Jeremy's Adventures

Why Jesus made bad people?

2010-02-17T22:28:00.001+08:00

After reading his Star Wars book during bedtime, we talked about good people and bad people. He asked me why Jesus made bad people. I explained to him that Jesus didn't make bad people but Jesus let people choose to be bad or good. And some people decide to be bad. Good enough explanation for him, for now.

Mailbox

2010-02-17T22:17:00.001+08:00

Jeremy wanted to say goodnight to his father tonight but when we tried to call, he wasn't answering. Instead we were directed to his mailbox. Jeremy heard the mailbox voice before we hung up. Jeremy asked if mailbox is a box for boys. He thought it was MALE box instead of MAIL box. Hahaha.

Counting beyond 20

2009-10-07T21:56:00.001+08:00

He counted to 39 tonight in bed. But he needed help with 30 and 40. I asked him who taught him to count. He said Teacher Sofie.

We'd been trying to teach him the numbers to 100 at home but it seemed it just flew over his head. I guess it's more fun learning the numbers in school.

Sometimes last week he started counting beyond 20 as well and he managed to count until 60. I very impressed with him.

His favorite no is 11.

That's not Jeremy's towel

2009-08-24T22:40:00.001+08:00

I put it the striped & colorful towel in his bag to bring to school for today because he ran out of his regular, plain color towel. He hasn't used that striped towel for a long, long time. The last time he used it was probably when he was still a toddler.

When I picked him up this evening, Teacher Rose told me how Jeremy was confused when he found that towel in his bag. He told his teacher that it wasn't his towel. He also told me it wasn't his.

I should have told him last night I was putting that towel in his bag.

Thank you for listening

2009-08-24T22:34:00.002+08:00

We were on the way home this evening when Jeremy asked me to turn to the junction before the normal junction we take home in Likas. When I drove through that road, which he called the new flat road, he said to me "Thank you for listening, mommy." I told him I listen to him because he listens to mommy. I also told him to listen to mommy next time. He nodded his head and said "mmm." So sweet of him.

You drop it, you clean it

2009-08-24T22:34:00.001+08:00

I was at work tonight when I received a text from Tracy. She said Jeremy's father was taking something from the shelf on top of the TV when he accidentally dropped some batteries. Jeremy immediately told his father "you drop it, you clean it!" Hahaha.. He must have picked that up from me and Tracy.

I drink water

2009-08-17T00:32:00.001+08:00

Tracy was eating hot & spicy instant noodle for dinner last night. Jeremy asked her what she was eating. When she told him, he said he wanted to eat mee mee. She said it was too hot for him, he answered he would drink water. When he saw Tracy with putting noodle into her spoon, he quickly went to her while clutching his water bottle. Hahaha.

I told him I'm cooking mee mee for him, not a hot one. He answered back saying he wanted hot mee mee. I did cook curry noodle but didn't use too much of the curry seasoning. When I gave to him, he asked if it was hot. I said yes. After eating a spoon, he said a little bit hot only.

Rhymes Recital - Encore Performance

2009-08-15T22:27:00.003+08:00

Late on yesterday afternoon Teacher Rose called me up to ask me to get Jeremy ready for encore performance on the 15th at Tadika Ria in case Adam doesn't want to do it. She said Adam might not do it when his parents are around. I told her I'll prepare Jeremy for it.

Early in the morning Teacher Rose told me Jeremy would have to do the encore performance because Adam wasn't going to the event. He wasn't feeling well - diarrhea, vomitting & fever. I told her we might not be able to make it either as Jeremy wasn't feeling either - vomitting & fever.

However, when I asked Jeremy if he wanted to go to Yayasan Sabah, he said yes. I made sure he had taken his breakfast before I got him ready. By the time we arrived at Yayasan Sabah it was already 10.30 AM. Thank goodness we didn't miss the prize presentation.

The prize presentation was only after 12 PM. In the meantime Jeremy went to play at the playground. I kept on telling him that he will say his rhymes again later. He nodded. I also recited his rhymes to him a few times.

When it was his turn to get his prize, he thought he had to say his rhymes then. So he waited on the stage until someone led him off the stage. He received a trophy and two books for the 2nd place prize. He was so happy to get his trophy. He happily told us he has two trophies now. I told him he will get many, many more in the future.

Only after all the prizes were presented the encore performances were held. He performed in front of YB Datuk Hajah Jainab Datuk Seri Panglima Hj Ahmad Ayid. At first they couldn't hear what he was saying because the mic was too high. So the YB asked the organiser to fix the mic. Once the mic was fixed he was unsure of what to do, he just looked at us. We told him to start from the beginning, from "Good Morning". It went smoothly from there. The audience was clapping and laughing when he gave them a flying kiss at the end.

Before the whole thing ended, we left because it was time for lunch and Jeremy looked tired. We dropped by McD for lunch. He had chicken nuggets & fries with Ribena.

Rhymes Recital Competition - Final

2009-08-14T15:04:00.000+08:00

As usual during the Merdeka Month, Kumpulan Yayasan Sabah, Bahagian Perkembangan Kanak-Kanak organises the Bulan Membaca, Bulan Kemerdekaan & Hari Kanak-Kanak Sedunia 2009. Teacher Sofie urged Jeremy to participate in the Rhymes Recital Competition. I thought it would be a good experience for Jeremy, so I enrolled him.

The pre-competition was supposed to be on 31st July 2009 but it was cancelled due to lack of participants. So everyone went to the final, which was originally scheduled for 4th August 2009. However, due to Tadika having to temporary closed due to H1N1 infection it was postponed to 15th August 2009.

On Wednesday evening, 12th August 2009 I was informed that the final would be on the 14th. Only two days away. But no worries, Jeremy has been practising his rhyme in school almost everyday, twice a day with his teachers' help.

Teacher Irene and Teacher Sharifah were a bit concerned when I told them I'd be at the competition. They were scared that Jeremy would refuse to do his recital. I was worried about that too in the beginning, but I have told Jeremy that me and his father would be there to see him recite his rhyme. And he understood. Whenever I helped him practise at home, I tell him beforehand that I would be sitting in the audience while he recite his rhyme on the stage in front. He said 'OK'. The night before the final, we sort of had a full dress rehearsal to show him how it would be when both of us were in the audience. He wore the clothes that he'd be wearing during the competition. His father and I sat on the chairs and he went in front on the stage to do his rehearsal.

On the day itself, I went to Tadika Ria, Yayasan Sabah in the same care with Teacher Rose and the children. The other children were Adam, Hana & Danisya. Danisya participated in the Berpantun Competition, while Adam & Hana were Jeremy's fellow competitors.

We waited a while longer for the rest of the competitors to come. That gave us enough time to get the children to practise on the stage with the mic.

There were 7 children participating in the Rhymes Recital. Jeremy was the second competitor. He was quite unsure of what to do when it was his turn. He went to the stage and I think he was expecting his Teacher Rose to prompt him because he was watching her. Only when Teacher Rose started then he started. I think that may have cost him a bit of points. Once he started though he did very well. We were so proud of him.

There was a boy at the competition that was dressed and made up like a cat. He caught Jeremy's attention. Jeremy even took a photo of him and tried to talk to him. But the boy just kept quiet.

After the competition, I told Jeremy he was going back to school. He agreed. But once we were in school and after Adam upset him, he didn't want to stay in school anymore. So I brought him to my office first while waiting for Tracy to finish her classes. I gave him his lunch in the office while he was playing games on my colleague's PC.

We just reached home in the afternoon when Teacher Rose told me the good news. She said Jeremy won 2nd place. I was so happy. Although, as a mother I have high expectation of him and I wanted him to do his best in the competition, I wasn't hoping that he would win. But this was a great news!

When I told him that he got no 2 and Adam got no 1, he said "Jeremy doesn't want no 2, Jeremy wants no 1". Hehehe.

I'm so proud of him!

Fell off the bed

2009-08-12T22:56:00.000+08:00

Most nights Jeremy sleeps on my right. But last night Jeremy was sleeping on my left, and to his left is the edge of the bed.

I heard a thud in the middle of the night. When I woke up I saw him climbing back onto the bed. He lied down next to me on my right and asked me to rub his legs. He must have landed on his legs then. He went right back to sleep after that. No crying.

If he had slept on my right, he would have fallen on the mattress on the floor when he fell off the bed. He probably would have continued to sleep on that single mattress.

Jeremy cannot think

2009-08-07T22:57:00.001+08:00

It was my turn to do day-end processing tonight and I only got home at 9:40pm. Jeremy was already in the bedroom with his father. So I just took my time downstair, cleaning up the mess and sweeping the floor.

They both came down once to get the Naruto head gear. Jeremy was hiding from me by putting his face in his father's neck. Then they went up.

Half-an-hour later they came down again. This time Jeremy looked for me. He said 'Jeremy cannot think'. I asked him why. He answered 'Because Jeremy's head is sleepy'. Hahaha. I think he meant he was sleepy.

So we went up together. It was 10.20pm then. In the bedroom, no more playing as usual.

I looked for my face mask. I wear it to sleep in case I cough. I've been coughing for a few days now. Jeremy said he played with it. So I told him that he shouldn't play with mommy's face mask because it's dirty and he may get sick. He cried. I asked him why he's crying. He said 'because mommy doesn't let Jeremy play with mommy's mask'. I explained to him he could have mommy's clean mask. Then he was happy. I've got 10 pieces of unused mask and he thought he couldn't play with any of them. Poor boy.

Correcting Teacher Sofie

2009-07-16T10:06:00.002+08:00

Teacher Sofie told me this morning about a funny incident with Jeremy yesterday. She was singing Michael Jackson's We are the World song. She apparently sang one sentence of the song wrong and Jeremy looked at her funny and corrected her. Hahaha.

She said Jeremy can definitely join the Pantun recital as he can memorise the song within a short period of time. The problem is, I haven't came up with the Pantun yet. Will get it done today... crossing my fingers... :p

EyeToy

2009-07-16T09:25:00.005+08:00

Jeremy has been into playing with his EyeToy games the past few days. He was running and jumping and ducking and got all sweaty.

Funny kiddism

2009-07-15T19:05:00.002+08:00

The song Poker Face by Lady Gaga was playing on the radio on the way home just now. I started singing along. Jeremy said 'don't say poker face again or I will take your bag.'

At home Tracy told me what Jeremy answered her when she asked him why wasn't he writing. He answered 'teacher said enough already writing.'

Tracy was busy playing Mahjong Quest on the computer. Jeremy came along and said 'don't play that game anymore, later it will spoil, choose another game!'

