Pregnant?

I woke up this morning with nausea. The last time I had nausea was more than 3 years ago when I was pregnant with Ethan. That was the first symptom that led me to discover that I'm pregnant. Then I tried to recall when I had the last mens. Jeezzz..............end October, before I left for New Zealand. The sickness became stronger as I drove to work. Really felt like vomiting in the car.

A lot of things came into my mind as I drove. "Where are we going to put the baby cot?"........"I need to get the baby clothes back from my sis....and the maternity dress too...I hope she has not given them away"....."How to cope with 2 babies?"......What will be the sleeping arrangement?".........................

Panic started to kick in when I reached the office. I quickly surfed the net and check on the pregnancy calculator. If I'm pregnant, the baby should be 6 weeks by now. The clinic opens at 9am and it was barely 8.15 in the morning. I was anxious, worried, excited and scared.

After settling a few things in the office, I walked to the clinic, registered myself and told the doctor that I might be pregnant. The first thing he did was to check my pulse and he said "Pulse very strong, possible". I also told him that I took some migrain medicine 2-3 weeks back and I'm worried it will affect the baby. He said it should be ok if I took it for short term. He asked me all the dates and measured my weight before asking me to get the urine sample. Then came the result - It's negative. I was a bit disappointed to hear that. It's funny coz I always think I'm not ready to have another baby. I should be relieved instead.

Anyway, I alsked the doctor what caused the nausea. He then checked on my stomach and said I have wind. He then prescribed some medicine and asked me if I need folic acid. I said no need and told him I'm not planning for a baby yet.

Just wonder how my second baby will look like........like Ethan or totally a different look........

He Fell Down on the Road!

2 years, 5 months, 3 weeks and 5 days old.....

The little one gave me a heart attack when he fell on the road. We were attending a friend's baby's fullmoon party on Saturday evening and were about to leave. While I passed the bag to hubby, the little one escaped our grab and ran towards the road. I gave chase and the more I called out for him, the faster he ran. The road was a little steep and we were going down the slope. I wanted to scream 'ETHAN STOP!!!!' but did not want to embarrass myself in front of everyone. I knew he's going to fall but I just couldn't catch up with him. He was fast and I'm fat.

In the end............he fell...as expected. He tripped and rolled on the tar road (I think twice) and lied down on the road facing down. Looking at the way he fell, I was panicked. I thought he must need some stitches somewhere. I quicky picked him up and he was crying. His nose, forehead and hand was scratched and bleeding. The worst part was his nose. The scratches on his hand and forehead were very minor. His legs and knees are ok, thanks to his trousers. I brought him back to my friend's house and washed the wounds. After some thorough inspection, I'm glad and relieved to find that he didn't have deep cuts and no need to be stitched up.

After cleaning his wounds, he has stopped crying and back to normal again. This little rascal can give you heart attack and he is all happy and dandy again before you can recover from the shock. After that only I realised that hubby was sitting outside chatting with friends while I clean him up. He didn't even checked on Ethan. Man oh man.......He did helped out with Ethan while I chatted with some friends but I never expect him to sit there and wait when he knew his son just fell down. If you are concern, will you just sit there and not go find out how your son is? I was upset to see him sat there while I was worry sick. But I was so worried about Ethan at that point so I forgot to be upset with him. Sometimes, I just don't understand and I have forgotten to ask him too.

So, Bee if you are reading this, tell me what was in your mind, ok?

Ethan posing happily with the scars on his nose.....and
of course his latest obsession, Ultraman. He wouldn't
let anyone touch the Ultraman.


Closer view of the scar


The scar on his hand

Rotorua, NZ

Oh my goodness! I didn't realise I have abandoned this blog for almost a month already. Apart from busy facebooking, October seemed to be a busy month. I had to organise an event and then prepared for a trip to Rotorua, New Zealand. It was a conference that my company sent me and my colleague to. As usual, I always have mixed feelings when I need to travel. Happy that I can visit NZ but I know I will miss the two guys at home like crazy. The day I arrived KLIA, I was practically running from the plane to the arrival gate to meet them. It felt so great to be home again.

Back to the NZ story, after much consideration, we have decided to go to Rotorua one day earlier and make the most out of it. As we know that we will not have the time to look for tour packages after we arrive, we booked a day tour online before we depart. It cost us NZ$225/pax (RM472), which included all the entrance fees, a lunch and transportation (pick-up and drop off at our hotel). It turned out that we were the only tourists of the day. We got a mini bus and a tour guide all to oursleves.

The tour included visits to (now here comes all the funny names, which I can hardly pronounce):

• Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland
• Waimangu Volcanic Valley
  
• Rainbow Spring
  
• Agrodome
• Te Puia

Other than those places, we also visited the Mount Maunganui, the nearby surfers beach and the Port Tauranga, as part of the conference's field trip.

The smallest aircraft I've ever boarded-The Beech 1900

Inside the aircraft-That's the first time I saw the cockpit.

Aerial view of Auckland

A thermal pool at the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland.
There are many thermal pools with different colours
due to the different types of mineral contents

Another thermal pool which is yellowish and orangie.


The Lady Knox Geyser near the Wai-O-Tapu.
We were told it erupts at 10.15 a.m. sharp everyday.
After the visit I know why. After some introduction
to the visitors, the guide pour some chemicals to activate it.


Waimangu Volcanic Valley. The walk around the area took almost one hour.


Another colourful thermal pool at the volcanic valley.


The most beautiful scene of the day.


That's me and the tour guide at the Waimangu Volcanic Valley.
A little bit like Jurassic Park scene in the background.


The Rainbow Spring. The fishes in the pond are Trout.
We saw some native birds and a Kiwi bird here.
I thought it's a small bird but the Kiwi is the size of a hen.


The Agrodome where we saw a sheep shearing show.


The Pohutu Geyser at Te Puia.



A cultural performance at Te Puia. A group of Mat Salleh
tourists paid for the show and so happened we were
walking by and watched the free show.


The lovely surfers beach near Mount Maunganui


Another shot of the beach. Took this photo in a moving bus.


Lovely sky at Port Tauranga.


One of the many spectacular scenes.


