This time he get to celebrate with his Tadika friends as well. Early on he already told us he wanted only blue colour Angry Bird cake so I spent months searching for the right ones.

For his Tadika, we bought the cake from www.jellycakehouse.com as we thought it’s better that kids don’t eat too much cake, actually I was thinking of my nephew who gets sick every time he eats cake. We visited his Tadika to take pics with him and his classmates were all just babies, they look so small and young, mostly not even 3 yet.

Then on his actual birthday, we had a small party at home just with our carecell members. Josiah had a little accident and knocked his head, it even bleed. The boy is seriously growing up.

We got this other cake from www.tastycarrots.com.my. I searched online and found this shop which happened to be right in Kajang, and the lady told me they are famous for their carrot cake, which is what I ordered. It was surprisingly, really good, despite the really blue icing that caused all our tongue and lips to turn blue. It tasted great but sinful, so I had to scrap away all the blue icing to just eat the cake only.

All in all, we really thank God and praise Him for our wonderful boy, whom I cannot call cute anymore, as he will correct me and say he is handsome big boy and not cute. It’s fun to talk to Josiah as he talks like a grown up, every night before falling asleep we have our pillow talk and he will tell me stuffs that happen in school and about his friends, in particular the 3 girls in class that loves to talk about. Getting him ready for school wasn’t as hard as the 2nd week when he cried daily, now he’s willing to change and get himself ready. Every morning, we get him changed and let him have his breakfast first, as the Tadika only provide snacks at 9.30am halfway through class. Then Papa John will drop me at work and then drop Josiah off at Tadika, we are blessed to have our house, my work place and his Tadika all in one neighbourhood.

Now we have to try to bring him to bed early as it can take up to half and hour to finish reading his books, as he wants Daddy to read the bible and me to read Dr Seuss. We have now moved from Hop on Pop to another book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish and Blue Fish.

Next month, Josiah also goes off to kindergarten, which we call Tadika here. He will be going to Tadika Anak Seri Cahaya, a Fungates Tadika attached to me church. A couple of days ago we just went to the orientation to get to know the teachers and what the tadika does, like contributing back the society etc. Very inspirational, and I hope these values will be passed on to Josiah and not just head knowledge.

I hope he’s excited about going to school, coz he even started wearing his uniform and wanting to pose in it. We’ve even gone shopping for his school stuffs, bags etc, like very excited parents sending their kids to school for the first time. Can’t believe my boy is all grown up!

Here’s leaving you with Josiah worshipping Jesus with Jesus Loves Me.

It was a pretty hot day, and all I did was hide under the shed while Josiah couldn’t care less to play under the sun, of course, after I put sun lotion all over him. Amazingly, when we went home, only John and I had a bit of sunburn, but Josiah didn’t get any.

It’s only one month left before this boy heads for school, more like playschool. Coz 3 year olds aren’t really supposed to start real studying yet.

What are Josiah’s interests nowadays. Well, it’s Christmas time so he’s back to being crazy about Christmas trees. He loves it when we bring him to the malls, he will start checking out all the trees rather than the toys. So we’ve also put up our Christmas tree, and it’s like his motivation every morning to get up, coz it’s his job to turn on the lights for all the stars on the tree.

For activities, he’s very much into arts, like water colour painting, and drawing on his new Ikea easel using markers and white board markers. It’s like his daily activity, and he most draws fireworks and trees, don’t ask me why. We’ve managed to instil reading before bedtime recently and now he wants a book or two before bed EVERY night. And it’s almost always the same book, the current book he loves is Hop and Pop by Dr Seuss.

He also have a preference of who to read which book to him. Like Daddy can only read him Bible stories, while I have to read him all Dr Seuss books. Well, thankfully I like the books myself, they are just a bunch of repetitive silly stories. After reading, he will want to turn off the lights himself, and then snuggle up to me to sleep. Sleep time is great, I have another 3 months of peaceful sleeping to go, phew.

