It’s the funniest and I guess creative-est thing she’s ever done!

So we were on our way to a supermarket. I was running the shopping list verbally with her, play-testing if she can recall all the items we needed.

“Why don’t we make a shopping list?”

“Good idea, but I am driving….”

“I’ll do it.”

Hmm? She is going to school- yes, but I didn’t think she would be able to spell the items.

She proceeded to get the small notepad I keep in the car, and a pen. “What do we need to get again?”

“Some milk- two cartons, actually; yoghurt, those veggies Mummee needed for tonight’s dinner; oh and if we can find it, a case for Mummee’s phone…”

“Milk….. yoghurt……”, scribble scribble scribble. “Ok done.”

Can you see it?

She had scribbled out the yoghurt once it was in the shopping trolley, but you can just about make it out by the shape of the tubs that she had earlier coloured in

And, the phone that goes into a pouch!

I wrote about kids and iDevices recently about how adaptive they are with technology.

I had just hooked up the PS2 this morning, after promising Caitlin I would this weekend; since her uncle had given her the Bee Movie game. She’s been bugging me to hook it up for a while now.

Now, you know that iDevices are much newer technology than the PS2, and even then the PS3, given the more advanced console the controls are still the same.

After I hooked up the PS2, Caleb had a go.

He couldn’t get it to work- he was physically tilting the controller left and right to get Barry Benson to move around.

Why? Because he’s so used to the iPhone’s accelerometer to steer!

Okay you had to be there!

Given that previous post about how quickly Caleb could already handle a “soccer” ball- I couldn’t resist getting him this

Short post, this one…

I have owned an iPhone since the 3G model (and don’t get me started on how I lost that one); using the 3GS now.

Caitlin has always been “using” it for the simple games I have downloaded; where I had learned quickly that it was better to delete the arcade-ish games and install educational ones. I gotta say, whether Hot Mummee believes me or not, that that math game has indeed helped Caitlin to an extent. The user-interface, the touch screen and the cheers from getting the right answer, do indeed make her wanna think hard, count properly, and “win” the game.

So she is quite well versed with getting around and finding what she wants.

Recently on my trip to LA, I had bought the iPad for my brothers. (Okay the real story is that I bought it for myself, and was supposed to get another 2 when HM told me off. So I stopped after buying the second one!)

Caitlin had no trouble using that too.

This is not a plug for Apple; though if they were to give me a free iPad I would gladly reword this post My point is that they take to technology so easily.

Caleb is now fighting over his sister for time with my iPhone too these days. Other than (trying, for his age) playing games he is actually very well versed with the finger side-swiping whilst looking at the photos. He likes to review the photos as well as watch the videos.

I am reminded of how I was always the go-to kid when my dad had trouble with the VCR, back in the early 80′s. I also self-taught how to hook up 2 VCR’s and started making copies of borrowed tapes…

In the genes, you say?

“Oh, I forgot to draw the on/off button!”

That’s a description I had heard my bothers describe of me earlier, when i was fooling around and followed them to the driving range one evening.

They said I have a good swing, only it lacked the whip of the wrist, that my swing is too rounded and even. Otherwise, I do “feel” it too that the swing is not-bad

I think I can now justifiable use that on Caleb.

Earlier this year, probably not long after his 2nd birthday, we were already kicking a miniature basketball around inside the house. Caitlin, by comparison, sometimes still misses kicking the stationary ball, let alone decide which direction the ball will roll!

Caleb has always been able to center the ball, in terms of placing it squarely infront of him, and then actually kicking it straight to me. Not a bad feat for a kid his age; even my older brother (who is quite athletic himself during his day!) says so.

This morning, while waiting for lunch to be ready, we were again kicking the ball around in the living room. I decided instead of the usual to-and-froing, that I’d mark him soccer style.

Ball steals left and right, getting him to dodge in the same directions half a second later only to find the ball missing, and chasing after Daddee who is dribbling the ball away. Mind you for a 2.5 year old this is all new tricks for him to see and observe. At least it was all giggles and not cries of having the ball marked and stolen from him.

A short 10 minutes or so later old-man Daddee already had to sit down. But what does he find Caleb doing?

He is actually dribbling soccer-style behind the ball! The kid’s actually picked it up from just 10 minutes before!

Granted the living room isn’t very big, but he’s managed consistently to maintain just behind the ball, toe-tapping it 2-3 times as he ran after it before reaching the end of the living room, reposition, and start again the opposite direction!

Maybe I should expose him to golf next, and let him turn pro! Nothing wrong with soccer, just that as a professional career golf is a lot longer! This Daddee can be his manager and go on tour with him!

Oh, and yes- those are still his water-proof training pants!

Brain? Heart? Plastic?

