PECS

3 years old. Not talking much yet but oh so demanding!

This year has been quite a tough year for me personally.

One of the main challenges would be finding out that our little Mia has some developmental issues, spoken communication being one of them. Put it this way, Alan can speak more words than Mia.

Being told by well-meaning teachers at her school brought me to tears. In my heart, I knew that she had some challenges. But being told by a third-party, well that was painful. I am grateful for being informed however. Because from there we took more serious steps to research, speak to specialists and provide her with the necessary tools to help her overcome her challenges. The more people we talked to, the better we feel.

Yes, I know there are kids out there who only learnt to speak at 7 years old. Even Einstein didn't speak until he was 4 years old. And I know eventually Mia will learn to speak actual words. However, we still want to provide her with the help to enable her to communicate with others so that she does not miss out on things that she should be enjoying by now... like telling others what she needs/wants without throwing a fit.

One of the help that she's getting is Speech Therapy. She goes for speech therapy once a week, 1 hour each time. Earlier this week, her therapist spoke to me of PECS: Picture Exchange Communication System.

Frankly, after just viewing some slides and reading up on it on the Internet, I am eager to learn more on PECS and start her on this as soon as possible. More on PECS after I sit down with her therapist and other parents.

Getting back into blogging

It's good to be able to finally sit down and get back to blogging. I've been away for so long that I've even forgotten my login ID. Yikes.

So much has happened since May this year... setbacks, little milestones, challenges and accomplishments.

Our Mia turned last week and we had a little pool party for her. It was a fun day with our family, relatives and closest friends joining us.

We all went home tired and sun-burnt because in the midst of all the excitement, my husband and I forgot to put on sunblocs on the kids and ourselves!

Our poor boy Alan came home with a white butt souvenir on himself :P

Stay-cation Day 1

The 2 weeks school holiday has started as of yesterday and for this holiday, we're going on a Stay-cation, not a vacation.

What's a stay-cation? That is staying here in our hometown of Kota Kinabalu, to explore the sights, smells, sounds. And at the same time, to tickle our tastebuds enjoying food at eateries that we haven't yet or haven't gone too in a really long time.

Day 1: Saturday 26th May 2012
Took a friend's wife and son (they're from KL) on a mini tour.

The day started with breakfast at Kedai Kopi Yee Fung, along Jalan Gaya. I've never eaten here before and wanted to try out their famed laksa. Yes, it was good.

 Next, it was a long drive into the "jungle" as Joshua puts it, to Orchid de Villa. We paid our entrance fee of RM50 per adult (free for Joshua) and were taken on a tour of the farm by the owner.

 The owner really knows his stuff. He showed us the various types of orchids from all over Borneo which he has in his farm. Cheryl, the orchid enthusiast enjoyed herself.

 Joshua was enjoying himself too. It was the first time for him to go into a "jungle".

 I really like this orchid. It looks like a mother having her arms round a child.

 At the end of the long tour, we were treated with packet drinks, and the owner even gave Joshua orchid and a vanilla stalk to plant when he goes back to KL. Free. Lucky boy!

 We then on a suspension bridge, Jambatan Tamparuli.

The Upside Down House at Telibong (just before the Shell Station in Telibong), you can't miss it. Entrance fee is RM10 per adult, RM5 per child, FOC for children 3 years and below. Unfortunately, we aren't allowed to take photos inside.

 Mummy and son enjoyed their visit. Can you tell?

We asked Joshua to go under the car to take a photo. He went alright, and struk this pose. He is so funny!

Later in the night, after picking up Adam from my mum's house, it was family time for us. Bak-Kut-Teh (New Klang Bak Kut Teh Restaurant) at Beverly Hill, near our house.

 Adam liked it. He ate a lot.

 Mia tried to make her version of Teh Tarik! First time for her to do this too.

In the words of Tom Jones: "She's a Lady"

Today I discovered that Mia is more capable than I thought she is.

1. She found my high heels
2. She managed to get my high heels
3. She knows how to put on my high heels (correct foot in the correct shoe and all)
4. She can walk steadily in high heels
   

Happy birthday Alan

Our boy Alan turned 1 on 16th March 2012.

No big celebration. But we did have a triple birthday celebration dinner at the Liew's family home last night.

The triple birthday celebrants: Cousin Joyce Liew (7th March); Alan Liew (16th March) & Kung Kung Liew Yun Choi (17th March)
Dinner.

Grandparents with all the grandkids. A present for Kung Kung.

Inside that personalised wrapping paper: A large portrait of the grandparents with all the grandkids taken during Chinese New Year this year.

A 3-in-1 cake by Stella Tangil.

Cake cutting by the birthday celebrants

A rare group photo of us

Birthday presents: Toy Story Space Ranger

Birthday presents: Musical cube & telephone set

Back again ;)

Yes, I'm back!

