Now this is just a compilation of the entries I write in my blog http://hiewchoksien.blogspot.com. What's new is the photos. Some of them have been posted at my blog but many have not been posted before.

Shee Yun knows the directions to go to the park. This morning I brought her out for a short morning walk. Mainly I wanted to send some birthday cards (the post box is about 30 metres from my house). I brought Shee Yun along for a short walk. It ended up being a much longer walk. Whenever I approach home or take a turning leading towards home, she started complaining and pointed at another direction. After a few times, I realised she had been choosing all the correct turns to go to the park! It was a long way to the park, and without a stroller and without Michelle to carry Shee Yun part of the way, it would be too tiring. So I brought Shee Yun home, and together with Michelle we drove to the park to let Shee Yun play at the playground.

Last night she woke up in the middle of the night. She cried a little and sat upright. I thought: that's not good. If she fully woke up it'd be tough to make her go back to sleep. I quickly rushed to her side, hoping to give her the pacifier and make her lie down and go back to sleep before she was fully awake. But before I could do anything, she already picked up the pacifier by herself, put it promptly into her mouth, and lay back down to go to sleep.

Michelle says I'm spoiling Shee Yun. Michelle can be quite strict with Shee Yun and doesn't always give her whatever she wants. She can be stern with Shee Yun. Crying is not a weapon that Shee Yun can easily use on her. On the other hand, I tend to give in to Shee Yun more easily. On Saturday morning's morning walk I took her where she wanted to go, even though I was already quite tired carrying her (she refused to walk herself). On Sunday night when she asked for Coke I gave her a little. She wanted to drink from the 500ml bottle like we did and didn't want to sip from the little bit I poured onto the cap. We didn't let her have it and she kept crying. After finishing the bottle I poured some water into it and wanted to let her have some, thinking maybe she just wanted to drink from the bottle like we did and she didn't really want the Coke. She refused it and continued crying. From these two incidents Michelle drew the conclusion - I'm spoiling Shee Yun indeed.

Shee Yun can give a very nasty stare. Sometimes she does it to us, and sometimes even to strangers or other friends. She lowers her head a little and stares straight and unblinkingly, like she is full of anger. It's quite a nasty stare. She does it sometimes when we don't give her something she wants.

The weather has been quite hot lately. Sometimes it feels a bit hot even with the air-con on. Today after her bath we let her wear just her diapers and let her roam around the room without clothes on (only fan was on, not air-con). She seemed to quite enjoy herself.

Just now when Michelle gave her some Ribena, after she drank some, she also shared some with her favourite doll Tubby. She stuck the teat of her bottle into Tubby's forehead.

Recently she often naps only once per day, around 12:30noon. But she can usually sleep for 3 hours. I guess that's not too bad. Of course it would be best if she could nap twice a day.

In the past few days Shee Yun talked a lot. She spoke fluently and expressively, sometimes to us, sometimes to herself. Unfortunately it is all in Shee Yun language, so we could not understand a single word of it. But it's fun to see her talk like she knows exactly what she's saying, just that silly baba and mama cannot comprehend.

Yesterday night I played a spinning game with her. I hold her in my arms, and then I spin like a top for about 2 rounds. She laughed excitedly and asked to play again.

When Michelle makes milk for Shee Yun before her bed time, Shee Yun lies down and conveniently spits out her pacifier and then holds the bottle to start drinking. It's funny to see how naturally she blurts out her pacifier. It's as natural as Mark Ko (Mark哥， a character in A Better Tomorrow 英雄本色 played by Chow Yuen Fatt 周润发) biting and spitting his match stick.

Today we went for yumcha with Ricky & family. I think the last time I saw his two girls Lok Mun (5) and Kai Li (2) was at Shee Yun's 1 year old birthday. It's fun to see how they speak, and I'm looking forward to Shee Yun speaking even more. Ricky said they started talking around 1 year & 4 months old, which is Shee Yun's age now. So maybe I won't have to wait much longer.

At the restaurant, at first Shee Yun was quite naughty (refusing to sit still, threatening to cry, and generally quite restless), but thankfully soon we found out it was because she was hungry and was impatient to have food. After having eaten she happily explored around the restaurant, even going to other guests' tables. I had to go and carry her back. She seemed quite interested to watch Lok Mun & Kai Li talk and play. I guess it's because Shee Yun usually doesn't have any friends of a similar age playing with her. Perhaps it would have helped her in learning to talk earlier.

Shee Yun normally doesn't close her mouth. It is always slightly open. I'm wondering whether it's because of the two big front teeth.

Today we brought Shee Yun to the national library. The last time I was there was probably in 1997, when I first started working in KL. I renewed my library card (which has expired since 2000), and both Michelle and Shee Yun applied for new cards. When we brought Shee Yun to the children's section, she was like a mouse in a rice container (I remember there's a Malay saying that sounds something like this). There were rows and rows and shelves and shelves of books. She explored one shelf to another, pulling out books and putting them back (although usually not where they originally came from).

We borrowed 9 books for Shee Yun. Each membership card can borrow 3 books for 3 weeks. I still remember when Mei and I were young, Ma always brought us to the state library in KK. We enjoyed reading and we had the freedom to choose whatever we wanted to read. That time each membership card could only borrow 2 books. We also used Ma and Ba's cards to borrow books for us.

So, Michelle and I want to cultivate Shee Yun's interest in reading. It's never too early to start I guess.

Today my cousin Jeanne came to play boardgames. Afterwards we went for dinner together. Shee Yun liked playing with Jeanne. It seems she likes all 姑姑 (aunts). She also likes playing with Mei a lot. They can make her laugh.

At her bath time she still likes to play pouring water. She wants me to use the dipper to pour water from high above her into the bath tub. And she'll catch the stream with her hand. Today she alternated between catching it with her hand and moving her hand aside to let the stream fall into the water.

Today there was a miracle. Shee Yun was willing to eat a lot of food! Usually she has no patience to finish her food or her milk. She just eats some until she doesn't feel hungry anymore, and then she wants to go to play. Today she ate these (around noon time):

• 11:15am - 11:45am porridge
• 12:10pm papaya
• 12:45pm asked for fish shaped biscuits
• 1:00pm asked for Swiss roll
• 2:15pm asked for milk 70ml

And she finished all of them!

She knows how to play peekaboo (we call it 玩 "jiak"). She covers her eyes with her hands and then removes them quickly. When we play this with her she laughs.

Today at her bedtime she sat in her bed with the very thick Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince book and happily flipped and flipped the pages.

When she eats she likes to break small pieces off her food and then eat the small pieces. She does this to biscuits, and she even does it to watermelon (disastrous). Today she broke off one piece of watermelon and then squeezed it in her hand... messy.

She can hold a handphone like she knows how to use it. She sometimes plays with my handphone. Maybe she likes to see her picture in the handphone.

Sometimes when I ask her to give me a hug (抱抱爸爸), or "siak siak 爸爸", she happily comes and gently hugs me, or gently strokes my hair. Sometimes she just flatly shakes her head (without even looking at me) and continues playing or doing whatever she was doing. And Michelle will laugh.