A common sight in NZ


One of my favourite shots

The grand finale-There were some fireworks near our hotel on the last night
we were in Rotorua. Photo was taken in the hotel room.

The runway at the Rotorua Airport.

Aerial view of Rotorua

Miscommunication

This incident taught me on how a simple miscommunication can lead to disaster. I arrived at Ethan's school at around 5.30 p.m. yesterday. It was raining. As I was getting some updates on Ethan from the Aunty, a boy about 5 years old appeared at the front gate, crying badly and keep on saying 'I want Mummy, I want Mummy'.

We did not know what happened but according to the Aunty, he was supposed to be at the music class, which is few blocks away from the school. He walked by himself in the rain and to get to the school he has to cross a main road, which can be quite busy at that hour. After hearing this, I felt very sad. I felt the boy's fear but glad that he was ok.

The Aunty asked the boy to come inside and wait for his mother while she tried to contact her. As she was searching for her number, the mother appeared at the gate and rushed to the boy saying 'You scared me'. I was so relieved to see the mother and son reunited. The boy was still crying and the mother kept on asking if he's alright.

Apparently, there was a mis-communication between mother and son. The mother thought he was not attending the music class thus nobody fetch him after the class. One thing I don't udnerstand is why the teacher there will let the boy go out by himself. Anyway, I did not say anything. Just glad that they were reunited and the boy was not harmed. I did offer her an umbrella but she said no need as they are staying nearby.

A Dead Man & A Sick Man

The Dead Man

I was driving to work on Monday morning with an almost empty petrol tank. The signal was blinking non-stop the moment I started the car. Thanks to my hubby who never went to fill up the tank when he drove the car the whole day on Sunday. I was swearing coz I'm scared the car will stop in the middle of the highway. My timing in the morning is just enough for me to send Ethan to school then straight to work. Normally, 3 out of 5 days, I can make it to the office sharp at 8 a.m. The rest of the week, I arrive late. The only petrol station that is convenient for me is near my office. So, I took the risk to drive all the way to that station. Otherwise I will be very late.

Never have I thought of traffic jam. Dang!! Half way through the highway, the cars infront slow down. I thought it's because of the bottle neck and the jam will clear very fast. The cars were crawling and I was really nervous. If my car run out of petrol that moment, that will cause massive jam and people will be cursing at the stupid woman behind the wheel, who never know how to fill up the tank.

As the cars were moving slowly, I began to see a car stopped in the middle lane and other cars were moving away. I signalled and moved to the right lane. As I approached the stalled car, I saw a couple standing in front of their car and a man lying on the floor. So, it was an accident. A pretty common sight in KL especially with motorcyclist. As a typical Malaysian, I took a peep too. The man was motionless and I couldn't see his head!! Then I saw his helmet, which I think was crushed because it was smaller than the normal size. Then I saw red patches of stuff scattered on the road. Dang!!!!!!! Could it be the brain????????? I don't know because I can't see clearly.

That night, when I was watching the news, the story on the accident came out. And now, I can see clearly from the tv screen that those red patches I saw were indeed the brain. The poor man was hit by a petrol tanker and I can see patches of his brain on the tyre too. He was on his way to work and according to the news, I think we were working in the same building. It was sad to see innocent people killed in an accident.

The Sick Man

It was on a Tuesday evening after I fetched Ethan from school when I realised I didn't have the house key with me!! I have parked the car and we both have got down. Hubby was caught in the meeting and will be home late. I called him but he didn't picked up the blardy phone. I sms him but no reply! Ok, fine! It was my own stupid mistake and I shouldn't be angry with anyone.

So, I scooped Ethan back to the car seat and told him 'we go kai-kai ok'. Of course he was ok with it. I drove to Giant and let him play at the indoor playground and some free kiddy rides. We arrived at around 6.30 p.m. and there were a few kids around. I finally managed to call Daddy and he said the meeting was about to end and we agreed to meet there for dinner. In the meantime, Ethan was playing happily, taking all the free rides and playing with the not-so-smooth slides.

It was around 7.15p.m. when a man approached the playground. I thought it was hubby but with a closer look, it was not. Nevermind, we continued to wait. By that time, Ethan was the only kid around but there were a few adults hanging around the area. The man was inspecting the rides so I thought he was some guy from Giant doing some routine check on the playground. I continued to follow Ethan around obeying his every command. My heart skipped a bit when suddenly I saw this grown up man sitting on one of the kiddy rides. My heart screamed AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! but I kept my cool and stared at the man from behind. I was really dumbfounded and don't know what to do!! Being a blogger for more than a year, my insticnt told me to take photo of him on the ride. It will be a piece of juicy news. But then my brain said no. What if he suddenly turn and saw me holding a camera phone? He might charged towards me and punch me!! No....no way. So I stood still and stare.

I don't know how on earth he managed to squeeze himself in. I think he is around 5'8" tall and should weigh more than 80kg. I know coz he is about the same size as my hubby. At first glance when he walked in, I thought he was my hubby..........'choy choy'...'tai kat lai see'. Out of all the designs, he chosed a kitty ride. The seat was so small and his legs were shaking because there was practically no leg room for him. My mind 'terpesong' a little bit at that time and it looked to me as though he was f%^*king the kitty ride. Imagine this, his legs were shaking and he held on to the kitty and body kept moving forward.

Before I got over with the shock, Ethan went over there, stood right behind him and said he wanted to sit on the ride next to him!!! Oh God No way!! I don't think the man will be too happy with a kid sitting next to him while he was busy humping the ride. I said 'No, no, no.....we go there and play the slide'. He refused to budge so I walked away and said bye bye to him. Thank goodness he followed me. I think the man heard me coz I was saying it out loudly but he didn't reacted. After the ride stopped, he quickly got up and walked away but he looked around. I of course pretended to be normal as if nothing had happened.

Not long after that hubby arrived and I told him about that incident. He said that man could be too stressed with work. I said 'If you're too stressed, don't hump the rides, you know the right place to go to'. (The sentences were rephrased for public viewing)

28 Months Update

2 years, 4 months & 1 week old.....

