OF SPIDERS, SNAKES & CREEPY CRAWLIES

Do all boys love creepy crawlies?! I was under the impression that they all do. Evidently, my Hubby said "No, not all boys love insects & other creepy crawlies. Don't know why Ryan likes them".

So when my boy recently displayed a keen interest in things that make my hair stand on ends (yucks! I can't stand insects), I was willing to overlook my sheer & utter disgust of all things insect ... just to humour my kid.

Isn't that what we call ... love? ... hehe!

For a while now, there has been a small black spider that lived in our toilet (haha ... yep you read that right!). She has since made herself very comfortable in our loo. How did I know that it was a female spider? Well, she has since reproduced 2 baby spiders. Ryan just adore his pet(-roam-free)-spiders. Every morning he will never fail to greet them "Good morning, Spider!" before he starts his morning shower for school. Yep, that's the innocence of a 3 year old. Lately, the Mummy spider seem to have gone AWOL. My boy has been asking me - "Where's Mummy spider?" Errm ... I just don't have the heart to tell him that she might be dead. I don't think spiders got a long life span. Now that she spawned offsprings, she can go to Spider Heaven peacefully. Amen!

I don't so much love spiders but I was brought up not to kill or harm them. So this mum taught her son the same. So now Ryan just loves spiders too ... well, only the small ones (he's still petrified of huge spiders like tarantulas). He's also into snakes, ladybugs, snails, butterflies, etc.

So whenever we come across a bookstore, I will never fail to drop in to see if they have affordable books on sale. I've always loved reading so I am not at all aghast at spending a small fortune to encourage my son to read & explore his current interests. If snakes & spiders are what he likes right now ... that's what I am willing to encourage him on.

Busy showing his Daddy the finer points in insect study ... whilst waiting for our breakfast prata to be ready.

Ryan : Daddy, come read my book with me!

TRANSFORMERS, TRANSFORMERS ... EVERYWHERE!

Yes ... my boy is obsessed with Transformers. Yep, when I say obsessed I really mean O-B-S-E-SS-ED! He can watch the 2 Transformers movies all day, his record was 3 full movies in 1 day! He plays with his Transformers figurines every single day, I tell you! Yes! he even kisses them sometimes ... just to show me (or whoever's available) ... that he looo-ves them plastic robots. Yes, other robotic machinery are called "row-bot" (robot) but Transformers (which are "special" robots), are "blessed" (by Ryan), with the name of - "Mem-mem".

By now, friends & family know what Ryan means when he says "Mem-mem" ... & that excites him even more, I guess. When people amuse him by acknowledging his interests, he gets very excited & proceeds to gush about his "love-affair" with them "Mem-mems". My sis even said once - "Isn't he a bit young for Transformers?". I (really) never thought so ... as Ryan liked them, almost immediately, at 2 + years old. I only realised my sis comments were true, when I started searching for some accessories for Ryan. I had wanted to buy a small haversack with a Transformers picture (of Bumble Bee) or logo for his nursery class next year ... but all I could find, were bags that were sized for a primary school-er. Way too big for my tiny boy! We searched high & low for the bag & nearly gave up. Finally, we settled on a ... errm .... "replica", in a local pasar malam ... & it cost us only a mere 6 bucks!

I used to be a big snob about buying fakes (still am, I guess). Things that were not original, were shunned big time by me. I guess that's why I over-spent BIG time, in my previous lifetime (yep, the lifetime before Ryan was conceived & born)! Now ... I'm not too sure. I still don't fancy fake stuff ... sorry, their quality is horrible & the workmanship is downright disgusting (most times). But these days, I'll rather get a look-alike than buy a fake good that tries to pass off as the original thing. Yep, Ryan has used shoes that looked like Crocs (but they are not fake Crocs, ya!), Winnie the Pooh face towels, Thomas the Train bathing towel, etc. Things that are subjected to a lot of wear & tear & won't be able to last that long. Don't wanna spend money on things that get tossed ... just after a few months wear. Well, that's just me .... these days!

One thing that I refuse to buy fake - his Transformers! Almost immediately after the 2nd movie, the fake Transformers popped up in several small shops. Of course, Ryan never fails to point them out to me ... hehe, I guess in a hope that I'll buy them for him? Nope! ... Never have, never will! If I had to spend a small fortune to buy a toy that's supposed to transform from a shiny yellow Corvette to a COOL robot alien, then I'll rather spend my money on the REAL ones. So there! Yes, they are rather expensive but we've been lucky that we did not spend a large amount of money on his Transformers figurines, as we had a bunch of (free) Takashimaya vouchers, that needed to get used ... so we purchased my son's obsession with them. Thank God!