Today I played some eye games (眼神) with Shee Yun. First I raised my eyebrows several times in succession. Then I blinked several times. She found it funny, and she even imitated me by blinking a few times.

Today during the day Shee Yun did a dance that Michelle found very funny. Michelle showed me how Shee Yun danced. Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to describe in words. It's kind of a side-to-side sway.

Today I saw very little of Shee Yun. In the morning she woke up too early, around 4:30am. So by the time I woke up to go to work, she has gone back to sleep. So she didn't send me to the LRT station today. Today I had to work late and only reached home around 8:10pm. By then she was already sleepy because it was her bedtime. But thankfully I still get to play with her a little, and to see her grin. And today when I asked her to give me a hug she happily came to give me a sweet hug.

Shee Yun knows that when we leave the bedroom to go downstairs, she should leave behind her pacifier and her Tubby doll. Today I worked slightly late. After I got home I went up to the bedroom first. Michelle had bathed Shee Yun and was playing with her. When I told her I was going to bring her downstairs, she took out her pacifier and threw it into her cot, and then she also threw Tubby into her cot. Then she came towards me and reached out to me.

Nowadays if Michelle scolds Shee Yun, she doesn't dare to cry. She will just frown (扁嘴).

Shee Yun likes to eat watermelon. I cut the watermelon into small and long triangular pieces and let her eat by herself. Sometimes she doesn't hold it properly and bites the skin. Her favourite part is of course the sharp tip, because it is the sweetest part.

We think Shee Yun's first word is "不要" (No / Don't Want). Today she brought a plastic crocodile toy to play in the kitchen, and left it on the floor. Michelle told her to pick it up, and she looked defiantly at Michelle and said "不要". (it sounds like it) Sometimes when we tell her to do something or not to do something she also says "不要哦".

Today when Shee Yun refused to drink milk, Michelle thought up a trick to make Shee Yun drink. She pretended to feed Tubby the milk. When Shee Yun saw that, she asked for the bottle of milk. Michelle happily handed it to her. Then Shee Yun tried to feed the milk to Tubby. :-D Guess it didn't work out.

Shee Yun likes her Nutrigen (yogurt drink) a lot. Sometimes she asks Michelle to open the fridge for her so that she can get her Nutrigen. She drinks with the tiny straw that comes with the Nutrigen pack. Sometimes she is a bit clumsy and pours Nutrigen over her clothes or onto the floor.

She likes to play with water or liquids. When she sees a wet surface (e.g. watermelon juice left over on the table after we have watermelon), she likes to use her hand and arms to spread the water all over the surface, getting her hands and arms and sometimes her clothes wet and dirty in the process.

Today we went to my cousin Edward's home for the full moon celebration of his third daughter. Many relatives were there - 大舅，大舅母，二舅，阿姨，姨丈. They were all happy to see Shee Yun. However, we didn't realised that Shee Yun was scared of strangers. After a short while she started crying. Poor girl. I think she was overwhelmed by the attention and by so many people talking to her. Thankfully she didn't cry very long. She was OK when we brought her away to a quieter place. It took her a little time to get used to the crowd. Michelle said when she brought Shee Yun to the temple (the 佛堂 that Michelle's mum visits when she's in KL), Shee Yun also got scared and cried. I guess it must be the many unfamiliar faces all talking to her that is scaring her.

Today she also played with the cat behind our house, when I was bringing the laundry in. She laughed when the cat rolled onto its back. She even held the cat's paw.

Shee Yun is still using the Step 2 pacifiers (for 5-8 months). Michelle has bought two different types of Step 3 pacifiers, but she doesn't like them. When we give her the newer ones, she sucks for a short while and will soon realise something is wrong. She'll spit it out or take it out and take back the old one. So today Michelle bought a new Step 2 pacifier for her.

Today when we went to Jaya Jusco, Michelle went to buy Shee Yun's things while I brought Shee Yun to the children's playground / arcade zone to wait for her. Shee Yun really enjoyed watching the different arcade games and rides. Actually even I find some of the arcade games very interesting, like the rock drum set machine and the Japanese taiko drum machine. There's also one machine where the "joystick" is a big wheel you need to turn and turn. The Japanese are very creative. Shee Yun enjoyed playing and watching with the many arcade games and children's rides. Even when Michelle had finished the shopping and came to look for us, Shee Yun was not done yet. We had to use the kuih bahulu to tempt her away. She likes kuih bahulu a lot. Every time we go to Carrefour I'll get the free samples for her. But the Carrefour kuih bahulu is not so good and we don't buy it. We only buy the ones from Jaya Jusco.

Shee Yun still remembers what we taught her to do when she is hurt. Today during her bath time she knocked her head against the wall. She cried for a short while, and then started hitting the wall in revenge. It's very funny. I wonder whether it's a good thing. We taught her such a thing to distract her from crying. It worked though.

Shee Yun is indeed shy of strangers. Jessy, my Taiwanese friend and boardgame kaki visited us. She and her colleague came to stay a night yesterday. Shee Yun was shy in front of them and didn't want to be carried by them. But she didn't cry like she did yesterday. Maybe there were only two new faces this time. Both Jessy and her colleague Yu Chieh said Shee Yun is a very good girl. I guess no one is going to believe Michelle and I when we say she is naughty, because in front of other people she is quiet and shy.

I've deviced a delaying tactic for keeping her still after her bath. After her bath I need to dry her, put on Drapolene for her, put on her diaper and put on her clothes. Every time after her shower she'd ask for both her Tubby doll and her pacifier. Instead of directly giving them to her, I pretent not to know what she's asking for. I'd pick up a pillow and ask her "you want this?" (你要这个？), and she'd shake her head. I'd repeat this with her pink bolster, yellow bolster, the other pillow, blue blanket, etc, and sometimes even repeating something I've already shown her. I do this with my left hand, while my right hand dries her with her towel.

This morning we brought her to the park and playground. It seems to have been quite a while since we last brought her there. She sat in the stroller almost all the way to and back from the park. It's because we let her have a piece of kuih bahulu when we were going there, and we bought a yogurt drink for her to drink on the way back. Usually she'd get bored in the stroller and ask to be carried.

Last night Michelle taught Shee Yun how to kiss. She demonstrated by kissing my cheek. When Shee Yun kisses she doesn't know how to stick out her lips. She just knows how to go really close to your face and touch your cheek with her lips. It always makes Michelle laugh and shy away in fear, because Shee Yun approaches her very slowly and steadily and firmly, and with a mouth all wet with saliva, sometimes even with a drop of saliva hanging threateningly from her lower lip or her chin.

Today Shee Yun climbed into her cot from our master bed. I think she has done it before once. She did it when I was not looking and when Michelle was taking her shower. I thought she was playing with her animal jigsaw puzzles on our master bed. Then when I turned back she was already in her cot! I think she must have tried to climb in, and then she had fallen in. But she didn't cry. She just happily hugged her Tubby and put her pacifier into her mouth. She climbed into her cot because she was looking for them.