At that moment, me and John burst out laughing, and Josiah ask us, “You all laughing ah? Stop laughing”. And with that his head hit the pillow and he fell into a deep sleep. So it has been like this every night, he will talk himself to sleep. Last night however, I tried to change the roles and told him a story instead, the story of the birth of Jesus. He seemed intrigued by it. We don’t need a book or anything, just a story in the dark.

We also went for a photoshoot recently. It was fun but unlike when he was a baby, it was not easy to get a proper shot of him, coz he’ll be running all around and doing his own thing. He won’t smile that easily also. But thank God some nice shots came out of it.

My boy now really loves to sing praise songs. After all the songs we play in the car and the videos at home, without really consciously teaching him, he just pick them up and occasionally sings it to us. However, he can be a real pain at times, throwing his tantrums and mood swings when things don’t go his way. During the raya holidays, he got his first real spanking from his dad, that kind of taught him a lesson about being too stubborn.

He now enjoys all the boy games, cars, trucks, balls, bikes etc.

I’m glad to let the father and son have their play times while I can rest more.

Sleepwise, Josiah has extended his own bed time just like that. One day, he just wouldn’t go to bed until nearly midnight. Makes us a bit crazy but I decided I should just go to bed without him. So now the dad plays with him every night before bringing him to bed. Most of the time I’d be asleep, though recently I have been having sleepless nights!

Josiah still won’t eat his veggies and fruits. He would tell people that he eats veggies and meat to grow taller, but the truth is, he will pick out all the veggie in the food before eating. Constipation is a struggle because of this, so I have to feed him lots of juice on and off. I’ve stopped cooking for him totally and he now eats at the babysitter’s place.

I can remember that at 29 months, Josiah started singing the ABC Song in full without any mistakes. So he keep singing it day and night. Then he started singing the Rasa Sayang day and night as well. Now he’s very inquisitive and would ask us, what is cempedak, what is luar pagar, stuff like that. Josiah is also starting to ‘argue’ and speak opposite words. If I say cannot do something, he will say can. And then we will continue arguing, can, cannot, can, cannot etc. Well, mostly it is quite a humourous thing rather than a serious argument.

His sleep pattern for naps have changed to only one nap a day, that is around 2pm – 5pm. However, it’s not all predictable, there are times he ask to sleep at 12pm. Then at nights, he still go to bed by 9.30pm unless it’s weekend, then we would let him stay up longer up to 10.30pm. Sometimes he might wake up really really early lie 5.30am and roll around in bed talking to us two very tired parents. Then he would fall back asleep an hour later and then cannot wake up when it’s time to go to work for us.

At about 29 months we also took a short trip back to Kuching and we used the budget route by by taking a train and a bus to the airport. It was Josiah’s first time on the train and he was mostly just in awe and very quiet. Unfortunately the bus trip took too long and he fell asleep in the bus when we were already near the airport. Don’t think I would use this method again in future until he’s bigger.

Josiah loves to take long baths, as he doesn’t get to do it at the baby sitter’s. They just bath him standing up and get it done in a few minutes. But at home in the weekends, we give him the liberty to play in the tub, and unfortunately he wastes a lot of water playing for a long time! Oops. So much for trying to be eco-friendly.

He is still very crazy about water fountains, especially on how to build one. He can spend a long time watching all those DIY water fountain videos on youtube. Recently he also loved watching Dora the Explorer and Super Why. And I thought only girls love Dora. But the cartoons are actually very informative and educational.

Josiah finds people’s names to be of utmost importance, he remembers them well and for those he doesn’t know or have forgotten, he never fail to ask us what their name is. This is a really great time to teach Josiah stuffs, I just wish I’m not so tired after work all the time. A lot of effort actually goes into teaching fruitful stuffs to a toddler.

