the-missus-blogs.com

Do you remember your first doll? I don’t. But I do remember growing up with a few barbies and soft toys – my first barbie was gifted by an aunt. She had very tanned skin with black long hair. A far cry from the blondes we had at that point. Years on, we had collected a few more thanks to our parents and sis and I used to play hair-salon where we’d literally cut off the barbie’s hair and give them a nice bob hair style. We’d even include a hair wash, lol.

Till today I wonder how come I don’t own my very own hair salon :D Coz I already had an inkling that bob hair style would be in fashion

Besides that, we also had a lot of soft toys. There was this one particular bear that my dad’s best friend gave me as a toddler. I kept it until I was about 18 years I think, hanging on to it so I could pass it to my child. One day I came home only to be told by my parents that some relatives from Sri Lanka had come to visit with their small child. They thought it would be nice for the child to have that bear (it’s as big as a 3 year old). It was their first time meeting them and they gave that kid my BEAR!!I was definitely most pissed by that action. So here I am wondering today how’s that bear doing in Sri Lanka, whether it truly did make it back to my grandparents land safely or whether that kid dumped it somewhere in KL before moving back coz I reckon that bear could not possible fit any suit case.

Story of my bear’s life Let me see if I can find a photo of me with that bear and put it here later.

Sairah has a few soft toys with no particular favorite. So when I took her to MV to choose either a bag or doll, she rejected most dolls that I had shoved in front of her face.

Then the other visit it finally dawn upon me that she was rejecting dolls that were hard-ish in nature. By that I mean more sturdy, life like dolls. She was a lil afraid of the doll that looks like a baby. Actually I  found the almost life-like baby creepy too. She didn’t want any Barbie dolls either. At least my baby is quite realistic – nobody looks plasticky and perfect like Barbie pre-surgery aight?

It was then I saw this soft rag doll, picked it up and gave it to her. It was literally love at first sight!!

Her dad picked it up, paid at the counter and before the sales lady could even put it in a plastic bag, my baby leaned forward and grabbed it.

I love you SO much and will never let you out of my life!

She has since picked up the word Doll and now because this doll is slightly bigger than the rest, she calls it BIG DOLL. My clever girl can already put words together! Why soon she’ll be forming sentences including leave me alone mommy you’re so annoying!

But it’s her sheer happiness everytime she sees her doll that gets to me. She proceeds to say doolllllll, big doll and give her a BIG hug. She knows how to love something that probably doesnt love her back (coz it’s a doll, duh!)

Imma proud owner of a DOLL.

So now the doll goes everywhere we go. It’s like having another child around, except this one doesn’t require any nappy changing (thank god), food and most importantly doesnt kick up a fuss. Hurrah.

Even when I’m eating my favorite yoghurt, I still am showing love to my doll.

Yea Moo Cow yoghurt – still her fav! Wonder if  Big Doll would approve

And moms too Her look on her face is priceless. MORE please.

Sometimes I wonder, are women just more loving because they grew up already knowing how to love our dolls?

Either way, having a dolly around, certainly makes her happy. It would make any baby girl happy!

A liberal education is at the heart of a civil society, and at the heart of a liberal education is the act of teaching. ~ A. Bartlett Giamatti

I obsess alot about Sairah’s education. You can say I want nothing but the best for her. Which is why her father thinks moving to Australia would do her wonders, where education is concerned. Anyway, as parents we all just want the best where our kids are concerned. Geez, I sound like my parents now!

I’ve been contemplating on which is the best age to send her to pre-school. I definitely believe she will benefit alot out of this since she has the knack to learn but I don’t want to start her off too soon as well coz I”m afraid she might end up being ‘bored’ of school.

Pre-school aside, we went ahead with a trial lesson @ Musikhaus in Sunway Giza Mall. Musikhaus is an enrichment centre which focuses on over all child development. Yup, sure, it’s a bit further away for us to travel but they are so far the most affordable @ RM350 per term / 10 lessons. Which breaks down to classes once a week for 2.5 months. Totally do-able!

Mom, I’m going to an enrichment centre?? Thought you said we were heading to the MALL?

We arrived early which was a good thing coz that gave baby girl some time to warm up and play for a bit.