Afterwards I asked her to demonstrate again how she climbed in. I took Tubby away from her and put it in her cot. But she refused to climb in again and just pointed at Tubby to ask me to get it for her. I got it for her.

Today she talked to Tubby and we heard her say "bay--be" (baby).

Shee Yun finds it fun to throw something into the dustbin. When Michelle gives her a piece of rubbish to throw into the dustbin, she happily does it and really enjoys it. Today when Michelle picked up some hair from the ground to throw into the dustbin, Shee Yun imitated her by looking for hair (and actually finding it) and then picking it up and throwing it into the dustbin.

She likes to sit on things or step on things, e.g. sitting on an overturned box, or stepping on a thick book. I think some day she is going to break something.

My gua ma (grandmother, mother's side) passed away 5 years ago today. I still remember I found out that she was hospitalised right after I took my wedding photos. I got a call from my father when I was still on the street outside the wedding shop, and it was early evening. Gua ma passed away soon after that, just 4 months before my wedding day. I wished she hadn't missed my wedding day.

I've always had fond memories of gua ma. She always asked me whether she could bite me, and I'd say yes, and she'd bite my forearm (one, then the other) with her false teeth bite.

Today Shee Yun said "Ma Ma". Michelle asked her to say it and she did! When she asked her to say "Ba Ba", Shee Yun also said "Ba!". Michelle said I was more excited than she is when I heard Shee Yun say "Ma Ma". Today when Michelle was talking to her mum on the phone, she said "Ma", and Shee Yun who was nearby and heard that also imitated by saying "Ma".

Shee Yun liked watching trains. There's a computer game Railroad Tycoon 3 which I'm playing that she likes to watch. When she sees me turning on the computer she'll ask me to show her the trains. I'll load up one of the past games I've completed and just let it run and let Shee Yun watch the different trains.

Michelle says Shee Yun likes things which she is familiar with. E.g. she prefers her own books to the ones we borrowed from the library. She prefers watching Railroad Tycoon 3 to another games I installed to show her.

Shee Yun played with an electronic thermometer. Michelle showed her that she could press a button to turn it on. It beeped when the button is pressed. Michelle explained that she used the thermometer to measure her body temperature when we were planning to have a baby. When Shee Yun heard the beep, she thought it was a hand phone and she held it to her ear. Michelle had a good laugh.

This morning we brought Shee Yun to the playground at the park. We let her have a biscuit (she didn't finish it) on the way there, and we gave her Nutrigen (which she did finish very quickly) on the way back, so she sat contentedly in her stroller all the way, which is much easier on us compared to carrying her. This time we let her play with a tube shaped slide. She enjoyed herself very much. I released her from the top and Michelle caught her at the bottom. We reversed roles once, so that I could also see Shee Yun's excited expression.

Today at Carrefour she played with a bike helmet. She picked it up and promptly put it on her head. It was about twice too big for her. She quickly took it off and left it on the floor.

Today Shee Yun cried a lot. She cried very easily, whenever something displeased her or she didn't get her way. Don't know what's wrong with her today.

She enjoyed herself a lot when we were at Leisure Mall today. She enjoyed taking books from the shelves and flipping them at Popular Bookstore. She got a balloon from Swensen's. She roamed around Leisure Mall with the balloon and with me chasing after her. She was attracted to the red lights on the ceiling. She pointed at them and made noise.

She is now shy of strangers. Last week she was shy of my relatives. Today she was shy of the manager of Swensen's. I guess she is older now and has reached another stage. She is taller now. She is taller than our dining table and my computer desk. So sometimes when she is not careful she'll knock her head on the side of the table.

Recently in the evening Michelle puts some 白树油 (eucalyptus oil?) into Shee Yun's bath. It smells very nice. It should help to make Shee Yun sleep peacefully through the night too.

Shee Yun likes to look pretty. When we give her something new to wear, e.g. new clothes, a hair clip, a head band, or a handbag, she would go to the full length mirror to look at herself and be very pleased with herself. Sometimes we don't even need to tell her she looks so beautiful (美美).

Today she still cried easily, but not as bad as yesterday. Don't know why. Maybe she's just manja. These past two days she tends to wake up from sleep / nap crying.

In the small front lawn and back lawn of our house there are some chilli plants and vegetables planted by our ex-maid Sum. The vegetable patch has grown to a lot. It's 番薯苗．　Supposed to be quite good.

Yesterday we bought a sticker book and some stickers for Shee Yun. She liked playing with it. She doesn't know how to peel the stickers, so she applies the same technique as how she "played" with the animal jigsaw puzzles. She squeezes the whole thing until something comes off / comes loose. Then she will be able to peel it off. She quickly learnt how to stick the stickers onto the sticker book.

Today we brought Shee Yun out for an evening walk together. It has been quite a while since I have done that. Work has been busy and I had to work late more often. So, by the time I reach home it's already dark. Today she kept chasing after Michelle and wanted to be carried by Michelle. 很粘身.

One new game that I play with Shee Yun during her bedtime is 飞机起飞 (aeroplane takeoff). I carry her in a Superman pose, carrying her across her chest and her lower abdomen, and then "fly" her around the room, sometimes into Michelle's arms. She enjoys it a lot.

SMS from Michelle 9:26am - forgot to mention your gal doesn't want hali gali but interested to play for sale n mysteryrummy . Ha ha.

Yesterday when Michelle and I played Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper and Halli Galli, Shee Yun enjoyed watching us. She liked watching us deal out the cards, and is especially amused when we make exaggerating gestures or exclamations. She also grinned and laughed with us.

Shee Yun mumbled a lot these few days. Today when Michelle was trying to sleep, Shee Yun kept saying something to her repeatedly. It's a short sentence in baby language. Shee Yun was quite "ngam cham" (Cantonese) ("naggy" in English?).

Shee Yun sometimes does a circle dance. She either turns 360 degrees or walks in a small circle. She is probably trying to imitate Dipsy (one of the Teletubbies, the one in green).

Shee Yun enjoys her sticker book a lot. Today Michelle bought more stickers for her from the $2 shop (something like that) near our place. Shee Yun is using up the stickers very quickly. This is becoming a rather expensive hobby. She doesn't really pay attention to the pictures on the stickers, or where she sticks them or how she arranges them. She just enjoys peeling them off and sticking them into the sticker book. She is quite rough and today even tore off young Belle's arm (Belle of the Disney Beauty & the Best).

Our backyard is becoming a cat gathering spot. Yesterday afternoon when I went to take in the laundry there were four of them lazing around, and they didn't even bother to move when I came out. Michelle has been giving them leftover food, e.g. the stomach part of fish (which smells and we don't give to Shee Yun).

Today is Michelle's birthday and I took a one-day leave. Tomorrow Michelle and Shee Yun will be flying back to Sabah for one month. I will only join them later, for a one-week holiday back in Sabah.

