good morning ashley!!! (6 may 06)

ashley was pointing out the menu to grandpa last weekend…

she was so excited she wanted to devour the menu!


we forgot to bring the stroller out last weekend (BIG mistake) and decided to place her in the basket while we walked around ikea….

mOmmy : ashley…daddy’s home…
ashley : di di (daddy)

mOmmy : where’s your nose?
ashley : (she points at my nose instead)

grandma : (points to the bird on the musical mobile) bird
ashley : bur

these pictures were taken on saturday morning (6 may 06). ashley sat in her little mobile and watched intently at Baby Van Gogh on the tele. notice grandpa at the background – he was accompanying ashley until he dozed off!

cruise master
she hasn’t started walking on her own yet (although my dad reckons that she will start to walk before her first birthday…) but she has mastered the art of cruising. a couple of nights ago we lined up a couple of stools in the living hall – about 1/2 a metre apart and she was cruising from one stool to the other and all this while, she was busy pointing at stuff and babbling….

mat
last night, we placed one those square Thai mats on the floor (2ft by 2ft). ashley crawled towards it and sat on it. and then for the next 10 minutes, she was busy turning and shifting her position on the mat, taking great care so as not to sit outside of the mat. it was a funny sight.

everything except mommy and daddy
these days, ashley would want to imitate whatever we say to her…..such as :
ffffff = fish
woo woo – sydney (our labrador/dog)
gfff = giraffe
pa = ah pak (uncle)
nen nen = (milk)
mum mum = (food)
kah = car
etc…

she’d repeat all these except for the word mommy and daddy…i guess she’d say it in her own time.

i want…
she knows how to ask/demand for things by pointing, for example, during dinner, she’d point at the food that she wants and we’d give it to her if it’s suitable to be eaten by her…

(1 May 06) – Gooooood Morning Ashley Ann….

on their way back from their holiday from the holy land (Jordan), my parents have decided to stay with us for a week before they head back to sabah. so this means that :

• ashley gets to sleep in longer during weekday mornings…
• hubs and i get to wake up later during weekday mornings (Yes!!!)
• ashley’ll be taken care by my parents at our home – which means we don’t have to drop ashley at mil’s house in the mornings and pick her up after work
• we go home with dinner already ready on the table
• and we get 2 extra set of hands to help us out when we go out with ashley (since ashley prefers to be carried than sitting in her stroller….)

whoopieeeeee!

when mama22beas mentioned about our blogs being featured in this month’s edition of Her World mag, the first thing i did was grabbed my wallet and headed down to the sundry shop at the ground floor of my office building to grab a copy of the mag. unfortunately, the shop ran out of it. and so i had to just grit my teeth and wait till i leave the office in the evening to get a copy of the mag. i was very curious as to what they’ve written about the blog…..

when i related this (feature in the mag) to my colleague and sister, their first reactions (or questions) which weren’t even in my train of thought were :

- can they do that?
- don’t they have to ask permission to write about your blog?

anyhow, on the way to mil’s house (after work to pick ashley up), i popped by the shell station to grab a copy of the mag…i flipped through the mag and finally found the article…

errr hello Her World?…. i’m glad that you wrote such a nice review of the blog….but if you really have to do it, get the facts right…..i’m not a full-time housewife (although i DREEEEAAM of being one)…i’m a full-time working mom

gooooooooooood morning ashley! all bright and cheery after drinking her milk.

while mommy showered…

and the latest on her amusement while i took my shower this evening…..my mobile phone! – which i discovered to my dismay, after my shower that it was lying on the floor…

happy 11 months!

gooooood morning ashley! it’s sinful to wake her up on weekday mornings especially if she is sleeping so soundly like this….

ashley’s 11 months old today. and in exactly one month’s time, she’ll no longer (technically) be a baby but will graduate to toddler-hood! i can’t register it in my head that she is what she is today…
our 11 month old baby – one month shy from her very first birthday. no matter what, she’ll always be our baby.

here are her developments since the 10-month development updates…

head stand
she has started to do the head stand!

hands free
i always thought that as babies grow older, they’d tend to hold their own bottles.
but that is not the case for lil missy…
she started to hold her own bottle as early as 3 months old but recently, she refuses to hold her own bottle. when we stick the bottle in front of her, she’d open her mouth towards the bottle but not stretch both her hands out to grab the bottle like before. we’d even have to resort to let her hold something in one hand while we hold the bottle and feed her otherwise she wouldn’t drink up. (another one of her tricks..her bag of tricks is steadily growing….:) )

climb
she has started to climb the stairs!
and also attempted to climb our tv cabinet!

ashley attempting to climb the tv cabinet

sydney
mommy : ashley..we’re going home to see daddy and sydney (our lab retriever)
ashley : woo woo (woof woof)

hair brush
today, i showed her how to use the hair brush….

