Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday photos - Let sleeping dogs lie

One of my favourite things to do on weekends is to check on the kids when they are sleeping. They have the cutest and most serene expressions on their faces.

On rare days...they sleep close together. I'm waiting for the day my boy lets his sister cuddle with him while he's sleeping. Right now, he still thinks she's annoying.

My boy's position under the dinner table when guests come over.

Sleeping areas are often strategically chosen....like at the doorway, busy pathways, bottom of the stairs...

...to make sure, they don't miss out on anything while they take a nap.

Sleeping positions vary...

...sometimes, un-lady like.

Somehow, they find comfort in aligning themselves to the nearest wall.

This is my favourite sleeping torpedo boy.

The only time Riko didn't sleep well was when she had to be boarded at the vet for a night. When she came home, she just fell on the floor and slept for hours.

Needless to say, she had a spat of special treatment after spending a night in a dingy cell when her ovaries were removed.

I never intended for Riko to sleep on the bed. At 9 weeks, she climbed on the bed on the first day she was let into the bedroom. She never left.

My boy prefers the floor. Mother's guilt found me buying him a bed too...which he sleeps on for like 5 minutes. I think he treats it like a throne rather than a bed.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Back to school, my Terrible Two



ok, don't laugh.

I'm going to do some serious disciplining with the kids. Their command-taking has never been good in the first place...yes, due to my poor reinforcement on them.

It has now come to a point when....
come = sit or stand still wherever they are with a "what?" look on their faces
sit = sitting for a second then sliding into down position
stay = follow me
fetch = stare at me with the "you get it" look
leave it = grab it, fling it in front of momma or run away with it

the only effective command is "down"....and that's because they are about to receive their treats or waiting for dinner.

So, I need to re-start tomorrow because if they behave, they will get to go for pet therapy gathering in 2 weeks. I don't want them behaving like total hooligans. I might end up needing some therapy myself!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Dreaming today



If this was mine, I will have really happy kids.
Imagine watching the boy swim in the pool with such a spectacular view.
Imagine the off-leash running and scenting trails my kids will be doing everyday.
I won't see them until dinner time...and after dinner, they probably be knocked out cold. What a life!

But, imagine how much walking I have to do picking poo! Well, exercise is always good.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Introducing Do-Re-Mi

My tri-color lab search is over with a four-month old labrarot boy. Well, too bad he's not mine too. It's cousin Tango who is such a sweetie. My terrible two at that age were always acting like monkeys. As usual, it was near impossible to get a great shot of all three being still and saying cheese to the camera.


This was what was happening behind the scenes. And, they are very good at doing this.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Mariko makes her stand



And so, I'm back from my vacation and realized my sweet girl is all grown up. I swear she had grown a bit. :D

Mariko has never been an easy walker.

I can still remember her very first walk. She was all leashed-up and ready to go .... but no, she refused to budge. She just sat in the front of our gate. Unlike her brother, he was out the door with nose-to-ground the moment the gates opened for the first time. She didn't get the concept of the leash. She probably finds it undignified to be led around or that we should take the car instead.

In the early days, she stuck close to my legs. But, as she saw more and more of what was over the fence, she became more and more courageous.

Nowadays, she literally springs and gallops the whole way. It has been impossible to keep her at my heels because she speed walks. One would think that the walking difficulty is proportionate to the size of the dog. Nope, not here. My boy heels better because he's big and walks slower...well, that is when he's not tugging about the grass. My girl, on the other hand, is a springy lamb!

To make things worse, she gets excited at any moving objects - especially cats wondering around the neighbourhood. When it comes to dogs behind gates, she charges forward with her barky attitude.

She knows her walking trail by heart. So well, that when I changed routes, she knows and insists on take the "right" way. One good thing is she isn't picky with where I take her. Somehow, this week... something changed.

We walked our usual trail and were on our way home. We turned into our road and was heading towards home when she stopped dead on her tracks. All four paws rooted to the ground. You would think it's easier to get a 50-pounder up on her feet. Nope, she didn't budge. So, I thought she had a memory loss or something and forgot where she was. I dragged her back home the first time.