He also started singing a lot. Thanks to watching all those Baby tv, Baby Einstein, Donut Man, and Magic English videos daily. Thanks to the iPad it’s also really easy to just google and show him any videos to learn the songs. These are the songs he can sing pretty fluently now.

Thanks to the Dad for teaching him Rasa Sayang, and most of the BM songs he’s still learning. It really takes lots of time and patience to teach him word for word until he can sing it himself.

Besides singing, he loves reading now. I actually created a bookshelf of all his new books, it might take years to go through all the books. My favourite books right now are stories from Dr Seuss. I bought so many of it but Josiah has his preference of only a couple of the books. I then bought books by Eric Carle, thanks to Jessy for recommending them. They are really really good! Josiah loves the Hungry Caterpillar and the Moon so much, he can even tell me the stories now. Then my church member Shakina has bought him a bunch of great books, so grateful and thankful for friends like these. Of course, no children’s book is greater than the bible, so I bought him a very colourful kid’s bible too. He loves the stories about Adam and Eve, he says Eve is mum. There are stories about Jonah, Jacob, Noah and Jesus. Basically, from Genesis to Revelation. I bought most of my books through Mphonline as there are better discounts online. Here’s a list of recommended books for first readers.

1) ISBN: 9780887081774
Title: Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me – Eric Carle 20.72

2) ISBN: 9781400308538
Title: Read and Share Bible: More Than 200 Best Loved Bible Stories 49.9

3) ISBN: 9780007224838
Title: Inside Outside Upside Down – Beginner Books RM15.92

4) ISBN: 9780007169979
Title: Dr. Seuss: Ten Apples Up on Top RM15.92

5) The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Well, there are many many others great books out there according to every child’s different interests and needs.

The iPad 2! Thanks to the iPad 2 Josiah is able to improve lots of his reading, his abcs and writing skills too.

I really like this writing app, iWriteWords. Here Josiah is using the Lite version as I’ve yet to purchase the full version. The Lite version only has a few words and letters to try out. It’s really motivational as kids get to pull the letters into a moving star after they manage to write the words

He’s now also just the right height for his JD Bug. Recently we brought him to the Skatepark in Taman Cabaran Putrajaya and he had a great time with daddy on the bike. Though he knows how to balance his bike now, he still doesn’t dare to go fast. I find the handle bar brake too hard for toddler hands to press on too. So for now, he won’t be getting his pedals until he can press the brakes.

It’s really fun to hang out with Josiah nowadays, so much so that I am missing him more when I go to work. Especially when he holds my hands with tears in his eyes and ask me is it ok not to go to work. He wants to join me at my office every morning if he can. Well I did bring him once to work, but I try not to do that as it breaks his daily routine and he’d cry even more when he’s at the baby sitter. I can’t even Facetime with him without him crying after seeing me and wanting to come to me. That’s what I get for that great bond we have. I guess at these moments, I envy the stay at home mums!

Daddy now takes him riding in the playground whenever the weather is great. He even bought Josiah a nice helmet with Michelin tyre mascot on it. When Josiah was little, he used to be called Michelin due to the layers of fat around his arms and ankles. Josiah is still learning how to push this bike, being a very careful child, he’s doing slowly and steadily. Even up to now, he doesn’t know how to climb around, or monkey around. At 27 months, he’s only just started walking up the steps of the house all by himself. He used to need me to hold his hand, as he’s so afraid of tumbling and falling.

Josiah’s weight hasn’t changed since he was 21 months. He’s still at 13.3kg. If anything, he’s only lost weight, the baby fats are nearly all gone. I guess by 3, he will no longer be considered cute and chubby.

Josiah also LOVES painting, of all things, with watercolour.

Sometimes it’s the one thing he wants to quickly get home to do, and the one thing he can think of upon awakening from sleep. He’s going through his third set of brushes at the moment. I bought him the washable Crayola water colour. However, those stains on his shirts are mostly still there, are they really washable as they claim? So recently, I had to buy him the ‘apron’ type from Crayola as well to protect his clothes.