This was from Caitlin’s doctor’s set

Homework and reading, with some complementing self-drawn distractions

I recall I used to do this to my mum as well when I was this age. Kinda also recall driving her crazy too.

You feed the 2 year old a mouthful. And he keeps it there. No movement, no chewing, no swallowing. It’s J U S T T H E R E in his mouth. Take away his entertainment (which is usually a DVD of Bee Movie or Ice Age or some such) and he’d start bawling, mouth agape, effectively showing you the contents or objects in discussion here.

What the hell do we do?? He won’t chew, or (I think more accurately) forgets to chew. Threaten to take away the uneaten portions and he objects verbally and very audibly. Put it back, 5 seconds later, it’s back to forget-to-chew. He’s probably already no longer hungry, else he’d be chowing down the food. But he still has to finish up the food cos, well, it’s prepared, and he just has to finish it!

But wait a second: I think I used to to it to my mum way after 2 years old, else I wouldn’t be able to recall it. Does that mean that Caleb will be doing this for more years to come??

Yup, Daddee came home with some surprise gifts for us….

Since jie-jie already has a pair, now I have one too!

ROCK ON, DUDE!

Yes, I know this is overdue, so overdue that the fortnight of Chinese New Year celebrations are already over.

Just thought I’d share this lovely photo of my two lovely kids.

Grandma bought these outfits for them- trust her (and her taste) to find these treasures. The kids wore these on the first day of the new year. Never mind that Hot Mummee took forever to get them ready and was therefore late coming downstairs to greet and wish everyone- they looked fantastic and everyone ooh and ahh-ed.

Taking these shots of them wasn’t easy. As you can tell it’s not that easy telling a 2 year old boy to stand still, look this way, and smile, while at the same time telling his jie-jie to hold that pose and smile too, waiting for that opportune time of him.

During the few days we were at my parents’ house, one of the nearby neighbours had a lion dance come bless their new house. As this was already Day something-or-other, we weren’t dressed in our best (anymore); in fact it was still rather early in the morning and, well, my hair was still in a mess. Not to let the chance pass, I grabbed the kids and got into the car to search for the origin of the drumbeats.

It was just around the bend. There were scores of other neighbours already, keen to get a good angle of the performance. It was also rather sunny, but I insisted the kids get exposed to this once-a-year cultural performance. I grabbed a brollie and the kids, and started finding a good spot on the road, in the sun. The host auntie owner-of-the-house saw us, “Come! Come inside and watch! It’s okay!” And so we did. It was good timing too cos the crew was just about to start (I don’t know what I heard earlier then- must have been a rehearsal…?)

I found a corner of their living room to stand, a spot where we shouldn’t be blocking the dancing. I was holding Caleb, while Caitlin was beside my left thigh. Caleb hasn’t seen one of these before, being only 2 years old; while Caitlin should be alright.

The dancing started. The opposite of what I was expecting happened. Caleb was staring wide-eyed at the whole thing, poker-faced reactionless, taking in the whole noise of the drums and cymbals and the strange looking creature. Caitlin however was cowering, left thigh, right thigh, face buried in thigh.

Then the big event came. The 10-foot long firecracker was lit. Since it was rather crowded and we were boxed-in where we stood, I used my opposite hand to close Caleb’s far-side ear and pushed his near-side ear against my cheek, covering them from the loud popping of the firecrackers; we were after all only about 20 feet from it. They didn’t flinch, and in fact I think they enjoyed the suspense of it, hearing it and seeing it pop, red paper sprayed into the air by bright flashes.

When it was over, the owner-auntie came and gave all the children ang pau’s, mine included

I have said before that I envy Caleb’s head-shape: Cos this Daddee can never pull off getting a crew cut like this and still look “normal”, instead, likely to even get a chuckle from people at first sight.

This shot was taken under 30min of him having it cut. As you can guess, it was in a major shopping centre. Here we are taking some snaps of the Chinese New Year decor.

Despite minor protests from Hot Mummee, I stand by my decision for this crew cut… And no, this is not a sign of things to come, insofar as fathers imposing their wishes onto their kids! IT’S ONLY A HAIRCUT!

My dad’s talked about this since the early 90′s: Of bringing the whole extended family for a visit to his hometown (more like village).

Not that we minded the idea. Back then we only loathed about what the likely quality of basic amenities would be like. After all, there were stories of toilets with no doors, toilets with no toilets but a hole in the ground. Somehow it never eventuated.

Through the years, the kids (my nephews and nieces) grew, and my parents have also continued keeping in contact with his relatives (well, they are mine too). They too have made visit(s?) here (but I was away studying/living in Adelaide at the time). A recent idea my dad had was to contribute toward a memorial of his ancestors, to keep the roots alive.

Recently, that idea came to fruition. And what better timing to also time the visit to the completed site with bringing the family there as well.