Shee Yun is starting a bad habit (well, at least I think it's a bad one). Sometimes she likes to cross her last two fingers (ring finger & little finger). This only started recently. Michelle said she must have inherited my bad genes, because when I was young I also had a habit of pinching the corners of my pillow with the parts of my finger next to the finger nails.

Today we went out to celebrate Michelle's birthday. Since Michelle also had a medical check-up in the afternoon, we decided to adjust Shee Yun's sleeping time today to be around 1pm - 3pm (just once), so that she can go out with us and also go to the medical check-up together. This morning Shee Yun woke up quite early, around 6:30am (actually, that's her usual time). We didn't let her sleep at 10am (usually that's when she sleeps), because it was time to go out. We went to Mid Valley Megamall. We brought her to Jaya Jusco, and to the pet shop. We also let her play with the children's rides.

We had lunch early, before noon time. The food was rather slow, and Shee Yun lost patience by the time she had finished her 2nd biscuit and our food still had not arrived. She became grumpy and wanted to move about. It was because she was already tired and sleepy. We had to eat hurriedly and even had to "tapau" the 豆沙锅饼. By the time we were walking to the car park, Shee Yun had already fallen asleep in Michelle's arms. I literally saw her fall asleep. Her eyes flipped white and then back to black, and then white again a few times, until she finally closed her eyes.

8.33kg, 78.1cm. When we went for the medical check-up yesterday for our 2nd baby, we brought Shee Yun to the nursery and helped ourselves to the equipment to measure her height and weight. :-)

The doctor said our 2nd baby is likely a girl, although she couldn't be 100% sure. Michelle still worries that I am hoping for a boy and would be disappointed if it wasn't a boy. I reassured her again that I'm not. I don't think it's right to hope for a boy or a girl. I just hope for a healthy and happy baby.

This morning Michelle and Shee Yun flew back to Sabah. I will only be joining them later, during the Merdeka week. So I will be home alone for a while.

When I called Michelle today after work, she told me that Shee Yun was shy of my mum. I guess it has been quite some time since she saw my mum.

This is Day 2 that I'm alone. When I reached home after work (today it was 8:30pm), the first thing is to call Michelle. Today Shee Yun had already slept, so I couldn't hear her voice. Today she only napped once. She didn't want to sleep because she was busy exploring Michelle's mum's house, opening drawers and playing with various things. So she's slept earlier than usual at night.

Yong En, her cousin who is one year older, liked to hug her, but was a bit rough. Today Shee Yun bit her lip when Yong En hugged her and bled a little, but she didn't cry. Yong En got a scolding from her mum (大嫂).

Shee Yun had many mosquito bites. Michelle counted 20 today. Poor girl. We forgot to pack the mosquito repellent.

Now that she is back in KK, Shee Yun sometimes doesn't want Michelle and wants Michelle's mum instead. I think it's because she knows 姐婆 (grandma) will spoil her, whereas Michelle can be strict with her.

Michelle brought Shee Yun to a saloon for a haircut. Shee Yun didn't like getting a haircut and kept struggling and refusing to have her hair cut. The hairdresser only managed to cut a little, so he/she only charged $5. I think Shee Yun is afraid of strangers, and getting a haircut is something new to her that she is not comfortable with.

Today is housework day for me. I had to do some (office) work in the morning till noon. About 2pm onwards is my 体力劳动 (physical labour) - it's good exercise. My mum says I'm getting fat.

1. pick up rubbish in my front porch (some inconsiderate people throw rubbish in front of my house and even into my front porch - I suspect some are kindergarten students of the kindergarten next door)
2. wash car
3. sweep car porch
4. vacuum master bedroom, medium bedroom, small bedroom, upstairs boardgame / books area, staircase, dining room, kitchen, sitting room
5. collect laundry (had to wash two rounds last night to wash all)
6. fold and put away clothes
7. iron clothes

With two short breaks in between, I only finished all by around 6pm.

Now I have to call Michelle everyday in order to get news about Shee Yun.

This morning when Michelle and her mum brought Shee Yun out for a morning walk, they were caught in a sudden downpour. They had to run home. Shee Yun was in a stroller, which had a cover, but because of the strong wind, she still got wet. Michelle bathed Shee Yun and also showered after getting home.

Today when Michelle was solving a sudoku puzzle on the newspaper, Shee Yun wanted to use her pencil too. They had to take turns using the pencil. When Shee Yun wrote on the floor, Michelle told her she shouldn't do that. Then Shee Yun went to take a rug to try to rub away the pencil stains on the floor.

Michelle says Shee Yun looks more like girl now, after having had the haircut yesterday. I'm anxious to see Shee Yun's new look. Well, it's only two weeks away.

Michelle says she feels good in KK. It has been raining everyday and the air is good.

Without Shee Yun and Michelle by my side, there is nothing much interesting to talk about. Breakfast - 4 pieces of toast with peanut butter & chocolate spread and margarine, and a mug of hot white tea. Lunch - 2 pieces of roti canai (kosong). Dinner - Hokkien mee (福建面) and 凉水 (罗汉果+龙眼).

I did have a good boardgame session today at Han's place. Jeanne joined us and also invited a new friend Grace who has been eager to join our sessions for a long time but never found the chance. A new game we played is Motley Fool's Buy Low Sell High. I have read the rules before but have forgotten most of it. This is a stock market game, where you can buy and sell shares and play various cards to cause share prices to go up or down, to impact dividend payouts, to levy fees on shareholders etc. With every share being bought, the next share to be bought will be more expensive. The logic works the same way for shares being sold. This is a nice yet simple simulation of supply-and-demand and stock market speculation. When everyone else starts buying the oil company's shares, you'd better jump onto the bandwagon as well because surely the other players must have a lot of good cards to make the price shoot up or make good dividend payments. At game end, the riches person wins(after selling all shares). This is simple and light game that takes probably 35-45 minutes, and is best played with the max number of players - 4.

Long day at work. Reached home about 9:45pm.

SMS from Michelle at 8:58PM - Ok. Me a bit tired. Shee yun went to bed already. She is funny today. We all enjoyed laughing. Pity u . Don't over work. Looking forward 2 c u soon. Love u .

Today when Michelle's mum ate some chocolate, she did a chicken gesture. She gave Shee Yun a bit of chocolate too, which she liked. After she finished it, she did the chicken gesture too, thinking that it will earn her some more chocolate. That's what gave Michelle and good laugh.

Michelle said Shee Yun has been very "wild" (心很野) since going back to KK. She always wants to go out. When she sees Michelle's father, she wants to get into the car and go out.

Michelle said Shee Yun is very naughty now that she is in KK, because she knows there are many people spoiling her - grandparents from both father and mother's sides. And she always wants to go out. She wants to get into the car and go out. But she is quite smart also. Today when my mum tried bringing her into the car to satisfy her, she didn't want to go in, because she knew they were not really going out, because Michelle was not around, and my mum didn't take the car keys anyway. Not easy to fool nowadays.