I have not been doing Ethan's monthly update for quite some time already. Sometimes I feel there is too little to write, hence didn't write anything. Then, sometimes there are just too many things happened in a month and I've lost track, ended up don't know where to start thus no update too. Since Ethan is attending a new school for almost a month now, I thought it's a good talking point for me to start writing.

School
I think he has almost settled down with the new school. In the beginning of the 2nd week, he cried in the morning when I sent him there. Then, towards the end of that week, he was better. One fine night, while tucking him to bed, I talked to him. I asked him what he did at school. Of course, he couldn't answer me. I tried to say something that excites him. So I said 'Ethan sing sing with teacher at school? What Ethan sing? I love you You love me?' He seems to be very interested in that topic. Then I got the hint and told him 'Ethan go to school tomorrow and wait for teacher to sing I love you You love me, ok?'. He replied 'ok', much to my surprise. I said the same thing to him the next morning and it really worked. He didn't cry but reluctantly let me go.

From there on, he cried less and less as the days went by especially towards the end of the week. Today marks the 5th week he attends the new school. I thought it will be a difficult morning as it's a Monday. To my surprise, he asked 'Where Aunty' the moment we entered the school compound and he didn't cry at all. Phew!!!

Emotion/Character
He is definitely a stubborn kid and has been showing a lot of terrible-2 signs. Below are a few that I could recall:

1. He spits at us when we scold him or if he is upset with us. I don't know where he learn this but definitely not from the movie 'Titanic'.
2. He refuses to hold our hand when walking in the mall. He loves to run around and get even more excited if he sees us chasing after him. At times, I just wanted to shout 'ETHAN JAMES....STOP!!!!!!!!!!' and let all the people stare at me like a maniac. Even if we managed to make him hold our hands, he will not walk properly. It's either he walks slanted or he walks very fast and suddenly kneel down as if doing a dance move.
3. He wants to push the trolley or pram instead of sit on them. He can't control the direction of the trolley/pram and will only stop when it hits on things. This is scary especially if we are at a crowded area or glassware section.
4. He is short but insisted to hold on to the escalator hand rail. At first he wanted us to carry him so he can hold the railing but now, he can touch it if he tip toed.
5. Refuses to say sorry when we ask him to do so after he did something wrong, as if he knows that if he says sorry means he admits his fault.

Vocabulary
He can count from 1-10 and sings the alphabet song (from a-g then the wrods starts to jumble up).

He can string words now. The best phrase is 'I don't want'. Other common phrases are:

1. Where Daddy go?
2. Why so dark?
3. Why so dirty?
4. Who do this?
   
5. I want go kai-kai
6. I want poh-poh, ah yee, mei-mei.
7. I want eat chicken (all types of meats are chicken to him)
   

I like it when he says 'I want.....I want........' with his eyes looking around as if he's really thinking on what he wants.

There was one incident when he asked daddy to open up a can of Playdoh for him, he told Daddy 'Cannot eat ar'. I told him that earlier and looks like he picked it up fast.

He will look for excuses instead of saying 'No' when he dislikes something, e.g.:
Mummy: Tomorrow Mummy and Daddy go to work, Ethan goes to school ok?
Ethan: Aunty go home edi, bye bye Aunty edi.

Potty Training
He is diaperless at home and school except during nap and sleeping time. However, he seldom pee on the diaper during nap time. I think he's ready to nap without diaper but I need to find something to cover the mattress first, just in case. Any suggestion?

We still put him on diaper when we go out to the mall. Last weekend when we were at the mall, he told us he wanted to poo so we rushed to the kid's loo. I laid wet tissues on the seat and put him there but he can't do it. So we went for lunch and after eating, he again told us he wanted to poo. Again, it was a futile effort. Luckily the toilet was clean and since it's a kid's toilet, both parents are allowed in and we took turn to hold him. I don't know how to handle him alone in the ladies.

Diet
He had his first taste of ice-cream on 2 September, when he was 27 months old. The first thing he said was 'Nice'.

His diet didn't change much as he still prefer rice and noodles with soup. Still dislikes vegetables and western food espcially bread. French toast is an exception.

For fruits, banana is his no. 1 favourite. I always call him 'Ma-lao' (monkey in Cantonese) when I'm upset with him.

Favourite toys/game
Guitar and gun. Loves to play 'bang bang' with us. How to play? He points the gun at us and say 'bang bang' and we pretend to be frightened.

He loves to sing too and when he sings, only he can sing, no one else should open their mouth. All we can do is clap hands after he finishes.

(Photo taken on 1 August 2008 during
my mum's birthday celebration.
We gave him a broken mic to play with
and the poor boy sang his heart out)

Movies
He has watch a few movies with us at home from the beginning to the end. He seems to be absorbed in the movie at certain points. We have watched cartoons and thrillers together. Just last night, we watched 'Black Water' together, a thriller on crococile attack. It cracked us up when he suddenly asked 'Where uncle go?' after the man was dragged down the water by the killer crocodile.

Cameron Highlands

2 years, 4 months & 2 days old.....

Since my parents-in-law were in town for a week, we made a short trip to Cameron Highlands on 18-19 Sep. I searched for a few hotels online and shortlisted The Lake House, Equatorial and Strawberry Park. Checked on a forum at www.cameronhighlands.com especially on the reviews about the hotels there. You can find almost all information about the place from this website. In the end, we decided to stay at the Strawberry Park and booked a 3+1-rooms apartment at RM483 as my mum, sis and niece wanted to join as well. It's inclusive of RM120 worth of cash voucher and we spent it on the breakfast, which costs RM32+ per adult.

Now, here is my review about the place. The price is about the same as The Lake House and Equatorial and I've not been to any of those. We got an apartment with 4 rooms, 2 rooms with queen-size bed and two rooms with single bed. There is no kitchen in there hence we can't even heat up food. Luckily we didn't plan to cook. The floor is dusty but we didn't bother to ask them to clean up. I don't know how long it will take them to clean up the floor and I don't want to spoil my mood thus just ignore the issue. Furniture are a bit old but no funny smell on the bed nor pillows, thank goodness. Breakfast is only so-so.

The only thing I like about this place is the environment, which is surrounded by greens and is located quite high above the sea level. The Lake House is facing a lake but separated by a main road and the surrounding is quite bare, no trees or forest around. Equatorial is located higher than the Strawberry Park but surrounded by buildings and farms.

