So Long, Sucker!

Eez recently said his final goodbye to a dear friend - his beloved pacifier, Ting. That little sucker has had many incarnations over the years and served Eez faithfully as a comfort companion over the past 2 ½ years. The last one, a clear teal blue plastic soother, finally got so raggedy and bitten and holey that Eez started saying, "Eeeewww Ting yucky!" every time he put it in his mouth. I didn't get him a new one on purpose on the advice of my mom and MIL 'cos we all thought it was high time he gave it up. He started asking for it less and less during the day and has survived two whole nights without it. I finally chucked it in the bin yesterday with a slight feeling of guilt at Ting's unceremonious funeral.

I had a love-hate relationship with my son's pacifiers. Yeah, people say they're gross and contribute towards orthodontic problems and kids end up depending on them and bla bla bla... but those people have never had a baby constantly "hanging" until your nips feel like they're about to fall off from all the sucking! I did my research and got so-called orthodontist approved (and probably the most expensive) ones from Av*nt, which Eez really loved. He liked the shape and texture kot and refused all other brands I bought. Ting was actually a real life-saver at times... especially at night when Eez just needed a little comfort. Some well-meaning people tried to get me to stop giving Eez the pacifier but I preferred to let Eez stop in his own good time. I mean, how do you expect a toddler to go cold turkey on something he's had all his life?

There are different schools of thought on pacifiers. Some experts say that babies don't really need pacifiers in the first place and get into the habit of having one once they've been introduced. They can effect the alignment of a toddler's teeth and impediment speech development. Others say that pacifiers are alright as long as the baby still has his milk teeth. I started to get worried after Eez developed a slight curvature in his teeth but his speech hasn't been effected so I didn't mind so much. Besides, he looked really cute when he "senyum belakang puting", as his Papa called it.

I'm soooo relieved Eez has finally kicked the habit. I can stop carting the little bugger around in my hand-bag when we go out and I don't have to worry about Eez misplacing or losing it anymore!!! Oh wait... Ray's got a pacifier, too. Dammit. Another 2½ years to go then!

There's No Place Like Home

Okay okay I'm updating my blog!! Due to a series of mishaps and malas episodes I've neglected my poor blog for a month. First of all one by one my family members succumbed to the flu virus that was going around recently. Eez got sick first - fever, snuffly runny nose, cough, the works. Then Ray started to cough suspiciously. He developed this little manja-manja cough which made us unsure whether he was really getting sick or he was just "testing" 'cos he laughed after every cough. Soon he started getting snuffly at night so I endured another 2½ hour wait at the paed's to set my mind at rest. Immediately after that, I got the flu and a cough. Then the virus jumped ship to my sister pulak. So at one point all 4 of us were on flu/cough medication, rolling around the house like a pack of drunks. Hahaha! My mom certainly had her hands full that week, let me tell you.

Aaaahh and the onset of February bought a spate of lovely public holidays which fell on Fridays. FT day was the first long weekend. Hubs managed to get cuti and came back for four days. The only blot was I had to come back to work for a few hours on FT day for the month-end closing. So I balanced my accounts at super-speed and left by noon before my boss could dump more work on me! The rest of the weekend was spent jalan-jalan, makan-makan, catching up with friends at KLCC (love love love the pizza at CPK).

Then we went down to be with hubs for CNY weekend. We drove down to JB with my Mak Uda who works in Shah Alam and my Mak Tok who was visiting for a while. While all my Mak Tok's other cicits call her "Nenek", my son has bestowed upon her the ultra-hip title of "Grandma". So all the way back to JB it was "Grandma, nak makan!" or "No, Grandma. My pillow!". Mak Tok loves being called Grandma, definitely the first in her kampung to be called that!

Singapore was quite dead during the 1st two days of the lunar new year since most of the major shopping malls were closed. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how empty Orchard St was. A complete opposite from KL where even though half the city is away balik kampung, the malls and shopping spots are still open full swing! The malls being closed was a good thing actually since I wasn't able to shop! Hubs was relieved at that.. hahaha. We did manage to go to Sentosa Island for an afternoon to indulge Eez in his favourite past time of fish watching at Underwater World. Not too sure about the value for money there 'cos it wasn't as big as I'd expected and the crowds (mostly tourists and foreign workers on leave) was horrendous.. then again I've been spoilt by Aquaria and our own Underwater World at Langkawi. We also managed to catch the Song of the Sea light and water show for a fantastic price of $6! A great ½ hour show which really took our breaths away. Eez was totally awed by the whole thing while Ray... well, Ray slept through the whole thing since it was way past his regular bed-time. Before heading back to JB on Saturday I managed to squeeze in a trip to Orchard St and bag a pair of Itti & Otto heels (my new favourite brand of shoes) which was on sale at R*binsons.

We headed back up to KL on Sunday. What's a trip back to the nation's capital without a traffic jam or two thrown in? OMG the whole of the N9 stretch of the highway was so jammed up. Over-heated cars and two buses lay forlornly by the side of the road as we inched our way along. The whole trip took 6 freakin' hours. Ray was out of sorts for a while but soon settled down to sleep. Eez was safely strapped into his car seat and was on good behaviour the whole time. As long as he got his milk and Friend he was perfectly happy, entertaining us with his whole reportoire of nursery rhymes and his own made-up song of every single word he knows from family members to animals to food to everything in the world. Have to tape that one some day, could be a hit!

So there you have it, folks.. what I've been up to lately. Now it's back to the daily grind.. I missed 2 weeks of yoga due to being sick and the holidays, so I really really should go today. I can just feel that Hershey Sundae Pie adding inches to my waist.....