Bri Bri can spell more words now :)

I am so proud of my little boy :) Ever since I started teaching him how to type and spell using Microsoft Words about one over month ago, he has learnt how to type and spell more words now and can do them on his own. My mom taught him some of those words too.

Now he can type his full name and knows how to use the space bar too! He can type his alphabets A-Z, type all the numbers 1 -10. He can also spell "apple, orange, mummy, open, jump, up, cow, dog, cat, hat, ball, etc." At one time he also knew how to spell "umbrella" but now for whatever reason, he refuses to spell it correctly and would type "ubmummy" instead! lol

When he is in the mood and this doesn't happen always, he would even spell words out without using the keyboard. He did it once for his doctor, spelling his name "Brian" and "Apple." I think Dr Wong was impressed as she said it is rare for children to be spelling at his age. lol

It is so funny that he has a speech delay and can't speak properly but can already spell! He has also mastered a number of other things including how to change the astro to his favourite cartoon channel. He would know which remote control to pick up out of all the remote controls we have and press 613 on his own! Whenever we change channel, he would change back the channel on his own. If you want to know what cartoons are on the Disney channel 613, I can probably tell you most of the cartoons and at what time. haha

Praise God my little Bri Bri is growing well and getting smarter by the day :)

Bri Bri Starting to call us.

Few weeks ago, Bri Bri has started calling us more. Before that he would usually call everyone "Eh,eh,eh" and usually refused to call us properly. Now he calls my mom "Por" and calls me "Mi" lol. He calls for my mom most of the time and when he can't see Por Por, he will go stand on the stairs, put his hand on his mouth and start shouting "Por, Por, Por" until grandma answers him. lol

At a few occasions when we were outside, it would be terribly embarrassing when he calls for us loudly. One Sunday after church, we were having lunch at Jaya 33, near my parent's old house. My parents had finished eating and as Bri Bri was still slowly eating, my dad went to the toilet first. After a few minutes, my mom went to look for him. As soon as she was gone, Bri Bri kept calling for her, at first quite softly then it got louder and louder and he started screaming, "Por, Por, Por" non stopped! Everyone was staring at us at that point. We quickly packed Bri Bri's things and took him out of the restaurant to look for his favourite Por Por! lol That was not the only incident he did that and I'm sure there will be plenty more in the future. It is ridiculous how we were longing for him to call us and once he did, he doesn't know how to stop. haha I think when he starts talking properly, he will be a real chatter box!

Brian and Microsoft Words

For the past 1 to 2 weeks, I've been teaching Brian how to type using Microsoft Words. I started with the alphabets and then teaching him to spell his name. Today, to my surprised, he could spell his own name and find the letters 'B' 'r' 'i' 'a' 'n' all on his own! After typing his name with success, he would clap his hands and shout yeah! Occasionally he would also spell it out as he finds the letters to his name. I am so proud of him :)

Now, he can also almost do the whole alphabets on his own from A-Z. Sometimes he would make a small mistake here and there and I have to guide him a little. I have also started to teach him how to spell other words and how to use the enter key and the space bar. He catches on quite quickly :) It is so interesting to see him learn new things. After teaching him for a short while, I usually let him play the keyboard on his own and type whatever he wants. So most of the time, he would happily key in any jumble up letters and sometimes repeats them over and over again. lol

I think he will master typing before he learns how to write. haha

Smart Bri Bri

Bri Bri is getting smarter and smarter. Thank God for that but occasionally, he uses his brain to try to be naughty. lol. Yesterday during lunch time when my maid was feeding him, he was sitting on his high chair and he was kicking her with his leg. I scolded him and I thought he had stopped.

I was sitting on his left side and couldn't see his right leg. He somehow knew I couldn't see his right leg and while his left leg has stopped kicking, his right leg was still kicking her! How smart is he? Oh my, the tricks that he can come up with! Only when I warned him that I was going to cane him did he stop kicking.

He also follows more instructions very well now and one of the things we like to ask him to do is to get tissue paper for us. lol. Then he would wait for us to finish using the tissue and throw the tissue for us. It's really funny to see him running to the dustbin to throw the tissue away. One day, he even threw his handkerchief in the dustbin. lol

He also imitates more actions and words from the cartoons he sees. One day, last week when he was watching Little Einsteins, he imitated them and said "zig zag, zig zag, up down, up down, duck duck." He also made animal sounds like the sound of the elephant when he saw it on the Mickey Mouse show. In fact, he can make a better elephant sound than me! :)

Yes, my Bri Bri is getting smarter day by day and I thank God for that.

