Boxing !!

gives full name, address, phone num etc

Another shock tonight... just before he went to sleep, he gave his full name, full address and phone number (phone number in both languages)... he was also able to give my surname, his surname, his dad's surname when I asked him. When we heard the neighbour's garage door closing he said 'where is neighbour ?', 'neighbour is gone', etc etc. I am a little shock consider my full home address contains around 15-20 syllables including the postcode. However he pronounces the word "address" as "adbress".

He didnt eat any mangoes previously but he ate two whole mangoes tonight !

party .. food ... party... food.. very tired

We went to a fantastic party yesterday.. had a lot of food and fun. And today even more food my stomach would explode - turkey, potatoes, salad, meat, corn, ..... Jasper had a what we thought was a diarhea in the nappy maybe too much food ?! As a result of that I had to wash the cover of Jasper's car seat in the washing machine - it smells like.. you know what !! yet tonnes of pictures (months worth) to sort out. Very tired, very full, very sick, feeling very unwell !! Giant mangoes are now $8 or $9 per box and there are 13-15 giant fruit in a box! It sounds unreal but it's true. I can't remember how many mangoes I eat these days. Andrew makes them into mango pastries - they were great.... mangoes, mangoes and more mangoes... jasper doesn't like mangoes at all.

Jasper is nearly 2.5 ... I taught him to sing the "numbers" song in Cantonese (123,321,1234567,234,432,45678910), probably twice or so, then he can recite the whole song. Also, I asked him what my Chinese name was and he could say it accurately.

Here are some pictures taken at home, he loves playing with this wooden alphabet crocodile, and can play with it for HOURS, usually from after breakfast to lunch time. We have found another storage box full of toddler books and flash cards and I have to fit them into the cupboards for Jasper.

new bed for jasper

The new beds are here today, they are of full adult size. I don't want to get any more different-sized beds for the next 10-20 years so I decided to go straight to full adult size. Unless Jasper grows very tall in that case he may need a King Single otherwise these beds are meant to last. Andrew assembled them this afternoon after we came back from a party. They are Ikea solid pine bunks which can also be set up as two singles or join up as a wide double bed. I decided to separate them as two singles so that Jasper can sleep on the bed with the full bed rails (which was the upper bunk). The other spare bed is now doing nothing, we may use it as a sofa for some quiet games. I didnt want Jasper to climb up to the upper bunk for play(he can climb up without the ladder) so the beds are arranged as L-shape in the room instead of stacked up. Andrew didn't like the L-shaped idea because they take up too much space, well, we can always disembled the unused bed anytime in future. I love the bed rails as they prevent him from rolling to the floor. Now we have too many beds and we don't really need this extra single bed, I wish it were a trundle bed that can be stored underneath Jasper's bed.






Sleeping in the new bed for the first time....

x'mas tree

i like big numbers

Jasper's toy cupboards

I have almost loaded all the books and wooden puzzles into Jasper's toy cupboards, they were previously used as kitchen cupboards at our old place. I put the wooden puzzles in the hutches so Jasper can point and ask for which one he likes us to fetch him. We still have 7-8 boxes of newborn toys in storage, they will not fit into these cupboards unless we acquire more matching cupboards or stack on top of what we have. I now teach him to pack away ONE toy and hand it over to me before he will get the next toy/book.

He plays on the staircase a lot, sometimes he would slide down the rugged carpeted steps and giggle away, I wonder if i could get a hang-on slide thing to put onto half the width of the staircase so he can have more indoor fun.

He was playing the 3 x 4 jigsaw puzzle on his own, guess what I heard .... I heard him saying these to himself: "does this one match ?" "I don't think so." "where does this go ?" "try here" "no, it doesnt match".... etc

Finally I am convinced he can switch languages with different people. He was asking Andrew "where is my xxx?" "want Andrew get xxx ?". Andrew told him "I don't have XXX go ask mummy ?"... later on he came to me "yiu XXX" "yiu mummy lor xxx" ... all in Cantonese. I have been quite mean, sometimes I offer him no response when he speaks English to me.

We are down to about 10 boxes or big bags of stuff in the living area to be sorted out. Andrew has bought more bookcases this weekend for the study room to store those things. I think when things are all sorted the study room will look like a library.

My to do list is huge -- My next projects will be to varnish or paint the tired-looking front door, paint the wooden fences of the backyard, install a security metal door over the front door. The biggest mistake is that I now have over a dozen of screw-cap energy-saver light bulbs but they don't fit our place because we have bayonet/T cap light bulb sockets all over the house. Our place is quite breezy and we hear doors slam closed now and then, I will need to install door stoppers for all the doors. I also have to wire new lighting for the cellar, we are currently dragging an extension lead with light into the cellar. The laundary will need new overhead shelves to store all those utilities as they are currently lying around the floor. All these will keep me busy or entertained for the months to come.