Cutting up some pizza slices, lol

We attended the Musikhaus for Babies which cater to bubs of 0-18 months though I really can’t imagine babies of under 6 months going to enrichment centres.

Didn’t take too many photos of our session out of privacy issues and respect plus I didn’t see other parents whip out their cameras. They probably dont have blogs me think. Basically it was a 45 minutes session of singing, dancing, teaching kids how to play with toys, drums, balls, teaching them words and motions….

A friend once  told me there’s no point in all this because you can ‘re-create’ the same at home. Why pay money for this she said. But I disagreed. Because at home, it is just you and familiar faces for the child, in a class like this, a child learns how to socialize, be comfortable with strangers and above all, learn how to play with others. They develop social skills this way and in the process, learn new things too. It’s about pushing the boundaries and familiarizing a child outside her comfort zone. You absolutely cannot re-create this at home. At all. Well unless that is, you manage to get your hands on their handbook and make sure you have at least 6-8 kids around at all times then count me in please! Most importantly, must be free la hor

Each session requires one parent. But since we were under the trial, both of us joined in…

Lil drummer girl in the making

It’s interesting to see how kids react to what the teacher had to say/do. Some cried when the toys/props were taken away, some were so chilled out while some didn’t even care what was going on, lol….too cute! My little one was quick to repeat some of the words and actions showed by their teacher. But she did cry when she packed away the balls, infact she started crawling towards her so she could grab one, lol. She did play nice with other kids which I’m pleased, even shared her toys with those babies (well except for the drum, she didn’t want the BIG ones but the smaller one pictured above) AND I LOVE the clean up song where it teaches kids to put back their toys after play-time (something which I never took notice of until the class coz people have the tendency of cleaning up after me, ahem).

As a mom, I definitely did learn a few tricks from that class and I’m convinced Sairah did too. So we did the first step and registered her for future classes which is a non-refundable deposit of RM60. We didn’t commit to the package yet because classes cannot be carried forward, only replaced within that week as they teach new things every week. Since our weekends are packed until March/early April, we’ll be dropping by and paying walk-in fees as and when we can make it. You may check out their pricing and schedule here.  You can choose to do half term if you want.

But if you know of any cheaper place then holla. Look at me, want the best in education but want the cheapest, lol.

You also know a class was a good one when your kid knocks out in the car after her first lesson! I definitely can’t complain

Here she is @ Republika for her favorite noodle lunch @ Eat Village.

As for her outfit, I wanted her to wear something BRIGHT for her first lesson. Something that says Hi everyone, it’s my first day of class and I’m so bubbly and approachable, please beeeee my friend! LOL.

‘To have a friend, you have to BEE a friend’ Geddit???! That’s what it says on her tee. Yea I got it from Manila and the belt buckle adds a nice touch to the outfit. Wearing a comfie outfit that enables a baby to move effortlessly during class is a MUST

And as of Sunday, she can officially say ‘SCHOOL’. After I drilled that word a million times into her head. I was aiming for enrichment centre, lol but thought it was a bit too much, ahem.

Enrichment centre! Say it child!

Totally random, we briefly dropped by A&W in PJ since I had some vouchers to use. As we were leaving I noticed these kiddie rides. Man, they look like they’re at least 30 years old!! A true classic, a real antique! I might have probably sat on it as a kid coz we used to frequent A&W…….good times and memories.

I put Sairah on one of it, put in a 50 cent coin and that kid got scared after a while and wanted to jump out. Hmpf, there goes my coin but at least she got to sit on something her mom probably did, manyyyy years ago

I wonder how many people have actually stopped to admire these rides? Truly a reflection of the past and good childhood memories.

When it comes to cooking vegetables,  a bottle of oyster sauce is truly my best friend :D  I almost don’t know how to cook vegetables if I don’t have oyster sauce in it.

So the other day a little light bulb came on and I wondered if I could make green curry with egg tofu mixed with medley of vegetables. I’m a genius.

I boiled the vegs before hand to make it soft and did the usual to derive my green curry. Nothing to spicy coz my baby girl was gonna have this for lunch too and wala, here’s the end result:

She loved the curry with cauliflower to my surprise. And indeed this was a good change from the usual oyster-sauce-based vegetables :D  And green curry with chicken for that matter. For some reason she wasn’t a fan of the egg tofu but I read most kids don’t usually like it for some strange reason. No matter how much I tried to ‘hide’ the tofu with the cauliflower and rice, she’d eat everything else and spit out the tofu.