Josiah is extremely crazy about this advertising air dancer thing above. He calls it ‘bu bu bu bu’ or air blower. This is all he wants to draw ALL THE TIME. He laughs whenever he sees it on the streets and might spend a whole day recalling its actions of dancing in the air. He’s also crazy about baloons, water fountains, fireworks etc. He knows he can get free baloons at Metro Point and there’s water fountain at Alamanda Putrajaya.

He also knows exactly where all the bowling alleys are at, Metro Point, Mines and Alamanda and will get so excited just to go there for a while and watch people bowl a bit. After playing with Blu the Bird from Rio, he’s now asking for a skateboard too. Oh yea, he’s also really into Angry Birds, even though he always pull the launching bird the other side round. He’d call the game angry birds or ‘pecah’, coz the bird breaks when they hit their target.

Verbally, Josiah can converse with us fluently now. He speaks mostly Foochow with us, and Mandarin with his baby sitter. At church, he would speak in English during his toddler class. He’s really friendly and would easily walk up to strangers to talk to them, and his normal conversation starter, he would talk about Christmas trees or he would ask people, Do you want this? Somehow he knows that only we understand Foochow with him. He’s quite a joker too and likes to make funny sentences or funny words. Like once when he were playing Facebook on our mobile in bed, and he was saying Facebook in another way while trying to get us to stop and give him some attention.

Sometimes he mixes my name with John’s name and laughs about it. At times he likes to impersonate in Malay.

Besides being fully potty trained for a while now, we are also really thankful that he doesn’t get constipation anymore. The worst was when he was about 2 and we had to use an enema after all the juice and medication didn’t work. Josiah cried like mad that time and it was a most heart wrenching time of having to force him to go to the potty everytime and how his face turned red each time and yet nothing comes out. These days, I make sure he gets his daily Kefir, Calciyum and Prune Juice daily without fail.

Foodwise, Josiah is eating so much better now than a few months ago. He’s less picky but still prefers noodles above everything. I bring out a pair of scissors if we eat out so it’s easier to cut the meat and vege to pieces for his consumption. He’s ok to eat meat if they taste good, but otherwise if he doesn’t like it, he would spit it out. He’s still not so into vege and fruits yet and would it them occasionally. His daily meals still consist of rice and soup that I prepare for him and bring over to the sitter. At least through the soup he gets his vege as they are pressure cooked till mashed up. Josiah loves cheese, and particularly loves the string cheese.

They come in packs of 4 at Tesco and it’s less salty. He can eat a whole piece at one seating, but I don’t give this to him daily lest he become obese. Plus, too much dairy can cause constipation.

Josiah is still using Infant Toothpaste at the moment. He finally agreed to brush his teeth twice a day after we told him white teeth will make him look more handsome. Nowadays he insist on brushing it himself and I will just do the final brush after he’s done. I get his infant toothpaste from Guardian, Guardian brand Made in Thailand. It is cheaper than the First Teeth brand. These are safe enough to swallow as he hasn’t learned how to spit out. Will be using this till he’s about 3.

Josiah is still breastfeeding! Yes, people give me strange looks and all, but I am still going to let him wean on his own. Hopefully, it will not past 3 years. Although it can be tiring sometimes, but the great thing is, I can easily put him to bed on the dot. In fact, since he knows bedtime is feeding time, he always goes to bed voluntarily when it’s time, about 9.30pm coz bedtime is a pleasant moment for him, a time he can cuddle up with me and find security in me.

That’s all for the updates that I can remember!

So, we went in to KPJ at 11.30am, and it was quite a long wait for our turn. Waiting in a private hospital is just as long as waiting in the General hospital. Just that people are always polite, slow to anger and everything looks new and nice. By the time we saw the Doc, it was 12+, and Josiah really freaked out when anyone tried to touch him, so thankfully, I had taken a pic of the hernia bulge the night before, so the Doc just checked the picture. He said it’s really big and need to be operated on immediately. However, we couldn’t really do it asap, as Josiah had not fasted the night before and that morning, he had already taken his breakfast. So, we had to wait another 6 hours, and it was quite a tormenting 6 hours, as Josiah wasn’t allowed to eat or drink. I fasted along with him as he would scream for the food I was eating if I ate in front of him.

