Monday, August 22, 2011

Yiu-Shern - 25 Months


2 August 2011 @ 25 Months


Potty
Don't be deceived by the photo above. The photo shows that Shern is sitting on his potty. But actually, he was just posing while seating on his potty.
No, Shern is not yet potty-trained. I don't think he would be for the time being. He simply can't sit still long enough for him to poo. And if I bring him the potty while he is poo-ing, his poo would just simply vanished. He somehow 'sucked' the poo back and would refuse to poo while in the potty.
Sigh. I guess I fail in this potty training session. So forget it. For the time being at least. I am as stressed as him.


Speech
The most significant improvement these days is his speech development. It's really amazing that his speech improved so much. To think that I was worrying about him being a late talker just a few months ago, with him only calling 'mummy' and 'daddy' at 20 months. And now Shern is already speaking in sentences, although in short sentences most of the time.

Sometimes he can manage pretty long sentences too, like the sentence about flying, and can also made himself be understood.

"Cannot touch fire, can burn leg, burn hand" - whenever he sees fire
"This car cannot talk, only Spencer can talk" - he has this Spencer train which can talk if button pressed
"Mummy talk to aunty, cannot ar" - he doesn't want me to talk to my friend
"Only pho-pho house got cartoon" - knowing that he can only watch cartoon (tv) in pho-pho's house.

So you can see I am pretty much amazed by the sudden leap in his speech development.

I also sent an email to Miss Evelyn Oh at Pacific Speech Therapist to update her about my son's speech development, and also to thank her for the guidance she gave me months ago.


Toys
Nothing changed. He is still very much into his toy cars, zooming them everywhere in the house. On the table, on the floor, on walls, etc. And most of the time, he has one car in his hands even when we are going out.

But like I mentioned, he likes his wooden loop-y toy and I've recently trying to get him interested in playing his blocks. So far, all he is interested in is knocking them down. Sometimes he would stack 3-4 pieces and then he would knock them down for sure.


Books
One thing I am very grateful for. Shern loves books. He couldn't get enough of them. He reads any books as long as I read them in an interesting manner, and of course it helps when the books have colourful illustrations. Sometimes I am rather wary when I hear Shern says "mummy, read book", because he would say it again once I am done.
"mummy, read book again". Yes, he knows how to use the word 'again'.

Most of his books I bought from Leo Bookstore. Most of them second-hand which costs me about RM3-8 each. Very good bargain as they are still in good condition and many of them are hardcover imported books.


Pacifier
He is not that addicted to his pacifier anymore. He still asks for it, but not so addicted anymore. And I recently noticed that when he is at home, he seldom asks for it. He knows that the pacifier is only when he sleeps and is in the bedroom.
But when he is in pho-pho's house, he somehow whines for it whenever he thinks of it. And sometimes he gets it.

I read this quote somewhere which says "children are spoilt because no one will spank grandma". I find it so true. :)


Walking
Bringing Shern out sometimes is such a chore. Because most of the time, he refuses to walk. And he refuses to sit in his stroller.
Nowadays since he can understand us more, I tell him "mummy cannot carry you because you are too heavy. My hand hurts". He looked at me as if he understands and then he would turn over to hubby and says "daddy carry". Wahhh....


Food
Shern somehow prefers noodles over rice. He eats rice too of course, but if you let him spot any of us having noodles, he would say "ai mee-mee".

Shern also likes cheese and yogurt, which is fine to me. And these days, he prefers Vitagen over Yakult. He calls it "purple" because he likes the grape flavoured Vitagen.

And his favourite snack recently is "milo with biscuit" - Hup Seng biscuit dipped into Milo drinks, and "bread with egg-egg" - bread dipped into half-boiled egg.

Last time I do not know how to make half-boiled egg without the 'Half-boiled Egg Cooker thingy'. You know, the yellow plastic tupperware which you put your eggs in. And when the water finished dripping, then your half-boiled eggs are ready.
As my house don't have one, I learned to make half-boiled eggs manually, which is by doing the timing myself.

Method: Bring water in a pot to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the fire. Put your eggs in (cold from the fridge) and time it for 3 minutes or slightly a few seconds more if you prefer a less runny yolk.

I am now a half-boiled egg expert. :P


Recent Things

Overall, Shern had a good month, as he always do. He went to KL and Lumut, ate satays and siput like a pro, swooshed down the giant slides in Adventure Zone, and even managed to get a huge swollen bruise on his forehead.
What a month!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

USA: Palace of Fine Arts - San Francisco, California - 8 May 2011

After a good night sleep at Sheraton Pleasanton, the next morning, we headed to San Francisco (SFO). First stop was to Palace of Fine Arts.

In the coach, I was happily snapping photos because the buildings in SFO are so beautiful.
Like these 2 beautiful buildings.