Bri Bri and his alphabets

I have been down with flu and bad cough for the last 2 weeks :( Still haven't fully recovered but getting better. My mom has been spending more time with Bri Bri and have taught him more alphabets. Bri Bri is getting quite good recognizing his alphabets nowadays :)

When he was very young, he already knows the letter "O" and "A" which are his favourites. Now he knows the letter B, M, F, R, V and a few others as well. He can recognize all the alphabets and when you ask him where is a certain letter, he can point it out to you straight away. He can also say "buh" for ball and "mmm" for M. He has a wooden puzzle of alphabets and he knows which letter goes exactly where. He gets all of them right :) I'm so proud of him that he is understanding more and learning quite fast.

He has also mastered several other things like learning how to ride his tricycle, playing with certain toy puzzle correctly and keeping his toys when told (well not all the time). He is also following more actions and instructions in music class and is being more cooperative now. Also I've tried playing some computer games with him on a few occasions and I was pleasantly surprised that he could follow them. Especially this game in the "Big Big World" where you have to choose the correct shapes from 3 different clouds. Well, now he gets about 90% of it right most of the time :) Here is a link of the game http://pbskids.org/bigbigworld/home.html?externalPuppet=snook&externalAddRoom=none&action=game

Bri Bri certainly is growing up very fast :)

Mummy not well :(

I've been down with flu, sore throat, cough and fever since yesterday. I woke up with a sore throat and by afternoon, just felt like sleeping and not doing anything else. I've have distanced myself from Bri Bri so that I would not infect him. He slept with Por Por last night and will be sleeping with her again tonight. After taking the drowsy flu medication, I've been sleeping a lot! Sorry Bri Bri, mummy can't play with you yet. Can't hug hug and kiss kiss :( Can't sleep with you at night. Bri Bri has been blowing kisses to me and saying bye bye to me many times today. lol. I could only blow him kisses from a distance. Hopefully I can get well soon so I can shower him with hugs and kisses again.

Mummy, Where, There & No!

Bri Bri has started saying more words! :) In my earlier blogs if you have noticed, I mentioned that Bri Bri has a speech delay. He is normal in other areas and in fact understands us pretty well and can get what he wants with sign language. He also learns certain things quite fast like how to play with his toys, how to play his toy piano, how to on the TV and computer, etc. He even knows how to take out my specs when I'm wearing it, fold it nicely, puts it on the table and pull me away from the computer to play with him! :)

Anyway, 2 weeks ago, I was praying with my friend Susie and sharing with her my concern that Bri Bri can't really talk yet. We started praying in tongues for more than 20 minutes and both of us had the same message from God! God told me not to worry, to trust Him and that Bri Bri will start talking very soon and that He loves me and my family a lot! Susie heard the same message and told me so. I made her tell me the message first so I am sure that it is indeed true that we heard the same thing from God :)

Since then, I've noticed that Bri Bri has started being more alert and started making more sounds and actions. When watching cartoons, he would imitate what the characters are doing. He has been doing this all along but not with such accuracy :) For example, one of his favourite cartoons is Animal Mechanicals. When Sasquatch starts stretching, he will follow, first one hand, then the other, then one leg, then the other and then all 4 legs and hands. When unicorn starts flying, he will put his hands out like wings and imitate her J it’s really adorable. He has also started imitating some of the sounds that he listens like the cat’s meow or the cow’s moo. He doesn’t make these sounds often though.

Today was really exciting! I heard him said "mummy" clearly for the first time! He has called me Ma Ma before and kind of whispered Mummy in the past but today it was very clear. It happened in the afternoon right after lunch. I was playing with him and he accidentally knocked his head on my lips and as I sat there in immense pain with my lips bleeding, I heard him say, "mummy" as in asking if I was ok. Too bad I was in too much pain to enjoy him calling me at that time. Lol However, he refused to call me mummy again later L

Also he started saying "where" and "there" very clearly today J My mom asked him where a certain object was and he would point to it and say, “there!” Also when he was finding for something like his book, he would say “Where? Where?” and when he found his book, he would loudly declare, “there!” J

Another new thing he showed off today was when we asked him if there was someone at the door; he would shake his head real fast and say “No!” real loudly. Lol It’s quite hilarious as he would do it over and over again J

I’m so proud of you today Bri Bri J Keep it up and start saying more words my little darling sweetheart. Thank you God that Bri Bri has shown improvement and I trust you that he will start talking soon. Amen!