Reason for my long absence: Busy tahap
There were just so many things that's happened. For those who are in my little circle of friends/family, they know what's been up. My uncle passed away during Chinese New Year (may his soul rest in peace), my phone got snatched, my camera is not working properly (problem with the flash) and its been in the service centre since the beginning of this month. And to add to the drama, my niece chopped her thumb and is at risk having part of her thumb amputated now. She's still in hospital, the doctors are not very optimistic about her thumb.

Well, that's all the sad stories to date. Hopefully, the rest of this year will be a whole lot better.

Playtime

Playtime (which is like as long as they're awake) is really messy. I've learned to turn a blind eye on the chaos they create. I'd like them to just enjoy being kids for now. So long as they don't hurt each other.

Playtime used to be just Mia playing with ALL the toys. She refused to share. The only toys she'd let Alan play with are those which are broken, or not so "fun" for her.

Now however, they love to play together! Yes, Mia is also learning to share. Slowly, but surely.

Likes to sleep

Mia likes to sleep.

I picked her up from school today and her teacher reported that at 10.30am, she just got up and walked over to mattress to sleep. In the middle of class.

We come home, she watches TV and now she's gone to sleep once again.

She does sleep a lot at night too. She usually falls asleep around 8pm and wakes up around 6.30am.

Still, she needs her afternoon nap.

If I can only get them to take afternoon naps at the same time... that would be bliss.

Deleted Posts

Not a happy Sunday.

Feeling very annoyed/frustrated at some "issues". Plus I accidentally deleted some posts from my blog.

I've been taught that if "you don't have anything nice to say, then its best to keep quiet".

So, enough said.

Curl up like a baby

Kids love to play. Our baby Alan is no exception. He'll play with anything that he can get his hands on...pieces of clothings, papers, toys, CD/DVD covers etc.

Earlier this week, he was really enjoying himself playing with bits and pieces of all sorts including the ring sling. Next thing we notice, he was all curled up sleeping like a baby.

Taking pictures of him alone is quite challenging because Mia wants herself to be inside in the picture too.

Look at him.... so peaceful!

Durian oh Durian

One of the many skills I've acquired growing up as a typical kampung girl is the ability to open a durian. Thrilling tu!


Last weekend, my mum bought a big box full of durians for just RM50 in Sipitang. Of the boxful, I got 4 durians.

Here's how much I managed to get out of those 4 durians.

I'm Malaysian through and through. I love durians in cakes, puddings, ice kachang or just eaten fresh.

Our Mia on the other hand:

not so Malaysian! LOL!

Exhausting Day

Friday 6th January 2012

Mia had Assembly, Activities, Physical Education, 1 hour of Art & Craft, Science & Nature followed by B.M class. She has lunch with her classmates in school.

I picked her up and off we drove to Tuaran to pick up my niece from her school... its no wonder her battery ran out as we drove home.

Zzzzzzzzzzz Mia!

My Kitchen Smells like a Spa

My late dad planted lemongrass (in Kadazan 'sogumau') around our kampung home. He liked to cook his "signature" dishes with ... all things exotic eg wild boar (in Kadazan 'bakas') and flying fox/bats (in Kadazan 'gavi'). I don't usually eat exotic dishes but it never really bothered me when he asked me to get him a few stalks of lemongrass from the bush he planted. Pulling a stalk of lemongrass from its bush is no easy feat, its tough. And back then I was a skinny kid and it took me quite a while to get back to him with those few stalks. He never complained if I took longer than usual to do the job.

My dad's sogumau bush today... so bushy

On new year's eve, I asked my nephew to get some stalks of lemongrass from my father's lemongrass bush back in the kampung house. I wanted to use it for our new year's eve bbq but never got round to using them because I was late. That's another story.

Anyhow, last Thursday I saw the bunch of lemongrass and decided to use them to make dinner.

While preparing the marinade, the smell from the lemongrass filled our kitchen. For a while the kitchen really smelt like a good Balinese spa in there and I love it.

A relatively easy and quick recipe taken from the Internet resulted in tadaaaaa:

Lemongrass Honey Pork (recipe available here)

This dish is best served hot off the wok. By the time my husband came home for dinner though, the dish was cold already. My food critic of a husband commented:

1. Its OK
2. Taste is good
3. Dry

In my defense, the food was cold by the time he had them. But then again, I can try again next time.

Movie Time

I love watching movies with the kids. Its a very entertaining experience. Earlier this week we watched "The Smurfs" at home. Its one of the kids' favourite movie to play.

I think it must be because of the cute characters and their catchy tune that attracted the kids to this movie.

But no matter how many times we watch this movie together, Mia would still cover her eyes during the parts that scare her.

She's so scared of:

Gargamel. The baddie.

Even though she's scared of him, she still asks me to play this movie over and over again. Rather cute I think :)