The next day, the same thing happened after we turned the corner into our street. What's with her? It turns out that she didn't have a memory loss. Rather, I had a light bulb moment. She didn't want to go home yet!

Since that fateful first time, she'd be happily trotting the first ten steps after the corner home. Then, stops dead on her tracks once she recognised that this is the road home. I still get amused by her doing this every night!

If I pulled her towards home, she will not budge an inch. If I pulled away from our gate, she continues to side-step away from our gate. So now, I have to put in an extra block or two for her.

(Must get a photo or video of her in action!)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Drill sergeant from hell

When the kids are in full-board at day care, it's like boot camp. This means being outdoors more (camping!)and having more rules than normal. And, grand dad(Ah Kong) is like some kind of evil drill sergeant. My girl likes to be near people all the time. Unlike Ruki, she finds rules and boundaries hard to follow.



Then, yesterday...according to a boot camp report said that...
Ah Kong finally allowed her to lie in the living room after she gave him her POWER EMO stare


Ah Kong = grandfather

Thursday, May 19, 2011

It has been a mopey week so far

Mopey 1 can't go walking since it has been raining every evening.

Mopey 2 hasn't gone for a walk or car ride since last Friday.

This is their self-entertainment- ripping plastic flower pots apart!


Now, how can I ever go for more than a week's vacation?

Sunday, May 15, 2011

on vacation





I am on vacation in some island somewhere for a week...and the kids are on full board bored at day care.

Poor things!

note: si comot means dirty boy

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Rainy days and Mondays.....to Sunday



This is my personal trainer.

Without fail, rain or shine every night...he will be waiting patiently at the door and if that does work, he's nudging me persistently until I am up on my feet. It seems there are a list of things he needs to do before bedtime - like rush out to the public toilet bush to poo, pee-marking, smell every inch of the park and if lucky, gobble some cat poo! Once back, he dips in his bathtub and gets wiped down in his air-conditioned room.

Only after all this is done, he is ready for bed.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Food tasting of a different kind



The kids' food bowls were on the dining table waiting to be served. I'm always saying that my kids diet is so much better than mine. Ever wondered what a 6-fish flavoured kibbles of the below, taste like? Well, it reads so healthy...so much that I could have replace my main meal with it and get my complete nutrient for a cup of this.

Fresh salmon (includes chinook. coho and sockeye species), salmon meal, russet potato, herring meal, fresh lake whitefish, sweet potato, fresh lake trout, fresh Northern walleye, freshwater cod, fresh herring, sunflower oil, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherals, a natural source of vitamin E), sun-cured alfalfa, dried sea vegetables (brown kelp, Irish moss, dulse and bladder wrack), leeks, psyllium, crab shell, rosemary, lecithin, apples, black currants..

TONIC HERBS AND BOTANICALS
Chicory root (FOS), licorice root, fennel seed, zea mays, peppermint leaf, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, rosehips.

ORGANIC MINERALS
Iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate.

PROBIOTIC MICROORGANISMS
Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Enterococcus faecium fermentation product..

PREMIUM VITAMINS
Mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), choline chloride, vitamin A, vitamin D3, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12, folic acid, biotin, pyridoxine (source of vitamin B6).


So, we decided to take a nimble. One word - FISHY. It tasted like uncooked fish crackers. Well, two words - FISHY and SALTY. I'm surprised it was so darn salty. Sis pops 6 more into her mouth. Yeew...

This morning, I sampled the other mix-meat flavour kibble. Less salty. This is seriously making me think of going on b.a.C.f (bones and cooked food) diet a few days a week.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

My baby girl is 18 months this week

How time flies...