Today when she saw my father using the computer, she wanted to play with it too. She cried and cried when Michelle didn't allow her to play with the computer. 眼泪鼻涕齐流. Naughty girl. 太宠了. She only calmed down when Michelle brought her to play with the piano. Just now when I called Michelle I heard my mum playing the piano with Shee Yun. My mum can play some simple tunes on the piano.

I sat for an exam today. It's a Project Manager Certification initiative at my company and this is just one of two exams of Level 1 (of 3) of this certification. We were given two case studies at 3pm, and we have to answer the 3 questions that come with each case study and submit them by 6pm. I actually enjoyed doing this exam. Reminds me of student days.

One thing that I've learnt is that some things will be a long-term continuous struggle, and cannot be settled with a one-time effort. Fixes will only be temporary, and the problem will arise again in the future. One of such problems is termites. Some of our wooden door frames have been eaten by termites. We used poison. They went away. They came back. They went away. Thankfully the door frames were the only casualties. Not my books or comics or boardgames. I had termite problems when I stayed at Kondo Miharja. That time I wasn't so lucky. Bookshelves were hit and some books had to be thrown away. At least it's not that bad here. We just have to check now and then.

Another one is the overflowing water. My water tank leaks water. We have to keep the main pipe closed. Otherwise water comes in and the tank will overflow. We have a pump which is too strong and a valve which is not strong enough to stop the water from coming in and overflowing the tank. We've got the plumber to come fix this a few times but the problem is still not solved. We will need to continue to bug him. Now we close the main pipe by default and only open it once or twice a week to let in water.

Now that I'm home alone, water usage is even less. On Tuesday I came home to find that someone had turned on the main pipe (maybe due to good intentions, seeing that it was off). I turned it off, but our tank was already overflowing. I don't know how much water has been wasted. We use a big black pail to catch the leaking water, but even that overflowed. As the overflowing continued, I had to keep transferring the water from the big pail to the smaller ones (about 7 or 8 of them). Some I carried downstairs to pour into the washing machine. It took 2-3 days for the overflowing to cease. Finally by yesterday the leaking has become very very slow and I don't need to worry about overflowing when I'm at work during the day.

Now there are 5 pails of water in the middle bathroom. I use the stored water to take cold baths now, so that I can use up the water. Today is housework day and I'm planning to mop the floor and wash the bathrooms. That should use up more of the stored water.

Michelle wrote to me to share stories of Shee Yun. It was good to read. I felt as if I was there with them. Yesterday they went to Supertanker for dinner, and Shee Yun played with other children there. A girl hit Shee Yun. Don't know why the girl was so fierce. Two other kids liked Shee Yun a lot and kept saying her name. They gently stroked her and also kissed her.

Shee Yun likes to play at a children's playground about 5 minutes drive from my home in KK. When playing the slide, she adjusts herself to lie face-down, and slides backwards down the slide. This way is less scary for her and she prefers it this way. We didn't teach her this. She invented this herself.

At Centrepoint, Shee Yun kept waving bye-bye to passerbys. She liked taking the escalator. Michelle had to take her down one level by stairs in order to let her take the escalator up. (Centrepoint is designed that way - half escalator and half stairs) Needless to say, this is extremely tiring for Michelle.

Yesterday I made a mistake. I misread Michelle's email and thought the children (strangers) at Supertanker were saying Shee Yun's name. Actually they just "sayang" Shee Yun, not "saying" Shee Yun's name. Oops.

Today when I called Michelle I experienced first-hand how naughty Shee Yun is. When I called, Ma, Michelle and Shee Yun just reached home. They went out to buy toys for Shee Yun because she was restless at my home in KK because there aren't things for her to play. I spoke to Ma for a short while and she passed the phone to Michelle. Within just a moment I started hearing Shee Yun cry in the background already. The past few days when I have been missing Shee Yun (and Michelle, of course :-) ), when I heard Michelle describing how Shee Yun was becoming very naughty and very spoilt, I just thought it to be sweet, and funny. Now that I think more about it, it is actually not a good thing. Hmmm...

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 movie starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet which I just finished watching on Astro. I was just browsing channels and it caught my attention, and I sat down to watch the whole movie. It's a drama. I sat down not knowing that it was about (the description given in the guide was vague - something about relationships & breakups). I "discovered" the story bit by bit, sometimes puzzled but gradually managed to work things out. A movie that reminded me of this feeling was the Korean movie "My Sassy Girl" (我的野蛮女友), which I enjoyed a lot, but is actually a very different type of movie. I didn't quite understand the ending, but maybe there wasn't much to "understand" about. Perhaps it's up to the viewer to decide what that scene meant.

I think it's a good thing to watch a movie without knowing what it's about. So I didn't write about any details of the plot. Maybe I will trigger someone to watch it, and hopefully like it too. (although the number of readers of my blog is not likely more than the number of fingers I have)

I find that sometimes there are some movies which I have a gut feel that I'll like (usually dramas), but I can't force myself to sit down and watch it (because they seem so "boring"). Maybe they need some "emotional investment" (maybe some "thought energy investment"), which I instinctively try to avoid. Maybe grown-ups (or grown men?) have this kind of instinct of not wanting to be touched by a story, not wanting to go into deep thought about something.

I am thankful I did manage to force myself to sit still and go through the movie (and it's good that Cinemax has no ads within movies). The movie was indeed thoughtful and touching. More worthwhile than watching CSI I think (which is a no-effort-required entertainment).

I just did a look-up at IMDB.com and found out that the movie won an Oscar for Best Writing (Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen), and Kate Winslet was nominated for Best Actress for it (although she didn't win).

Michelle wrote more to me today, so I can also share more about Shee Yun. Now I'm counting down the days I will see them again. Less than 5 days to go.

Shee Yun napped and slept more in the past two days, and also was willing to eat more. All the while back in KK she has been sleeping less than usual and also eating less than usual. So it's a relief for Michelle and also for Ma that she's finally sleeping and eating more.

When they just reached my KK home, Michelle wanted to make Shee Yun feel at home, so she pointed at our large wedding photo on the wall in my room, and told Shee Yun that's Baba. Afterwards when they were in the room and Michelle asked Shee Yun where Baba is, she'd point at the wedding photo. Even when asking where Mama is she'd point at Michelle in the photo and not Michelle herself. When not in the room and asked where Baba is, Shee Yun makes the "no more" gesture.

They went to the library. The children's section is larger than in KL. Shee Yun was happy to see the other older children. She sat with the older girls and smiled at them.

This morning Shee Yun woke up very early, at 5am. Michelle pretended to be asleep, so she just played with her Tubby doll and lazed on the bed. Only when Shee Yun pointed at the milk that Michelle got up to make her milk. Michelle went back to sleep, because it was only 5:30am. Shee Yun kept quiet after finishing her milk, because she knew it was still dark and it wasn't time to get up. When Michelle woke up at 6:20am, she thought Shee Yun had gone back to sleep. When she switched off the dim light, Shee Yun immediately got up and threw down her pacifier. Michelle asked her whether she wanted to go down, and she nodded.

This morning when I woke up I received an SMS from Michelle telling me that Shee Yun said "Ba ba". Michelle asked her where Baba is and she pointed at the wedding photo on the wall and said "Ba ba". What a great morning greeting.