Pantun Recital

2009-07-15T10:36:00.004+08:00

Teacher Sofie asked me yesterday to get Jeremy to join the Pantun recital during the August event. She said it can be in English or Malay. A very simple pantun would do, maybe something I write myself. The theme is National Day, World Children Day and Reading Month. Oh gosh.. I'm not the most creative person to come up with a pantun. I need help from someone more creative. There's a few colleagues that I can kacau.

It would be nice to see Jeremy recite a pantun from memory. I'm very sure he can memorise a stanza of Pantun. He sang me almost 2 stanzas of 'We are the World' last night and he's only been learning the song the past one week or so.

The problem is, would he go on the stage and recite the Pantun himself. From my experience, he tends to cling to me whenever I'm around even if he had practise what he has to do for weeks before that. With enough encouragement, brainwashing and practise I hope he would.

I don't know how to play too

2009-07-13T19:02:00.002+08:00

Jeremy said he wanted to play racing car on the PS2. So, Tracy switched off her TV show and said 'I don't know how to play'. Without missing a beat Jeremy answered back 'I don't know how to play too'.

Fight back

2009-07-12T14:30:00.001+08:00

Jeremy was playing at the playground in Giant Kolombong when a boy around his age hit him on the tummy. I'm not sure if Jeremy did something that infuriated the boy, maybe he was blocking the boy at the tunnel. He cried. I told him to go kick the boy back. He went back to the playground and waited for the boy to come around, then he kicked the boy on the leg. The boy tried to kick back. I told Jeremy to come back to me. I explained to Jeremy to only hit someone back if that person hit him first.

Old diapers

2009-07-12T09:16:00.002+08:00

I was cleaning up Jeremy's diapers drawer last Thursday night. There were still a few diapers in there. I took one and showed to Jeremy. I asked him if he still want to wear his diaper. He said 'jeremy don't need to wear diaper anymore, jeremy big boy already'.

It has been a very long time since he last wore one. In fact, I can't remember the last time he wore a diaper.

Choc-crazy boy

2009-07-10T18:50:00.002+08:00

When we got home today Jeremy headed to the fridge and looked for chocolates. He found a little Snickers. But Tracy exchange the Snickers with two Bounty. Once he finished eating his Bounty he asked for the 'white chocolate'. I told Tracy that he might be asking for her white chocolates with raisins. Tracy gave him that chocolates and he finished eating them. He went to the chest freezer to look for more and he found Froot Loops, his cereal that I kept in there. He asked for a bowl of that cereal.

I remember when he was a toddler we couldn't get him to eat chocolates or ice cream. Now it's a completely different story.

He seems to be in an eating mood the last few days. He must be in his growing spurt phase.

The little thing

2009-07-10T10:45:00.001+08:00

Jeremy was crying early this morning complaining about something. I tried waking him up and asked him what was wrong. He said 'something wrong'. I asked again 'what is wrong'. He said 'dropped something, pick it up'. 'What is that something?' I asked. 'Something' he answered. Then he went back to sleep.

A few minutes later he cried for the 'something' again and asked me to pick it up. I took his tiniest Matryoshka doll and showed it to him. It wasn't that 'something' that he dropped. I went to his shelf and look for a little something and found the little Bertie the Bus. I gave it to him. It still wasn't it. I went back to the shelf and found a little rubber cube which was certainly smaller than Bertie the Bus. I gave it to him. 'Is this the little something?' he asked. I said 'yes'. 'OK' he said and went back to sleep.

Funny little boy. I know for sure he didn't drop anything on the floor. He must have been dreaming about dropping a little something.

Bertie the Bus on the left and the 'something' on the right. It certainly is smaller than Bertie.

Matryoshka doll (Russian nested doll)

2009-07-10T10:37:00.002+08:00

I was cleaning up the shelf on top of the TV last night when I saw the doll hidden behind all the junks on the shelf. I remembered how Jeremy loved to play with the doll when he was younger, so I gave the doll to him. He played with the dolls the whole night until bedtime. He even went to sleep with the tiniest of the dolls. He asked me this morning was the tiniest one can't be opened like the bigger ones.

He took apart the dolls and nested them back.

Up to the third doll.

The second doll now and it has to align!

Almost done!

All done. Now it's ready to play with Optimus Prime.

Bounty

2009-07-09T18:50:00.002+08:00

Jeremy saw me eating some Guylian chocolates after dinner. So he asked for his Bounty chocolates that Tracy bought weeks before. When Tracy gave him two, he asked if there were only two left. Tracy said yes. Jeremy said 'have to buy more chocolates'. So Tracy asked for money to buy chocolates from him. He said 'daddy got money'. Hahaha.

Why Mommy cry in church?

2009-07-09T11:08:00.002+08:00

When I was about to say our bedtime prayer last night Jeremy asked me why I cried in church. I assumed he was refering to my aunt's funeral that took place more than a week a go. I explained to him again that I was sad to see my friends crying. I also explained they cried because they lost their mama & nenek.

He said 'Jeremy didn't cry, LL and AdAd didn't cry also, only Mommy and Mama Karen cried'. He noticed.

We are the World

2009-07-09T11:05:00.003+08:00

Jeremy and his friends are learning to sing this song in school. I'm not sure if it's for the August event or the November (end of year) event. Jeremy told me he likes the song and proceeded to sing part of it. Since I only know part of the lyrics as well, I only sang those and ended up humming the rest. Jeremy would also hum with me.

I wonder if they're singing 'Heal the World' as well. Time to look for these two songs for Jeremy to listen to. Nice songs from the late Michael Jackson.

A little ball of biscuit

2009-07-08T20:05:00.002+08:00

When I picked him up this evening he ran to me excitedly and showed me a little biscuit that he was holding. I don't know the name of the biscuit but it's white and shaped like a ball and very light. I asked him who gave the biscuit to him. He said 'teacher serina'. 'Did you say thank you?' I asked. 'Yes, jeremy said thank you just now' he answered.

Before going out of the school, he ate his biscuit. I asked him if he didn't eat the biscuit earlier because he wanted to show it to me. 'Yes' he said. So sweet of him.

Sweet, sour, hot & salty

2009-07-08T19:51:00.001+08:00

On the way home yesterday Jeremy was telling me that Zeta (one of her classmates) shared her food with him. I asked him what food it was. He said he didn't know. I asked him if it was sweet, if it was sour, if it was salty or if it was hot. He said 'sweet la, jeremy don't like sour, jeremy don't like salty, jeremy like sweet'.

I asked him if he likes hot. He said he didn't. When I said he likes to eat hot KFC. He said 'yes, jeremy like to eat hot KFC but jeremy don't like chili'. Hahaha.

Mosquito spray

2009-07-08T19:39:00.000+08:00

I don't normally like to spray our bedroom with mosquito spray but I didn't have any choice last night. Jeremy and I weren't able to sleep well the night before because of the annoying bugs.

When I bought the spray earlier, Jeremy said he wanted to spray the bedroom together with me. So when I was about to spray the room I told him. He wanted to follow me. I told him he'd got to wear the mask when he's in the room. 'Why?' he asked. 'Because Jeremy is still small, so Jeremy has to wear the mask' I said. 'Mommy?' he asked. 'Mommy doesn't need to wear mask because Mommy's big already' I said. 'Jeremy don't want to follow la' he said.

Later on during bedtime he said 'next time when jeremy's big, jeremy want to spray the room with mommy, OK?'. I thought he's forgotten about it already... :-)

Naruto head gear

2009-07-07T22:32:00.001+08:00

His father bought him a Naruto head gear on Monday and he'd been wearing it quite often at home, especially when he's playing his Naruto games.

Naruto (the one with blond hair) with his gang, all wearing the head gear.

Sparring with his father.

Parent and Child Look Alike Competition

2009-07-07T17:09:00.002+08:00

This morning Teacher Sofie told me to get Jeremy and his father to participate in the 'parent and child look alike' competition. It's one of the activities held during the upcoming event at the end of August in conjuction with 3M, World Children Day and National Day.

I think that would be something interesting for the father and son to participate in. Jeremy would be more willing to participate with his father beside him. Unlike last year, he just plain refused to sit and color during the coloring competition.

I think they'll look cute wearing a traditional Chinese Costume complete with the hats. Hehehe.

Optimus Prime

2009-07-06T23:04:00.002+08:00

I was doing day-end tonight. The tasks were completed by 9.20 PM but I had to perform some system maintenance before heading home.

I tried calling Jeremy twice on his father's cellphone. But twice he was downstairs looking for the little KFC's Optimus Prime. So I didn't get to talk to him before he went to bed.

But when I got home at around 10.10 PM, he wasn't sleeping yet. He even came down to see me and tell me his father couldn't find his little Optimus Prime. We both went to look for it in his robots basket.

I was still trying searching for it when Jeremy looked at me smiling. He was holding his little Optimus Prime. I asked him where he found it. He said in the laundry basket which was just next to his robots basket. He excitedly told his father he found his Optimus Prime.

Back in the bedroom he wanted to play with Optimus Prime first before going to sleep. By the time he fell asleep it was already 10.45 PM. Very, very late.

Fell off the bed

2009-07-06T22:36:00.002+08:00

Jeremy fell off the bed twice in a row the past two nights. He just rolled off the bed but somehow landed on his feet both times. Still with a loud thud though. He'd just climbed back into bed and went back to sleep after that. No crying.

Fog Cars

2009-07-06T14:13:00.003+08:00

Jeremy's Fog Cars, which he was playing with when Nana called last night. The gray one is a foghorn car and the green one is a blasting cap car.

Natural yogurt

2009-07-05T22:48:00.000+08:00

We went grocery shopping at Thai Seng yesterday evening. Jeremy insisted on getting the natural yogurt (unsweetened) even though Tracy told him it was not sweet. When we were paying for it, I told him again it was not sweet. He said 'jeremy wants milk only yogurt'. Ok then.

When we got home, he immediately asked me to open his yogurt so he could eat it. I asked him if he wanted to put honey in it. He said no. He took a spoon of the yogurt and ate. He looked at me and I looked at him. He smiled. Hahaha. I asked him again if he wanted me to put honey in it. He said yes this time. He even followed me to the kitchen to see me pour honey into his yogurt. He ate half of the little tub after that.

The little tub of natural yogurt he was enjoying.

Don't come late

2009-07-05T22:24:00.000+08:00

During bedtime Jeremy asked if he has to go to school tomorrow. I said yes. Then he said 'don't come get jeremy late ok? Tell kakak don't talk too much'. He thinks I'm late to pick him up from school because someone was chatting with me. Hahaha. Which is sometimes the case.

Cleaning up his mess

2009-07-04T17:26:00.000+08:00

He poured out all his toys from one of his boxes when he wanted to look for one of his toys. We told him to clean it up. He said 'later'.

