New 'Toys'

If you ever wonder why I don't really take pictures of the Little One with her toys, well....
It's not because she does not have any,
She has some, not many
In fact, I think she's qualified as the girl with the least toys in the neighbourhood. (Bad parents!)
Hm... but I do notice that while she plays a bit with her toys, she plays more with the real stuff that Mama and Daddy use (Ah, ya, that's how she calls her parents, Mama and Daddy. Quite the mismatched set, don't you think?)
So.. that will be Mama's pots and pans, Daddy's belt, Blackberry and name cards, and whatever things that she can find around the house.

These past few days Mama just started her foray into the world of sewing. No finished result yet from Mama, but apparently the Little One was struck by 'inspiration' for 'toys'.
Would you just look at her!

The 'Baby' toy

The original source of 'inspiration was actually some batik cloth I am working on. I believe she kind of remember being carried in a similar cloth when she was younger, so... she likes to pretend that she is still that baby. She'll come up to Mama saying 'bibi, bibi' (for 'baby), which means that Mama needs to wrap her with the cloth. Carrying her is often optional.

Then that day I got a brilliant idea of tying the cloth under her chin. I think she does not mind it, even if she does not quite like the idea.

Oh, and by the way, just an update, the jeans skirt that she wears in the photos? It was a gift from Tante Rina, and it used to fit pretty fine. Since she started potty training, however, she hasn't worn any pampers underneath, and now the skirt has a tendency to slip down. Maybe Mama needs to fatten the Little One a wee bit more, just so her butt can hold up the skirt in place now that there is no more pampers to hold the skirt up. Hahaha....

Outside

Blogger now have a direct link to your Picasa album! Way to go! This certainly makes putting pictures here a breeze. Now if only I can get the hang of text placement around the pictures, life will be VERY good. I guess I do not really have to do it that way. Most blogs I read simply put photos in the middle and text after the photos instead of surrounding the photos with text. But I am stubborn.

Our outdoor furniture.
It's not much, just two (comfortable) chairs and a stool in the middle. Stuff like these are expensive here. Or maybe we simply haven't found where to get cheap but good quality ones. We bought them last year after all the storms, when the sun finally shines (with vengeance, I should say), and we never regretted getting them.
They did not get quite that much use, but especially nowadays with the Little One's  propensity towards the outdoor, they come in very handy indeed.

And what do you know? Even the Little One loves the chair, in her own way.

I don't have a picture, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but upon observing how her parents like to put their feet up on the stool, the Little One did not want to be left behind.
She would ask that the stool be put in front of the seat she occupied, and slouch forward just so that her toes can reach the stool.

I guess by the time this photo was taken, she finally figured a way to make the chair 'work' for her size. So now, instead of having two upright chairs at the back like in the first picture, usually we would end up with one upright and one 'fallen' chair after being used by the Little One.

What about this photo, you said?
Well, this one was taken early morning when she just woke up. I guess she wasn't aware about the 'wrong' chair position yet. Kekekek...

(but she was awake enough to put a star on her cheek. Hmm...  It's not me, really!)

The Great Outdoor

Still remember the Little City Girl who bawled her head off during Penny Rescue Operation a while back?
(Penny Rescue Operation is still in email format currently, but I will try to find some time to include it in the blog for those of you who are not part of that select company called the Little One's family, sorry.)

She's hardly recognizable nowadays with all her passion for the Great Outdoor.
From the moment she was brought downstairs when she woke up (she does not like it when she finds Mummy and Daddy already downstairs when she wakes up), she would imperiously ask for her shoes so that she can go out and play outside.
Maybe because the Dog is usually already outside sunning herself or chasing cats.
But in any case, it's kind of lovely to see the Little One frolicking outside, running around or just playing with the dog.

Testing for touch-me-nots

I guess we are quite lucky, our house came with a pretty shady backyard, but not so shady that there are too many mosquitoes. At the same time, eventhough the size is not as big as the rest in our row of houses, it's big enough. Of course, we also benefit from the fact that the next door neighbor is hardly in house, which left the next door backyard pretty much 'ours' to use.
That backyard is practically the Dog's big toilet area and the Kid's playground, so I do keep up the area.

If you can see from the picture, the first has the neighbour's abandoned backyard, while the second picture below is our own backyard, viewed from the neighbour's.

