I'm a full-time mummy

I've blogged about the terrific twos stage when my Benjamin turned 2 years old in March 2011 and this year March 2012, he turned 3 years old. You know what? 3 years old is a pretty terrific age!

I'm loving this phase of my boy's life! Really!

You know what's so awesome with a child at this age?

You can reason (and bargain!) with them!

For instance, I can now reason with my child easily. He wants to go swimming? Sure, make sure you nap so you can have enough energy to go for a swim later, and voila, nap for 2 hours in the afternoon! Want to meet your cousins tomorrow? Sure, sleep early tonight! Voila!

He finally understand the logic and implication to a lot of things!

For everything that happens, I explain to him why it happens, what will happen if we continue or if we ignore the event and also explain to him the effects and repercussion of the event. And he nods away in total understanding. That is something I can never achieve before my boy turns 3 years old. He saw a boy running at the pool and fell down and hurt his leg, we explain to him this is why mummy and daddy always tell him not to run around, now you see what happened to that little boy? And he nods away and every and now and then, he will remind us of the boy who ran and fell down and hurt his leg.

I'm also very happy with this development milestone. It's so much easier for me to explain things to him when he understand the cause and effect and in this sense, easier for me to get the message across to him.

His vocabulary is getting richer!

Oh boy, his ballooning vocabulary means it is so awesome that i'm finally having a conversation with my own kid! We have been doing more reading nowadays (mostly me reading to him) but there are times when my 3.5 years old boy will tell me story (yup, you read that right!) before bedtime! Cute eh? He also asked a lot more questions nowadays, where do animals stay, what they eat, why certain things are like this, etc etc.

He is getting more responsible and dependable!

One time, my 1 year old girl needed to go poop real bad and there's just no time for me to rush upstairs to bring the potty (she uses her brother's potty) downstairs. It was then that my mother-in-law insisted I took off my girl's diaper and let her try her (as in my MIL) metal potty (gigantic type for old folks to use) and despite me telling my MIL no, she insisted that I let my girl try and when my girl yanks away the potty and one of her poop fell onto the kitchen floor (and got my MIL shrieking) I had no choice but to let her poop in her diaper (no time to even rush the bathroom).

In my mind, I wished I could ask my 3.5 years old boy to run upstairs and get his potty for his baby sister but I was worried he might spilled his potty so I decided to just keep myself quiet and waited for my girl poop finish. Can you believe this boy of mine actually went upstairs and quietly brought down his half full of piss potty (sorry, forgot to throw the piss away) and a new diaper for his baby sister?!

I was really astonished when he came downstairs holding his potty and showing me the potty and a new diaper for his sister - without staying a word. I was really really proud of my boy!

Household chores that I do everyday such as sweeping the floors, mopping the floors, all this he will gladly offered to help me out! Lately, he even helps me to sooth and entertain his baby sister when I need to rush downstairs to do something quick. So responsible and dependable for such a young age!

More independent nowadays!

I also noticed in his terrific three year old phase, my boy likes to do things himself. Oh well, he tries his best to do it himself first. Bathing himself, going to potty by himself (even pooping and all), playing his Lego and much more!

Emotionally more stable!

Before Benjamin turned 3 years old, there are lots of times he will bang his forehead to the wall or onto the floor when he throws a tantrum. No matter how we talked to him, warned him, tell him no, etc etc, he will just smack his forehead, bammmm... to release that pent up frustration I guess...

So it is definitely a good sign that when he turned 3 years old, we are seeing this wayyyyyyyyy less... in fact, I can't recall when was the last time he banged his forehead. Probably because he can now understand logic and repercussions, and he can control his emotions as well as express himself better.

Cognitive development getting better!

Now, Benjamin can correctly name familiar colors (I have not introduce the concept of light and dark colors - or to be more precise, tone colors not yet)

As part of our learning activities, my boy can recognise and immediately shows me items which are same or different, his imagination and pretend play is very good now, he can easily remembers parts of a story, counting wise still 1 to 10 and with fingers until 5, time concept just started last week (for example, morning we eat breakfast, afternoon we have lunch, night we have dinner).

Social skills improvement

My boy used to be very very shy (like me!) but lately I noticed he is more open and warms up easily to strangers. Sure, he does take his time to let his guard down but the time is definitely shorter now! Previously he will clams up and takes about an hour or few outings or encounters with the same person before he warms up to them but now, he approaches and befriends people more easily.

I am still teaching him to greet his relatives by their rank wise (in Chinese custom, we have names for eldest uncles, aunts, on father side, mother side, etc) instead of simply calling them by 'Uncle' or 'Aunty' so and so which is common.

That's all the updates I can share for now, feel free to ask and share if you have feedback!

** P.S: This post is in no way trying to undermine your child or bragging about mine, I'm merely posting and jotting down why I'm loving my child being in the 3 years old stage.

I had previously reviewed the breastfeeding cover by BabyButton and has also recently announced that I have given the full exclusive rights to market and sell all BabyButton products within Malaysia. Continuing on from there, I am now reviewing another product in their range of products, which is their Nappy Wallet.