18 September 2008
Our journey started at around 8.30 a.am. and we reached the Tapah exit at around 10.30 a.m. Ethan and my niece didn't sleep until we made the journey up the hill. Thank goodness they slept while we went through the curves and turns, otherwise someone will surely puke in the car. Then we stopped for lunch at Tanah Rata at almost 12 p.m. We then proceeded to the Boh Plantation Visitors Centre at Sungai Palas. I found this place on the website (mentioned above). We took a rest there, had a cup of tea and visited the centre (mainly posters) but didn't visit the factory as we have kids tagging along.

Love the view from here

The second stop was the strawberry farm (don't know the name) which is near the Boh Plantation Visitors Centre. We saw the big sign board on the road side before we turn off to the Visitors Centre and decided to check it out on the way down. We had fun plucking strawberries at the farm. I remember the last two times I went there (years ago), we can only buy pre-packed strawberries and not allowed to pluck it ourselves. Everyone got so excited with the big red strawberries and ended up with 7 packs of them. Every 100g costs RM3, if I'm not mistaken and I don't how much all the 7 packs cost.

Then we bought some fresh vegetables from the farm and the kids visited the small animal farm there. There are some rabbits, tortoise and geese at the farm but the place is full of animal droppings.

We were told that this is Cameron's apple but it doesn't taste like apple at all.

Carrot fresh from the farm.

When we finished visiting the farm, it was almost 4 p.m. and we went to check-in at the hotel. The weather was quite chilly at that time. Everyone rested for a while, took a shower and headed for dinner at Brinchang. As it's a weekday, there was no night market and after dinner, we took short walk before going back to the hotel. Ethan and my niece, Tessa had lots of fun running around, climbing the sofas and beds. The adults had a bottel of wine and the fresh strawberries we plucked few hoours ago. At around 11+p.m., everyone konked off.

19 September 2008
The morning weather was really cold and we slept with almost all windows closed. There was no mosquitoes attack too. As soon as Ethan opened his eyes at around 9a.m., he was all fresh and active and woke everyone else up. After breakfast, we packed everything up and checked-out right at 12p.m.

We wanted to visit the bee farm but couldn't locate the one given in the map but we managed to find another one. Nothing impressive as there were only a few boxes of bees and some exhibits on bees. We didn't buy any honey but I spotted the strawberry ice at a stall nearby. It's made of fresh strawberries and cost RM1 each. I bought 10 sticks.

The second stop we made was at the Kea Farm to buy some fresh and cheap vegetables. The must buy item is the sweet corn (known as 'Jan Ju Bao' in chinese??), the one that you can eat fresh without steaming. It is really sweet and crunchy. The bigger one was selling at RM10 for 5 pcs while the smaller one at RM 10 for 8 pcs. I bought the small ones at RM10 for 3 pcs in KL. We bought so much corns that I had corns everyday for 4 days straight. No, I'm not scared of it and wouldn't mind to have more...hehe...

The last stop we made was for lunch at Brinchang, the same restaurant we had dinner the night before. From there, we headed straight back to KL at around 2-3p.m. Ethan slept for 2 hours in the car until we stopped for dinner in KL. Lucky me.

I think everyone enjoyed the trip especially the kids. Oh...and Ethan learnt a new trick from this trip....faking a smile for the camera!

2nd & 3rd Day At School

2nd Day At School (3 Sep 08)

Not a very good start for the day as I missed the turning to the school. I still followed the way to the old daycare and only realised it right before turning down to the highway. After using the same road for 2 years, I guess my mind has not register the new way I should be taking now. I had to make a U-turn to go back to the school. Wasted some precious time for the silly mistake.

When we arrived, the little one refused to walk so I had to carry him from the car to the school. He also refused to go down after we entered the school. I had to sit with him and played with him and let him warm up a little with the Aunty and kids there. Perhaps he's scared that I'll sneak away again like the day before. After spending some 10-15 minutes with him, there was no improvement as he still want me near him. I knew I will be late for work by then but I don't want to be late by an hour so I have to take action. I carried him and handed him to the Aunty and she had to practically pry him away from me. He saw me leaving and was crying when I left the school.

I called the school to ask about his progress in the afternoon and was told he's coping with the new environment. Actually, as long as he's not crying all the time or cause too much trouble, I'm not too worried cause he's been at the daycare all along. What I'm worried more is the people who's taking care of him. Once I got to know them better, I think I can settle down too. It's not only the child needs to settle down right? That's why I hate it when there's a change of people who is taking care of Ethan. I need time to settle down!!

When I picked him up after work, he was all happy and chirpy again. I was told he cried for a short while after I left. When the class started he refused to join in so the Aunty took him to the playing area and he watched tv for around half an hour before joining the class again. Other than that, he was ok.

3rd Day At School (4 Sep 08)

There was slight improvement this morning as I managed to coax him to walk in to the school and put his shoes on the shoe rack. He was quite jovial when I asked him to sit on the chair outside so that I can snap a few photos of him in his uniform for the first time.

After a short photo session, I carried him to the door as he refused to walk there. He knew what I'm up to. It was locked so I called out for the Aunty to open the door for us. Once he heard the word 'Aunty', he said 'No Aunty' angrily and held on to me very tightly. After we entered, I had to again coax him to sit down and the Aunty took out a few toys for him to play and tried to play with him too. Too bad, it didn't work out well as he still want me near him and sit down with him. I knew the trick was not going to work and I had to leave or else I will be late for work again. So I carried him, told him to follow Aunty to the kitchen and look for sweets. What a lie! He of course refused but I just handed him over to the Aunty and he cried out 'Mummy, Mummy, I want Mummy!!' as they walked in to the kitchen. I said 'You go with Aunty first, Mummy take the key and then go with you'. Another big fat lie!!! but he seemed to be buying it and I heard silence for a while before I grabbed the key and camera and sprint out of the school.

Sigh.....I hate lying to him like this. Can't wait to pick him up from the school. Another long day to go.

First Day At School

2 years, 3 months, 1 week & 5 days old.....