Our backyard

Did I notice any turning point in the Little One's behaviour?
I am not too sure, but I think it started when we went out for a hike last week.
Last Sunday, we decided it was a good time we explore the nature trail right outside the housing complex. So we brought the Kid, the Dog, some water and some towels (one is reserved for the dog, cos there's a river there).
Maybe because the path was more worn than the one during Penny Rescue Mission, and also, the Kid was wearing pants, the Kid actually agreed to walk some of the way. That is, she was not being carried ALL the way. I'd say that's a great improvement since Penny rescue mission! Look at the picture of her tackling the path with Daddy...

Big stone on the path, Daddy

But of course she had to be carried still for most of the way. It was way too long a walk for her short, little legs.

We did use the chance to point out to her whatever that might be of interest: mushroom, spider webs, tree stump, fallen bamboos, even flowers of different shapes. I think she had fun, even with the mosquito bite or two that she still got despite us lathering the insect repellent prior to the hike.

Well, so maybe the hike was a turning point, at the same time, I guess the Little One is simply finding more objects of interest out there.

 The no-longer-among-the-living caterpillar

Take for example the caterpillar that we met during our walkies. Few days after I pointed out the caterpillar, she actually found one at the backyard. And I think the following morning was the start of her daily morning exploration of the backyard. She wanted to check out the caterpillar. Too bad the caterpillar died soon after from an argument with our backyard chair. Oops! (well... actually I was moving the chair, I think I hit the creature with the chair legs. Sorry, caterpillar!)

I suppose I should feel lucky for having such an active kid. No worries about her getting too fat! But sometimes it's kind of hard to feel lucky for that, especially when you are still in your pajamas minus your first cup of java on a sunny, hot morning, and you got dragged/pushed (literally) by a little kid insisting to take the first pick of the flowers of the day. Hmmm.....

Just look at the harsh lighting. I am not even sure anymore if the photo was taken at 9am or 12. But I sure went out only with GREAT reluctance to brave the sun, just to collect some flowers.

Evaluating the freshness of the flower at 9am in the morning

Pick of the day

And yet, on other days, there will be such heartwarming picture of the Kid and the Dog simply existing side by side, doing their own stuff. I love those days, especially because I don't get dragged/pushed anywhere from my comfortable chair, even if I was still in my pyjamas.

Pictures like these are what make my days worth while.

Doggie and the Kid

Again, Doggie and the Kid

The Little One's Birthday

Maybe you noticed in the last post's first picture a set of letters for the Little One's name, (see here)
They were actually one of the few things that I made for her birthday
Birthdays might be a huge events for some kids, but given the parents' tendency to forgo huge celebration in favour of something more meaningful, well... we did not do much
In fact, I think the parents still owe her a 'proper' birthday gift.
I know I'm still working on mine,
But hey, we did try to make a special day for her.

Starting with these letters on the wall for the special one.
Mummy is really quite proud of her work over there, especially since they do not cost that much, if at all.
Cardboard from the boxes that came with the new fans that we bough, rough papers (plenty of those around here), some markers (for the outlines) and of course, water color. Voila!

Mmm... at first I wanted to make buntings. I think buntings are pretty traditional for birthdays but after putting the paper on the cardboard... why not just stick them on the wall? So much easier.

For more simple decoration that cost almost nothing?
Well.. the Little One loves balloon, so.. why not give her some? I did have a few left over balloons, result of some traipsing around town way back months ago. Just tie them up together with some scrap yarn (crochet yarn, of course, most accessible and always available while I'm still crocheting), and hang them!

Then of course there's the food!

I actually invited both Ami and Nata to come by sometime in the afternoon, and so I thought of preparing things which are easy to eat. I decided on home made pizza and popcorn. What can be easier but still tasty?

Pizza was a margherita, that's just plain pizza with tomato, basil, garlic and some cheese. I also added some onion for some extra flavour.

Basil from my shrub, of course.

I made my own dough. Apart from the time it takes to rise, I did not take too long or too much effort.  As for the popcorn? Instant microwaved butterlicious popcorn, popped in once the guests arrive to ensure freshness, done in 2 minutes, and was quite a hit too!

There was no cake as such. I did make some cream puffs to serve as 'birthday cake', but then I forgot to buy the candles, and it turned out that the birthday girl did not quite care for them. so.... well.. at least I made the effort.

Lastly, before the arrival of 'birthday guests', I thought of what to give as a thank you present. You know usually when you become guests at any bash you would come home with some party favours? Well... since I did not manage to settle on anything to buy (did buy some jelly, but they were eaten by the Little One), I just decorated 2 spare Ikea frames and wrap them in some paper with, of course, watercolor. Being able to draw some basic shape/design really has its use, haha! Just scroll down to see the pics. I am sorry about the organization, but not being familiar with HTML codes, I don't really have real control over where the pics would appear in relation to what I write. Really, maybe I should include that in the ever growing list of things that I should learn. Hmmm...

