Another "Fun Day Sunday"

A couple of weeks ago, Melaka opened up a new beach park as part of a reclaimation project that started over a year ago where they began filling in the water with sand to make room for more beach front hotels, shops, etc....so we decided we would go check it out for our Sunday Fun Day event!  I'd seen it from the road and thought there were more picnic type areaa to hang out in, but once we actually drove out towards the beach area near the water (almost getting stuck in the process....so much so that a couple of locals stopped by to help Andrew push the Innova out of the sand and back on to the dirt path), there was only beach area and it was blazing hot out, so needless to say we didn't make a day of it (even though Cooper must have said "beach" a million times on the way there and probably would have loved to stay)!  Cooper was excited enough to go and put his feet in the water with Daddy, but Evan didn't want to have anything to do with the water.  We had carried our beach toys out with us to play in the sand for a bit, but it was just to hot to sit too long in the dry sand. So after I got a few pictures, we headed into town and got some chicken rice for lunch!  We didn't get much beach time, but we had a good time just getting out of the house for awhile!!

And then after dinner, we decided to go for a drive through the neighborhood.  The boys love to do this because they get to go in Daddy's car and don't have to sit in their seats...and they sometimes even get to do the driving on his lap!!  On this particular evening as we were driving around, we noticed they had some of the sprinklers (or sprinkles as Evan called them) going on one of the greens.  So we decided to get out and let the boys run through them for awhile.  I'm so upset I didn't have my camera with me because they had such a GREAT time running around and had the biggest smiles on their faces the entire 10 minutes we were there....I could have gotten some great pictures!  Andrew and I were just talking about how much fun they had with just water and grass....it's actually a bit sad!  It's such a shame that we have no parks available to us or even enough grass at our house that they can get out and just run around.....they love doing it!  This is one thing I absolutely CANNOT wait for once we finally make a move back to the states...outside time!!!!

The "1 Malaysia" concept is something they have started promoting this year and it's about all of the states uniting together and all the different cultures coming together to create "One Malaysia"

Daddy and Cooper dipping their feet in the water

Evan not real excited about putting his feet in the water

I know... they look like having them out there is torture, but honestly they had a good time! 

I had to get this one (although the tree got in my way)...another family going on a Sunday stroll as well, I suppose! I was trying to capture the little girl STANDING up front in the basket on the motorbike with her dad...I guess she was at least wearing a helmet!  And also notice the pink trashbag on the right side...it's sad, but I'm guessing another month and the whole beach area is going to start getting trashed out too!  If they could only keep things clean around here, it would be a whole different place!

Evan's School Work

On Friday, E came home with a page he had colored and I was so impressed with his coloring that I made him pose with his masterpiece.  I must have asked him 5 times if someone had helped him with it because I was so taken by how well he had done.  The last time I asked he said "I did it all by myself...well, almost all of it...Ms Shareen helped me with the bottom red part".  Even so, he did a great job and I was totally impressed about how well he stayed inside the lines.  Which, I guess I shouldn't have been so shocked, his teachers had told me at his last parent-teacher conference that he is very meticulous about everything he does...for example, he will sometimes write and erase and write and erase his numbers and letters until he thinks it is just perfect...so him staying inside the lines is just another one of those "get-it-just-right" things!  I think I have a perfectionist in the making....well, once we get those "A"s right side up in his name! ha! So here he is with his lastest coloring...

And of course, little brother had to pose with something too....even if he hadn't colored anything!  He so wants to be just like his big brother these days....he repeats every last thing E says, just so he can be heard too...it's too adorable!

And oh yeah, I also wanted to mention E is also doing great at his Bahasa.  He has currently learned 10 different parts of his face...not that this will ever come in handy to know, but we are very proud of him for at least picking up more than his mom and dad! Great work, E!

eyes - mata

nose - hi dung

mouth - mulut

cheeks - pipi

teeth - gigi

tongue - lidah

ears - telinga

forehead - dahi

chin - dagu

hair - rambut

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

This year Valentine's Day also fell on Chinese New Year!  This year is the year of the tiger and CNY is a huge thing here in Malaysia, given the number of Chinese descendants living in the country.  So when we went up to KL, it was a complete ghost town...relatively speaking for what KL is usually like...because everyone was travelling to visit families! But they had lots of shows going on to help celebrate and we happened to come upon these Chinese acrobats performing at the mall where we went to have lunch.  They were pretty amazing and the boys were in awe as we watched.  Cooper was clapping like a madman and even giving out a few "woo hoos"!  It was adorable...Cooper, that is!! 

