Hong Kong Day 3 - 13 Dec 09

Sis and family went back to Dong Guan this day. We spent our day walking down the streets.

We walked towards the Star Ferry Pier.

We then took a ferry to Hong Kong island. There are many bridges.  As it was a Sunday, there were many,really many (more than in Singapore) Fillipino maids (we presumed they are maids) on those bridges. They used cardboards from boxes to make partitions.  They slept, ate, played card games etc...They occupied the whole stretch of many bridges.

We then took the longest escalator I have ever taken.

Hong Kong Day 2 - 12 Dec 09

Went Disneyland.  Stayed the whole day there.

Meal time - cereal only...

First introduction to Buzz Light Year, and he likes it, kept saying light year... Went for the Buzz Light Year ride.  Joian enjoyed it :)

Another ride, Alicia followed us, and she sat with me, while hubby and Joian sat in another. This time, Joian seemedto be a little scared...After the ride, we went for lunch at its fastfood outlet, looked like kentucky, but the taste was so different, as in Not Nice... Joian was so tired that he fell asleep on my lap.Both Aloysius and Joian were asleep when the Disney parade was about to start. We didn't want them to miss the parade, so we woke them up. Joian was easily waken, but it tool quite awhile for Aloysius  to be fully awake. It was really very packed. We managed to find a not-so-bad spot. Joian basically wow when he saw Mickey Mouse and friends, cos he only knows these characters, hee... he doesn't know the princesses... boy mah...We then went for other rides. I particularly enjoyed the horse carousel. I love this since I was a kid. Now I got to ride with my son, wow... Nest is the Fying Jumbo ride, was fun too. Prior to the ride, Joian was very cranky. While we were queuing for the ride, he refused to move away from the fence.The spinning cup... giddy...but Joian could eat his biscuit while the cup was spinning.The Small World boat ride, a real slow ride.The red car! Finally there wasn't any queue, Joian got to 'drive' it.

Hong Kong Day 1 - 11 Dec 09

We rented a car to take us from Dong Guan to Hong Kong.
Sis and I stayed in different hotels, but they were within walking distance.
Our first meal wasn't a fantastic one...
We spent the first day at the night markets.

Dong Guan Day 3 - 10 Dec 09

Hubby simply likes Joian's snow cap (unfortunately the cap was lost at Disneyland). 

After shopping in a different area, hubby and I decided to walk back to sis's place.

The kids had so much fun playing together.

Dong Guan Day 2 - 9 Dec 09

In the morning, while getting ready to go out, our liitle darling was once again demanding to watch Thomas. Luckily, if we told him to watch it the last time, he would listen (most of time). Look at how absorbed he was...

Went shopping around Dong Guan. Their shopping centres are similar to our Pearl's Centre kind of shopping centre. I managed to get one cheap coat and 2 T-shirts.
In the evening, sis brought us to a salon. Both hubby and I got a hair wash and hair cut. The hair wash was really good, it came with head and a simple but rather thorough body massage. Had dinner at a restaurant just next door to the salon. The baby chair is so different from ours, theirs didn't look very safe....

Dong Guan Day 1 - 8 Dec 09

Our first holiday trip with darling Joian.
Went to China Dong Guan to visit my sis. Spent three nights there.
We booked Tiger Airways, so it was a really early flight, we reached Budget Terminal at around 4 plus in the morning.  By the time we reached the terminal, Joian had woken up, we then had our breakfast there. Joian was a little cranky at first on the plane, he kept demanding to watch Thomas (his favourite show), of cos to no avail. We all then fell asleep shortly. Hence it was a rather smooth flight.
Reached Guangzhou airport at around 10 plus in the morning. My sis and her driver were already at the airport waiting for us. We went to sis's place to dump our luggages, and then went to have our brunch.  Sis brought us to have dim sum. At the restaurant, the waitresses couldn't keep their hands off Joian, kept wanting to touch them, hmmm... I didn't feel too good about it :(

After brunch, we went back to sis's place, wanting a have a nap before going for Alicia's and Aloysius's school xmas concert. We stopped by the playground (at sis's apartment) and Joian really had a fun time there.