That’s when I found this other recipe for tofu. And it worked like a charm because that baby ate her damn tofu and even asked for more!

Using 1 pack of extra firm tofu, cut them into small cubes and pat dry. Season with some corn flour, salt, pepper and garlic salt. Fry in oil until brown and keep aside. Even if you want to stop at this stage, it’s no biggie coz it taste pretty delicious already! In a pan, chop 2 clove garlic, a small 1 inch piece of ginger and mix one tablespoon soy sauce with 1 tablespoon sesame oil. The recipe called for vinegar which I used but found it a tad salty (it went well with rice though, just a tiny bit salty on its own) so you may omit that. Throw in tofu to mix with sauce and this is the end result:

And I digress, here’s a photo of my soon to be 17 month old baby with her thick mop of hair taken during her dad’s b’day dinner. Looks like she has inherited my fast-growing-hair genes coz her hair seems to grow EXTREMELY fast, something which her father wish he could inherit, he he.

My future Doctor. Oh hai, I’m Dr Sairah – your doctor today. I really oughta prescribe you a slice of chocolate cake a day for nothing makes the heart and soul happier than a slice of rich chocolate cake. True story

It’s scary how some kids can be so vain….

And so good at mimicking their moms. She watches me put on makeup and now she knows how to pretend to apply lipgloss, put on eyeshadow and heck even blot her face with my oil blotter. The father keeps telling her she’ll never need all this coz she’s a natural beauty, unlike her mother

Moving on, I also made some Indian style potatoes to go with rice. I know right, carbs with carbs – don’t judge!

It was fairly simple and easy. I used 2 russet potatoes which I cut and boiled until soft. In a clean pan, dry roast cumin seeds (about 1 teaspoon, more wouldnt hurt!) until brown and aromatic. I used a spoon to smash it down further to form an almost powder form. Keep aside. Once the potato is boiled, mash it down with a fork. Heat pan, and fry 3 clove chopped garlic, half chopped onions and 1 chopped red chill. Add in a handful of cherry tomatoes (cut in half) and then add in potatoes and mix with some salt, pepper and roasted cumin. Garnish with spring onions.

Sinfully carbilious!

Both these two recipes are courtesy of this site I made slight changes to the recipe.

This is what the hubby brought to the table. Curry derived from a PASTE packet!! But he went on cooking and pretending like he was some chef  whipping out a new recipe. So annoying. More annoying when he went ‘mmm soo goood’ like as though he cooked this up from scratch. MEN!

And among all that food, this is a photo of Sairah after her hair cut  given by the most awesome hair-stylist – ME It’s becoming increasingly HARD to even cut her hair in an even manner coz she cries the minute any one of us touches her hair! It’s so hard to give her a straight even fringe thesedays.

Am not pleased with my side swept fringe woman!

This is what I have to say about mom cutting my hair!

Awesome tutu from BB Luvs Me online store, incase anyone is keen

YES I shall RUN away from that wicked witch the next time I see her coming at me with her scissors. I’ll run run as fast as I can and take me where my legs will take me to…..

Le sigh, any recommendations for a good kiddie hair dresser?

I LOVE bags. There is no doubt about that. I would happily accept any kind of bag

A few weeks ago, my little one was totting around this recycling bag (probably mimicking her mother)  and it was just too cute!

But I also felt sad for her coz it was a freaking recycling bag so I set out for her father to get her her own FIRST pink bag.

Okay don’t know what’s she’s pointing at!  

Daddy duty calls

I LOVE Toys R Us on a weekday, seriously! Less kids shouting out to their parents (there was this one kid the other day that told the father he just wants to buy something ‘cheap’, haha too adorable!) to buy them toys and less crowd. Period.

This is the creepy stroller for kids I was mentioning in previous post. Only realized I had accidently taken a photo of it when I went home and checked my camera, hehe.

But before she picked out her bag, we shoved a few baby dolls in front of her, waiting to see if she wanted another doll. It was either gonna be the doll or a bag. She immediately pushed it away and refused to hold these dolls. Talk about total rejection!