After lunch, we went to one of the boys' favorite places, the playgym!  They had tons of fun and loved that Daddy was there to play with them this time!  And let me tell you, it was quite a sight to see Andrew maneuvering through the small tunnels...he was a tad bit too big to be going through them, but he was a real sport for trying!

I'm not sure if Cooper was actually helping to build here or was trying to tear apart Evan's creations...I'm guessing the latter if I know Coop!

I guess pretend driving requires you to suck in your bottom lip....since both of them were doing it in my "reflection" pictures!

And since we were spending the weekend in KL, we had plenty of time to get in lots of playtime...and boy did we!!  We even made it back over to the KLCC park for some playtime before dinner.  As always, the boys ran wild and had the best time playing on all the equipment there!  And I, as always, was in full swing with my camera!

We've got one that HATES swings...

and another that LOVES them and can't get enough of them! Go figure...

And of course, we had to get one in front of the Twin Towers!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day.....we had the BEST Valentine's Day weekend!  We headed off to KL for a couple of days since V-day fell in sync with Chinese New Year this year and Andrew has a 2 day holiday plus the weekend.  The boys had lots of fun playing at one of the big playgyms in the mall, playing outside at the KLCC park, swimming, playing at the hotel play area and E got to go to one of his playgym classes.....so just of lot of playing, playing, playing.....and lots of eating out!  They were in heaven!  And so was I!  Andrew and I got a couple's massage one afternoon while the boys slept, we went and had a couple of afternoon drinks the 2nd afternoon, we spent one evening relaxing by the pool having a a glass of wine and last night we went to watch "Valentine's Day" (which was so so....typical holiday flick!). We had the best time...with AND without the boys!  We headed back today and Andrew is out playing golf while the boys are sleeping, so I thought I'd take a minute to jot down all the fun we had. I'll include weekend photos in another post...

Since tomorrow and Tuesday are school holidays for the boys, we have lots more fun in store for the next couple of days. We have a playdate with about 6 other kiddos tomorrow at our new Jusco playland (hopefully not all of Melaka...or even all of Malaysia given so many visitors are here for CNY...will be at Jusco tomorrow as well) and then some swimming the next day!

Here are a few pics from the other day when I was trying to get V-day photos for the parents & grandparents' holiday cards....and a few at the end in their Valentine's Day shirts and pjs:

With Daddy before he headed to hopefully his last board meeting in KL!

Now a shot with Evan

Hopefully everyone's Valentine is a little more open to kisses than this!!!

Giving back the love

See Boss, mommy does let me indulge at the club every now and then!

Picking flowers for mommy

"Here Mommy, I have one for you too"

Looking for another shot of the two together....no such luck!

In KL, heading out for breakfast  Don't you just love our shirts BeBe and Boss sent us...thanks guys we looked very handsome in them!

And I've got my seat cover too!

Sporting our Valentine's Day pjs that BeBe and Boss also sent us! 

Some definite "Heart Throbs"

Postings Galore!!

So.... my husband has so kindly informed me that if I want anyone to read any of what I am writing that I should not be "back blogging" or posting anything behind my most current posting!  Well, I was REALLY FAR behind on my journaling (and as I've mentioned before, even though this is a way to keep everyone posted on what is going on with us while we are here in Malaysia, it has also become my journal that I am eventually turning into a book and keeping for the boys) so I've wanted to keep things in order chronologically as much as possible...thus all the December and January posts when it's already February! SOOOO.....if you really are interested in reading ALL about everything we've done since the last time I was up-to-date with my blogging, here is a list of all the entries I've made in the last week:

December (listed from beginning to end of month):
Planes, Planes, Planes - Daniel's 3rd Birthday Party
Texas....here we come!
1st days in Texas and Jen & Connor visit!
Our 1st Gingerbread House!
Cooper's 1st dentist visit & Evan's 1st cleaning
Pictures with Santa & Daddy's 35th Birthday!
Sunny Texas & Family Visits
Snowy Oklahoma

January:
Brooke visits us in Oklahoma
Hadlock Christmas Party in OKC
Some Nana & Pop Time
Heading back to Malaysia....
Micaela's 5th birthday zoo party!
Mommy's Kickboxing Performance & Happy Birthday to Mommy!
New Christmas presents are so much fun!!
A memorable "Evan conversation”
Daniella's 4th birthday swimming party

February:
E's Ouchie
Cooper tries out school for the 1st time!
Cooper is now BINK FREE!
It feels a little strange....