Rolling off the bed; bye bye old house

Jasper keeps rolling off the bed and Andrew has to reposition him. He is still waiting for his new bed, I hope they will deliver it soon.

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The followings are some of the last few pictures taken of Jasper at the old place before we handed the house keys over. He understands it very well that there is no more old house, bye bye old house, I like new house etc... We took him to the common garden for a play before leaving, he climbed up the slide, and climbed up the fences of the garden... not sure if he will miss the old common garden. We have a public park just opposite where we live now and it will be just a few minutes walk to bring him there. As for our backyard, we cleared out a few crates worth of leaves but there are still more leaves to be scooped up. There are a few mosquitoes outside and I have to wait for a very good sunny day to spray the whole outdoor. I saw a lizard yesterday, not sure what to do with it so I let it go.

Door viewer

I got a quote of $75 for each callout plus $75 per half hour of handy man job to install a door viewer on my front door. I am not mentally ready to pay this much for a door viewer. I went to the $2 shop this morning after dropping off Jasper at the daycare, spent $2.95 on a 180 degree door viewer and $2 for a set of 5 wooden drill bits. Total costs $4.95 !! I just thought I could give it a go and DIY. It wasn't that hard, I used a 10 mm drill bit to drill a pilot hole through the door and then slowly widen it with the same drill until it fits the door viewer... It took me 15-20 mins all up to fix this as i haven't drilled wood this thick before. We had needle work and sewing lessons in school but never woodwork. I don't really drill much normally, it's not my job. It was a success !!!!! Andrew will be shocked when he sees it this evening. It's 4:30pm gotta go to get some veggies and then pickup Jasper.

swapping rooms

We swapped Jasper's room with our study room last night. I decided that a more oblong-shaped room is more suited as a study room as we can take advantage of the wall space for book shelves. Jasper will have this bigger square room, it should fit any bed configuration we want... He is just having his afternoon nap now !

Jasper - "I like new house!"

We still have around 20 boxes or bags of things lying around the living area waiting to be sorted out. We are yet to organise our study room to accomodate all those things... each time we buy a new book shelf, it is packed flat and would take some times and effort to assemble it. I wanted to get a new kitchen and new bathrooms but they have to wait a few years due to my empty wallet.

The white kitchen floor cupboards, pantry cupboards and hutches from our previous apartment are now his toy cupboards. I can't think of other use of them. Other bigger items are stored in the cellar.

Jasper is still waiting for his new bed as I haven't decided what to get him - whether a single bed frame, single ensembled, a single plus trundle, or double and single bunk or a single bunk, he has been sleeping on the cot mattress on the floor so far without complaints. There isn't much in his room, just a change table, a cot mattress and a large clothes rack.

family portraits

we have had some family portaits done at the studio. It was of typical Australia settings with all of us in smart casual outfits. We hang a fireplace size picture in our living room and the rest of the pictures are in other rooms. We have never had anything this big hanging on the wall !!! I am yet to take digital copies of those physical photos. Watch this space....

running upstairs, converse with stranger

We have stairs over 3 levels at our new residence and Jasper was walking up the stairs with two feet on a step just like how he had been climbing stairs all along. Guess what happened the next day, he started to climb stairs with alternating feet, occasionally placing his hands on the wall for extra support as he walked. Now he is running upstairs like a young kid, he still walks down the stairs with two feet on a step. But I think it won't be long before he walks the stairs like all adults.

we had been so busy moving things for the last two weeks. One time, when I was talking to Andrew about going to McDonalds for lunch, Jasper sitting at the backseat of the car overheard us and said "want nuggets", "I like nuggets", "want chippy" ... in both languages....

He suddenly drinks from an open cup. A year ago i was too concerned about him not using a cup and tried very hard to teach him to use them, and finally I gave up and just let him use sippy cups and straw cups. I guess when they are old enough they will just learn things.

He has been so involved in the "move" that he knows what is happening when we are driving from one place to another. eg "want go new house", "I like new house", "bye bye old house". He can minimally help us move things like dragging the bag of toys up the stairs and so on.

We went to Bunnings the hardware store with Jasper sat on the front section of the shopping trolley. A staff member of the shop who helped us cut materials spoke with Jasper "what's your name?" and he answered "my name is Jasper", "How old are you ?", "I am one". I corrected him that he's two. Then when the man said "H", jasper went "I", man said "J", Jasper went "K"... and they sang the alphabet song together. Those free paint sample cards become his free toy or colour cards. We have been to Bunnings a few times, each time he asked "want colour cards!".