cot by the bathroom is less effective!
placing the cot by the bathroom while i take my shower is becoming less effective by the day. here’s how i’d normally lure her to her cot…

mommy : (while carrying ashley) mommy needs to take a shower. ashley stay in the cot and watch mommy shower ok?

i then attempt to place her in her cot.

ashley : (she’d however tighten her legs around me – which is a sign for “no..I don’t wanna go in the cot”)

mommy : look ashley. what is mister elephant doing??? (or i’d pass her any toy or something new. i then place it in the cot)

ashley : (she’d look at the toy/stuff in the cot and assess whether it is worth while playing with. if yes, she’d realease her grip on me and will allow me to lower her into her cot.
if she is not impressed with what i’ve lured her with, she’d look at it and then look away from the cot)

if we put her in her cot anyways…she’d look like this..

and so the whole process is repeated until i’ve given her something which she’d find amusing….
today, her amusement was the hair brush.

bathing
mommy : ashley? how does mommy bathe?
ashley : (she’d rub her body with her right palm back and forth)

pau-pau (chinese for a full stomach)
mommy / daddy : ashley? pau-pau where?
ashley : (she’d pat her tummy)

here…here
what caught us by surprise last weekend was that when ashley was playing with her own toys, she said “here …here” each time she stacked her toys together…

diet
her diet is still the same :
morning : 8oz of milk
lunch : blended porridge with fish, veges, carrots
mid afternoon : fruits
late afternoon : 8oz of milk
dinner : 8 oz of milk

clap
ashley used to clap her hands her own way i.e. right hand hitting on the back of her left palm. recently she has started to clap the proper way i.e. palm to palm. bravo lil missy!

spinning
this evening, when i went over to mil’s house to pick ashley up after work, i noticed that ashley could turn 360 degrees when sitting on her buttocks on the floor! it was a funny sight – one which i wished i had a camera within reach to capture the funny moment! she spinned and spinned and kept saying “ooo oooo oooo”

point
ashley loves to point at stuff and babble as though she is describing what she’s pointing at…

goooooooooooooood morning ashley! (29 April 06)

she’s on a mission to take control over the music player….

and her stuff are slowly filling up our tv cabinet!

her dvds and music cds are slowly out-numbering ours…

and she has even taken over the remote control…attempting to switch channels..

half our hall is filled with her play mat…

and check out the absolute mess in her cot at the living room! that’s why she can sit in her cot all by herself and play on her own …..(heheheh…)

Goooooood Morning Ashley!!!!! It’s a nice feeling to wake up on Saturday morning when you know that it’s going to be a longggg weekend (since Monday is a holiday – Labour Day!). I’ve been so busy that I didn’t realize that Monday is a holiday until 2 days ago! Anyway….thanks to the weekend, Ashley slept an hour longer before she woke up at 8:30am. abit too early for me though but i had to wake up when she did cause hubs is working half day today…..

this morning, i spotted lil missy trying to the head stand!! OMG! i’m always so amazed by the new things she can do…she never cease to surprise us all the time.

for the last one week, we’ve been trying to get ashley to sleep earlier in the evenings i.e. by 10am. this is so that she’d have enough sleep by the time she wakes up the next weekday morning at 7:30am. (i know of parents putting their kids to bed by 8:30am!) we adjusted her meal schedule so that she’d have her last drink during our dinner time so that she can whine down after that – or so we hope…

this morning while i took my bath, ashley looked on a signalled the “bath time” signal – her right palm was rubbing against her body. ahhh cute lil missy! she got me there…

Goooood Morning Ashley!!!! This picture was taken this morning. Notice the leg action there….she was doing the Air Jordan number…

These days, she is not as excited as before when it comes to drinking her milk. Before this, whenever it was milk time, before I could even lay her down and open the bottle cover, she’d whine and grab the bottle with both her hands.

These days however, she’d turn away from the bottle whenever I attempt to give her her milk. She’d wiggle away and divert her attention to something else like her toy. MIL said that she had to con her by giving her something to hold while drinking her milk…and hence, Ashley hardly ever holds her own bottle anymore when drinking her milk except for her first drink every morning…..*sigh*

2 nights ago, i managed to catch both hubs and Ashley fast asleep on the bed…..hubs was trying to put her to sleep before we placed her in her own cot next to our bed. He ended up sleeping with her as well.

Fun n Go Tag
I got tagged by Tracy so here goes…

(oh for the record, this’ll be my last tag ok? i am soooo lazy at doing tags…;) )

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18 and find line 4.
men. Last week, having swept all twelve Republican
(Deception Point by Dan Brown)

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
I’m sitting on the floor. On my left would be my notebook bag.

