31 August 2008

A Close Shave



We decided today (on the anniversary of independence of Malaysia, no less) that Munchkin needed a hair cut. So after his tea, before his bath, our resident Sweeney Todd (without the gore) and Barber of Seville set to work.
Munchkin was very co-operative. He has to be very patient with the parents he has got.

Anyway, here is the end result. No, he ie NOT posing. It is the only way we could get him to stay still for more that 2 seconds. Both ears intact, I might add.

30 August 2008

Oh where,oh where...

Today's car conversation went like this:

Munchkin: Mamah?
Me: Mamah has gone home to Malaysia, Munchkin.
Munchkin: Mamah?
Me: She has gone home, darling. She'll be back soon at Christmas
Munchkin: Mamah bye
Me: Yes, bye but back soon.
Munchkin: Mamah

29 August 2008

I am into my music!

Mummy and Daddy in conjunction with Ah Ee thought they would start me off on some sort of music. I think I make good tunes. But I thought, good tunes are not enough. I need to eat, sleep and breathe music....so here I am, quite literally IN to my music machine.
P/S I did get a bit stuck and needed a hand escaping.

Scenes from the airport


One Munchkin and his 'Mamah'!

14 months,I am.

Munchkin doing his Yoda impression. Or perhaps it is his littlest ASBO impression. Depends how you choose to look at it...and what mood the Munchkin is in.

Munchin is 14 months old tomorrow. He is a fully signed up member of the upright club. He has 14 teeth (what a coincidence). He makes a very convincing cat. He loves his Tigger shoes so much Poppins had to put him down for a nap in them. He is also very fond of his new rucksack which he takes for walks every day. He likes "Chissss" after his tea and he is rather partial to a sip of Daddy's Rooibos tea.

But above all else, he is a happy boy. And happy we hope he will be for a long, long time.

26 August 2008

How difficult can it be?

While travelling home from work last Friday avec Munchkin the windscreen of my car was hit by a rather large rock. This caused a crack to propogate across the windscreen. Munchkin was most impressed...."ooh!" he cooed. "uh oh!" he said.

Still, this meant that I had to sort out getting the windscreen replaced ASAP. So, I dutifuly made a call to my insurer who provided me with a contact number at a "fix my windscreen quick" place. It was agreed that Mr Fix It would come out to the power station and fix it at the car park. Excellent I thought, no need to take a day off work (hence more days in the bank to take over Christmas!)

The bank holiday weekend then came and went too quickly and we found ourselves at work. At exactly the time promised, Mr Fix It turned up. However, when i went to get him he said that he would rather work under cover as the dark clouds did not bode well. I tried to tell him that the weather was always bleak over the Severn but he wouldn't take my word for it.

Plan B then. There was only one garage on site. In order to gain access and permission for work to be done , I had to get special dispensation. So I rang a colleague who had the power to say yes. He wasn't there! So I rang my boss...who wasn't there so in the end I had to get the site director on the phone (my boss' boss). He was very good although he wondered why the deed couldn't be done in the car park.

But that was not the end of it. I then had to get Mr Fix It's vehicle searched and to ensure that Mr Fix It was in my sight for the whole hour he was on site. I also had to escort Mr Fix It off site and the nice men in security had to fill out lot of bits of paper.

All is well that ends well though. The windscreen is fixed and has withstood the test of rain. I will just say that it took almost as long to get all the necessary authorisations to do the work as it did to complete the actual work!

25 August 2008

More Morose Munchkin

Munchkin is still down in the dumps and he is still in search of his Mamah.

He searched for her on waking, he searched for her at breakfast (he had cereal he wanted to share) and he searched for her on his post lunch walk, going "Boo, Mamah" round corners. His daily inspection of the drains outside the house and his assessment of the "Darr-tee" nature of them was not echoed today. He looked round for someone to concur "mamah?" he said, but there was no one there.

So we phoned Mamah today to make sure that she had got back ok. She had. She too is feeling very lost without her Kim Soon. But she has got her work cut out as she has now got to get used to looking after Ah Kong again....a little more challenging than Munchkin, I am sure!

24 August 2008

Morose Munchkin

Munchkin is a sad little monster. Today he had to wave bye bye to his Ah Ma....his ma-mah. It is by her side that he learnt to take his first unaided steps, it is in her company that he first uttered a fair few new words, it was on her knee that he first learnt the meaning of "relax" and it is in parting with her today that he first broke our hearts.

It was dark, cold and grey. We had already said our good byes at the departure gate. Munchkin had been fine and was not really too fussed about it all. The adults had had tears and hugs and kisses. But Munchkin, well, he was just interested in going through the "DOHRrrr" of the lift. But then as I stood holding him in the carpark, we heard a plaintive little cry of "Mamah?" "Mamah?". Holding back tears (this is both of us I might add!), we had to explain that she had gone home on a aeroplane and that she would be back soon. The murmurs of "mamah" didn't stop and neither did the waving at the aeroplanes taking off and the blowing of kisses to the sky.

