Ian on the Keyboard

One of our very dear friend, Hsing captured Ian's pianist potential (hmm...cross fingers...) on the video. We have dropped Ian at their place while we attended Pearl's company Christmas party. She has a keyboard at her house and let Ian played on it.

It was funny to watch because Ian actually played note by note and even played the whole range of the keyboard :) Pearl said he must have watched and learned from his papa :))

Cookie Time

This afternoon was a pretty slow one, so I decided to bake some oatmeal cookies with Ian. The recipe stated "beat well" twice but I did not get to do that because Ian was the chef. The cookies turned out great even without beating well.

Ian is not a great fan of eating but with odd things such as cookie dough, he dives for it. It must be the sweetness that he likes. Though I had a bunch of clean up to do after that, it was fun for both of us.

Ian secretly munching on the cookie dough while I was measuring other ingredients

I even got him to act cute and smile for the camera because I told him that he had to stop eating the cookie dough if he didn't, hehehe.

I had to wrap things up quickly or I wouldn't have any cookie dough left to bake

Turning Point

After today, I will be staying home for a little while. I have mixed feelings about it. I love spending time with Ian and being there for my family but I will miss my work life as well. I am thankful that God has led me to this point and all the support that I got from friends and family. So, I’ll see. After all, I will have the option of going back if I want to. I am looking forward to my new job…

See below...it is all worth it!

Picture Time

Just some pictures of Ian to share...

Ian's latest favourite thing to do at the playground, hang!

No fear for height

Night of Lights event at our church, Ian dressed as frog-frog

Ian at the ring toss game...throwing with all his strength

Jump-Jump-Jump

My baby - perhaps not so 'baby' anymore :)

Handy man at work - turning valves and knobs of a fire engine

Ian driving a vintage fire engine, he loves wheels.

Ian's 1st Potty

As normal as it is for us to go to the potty, it is a big deal for toddlers. The potty training issue has been in and out of my mind for the past couple weeks. To me, potty training is a big challenge; I have never done it before! Ian is showing some signs of readiness such as agreeing to pee in the potty and actually peeing in the potty. However, when he poops in his diaper, he tries to stay a distance away from me by making a big detour to go somewhere just to stay a distance away from me or throwing me a toy (not handing it to me to keep the distance) and asking me to go play at somewhere else. The stickiness in his diaper doesn’t seem to bother him a bit; perhaps it is a boy thing. As with everything else these days, I have to slowly talk him into agreement to let me wash his behind.

Yesterday, I asked him if he wanted to go poo poo. He did not deny and so I let him sit on the adult potty while I hold him. He has shown no interest in his baby potty and has treated it as a toy. I have spent oodles of money on colorful kid things such as plates, utensils, cell phones, toothbrush, potty, etc…and all he wants are “real” adult things. Back to the potty story…I waited for 15 minutes and there was nothing. I was excited because he has never wanted to sit on the potty for so long, so I thought something must be coming! The next thing I heard is a little thump. Yes! He has done it! I praise him by saying “hen hao” (very good) and he replied by saying “bu hao” (no good). When I tried to take a peep at what was in the potty, he pushed my head away. Okay, I had forgotten that even kids need privacy. After another 15 minutes of acting like nothing is happening while reading a magazine to him, I asked him if he was done. He nodded and quickly stood up and flushed the toilet. Flushing is his favorite part of the whole potty trip.

I was so excited that I could not wait for hubby to come home and tell him the story. I am not celebrating yet because I know more challenge is yet to come. Nonetheless, this is a milestone for Ian and I am just happy.

On a side note, Ian has joined the opposition party recently because he will oppose to everything I say. I say “hen guai” (very good boy) and he says “bu guai” (bad boy), I saw “hen hao” (very good) and he says “bu hao” (no good). Maybe this kind of reaction is just a phase. His pain threshold is very high and whenever he falls or is hurt, he wants to “be a man” and does not want my kisses or help at all.

We survived Hurricane Ike!

Thank God we survived hurricane Ike. It was a terrifying night indeed with the strong gusts howling outside ripping through the trees and shaking the houses. Ian slept through the hurricane though...how blessed it is to be a baby :p
It's all over now however we were without power and water. The water came back yesterday however we decided to stay with a friend who has power and water for the time being.
We will update with more pictures and news once we are back.

Please VOTE for ME!! (No, this is not another presidential rally)

As faithful readers of the parenting magazines, we always drool about the other winners of photo contests...and as proud as all parents could be, we always thought that, hmm, why not enter our own little Ian into the contest? He might win with his mischievous charm!
So we entered into the American Baby Contest with the following six photos:

Wow! Flowers!

Yummy Apple!

Eh? Dog-dog!!

Mmm...watermelon!

I am a little Radiohead!

Having fun with Finger Painting!

So dear readers, what do you think of the chances of winning? PLEASE VOTE LAH! (i.e. rate 5 stars and recommend), hee hee...

I AM TWO!!

Yup our little beloved Ian is finally reaching the stage of the terrible two :)
We didn't hold a big party for him, as we thought he wouldn't have noticed nor have the memory anyway...so instead we just had a present opening ceremony for him (thank you very much CJ & Laura, Keat & Soon Kuan, Tuck & Sabrina, and Doreen!).

Here's the pictures:

Ian's Special Allergy Free Banana Cup Cake, With Candles

And Without Candles (No, Ian doesn't know how to blow the candles yet)

Hmm...yummy cup cake!

Holding on to the precious cup cake

Close Inspection of the Cup Cake...

Hmm...I wonder what's in the cup cake?

