The Blue Ranger

My Breastfeeding Journey

2012-01-13T16:12:00.004+08:00

I'm glad to announce that I have successfully breastfed Jensen for 4 months 1 week & 6 days now. My target is 6 months. I have brain washed myself before I was pregnant that I HAVE to bf my baby this time. I have failed miserably in breastfeeding (bf) Ethan. I bf Ethan for slightly more than a month and that was mixed with formula. It took me more than 9 months to set the target of 6 months. Now, I'm thinking maybe, MAYBE....I can bf up to 1 year.

It was tough at first, really tough. I knew it will not be easy but still, the thought of giving up is always there. Luckily, I have the support of colleagues and friends, who are also bf. Every time I feel like giving up, I will talk to them and then I will find the courage to carry on.

The first few days were critical. First, the tiredness/trauma after child birth. Secondly, the sore nipple. Thirdly, waiting for the milk flow. Finally, the infamous quote "You don't have enough milk, the baby is hungry". I went through the first 3 hurdles without much problem but almost lose the battle because of the 4th one.

My milk flow was slow for the first 4 days. The baby was fine with it as newborn does not require much milk but as his appetite grew, my milk flow didn't catch up with it. So, he was crying all the time on the 2nd night. Hubby didn't say anything against bf, so I took that as a supportive action but when baby cried non-stop on the 2nd night he did said "I think he's hungry or he doesn't get enough milk". That was the first blow. Then, the confinement lady came the next day and upon learning that I bf and hearing baby cried, she too said "He doesn't get enough milk". My mum too said I have to mix with formula after I told her that I slept less than 3 hours in total at night. My sis too said something similar.

I don't blame them and I know they meant well BUT I need their support to make bf a success this time. I gave in after hearing all the remarks and asked hubby to buy formula. I didn't prepare any formula at home because I don't want to be tempted. Jensen was fed with 2 oz of formula on the 3rd day and 1 oz on the 4th day. Luckily my milk came on the 5th day and I only fed Jensen a total of 3 oz of formula.

That was the first round of challenge during confinement. Then, the 2nd round of challenge is when I returned to work. The issue of taking time off to pump, finding a suitable place to pump and even storing create some minor headaches. I hate it when my breast engorge and the milk leaks. It was so painful and uncomfortable. Luckily, after the routine of pumping is set, the engorgement and leaky issue were only short term. Another headache is when I need to go out for meetings or attend seminars. I have resorted to pumping in the car, with the windows all covered of course and on top of that I had a nursing cover on. The other time, I had to ask the organiser to use their secretariat room and luckily, they allowed me.

I can say by now, I'm getting quite comfortable with bf, be it at home, at work or at the malls. I'm amazed to see my baby grows with my breast milk only. Sometimes, I was like I can't believe that the milk coming from me can make my baby grow so beautifully and healthily. The feeling is really wonderful. There's no regret at all and I'm glad I made the right decision.

My stocks by the 2nd month. At the highest, I have more than
80 bottles/packs (5-8 oz each).

Jensen's First 2 Months (in pictures)

2011-11-25T15:26:00.008+08:00

Picture paints a thousand words. So, I'll just let the pictures do the talking.

Hungry-looking for milk

Favourite pass time

You'll only see his double eye lids once in a while

Full moon gift from grandma-a rabbit pendant set

Play time

Sleepy time

Chill out time

First smile captured on camera

He ain't heavy, he's my brother

Bonding time

Mummy's favourite shot

Jensen James Is Here

2011-09-13T12:06:00.005+08:00

Our little bundle of joy arrived on 31 August 2011 at 9.20am weighing 2.92 kg. My due date was 2 September but had a show in the morning of 30 August and admitted, induced at 2pm, and delivered the next morning at 9.20a.m.

Who ever said that the 2nd time around should be easier......no, it's not. In my case, the labour was longer and the pain was much much worse. I almost wanted to give up when I was 6cm dilated. With every contraction at the peak, I thought that it couldn't get worse but it just did and I was surprised a human being can go through such pain without passing out. I closed my eyes tighter and tighter with every contraction and when it was at the max, I couldn't believe that my eyes just pop open (against my will). I must have screamed too (I can't hear nor control myself at that time) so much so that I felt my throat was dry and sore after the delivery. But I remember myself crying at the peak of each contraction.

Like the 1st labour, I didn't opt for epidural, just asked for the gas and the pain killer jab. After all the drama, moaning (almost like screaming) and crying, baby Jensen arrived safely. Then, the cord snap leaving the placenta inside me. The doc had to call the anesthetist to numb my lower body so that she can retrieve the placenta by hand. I can't explain how relieved I felt after that, no more pain. Then I thought that I should have taken the epidural in the first place to save all the sweat and tears.

I felt so embarrassed after the delivery, thinking of how smooth the 1st delivery was and how well I handled that compared to this. The whole labour was like a dream to me, like I was outside my body, hearing all the conversations between the midwives, nurses, doctor and my hubby but I just couldn't respond nor control my body.

What I remembered clearly was I told the doctor "I don't want anymore babies after this".

24hrs of Contraction but It's a False Alarm

2011-08-10T10:27:00.009+08:00

Mummy is 36 weeks & 5 days preggie.....

Weird isn't it?