So at 1.30pm, we were finally ushered to the registration counter to check into a ward. Lo and behold, there were no wards available. At this moment, I was quite agitated, as Josiah was tired and crying for sleep, and here they couldn’t get a room ready. Plus he was so sticky, I couldn’t go to the washroom, nor drink water nor do anything! Finally, I had no choice but to bring him to their nursing room next to the Specialist clinics, there was a couch there, so I allowed him to take his nap there, but it was really hot in the room.

The poor boy slept uncomfortably and was sweating away as the couch is the pvc type. I guess at that moment, the negative thoughts came in and I was feeling like this was a mistake. Thankfully, that was the worse part, as when Josiah awoken, we were asked to check into the ward, and because there were no wards available, they gave us the VIP Ward.

The VIP ward was huge like an apartment. It was complete with a dining room, a bedroom, living room, bathroom with dedicated shower cubicle, kitchen area complete with kettle, fridge and microwave, not to mention 2 tvs with some Astro channels.




Maybe the only thing is the bed is not queen size haha.

So we pretty much have a blast in the big room, and that took our minds off some things. Josiah too really enjoyed running around and watching the Disney channel while waiting for the ops to start. At about 4.30pm, the nurse came in, and we packed our things and went off to the operation theater. Images of Grey’s Anatomy keep flooding my mind, but in real life, everything seems more relaxed and there really wasn’t any drama going on. I put on my gown and cap, changed my sandals and did the same for Josiah. Too bad I did not manage to take any pics coz Josiah was so cute with the cap, which he quickly took off and won’t put on again after a while. The time in the operation theater was quite a torture, as I had to entertain Josiah while the room was being prepped. Josiah was quite anxious and curious what that place was, so I had to use all my creativity to distract him. Thank God for some nice nurses who came in and out to play with him a bit. Finally he walked himself into the ops theater, and everyone there was wearing a mask, my job was to get him to lie down on the bed and use the anesthetic mask so he would go to sleep. As soon as he lay down on the bed, all the nurses wrapped him up with a towel and the mask came on, he started screaming and crying through the mask. It was less than a minute before his breathing slowed down and he went to sleep. It was quite hard to watch. My job then was done and I was escorted out to the waiting room where John was waiting.

At that time about 5pm, I finally took my lunch but didn’t have much appetite. Since it doesn’t seem like we could go home that night, I started making a list of things for John to bring to the hospital later. Less than an hour later, the doctor came out. He was holding a small container, that contained the part he cut out of Josiah. There was even a small cyst due to the water getting stuck in the sac, halfway showing that to us, I heard Josiah screaming. I nearly rushed into the ops theater without changing my shoes and putting on the gown. Then I entered and saw Josiah curled up on the bed crying unstoppably, even when I pick him up and carried him, he won’t stop crying and won’t even open his eyes. I guess it must have been quite traumatising. The doc came to give him some more painkillers as he seemed to be screaming in pain. After a while, the nurse motioned for me to go back to the ward, I had the experience of sitting on the hospital bed and being wheeled to our room. I thought we would be sent to the pediatric ward or something, but we were sent back to the VIP Room.

Immediately, I nursed Josiah to sleep as he must have been starving as well. Thankfully, he fell into a deep sleep until night came, by the time he awoke, he seemed like normal again. Before he awoken, our baby sitter’s whole family came to visit him.

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He just spent the rest of the time watching Disney Channel. We fed him some Calciyum and he didn’t really want to eat others things. Everything went well, and we were basically very thankful to God and all the prayer warriors who prayed for him.