My Margherita... nyam nyam

In any case, as it turned out, Ami did not manage to make it that afternoon, so it was more of a playdate between Chitra, Nata and their Moms. But it was quite fun.
Maybe next year we'll do better, with candles and all, haha...

Plated cream puffs

Party favours aka thank you gifts

Birthday Gifts

Added 27 Sept 10:
Through visits to the Little One's 2 friends houses, we learned that the frames are already used to show photos of the Little One with respective friend. So cute. Glad that the frames are used. Mummy is big on 'useful' gifts, you know.

She's TWO!!!

The Oh-not-so-little-anymore

The Little One turned 2 yesterday!
Ah, the lament of every parent, how fast the kids grow up.
Where did time flies, indeed!
But then again, little though she might be,
This Little One is one pretty accomplished lady.
Just look at her list of accomplishments:

• She knows how to play with 'putri malu' (touch-me-not plants)

• She can climb the ladder on the slide in the park.

• She can shop for 'health drink' and panty liners on her own.

• She can pick her own fruits, even though they are quite inedible!

• She can open the fridge herself and steal her favourite mango juice!

• She can tell Mummy to take care when Mummy goes out

Mummy, bring umbrella. It's the rainy season, it might rain!

• She can take the Dog for walkies and even scold the Dog for misbehaving!

Bad Dog!

• She can pose for the camera!

One, two... Hey Doggie, come here and take some pic!

And many more not captured in pictures.


Our Little One has grown up....

New Clothes from Eyangs!

A package arrived a few days back, full of new clothes for the Little One (well... plus 1 piece each for Ami, Nata and Mama).
I think we are all very happy with the new clothes, so here are the pictures of our 'happiness'.
(Some I have not manage to take, but... well.. you got the gist. Anyway, just enjoy!)

Umbrella for rain or shine... always ready

This is my favourite of the lot, love the model, even if I think it's a bit tight around the chest area.
It was quite revealing (how brown my baby is), so I put her in her old white onesie, and then I layer the dress.
I believe that she LOVES every part of the ansemble, from the dress, the sunglasses, the (slightly broken) umbrella, hahaha....
And of course, they all matched!

Look at the photo below, she looks as if she's starring in her own batik advertisement.
Any guess on where I took the pics?

The Orange Tee is perfect for bright sunny day.
I love the contrast in these 2 photos. She looked like a tai-tai just finished with her shopping on the left, while on the right, she's more of a shy model.
Hmm... Mummy has way too active imagination.

Oh, dear, she was soo happy with this particular dress, I couldn't get a clear picture of her.

It's still lovely, the dress, I mean.

Just woke up. Grouchy. Sleepy.

I love my new dress..z..z..z..z

Animals around

Penny was very fascinated...

Quite a couple days back, our Japanese neighbour confided that there was a mouse sighted in her kitchen, much to her distress.
The day after, however, I turned out that her husband decided to take the matter to his own hand, and used a mouse trap to catch the mouse.

And lookee what we found outside the house that morning.... a mouse in the trap, baited with a piece of ham.

Oh, dear, the Dog was soooo fascinated, she would not be tored of the spot, watching the cretin!
And she gave the mouse a terrible fright by sticking her nose onto the trap!
The mouse ran all over, but it has only the whole volume of the trap to itself.
I finally had to drag the Dog using her leash in order to get her away from the mouse.

The little one, watching her Mama shouting at the dog, of course did not want to be left out, and did (try to) exert her 'authority' over the dog by shouting at the dog as well.

To no avail, needless to say.

Still.. it was cute to see her shouting commands at the dog.
GO! Eany'i!

By the way, since we are on the topic of animals, these monkeys are a pretty common sight here in the complex. I think there's like a colony of them living around the complex, up in the trees, feeding from whatever scraps that they can find.

They are especially fond of this area, I think because the dustbins on this particular street are not properly covered, which translates to accessible food for the monkeys.

If I ever ran out of ideas, I can always start observing these monkeys. I am not too sure about their social dynamics, but I think there's an alpha male in a group, with a few female followers and male/female children and adolescents. There was one day when we saw almost the whole group, there were actually 7 babies hanging on their respective mothers!

I suppose they are not going extinct anytime soon then.

On a last note, just the picture below.
haha... I can't resist, I AM corny, I know. Enjoy!