Bri Bri's first time in Kong Kong's office

Last Saturday, Bri Bri went to Kong Kong's office for the first time (my dad's office) He instantly made himself at home and went and sat on my dad's chair like a big boss :) lol He looked so cute that my mom couldn't resist taking some photos. Below are comments from my mom for each photo :)

The Little Big Boss

Little Big Boss Enjoys Snack; Secretary Hard At Work

The Little Big Boss

Two Of A Kind

Music class and buffet lunch

Yesterday was a busy day. In the morning, I took Bri Bri to music class. He usually loves going for music class and would participate nicely for most of the activities. However, this time, Bri Bri did not behave there. It has been like this for the past 2 weeks now. I have no idea what has come over him. He would start behaving nicely in the class and then midway he would have one of his tantrums and wants to be carried all the time.

Yesterday, half way through the class when the teacher asked them to crawl through a cloth like caterpillar tunnel, he refused. He has a similar toy tunnel like that at home and he loves it. For reasons unknown to me, he just refused to crawl through the tunnel. So never mind, I carried him and let him be. Then the next activity came which was one of his favourite, the teacher knew he loves to play drums and other similar instruments and I was sure she chose that activity to calm him down. Each student had to take turns to play the drum like instrument. Before it came to Bri Bri’s turn, he was still crying but as soon as it was his turn, he came down from my lap, took the sticks and started playing happily. As soon as his turn was up, he climbed right back into my lap and started crying again. He made so much noise that I had to carry him out of the class. He refused to go back in after that and I had to take him home early. I think the reason for his misbehaving was because he didn’t have a good night sleep the night before. However, once he reached home and saw Por Por, he was bubbly again and started dancing in front of the TV. Oh my, how the emotions and actions of little ones can change so very quickly.

Then later for lunch, we went to Sunway Pyramid for the same Japanese buffet in Shogun. This time my parents “belanja”. My parents had 2 visitors from US who joined us. Also my in laws joined as well. We had a great time eating our hearts out. After taking food for Brian, I took as many sashimi and sushi that I wanted. Yummy, yum, yum, my favourite! Brian was indeed tired that day and fell asleep right after having his lunch. Hope the promotion in Shogun will last for a long time. Anyone wants to join me for Japanese buffet on weekdays? :)

We took Bri Bri to Bukit Tinggi last Monday

Last Monday (7th September), because it was a public holiday for Selangor, my parents decided to take a day trip to Bukit Tinggi. It was hard to get up early that Monday morning because we had a games night and surprise birthday party for my friend Liz in my house the night before and some stayed till quite late.

Anyway, we got up on time and made our way there. We missed the turning to Bukit Tinggi as the sign was not very well written. We had to stop at a petrol station to ask for directions and U-turned back to find the turning. We finally arrived at Bukit Tinggi around 11am that morning. The weather was great. Cooling but not too cold. Brian initially liked walking around but later wanted to be carried all the time and got into one of his bad moods. So he ended up having his pacifier for the rest of the trip and almost all the photos we took had him with his pacifier on :( Nonetheless, we had a great time but probably only be visiting there again in another 2 years or so :)

I went to Bukit Tinggi, with Bri Bri, my parents, my aunty and my maid. All of us were cramped in my dad's car the entire journey there and back.

Bri Bri must be saying, "Hurry up lah mummy! Por Por and I are way ahead of you. " (See me walking behind with the stroller)

Bri Bri and Kong Kong taking a stroll along the French designed street :)

We saw some swans, white and black ones at a lower ground and went there to have a look. Bri Bri was not interested in the swans at all. Instead, he saw a playground nearby and wanted to go there. He had a good time playing on the slides and kept running around the playground. Didn't want to go back. lol

We went to the Japanese Garden after lunch before going home and the path that was going all the way up was semi blocked. My dad thought we couldn't drive the car up to the top of the hill and had to walk up approx 300 m, I think. We got ready the stoller and all in case Bri Bri couldn't walk all the way. To our surprised, he had more energy than us and managed to walk all the way up and didn't even pant like us! When we reached the top, we saw some cars there and the security guard told us that we could actually drive to the top! lol Anyway, it was a much needed and good exercise for all of us!