At the concert, Joian was rather cranky, again, he kept demanding to watch Thomas. Sigh... we gave in... cos there were too many people and I wanted to feed him.... Look at how obsessed he was with Thomas.

Alicia's performance, managed to take pic.

Aloysius was totally blocked by others...

After the concert, at the hotel lobby.

A day spent at Changi airport - 5 Dec

Spent an afternoon at airport with sis and cousin (Helen)

Helen, sis and the kids went up onto the bouncing castle. At Joian didn't want to play.  Anyway I was afraid to go up onto the castle. However seeing his cousins queuing for their turns, he wanted to join them. So sis helped to look after him, while I looked after little Julien. I didn't manage to take their photos cos I bumped into my ex-colleague.

After playing, we went to Mac for dinner. Naughty Joian needed alot of prompting and urging to finish his dinner. I had to keep saying, 'Ah Por said you must eat...' then he would eat, after glancing at Helen.

Helen left after the dinner, sis and I stayed on and we went to the fountain. The kids love the fountain, even little Julien enjoyed looking at the water.

Weaning Joian off his pacifier

Was quite apprenhensive about weaning Joian off his pacifier. My friend shared with me that her girl cried for three days... I was really worried that I would give in to his cries.  On 17 Dec, while hubby was on night shift, I decided to try.
We watched the Kung Fu Panda together, halfway through the movie, I told him it was time to sleep. As usual he asked for his pacifier, but I told him there wasn't any pacifier for him. I switched off the light. As expected, he cried, really loudly and badly, and I really felt so heartached. In the midst of his crying, he asked me to wear my specs and switch on the light, so that he could look for his pacifier. For about thirty minutes, he cried non-stop, until he saw the DVD cover of the panda. That distracted him, and I started to talk and sing to him... He did ask for his pacifier again, but still I told him no, and surprisingly, he accepted my 'no' and he slept!!!!!!
In the middle of the night, he did wake up, asking for it, again when I said no, he cried a bit and went back to his sleep!!! wow... I was thinking Joian is such a good boy :)
On the next day, when we were getting ready for his nap, he asked me again for his pacifier. When I said no, he also accepted my answer and took his nap without pacifier!!!
For subsequent nights and naps, he would still ask (maybe hoping that I will give), but he would 'guai guai' accept the fact.
Thus.... weaning is successful!!!!

Little milestones

Have not been posting... real busy?! Actually is - by the time I have the time of my own, it is usually late and I am very tired and too lazy to post.
Anyway, this post is to remind hubby and myself what our darling is capable of doing nowadays :)
Joian is now able to decide what he wants.  Initially everything would be a 'No'.  Then one day, we just taught him to say 'Yes', and from then onwards, he would say 'Yes' to the things he wants. Then one day (dunno which day), at my MIL's place, I heard him saying 'I don't want', and now is always 'don't want' when he really doesn't want.
Whenever he is in the car, or walking anyplace near the road or in the car park (as long as he sees vehicles), he would identify the vehicles - lorry, taxi, van, bus, car, motorbike and bicycle... I was so amazed by his recognition of the various types of taxi, be it blue, red, yellow, silver etc... As for bus, initially he identified mini bus as van, so I told him that that is also a bus, but it is a small bus. Again I was amazed, cos he remembers that, and is now able to recognise those small school buses as buses.
When Joian first stacked his cubes, he was so excited and kept clapping his hands whenever he finished stacking. Today he was holding his 4 favourite blocks, which are cuboids. He was trying to stack them on their smaller faces, rather than the bigger faces. Hence hubby told him that it was not possible for him to stack in that manner (as it requires steadiness and balance). However, Joian was able to stack 3 of them together, and he was so happy, so were we :)
His favourite toys, shows and books - Thomas the train and his friends. He could identify Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, Percy, James, Bertie, Annie, Clarabel, Bert, Arry, Mike...