Later during the day he wanted me to do something for him. I told him I'd help him after he cleaned up his mess. He insisted on me helping him first. So, I made him promise me that he'd clean up after I'm done helping him. He said 'yes'.

Once we were done with what he wanted me to do (which I couldn't remember what now), he disappeared to the library. I totally forgot all about his promise to clean up his mess. A few minutes later I heard noises coming from the library. I went to take a peek and I saw him putting his toys back into the box. I was so proud of him.

He's almost done with his toys here.

At Taman Awam Teluk Likas

2009-07-04T16:37:00.000+08:00

Trying to climb up to the top of the slide.

The little daredevil climbed up to the top of the tube and asked his father to catch him. His father told him to climb down himself, slowly.

Climbing down slowly with his father's guidance.

Almost there.

Yes, he did it! There was a little accident where he fell on the grass but he was OK and didn't cry.

His favorite activity on the beach -- covering the crab holes with sand -- by using a piece of shell as a scoop.

Throwing sand into the sea.

A view of Tanjung Lipat, Teluk Likas.

Scoop.

Cover.

Jeremy asked us to climb onto the steps. A good opportunity to take a photo together.

Report card day

2009-07-04T16:01:00.000+08:00

We went to Jeremy's playschool today to get his report card. Last night he said he wanted to paint his cheek like Naruto and go to school with his cheek painted. This morning he remembered (or possibly his father reminded him) he's got a Naruto paper face mask so he asked for it. Phew! It was safely kept at the computer table. So instead of painting his cheek like Naruto, he wore his mask to school.

Jeremy, his father and I sat down with Teacher Sofie for his report. Most of his marks were As and according to his teacher he has improved in most of his subjects, except for his socioemotion. I do agree with his teacher on this. He was a bit withdrawn several months ago as compared to earlier this year. But she said he's much better now.

His writing and coloring were also superb. A quality he's never shown to us at home. Teacher Sofie said his quality of writing and coloring is better than some kindergarten kids. She said she's ready for kindergaten.

I told him in front of his teacher that I was so proud of his hardwork in school. He looked so happy.

[ click the picture for a larger view]

The whole time we were sitting with Teacher Sofie, he also just sat there quietly listening. I didn't expect him to do that at all. I was expecting him to be asked to be excused after a while. I have underestimated him, again. He must respect his teacher very much.

At school, the baby room was opened for all. So the older kids were allowed to play inside. Jeremy and a few of his friends had fun playing inside with the 'new' toys. He wouldn't have wanted to leave if I hadn't set the alarm.

When we got home, I gave one of the two Take Alongs that I was still hiding. I gave him Whiff. I told him it was from Nana for his hardwork. He was happy to get it.

Naruto face

2009-07-04T15:23:00.002+08:00

On Friday night, he asked his face to be painted like Naruto's face. At first his father used a pen to paint the whiskers. When he wanted my face to be painted as well, I took out my eyeliners. So we his face. We both went to bed with our face like that. Before he went to sleep, he told me he wanted to go to school like that tomorrow.

This morning he remembered (or maybe his father reminded him) that he has a Naruto paper face mask. Phew! It was safely kept at the computer table. Instead of having his face fainted like Naruto, he wore this mask to school instead.

He wore his mask all the way from home to school.

With one of his classmates, Bobo. Still wearing his face mask.

Bedtime story

2009-07-03T22:51:00.002+08:00

Last night I didn't finish reading him a story because he wasn't paying attention when I was reading. So I refused to finish the story.

Tonight he sat next to me while I was reading. He did interrupt me several times to ask questions, but that was OK. He asked me to continue reading where we stopped last night. And I read him an extra story.

Naruto

2009-07-03T22:49:00.002+08:00

It's 10:46 pm now and the boy just went to bed. He was playing until 10. Pretend fighting with me like Naruto. He's got a towel tied around his head. Even asked me to draw 3 whiskers on each of his cheek.

Yesterday evening we dropped by Kompleks Karamunsing before heading home. I brought him to the shop called The Lowes on the first floor. When we were there he told me he wanted to but a toy. I told him no as he's got so many toys at home already. He went around the toys section and pointing to a toy, he'd ask me 'how about this?' I answered 'no'. He did that a few times.

I saw decks of Naruto cards for sales. I told him he can choose two decks if he'd like. So he did.

On the way home, he said he was tired. I asked him why. He said he was tired because he asked 'how about this' too many times. Hahaha.

Sleep eating

2009-07-02T12:30:00.002+08:00

I woke up early this morning when I heard Jeremy saying 'nyam, nyam, nyam'. I watched him and he was bringing his fingers to his mouth as if he was eating -- still with his eyes closed. Then he went back to sleep.

Clean up the bed

2009-07-01T23:42:00.002+08:00

It was my turn at night duty tonight and I only got home at around 9:45 PM. I expected Jeremy to be asleep by then. But the first thing I heard when I entered the house was 'mommy!'. I asked him why he wasn't sleeping yet. He said 'because Jeremy want to see mommy'. Fair enough.

I asked him to go back to the bedroom. But I told him I couldn't lie down with him yet because I haven't showered. He asked me to shower first while he wait.

The bed was in a mess with his books and toys all over the place. I asked him if he could clean up the mess. He didn't say anything, and I wasn't really expecting him to put his toys and books away.

But.. When I went back to the bedroom after my shower, the bed has been cleaned up. Except for one book. I asked him if did all the cleaning up himself. He said 'yes'. I was so impressed and proud of him. I rewarded him with hugs and kisses.

He put his toys at the corner of the room, between the shelf and the wall. Instead of in his basket. His books were on the floor instead of in the shelf. Nonetheless, I was very impressed.

When he was downstairs to see me when I got back from work, he found the pair of ABC gloves. I went to the kitchen to do something. When I went back to the dining room he was already wearing boths gloves. I asked him if his father helped him with the gloves. 'No' he said. 'Jeremy wear by self'. Wow! I really didn't expect him to wear the gloves by himself and be able to wear them correctly without having two or more fingers in one place.

He's really growing up, and learning new things and skills.

Where's Jeremy's egg?

2009-07-01T15:21:00.002+08:00

We were moving out of the driveway this morning when Jeremy said he wanted his egg (a toy). I told him that we didn't have time to get his egg. He started crying and screaming for his egg. I raised my voice and told him I'm not getting his egg. And I started telling him why in my raised voice. I also told him to remember what toys he wants to bring to school before we get into the car.

He went quiet and just looked at me with tears running down his face. Once I was done, I kept quiet for a few minutes. The whole time Jeremy was looking at me.

Once I was ready to speak again I asked him if he was angry at me. He said 'no' by shaking his head.

I felt bad raising my voice at him but sometimes he can be quite unreasonable.

Take it vs Eat it

2009-07-01T15:16:00.003+08:00

I was giving Jeremy his cod liver oil this morning in the little 15ml measuring cup. I gave him the cup and said 'take it'. Then he said 'take is like this' while pretending to take the little cup from my fingers. So I had to say to him 'eat it'. And he asked me 'why mommy confused?'. I couldn't think of anything to say to him... :)

Almost raw veggies

2009-06-30T19:51:00.002+08:00

I prepared a pasta meal with spaghetti, garlic, chicken, green pepper, tomato & carrot for dinner. All the veggies except the tomato were almost still raw but Jeremy ate the meal without any complaints. He even wanted a second helping.

While I was preparing dinner, I gave Jeremy a few cut carrots. He finished eating them. Sometimes he prefers raw carrots to cooked ones.

ABC gloves

2009-06-29T23:01:00.001+08:00

On the way home from kampung yesterday Jeremy asked me where his ABC gloves were. I told him they're at home.

He remembered about this gloves probably because he was crying for LL's gloves earlier during the day. He was crying for the gloves, but I told him no matter how much he cried I couldn't be able to give him one because there was only one gloves. He eventually stopped crying.

Once we arrived home, I thought he'd forgotten all about the gloves and he didn't ask for them. I was mistaken. He asked for his gloves before he went to sleep. And he wore his gloves to sleep.

Die vs Faint

2009-06-29T22:17:00.003+08:00

In the car on the way back to the city, he asked me again about 'die'. I explained to him again that it means someone sleep for a long, long time. And that they will wake up when Jesus comes again (according to my Christian beliefs).

Then he asked me 'how about faint?'. I explained that faint means sleep a short time only. Then I realised that I'd have the same explanation for 'nap' and 'sleep' as well. Hahaha.

Anyone has a better way to explain to a 4 y/o boy?

Nenek Kotot's funeral

2009-06-29T15:59:00.000+08:00

We attended Uncle Moliki's wife's funeral at around noon. When it was time to pay our last respect to Aunt Kotot, I brought Jeremy with me.

While I was going around hugging my cousins and their kids and my uncle, Jeremy noticed that we were crying.

"Why they cry, mommy?" he asked.

"Because they are sad their nenek sleep a long time" I said.

"Why nenek sleep a long time?" he asked.

"Because she was feeling very ouchie" I answered.

"Why mommy crying?" he asked.

"Because mommy feels sad too" I answered.

Later on he asked again why they were crying. "Because nenek died" I said deciding to use the word die this time.

"What is died" he asked.

"Died means sleeping for a long, long time" I explained.

When they opened the casket to enable the family members to touch their mother for the last time, Jeremy wanted to touch to. I let him.

At the cemetary, he wanted to be close to the casket so he could see the body inside. When he was blocked by someone he'd complained "can not see bah".

Once the casket was lowered into the hole and it was time to throw soil into it, he wanted to throw soil as well. I pointed to one clump of soil and asked him to pick it up. He picked it up and threw it back, he said it wasn't a nice one. Hehehe. So I let him choose his own soil. He threw soils into the hole twice.

The four boys & Critters

2009-06-28T22:56:00.001+08:00

The four boys with their different actions while watching the movie Critters on video. I thought the movie was a scary one but it didn't scare the three little boys at all.

Cold milk with Nesquik Magic Straws

2009-06-28T20:38:00.001+08:00

The three stooges enjoying cold milk with Nesquik Magic Straws (Strawberry) while watching a video. I wish I had brought two packets of the straws since they enjoyed drinking with the straws so much.

Jeremy & his cousins on their bikes

2009-06-28T18:43:00.003+08:00

27th June 2009 - Jeremy on the little bike.

When he had that bike at home in KK, he didn't really cycle it in a complete circle. Instead he was going back and forth on the pedals. I asked him several times to cycle properly, he refused. So I told my mom he didn't know how to cycle it properly yet.

But to my surprise, he cycled properly here. I guess he saw how his cousins were pedaling properly and decided to try their way. I was so proud of him.

28th June 2009 - He tried his feet on the bigger bike while his cousins were still napping.

28th June 2009 - the three cousins on their bikes. Jeremy was still slow with his bike as he'd just started getting the hang of it. The two brothers were racing around the living room.