We bought some fish food for Bri Bri to feed the fish. Initially he didn't want to but later warmed up to it and enjoyed feeding them :) We finally reached home close to 4pm that day.

Bri Bri and us had yummy buffet today :)

For lunch today, my inlaws, Bri Bri's Mah Mah and Yeh Yeh took us for buffet at Shogun Japanese restaurant at Sunway Pyramid :) Japanese is my favourite food! I love sushi and shasimi! They were having a promotion. Usual price for lunch buffet is almost RM50 per person but during this promotion time for weekdays is only RM32 nett! The last time a friend and I went to One Utama for the dinner buffet, it cost us RM60 per person on a weekend! So this was a really good deal :)

Bri Bri ate some tempura vegetables plus some fried potato stuff. He also ate a piece of pizza which I did not know was spicy and he made a fuss after trying it by sticking out his tongue and all. Sorry Bri Bri, mummy didn't know the pizza was spicy :( He stopped eating his main meal after that and took some yummy cakes instead.

He also tried some fried soft shell crab that I was eating. He just pulled my hand that was holding the crab to his mouth to munch! No asking first! It's adorable at this age but when he is older, and he does this, he will sure get a scolding.

All of us that went for the buffet ate our hearts out :) My mom ate more than her usual and so did my inlaws. I ate as much shasimi, sushi and raw oysters that I wanted. So very yummy! Too bad my dad had to work and couldn't join us.

Thank you Bri Bri's mah mah and yeh yeh for such a nice lunch! Was still full at dinner time. haha

Bri Bri called Por Por

Bri Bri called Por Por (grandma) twice. Once last night and once this morning but unfortunately on both times, my mom did not hear it :(

Bri Bri has in the past called Por Por, Kong Kong, Mah Mah, Yeh Yeh and even Ma Ma (me) but he is very lazy in calling us and most of the time calls everyone "Eh eh eh" while pointing his fingers to show who he is calling. Sigh, don't know how to make him call us properly. Have taught him many times but he just won't do it.

Bri Bri in Port Dickson Part 2, Photos

We went to Thistle Port Dickson Resort. Nice place for vacation.

Bri Bri was scared of the beach and the ocean. My dad trying to calm him down to enjoy the water.

Bri Bri's pants got wet in the sea and he didn't like it. He held his pants while walking the whole time. He looked so cute and funny :)

Bri Bri playing in the small playground in the hotel.

The super king size bed in my room. Bri Bri loved this bed. It was really huge! He slept with pillows surronding him as we were afraid he might hurt himself on the wall. We had a total of 9 pillows on that bed! haha

The hotel wing where we stayed on the 6th floor. We were initially given 2 rooms on the 5th floor but after settling in for less than an hour, they asked us to move due to some maintenance work. sigh! :(

The children pool where Bri Bri did all his swimming.

Bri Bri after coming out of the pool on Saturday morning. Doesn't he look cute here? :)

Bri Bri rubbing nose with mummy in Legend resort chalet. A resort that we checked out just before dinner on Saturday evening. Bri Bri loves to rub nose and give us tiny kisses occasionally :)

Bri Bri smiling in a restaurant where we had dinner on Saturday evening. We were quite surprised to see a number of Muslim family "buka puasa" at this restaurant. It was the first day of "puasa". Later did we find out that the restaurant was acutally "halal". Haha, we ate a pork dish (kow lo yoke) and didn't realize that we were eating chicken!

The picture above him smilling shows that he found it noisy there :)

Bri Bri playing with his new ball that we bought on Saturday night in Tiara beach resort. We went to this resort to have a look see. It was really way out and hard to find. Somewhere at 13 mile or so. Looked like a mini Sunway Lagoon but not as nice as Thisle where we stayed. It didn't have access to the beach but has it's own man made beach. Bri Bri's new ball is quite special. When you throw it on the floor, it lights up. Bri Bri liked it alot :)

Bri Bri with kong kong (my dad). Bri Bri disliked walking on the sand. When a pile of sand went into his shoe, he froze and didn't want to walk anymore. Yucky, yucky sand!

