttlefish. Yippeee! 

 (definitely a sign of getting older)



Hong Kong Family Holiday - Day 4 (Disneyland)

Still haven't finished writing about my Hong Kong holiday ;-)

The last two days were spent in Hong Kong Disneyland. A one day ticket costs HKD 450 while a two day ticket costs HKD 585. So decided to just get the two day ticket. More worthwhile from a $$ perspective plus we wanted to take things easy in Disneyland.

 

Well, ended up we took things a bit too easy. Hehe. I insisted on breakfast at the Australian Dairy Company. Despite in being a weekday, the queue was really, really long! It moved pretty fast tho.

 

I couldn't help grinning when I finally got my food. No photos as I had to bribe Erin to sit down quietly with my phone. But here's what we had (pics taken from Trip Advisor): 

 

Breakfast set - Creamy scrambled eggs with toast, Macaroni with Ham & Milk Tea

 

And not forgetting their yummy Milk Pudding

 

 

After breakfast, some last minute packing, checking out of Ethan Hotel, making our way to the train station, train rides, finally checking into hotel at Disneyland (which took quite a while cos they couldn't find my reservation. Yikes!) and a quick lunch at the hotel, it was almost 2pm! Wasted half a day of our ticket already.  Oops.

 

 

Disney Train to Disneyland

Elyssa with the "bone ticket" for our very first ride in Disneyland- Slinky Dog

I think it was something like a 45 minute queue for a 5 min ride! Ah well, that's the price of going to Disneyland on Christmas eve.  Gotta queue pretty long for everything.

Parade Time
I've seen the parade a few times on Youtube but nothing beats seeing the real thing!  I couldn't help grinning like a little kid!  And I think there's a little kid in everyone too - a grumpy old lady stood by herself next to me. When the parade started, she started smiling from ear to ear and waved excitedly at the characters who passed by. I guess there was some Disney magic in the air  :-)

Disney Princess - Elyssa's favourite float

After the parade, we queued for the carousel -

Girls with their horses

Took a train ride -

And then went for a show -

Lion King Show  

After the show, it was already night time. Had our dinner and then walked around the place.  Oh, and posed with some hats  :-)

With our funny hats

Went on another ride -

Dumbo Ride

Night scene

The fireworks (with the Disney castle as a backdrop) were pretty amazing! Couldn't take any decent photos with my phone tho.

 

 

Our room at Hollywood Hotel 

(Erin was already fast asleep when we went into the room)

--End of Day 4 --

Reason to be Carried

When Elyssa was younger:

Elyssa  :  Mummy…..Pao Pao!

Me :  Why must Pao Pao?  You have nice strong legs.

Elyssa : No leg!

With Erin these days :

Erin : Mummy…… Pao Pao!

Me : Why must Pao Pao?  You have nice strong legs.

Erin : Leg Spoi !  (leg spoil)

One with no legs and one with spoiled legs!  Hehe......these girls are my constant source of amusement.

 

Together, we brighten up mummy's day  :-)  

Speech and Hearing Assessment for Erin

At 2 years 8 months old, Erin's speech development has been rather slow. She doesn’t really talk much but when she does, it comes out like this -

  Theh Theh go Tool, Eh Win go Ah Mah Ome.  (Jie Jie Go School, Erin go Ah Mah Home)

 Thee Yan  (This One)

 I want to Chleep (I want to Sleep)

 Back chide (Back side)

I was still at a “wait-and-see” approach. Afterall, I’ve heard so many stories of little kids who started speaking late but had no problems picking up later.  But as usual, hubby got all panicky and kept pestering for a professional assessment.

So, 2 weeks ago I brought Erin for a Hearing and Speech Assessment at Sunway Medical Center.

First part was the Hearing Assessment (since speech delay could be due to hearing issues)  -  In the room, there was a simple toy. The type where you put in a marble and it goes round and round down a chute. The therapist let Erin play for a while, and then told her she could only drop the marble once she hears a sound. Initial sounds were quite loud and then it got softer and softer.  Erin passed this Hearing Assessment with flying colours.   This assessment lasted only about 15 minutes, including checking of ear pressure with a special equipment.

Second part was the Speech Assessment which took about 1 hour. The therapist asked her questions and played simple games with her. (like asking her to feed the bear cos it’s hungry, asking her to pass the yellow duck, put little cubes into a cup etc). She also took out some charts and asked Erin to name the items in the chart.

Later, Elyssa asked “Why this doctor just play and play with Erin only?”  hehehe.

Speech Assessment

Luckily, Erin was very co-operative that day

 

 

At the end of the assessment, the therapist said Erin’s speech progress was slow for her age. L   By now, her conversation should be comprehensible to a normal 3^rd person. Not considered a severe case, but it is a sign to ring the alarm bells. She asked me to do some speech exercises with her like “KKkkhhhh, HHhhhhhh, Ghhhhhhhh” and to return for therapy sessions.  (since this session focused on assessment, not therapy). Next appointment set for 2 months’ time.  

Bill amount?  RM 100 for hearing assessment, RM 200 for speech assessment, RM 15 for registration, so RM 315 in total.

My thoughts – I am still hoping that she doesn’t need to go for therapy sessions. Just a few days ago, she said “one” correctly instead of “yan”. And she been speaking more and more too.  *fingers crossed*!

Homemade Play Dough

After reading many times about homemade play dough, I finally tried it out last weekend.

Recipe I used :

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoon cooking oil
1 cup water
Food coloring as needed

1. In a pot, mix the ingredients.
2. Cook on a medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes or until mixture pulls away from sides of pan.
3. Remove from heat; let cool for 1 minute and then knead. It should have a soft, smooth texture.
4. Play dough can be stored in airtight containers and will keep for several weeks

Girls were super happy!

Elyssa wanted to show off her creations

This little one too!

So what if it's just bits and pieces of playdough??? hehehe. 

Super love her expression here  :-)

After the session, I just plopped the playdough into a covered plastic container and placed it in the fridge.

The very next day, they requested for another playdough session after I came back from work. No complaints from me! Told them they could only play after dinner, after bathing and after changing to PJs.   They got everything done super fast  :-)

Elyssa with her creations

 

 

Really happy with this homemade playdough. Easy to make, easy to handle, cheap, toxin-free and no "rubber" smell !   

 

Terrible Twos!!!!

Erin is definitely in the Terrible Two's phase!  When, oh when is it going to end?

She gets into a tantrum practically every single day. The lie-down-on-the-floor, kick and scream type of tantrum. *sigh*. 

Source of the tantrum varies, but basically it happens whenever she doesn't get what she wants or when she's asked to do something she doesn't want to do. 

For these few days, it's 1) don't want to bathe  2) don't want to get out after bathing  3) don't want to wear clothes after bathing.

We've tried various responses - distracting/smacking/scolding/ignoring/reasoning.  (ok I admit, sometimes, when I feel like I'm reaching boiling point, I hand her to the maid and I go upstairs to cool down)

But then, when she's all fine and dandy....she's so smiley and behaves like a sweet little princess.

 See that innocent smile!

 

 

 

Well, sweet little princess.......until the next tantrum starts.  Aaaarrgh!