I think I should call this place a school since it's a pre-school + daycare. I took leave yesterday to send Ethan to his new school. When we entered the school, the children (around 30+ of them, age 3-6 years old) and 3 teachers have already gathered and singing some songs. I was seated with Ethan at one corner doing the registration and paying the fees. He looked at the kids with great interest and he knows some of the songs too.

The fees totalled RM1,200+, which included two months of school+daycare fee, registration fee, two sets of uniform and I can't remember what else. After completing the registration, the principal invited Ethan for breakfast. I accompanied him to the dining area where the 3&4 year-old kids have started to eat. He sat there and fed himself. I saw his teacher, a nice & sweet Chinese lady, feeding one of the girls. She looks so caring and gentle with the kids. I was a bit relieved then.

After breakfast, we adjourned to the study area outside and the teacher tried to warm up with Ethan and played puzzles with him. She thought Ethan is 3 but I told her he's only 2. Ethan was quite absorbed with the games and I sneaked out. Experts said it's not advisable to sneak out but to tell the kids that we are leaving and we will come back to pick them up. Well, it doesn't work for Ethan. I've tried that numerous times. The more I explain to him, the louder he will cry. So, whenever the opportunities arise, I choose to sneak out.

The teachers leave the school in the afternoon and the kids will be taken care by two helpers. Both of them are local and around 40+ years old. There are only 7-8 kids in the daycare session, including Ethan. I picked him up at 5.30p.m. and was told that once he realised that I was gone, he started to cry and clung to the teacher. Other than that, he was ok. The aunty was very surprised that he can feed himself and refused to be fed.

Of all the questions I asked the principal, I forgot to ask whether they are Chinese based or English based. Ethan's teacher speaks excellent Mandarin but not so good with English. So, I think they are Chinese based. Whatever it is, it is still better than being taught by foreign maids. Furthermore, since we plan to send Ethan to a Chinese school next time, it's good to expose him to the language now. My Mandarin sucks, so there is no hope for him to pick up the language at home.

The Search For A Good Daycare

2 years, 3 months & 1 week old.....

Today is Ethan's last day at the current daycare. I can't wait to pick him up and bid farewell to the place. We have been searching for a daycare in our vicinity for the past 2 months. I have called about 10 daycare/preschool and visited 5 of them. Since we have no friends and relatives sending their kids to a daycare in that area, we have no one to refer to. I tried to search for it on the net but the information provided was not helpful at all. Most of the websites just give a list of taska/tadika and the contact details. What we need to know is definitely more than that.

First of all, we need to know if they accept kids of 2 years old. Some of them are actually quite reluctant to take 2 year-old kids and it's even worse if they are not fully potty-trained, like Ethan. There are so many other things to consider such as:

• Location
  
• Opening hours: I work from 8a.m.-5p.m. and most of the centres open at 8a.m., which is a no go for me.
  
• Set-up and facilities
• Education system: There are so many in the markets now but the one I came across are Montessori, Q-dees and Fungate. Montessori is very famous now. The other two are developed by locals. I heard a lot of good things about these 3 systems but it actually depends on how it is being implemented.
• Years of experience
• Teacher:student ratio
• Fees: There are so many types of fees (monthly fee, book fees, material fees, insurance, registration, uniform, bed rental, concert and so many more).
  

Before we found a suitable daycare, we have already informed the current one that August will be last month for Ethan. After interviewing four of them, we still could not make up our mind. Then I passed by one, which I happen to see almost everyday (only the back of the house as it's in a gated community) but never notice that it's a taska because all I could see is its purple colour external wall. By then, I was really desperate so I thought, this colourful building might be one of them. So, one fine night when we were going home, I asked hubby to turn around and check out the tiny piece of brochure on the wall at the back of this building. I was ecstatic to find out they do offer daycare service. We called them, made an appointment and interviewed the principal. Thank goodness, all our requirements are met.

This place was set up 2 years ago but the principal has more than 15 years of experience in running a kindy. She owns another kindy, which is very nearby and her mum owns a kindy too. Other things I found out are:

• They are using the Montessori system. The principal is one of the teachers too.
  
• Classrooms are fairly big compared to the other centres.
  
• Teacher:student ratio for Ethan's group is around 1: 6-8 (I can't remember clearly).
  
• Only 7 students stay there after class, including Ethan.
  
• After class, they will take their shower and lunch and at around 1.30 p.m., they will take their nap in a separate room. This is the only place where there is a separate room for the kids to nap. What the rest do is they will clear up the tables and chairs in the classroom and lay the stacking bed/mattress on the floor for the kids to sleep.
• They allow me to send Ethan at 7.40 a.m and I can pick him up before 7p.m, which I won't. The latest I will pick him up is 6.30p.m. but normally it's 5.30p.m.
• Location is perfect as it's less than 5 minutes drive from our place.
• Their fees are the cheapest compared to the rest we interviewed. The monthly fee is only RM500, not inclusive of other fees but not much.
  

I really hope that we have made a right choice this time and pray hard that they will at least maintain the current standard. I don't fancy another round of surveys for daycare.

Fed Up!!

2 years, 3 months & 4 days old.....

After weeks and months of consideration, we have decided to send Ethan to a new pre-school + daycare starting September 08. The condition at the current daycare is deteriorating fast and become almost unbearable to me. The last straw was when I caught them lying. I called to find out how was Ethan because he just recovered from Chicken Pox. The maid at the centre told me both bosses were not around. That was almost 11 a.m. in the morning. I really really hate this and it happened many many times already. They just leave the kids with the maid. Even though the maids have experience in taking care of the children, they can't just leave everything to the maids. What happened if there is an emergency??? The situation got worse when the number of maids getting less and less to the point now where one maid is taking care of around 8-10 kids!!!