These pics were taken in the cavernous Vivo City. The 1st four photos were taken in the huge Toys R' Us, one of Ryan's favourite store (but of course!). There has been an Optimus Prime at the entrance, for the longest time (since the 1st movie?) but as Ryan didn't fancy Optimus ... until recently, he never wants to get his picture taken with the Prime. Now its sooo different! He's come to love & admire the Autobots leader sooo much, that he sometimes picks the Prime over the lovable Bumble Bee. Haha! kids ... they love one thing now ... another, the next minute! Luckily, I took the pics with Optimus this time (way in October), as Toys R' Us recently changed the huge figurine with a Ben 10 one! (Yucks! never liked Ben 10!)

All hail the leader, Optimus Prime!

Isn't Optimus handsome, Mummy? Can we take him home? Please ... pretty please???

These were taken in the store. Sshhh! I'm sure photography is not allowed but I kinda secretly snapped these 2 photos, as I knew Ryan loved them.

Mummy, I'm a Transformer too! ... Yes???

Well, we had some time for Ryan's old favourite (hehe, old ... as in just a couple of months old) ... Thomas The Train.

A jeep ... with Dinosaurs (& an egg) on top.

Hhhm ... looking a bit tired, I see.

This photo of Ryan on a carousel, looks rather dark (just like the previous 2 pics too). I really don't know why? Sigh! must be my digicam acting up again!

Same ride ... but a much better photo, rite? My silly camera is playing tricks on me again!

ITS NOT BUMBLE BEE ... IT'S STAR SCREAM!

This was the outing to Takashimaya, to try & see if we can purchase my son's new craze, Bumble Bee. We have been searching high & low for the elusive toy - at Kiddy Palace, Toys R Us, Metro & other small stores. Finally we thought of Takashimaya (which stocks a good range of kids toys, albeit rather expensive ones), as we still have some unused vouchers from there. So off we went on that day!

A back view of my two boys, whilst walking to Ngee Ann City to look for the Transformers at Takashimaya S C. We always never park at NAC as it costs a bomb, I remembered paying about 8 bucks for about two hours of stay (awhile back). Duh! might as well use that sum of money for better things, right?

Here we are (at nearby Burger King) after purchasing the Transformers. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to find the mid-sized Bumble Bee, only the tiny one. So we purchased that for Ryan. As the vouchers were in denominations of ten & the Bum Bee was $ 11.90, we decided to get him another figurine. As expected, he chose Star Scream, which transforms into a fighter jet. Infact, awhile back we bought for Ryan the Transformers first movie's Star Scream, which is world's apart from the figurine from 2nd instalment of the movie. What a difference a few years made! I guess Ryan didn't know that its the same figurine. I don't think it mattered to him though ... he just liked anything that flies. Even after I tried to influence him to get an Optimus Prime (which I like), he refused to budge & insisted on his Star Scream. Sigh ... so Star Scream it is, my dear boy!

I don't always have photos of myself taken, as I'm always the one behind the digicam (& I hate my photos being taken). This time round (dunno why) Hubby decided to get several shots of me & the little one. Errm ... notice how our outfits "merged" with the Burger King's (red decor) background? Haha .... it wasn't intentional, though the pics turned out rather well.

Ryan playing with his Star Scream.

A dreamy look from Ryan.

All smiles!

Ryan giving me an impish look. Can you see the red mark (still) on his cheek? Courtesy of his visit to Polliwogs, the day before.

Hubby concentrating hard, in order to transform Bumble Bee into a Corvette.

Now its Star Scream's turn to transform.

Please excuse the (obvious) double chin on the adult. Please look at the cute toddler instead. Thank you for your kind consideration!

Look at the happiness on this child's face ... it makes everything worth it, doesn't it?

IT'S BUM-BEE TIME

So ... Ryan is still obsessed with Bumble Bee & the Transformers gang. Anywhere we go, if he sees toys & such, he will look up to us (rather adoringly, if I may say so) & say "See Mem-Mem?" What is Mem-Men, you may ask? Mem-Mem is Ryan's definition of anything that's not remotely human - that includes alien-robots (Transformers), superheroes with costumes/masks (Spiderman, Batman), etc. So everytime he sees the Transformers robots, he will excitedly say "Mem-Mem", which we (as dutiful parents, repeat after the "genius" child) by saying & agreeing with this "unknown" word to mankind - "Yah! Its Mem-Mem!" ... haha!