Yes, that is right folks...all in a little over a week!  SEE, if I do set my mind to something, I can accomplish it! Like I said, if you feel like you have some time and need a read (I won't even go as far as saying a GOOD read) then stop back by and catch up with us!  Since these weren't written in real time, I'm sure I missed alot of good stuff that I would have otherwise included, but at least with the pictures it will serve as a good reminder to me of these most memorable Thompson boy moments!!  Happy reading!!

It feels a little strange....

to be home and have neither of my boys here with me!  Are we really at that point where I have TWO school boys?!?!?  The precious baby moments are so far gone now it's kinda scary.  Am I getting the baby itch you ask....HECK NO...and even if I was, wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyhow!  Well, I guess that isn't entirely true, but I don't see Andrew going back in for a reversal after what he went through having it done in the first place!! ha!  I just can't believe how big my boys are getting....3 short months until Coop's 2nd birthday!!  And Evan, well you can't get anything by that boy any longer, he is too smart for his own britches!

So, even though it's only going to be a day or two a week that the house will be quiet for 3 hours, I see that I'm going to have some time to get things done that I normally wouldn't..... I think there are definitely some positives to this whole school thing! 

Here are a few pictures of my oh-so-adorable boys before heading out for school - I just love them bunches and just smile everytime I ever even think about them!

Yay for school!

Let's go, Bubba!

Skyping with BeBe and Boss before we head out...I think we just missed Nana trying to Skype with us too!

And here are a couple after I picked them up....

Cooper is now BINK FREE!

We took the leap this afternoon at naptime and went bink free for the 1st time!  Since Coop will be 21 months old tomorrow (WOW, I am still having a hard time getting a grasp on where the time has gone!), we thought it was beyond time to get rid of it once and for all (we broke E's habit at 18 months, 6 weeks before Cooper arrived)!  So today as we headed downtown for lunch we started prepping him that his binks were gone and that we'd sent them on to the babies who still needed them - that he was a big boy now and big boys don't use binks.  Evan went on to tell him that Natalie was a baby and she used binks...so then it became, "Coop we've sent your binks to baby Natalie because she really needs them and your a big boy and you don't".  He seemed to be okay with this idea!  So on the way home, I asked him if he knew where his binks were and he said "home"....."nope buddy, remember we sent them to baby Natalie"...."bink, baby..Nat Nat (that is what Aunt Leigh calls Natalie so we had him say it since it was much easier for him)"...."yes, that is right - there are no binks at home any more, we've sent them to baby Natalie...baby Nat Nat!" We thought since he was pretty tired it wouldn't be much of a problem getting him to sleep, but as soon as we got him ready for his nap in his room, he started saying "bink".  So there we go through the whole story again and he moaned and groaned for a bit about it, whining "mamma, bink....uhhh....mamma, bink", but seemed to be okay with not getting it once I offered him up his blankie.  Luckily, he has recently found some attachment to his satin/velveet blanket (thanks to seeing Evan who HAS to have his when he sleeps) and also this froggy silk lovey he got before he was born, so maybe that will make the transition a bit easier for him.

I tried to make it easier on him and tried singing him to sleep (by this point I knew he was very tired), but you could sense that he was still pretty anxious about not having the bink and continued to moan and groan while laying down.  I soon realized the only way that it was going to work was to just walk out and let him try to fall asleep on his own.  Well, he cried for the better part of 20 minutes and then, just as I hoped, knocked out!  He slept for about 45 minutes, woke up and whimpered (not as much of a cry as before) and fell back to sleep after about 10 minutes and then went onto sleep for another hour and 45 minutes (when I finally had to go in and wake him because it was getting to late and I didn't want him to have trouble sleeping tonight).  He managed to get over a 2 1/2 hour nap which was wonderful. Hopefully the transition goes much smoother than what I've envisioned it to be.  I was afraid no nap was going to be had or that he was never going to able to get back to sleep once he woke up after the first 45 minutes...but he completely surprised me! Now I guess we wait to see what bedtime brings!!  I'll be sure and fill you in in a few days on his progress.  I've rid the place of any binks so that when he wakes up crying for it in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep...I am the one that doesn't cave and go looking for one!  Maybe I'm the one you should be rooting for!!?!?!

Here are a few shots of the little man after that 1st wonderful "bink-free" nap!!

Starting to stir from his sleep when he heard the flash on the camera pop up...thus the wrinkled eyebrows!

A little closer at opening the eyes...

and a fully rested, bink-free big boy!!

A very happy boy after having his after nap snack!! 

You did an awesome job little Coop, I'm so very proud of you!!