Playing with soil

2009-06-28T14:26:00.003+08:00

We visited my Uncle Moliki at Kg Monopod. He has just lost his wife the night before. The things they could play there were different from what they can play with at home I guess.

I guess the soil at Nenek's house is different from this one. They spent quite sometimes playing with the soil under the house. I kept on telling them to stop playing. Even my uncle told them to stop playing with the soil. But none of them listened. I guess we were like them when we were their age. So, in the end I let them have fun.

They got soil all over them -- on the their back and on their head included. Before we let them into the car, we stripped them down to their underpants. Once they got home, they had a blast playing in the big basins filled with water outside the house.

Jeremy's messy face.

"No feet like LL, no feet like LL". He's been crying to me about "no feet like LL" for quite sometimes but I just didn't get it. It sounded like he was saying 'no fit like LL'. I finally understood what he wanted when he was so frustrated. He wanted his feet covered with the soil. After I covered his feet and took several photos, he decided to kick the soil toward me!

Sabbath evening adventure

2009-06-27T22:44:00.000+08:00

After the kids had their nap, they decided they wanted to play outside the house. We ended up taking a walk along the road to our house.

Jeremy and AdAd running on the road. LL not far behind them on his bicycle.

Jeremy and LL taking a short break.

The group with their different actions.

Jeremy's pet-rock-of-the-moment. He's got the habit of collecting rocks. Can't remember where I've placed that rock already. I hope he won't ask me for it. Hahaha.

Great time with cousins in kampung

2009-06-27T22:12:00.003+08:00

Happy to be with his cousins again, after more than a month not seeing them.

While the adults were having the Holy Communion in church, the boys were playing outside.

Jeremy's turn to go on the big bike with Uncle Andy. Finally! There was a rotten motorbike outside the children Sabbath School class at Likas church. After SS he'd never missed going on the motorbike. Once I told him he can ride on Uncle Andy's motorbike when we balik kampung. His dream finally came true.

He was so happy to finally be able to ride on a big motorbike. He calls it motorbicycle.

Cheese & Orange Marmalade Sandwich

2009-06-25T22:03:00.000+08:00

We dropped by the grocery store on the way home this evening. I asked Jeremy to choose a jam. He decided on the orange marmalade.

When we got home, he said he wanted cheese and bread for dinner. He didn't only want 1 slice of bread but two slices. Big slices. He also asked me to put orange marmalade with his cheese. A little strange but he finished eating his sandwich. He also had an orange and a bowl of grapes for dessert.

Cutting down papaya tree

2009-06-23T22:14:00.000+08:00

This was after work when the two of them decided to cut the non-productive papaya tree outside our house.

Helping his father to cut down the papaya tree outside the house.

He still wanted to continue cutting even though the tree has fallen.

With his father's help, he kicked the tree stump.

He still wanted to play with the knife, so he started cutting the dried papaya leaves on the ground.

Enough with the knife, continue with the scoop. Scooping the sand and dumping them on a heap of little stones.

Happy Birthday Mommy

2009-06-22T22:33:00.003+08:00

We had dinner at Fish & Co, Warisan Square to celebrate my 36th birthday. He didn't want dinner at first, instead he wanted to eat ice cream, Vedablu ice cream. I told him no ice cream if he didn't want to eat dinner. He did eat dinner and enjoyed his fish & chips.

BTW, he asked me where we were. I told him we were at Warisan Square. He said 'no, it's not square' -- he meant the shape. I asked him if it was Warisan Plaza, he said 'yes, it's Warisan Plaza'. As if.

He was showing me his fish.

Pretended to be sleeping when I asked Tracy to take our photo.

He was so happy when his orange juice arrived.

There was a blackout in Likas that night. He was playing in the living room just a couple of feet from me when the power went out. He immediately called for me in his panicked voice. Once the candles were lit, he was OK. He was happy to be playing with the candles -- lighthing and blowing them again and again. He sang me a birthday song without being prompted. I managed to catch only part of it.

Fun at the pool & beach

2009-06-21T22:25:00.002+08:00

Jeremy spent Father's Day with his father at the pool and the beach at Tg Aru.

Here we was trying to splash me with the pool water. Lucky I bought myself a new camera, Olympus MJU Tough 8000 - waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof & crush proof. So, no sweat getting the camera a little wet.

On the beach enjoying his new toys. He had fun covering the crab holes with sand. He kept on asking us what the crab was saying when he was about to cover the hole. "aaahhh, please don't cover my hole!" "now I've got to work very hard to get out of my hole!" He found it amusing.

Jumping over the waves with his father's help. Fortunately I brought an extra pair of clothes for him. If not, he would have gone home either in his wet clothes or naked... :p

Super Why!

2009-06-21T22:05:00.000+08:00

One of his favorite shows on Astro TVIQ is Super Why! He can't wait to watch it. The other show that he likes is Math Mansion. Here he was wearing a mask that I made out of whatever material I've got at home. Didn't have a green one, so red and pink mask it was. He was so happy with the mask that he even wore it during his afternoon nap.

Watching a replay of Super Why on Sunday evening while wearing his mask and drinking milk.

Jeremy said he's the one wearing the green mask, Super Why. I'm the one wearing rollerblades, Wonder Red. His father is the pig, Alpha Pig. Aunt Tracy is the princess, Princess Pesto.

VeggieTales

2009-06-20T22:37:00.000+08:00

He was watching VeggieTales when I decided to make him the head gear like the Israelites. He loved it. He even asked me to wear the same.

This was his own idea. He wanted to wear his hat like the little asparagus in VeggieTales. I can't remember the little asparagus' name. He said the little asparagus is him.

Big Spider

2009-06-20T22:22:00.000+08:00

He was rummaging through the shelves in the kitchen when he found these measuring spoons. He quickly put the set of spoons on the floor and told me there was a big spider. From where I was standing, about 2 feet away, I couldn't see any big spider (I was expecting a 1-inch width spider). But he insisted that there was. I took the spoons and checked them one by one. And I finally spotted his BIG spider in the 1 TBSP spoon. Hahaha. It was such a tiny, harmless (I think it was harmless) spider as you can see in these photos.

Bertie the Bus

2009-06-20T12:00:00.000+08:00

Taking a nap with his Bertie the Bus (one of the characters in Thomas the Tank Engine). I bought that for him yesterday after work when we dropped by Kids Avenue, KK Time Square.

The plan was to drop by the shop to get Avent teats for his milk bottle. When we got there, he looked up from the car and saw all the Thomas boxes & toys being displayed on the window on the upper floor. He said he wanted to buy Cranky (one of the track set in Thomas Take Along series), but I told him we're not getting Cranky. Of course he was upset when I told him that. We ended up visiting the upper floor, and he played with the wooden Thomas set for almost half-an-hour. Before we left I let him choose a Take Along. At first he chose Alfie, then he spotted Bertie and wanted Bertie as well. I told him he can only have one. He chose Bertie.

Kids Avenue didn't sell Avent teats, so we went next door to Mothercare. When we were paying for our purchase, one of the lady employees came out of the store room. When Jeremy saw her, Jeremy asked me 'what happen to the aunty, mommy?'. I know he was asking about the lady's face which was red with pimples but I pretended not to understand. I told him 'oh, she just came out of the store'. He wasn't satisfied with my answer and kept on asking me. Once we were out of the shop, I told him the lady's face was ouchie. Then he kept quite. Kids! Gotta love their timing!

Thomas Take Along

2009-06-19T22:04:00.000+08:00

Hmmm.. what do I need to do next? That must have been what he was thinking. He asked me to set the spiral set and the rest he set up himself with minimal help from me. At one point he was angry that I wanted to redesign the track.

His father helping out a bit. And I managed to get him to allow me to redesign the right part of the track (connect the bridge to the rest of the track).

Mask boy

2009-06-08T15:02:00.000+08:00

I was coughing quite badly, so I thought it'd be a good idea to wear a mask to sleep. When he saw me wearing it, he wanted to wear one too. But it was too big for him. He tried going to sleep with it, but he decided it wasn't comfortable and he took it off.

Iggle Pop's face

2009-06-04T14:59:00.000+08:00

Hahaha.. that's Jeremy's imitation of the one of the Iggle Pop's face. Spot on, dont you agree? He loves to imitate the face expressions of characters he sees on his games, may it be PC games or PS2 games.

The face he was trying to imitate.

Ouchie chest

2009-05-25T23:45:00.000+08:00

We came back from our trip to 5D/4N Genting & KL the day before. He hasn't been feeling well since Saturday when he complained about tummy ache. And he was hot as well as coughing. I gave him paracetamol to control his fever and was paying close attention to him throughout the night. He wasn't his cheerful self during the flight back to KK on Sunday.

Today, I stayed home with him. We went to Dr Terry's to get his Terbutaline and Singulair. In the evening, when he was coughing he was sort of holding his chest. We asked him if his chest was painful when he's coughing. He said 'yes'. We thought we could make it less painful by giving him Terbutaline and Singulair. And I made an appointment to see Dr Terry the next day.

It was my turn to do day-end processing at the office tonight, so I had to leave Jeremy at home with his father and Tracy. Before I started the processing though, Tracy sent me a message telling me Jeremy was crying and complaining about chest pain. I immediately told his father to bring him to Dr Terry and I'd meet them there. On the way there, I kept on praying that Dr Terry was still at her clinic and I kept calling her on her cellphone as well as office phone. But no one was picking up at it was past 8 PM. I still kept on calling her cellphone hoping that she'd pick up wherever she was. She finally answered my call and thank goodness she was still as her clinic, finishing up. She instructed me to bring Jeremy in.

When I got there, Jeremy was already there with his father. Dr Terry told me he'd have to be nebulised. Poor baby. The last time he was nebulised was when he was about a year old and he was screaming the whole time. This time he just sat on my lap quietly. After it was done, I asked him if he was feeling better. He said 'a little bit'.

Dr Terry advised us to continue giving him Terbutaline and Singulair. He was also given Augmentin (antibiotic) to be taken until finished, about a week. She gave him a dose of paracetamol at the clinic.

As I still had to go back to work to finish up day-end processing, I asked Jeremy to go home with his father. But he didn't want to, he wanted to follow me. So I had to go home to fetch Tracy. I didn't think I'd be able to do any work with Jeremy in that condition. I gave him a dose of the antibiotic at work.

Lord, please help Jeremy to recover soonest.

Long sentences

2008-04-10T00:55:00.001+08:00

Mommy come pick Jeremy up from Auntie Adele house. Jeremy say thank you to Aizat. Jeremy put head on a pillow and eat medicine.