Bri Bri having a great time in the swimming pool :)

Bri Bri eating conflakes after a long swim on Sunday morning :)

Last meal in PD at about 2pm before we left for home. Bri Bri was so sleepy at that time that he fell asleep in the middle of lunch! Poor thing. Must be really tired after swimming and playing with water for 2 hours in the morning. Bye Bye Port Dickson. Will be back again :)

Bri Bri in Port Dickson Part 1

Last Thursday, my dad suddenly announced that we were going to Port Dickson (PD) for the weekend for a short break. So the next morning, we travelled to PD. It was Bri Bri's 3rd time to PD. The first 2 trips were with the whole family when my hubby was still around. The first trip we went when Bri Bri was only 7 or 8 months old and the 2nd was when he was about a year old. So I was excited to see how he would react to the beach at this slightly older age.

We went around looking for a suitable hotel to stay and finally decided on the Thistle Port Dickson Resort. It used to be Guoman and just 2 months ago changed management and got refurbished, thus it is now called Thistle.

We had a great time there :) Bri Bri loved the hotel rooms. We booked 2 connecting rooms. 1 with a super king size bed which I shared with Bri Bri and my maid and another room with 2 twin beds that my parents took. Bri Bri loved running from one room to another and back. He also loved the swimming pool and had a great time swimming there.

However, he was quite scared of the beach and ocean and didn't even like walking on the sand. If he could talk, I bet he would say "Yucky, yucky sand" Also when his pants got wet in the sea, he would hold his pants up with both hands in great discomfort and walked in a very funny way :)

We ended up staying 2 nights instead of one as Bri Bri had such a good time. We finally left the hotel on Sunday afternoon at 1 something. Would love to return there again some day :)

My mom was the photographer and ended up taking nearly a thousand photos during the trip! Will post some of the photos tonight :)

Bri Bri saying more words today :)

This morning as Bri Bri wanted my mom to follow him to a room, he said "come" :)

Also in music class today, when the teacher asked him to repeat after her and say "boom, boom, boom", he followed. When the teacher asked another kid to repeat the same words louder, Bri Bri stood up and shouted out "Boom, boom, boom"

I am so proud of him that he is opening up and saying more words :)

Bri Bri is well again :)

Thank God that Bri Bri is completely well today. No cough and no running nose. He is back to his bubbly self.

He is getting very strong! When he gets excited, he tends to beat us excitedly in a playful way and it can be painful. He also likes to bounce on us when we lie down. He is strong for his age and has been very strong since birth. I guess we named him correctly as the meaning of his name is strong :)

Bri Bri has started driving!

See him driving my dad's car! haha sometimes my dad lets him play on his lap when the car is parked! Yes Brian has started driving but only his toy car. lol. This picture was taken with my phone camera about 2 weeks ago while my mom was outside buying fruits. He looks so grown up, doesn't he? :)

Bri Bri not feeling well today

This morning Bri Bri woke up with a chesty cough :( He also has running nose so we decided not to go to church this morning.

He just took some medication and is sleeping right now. Hope he gets well soon. He just recovered from flu about 2 weeks ago. Last week, I myself was down with flu. I'm recovering quite well now with only slight traces of it. I hope I didn't pass the flu back to Bri Bri. Almost everyone in the household has had flu and it started from him. I pray he doesn't get the flu bug again :(

Bri Bri sleeps with me every night on my king size bed. He is a terrible sleeping partner! He toss and turns and kicks! He has even kicked me 3 times in the face before! Sometimes when I wake up, I find him sleeping upsidedown with his feet near my face! He also constantly kicks off his blanket and I have to wake up few times at night to cover him up again. At times, he would wake up asking for water or for his "cuit cuit" (pacifier) Yes, he still takes pacifier at this age especially when he wants to sleep. I don't know how to stop him from it. One day we got rid of his pacifiers and in the middle of the night he woke up and won't stop crying for it till my father and I have to go out and buy some back! It was past midnight!!!

Anyway, I pray that Bri Bri will get well soon and will not fall ill so easily again.

A photo of Bri Bri sleeping with his soft toy doggie named Bingo which was taken about a week or so ago :)

Bri Bri's photos taken on 8 August 2009

These photos were taken today by my mom. The top center photo of him sitting down is currently my favourite photo of him. See his cheeky smile? :) He is simply adorable!

Kindly click on the photos for a clearer view :)

More recent photos of Bri Bri

More recent photos of Bri Bri. All the photos were taken by my mom. Bri Bri's Po Po. She loves taking photos of him and I think there are already thousands of photos of him from birth till now. lol