Now Shee Yun is finally starting to say "Baba" and "Ma". She called Michelle "Ma" a few times today. Hopefully this is for real and is not just another passing fancy of hers. Today when she wanted Michelle to carry her she said "Ma".

Today Shee Yun asked for some bread (white bread). Michelle gave her some (just plain without anything spread on it), and she liked it. Maybe she just didn't like the wholemeal bread that we usually eat.

Today when Michelle's mum went out to work (by walking), Shee Yun cried because she thought 姐婆 is going out to play and leaving her behind. Michelle had to explain to Shee Yun that 姐婆 is going out to work, just like Baba does. Today they went to the library again, and Shee Yun went to sat with the other older girls again. When the girls left she even waved goodbye.

Today Ma and Michelle brought Shee Yun out to buy her milk powder. Michelle searched for the milk powder while Ma accompanied Shee Yun. Ma met a relative and stopped to chat, while holding Shee Yun's hand. While they were chatting, Shee Yun was very quiet and she lowered her head. Later when Michelle joined them, they discovered that Shee Yun had been quietly crying. Well, not really crying, but her eyes and nose were red and there were tears in her eyes. She was afraid of strangers and new faces. Poor girl. She just quietly cried by herself. When Michelle came, she wanted to be carried by Michelle.

Ma said Mei was like that too when she was young. We keep discovering similarities between Shee Yun and her 姑姑 (aunt).

I have been playing a PC game recently - Sid Meier's Pirates. I think I bought this last year but have only tried it a little when I first bought it. Now I'm playing it because I watched the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2 recently. It's quite fun. Quite simple. You're a pirate going around attacking ships, plundering their goods, visiting different ports, wooing governors' daughters (there's actually a dancing mini-game), finding your long-lost family, finding buried treasure, fighting criminals.

Today when Michelle and Ma brought Shee Yun to the playground near Maktab Gaya, a little girl held Shee Yun's hands and brought her around the playground. Shee Yun walked a lot today because she followed the little 姐姐 (elder sister) around. When it's time to leave, Michelle asked Shee Yun to say good-bye to the 姐姐， and she really said bye-bye and also waved good-bye to the little girl.

Michelle has bought a mattress for Shee Yun so that she can sleep on the floor. She has fallen of the bed twice already since going back to KK. Also putting her on the floor means Michelle will get kicked less often.

Finally I'm together with Michelle and Shee Yun again. Although it has only been 17 days, somehow I felt Shee Yun has grown a lot and has changed. At first she even seemed unfamiliar. I have forgotten how nice she smells - the baby smell.

Somehow I feel Shee Yun is not a baby anymore but is a young child. I don't know why it feels like this. Near noon time both Shee Yun and I napped (I had less than 2 hours of sleep last night). She slept peacefully by my side. She was already quite tired at the time (about 11:30am), because she woke up at 6am today. It was such a tranquil feeling. I felt so contented.

Shee Yun's bucktooth (兔子牙) is getting more prominent. It's funny to see her smile. It is my fault for passing her my bucktooth genes. :-D

After dinner time we had guava. Shee Yun kept taking pieces of guava to feed to Michelle and I, and sometimes she'd take a bite too. She laughed when we took sudden and quick bites. After many pieces I had to put the bit bowl of guava back to the fridge before she took another piece. Both Michelle and I were quite full already.

Indeed Shee Yun is now a bit spoilt. Well, maybe not as bad as I thought. She does cry or complain very easily whenever she doesn't get her way, but so far (at least today) it hasn't been too bad.

I am happy that she wants to be close to me, and wants me to carry her. When I asked her to give me a hug, she'd come to me and put her head on my shoulder. She "talked" a lot. She can actually be quite long-winded. Unfortunately we don't know what she's talking about. At dinner time she stands on a chair between Michelle and I. We put some rice and small pieces of chicken into a plastic bowl for her and she uses her hands to eat.

She likes it when I put her on the swivel chair in the computer room, and turn her 360 degrees. Sometimes I turn her clockwise, sometimes anti-clockwise.

She makes the "no more" gesture with both hands all the time, even when it was not relevant to the situation (at least none that I could relate to). She knows how to wave good-bye and also say "bye-bye", although it sounded more like "ba bah" to me.

What is "sasau pau"? (see last paragraph for answer)

Today when we visited Michelle's mum, Shee Yun was very "sticky" to her 姐婆. (很黏姐婆) When we were about to leave, she didn't want to leave. We waved good-bye to her and she waved good-bye back to us. We went into the car first, and Michelle's mum carried her. We even started reversing the car and she contentedly watch us go, and even waved good-bye. When Michelle's mum put her into the car she cried very badly. Our next stop was to visit Michelle's dad at Likas Mart. She still cried when we reached Likas Mart.

After that we had to go back to Michelle's mum's place because we left something. The 2nd time we had to go, Shee Yun was again like that. So we brought Michelle's mum along for a short ride, and then dropped her off back at the house. Then only Shee Yun was content to say good-bye to her 姐婆.

Today Shee Yun and I looked at photo albums together. It was the one of photos taken a few months ago when Michelle's parents visited KL. She kept pointing at different people and I taught her how to call them - 姐婆, 姐公, 爸爸, 妈妈, 煦芸. She pointed at 姐婆 the most.

Things that Shee Yun say a lot are:

• "o-o-o-oh". This can be either in a wondering tone (汉语拼音第二音), or in an exclamation / realisation tone (汉语拼音第四音+第三音). She usually does this when she's playing with something. Her mouth will be an "O" shape.
• "bijibijibijibijibiji". This is her mumbling.
• "aaaah", in a satisfied tone. Usually after she has taken a nice big sip of Ribena or water or some other drink.

After coming back to KK Shee Yun has learnt to scratch. She scratched one of the mosquito bites on her foot. She got a few more bites on her face last night. Poor girl. It was because we let her sleep on the mattress on the floor, and the wind from the fan could not reach her. If the wind could reach her the mosquito wouldn't be able to bite her. Tonight I'll be sleeping on the floor.

"Sasau pau" is 叉烧包 (cha1 shao1 bao1 / char siew bun). I saw this label at Tong Hing Supermarket, Damai last night and found it very amusing. Indeed non-Chinese people pronounce it that way, e.g. Malay / Indonesian.

We just got back from a one-day trip to Tawau to see my grandmother. Shee Yun liked my 3rd uncle and 3rd aunt (her 三叔公 and 三叔婆). She wasn't afraid of them after a short while and was willing to be carried by them. Somehow they juck clicked. When 三叔 asked her to go sit on his lap, she did so and laid back to drink her water.

Shee Yun really enjoyed exploring my 3rd uncle's house and my grandmother's house. She was very energetic and walked all over the place and also kept opening and closing cupboards.