Those were some of the long sentences that Jeremy has been forming. Amazing what a difference one year make. A year ago, the only word that he could say was 'nenen'. The rest was just babbling.

Ouchie lolou, see doctor

2008-04-04T09:00:00.001+08:00

I've started to get Jeremy to go to sleep without nursing now. I do let give him 10 minutes to nurse. It's up to him to use that 10 minutes however he likes. Once the time has passed, I don't even let him nurse. I explained to him that he has to go to sleep first. If he wakes up in the middle of the night, he can nurse. That's acceptable to him.

Oh, he went to bed wearing a watch until morning. I didn't dare take it off lest he wakes up in the middle of the night looking for it. It's not actually a watch, but a device that was supposed to alleviate motion sickness. It belongs to his father. He also went to sleep with two car stickers in his hands.

This morning Aunt Tracy gave him a shower while I was getting ready in the bedroom. When he was done, he told me 'ouchie lolou'. I checked on his lolou, it didn't seem to be infected. I asked him if he wanted to go see the doctor, he said 'go see doctor'. I told him that Mommy will bring him to see the doctor in the evening but he insisted to see the doctor first before go to Aunt Adele's house.

I asked him if anyone hurt his lolou. He said 'no'. I asked him who pinch his lolou, he said 'jeremy'. I asked if kakak pinch his lolou, he said 'no'. I asked if Aunt Adele pinch his lolou, he said 'no'. Hmmm.

I did call the clinic at 8am to find out what time the earliest available appointment is. I was told at 10.30am. Jeremy doesn't seem to be in pain, so I took the 6pm appointment. I did explain to Jeremy why we can't go see Dr Terry first thing before going to play school. He was upset at first but I managed to get him to understand. I told him Dr Terry is busy and she can only see Jeremy in the evening.

Now that he doesn't cry at the play school, he doesn't want me to take the towel from the bag anymore. Before he put his bag into the changing room, I took the towel out. When he came back for his hugs and kisses, he told me to put the towel back into the bag. I asked him to put it back himself. He took the towel from me and went to the changing room. Not long after he called me to help him. So, I went in to help him.

I went back to the front door and knelt down to hug him. He asked me to put on my shoes properly first. Hahaha. Everything has to be proper with him. He even has to tweak the way I put his shoes on the shelf before I bring him to the front door. Our little Adrian Monk.

I explained to the helper that Jeremy was complaining about his lolou. I asked her to keep a watch on him.

Clever boy

2008-04-03T09:43:00.001+08:00

His father told me on Monday night that he had a talk with him about learning at the play school. When he asked Jeremy if he is learning to read and write, Jeremy answered 'no, wait for mommy to pick jeremy'. So, his father asked him if he wants to be a clever boy. Jeremy said 'yes'. His father told him that if he wants to be a clever boy, he has to learn to read and write with Aunt Adele.

He still doesn't want to learn to read and write. When I asked him if he learnt to read and write, he said 'no, wait for mommy'. Hmmm. How to get him to learn to read and write? We'll just continue to give him pep talks.

Last night his father had a talk with him again about the same matter. According to his father, Jeremy answered himself that he has to read and write to be clever. Hahaha. One thing knowing what he needs to do to be clever. But another matter getting him to do it.

On the way home yesterday, he asked me 'nana?'. I told him Nana went home already and we will see Nana this weekend on the computer. He said 'no, no see Nana on computer'. So I told him we will see Nana very soon. He misses his Nana.

He's much better being left at the play school now. As long as I wait for him to keep his bag and we give each other hugs and kisses. No more crying. He would happily take his towel from me and leave me at the front door.

Run, run, run

2008-03-31T09:47:00.001+08:00

Jeremy slept naked most of the night last night. He drank so much water that he just wet the bed. I have already changed him once at around 11pm. I don't know what time it was when I touched his body and he was wet. So, I just took off his PJ and let him sleep naked under the blanket.

This morning while playing on the computer, he saw the brochure I got from the threadmill shop. He looked at it and pointed to the one he went on. I told him to tell his father about it. He showed his father and said 'jeremy run and run and run'. He's so cute.

He can construct longer and longer sentences now. Like this morning in the bedroom he said 'go down first, later come up and play ya'. He also said 'daddy knock door and bump his head' when he heard his father making some noises outside the front door.

As the traffic jam was quite bad this morning at Damai/Likas intersection, I went to the office to sign in first before sending Jeremy to play school. We had fun driving on the overhead bridge and looking at Lofty and Scoop.

Since I've already signed in, I didn't have to rush Jeremy with his morning routine and I still had time to talk to Aunt Adele for a while. She told me Jeremy does everything himself at the play school -- taking his bottles from his bag, taking his towels and even going to the toilet to wee. At home, when he's in the mood he would do certain things himself. Most of the time though he would asked for my help when he needs to wee. He wants me to take off his pants for him even though he can do that himself very well. Well, he's only going to be a little boy once so let him be pampared for as long as he wants. Hehehe.

While I was talking to Aunt Adele, Jeremy sat near the sofa and watched TV. He would glance at us once in a while. When I bid him goodbye, he said goodbye and waved at me. No crying. Good, good.

Can fit? Ya, can fit

2008-03-30T22:11:00.001+08:00

In the morning, we went to Giant Kolombong. I left Jeremy and Tracy at the playground while I went to shop for some items in the supermarket. When I was done, they were already at the KFC restaurant eating lunch. I joined them. Jeremy saw some toys being displayed at the restaurant and he wanted one of them. The one with some airplanes on the track. But it was just for display. I explained to Jeremy that I will ask the kakak later about the toys. That got him to stop whining.

While waiting for Tracy to get a plastic bag, we stayed where we were. Opposite our table was an old man eating a pancake. Jeremy was looking at him and the old man offered his pancake. When I told the old man that Jeremy has eaten and he doesn't need the pancake, Jeremy cried. Everyone looked at us but I just pretended it was nothing. I let Jeremy cry on my shoulder. The old man insisted on giving him the pancake, so I let Jeremy take it. The he stopped crying.

After KFC, we wanted to go back to the playground. But I went into a shop showing some threadmills and stationary bikes. I tried on the manual threadmill and Jeremy wanted to try it too. He had so much fun walking on it that he didn't want to leave. He cried so loud when I took him out of the shop. He didn't want to go to the playground but wanted to go back to the threadmill shop. So, we went home.

After his afternoon nap, Jeremy drank milk from the Marigold 150ml bottle. Once he finished the milk, Jeremy put water into the bottle for him to drink. At one time, he took the bottle from the table through the gaps on the chair. Before I could say anything, he said 'can fit? ya, can fit'. I laughed so hard. He answered is own question. He found it funny when I laughed, so he kept on saying it. After dinner, he still said the same thing when he remembered.

There was one time while he was playing and I was at the dining table when he came over to me and asked 'nana?'. I explained to him that nana and Peter had gone home to UK and that he will see them again soon. He was satisfied with that explanation and continued to play.

I prepared dinner quite early. While preparing dinner, I heard the front gate opened. I thought it must have been Jeremy and his father going for a walk. Not long after that I heard Jeremy's voice in the living room. He was looking for his yellow bucket and his tools for playing with the sand. I think he saw the sand sitting on front one of our neighbors house and he remembered playing with sand at the beach a few weeks back.

While the soup was simmering and the chicken was roasting, I went to check on Jeremy. He had a bunch of other kids there with him. Then it started to pour a little. He was so upset when I took him from there. I told him that daddy will bring some sand for him to play. So, at home we put the sand into his baby bath (which he doesn't use anymore) and he just sat on the floor playing with the sand.

He wouldn't have stop playing with the sand if I didn't tell him we are going to the shop to buy some bread. That was a good excuse to get him into the shower. We did go to the supermarket to buy some bread after that. And Jeremy bought a small bottle of milk. At least it's not a bottle of drink loaded with sugar.

Nana and Peter went home

2008-03-29T21:52:00.001+08:00

Nana and Peter went back to the UK this evening. We sent them to the airport. Jeremy and Aunt Tracy rode with Nana and Uncle Dennis in Uncle Dennis' car, while Peter and I rode with Jason.

Jeremy pulled Nana's small carry-on case all the way up to the departure terminal. Of course he asked for my help because it was a little heavy. He wanted the bag scanned, so we put it into the scanner.

We had our dinner at the restaurant upstairs, where Jeremy could see the airplanes landing and taking off. He enjoyed that.

After saying our goodbyes, he asked for coins to buy a can of soybean milk from the vending machine.

He will miss his Nana very much.

Oh, Nana and Peter bought him a battery operated helicopter that makes quite a noisy sound. Hahaha. I was told by Aunt Tracy that he had it turned on all the way to the airport. No wonder Nana had enough of the sound while we were at the restaurant. Hahaha.

Dinner at Hyatt

2008-03-28T21:59:00.001+08:00

I took half-day leave in the afternoon. So, after going to the supermarkets with Nana and Peter we picked Jeremy up. Quite early, before 4 PM. He was so happy to see us.

We had dinner at Hyatt. Jeremy was quite well behaved. Thank goodness. He ate quite a bit, too. He wanted Dennis to carry him to the buffet area. He also wanted his father and Nana to carry him.

Once I told him Uncle Dennis went to use the toilet. He said to me 'wee wee'. He wanted to go to the washroom to use the toilet. Smart boy. So, I had no choice but to bring him there. It was about time for him to wee anyway. We took quite sometimes to get out of there because he wanted to wash use the water basin.

Follow Mommy

2008-03-27T14:41:00.001+08:00

I had to go to the office earlier than usual today as I needed to guide a staff on the morning tasks. I told Jeremy about it and that his father would send him to Aunt Adele house. He said 'no, follow Mommy'. So, I quickly gave him his egg, his vitamins and brushed his teeth.

Then I went up to get ready. When I came down, he was playing. He said 'play first'. I told him that mommy has to go now, if Jeremy wants to play daddy will send to Aunt Adele house. He said 'follow Mommy'.

Before getting into the car, he said 'wait for daddy'. He wanted to watch his father leave the house first. I explained to him that daddy isn't leaving yet. He refused to listen. He stood at his usual watching spot and cried. I told him that mommy is leaving with or without him. That got him going. He was still crying when I put him in his car seat but stopped in a very short while.

Of course at the play school we had to go through our usual morning routine.

Morning play school routine

2008-03-26T17:00:00.001+08:00

Jeremy has a morning play school routine that we have to complete or he'd cry when I leave him.

When he get off the car, he would go to the gate and wait for me to carry him to the front door of the play school. Before putting him down, I would take off his shoes and put them on the shoe shelf. Then I would put him down at the front door and give his bag to the helper. I would give him hugs and kisses and encourage him to go sit at the sofa.