So I called one of the lady bosses on her mobile. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hi....
Lady Boss: Hi, how is Ethan?
Me: I thought I should be asking you? (I asked jokingly but inside already boiling)
Lady Boss: No lar.....I ask how is he when he had Chicken Pox?
Me: He's ok...blablabla..........I called the centre earlier to find out how is he coz he was crying when I left.....
Lady Boss: No answer ar?
Me: Yeah...
Lady Boss: Yeah lar, sometimes they are at the back and the phone is in front, so they can't hear the phone ringing.
Me: Actually, I spoke to L and she said both you and A (another lady boss) also not around and there is not enough staff around. I'm worried lar
Lady Boss: Ooh.......... (then she changed the topic)

From then on, my trust on them vanished in the thin air. The more I dig, the more lies I discovered. At the same time, I went to look for new taska (preschool+ daycare) and we already informed them that August will be last month for Ethan. That time, we already found two taska, which are ok but have not decided on which one. Whatever it is, Ethan is leaving. That's for sure.

Just barely a week after we told them that Ethan is leaving, he got HFMD again!!!! That's one month after he got Chicken Pox. Can you see how FRUSTRATED I was?? Two days before Ethan got it, I overheard a mother telling a maid there that her son had HFMD. When I asked them, they lied about it and denied it. Remember the maid who said 'The doctors don't know anything'? She said that kid got virus, not HFMD!! I asked what virus, she cannot answer me. She said 'You know, virus like Chicken Pox can cause something to hand and mouth also.' Mind you that kid already got chicken pox about the same time Ethan got it and he was there throughout the time he was sick (except Sunday lar). How I got to know? My friend's baby is there and she had spoken to the mother. By the way, her baby is leaving also. She's as frustrated as I am.

So what the heck was maid talking about?? I just ignored her. No point talking to her. After Ethan got it, a few other kids also kena and the centre was closed for 4 days. They put all the blame on Ethan and told the other mothers my son got HFMD first. Nevermind lar, he's leaving soon. I just have to tahan for another 3 days.

Things They Pick Up From TV

2 years, 2 months, 2 weeks & 6 days old.....

When Ethan was down with chicken pox, I took leave to stay at home with him. When I had to cook and do some house chores, I relied on the tv to entertain him. If not, he will stick to me like a koala bear. I can't even go to the toilet without him crying outside the bathroom, as if I'll disappear behind the door and never return.

Apart from tv, I tried to do different activities with him like drawing, teaching him shapes, reading and doing puzzles but at times, I sensed that he's bored and he threw a lot of tantrums. I always say I wanted to be a SAHM but I already felt so lost after staying at home with him for four days. Probably all I need is time to adjust.

During that few days at home, I also introduced him to Hi-5 coz I got so sick with all the Barney, Teletubbies, etc. etc. We got the Hi-5 CDs from Judy (thanks again) many months ago but he didn't like it then. This round, he's totally addicted to it. Since he already know how to load the cd and press the play button, I cannot stop him from playing it over and over again. The only way I can switch the tv programme or switch off the tv is to distract him with shower or playing with him (but this does not work all the time).

All this while, I only thought he will pick up words from watching all these shows but recently he's also fast in picking up some actions. The obvious one is playing guitar. He saw a guy in Hi-5 playing a guitar while singing, he also asked for his daddy's good old guitar (since our courting days) and did the same. He does it everytime when the scene is showing on the tv. When the scene is over, he will dump the guitar. As the guitar is too big for him, Daddy was worried that it might hurt him so he bought a small guitar just for the little one. It was actually meant for display but it's the smallest we could find in the guitar shop. The damage: RM60.

I don't know what else he will pick up from the tv but from now on, I guess we have to be more carefull and selective with tv shows. Sometimes, when a thing appears to be harmless to us might cause undesirable actions from our kids. Hubby once told me that his nephew who was around 3 years old (when the incident happened) spat on a kid at a playground. The parents were of course unhappy with that and also wondered where he learn that as nobody taught him so and nobody at home ever did that. They finally figured out that he picked it up from 'Titanic'. Remember the scene where the hero taught the heroin how to spit on board the ship? Amazing ler......

Here's a clip on Ethan singing 'Tingkle Tingkle Eeetle Tar' (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) while stroking the guitar.

5 Years & Still Counting

It's our 5th Anniversary (R.O.M) today. We met eleven years ago when I was still in my first year doing a degree at a local University. He was in his 2nd year, same course but different major. The place we met? In the forest coz we were camping. The camp was part of our course. Good ler.....Just complete your 2-week camp and pass your practical training for that semester. I must say that course was and perhaps is still the most exciting and fun course around in Malaysia. Unfortunately, work prospect is not good. That's why I'm stuck in the same company for 8 years. That is another story....Now, where was I..........Ahaaa........the visits......We got to visit and see so many places. Every now and then were trips. My friends doing other courses were so jealous with me. The things we were supposed to see were not exciting (sorry to say that) but the journey and interaction between course mates were memorable.

Those were the days. I'm still yearning for those carefree, live-free and eat-free days (Expenses all born by parents mar). Now, everything also 'tanggung sendiri'.

Our relationship went through difficult times too. Both our parents were not too happy with our relationship coz different culture mar. Then the financial difficulties. Living under one roof also another story. We have to adjust to the different preferences. We still argue on the toilet seat sometimes - should it be up or down? That's a minor thing but can be irritating. But I guess these are all part and parcels of a marriage. Argument is one way of communication too, right?

We struggled and managed to pull through and things have settled down quite a bit now. We have a wonderful son. What more can I ask for?

Errrr.......perhaps another holiday?????

Chicken Pox: Update

2 years, 2 months & 1 week old.....

When I wrote the last post, Ethan has actually recovered from Chicken Pox. The blisters had dried up. He was as active as usual. Thanks to all the mummies who dropped by this blog and gave your well wishes.

Although Ethan is vaccinated for Chicken Pox, I know there are chances that he will still be infected. I did some searching on the net and I found this from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to share with you all:

While no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing disease, the chickenpox vaccine is very effective: about 8 to 9 of every 10 people who are vaccinated are completely protected from chickenpox. In addition, the vaccine almost always prevents against severe disease. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, it is usually a very mild case lasting only a few days and involving fewer skin lesions (usually less than 50), mild or no fever, and few other symptoms.

While blog hopping, I also read in other mummies' blogs about the problem of feeding medicine to their children. I'm glad that I don't have to go through this. With the frequency of Ethan falling sick, I think I'll go nuts if I have to force feed medicine to him every time he falls sick. Unlike many other children, he likes medicine (please don't let my words jinx this...pleaasseee........)