Today when we got back to KK, she must be quite tired already. This morning she woke up at 4am+ (although she did go back to sleep). After I bathed her, Michelle made her quite a big bottle of milk. I watched her drink it. By the time the milk was almost finished, she fell asleep. I was holding the bottle for her at the time, and I saw how her milk sucking movement turned to rhythmic breathing. She had fallen asleep.

A few days ago when I was drying her and putting on her diaper and clothes for her after her bath, she turned away and went to the wall to squat down. I told her to come back to the mattress so that I can finish drying her and wearing her clothes for her but she didn't move. Only after a while she got up and walked away. I caught her and finished my job. A moment later, I realised what she did at the wall when I saw a puddle of pee. She actually went to the wall to pee. Is she that clever that she knew she shouldn't pee on the mattress while I was drying her and putting on her diaper & clothes for her? There was no pee on the mattress at all. Amazing.

Now when I ask her to call me "Baba" she does it. And I'll tell her she's a good girl. She now knows how to wave goodbye and how to give a flying kiss. When we ask her to do so, she does it. She does her flying kiss by putting her hand on her mouth and making a sucking sound. Sometimes she does it the shortcut way and doesn't bother putting her hand on her mouth.

She claps to applaud herself when she is praised. It's funny to see her do that. Sometimes she does it at the least expected time.

She can treat anything as a phone. She puts it at her ear and starts talking into it. She even did it with a mini flag (free gift given by a supermarket cashier). She does it even with things that have so resemblance whatsoever to a phone.

My mum has a nickname for Shee Yun - 秋香. I haven't asked her why. Probably the 秋 is for my surname 邱. 香 I have no idea. Ma often calls her 可怜的秋香, e.g. when she cries or is hurt.

Shee Yun likes being with other children. She likes to play with them. When we were in Tawau, she was very friendly to her cousin sister 筱莹. She kept wanting to hug her. Unfortunately 筱莹 was unwell and was quite passive.

My mum has a dangerous driving habit. When she talks while driving, she looks at me (or whoever she is talking to) intently as if she's not paying attention to the road at all. After I told her about it, she even intentionally pulled my leg. When I asked her something, she replied "你讲什么？" and looked squarely at me while the car was still moving. Michelle laughed loudly in the backseat while I squirmed.

Shee Yun enjoys having meals with us now. We let her stand on a normal chair, while both Michelle and I sit on both sides of her guarding her from falling (although she's actually quite alright - it's just in case she gets too excited). We give her her own bowl and spoon. We give her some rice, and also some small pieces of meat / egg etc. We have to help her scoop it up with her spoon, but she feeds herself. She enjoys using the spoon to eat. When she saw us drink soup from a big bowl using our spoons, she imitated us by doing the same. But she is not so good with the spoon when holding soup, so sometimes the soup spills all over the place.

This morning when I bathed her I told her (as usual) now it's time to wash "bet bet" (groin area). She responded very clearly and loudly "BET BET". I laughed so hard that she also laughed with me. I just hope she doesn't repeat this when outside.

Today we went to Ngiukee Pacific at Centrepoint. She loved riding the escalator. At first Michelle accompanied her, then it was my turn. She must have taken the escalator more than 20 times (up and down). Sometimes she didn't get the timing or the stepping position right, so we still needed to hold her hand in case she fell down and hurt herself.

Today we brought Shee Yun to the beach. We had a lot of fun. We left the house before 7am, and got back probably just a little after 8am. I brought her to play in the sea. We took off her diapers (which was already soaked full with sea water by then), but still had her wear her long sleeve shirt and long pants. At first she seemed reluctant to touch the sand (maybe she thought it was dirty), but later she happily played with it.

We started playing in the water. Quite a few times she pointed to the sea, asking me to bring her further towards the open sea. I didn't bring her too far out, because by the time we reached the depth where the water was at her lower chest / upper tummy, the some of the bigger waves would splash water onto her face. So I brought her backwards a little. Both of us were all soaked. Michelle stood in the water but not so far. She took photos.

After playing with water we played with sand. She picked up mud "eggs" (left over from when crabs made holes in the sand) and brought them to the sea to drop them. When she saw mud / sand on her hands she shook them to fling away the mud. She watched intently while I built a sand castle with a moat and walls and a simple square castle. It was quite ugly. After a while she also played with sand herself. She grabbed wet sand with both hands and threw them aside. She repeated that at quite a few different spots. She really enjoyed herself.

The past week has been great, and memorable. It was good to spend much time with Shee Yun, to see her play, to see her smile, to play with her - all the silly things that I did to make her laugh.

Shee Yun can say "Star" now. When Michelle teaches her how to say it, she repeats it after Michelle. She still talks a lot now, although we don't understand her.

Yesterday we went to Tun Fuad Park again, to have ice kacang, and also to feed fish. Aunty Jenny and Gillian went there to meet up with us. When Shee Yun saw Aunty Jenny, she got scared and she cried quite badly. She is afraid of strangers now. Aunty Jenny was very friendly and was very happy to see her, so she approached her smiling and talking to her. Too bad Shee Yun cried and wanted to go away. Before this Aunty Jenny has been telling Gillian how friendly Shee Yun is and how she is friendly to everyone. Earlier this year Shee Yun was friendly to Aunty Jenny and allowed anyone to carry her without crying.

Today we visited Michelle's mum. Shee Yun kept giving things to Michelle's mum, like she's sharing toys with her. Again when we were about to leave, Shee Yun didn't want to go. But this time she didn't throw a tantrum. Michelle and I got into the car and she waved good-bye to us both. We even reversed the car a little. After that Michelle's mum brought her to the car. Michelle showed her her doll Tubby, and she willingly got into the car. She waved good-bye to Michelle's mum and also gave her a flying kiss.

Yesterday there were two black-outs in the late afternoon, when it rained heavily. Meidi brought us an emergency light, shaped like a long upright cylinder. Shee Yun enjoyed playing with it and she dragged it along with her wherever she went. The emergency light was about as tall as her shoulder, so it was funny to see her dragging it along.

Ma has a name for Shee Yun's wave - the Jiang ZeMin wave. Shee Yun just lifts her hand to roughly chest level and just waves a little. Ma also has a name for all the aunties. She calls them "Aunty Po Po" when Shee Yun is around.

Today we brought Shee Yun to the seaside again, and we went to Tanjung Aru 2nd beach again. This time the tide was quite high and the waves stronger. The tide was receding though. We played in the sea for a short while, and then played with wet sand. This time I made mud castles. This was something I used to play when I was young. This has to played near the water where the sand is still wet. I dug a hole to get wet sand, and I pile the wet sand (which actually looks more like mud) onto one big mound. Then I grab handfuls of sand, still dripping with water, and let the water drips form stalagmites. I quite enjoyed myself today too. Today Shee Yun didn't play as long as two days ago. We playe for about 40 minutes.

Michelle has one Tubby game which Shee Yun likes a lot. She lifts up Shee Yun's shirt, and then stick Tubby's head into her shirt, so that it is bulging like a big belly. Then she takes it out quickly. Shee Yun laughs when Michelle plays this with her. Sometimes Michelle wraps Tubby using the light blue newborn baby blanket that we used for Shee Yun when she was a newborn. She hands Tubby to Shee Yun, and Shee Yun carefully holds Tubby like a mother holding a newborn. She even pats Tubby gently. But after a short while she throws Tubby onto the bed and plays wrestling with it.