He seemed ok once we got home but this evening as we sat outside, warmed by a rare burst of sunshine, he pointed upwards at some planes overhead and said rather sadly "Mamah" as he waved frantically and blew a hundred kisses to the sky. Suddenly, it the world felt cold again despite the clear blue sky above and the sound of the birds was drowned out by the soft voice of a sad little boy.

"Only with the agony of parting, do we look into the depths of love"

23 August 2008

The world's best

Deposit account is my mother. For years I have invested all sorts. Happiness, joy, tears, frustrations, needs, cross words but she is ever still abundant and uncompromising, unconditional with her love despite it all. She takes the good, the bad and the ugly, works her magic and makes the good, better, the bad good and the ugly....well,even Mama's magic can't do very much about that but she does try to make it all a little bit more presentable.

Mama has been here for a month. It has been a month of sorts, with work and tiredness getting in the way, not to mention Munchkin's Malady and and munchy nashers.

What sort of a month has it been, really? Well, the tangible first. We have a happy, happy Munchkin who has really got to know his Ah Ma. He has learnt so much andhas given so much in return. He never goes to bed without giving his Mamah a kiss and a cuddle and everytime he has something nice to eat his Mamah gets some too. He has taken to cuddling up to her for a story and he also loves taking her out for a walk. He has enjoyed her company and she his.

We also have no washing or ironing backlog. Every thing is clean and in its place. We have lot of yummy delights in the freezer too.

But most of all I think is the precious time spent. It has been nice to come home to Mama in the evening knowing that there will be a funny story to share, a laugh to have and a kiss good night. After all, "now, as always, the most automted appliance in the world is a mother".

It wasn't easy for her to decide to spend a whole month away from Malaysia and from Papa but still she did make the long journey here to lend a hand. As ever, selfless and putting aside any of her needs and priorities she once again made us first. A lesson to be learnt, that certain something to be aspired to and the certain someone who continues to inspire.

20 August 2008

What's in a word?

Munchkin is being very vocal. I think that it is the time he is spending with his Ah Mah (who I inherit my chattiness from)

A typical conversation goes like this:
Me: Morning Munchkin
Munchkin: "OOoh! Up! Up! Up! OOhh! Moke! (milk)Moke! Moke! Moke!" Daddeeee? Dadeeee? Wok Wok Wok(work)?
Me: Yes, darling daddy has gone to work in his car.
Munchkin: Voom! Voom! Voom! Byeeeee!
Me: Is that how Daddy's car goes?
Munchkin: 'essss! (yes)

Munchkin has also got a building repertoire of animal sounds. So far we have had, moo for cows, sssss for snakes, roarrrr for tigers, woof for dogs. quack for ducks and mauuuuuuu for cats. We also have actions for flying birds and woodpeckers.

He also says "Hiya!" and "Bye". But best of all, he says "Mam Mah" and he has chosen to say this while his Ah Ma is here. I think he reckons that his Mam Mah can rescue him from his evil parents.....and I know given the chance she would (although she is pretty scarily strict herself!)

12 August 2008

Love is in the air

Our girls don't feature very much here so I thought it was high time. Here is Mishi. She is at the height of contentment. You see, her Ah Ma is visiting. She is secretly in love with her Ah Ma as her Ah Ma gives her love and affection and protects her fom Munchkin.

She makes it a point to snuggle up to her Ah Ma each evening especially if Ah Ma has, because of her aversion from the cold, draped a blanket over her feet. (as seen above)

Ah Ma is doing very well. She has Munchkin well trained now. He knows how to "relax" while reading a book, he knows to wait while she gets his "chissss" and he makes it a point to get the "keeesss" for the "dohrr". Munchkin calls out "mamah! mamah!" everytime he has some spare "chissss" then feeds it to her.

I think it is safe to say that love is definitely in the air with a bit of adoration thrown in as well.

By the way, Ah Ma is not in the shot above as she did not have any lipstick on hence, was not presentable to the public!

10 August 2008

Bumbling along!



Happy, happy days! Munchkin is on the move and very vocal. I really must start writing down what he says as I am sure it will make for amusing reading one day. haha!

02 August 2008

Oriental Princesses



Now there is a sight for sore eyes. The Texans dressed up as oriental princesses. Just beautiful!

Cheeky Chick

Munchkin's expression is testament to why the Chief Oracle is so named. The Chief Oracle knows good toys.

Munchkin has been in need of a little cheer. He has been with cold for the last two days. In fact, he had to be evacuated from Poppins' on Thursday after spewing forth a projectile of blueberries and bananas. The throw was better than the British Standard requirement for a fire hydrant. Saying that though, Munchkin wondered (post event) what all the fuss was about and proceeded to try and clean up....with his bare hands.

Still, these things happen. He is well really. Just a bit of the sniffles. Fortunately, he is not yet old enough to be afflicted with a Man cold.