I don't know whether or not to be proud of this but I'm definitely glad that he has no problem with medicine. When comes to feeding medicine, I just have to pump the medicine into the syringe and pass it to him. He will then happily pump it into his mouth. See it to believe it...hehehe

Note: Mummy was a little slow. Ethan has almost finished pumping the medicine when the video started. He still wants to play with the syringe afterwards.

Chicken Pox

2 years & 2 months old.....

Today, Ethan is 26 months old. Instead of doing an update on his development, I'm writing a sick post, yet again. Sigh....

It was on a Thursday (17 July 2008) evening at around 5.30 p.m. when I received a call from Hubby. I was at a hotel in KL getting ready for my company's annual dinner, when hubby told me that Ethan might have chicken pox. He had red spots all around his body and they itched. He has no fever though at that time. Hubby was told that a girl at the nursery got chicken pox the day before. After some discussions on the phone, I told hubby that it's better to send him to the paed. for a check. Thank goodness he did. Ethan was running a high fever at the clinic. The paed. could not confirm what it was because:

1. If it's chicken pox, Ethan should have infected from someone at the daycare two weeks earlier. It couldn't be the girl who got it the day before.
2. The red spots are scarce and not watery.

The paed. prescribed fever medicine and calamine lotion for Ethan and advised us to monitor his condition first. If more spots come out the day after, it should be chicken pox. The fever subsided after the medication until the next morning and it was a mild one. I also noticed more red spots on his body the day after, especially four blisters on Ethan's tongue. That got me worried........reeaaaalllly worried. What if it's not chicken pox but HFMD!! Both cause red watery spots on the body, although the spots of HFMD are more concentrated on the mouth, hands and legs, they do spread to other body parts. Ethan already got it twice, I dread to think on the 3rd time.

I spoke to the daycare again and they told me a boy got it two weeks earlier. Yaikkk!!.....how could they missed this piece of important info the day before. We went back to the clinic and told the paed. what we knew. After checking on Ethan again, he confirmed it's chicken pox! I'm kind of relieved, that it's not HFMD. The paed. said chicken pox will also cause blisters on the tongue. We got another set of medication: some pills for chicken pox (to let it heal faster) and a cream for the blisters on his tongue.

Overall, Ethan was active as usual even though his appetite was not very good. As predicted by the paed., the blisters dried up on the fourth day (Monday) and it's not contagious anymore at that time. Some information I gathered on chicken pox and HFMD:

1. For chicken pox, it's contagious at the beginning when the symptoms started until the blisters dry up. When I told this to one of the carer at the daycare, she said 'The doctors don't know anything' cause she believed what I used to believe (that it's contagious when the blisters dried up). I was speechless after hearing what she said.
2. The blisters can spread to tongue. In the case of HFMD, blisters can also spread to tongue and throat area. The only difference I noticed is the blisters for HFMD are more concentrated on mouth, hands and legs.
3. They are active as usual unlike HFMD, in which case they are more lethargic.
4. Fever subsided fairly quickly compared to HFMD.
5. Itchy rashes/blisters in the case of chicken pox.
6. Food wise, I avoided seafood (I fed him grouper though), chicken and egg on those few days until the blisters dried up. No scientific proof on this but no harm doing it, at least for the first few days. According to Chinese, more food to be avoided but I could not remember what else and for how long also.
   

Potty Training: Part 3

2 years, 1 month, 2 weeks & 3 days old.....

The potty training was put on hold after the previous attempts failed. The method I used was a total failure. It gave Ethan the wrong signal. He associates potty to playing water. I can't remember exactly when I stopped training him. The two potties were lying there ever since.

4 July 2008 (Saturday)
While me and sis were at yoga class, mum took care of Ethan and my niece. She later told me that she took off his diaper and told him to tell 'poh poh' when he needs to 'shee shee' (pee). He didn't wet his pants in the first 30 minutes. Then, mum wanted to bathe him so she stripped him naked and asked him to pee first. He did it!! which means he can control his bladder quite well now and he can understand it when we ask him to pee.

5 July 2008 (Sunday)
I've decided to restart the potty training. So on Sunday morning, I followed the same method that mum used. I took off his diaper and put his pants back on. Hubby asked why? I said it's time to train him. He has poo-ed the night before so it's very safe to do it early in the morning. The first 30 minutes went by just fine. I asked him every 15 minutes if he wants to pee and he said 'don't want'. Then we bathe him and he peed before and after shower. We let him diaperless after shower too.

He was playing in the living area while hubby and myself were getting ready in the room. We wanted to go out to the mall. We got changed and it's time to change the little one. It was barely 20 minutes after the shower. As I walked out of our room, I found Ethan standing still outside the room, staring at me. Then, I saw little brown dropping on the floor. My eyes followed the trail. As my sights went further down the trail, my CURIOSITY was killed by HORROR!!! THERE'S A PILE OF POO ON THE FLOOR!!!!!!!

I think I screamed after that. Yeah.........I must have screamed. Otherwise hubby won't come out and asked what happened. I told him "You see lar". He saw it and was stunned too. The three of us didn't move an inch but just looking at each other especially Ethan who hasn't move ever since he saw me. He looked so blur.

I wasn't angry at all that moment. Just felt like crying. Hubby asked me "What to do now?" and I told him instantly "You clean Ethan and I'll clean the floor". After all, it's my 'brilliant idea' to start the whole thing, so I should be cleaning up the mess too. He took off his pair of jeans and scooped Ethan up the floor. I grabbed the wet tissue and started the tedious process while holding my breath. I mopped the floor too. Geeeeeezzzz..........already sweating before we step out of the house.

6 July 2008 (Monday)
Still very determined to continue with potty training, I let Ethan go diaperless in the evening after shower. I asked him "Ethan, you want to shee shee?" 15 minutes after that and he said "want ar" and looked delighted too. I don't know why he looked delighted but quickly took out his potty and took off his pants. He peed for the first time in the potty after 3 days!! I felt some great sense of achievement after that and proud too.