"We take great pride in sourcing the highest quality materials at an affordable price. We see the BabyButton collection as no ordinary baby product, this collection has been inspired by a Mum made for Mums. These products are not mass produced that adds no real purpose to the baby or the mum. We offer practical solutions to real problems that Mothers face. Baby products that have a purpose, we make a difference to the whole Motherhood experience. We offer real products, real solutions to common baby and Motherhood problems." 

I requested to review the Blossom Nappy Wallet design because it looks oh-so gorgeous, so Japanese I feel! Love the color combination and looks motherly and feminine at the same time. Btw, the white colored flower is hibiscus, Malaysia's national flower :)

I appreciate the clear plastic packaging which is simple and nice. You can straight away see what's inside, and just peel open the adhesive sticker to open it.

The nappy wallet is quite big actually, you see a big button with its loop fastening outside which held the nappy wallet together. When opened up, the nappy wallet is about 11 inches wide by 8 inches height. I put 2 diapers inside one of the inner compartment and they are about 1 inch thick.

When you opened them up, you can see the many pockets and compartments inside which you can use to put your diapers or nappies, baby wipes, personal cards, and there's a pocket with buttons for you to keep your mobile phone as well. There's also a handy wrist strap about 6 inches long made from ribbon which you can slip your hand inside and you're good to go!

Now what I put inside the nappy wallet is 2 diapers (one for Benjamin, one for Alyson), my BabyButton breastfeeding cover (folded nicely and fit in nicely too!) and my mobile phone. I also slot in a packet of baby wipes as well.

Of course you need to know this nappy wallet is for easy convenience when you need to go out with your kids for a while and so you need to make sure the items you put inside the nappy wallet is essential and a must. The key is grab and go!

So in my honest opinion, toys, snacks, books, spare change of clothes should not be a priority when you are planning what to put inside the nappy wallet.

This is how the nappy wallet looks like when you buttoned it to its fastening and close them back.

If you want to, just slip your hand inside the wrist strap and grab onto the nappy wallet and off you go!

I actually put my nappy wallet inside my diaper bag, you can see it at the bottom left part of the picture below. I think this product is fantastic as now, I can just grab my nappy wallet when I need to change my kid's diaper or go to nurse them and leave my diaper bag (with the heavy water bottles, snacks, spare change of clothes etc) with my hubby or family member. That way, I no longer need to lug my heavy diaper bag everywhere I go! Awesome!

Btw, I am not saying all this just because I'm selling it, I'm selling it because the product is good! I don't sell if it is not good, OK?

You can find a lot of designs and products from BabyButton website or

for Malaysians, you can order from me directly via my Facebook page! Just send me a PM!

BabyButton has generously sent another Nappy Wallet (same design as the one I'm reviewing) for me to host as a giveaway to 1 lucky Malaysia  winner! Woohooo!

To enter the giveaway, kindly read and follow the instructions as stated in the Rafflecopter form below.

• You can enter either via login through your Facebook account OR just key in your name and your valid email address. 
• Please also leave your valid email address in the post comment so that I can contact you if you win this giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the product in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

On 20th October 2012, my family and I went to Journal by Plan B, Publika. This is the first time we went to this shopping mall. We were there for the 2nd ambassadors gathering for Nissan LEAF.

On the way there, my 3.5 years old boy complained of having stomachache. He told me he felt like punching pains and wind pains in his tummy. I was worried and totally had no concentration during the gathering. Thank God hubby and I are the couple ambassadors so it does not look that bad (hopefully) for me to be missing occassionally during the gathering.

My main priority is to entertain my boy, to bring back his good spirits and happy mood. When we reached there, my boy insisted to wear his diapers and said he felt like pooping. If we were at home, he totally has no problems pooping in his potty but since we are out and it's a new place, I gave in, brought him to the toilet nearby and put on a diaper for him.

While waiting for the others to arrive, I brought Ben to check out the malls. There seems to be some sort of green recycling event around the mall. Snapped some pictures with my boy admiring the creations and exhibits there.

I also snapped some pictures at the place we gathered, Journal by Plan B, which most people called 'Plan B' instead. Love the book decos stacked all the way up in front of the restaurant and the quirky chairs hanging and dangling from the ceiling.

When all the ambassadors arrived, a waiter came around to take our brunch orders. I ordered a turkey ham sandwich for myself and a strawberry cheesecake for my boy hoping it will cheer him up when he sees strawberry, his favorite! All the while, my hubby tended to my girl, thank God she is easy to care for during the initial period.

I actually have to bring Ben in and out, because he was getting restless and as a mum, anything as long as he is feeling happy. It pains me to hear him telling and complaining that his tummy is painful. About an hour later, his mood improved tremendously and he told me he does not feel any pain in his tummy anymore. Yay!

From then on, I can finally relaxed a bit and enjoyed my brunch - what's left of it as hubby fed my turkey ham to my girl! Arghh!!! Oh well, as long as my kids are happy!