Then I picked up this pink Barbie bag for her and this happened:

Hahahaha. There is no doubt that she is indeed MY girl right there!!

I solemly pledge together hand in hand with mommy, we will get that sucker daddy to buy us more bags and expand our collection.

Oooo daddie I love this, can I have this pleaseee *puppy eye look*

Walking around with her pink bag, like a lady boss!

Still holding onto her bag when we got home. That grinning look right there belongs to every woman who gets a new bag.

Needless to say, this bag goes with us everywhere we go now…but there is no denying I sometimes like to sling it on her coz it’s just a super duper cute look on her Sling bags are awesomeeee

Oh I’m just striking a pose with my awesome pink barbie bag….this shot iz awesome!

Hmm I think I could do with more bags. I’m thinking of a different color…

Anyway, we were still trying to figure out why did she reject those dolls and then it hit me that perhaps she’s loyal to her current baby doll

But a few days later I found out I was wrong………tell you later.

For now, who knew a RM45 bag can make a 16 month old very happy.

Best we enjoy these precious moments before she turns into an annoying teenager who demands for a more expensive bag, haha.

I took about 300 odd photos during the CNY weekend And I’ll probably be doing the same this LONG weekend since we’ve got a few things lined up.

Thought I’d just put the photos up instead of letting them sit on my folder

This was on Saturday @ Fahrenheit 88. It was our first time there, went to redeem my pizza voucher at California Pizza Kitchen.

Daddy take the menu and stop scribbling on my paper!

I read on a few blogs about how ‘awesome’ their red velvet cake was suppose to be. Priced at RM22 a pop, I thought I would be experiencing something out of this world. Sad to say the cake had almost NO flavor to it and all we could taste was SUGAR and more sugar!! Honestly what the fark is wrong with some people and their taste buds la? How is this anywhere awesome? I really would suggest to CPK to get in touch with Upstairs Cafe and ask them to supply you their red velvet cakes coz this one was just pathetic!

Looks good, but pathetic. Can’t believe we blew this much for a stupid slice of cake. Yes a week later I”m still very pissed and sore – in a bad way!

That said, food in CPK is pretty good. Just stay away from their desserts!!

Nah – proof we were in Fahrenheit 88

Sairah’s outfit:

Penguin Pink Tee: Gift from my cousin – her favorite Uncle

Leggings with tutu attached: From Jusco – I first saw this and absolutely fell love with it. They have various colors with attached tutus. Too cute!! And priced at RM15.90 – a total steal. Right now I”m looking for a BLACK tank top for her but can’t seem to find one – any ideas??

Taking in the CNY deco:

And lion dance

On Sunday we decided to go to Sunway Pyramid. SP has always been my fav mall back in Uni. But we find it increasingly hard to go there without worrying if we’ll ever find a car park.

I love the expression on both father and daughter.

If she was 20 years older, she’d be gawking and looking at the jewerly. Alas, a kid will be a kid hence her fascination with the balloons. Plus it helps that she’s short

Super heart this shot – she looks like she’s ready to shop and spend her dad’s money, lol

Oops wrong store mom – all too big for me.

This was on Tuesday, last day of our long weekend, so we decided to check Sunway Giza Mall.  Yea you can tell we’re quite the mall-hopper rats during festive season

Mall was pretty dead, but luckily there was this nice looking kiddie play area which Sairah dominated! Only because she was the only kid around there.

A lady does not flash her diapers in public Sairah, hehe.

Haha overly dressed for the playground you reckon? A fashionista’s woe

Enjoyed every second watching her play. She was full of curiousity and just loves the slide. Now gotta convince her dad to invest in one so I can leave it at mom’s place for her to play

Happiness is in a slide mommie. Kids…..they’re just so naive, LOL.

Coffee break @ Austin Chase with her new baby doll.

I think I’ve most certainly fully utilized this Pumpkin Patch dress on her. If I ever feature her wearing this dress again on this blog, please shoot me or donate some money pleaseee.

Flippin a car magazine, just like what daddy likes to do over a good cup of coffee.

I look forward to this LONG weekend again, less mall trips, infact we’ll be having a little road trip with our girl. Can’t wait! Enjoy the long weekend y’all coz it’s gonna be a while before there’s another public holiday