After finished, he insisted of holding the potty and said "thow" (throw). I was worried that he'll spill the content of the potty. He was very persistent so I let him carry the potty to the bathroom. I just helped him to carry the potty and guided him to the right direction. I didn't tell him anything but, he emptied the potty on the W.C. by himself. Hmmmmm.........how he knows about it??? Could be the daycare but I haven't ask.

I repeated the same question every 15 minutes and he will pee in it without fail. He seems to be enjoying the process of peeing and emptying the potty. By 8.30 p.m., I got tired of cleaning his potty and changed him into PJ and put on his diaper. Phew!!!!! No accident.

7 July 2008 (Tuesday)
We repeated the same thing but this time, Daddy helped too. He wet his pants once but I still considered it a good start to a veeeeery looooooong process.

Disciplining a Drama King

2 years, 1 month, 1 week & 5 days old.....

When he misbehaves, we always have to resort to different ways to correct him. It normally starts with explanation as to why he cannot do it. Sometimes he listens to us and stop doing it but most often than not he will give us a stern 'NO!!' even though we told him in a nice way. When we asked him to say sorry, his answer is always 'NO SORREEEEEE!!'. I will ask him repeatedly until he says sorry. My last resort is to 'sayang' him first and ask again. Normally, when the situation soften he will say sorry. Very ego ler.....

Last Thursday, he was feeding himself on the highchair at home. After he got bored of that, he started to play with the rice. We told him to stop playing with the rice, at first nicely but when he chose to ignore us after repeated advices, we finally gave him a stern warning. The result......

He didn't cry out loud, just biting his upper lips, with tears rolling down. We ignored him totally, trying not to fall in to his latest trick. Both hubby and me giggled at certain points but tried to control ourselves. After about 5 minutes, he returned to his usual self again.

Bitten By A Girl

2 years, 1 month, 1 week & 1 day old.....


The incident happened on 25 June 2008 (last Wednesday). When I picked him up at the daycare, I was immediately told that Ethan was bitten by a girl because they were fighting for toys. They showed me the teeth mark on his right arm. Gosh.. it was a very perfect teeth mark as I can see almost every tooth the girl has. I was a little dumbfounded so I didn't ask further. I hope Ethan didn't do the same thing to others.

When they lifted the sleeve to show me the mark, Ethan said 'Ethan pain pain ar' but I'm glad he didn't cry although I'm sure he did when it happened. I'm so proud of him for being such a tough boy. He said the same thing to hubby when we got home but when I took photos of the mark, he said 'no more pain pain'. Hmmmm.......I don't know why he said that. Probably he wanted to concentrate on the tv and didn't want mummy to disturb him.

*****************************

On another note, I was contemplating to change daycare for him. The main reason is I'm not too happy with the staff arrangement at the current daycare. A teacher is hired to teach and look after Ethan's group (about 9 of them). She clocks in at 8a.m. and clocks out at 5p.m. sharp. Although a teacher is hired to teach them but there is no proper education system. The maid will take over from her after she leaves. I normally fetch him at around 5.30-6 p.m. Another teacher comes twice a week (I think) to teach them art/craft. The two lady bosses supervise the whole daycare and there were a couple of times I found none of them were there. They went out to run errands leaving all the kids with the staff.

I was on a half-day leave last Friday and I made an impromptu visit to a daycare near my place. It's a Montessori-based pre-school + daycare. They accept kids from 18 months up to 6 years old, which are separated into 3 groups. The youngest group is for 2-3 years old kids and there are 12 of them at the moment. A little too big for my liking but what I like about the place is each teacher is assigned to a group and they are qualified teachers. The principal is there to supervise as well. Another two teachers come few times a week to teach art and music. There is only one maid at the centre, whose responsibilities are cleaning and house-keeping. They have proper facilities and education system. I saw a whole lot of Montessori items at the centre.

We have just paid the half-yearly fee (RM250) for materials/art work at the current daycare and to switch to the new daycare will means that the fee is burnt. We have to pay another RM250 (for art/materials) at the new place too apart from deposit and registration fee. Both places are charging almost the same fee for daycare.

To be fair to the current daycare, their service is reasonably good but I think it's time for Ethan to move on. For the same fee, he will get proper education system. I know.......I'm being kiasu here. It's just my thought and I haven't discuss this with hubby. I briefly mentioned to him about my impromptu visit and my views but there was no feedback from him.

Our Very Own Photobook

2 years, 1 month and 2 days old.....

After four months of designing, I finally managed to complete our very first photobook last Friday. I sent the file over for printing and made the payment on Friday itself. Before I sent, I called them up coz I saw on their website that they are giving free shipping to Malaysia and Singapore. Unfortunately, it's free for those who are using their latest version of software/ Mine was the old version coz I downloaded it sometime end 2007. Yeah, it took me that long to make up my mind that it's worth the money. I asked the guy if i could transfer my file to the new version of their software and he told me it's impossible. I need to redo the whole thing using the new software, which I told him no way! I'm not going to waste my four months of effort. Actually, the price difference is only about RM10 with the free shipping coz they have increased their prices.

In the end, I sent them the file and they delivered to my office on Thursday afternoon. I was so excited and satisfied with the result. The qualities of the print and papers are really good. I showed it to my colleagues and they all agreed with it.

The photobook is a present for Ethan's 2nd Birthday. I compiled his pictures from newborn up to his 2nd birthday. Designing it was not difficult as the software is user-friendly. The only downside of it is you cannot 'undo'. So, the safe way is to save the file everytime you make a change and if you are not happy with it or accidentally do something wrong, just 'refresh' the file. Pretty tedious.

Another very time consuming task is downloading all the digital scrap book images. The images/background provided in the software were very limited and I don't like them. However, they told me the new version is better now but I haven't seen them so I don't know.

I spent four months on it because I wasn't doing it all the time. When I'm dead with ideas, I left it for a few days before start working on it again. Another thing is, I practically doing book scrapping using the software. So, 40 pages, just imagine the work required.....and I'm not a 'pro-scrapper' like Nadia and Jazzmint.

A little insight to my photobook.....

The cover page.

One of the few introductory pages

My very own idea of using photo as a background
and adjusted the transparency

Month to month update

My colleague said this photo looks like
one of the Merdeka commercials