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV?
American Idol (Yay that Kelly girl is OUT! He “Unchained Melody” number was horrendous!)

4.Without looking, guess what time it is?
12:15am

5. Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?
12:14am

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
The air con in my bedroom.

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
2 hours ago. We were out celebrating a friend’s birthday at Italiannies @ The Curve

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Tracy’s blog

9. What are you wearing?
My pyjamas

10. Did you dream last night?
No

11. When did you last laugh?
This afternoon when I had lunch with my colleagues. We were talking about how hens are able to lay eggs without the presence of a rooster……ahhhhh…see? got you thinking there didn’t I?

12. What are on the walls of the room you are in now?
Nothing

13. Seen anything weird lately?
Nope

14. What do you think of this quiz?
A waste of time…

15. What is the last film you saw?
Crash

16. If you became a multimillionaire overnight, what would you buy?
I’ll pay off our house and car loans

17. Tell me something about you that I dunno.
Hey…my life can’t possibily be an open book….;)

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
Hmmmm *strumming fingers*…..banish all those who create demand for child labour and child prostitution

19. Do you like to dance?
Yes

20. George Bush
No comments

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
But my first child IS a girl. Her name’s Ashley.

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Aidan

23. Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes at Colorado

24.What do you want GOD to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
Welcome. Please make yourself at home my child.

25. Five (5) people who must also do this meme in their journal.
Anyone…

this post is outdated but trust me, it’s better for it to be outdated as opposed to me writing about it when it actually happened. i’d prolly severe my ties with my in-laws if they ever read this heheheh

on monday evening, i went over to mil’s house to pick ashley up. what caught me by surprise was that when mil changed ashley’s diaper, her diaper rash scccccreamed out at me! OMG! it was the first time i actually saw what a diaper rash looked like and my head filled with so many questions like:

• she was ok in the morning when i changed her diaper…why now?
• hasn’t mil been changing her diaper?
• hasn’t mil been applying drapolene??? (cause she reckons that drapolene was basically useless – although i beg to differ…but anyways….)

annnnnyways…so mil explained in a as-a-matter-of-fact fashion that it was ok and it was because ashley slept with her poo in her diaper without her noticing it. (her poo was watery and odourless and therefore it got absorbed by the diaper and hence didn’t smell.)

annnnyway..to cut the lonnnnng story short (trust me, it was long and dear hubs was the middle man), that night, i decided to air ashley while she slept. i placed her in the middle of our bed, under the fan in our air conditioned room, removed her diaper, cleaned her, applied drapolene and aired her for 1/2 hour. as she was being aired, i sat on the bed, stared at her diaper rash as though willing for it to dissapear. *sigh* ooor baby.

the next morning, her rash was sooooo much better. nicole‘s mommy was kind enough to pass me desitin (which is rich in zinc oxide) to apply on her diaper rash and it has improved tremendously! this morning, there was only a hint of red on her diaper rash. i’m confident that by the weekend, it’d be GONE!

p.s. just for the record, there was no fight nor misunderstanding between mil and i. we’re still cool

Goooood Morning Ashley….she woke up and flipped through her waterproof book….(21 April 2006)

yesterday was just not ashley’s day. she knocked herself in the head 5 times.

knock #1
we were at the hotel room at avillion yesterday morning. she was lazing around on the day-bed and accidentally knocked her right cheek bone on the wall! she let out a viscious cry. poor baby. hubs immediately wrapped some ice and iced her bruise. by afternoon, the bruise was gone.

knock #2
we were at home in the afternoon. she accidentally missed her footing and and knocked her right cheek (again) against the side of the tv cabinet. she cried again. poor baby. we had to ice her right cheek again. she hated it when we iced her cheek with the ice pack. i would hate it too.

knock #3
she was in the cot. her rubber ducky got stuck in between the cot bars. somehow or another she was struggling with the ducky and knocked her forehead against the cot bar. she cried again. and we iced her …again.

knock #4
both hubs and i were seated on the couch. she stood in between us. somehow, she fell forward. hubs tried to cushion her fall by extending his leg. her mouth hit his leg. and she let out another cry.

knock #5
ashley was cruising by the couch. somehow she slipped and fell flat on her back on the carpet (thank God) with both her arms wide open. she cried.

all in all..she had one helluva bumpy day.

this evening, when i picked ashley up from mil’s place, my mil reported that ashley was quieter than usual the whole day i.e. she didn’t want to get out of the cot to play on the floor. my mil said that ashley was very moody and looked as though she had alot on her mind. we concluded that she was kinda reserved due to the bumpy day the day before….however when i arrived to pick her up in the evening, she was herself again – crawling and cruising here and there…

Ashley and Daddy at Avillion. She loves to point at stuff.