We had spent the week leading to, and including Christmas Day 2009, in Xiamen China. Xiamen city is only about 2-3 hours bus ride to the village, so it isn’t like a real trek too deep into China (please mind my poor knowledge of Chinese geography). That has worked out quite well all this time for my parents, making it easy for them to visit our relatives all these years.

My dad organised a tour group for this visit- which was actually just us, the whole 29 of us! It was a fun time for all as there were no outsiders and we were as our usual silly-carefree selves

I can’t say there was a sense of belonging, personally. After all, we were all born in and grew up in Malaysia. As a father I reckon my dad feels some form of achievement in finally bringing his own children together to see his birthplace, to see where we are from, his and our roots, connect with some distant blood relatives, and his contribution back to the community when he left with his father to seek, and found, a better life in distant shores. He had done well for himself with very humble beginnings, and by extension my generation (and later) are now a lot better off comparatively.

Take away the brick houses beside and behind this structure, and you have the house in which my father was born.

My grandfather built this house in the ’60′s apparently after the ethnic unrest in Indonesia, fearing the same for Malaya/Malaysia, with intention to bring everyone back to China to live in this bigger house.

This is (almost) everyone, infront of the “shrine” cum community hall that my dad funded and built

For Caitlin, at 5 years old I don’t think this will be a lasting impression. Ideologies of family ties is too mature for her. She will remember the some of the places we visited, and the fun with the cousins. She probably won’t remember how cold it was; she may remember what she wore; but she’s worn that same jacket before elsewhere.

One thing I’ve been saying to people who asked what I thought about my first visit to China is: “We were on the bus, driving through very long tunnels, to emerge to drive on long bridges.” I was rather awed by the landscape- it’s one thing to read about it and watch it on tv, but it’s another to see the natural landscape: mountains and valleys. Also, the technology deployed in this developing country is actually also more advanced than Malaysia. Tunnels bored through these mountains; long tunnels, and impressive world class bridges to carry you further. The highways are also multi-tiered, criss-crossing each other at higher and higher levels.

It is a big big country, there are uneven developments everywhere. I personally only saw 3 beggars on the street, only in Xiamen city; 2 of whom are disabled, the 3rd looked able-bodied but with a toddler probably 2-3 years old.

More pictures here:

• My brother’s photo collection on flickr
• Mine

Everytime Caleb’s jie-jie rides her tricycle or her training-wheeled bicycle he’d come up from behind and gladly be pushing her. Never has he asked to be riding it, even though he has Caitlin to see as an example.

So, since the tricycle is broken from regular wear and tear (I actually think it’s because Caitlin is growing and her weight actually broke the structure!) they’ve only been able to ride/push the bigger bike, which is left at my mum’s, on weekends when we visit.

Also, we thought since her jie-jie is able to ride around now, why not have the means for him to join her.

This is what we have gotten for Caleb.

It looks like a pretty interesting design- you’ll see that there are detachable handles that can be used for both pushing and guiding, assuming he doesn’t peddle too fast!

Caleb doesn’t know it yet, nor does he understand the concept of Christmas presents. I wonder if he wonders what they big wrapped box under Grandma’s tree actually contains!

She doesn’t find my jokes funny all the time anymore.

She doesn’t tell me everything that’s bugging her, or what she is thinking anymore.

I saw a bag of her old clothes ready to be given away- that she has grown out of. Spotted a pair of shorts that she likes / wears quite often.
She doesn’t find my jokes funny all the time anymore.

She doesn’t always tell me everything that’s bugging her, or what she is thinking anymore.

I saw a bag of her old clothes ready to be given away- that she has grown out of. Spotted a pair of shorts that she likes / wears quite often.

My baby is growing out of the “cute” phase. She is developing more and more into a “regular” person!

We organised a party at the kids gym, like last year; only at a different venue. Should have gone back there, more value for money you know.

We invited Caitlins friends from school; maybe I am generalising here but I still tend to think that locals don’t know what RSVP means. A few replied, but I had to call up a few too to confirm whether they were coming, or not.

As I recall, for the same price, last years was organised in a room, the staff organised games, and there was a lot more food for everyone. This years they only put together the tables and enough seating for the headcount, and served the food- that’s it. Moreover 10min before the end of our booking we were actually “reminded” to vacate make room for the next booking.

It’s just as well that the kids were more keen to get into the gym cos they were bored shitless.

I thought I’d organise it the day right after the last day of school. Not only was it the weekend before Caitlin’s actual birthday, it was also more likely that her friends are still in town, in case the families have year-end holiday plans, presumably they’d not leave town so soon after the last day of school. It would also be the last time these friends see each other before they all start primary school when schools reopen in January… except Caitlin, naturally.

Happy Birthday my dear