A couple of weeks back, he added one more step. He would carry his bag to the changing room himself. He expected me to wait at the front door for him to come back and give him hugs and kisses. He also wanted me to wipe his tears, even though there were no tears.

Just this past Monday, he added one more step. He would kiss me on both my cheeks, my mouth and my forehead. I, in turn, would give him the usual hugs as well as kiss him on the cheeks and his forehead.

Today, he added another step. After kissing my cheeks, mouth and forehead, he kissed both my hands. So sweet of him. And he wanted me to kiss both his hands, too. So endearing.

A sad occasion

2008-03-26T16:49:00.001+08:00

I think losing a child is more devastating than, say, losing a husband to another woman. My cousin's son, Owen, passed away early this morning. He suffered from severe jaundice. At least he's not suffering anymore.

Jeremy and I have met him only a few times. Our first encounter was when Jeremy was about 3 or 4 months old. We went to my cousin's house for a family gathering. While I was changing Jeremy's soiled diaper, Owen came over. When he saw the BM, he said 'eee outong'. Outong is in our native language which means smelly. I thought he was so cute and clever. He was such an active and healthy child.

The last several times we met, he has significantly change. He had yellow tint to his skin and wasn't as active anymore. But then maybe he became a little shy as he got older.

I pray that God and the Holy Spirit will be with his parents during the difficult times.

Flu shot

2007-11-12T22:06:00.001+08:00

I brought Jeremy to see Dr Terry this evening for his general checkup as he was still coughing. But his coughing is better now and drier, too. No more phlegm. So, that's good news. Dr Terry thought he has recovered enough that she gave him his first flu shot. His next jab would be on 11th December. He just watched when Dr Terry swabbed his thigh with alcohol. Then he wailed when he was injected. He was in pain for a while that he refused to even stand. Once Dr Terry said bye bye, he stopped crying and even laughed a bit. Funny boy.

Talking to Nana on webcam

2007-11-12T16:01:00.001+08:00

We talked to Nana on the webcam yesterday. And it Jeremy had fun. He kept on playing with the webcam after that. When he couldn't see his face on the screen, he mengamuk. And then he started playing with the webcam setting. Dunno what he did, now the image captured by the webcam is a bit greenish. The boy is too smart. I'll have to reconfigure the setting again.

Jeremy cried at the play school again this morning. He hugged me and didn't want to let me go. But I gently urged him to go in and sit next to the sofa. He did go in but still crying and sniffling. I should stop telling him he's going to school. Don't want him to hate school when he's older because of his experience now. I think I should tell him he's going to Aunt Adel house or going to the nursery.

Wee wee himself

2007-11-11T12:51:00.001+08:00

While we, the girls, were inside the house watching a movie, I let Jeremy play outside with his scooter and bicycle. Of course, I would check on him quite often. Once, Aunt Brenda was watching him from the front door. He was at the back of the house with his scooter. Aunt Brenda called us to the door to look at Jeremy. When I got there, I could only see Jeremy's pants. I asked Aunt Brenda what happened. She said she think Jeremy took a pee himself. She saw him taking off his pants. I went to the back to check it out. True enough, when I got there, he was already pulling up his pants. And there was a puddle on the ground. He said 'jeyi wee wee'. My heart wanted to burst. I was so proud of him. Of course, he peed outside instead of in the toilet. But what he did was a big accomplishment for a 2½-year-old boy!

Later on, he was playing outside himself... again... while I was preparing lunch in the kitchen. He called me from the front door and showed me Aunt Tracy's ¾-pants which he took from the clothesline. I told him he's a good boy and didn't think he would do more than that. When I checked on him a few minute later, there he was under the clothesline with the laundry basket with a few of the clothes in the basket. I wasn't even angry at him. I know he was trying to help and I was very proud of him.

Nowadays, I let him play outside whenever he wants to. I know he misses playing outside since he's confined to the indoor at the daycare centre. I also think he learns quite a bit of problem solving by playing outside. For example, when his scooter get stuck he learned how to unstuck it.

After 12 noon, he came in and played with his car in the living room while lying down on the floor. I tried giving him lunch but he only ate one spoon. He wasn't hungry as he's been munching something the whole time. He asked for nenen instead. I gave him nenen and he fell asleep on my lap. I put him down on the mattress in the library and by 12:30 PM he was fast asleep. He must have been tired from all the playing he did outside.

Chockets

2007-11-10T22:55:00.001+08:00

Jeremy likes chocolate now. He says 'chocket'. He also eats ice cream. He's a late bloomer. Only now he knows how to enjoy all the sweet stuff. He doesn't eat much though. I bought a pack of Bounty when we were in Labuan. At home, whenever he sees me eat one, he would want one too. But he would only eat half of it before moving on to something else. Whatever we eat, he also wants to eat now.

Nenek, Uncle Andy and LL were here today, since yesterday evening. I've forgotten if I've told you they were coming. Jeremy and LL had fun playing, though at times they make each other upset. Jeremy were sad to see them go back this afternoon. He wanted to follow them back to kampung.

This morning Jeremy woke up very early. At 5am, he heard the garbage truck collecting the garbage. He said 'see gig kuck'. So, I brought him to the window. When he saw Nenek, who was also awake at that time, he said 'nenek'. And then he never went back to sleep. He even ended up waking LL up. Usually, when it's only me and Jeremy in the room, he would go back to sleep once the garbage truck is gone.

We went to Kompleks Karamunsing after dinner just now. Since I've been wanting to get a webcam, I bought one just now since it wasn't that expensive. Then we went down to Giant to buy some household stuff. Outside Giant, there were kid's animal rides. The ride is in the shape of an animal. Jeremy saw it a few times before but he never ask for a ride. Tonight, he immediately ask when he saw the rides. I forked out RM3 for a 5 minutes ride. It was worth it though when I saw how delighted he was. After five minutes was over, he wanted to ride more. But I managed to talk him out of it.

Jeremy tried on the gloves Nana send him and he loved them. He even wore them to sleep just now. But I guess after a while he felt too warm, so he asked me to take them off. I asked him to try the pants on, but he said 'no pants'.

Call daddy

2007-11-09T15:51:00.001+08:00

Jeremy has been looking for his father the last two days and all I could say to him was daddy is not at home. Several times he said 'call daddy'. I told him that mommy cannot call daddy. Jason went to Singapore and hasn't called to look for Jeremy or ask how Jeremy is doing since he left on Wednesday.

Deepavali dinner

2007-11-08T23:13:00.001+08:00

We had a nice dinner tonight with Kung Kung and Dennis. I didn't cook anything difficult or special. I just threw a bunch of ingredients into the slow cooker and let it cook. No sweat. I made coleslaw and Tracy made a vegetarian dish. One of the ingredients in the vegetarian dish was tang hoon. When Jeremy saw the dish, he said 'mee mee'. So, I had to pick the tanghoon from the rest of the stuff for him. The dinner was at 7pm. But by 6.45pm, Jeremy said 'obot eat diyer' -- robot wants to eat dinner. So, I let him eat dinner early. By the time Kung Kung and Dennis came, he was done eating.

It has been quite a long day today. Aunt Tracy and I have been busy cleaning up the house and rearranging things. We were in the mood. Fortunately Jeremy let us do our work without much fuss from him. He was either playing with his scooter outside or watching something on TV while munching on his biscuits or raisins.

Bedtime excuses & time-out

2007-11-07T16:43:00.001+08:00

He's been going to sleep at around 9:30 PM the last couple of nights. He's got lots of excuses. He wants to play with his car. He wants to play with his robot. I just let him because eventually he'll go to sleep.

He's very manja with me. That's why he's still crying when I leave him at the play school. At least he doesn't cry the whole day. There are five kids at the play school. Adel told me Jeremy gets along with all the kids except for one. He doesn't get along ith Brian who is almost 1 year old. No idea why. The other day Adel punished Jeremy by giving him a time-out (she put him in a room alone for a while) because Jeremy pushed Brian. Brian fell on a little girl, giving the girl a bruise. Brian likes Jeremy but the feeling isn't mutual. Hehehe. Funny boy.

Everything was wrong

2007-11-06T20:26:00.001+08:00

Jeremy was OK at home this morning. His cheerful self. A bit quiet on the way to school. At school, when I asked him to go inside he cried. But he still went to sit next to the sofa crying and sniffling. Poor boy. And yesterday, Adel said everything seem to be wrong with him. He cried when she asked him to eat. He cried when she asked him to play. He cried when she asked him to sleep. I guess it was also a Black Monday for Jeremy.

No crying at play school

2007-11-02T14:57:00.001+08:00

Jeremy pooped in his diaper this morning. My fault though. I should have taken off his diaper the moment he woke up but I didn't. I'll remember to do that tomorrow morning.

When I picked him up yesterday evening, he was cheerful. He took his bag from the table and carried it out. He was happy to see me but not to the point of crying like before. And this morning he was much better. He was still manja a bit but considerably better compared to yesterday. When we got to the school, he didn't cry either. He tried to cling to me but after a gentle urging he went inside and sat at the sofa. I'm so proud of him but part of me is a little sad that he has 'moved on'. Gila punya mother... hehehe...

OO in the potty

2007-11-01T22:38:00.001+08:00

Yeah!!! Jeremy finally OO in his potty. Yesterday evening after coming back from school, Jeremy said 'OO'. So I asked him to sit on his potty. After a few minutes he said 'no OO'. So, he continued playing. Not long after, he said 'OO' again. I asked him to sit on his potty again. Same like before, he said 'no OO'. Much later, after dinner, he was outside playing with his father. Then he rushed in with his father and said 'OO'. His father took off his pants and asked him to sit on the potty. And this time, there was result! We were so happy. His reward was several goats milk tablets.

This evening, he said 'OO'. I asked him to take off his pants and sit on his potty. He did and with result as well. I gues he finally realises that it's safe to poop in the potty and it's easy. I guess I can say he's potty trained now. I'm sure he'd have some 'accidents' when he's in his diapers in the future but that's OK. At least he can OO in the potty now.

After dinner this evening, we went to Servay Likas primary for window shopping. Of course ended up buying some stuff. At the exit, Jeremy wanted mango juice but we didn't let him one because he was coughing and the juice is cold. Tracy bought a cup of corn, so he stopped asking for the juice. But... on the way home, he threw a tantrum. Kept on saying 'juice, juice, juice'. Didn't even want to come out of the car. Fortunately, I have a bottle of concentrated orange juice, so I made him a cup. After drinking that cup of juice, he was still asking for the 'mango juice'. Ini budak ni ah. Toys he doesn't care if he doesn't get. But if it's juice, lain cerita.