Shee Yun understands our instruction to lie down. Yesterday when I had to change her diaper for her, I asked her to "躺下来", and she let herself fall backwards to lie down on the bed. She even smiled playfully at me.

One thing that she does which I find funny is she sometimes pats people on the back, especially when the person is carrying her. It's as if she's saying "Good boy", "乖", or "Well done", or "辛苦你了".

Today we are returning to KL. How fast time flies. My one-week holiday is almost over. Back in KK, I feel I am eating more, sleeping more, and even going to toilet (big type) more (and more 顺畅). Must be the better air, and the more relaxed life.

Yesterday Ma brought the three of us to a place in the countryside where people serve breakfast in the mornings of weekends. It is a nice place by a river and there are two suspension bridges (吊桥). There were two dogs and a lot of chicken. Shee Yun really enjoyed herself. She kept chasing after the dogs and the chicken. She even went to pat one of the dogs. Thankfully the dogs were not fierce. Shee Yun was not afraid of animals at all. She kept saying "wow wow" loudly (instead of "狗"). Actually it sounds more like "waw wa".

For the past few days she didn't want to be bathed by me. When I try to bring her to the bathroom she'd struggle and cry. But when Michelle offered to carry her, and then brought her to the bathroom for her bath, she willingly allowed Michelle to do so.

Today we are back in KL. We reached KL at about midnight last night. Shee Yun was very playful. We reached home about 1:30am, and she was awake and still wanted to play. We turned off the lights and went to sleep. She was still walking around in her cot, but when she saw that we were sleeping, she gave up and went to sleep herself. Today she was also like that. She kept wanting to play, although we think she was already tired and sleepy. It took some effort to finally persuade her to have some milk and go to sleep. These few days will be tough for Michelle to make Shee Yun adapt back to life in KL. Unlike in KK, now we won't be able to bring her out so often, and my mum is not around to help play with Shee Yun.

Back in KK, my mum's maid Meidi really liked Shee Yun. Shee Yun liked to look for her, and also called her "kakak". Actually "kakak" is one of the first words that Shee Yun learnt to say. Shee Yun also always smiled at Meidi. Sometimes when Shee Yun sees dark-skinned strangers she calls them "kakak".

In the late afternoon today, I brought Shee Yun out for a walk, and also to look for cats. We did find a black and a white cat, and that was the only time Shee Yun agreed to let me put her on the ground (otherwise she wanted me to carry her). She really enjoyed playing with the cats. But she called them "wow wow" (or, rather, "waw wa").

Back in KL, she is a bit bad tempered. Today there were quite a few times she cried very suddenly and very badly. I think she just wanted to play or to go out. Also maybe back in KL there aren't so many people to spoil her. 阿嬷 and 姐婆 are not here. And back in KL we can't bring her out a few times each day, like going to the beach, going to Tun Fuad Park, going to book fairs, or even going out to eat or to buy things or to do errands. Hopefully she adapts back to life in KL soon, so that it won't be so tough on Michelle.

Michelle said Shee Yun has been a good girl at home today. That is good. I was worried she may not be able to adapt back to life in KL, after having had so much fun back in Sabah, and having had so many people spoil her.

Today Michelle and Shee Yun watched on TV advertisement showing two Malay girls. At first they were babies. Michelle said "baby", and Shee Yun said "baby". Then they became young girls. Michelle said "姐姐" (elder sister), and Shee Yun said "姐姐". Then they became grown-ups, and before Michelle could say anything, Shee Yun exclaimed "KAKAK!".

We had dinner with 阿姨's family. It's 姨丈's birthday. Shee Yun was afraid of them. It's strange, because she sees 阿姨 all the time. She wanted to be carried away from the dinner table, and refused to sit down on her baby chair. Only after some time she got familiar with them, and after that she was OK. She even played with 淑靖. Michelle asked her to siak siak 姑姑, and she gently touched 淑靖's arm.

After dinner we went to 阿姨's house for cake & sparkling juice. When it was time to go, I asked Shee Yun to wave good-bye and to give flying kisses. She did both. I'm so proud of my daughter.

Today Michelle went for her medical check-up. This time the doctor was more sure and told her the baby is a girl. So Shee Yun will have a younger sister. Michelle said we must not only let the younger daughter wear only her elder sister's old clothes.

Shee Yun is 8.72 kg and 78.6 cm.

After dinner we went to Mulia supermarket to buy ice-cream. The staff there missed Shee Yun and were happy to see her. When we got home and had ice-cream, Shee Yun really enjoyed it. She shared the Kit Kat cone with Michelle. There was chocolate ice-cream all over her mouth, as if she had grown moustache and beard. It was very funny.

This morning when I was carrying Shee Yun and I asked her to kiss 爸爸, she really gave me a big kiss on my cheek with a loud "smack". That was so sweet. Later at the LRT station when I was bidding her good-bye I also asked for a kiss. She put her cheek on my cheek and made the "smack" sound. Today Michelle asked her to kiss 妈妈 several times too and Shee Yun did it. I think we are both addicted to this already.

Mei came to KL yesterday night. It has been a few months since the last time Shee Yun saw her aunt. This morning when I was bathing Shee Yun, Mei woke up and came to see her for a while. After her bath, Shee Yun was restless and kept struggling when I was trying to dress her and put on her diaper. I tried to give her Tubby and her pacifier but she wanted neither. Instead she cried "姑姑".

She only calls names when she is desperate. Usually she doesn't call "Ma Ma". If we ask her to say it she usually doesn't say it. But when she's desperate, e.g. when she wants to be carried, or when she's crying, then she'd cry "Ma Ma".

Today we bought a toy tent for Shee Yun at Ikea. After we put it up in the sitting room, she enjoyed playing with it, going in and out, and even inviting me to go into her "house". All three of us could squeeze into the tent.

Shee Yun still remembers Mei and today she kept wanting to be with her. When we went to Ikea in two cars, she wanted to be with her 姑姑, so Michelle and her sat in Mei's car. Even at Ikea she walked with Mei, or was carried by Mei. She likes her 姑姑 a lot.

Mei bought her a kaleidoscope. She doesn't really know how to play with it so she played with it like it was a rattle. And she put it to her nose instead of her eye.

Today when we asked her where is Ah Ma (grandmother) (阿嬷在哪里？), she pointed at the family photo on the wall. When we asked where is Ah Gong (grandfather) (阿公在哪里？), she also pointed at the family photo on the wall. When we asked where is Ba Ba or where is Ma Ma, she pointed corrected at us. When we asked where is nose (鼻子在哪里?) she pointed at her nose. When we asked where is ear (耳朵在哪里?) she pointed at her ear. Finally she is getting everything right. But usually she doesn't want to play where is nose / where is ear if I ask her. She'd just shake her head and make an impatient sound.