She's still very much a baby...but, I don't mind...as long as she's toilet-trained!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Uh-Oh we're in trouble

Yesterday, Riko shredded some tissues along our driveway. As usual, when she heard "WHO DID THIS?"... she conveniently left the scene of the crime to god-knows-where. This morning, I found the tissues on the driveway... the same old bits that I swept into the outdoor dustbin. As usual, I said "WHO DID THIS?". Girl left the scene. Boy came over to begin his investigation. He picked up the bits and shaking about as if wondering who could have done this. Then, he got on to shredding them into smaller bits...perhaps, in an attempt to lose the evidence.

Normally, the girl will run out to the backyard to hide until the coast is clear. But, since I fenced of the back garden temporarily, she has made used of my baby frangipani tree as cover. That was until the tree grew taller and she had to find a new cover.

So, this is her new hiding place... at first, she kept very still...I didn't notice her camouflaged against the window.

until the boy came over to busy-body..

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Sketchbook Project 2012 is on!


I'm so excited that my annual sketchbook project is starting. Hope to crank up the old artsy engine and get my creative juices going.

So, those who are interested anywhere around the world, you can sign in here. This year's project will have planned stops in London and Melbourne in 2012. Must.really.plan.London.and.New York.2012.trip.now. Will.ask.force.friends.to.view.my.books.in.Melbourne.


Meanwhile, my current books are on tour in the U.S. Here are the books being packed up for their next destination. Let's see...they are in Washington D.C this week and in Seattle on June 10-11.


So far, four kind souls have borrowed my books to have a look. You see, we get an email notification each time the book is borrowed. So cool!



I didn't expect any views...so, I thought I have to go visit them myself next year. Look at the competition....


What are the chances of your books getting pick from the sea of books here?


Getting picked

Checking out the books for a closer look. Just look at some of the gorgeous covers.

The overwhelming creativity in one place sometimes makes me want to crawl into a hole and hide...but, I'm back this year to take up the challenge again.

hehehe...four views are definitely better than none!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Gunshot wounds, slash scars and bite marks



The blog silence is killing me. My dearly beloved home modem had recently died and gone to heaven. The new modem has been acting up. So, pardon the dust on my blog.

Meanwhile, the kids are well...maybe, playing a little to hard lately.

I've been finding all kinds of injury on them. The first one from Mariko looked like someone's tooth sunk into it...and when the scab fell, it looked like a gunshot wound.


This is Riko's first gunshot wound.



Then, it was Ruki turn. The injury was difficult to detect due to his thick fur. I remember one night, there were blood stains on the floor where he laid. I did a full body check ... mainly on the paws because I thought he may have stepped on glass during our walk. Nothing. Then, a couple of days later, I noticed some fur at the top of his body was out of place. When I was combing it back, I found a loose Julienne slice of his furry scalp sticking out... like he was slashed by someone.

When that wound healed, Ruki developed a hardened skin on the tip of ear. Fears ranged from mites to some flesh-eating disease. So, off to the vet. It turned out to be bitten. Looks like my girl may have been chewing on his ear!!

Then again, the boy chews on her ear too!!



This week, I discover a julienne-sliced wound on Riko. Now, I'm totally cool about it and treating them as routine cuts-and-scrapes on my kids.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Return of the Magic Wand



We have settled into a nice walk route since the start of the year. So, I thought.

I'll normally control his walk-sniff balance whereby, I will allow him to sniff on certain parts and strict walk on parts of the route. But, for the past 2 weeks, Ruki has been sniffing way to much while walking. It's to the extent that he's been walking zig-zag under some kind of trance. He'll want to double back on some interesting sections. When I direct him to certain parts of our usual route, he will turn around and face the direction he wants to go. So, we are pivoting around the same spot until he gets his way. Presumably, my route choice is way too boring.

So, this week...we saw the revival of the magic wand. I hope I will regain control of my boy...because we are starting to look embarrassingly comical on our walks in the neighbourhood.


P.S. My sketchbooks made it safely to New York. It will start its tour in Austin, Texas. The exhibition is at the Austin Museum of Art on Saturday, March 12 and the 29th St Ballroom at Spider House on Sunday, March 13 from noon until 6pm each day.