Present Opening Time! This is the tool set we bought for Ian...coincidentally the "Dua Gu" & "Dua Gim" also bought tool set for Ian, somemore theirs was the branded "Bosch", with a very nice workshop table set! So eventually in order to live up to the Penangite reputation, we decided to return ours to Walmart and let Ian keep the better one instead :)

The Walmart tool set:

vs. "The Bosch"

And here's some studio pictures we took at JC Penny and Picture People:
I AM TWO!

Look Smart in the Tux!

I can also act cute in my tux too!My latest - the "Michael Jackson" postAnd from the Picture People

The collage from Picture People

I don't want to gain the whole world and loose my soul

Here's a song that I really like by Toby Mac. I wish I can rap like that...maybe Ian or CS can some day? :)

Focal B&W

Most of you probably already know this. I just found out how to do this with Picasa and I like it!

A Little Love Drama (part I)

Disclaimer:
This is a fiction, the story and all characters are merely the author's imagination during one of his many day dreams. Parents of the characters please don't kill me. 本故事純屬虛構，如有雷同，實屬巧合。

Long long time ago in a kingdom far far away...there was a little princess who loved to eat pau (for non-Hokkien speakers, pau is the flour-made bun in her hand).
One day, she met a young price who was holding a delicious bak pau in his hand (Hokkien: bak = meat).
Almost immediately, she set her eyes intensely on the bak pau, and fell in love with it.
Little princess:"Oh is that the famous Aunt P's bak pau you are holding?"
Little prince:"Well yes my dear, how do you know this is an Aunt's P bak pau?"
Little princess:"Because it is my favorite of all the paus!"
Little prince:"Really? Me too! Hey, would you like visit the pau store with me?"
Little pricess:"I would be delighted!"
.......
And then from there on they started their little friendship through their mutual love for the pau.
Day and night, the little prince and princess spent a lot of time together, visiting various types of pau stores and discussing about the paus. Slowly they got to know better of each other, and their conversation went beyond the paus.
They started to discovered other common interests they had, such as their love for drum, police car and dismantled wooden car.
Before they knew it, the seeds of love had been planted in their little hearts.
One day, the little prince thought of a brilliant idea.
Little Prince:"My dear lady, I had suddenly conjured up an excellent idea!"
Little Princess:"Oh tell me! Tell me! My dear prince!"
Little Prince:"Why don't we hop onto my red little sports car and we'll drive to the end of the world while enjoying our pau?"
Little Princess:"Oh that is such a wonderful idea! I am really looking forward to that never-ending road trip now!"
So there they went, hopped onto the little prince's red little sports car. The flashy sports car was bought by the prince's father for his birthday. It was a very expensive car indeed, with a steep price tag of $85 after discount from Walmart. After the King got the car for the prince, his highness got a scolding from her majesty the Queen, who also happened to be the financial minister, for spending too much from their royal budget.
Anyway, back to the little prince and princess...
They were very excited and happy about taking their first ever road trip together, and they dreamed of many places to visit. To prepare for the long journey, the little princess had even brought a long a water bottle in case they were thirsty.There they went passing by many famous landmarks within the prince's kingdom, such as the mysterious fireplace and the white study table.
In fact they were so happy that the little prices started to sing many love songs to his little princess.


One day during their road trip, they came upon an ancient sacred church. Feeling shy yet excited, the little princess invited the little prince into the holy church for a little prayer.
Little Princess:"My dear prince, would you come with me to the church and pray alongside with me?"
Little Prince:"Why yes my dear...but may I know what are you praying for?"
Little Princess:"Before answering your question, let me ask you this...do you love me?"
Little Prince:"Yes of course, my dear, with all of my heart! In fact I blame my love for you on your dad, who is a thief!"
Little Princess:"What nonsense! My dad is a KING!"
Little Prince:"Why then had he stolen all the stars in the sky and put them into your lovely eyes?"
Little Princess (shy):"Oh my lovely prince...Alright then, if you really love me, let's go into this church now, and we shall ask for the pastor to bless our love and...and our marriage..."
Little Prince (startled):"WHAT?! MARRIAGE?! What do you mean?"
Little Princess (shocked):"What do you mean WHAT MARRIAGE?! OUR Marriage!! I knew it! I knew it! You don't love me anymore!"
Little Prince:"Oh no, that's not what I mean...just that I think we have just started, and we are not really there yet...I mean...I mean we are too young to talk about that right? I am barely two!"
Little Princess (growling):"All men are the same! I HATE you!! Wah...."
And with that the crying little princess ran away from the little prince...leaving the little prince stunned and wondered what had just happened.
Slowly, the little prince started to understand what had happened, and remorsed deeply for his stupidity and harsh response towards the love of his life.
Realizing that he could not possibly let go of the only princess he found to share all his love for paus, and to whom he had given all his love, the little prince rushed out frantically to look for his little princess...
"Go away paparazzi!" Shouted the panic little prince, annoyed by the paparazi who had found out about their break up.
The little prince ran all around in search of his beloved little princess, yet the little princess was no where to be seen...the little prince started to fear that he might have lost the love of his life forever, and tears of regret started to flow down his cheeks.
Then all of a sudden, the sky brightened up and the little prince saw his beautiful princess standing right before his eyes!
"My dear...." The little prince wanted to shout his heart out for his love, however now he noticed that beside his love stand a dashing, tall, dark and handsome Prince of the Yee Kingdom. And to his absolute dismay, the little prince noticed that the little princess was holding onto his hand!!
Shocked beyond words, the little prince fell short of calling out to his little princess, while the little princess seemed ignorant of his presence, and apparently had her eyes focused entirely on the little Prince of Yee.
"What should I do now?" Wondered the heart-broken little prince.
Would the little prince give up? Would he win back the love of his life?
A Little Love Drama shall be continued...Till then, stay tuned!