I tell you, we often get stares from strangers when we humour our kid, by repeating his unintelligible words. Yes, we chose not to "correct" our child but its not to purposely let him pick up words that are wrong or doesn't exist. We realised that a lot of times, when we let him label things in his own "unique" way, using his made-up definition & dictionary, he actually ends up learning more. If I kept on trying to teach him something that he's not ready for, I know that I would end up (mostly) frustrated & Ryan would end up, not learning anything (at all). Many a times, we've let go of Ryan's imperfect pronunciation & enunciation because I really believe in the end, everything will sort itself out. Naive though it may sound, but its usually true.

Another example of Ryan's mis-pronunciation, if you may is ... byes. Yep, my son says BYE with an extra S. Plural or not, I encourage him to say bye (& bid farewell) to whomever it may be, for its the thought that counts ... not the extra S behind the BYE. And though its grammatically incorrect, as a 2 year old, I think its forgivable ... don't ya think? Besides, when I was 2 ... I really doubt I was even able to say BYE or possess half the vocabulary of Ryan's, but look where I am now.

So even though I'm not unduly worried about Ryan's grasp of the English language, I realise that I am rather relaxed about his grammar & pronunciation (at his age now). I don't think anyone expects a two & a half year old to be able to recite passages in prefect grammar. Not that Ryan is capable of that ... infact he might be considered a mish mash, as he sometimes mix his English, with a sprinkling of Malay. Well, he is half Malay after all ... it does make sense, duh! Well, on Chinese, blame his Daddy if his son can't speak any or Cantonese for that matter. I foresee spending lots of money on Chinese tuition, when Ryan goes off to school. Arggh!

OK, OK .... I'm digressing. This post is after all, about the lovable Bumble Bee. Whenever we pass any poster or mock-up of Bumble Bee (or Transformers), we can't help but take a few shots for the album. This time, its no different.

One, with Mummy! (Hubby took this photo)

Another, with Daddy! (I took this photo - notice that the "frame" of the photo is much nicer than the above, taken by Hubby. I guess having taken a million pics of my son ... has made me a much better photographer, after all .. haha!)

So the next time, Ryan comes out to any of you guys that know us (as a family), & he says Mem-Mem ... I know that you guys would humour him by saying - Yes its Mem-Mem/Transformers/ Spiderman, coz you would know what Mem-Mem means (by now) to that little boy. Thank you for making Ryan happy .... his parents appreciate it! ; )

MY NAME IS ... OPTIMUS PRIME !

Ok ... since watching "Transformers - Revenge Of The Fallen", our whole family ... presumably our munchkin has been obsessed about them. Ironically, our first trip to the movies with Ryan would be unforgettable for the fact that he hung on to me like a petrified Koala Bear. He kept muttering "Scared! So dark! Go outside, light!" ... & other unintelligible words. I guess my boy was scared out of his wits since the theatre was pitch dark & the sound system blasting. Well, he was afraid during the show, but he sure liked them Transformers ... haha!

I wish Ryan liked Optimus Prime (like me). If Optimus was a man-human ... I bet he would be a real hunk - all shiny, colourful, powerful ... a very wise leader, with that oh so sexy-deep voice ... but predictably, Ryan likes the lovable Bumble Bee. Not that anything's wrong with Bum Bee (that's what Ryan calls it), just that Bumble Bee is either hard to find or the ones in the local stores are waaay too expensive for our pockets!

I wonder why the other range of Autobots or Decepticons are so much easier to locate in stores. Sigh! why does my boy always likes things that are obscure & expensive. Its not as if I can afford them ... He's been rather obsessive (how can I blame him when he takes after me ... being obsessive bout most things) about his Bumble Bee, always saying - "Buy, Bum Bee!" ... I wish I can baby, just need to find it & hope we can afford it!

In honour of Ryan's latest craze, I present to you a range of Bumble Bees. If anyone can find the latest Bumble Bee at an affordable 30 bucks or so, please let me know, ya!. It would make Ryan very, very happy. Meanwhile, at every toy store that we pass, we will still be looking for that elusive yellow Autobot called "Bum Bee"!

When Rayn saw these last two pics of Bumble Bee, he refused to "admit" that its Bum Bee, he calls them Mem-mem (any creature or robot that's not remotely human) ... haha! Silly boy ... its really Bumble Bee ... just a different edition, that's all. I guess even if I can locate & buy these two action-figures, he will probably reject them ... as "defects". I would have wasted my money then ... haha, the innocence of a child. He only only knows what he recognises ... nothing more, nothing less!