Friday, March 11, 2011

OMG! I almost killed my girl today


I left my girl locked in my car at daycare while I left for work in a hurry. I didn't realize she was hiding at the backseat when I shut my car door and got into the taxi. I did find it strange that she did stand at the driveway to bid me goodbye. I thought she was up to some mischief somewhere in the garden. I didn't think much of it until I received a call from grandma. She was looking for my girl on her way out and couldn't find her anywhere....until she saw her bopping head in my car. Lucky for me that someone was at home...my car was parked in the garage (not in the sun)...and she was found within 10 minutes.

Scary to think that she could be left longer than she did in my car with the windows up. She loves to go into the car. I think she just wants to follow me around. One of these days she'll smuggle herself up the car again. If she stays really quiet, I wouldn't realize it until I reach the office.

Thank God it's Friday!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Scent of a woman (dog)



I will not hesitate to say that my girl smells great all the time. I'll sniff her whenever I can .... just to spot-check. I have no idea how she does it... but I'm not complaining. Both kids eat the same foods, bathe the same frequency and do the same stuff. My girl smells equivalent to a baby. It's very distinctively like burnt sugar...like caramel. Perhaps, that's why she turned out to be brown in colour!

Meanwhile my Busuk* boy often smells like rotten fish...to be exact...dried fish...the Asian-style kind (a.k.a. ham yue). He has a thick coat and perhaps...in his past life or so...was a happy fish. He has to dip in his water pool every day ... rain or shine.

* Busuk = smelly in Malay

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Poo patterns


My boy loves public pooing and peeing. Our daily walk starts with him rushing from our gate like he has a stomach. He makes a beeline to the end of the road where there are public bushes stalls for him to make deposits.

My girl has NEVER done the number one or two outside EVER. I think she finds it undignified to squat in strange places. So, she prefers the privacy of her own home.

So, when it comes to the matter of pooing and peeing, my kids are polar opposites. But one thing's for sure...there's always "packages" to pick up every morning from the lawn.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Blast from the Past

Haruki at 10 weeks

Mariko at 10 weeks


Wish my kids could live forever at this age (all potty-trained).

Monday, February 21, 2011

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day

I often think how grateful I am that my kids get along. They always share some tender moments like this...

Then, moments later...it erupts to this. Believe it or not, my girl loves playing rough and being chased a lot.

To think that, it was only yesterday they spent their first V-Day... when Ruki found her cute but annoying (he still does).

Then, when she was in heat...my boy fell hard for her.

Nowadays, I would like to think they are great buddies. My boy is still so patient with her annoying antics. Riko idolizes her brother and often emulates him. It's amazing.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

You know you have crossed the line

when you shared the same toothbrush as your kids one sleepy night...and when you realized it...you kept on brushing.

Monday, February 7, 2011

It's not even Valentine's Day yet...

Bowser and Mariko sitting in the garden
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love,
then comes marriage,
luckily no pup in the baby carriage!


Momma caught someone kissing on Chinese New Year's Day


Full frontal khalwat* scene for Bowser's dad to see...



* khalwat is the malay term for close proximity for unwed parties.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Happy Chinese New Year!

It's the time of the year for hong bau! The kids shall have red envelopes filled with treats..

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

My kids in January 2011

In a rare ocassion when my girl looks larger than my boy...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Ruki goes to the salon

It's been a long time (1.5 years) since our last visit to the groomers. So, when i stopped by the week before to make an appointment, I was surprised that the groomers remembered my boy. Haruki... the yellow lab? yeah...that's my boy alright.

We haven't been back often since Ruki cannot stay clean for long. But, I think he loves the attention and pampering. He loves his bath time a lot. He has no problems being left alone at the "spa" while I go for yoga.



Unfortunately, he still like to mark in public. He made sure that the few bags of Eukanuba dog food at the front of the pet store is his. Then, he said goodbye to the groomers by marking their front dog!

He managed to stay clean for a day. At least, he enjoyed himself at the spa and a visit to the pet store later that day.