In the hospital every holiday we celebrate this year!

2010 seems to be the year of spending every holiday we celebrate in Columbia Asia Hospital! We started the year with spending New Year's Day with Hannah in the hospital:

Then, Chinese New Year's holiday, we had Joni in the hospital. We managed to escape Deepavali and Hari Raya -- perhaps because we're Christians and not Hindus or Muslims ジ then Joni came down with a rotavirus infection with vomiting and diarrhea 2 days after Christmas:

Do pray for her recovery if you're reading this before New Year's Day...

Christmas 2010

Here are various photos from the Christmas season -- not just Christmas day itself.

Joni at Sunday school

Hannah: future racecar driver like her aunt Angeline Ooi?

Joni: a sweetie on a scooter

Both sisters now join forces in the same vehicle!

They team up again on a different vehicle.

The whole family together.

The extended family

For more photos see my Facebook album (link valid only for a limited time due to Facebook's policies.)

No parking: towing zone -- oh, really?

It seems like in front of every set of condos are cars parked illegally like this. Several young working adults or students share a condo and each has their own car because of the substandard public transportation (for example, if I were to try to take a to the university, I would have to take a bus backwards several kilometers to IOI Mall, change to another bus to Putrajaya terminal, and change to yet another bus to the university, making my 20-minute commute a 2-hour commute, especially with the buses not following the schedule and sometimes not showing up at all.)

Each of them has a car, but the condo only comes with one parking spot. So, combine that with the lack of enforcement, these scenes are very common.

Water Babies

Both my children love the water, though Joni, like her mother, doesn't like to get her head wet. Hannah, however, isn't fazed by dipping underwater briefly.

Is someone missing from these photos? Yep, mummy is definitely not a water-lover and never learned to swim. She jokes that the children have to be trained in swimming so that if there is a capsize, daddy has to save her while the kids can swim themselves to safety. ジ

Appreciating My Father

I like to listen to podcasts on my cell phone during my daily commute and today I happened to listen to a speech by David Meece which was actually posted on 19^th and 20^th August (my birthday).

David Meece is an award-winning singer & composer (Just look for David Meece on Youtube to hear some of his songs.) But for years he struggled with his alcoholic father's last words to him, "You're worthless!"

My sister and I are so blessed that my father was a good father who loved and cared for his children. This podcast reminded me to be thankful for God's blessing through my father.

Listen to David Meece's incredible story [Part 1, 19^th August] [Part 2, 20^th August]. (Be prepared for tears! It's a very touching story.)

Family Photo at Convo 2010

Some of my students had their convocation last Sunday and one of them took a nice photo of my whole family. (I had just dressed up to take photos with them -- my own graduation was before I got married and had kids.)

Song for the journey

On the road again
Joni and Hannah on the road again
Joni and Hannah are riding to the school
We are on the road again

Joni goes to school
Hannah goes to auntie Rebbeca's
Daddy goes to work and in the evening
We come back to mummy again!

Dancing toddlers

Joni & Hannah love to dance, when the music's right!

Joni in Sunday School and Hannah in the playground

Just a couple of videos taken on May 23.

Kid story -- with no kid!

I have a kid story today... with no kid! Background:

• Both Joni and Hannah have been having runny noses lately.
  
• I'm in a training this week and so am sitting in a lab with other faculty members who are in this training instead of my own office.

So I was concentrating on something the computer and I hear a sneeze behind me, and immediately turned around, ready to wipe the nose of... the faculty member sitting at the computer behind me!!!!

Ah, parenthood ジ

Joni has chicken pox

Poor Joni has a pretty bad case of chicken pox... and poor Juliane had to be cooped up at home all week trying to keep Joni entertained and comfort her when the itching & sores get too bad. She got it from preschool last week, but it didn't break out till Monday. She didn't have many spots until Friday afternoon. These photos were taken Saturday morning:
It's steadily gotten worse over the course of the day... in fact, right now it's worse than when this photo was taken, Saturday afternoon: Joni on Sunday morning before she woke up:
Monday night: many of the spots are starting to scab over -- hope this means she's over the worst of it!

Joni sayang Hannah

Joni is 2¹/₂ -- which means she's finding it very hard to share and also is very jealous of Hannah whenever mummy carries Hannah, etc. But sometimes she can also be a really sweet big sister.

Latest family photo

Unfortunately, Hannah hasn't learned to smile for family photos yet ジ

Celebrating Chai Teng Kooi's birthday

Here's Chai Teng Kooi with all three of his granddaughters celebrating his birthday -- Sophie, Joni and Hannah. (Grandson Dylan was elsewhere in the restaurant at the time.)

Former students of Ian's mother's

Ian's mother used to teach in a residential girls' school in Johor when Ian was 1 year old. A number of the former students visited recently and remarked how much baby Hannah looked like Ian did at that age

Informal family photos

It's been a while since we had a photo with all 4 of us so we had a friend snap a few shots.

And here's one of Hannah standing alone:

Joni's lion dance

Our neighbour Segar invited a lion dance troupe to his house and they provided the kids with a small lion and drum which Joni, Segar's grandson Darshen, Segar's youngest daughter Tulasi, and several other children had fun with.

Joni flies a kite

Ok, daddy did help her get it up first, but after that, she was the one holding on to it for a long time

Joni with grandparents at Hot Springs while Hannah was in the hospital

Over the New Year holidays, Ah Kong (grandfather) and Ah Mah (grandmother) took Joni to swim in the Hot Springs while Hannah was in the hospital due to a high fever that turned out to be the roseola virus.



The reason Hannah's arm is bandaged was because due to the fever disrupting her appetite, they had put her on a drip to keep her hydrated and fed. This photo was taken late in the hospitalization, when she was already feeling better.