Jeremy is much better now at play school. When I picked him up yesterday, he was cheerful. Today is the first time since he goes to play school that he didn't cry when we got to the school. He didn't even have a sad face when I asked him to go into the house. He went to sit near the sofa straight away and when I sent him a flying kiss, he did the same. However at home, he still cried but much lesser than before. Wow, it takes him a month to get used to going to school. Still much better than some kids I guess. Although he doesn't cry anymore at school, I think it will take longer time for him to stop being manja in the morning.

He's able, he's tiny

2007-10-31T15:15:00.001+08:00

We were at my computer last night when I started singing the song "He's able". The song goes like this:

He's able, He's able
I know He's able
I know my Lord is able
To carry me through.

When I stopped singing, Jeremy asked me to sing again. And he started singing as well. Later on he said 'sing is tiey'. He wanted us to sing 'he's tiny'. Hahaha. Aunt Tracy and I had to laugh. When we were singing "He's able" he though we were singing about Abel, our dog. So, he wanted to sing about Tiny, our other dog. It was so funny.

He cried a little this morning at home. And kept on wanting me to carry him. On the way to school he was a bit quiet. Just like yesterday, at the play school, I encouraged him to go to the front door himself. At the door he still wanted to cling to me but I urged him to go inside and sit next to Aunt Adel, next to the sofa. He did, while he was sniffing a bit. He's finally accepting that he has to spend the day at the play school while Mommy has to go to work.

Labuan trip

2007-10-29T11:19:00.001+08:00

We had so much fun in Labuan. It was the Lotong Church trip. Jeremy and I just tagged along with them. We only got home at around 8:30 PM last night.

On Friday, we left home for Menumbok at 5 AM. He was still sleeping and in his pyjamas when I took him. We took the 10:30 AM ferry to Labuan. Upon reaching Labuan at around 12:30 PM, we checked into Beta Service Apartments. Since Jeremy already took a short nap onboard the ferry, we went shopping at the Financial Park. We passed by the amusement centre. We had to stop there because Jeremy wanted to play with the rides -- cars, buses, etc. I didn't have to pay a single cent though because he only wanted to go into them. Hehehe. After spending almost 30 minutes there, I had to carry him out. He never wanted to leave. In the evening, he went to bed early. He was already asleep by 7:30 PM. It had been a tiring and long day for him.

On Saturday, we went to church in the morning. He didn't stay long in church. He wanted to roam around, so I just followed him. In between his exploration, I managed to get him to sit down in church for a few minutes. After potluck in church, we went back to the apartment for his nap. So did Karen and her kids. The rest of the group went to the Bird Park, Memorial Park, Marine Museum and Botanical Garden. We joined them in the evening at the Botanical Garden. At the Garden, Jeremy had fun at the playground as well as the tree house. He wanted to climb up the tree house, so I didn't have any choice but to follow him up. Fortunately, he's very skilled at climbing down already. At night, we were invited to attend a function held by Jabatan Perpaduan Labuan at one of the kampungs. Jeremy didn't get bored there because he was busy playing with LL. Since the function ended late, Jeremy only went to bed at 10:30 PM.

On Sunday, there was a carnival held at the Marine Museum, so Jeremy and I had our chance to visit the museum. He enjoyed the live fish and sea creatures but not the exhibition part, probably because not much live fishes. He also enjoyed a short shopping before we had to board the ferry back to Menumbok. I bought him a cup of coconut juice and he enjoyed that very much.

Before we boarded the ferry, he said 'jeyi ide gig ship ferry' and couldn't wait to go on the ferry. When I asked him if he wants to go home, he said 'no go home'. We reached Menumbok at 4 PM and KK at 6:30 PM. We had dinner before going home. When we got home, Jeremy made a bee line to his scooter. His father was waiting at the door but he didn't really acknowledge his father. He missed his scooter more than his father. Maybe kids are like that.

Jeremy cried at home this morning because he knew he has to go to school. He was very quiet in the car on the way to school. He even refused to look at me. So young already pandai merajuk ah? In the end, after talking to him and singing to the kids song, he responded to me a bit. At the school, he didn't cry when I stopped the car or when I took him out of the car. He only started crying when I went to the front door and put him down on the floor. After telling him that I will come get him in the evening, I asked him to go sit on the sofa. He went to the sofa while crying. But not as bad this time. I hope he's finally accepting the arrangement and will feel happier going to school soon.

Our little talk

2007-10-25T15:42:00.001+08:00

Jeremy was not in the good mood this morning because he knew he has to spend the day at the play school. He wanted to carry him most of the time. After shower, we sat in our bed and we had our little talk again. I told him that while Mommy goes to work Jeremy has to go to school. He started crying. We cuddled until he stopped crying.

He was a little cheerful on the way to play school. But once I got him out of the car, he started crying again. He didn't want to go inside. He was clinging to me. Aunt Adel told me that he would stop crying once he couldn't see my car anymore. That's a relief. He also likes to play with Aizat (the 16-month-old boy) and run around the house. He seems to be having fun.

Yesterday evening when I picked him up, he was already standing at the front door almost crying. But he managed to control himself.

He's been sleeping well the last few nights. I'm not sure if it's because of the flu and cold medicine he's been taking. Or if it's because he's been trained to sleep himself at the play school and that makes him sleep more comfortable somehow. Whatever it is, I'm grateful!

Aunt Tracy was supposed to help Jeremy to bed last night. But apparently Jeremy dragged his father up with him. So his father had no choice but to help him to bed. I was told by his father that Jeremy fell asleep quite early. By 9 PM he was already asleep. He must have been tired. The night before he only fell asleep at 10 PM. His father was also helping him to bed that night.

Fourth week of play school

2007-10-24T16:18:00.001+08:00

I just didn't have the energy and desire to update the blog for the last couple of weeks. Here's a summary.

Jeremy and I went back to my hometown for the Hari Raya holiday on 12th October. We were there until 15th October. As usual he talked to the birds, bullied the cats, went round and round the house, chased after chickens, etc. I was happy to see him having fun. On Sunday, we brought him to the saloon for a haircut after his afternoon nap. I actually dreaded this because this would be his first time having his hair cut at the saloon. But everything went well. He sat there as quiet as a two-and-a-half year old could sit. Hahaha. Toward the end he kept on asking me to carry him and I kept on telling him to wait a little longer.

On Monday the 15th, we drove back to KK. He napped for like half-an-hour in the car. Fortunately, he took another nap once we were home. In the evening we went to MV Doulos. He had fun during the queuing up. I took several photos of him. He didn't really get to look around inside because it was too packed. In the evening, we went to Atlantis Restaurant for dinner to celebrate Nenek's birthday. He had fun running around chasing LL.

As for play school, same old same old. After four weeks of play school he still cries when I leave him at the play school and when I pick him up in the evening. And it's still heartbreaking seeing him cry. In the morning, he would sit or lie down at the front door and cry.

Yesterday, I picked him up in the afternoon and had Aunt Tracy took care of him at home. I asked Aunt Tracy to give him an early dinner so we could go to MV Doulos again as soon as I got home. He was so messy when I picked him up. He had just finished his lunch and the gravy dried up all over his face. I should have taken a picture of him. I only cleaned him up when we got home. Hahaha.

Visit to MV Doulos this time around was fun for him. He was able to roam around with his father. After the visit, Jeremy followed his father home while I sent Aunt Haha back to her hostel.

Last week when I was doing day-end on Wednesday night, his father helped him to bed as Aunt Tracy was on a college break. He slept early because he must have been tired at play school.

Last night, his father helped him to bed again. When I got home at 9:45 PM, he wasn't asleep yet. So, I helped him to bed. He finally fell asleep at around 10 PM.

He's been quiet all in the car when I send him to play school and on the way home. This morning was the same. When I told him that Mommy feels the same as Jeremy, he started to cry. But after our pep talk, he started talking and singing a bit.

Ninth day of play school

2007-10-11T09:46:00.001+08:00

I brought Jeremy to see Dr Terry yesterday evening. Before seeing her, I got a sample of Jeremy's urine. So much easier to get his urine sample now. Unlike a year ago.

He felt warm to my touch but when Dr Terry took his temperature using the ear thermometer, his temperature was just between 36.0C and 36.5C. Weird. Maybe there's something wrong with me or Jason. So, Dr Terry just asked us to observe.

As before, he didn't want to go out of the consultation room. He wanted to continue playing with the toys in there. Dr Terry allowed him to bring the toy out. He wanted to bring all the toys out but I managed to convinced him to bring only the dog. And he didn't want to leave the clinic. He cried and cried but I told him that we'll come again another time.

And in the car, he didn't want to sit in his car seat. He wanted to sit on my lap. So, I let him sit on my lap for a while but I didn't drive off. I waited until he sat in his seat before driving off. So, we were sitting in the car park for a good 5 minutes.

Since he doesn't actually have a fever, I stopped giving him paracetamol. He was quite tired in the evening though. So, I brought him up to the bedroom very early. By 8:50 PM he was already asleep. And I went to sleep with him. I didn't go down anymore as I've already prepared Jeremy's stuff to bring to the play school before we came up.

He slept pretty well and woke up very early. By 5:30 AM he was already awake. When he heard the garbage truck outside collecting trash, he said 'see gig kuck'. So, I brought him to the window to look at the truck. When the truck left, he said 'kuck go there, bye bye kuck'. And he was as normal as he could be. But once I brought him down, he became manja again. He didn't want me to put him down. And he kept on saying 'go nenek house'. When I had to go up to get ready for work, Aunt Tracy took him from my arms and he was crying.

All the way to the play school, he said 'see auntie ha ha' and 'go nenek house'. He cried much earlier today. Way, way before we turned into the junction to the play school and he also said 'go home, go home'. I told him that Mommy will pick him up in the evening to go home. Even though he was still crying, he still went into the house and sat on the sofa where he continued crying softly. Poor boy. I hope he would get used to this very soon.

Eighth day of play school

2007-10-10T09:34:00.001+08:00

As usual, he cried when I picked him up yesterday evening. He wanted to me to come in and sit with him on the sofa. He didn't feel warm to the touch either.

Like yesterday, he kept on saying 'go nenek house' and 'go kai kai' all the way to the play school. And he cried when I stopped the car in the porch. I asked Aunt Adel if it takes him long to stop crying, she said no. Once I leave, he'll stop crying. In fact, he wasn't crying as badly when I left him. He didn't go to the front door to see me leave though. He just sat the sofa crying softly.

I called Aunt Adel several times to find out how Jeremy was and I was told that Jeremy didn't have any fever. I've made an appointment for Jeremy to see Dr Terry later at 5 PM. It's a bit worrying when he has a fever without any symptoms.

Seventh day of play school

2007-10-09T15:02:00.001+08:00

He cried again when I picked him up from play school yesterday. This time he didn't want to get into the car. He invited me in to sit with him on the sofa. I sat for a while and then I told him that we were going home to see Daddy. He said 'no go home see daddy'. Fortunately, I managed to get him to go home after a while.

