The Reader

I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon at mygym catching up on some reading but mountain boy refuses to let go of my book!

I've been spammed!

Dear readers, please don't click any random links you find on this blog. I've been spammed and i don't know how it happened. Thanks for your patience.

Goodbye and Good Night

Deep down, I'm a sentimental person. I always tell Mountain Man about how i miss the times with X and Y friends and how i wish i could go back.

This month, a couple who has been quite pivotal in us settling down in Beijing is leaving for home. Boy am i gonna miss them. The eating, talking cock, drinking (speaking for Mountain Man not I), traveling, house gatherings, more eating... you know, things singaporeans do. Beijing life is definitely less colourful without Gingerblossom and the husband, and I will now have less motivation to explore new eating places. But most of all, I will soo miss the people that they are.

Thanks so much for the friendship you've extended and for being so considerate in accommodating our family countless times... We wish you all the best in rebuilding your lives back home and we hope to join you some day.

Gingerblossom: I'll always read your blog so don't stop writing.

xoxo,

Ngs.

Homecooked farewell dinner: "Acar" (pickled vegetables) and "Nasi tim" (Indonesian Chicken Rice).

Breaking Bad

I looked at my calendar and I can't believe how slowly time has passed. It's been only 5 days since i didn't have a nanny but somehow it feels like an eternity. The muscles are aching, my skin is turning sallow, my hands are so dry from the constant washing of plates, cloths, Mountain Boy's hands, face and buttocks...

I have so much respect for people who can manage without help. There's no possible way of functioning ALONE with a toddler! When i'm cooking or cleaning, he'll be somewhere messing something up and then I'll have to spend more time cleaning... He needs to be constantly guarded in case he comes across anykinds of danger. I've started to childproof everything. I know it's late but Tracy Hogg always said that babyproofing don't really teach children the proper way to keep their hands off, instead we should patiently always tell them "don't touch this it's precious to mommy" Bullcrap.

He is also getting violent! Hitting, yanking my hair. I've never hit him in my life, the only time he witnessed violence was when the nanny taught him how to hit inanimate objects that he banged into but i've stopped that long ago. I've tried speaking in toddler language, being stern, I even tried to emotionally blackmail him by crying. Yelling is my final resort, and that's purely a result of my anger not recommended by any experts. Still, nothing works.

To add fuel to the fire, he has to fall sick. It's the fourth time this winter. A minor cold but it still produces a needy cranky diva of a baby.

B.R.E.A.T.H.E......

Breaking Bad Part 2

Okay it's day 7 without the nanny. I'm doing alot better emotionally (physically i'm wrecked). He is sort of well and we've managed to go out to a couple of baby groups (civilisation, yay!). Me being happy definitely affects his mood too.

I haven't thrown away all my supposedly bulldung knowledge from the child rearing experts. I go back and i think about what i can do differently. Parent Effectiveness Training tells me that when i come to the end of the road with chiding and explaining to a child who just won't listen, it's time to "modify the environment". So childproofing has helped!

The hitting is alot better though it's early to say. I tell him that I'm always here for him and he doesn't need to hit me to get my attention. I also taught him how to "sayang" (means "stroke with love" in malay) and when he hits me i'll tell him to sayang me instead.

Being cute helps. He babbles babystuff like "noooona" for noodles, and "AArrrjkhhh" when he wants to roar like a lion. Yesterday I found about many cotton buds stuffed in his pants when we were out and i had to burst into laughter because it's so random!

His appetite is picking up again so not having to battle eating issues is one big burden off my shoulders. I am pulling back on the self-feeding just because of the mess it creates. He can figure out how to eat when the nanny comes back!

The countdown is on. 9 Days to Jakarta.

16 months

Mountain Boy turned 16 months yesterday. The 15th month seemed to have whizzed by so quickly. He is now 10.4kg and 82cm. He had a bout of fever and diarrhea in between so he must have lost a few hundred grams there.

The biggest milestones this month would be the self-feeding. He uses a combination of the spoon, sometimes the fork, and he always finishes off with his fingers. I hardly have to feed him anymore. Maybe when i feel he hasn't eaten enough i'd distract him and stuff a few mouthfuls but that's it. Self-feeding is a very messy affair but laying newspapers below his high-chair during mealtimes help to reduce the amount of cleanup at the end. For a 16 month old he is doing pretty well in this department.

He also adds a couple of words to his speech vocab, such as "ayi", "pak pak" for carpark and sometimes "bye-bye". And he has learnt how to nod and shake head with the correct purpose.

The nanny has gone back for CNY so i'm left alone with him at the moment. It's been extremely trying and i've lost my temper quite a number of times. The messing up of the house i get, he's a kid and sometimes adults can't even be neat. He opens milk cartons and sprays them all over the house, rummages through the dustbin, dips his hands in toilet bowl etc...I can tolerate kids are curious. But what really makes my blood boil is when he yanks my hair real hard for sport. I yell and he cries. Even though i've read books and gone for courses, this discipline thing is really way over my head. I feel like i've lost faith in "the experts" who advocate bogus parenting methods that don't work. But of course when i feel that way it's usually my temper speaking. I know Mountain Boy is generally well-behaved and lovely.

Mountain Boy has mastered quite a number of expressions that always makes us laugh.

YAWN.

CRY.

SILLY.

THOUGHTFUL.

SURPRISED. He usually does this with the mouth open but i didn't get a good shot.

GRUMPY.

Here's a video of him doing some of the expressions before he took over the camera. Enjoy!

K i better go rest before the little dude wakes up from his nap and it all begins.

Emily returns!

Ivan Heng returns as Emily of Emerald Hill. I saw this production almost 10 years ago and it was the most riveting theatrical performance i have ever watched in my entire life. It's a monologue but it doesn't feel like one. There were highs and lows and moments where tears welled up in my eyes. Not a single moment was i bored.

I've since hailed Ivan Heng as the Godfather of Singapore theatre scene since this performance and he never lets me down, but this was really the best. Go watch. Early Bird discount ends 12th Jan.

Fangtastic

My heads been buried in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series for almost a week now. Of course i don't read as fast as i want to anymore because Mountain Boy keeps me plenty occupied.

Vampires are my favourite nocturnal fictional (or maybe not?) creatures. I say "creatures" but vampires are really underrated. They are powerful, passionate, beautifully pale and not to mention immortal. I do not think that the idea of living through the wars, natural disasters and having loved ones expire before me is appealing. But there's just something attractive about "creatures" who've survived that kind of darkness, even though not by choice.

I've not sunk(sank? sunken? damn my english) my teeth into the teen vampire shenanigans like Twilight and all that shite. But i'm enjoying True Blood (the HBO series). Having beautiful actors first of all drew me in. Alexander Skarsgard above all. Or should i say, Viking Eric Northman. For the record i wouldn't even notice Alexander Skarsgard if not for his role in True Blood. I completely missed him when i saw Generation Kill.

Male swooning session over. Back to the topic.

So yes. The books. I hate reading a book when i already know the ending, which explains why i never got out of the Shire with LOTR even though I'm into fantasy. So I'm glad the book is different from the series. Less breadth, more depth. And reading always beats watching because it's like fueling the imagination.

PS: This post was in my draft for quite a long time so i've kinda lost my train of thought. I'm such a terrible blogger these days.

Mischief managed...

Funny moments from this week. I never put him up to any of these, he has become quite the imitator these days.