And just like the previous 17-Mile Drive post, photos are unedited and taken raw from my point-and-shoot camera, except for the ugly watermark of course! :P

Ok, some facts of the Palace of Fine Arts.
Palace of Fine Arts is a monumental structure originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art presented there.
One of only a few surviving structures from the Exposition, it is the only one still situated on its original site. It was rebuilt in 1965, and renovation of the lagoon, walkways, and a seismic retrofit were completed in early 2009.

Upon reaching there, we couldn't help but gasp in awe of how majestic the place is. I've been here before, but it was hubby's first visit there.


The moment we stepped out of the coach, we immediately ran back to take our jackets. It was cold and rather windy, which is normal in SFO.


I love the central rotunda situated by the water. Taking photos here is really nice.
Eh...just realized we both looked as if half our body were immersed in the water. ;P


Hubby's hands were hidden in his pocket because it was really cold
We asked someone to help us take a photo of the 2 of us - we were both half hugging because of the cold. :P


Hubby standing in front of the Colonnades


Me standing nearer to the rotunda.




These tall Colonnades are big and yet not obstructive-looking. Love them.


Love the blue skies. Skies in SFO seems to be much blue-r compared to Malaysia. Is that true?




Love this door. Love the colour and the pattern. And like all the structures here, it is huge as well.


I always love to take photos near the water or a pond.





If I live there, I will definitely go there to take my wedding photographs here. ;0)

Address:
Palace of Fine Arts Theatre
3301 Lyon Street
San Francisco, CA 94123

p/s - Click here for more of my USA trip.

Friday, August 19, 2011

USA: 17-Mile Drive, California - 7 May 2011

I should blog about Las Vegas and Grand Canyon because that was where we went after Omaha. But then as I looked back on the photos, I couldn't help but skip to San Francisco photos because they are just so very beautiful.

SFO is officially my favourite city thus far. It is a small city which gives me a cozy feeling, unlike other cities in US which are too big for me.

Ok, let's start with the 17-Mile Drive, which is a scenic road through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach on our way to San Francisco. I tell you, the place is just awesome. The 17-Mile Drive is 9.6 miles (15.4km long) from the dramatic Pacific Coastline to the majestic Del Monte Forest.
The 17-mile Drive is a toll-road and when we were there in May 2011, it was $9.50. Quite an expensive drive I think, but I still think it was so worth it.

There are 21 stops along the whole scenic drive, but we stopped only for a few. If I remember correctly, we stopped at The Restless Sea, Bird Rock, The Lone Cypress, and The Lodge at Pebble Beach.

Ok, let the beautiful photos do the talking.
Let me first tell you that these photos are unedited, taken raw from my humble point-and-shoot camera.

Ain't the beach beautiful?
The day was so clear and the sky was so blue.


This is the Bird Rock stop. This is one of the most beautiful scenic stop, especially if you like birds, seals and sea lions.


The place was actually very, very windy and cold.




Couple shots here is a must. Very romantic.




If you see closely, you will notice the big rock behind us was actually full of birds, seals and sea lions.


Zooming my camera in...resulting in a blurry photo. But now you can see those birds clearer.


Hubby looking into the telescope...


And this is what we saw.....cool huh?


The next stop was The Lone Cyprus, which is one of California's most enduring landmarks. The Lone Cypress, which is a salt pruned tree, has prevailed on its rocky perch for over 250 years and this icon is the official symbol of Pebble Beach.




Amazing blue skies. Unedited. I'm still amazed. Wow.






The last stop we went to was The Lodge at Pebble Beach.
Built in 1919, The Lodge is the heart and soul of Pebble Beach and home to the world-famous Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Lining the way to The Lodge are souvenir shops.


The Lodge




The entrance to The Lodge.


Upon entering, you go through the building and then unto the terrace which will lead you to this spectacular view of the golf course. The vast greens is so amazing, or maybe because I haven't been to any gold course before. Haha.


We both took a photo near the famous 18th hole.


View of the place.


This is hubby with The Lodge behind him. We wanted to sit on the terrace while sipping tea with the amazing view, but too bad the table were full.


So we ended up sitting inside near a real fireplace.


And we ordered this ridiculously high-priced Chocolate Fondue. But it was amazing. First time I tasted raspberries. And first time I had toasted marshmallows. Haha.
And the chocolate dip has this 'Pebble Beach Resorts' plasticky design on top which was edible. Really incredible.


After that delicious Chocolate Fondue, we headed to our hotel in Pleasanton. Pleasanton is a suburb in the San Francisco Bay Area.
We stayed in Sheraton Pleasanton there and it would take us about 45 minutes to get to San Francisco. Yes, it is way cheaper to stay there than in SFO.


Sheraton Pleasanton


Our room

Next would be San Francisco, which will be my next USA post. ;)

Info Source: wikipedia.com / pebblebeach.com
Hotel photo source: http://www.hotels.com

p/s - Click here for more of my USA trip.

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