He woke up this morning asking to go downstairs. I brought him downstairs but he didn't want me put him down. He wanted to be carried. So, I carried him everywhere. I knew then he wasn't feeling very well. He's got a fever of 38C so I gave him a dose of paracetamol before we left home.

Just like yesterday, he kept on saying 'go church' when we put him in his car seat. I told him again that we will be going to church this coming weekend. After a while he kept on saying 'go kai kai'. I explained to him that mommy is going to work and Jeremy is going to school. He wasn't happy with that explanation and continued on saying 'go kai kai'. I said to him that maybe we'll go kai kai tomorrow night.

Once I stopped the car at the play school, he started crying and didn't want to let me go. He asked me to go in with him and sit on the sofa. Which I did before handling him over to Aunt Adel. Once I went out the front door, he ran to the front door and cried there while jumping around. Though it was heartbreaking, I'm stronger now. I didn't cry when I saw him crying.

I called at around 11 AM to find out how Jeremy was. I was told that he didn't have fever. I called again at 3 PM. Aunt Adel told me that Jeremy just woke up from his nap and was drinking his milk. And no fever. So, that's good news.

Sixth day of play school

2007-10-08T11:43:00.001+08:00

He was so happy when he saw me picking him up on Friday afternoon. I came with Nenek, Uncle Andy, Aunt Tracy and LL to pick him up as we were going straight home to my hometown. When he saw me, he said 'mommy' and started crying. That's what he usually does when I come to pick him up in the evening.

He had fun in kampung. He talked to the birds. He chased after cats and dogs. At church, he chased after that kampung chickens that came into the church compound. He called the chickens 'cock-a-doodle-do'. And on Sunday, he chased chickens at a school compound. Very funny. I was very happy to see him having fun though.

He cried at home when we were busy putting the necessary bags in the car this morning. But he still let me put him in his car seat. At home he said 'go church'. I told him that we will go to church this weekend. And all the way to the play school he kept on saying 'go kai kai, go kai kai'. I told him that we were going for a drive and that Mommy is going to work and Jeremy is going to school. He kept on saying 'go kai kai' and on the verge of crying. I said again 'we went kai kai last night, didn't we'? At the main Luyang road turning to the play school area, he almost cried. He realised where he was going. Once I took him out of the car, he started crying. But he still went into the house and said 'sit there' pointing to the sofa in front of the TV. It was heartbreaking.

Fifth day of play school

2007-10-05T10:29:00.001+08:00

When we arrived at the play school this morning, he didn't cry. He also didn't cry when I took him out from the car. He started crying when I put him down on the floor. He said 'sit there' pointing to the sofa in front of the TV. He went to the sofa by himself and sit on it while at the same time still crying. He gave me a flying kiss when I fly kissed him.

I guess he has finally accepted that he has to spend the day at the play school and that at the end of the day I always come back to get him. I guess that would be the same with me accepting the reality of my life. Lots of crying in the beginning but slowly accepting it.

Fourth day of play school

2007-10-04T11:07:00.001+08:00

Jeremy cried the moment he saw me arriving to pick him up from play school yesterday. And while I was strapping him into his car seat, he said 'go home see daddy'. It broke my heart. He adores his Daddy and enjoys playing with his Daddy very much. I realised that it would be very selfish of me to decide on something without thinking of what it would do to Jeremy. Jeremy needs his Daddy to be around. Jason has been a very wonderful father, I couldn't have asked for more. But in my hurt and pain, I've only been thinking of me.

Today was not as bad for both Jeremy and I. He was OK on the way to the play school. However, when he realised we've arrived at the play school, he cried and said 'go home'. I told him repeatedly that Mommy will come get him in the evening. He didn't cry as bad as the last couple of days though. He went into Aunt Adel's arm willingly but at the same time tried to reach out to me.

He was still crying when I left the play school. It still broke my heart but not as bad anymore. I hope by the end of next week he'll get used to this arrangement.

Third day of play school

2007-10-03T09:24:00.001+08:00

When Jeremy saw me arriving to pick him up at the end of the day yesterday, he started crying. His voice has slightly changed as well. Must have cried for quite a bit in the morning. Aunt Adel said he did eventually stop crying but I didn't ask how long he cried. He cried again when brought upstairs for his nap.

When I brought him to the car, he didn't want to let me go. He didn't want me to put him into his car seat. But I explained to him that we were going home already and that Mommy had to drive and Jeremy had to sit in the car seat. He complied. When he saw a his milk in his bottle, he asked for it and he finished drinking his 6oz of milk.

Aunt Adel said while waiting to be picked up, she had to leave the TV on or he would start crying. I guess he's used to watching TV in the evening. She also told me that she hasn't started teaching Jeremy yet as Jeremy is still in the process of getting use to the place.

Once we got home, he would straight away play with his Daddy's golf cart or his shake car. He must have missed those at the play school.

He didn't cry today when we put him in his car seat. He talked and sang all the way. Once we parked in the porch of the play school and he saw Aizat (the little boy at the nursery) he started crying and said 'go home, go home'. He was still crying when I left him with the helper. Once again my heart broke into pieces.

Second day of play school

2007-10-02T10:01:00.001+08:00

Jason and I both went to see him at the play school at the end of his first day at the play school. Jason was there first. He said Jeremy was sitting on the sofa holding two toy cars. Jason was carrying him when I arrived. When he saw me, he reached out for me.

I asked Aunt Adel if he cried a lot. She said no. He only cried when he was brought upstairs for his nap. He would also tell if he wanted to wee wee but he had one accident. He didn't pooped though. So, I put on his diaper at home last night so that he would poop, and he did.

Jeremy didn't even want to get into the car this morning. I felt like my heart was being squeezed so tightly seeing him screaming and crying there wanting to go back into the house. So, Jason drove us to the play school. I told Jeremy that he would stay with Aunt Adel in the morning. If he wants Mommy to come get him in the afternoon, he can ask Aunt Adel to call Mommy. That got him to stop crying.

Once we arrived at the play school, he was willing to be carried into the house in my arms. But once Aunt Adel tried to get him, he started crying and hugging me so tightly. He watched us leaving the school from the front door and he was crying. It broke my heart.

First day of playschool

2007-10-01T10:52:00.001+08:00

It's Jeremy's first day at the play school today. I've been telling him since yesterday that he'd be spending the day with Aunt Adel (the school owner) and that I will pick him up at the end of the day. I told him again this morning. So, he told his Daddy that he is going to Aunt Adel's house.

We left the house early, at 7:20 AM, as I had to go to Hospital Likas for an appointment with Dr Soo regarding Camp Quality. Jason followed us, in a different car, as he wanted to know where the play school is.

When we got to the play school, Jeremy said 'Auntie Adel's house'. Inside, he headed straight to the toys and stayed there until we left. I gave him a hug and several kisses. He just watched us going out of the house. Near the gate, I looked back and said bye to him. He gave me a flying kiss. I felt like crying but I had to be strong.

Jason said my meeting was bad timing. I should have spent more time with Jeremy at the play school before leaving. That's true. Since I couldn't, he could have stayed longer instead of just rushing off and missing Jeremy's flying kiss.

I'm very tempted to give the play school a call to find out how Jeremy is doing. I'll do it much later, maybe during lunch.

---

I called the play school at 11:30 AM. I was told that Jeremy has been crying on and off. He was crying when I called. He was brought upstairs for his nap. So early? I'll have to ask her about this later. Anyway, he was crying and wanting to go downstairs. He's just not ready for his nap yet I think. Poor boy. I'll definitely have to ask about his activity when I pick him up later.

Swiiiiimin' & making fun of Mommy

2007-07-30T09:40:00.001+08:00

We went swimming yesterday morning. I helped Jeremy swim like a dolphin... swim, swim, swim and jump into the air and back into the water like a dolphin. He loved it. When Jason went into the outdoor jacuzzi, Jeremy wanted to go in too. Since only adults are allowed in the jacuzzi, I only let Jeremy sit on the edge with both his feet in the warm bubbling water. He also didn't want me to help him in the kid's pool but the water is too deep for him. I had to explain to him a few times before he accepted my help. I even let him try to touch the pool floor to let him see that it was too deep. When he was at the edge of the pool getting ready to jump in, I would say 'swiiiimin' and he would also say the same. It's an expression from one of the characters in his Rubbadubbers DVD.

In the ladies changing room, I showed Jeremy the baby toilet -- a toilet especially for kid, so cute. Jeremy said 'baby toiyet'. He doesn't like to shower with cold water, but no choice since the hot water was already used up. So, when I gave him his shower, he cried while saying 'no no no' so loud Jason could hear him from outside. Hahaha.

He was so tired from the swim as well as lack of sleep, he was so grumpy in the afternoon. I let him play with his train set while I cooked. But every few minutes, he would cry and start calling me to play with him. He also wanted me to fix the container on Thomas' back. I barely managed to prepare lunch.

During lunch, he only ate a few spoonfuls then asked for nenen. While nursing on my lap, he almost doze off. Thinking that he wanted to nap already, I brushed his teeth. He was upset that I interrupted him, he became active again. Then we all napped together at around 2 PM. He napped for about 2½ hours.

He was still a bit grumpy in the evening, that I decided to bring him to bed early. An hour earlier and no games before bedtime. I turned off the light as soon as we entered the bedroom. With the night light, I read to him some stories and then sang to him while he nursed. After that we just lied down in bed and he eventually fell asleep an hour after, at around 9:05 PM. That's considered early, since he has been going to sleep at or after 10 PM the last few weeks.

He only woke up at 7:30 this morning and he seemed to in a much better mood. Before we went downstairs, he asked me to read him some stories while he nurse in bed.

He likes to make fun of me during bedtime. Helping him to go to sleep, I either give him a back rub or pat his behind, while saying 'sh sh sh sh' or 'oi oi oi oi'. Last night, while patting his bottom, I said 'sh sh sh sh'. He asked me to say 'oi oi oi oi'. I did. Then he asked me to say 'sh sh sh sh'. I did. Then 'oi oi oi oi'. Then 'sh sh sh sh'. He did that a few times and then he laughed.

Several nights before that, he signaled to me to pat his bottom. So I patted his bottom. After a while, he signaled to me that he wanted me to rub his back. I did. Then pat bottom. Then rub back. Pat bottom. Rub back. Alternating between the two a few rounds. Then he laughed. Cheeky boy.

We had french beans and carrots for dinner last night. Jeremy said 'kakkak' when he saw the carrot and took a few to eat. When we talked to him, we said 'carrot'. After a while, he said 'cayyot'. Hahaha. So cute.