About one week before that episode of false alarm, I had contraction for 12 hours, which started on 28 July (34 weeks & 6 days preggie). We were watching the Malaysia vs. Singapore football match at home that evening. I started to feel the contraction at around 10pm+ and wasn't sure about that. So I observed for about 20 minutes and the pain is still coming at about 9 minutes apart. Hubby was still watching the match when I stand in front of him and told him to get the bag out from the wardrobe. He looked at me with eyes wide opened and said "baby coming out ah?" I said "I'm not sure but I feel the contraction". After taking the bag out, I started to pack the hospital bag and he continued to watch the match until finish. I told him later that it's still too early to tell but if it continues throughout the night, I need to see my gynae the next morning.

I only managed to sleep after 2am that night. So many things went round my head. Luckily, I have briefed my boss what are the outstanding things on my hand that need to be monitored. The pain was still there until the next morning at about 9 mins apart but there was no spotting and water bag is still intact. We went to see my gynae after sending Ethan to school. He did a scan on me and checked on the cervix. Baby was doing fine, weighed about 2.3 kg and his head is down but not engaged. Cervix is not dilated. He gave me a steroid jab (cannot remember the name) to strengthen the baby's lung, in case he decided to come out early. The baby is not yet full term and it's best to carry him to at least 36 weeks and his weight should be ideally above 2.5kg. The jab will also help to stabilise the contraction/womb and my situation should improve by 80% after the jab. I need to go back for the 2nd jab the next day. It was a darn painful jab in the @$$.

I was actually on leave that Friday, which I have applied 1 month ago coz I so so wanted to go to the Parenthood fair. Before going to the clinic, I told hubby over breakfast that I'm going to ask the doc if I can go to Midvalley later (he has agreed to go with me a week ago) and hubby quickly answered "you cannot go lar". I said "aiyah, let me ask first lar". Before I could say anything, my gynae already told me that after the jab, I should go home and rest, cannot go around and shopping. Wah, he can almost read my mind. So, I looked at hubby and just laughed. Darn....I'm so disappointed. Really disappointed. The contraction slowly faded away after the 2nd jab. I was given mc for 3 days (Friday, Monday & Tuesday).

The False Alarm
On 2 August (35 weeks & 4 days preggie), I had the 1st appointment with another gynae at UKMSC, where we have opted to deliver the baby. I waited for 2 months to see this gynae. Can't believe the waiting list is that long. I was so worried when I first experienced the contraction coz I was not sure if the specialist centre will accept me or not if I were really in labour before I see the gynae.

I was so relieved after the check-up. Firstly, I know I can surely be admitted there if I'm really in labour. Secondly, baby was 2.6kg with head down but not engaged. Thirdly, the hospital bag was packed. So, I can deliver anytime now without worries. I told the gynae about the contractions and the jabs I was given. She said things are under controlled and I can go back to work the next day.

That very same night, the contraction came again. We went to bed about 10pm+ and I started to feel it at about 11pm. Ethan and hubby were asleep and I didn't wake hubby up. Again, I have another sleepless night. I monitored the contraction until I dozed off at about 3am. It was 9 mins apart lasting about 5-10 seconds each. I woke up at about 6.30am. the next morning and the pain was getting stronger. I woke hubby up and told him about it but I still think it's too early to go to the hospital. I told him to go to work and I will send Ethan to school and then go to my mum's house to monitor the contraction. I will call him if there's anything.

The contraction was getting stronger and more frequent on that day, from 9 mins apart to about 5-6 mins apart in the evening. However, there was no spotting and my water bag did not break. I asked hubby to fetch Ethan after work and go to my mum's house for dinner before going to the hospital for a check. We had put the hospital bag in the car that morning. By the time we headed for the hospital at 8.30pm., the pain was quite intense. The MO checked on me and asked tonnes of questions. The CTG showed that I had contraction but not consistent. Baby's heartbeat was normal. Cervix was about 1cm dilated.

It was exactly the same scenario when I delivered Ethan 5 years ago - 12 hrs of contraction and 1cm dilation when I went to the hospital. Ethan came 3 weeks early, which makes me think this baby might come early too. After all, everyone has been telling me that the 2nd baby will come earlier than the 1st one. The only difference was that I had spotting after a few hours of contraction when I delivered Ethan. I remembered I can still walk to the ward when I was admitted last time, which means the pain was not that intense compared to this time, which I don't think I can walk to the ward.

After checking on me, the MO told me that it's too early to tell if I'm in labour. It could be Braxton Hicks contractions and I can choose to be warded or go home to wait. However, he will discuss this with my gynae first. I read many times about Braxton Hicks and all the resources said that Braxton Hicks contractions will go away after a while but mine didn't. He called my gynae, whom I just saw the day before and after discussing for a while, he handed the phone to me. I told her the contractions were getting stronger consistently from the time it started and she advised me to stay in the hospital for monitoring.

They wheeled me to the ward at around 10pm. and hubby stayed with me that night. I managed to fall asleep after 2am and throughout the night I was awaken by the pain but I gave up to check how far apart it was. I just wanted to rest as much as possible to gather energy for the labour. The nurse came and check the baby's heartbeat at 12 midnight and the CTG at 6.30am. the next morning. It showed that the baby's heartbeat was ok but the contraction was not that strong. I too felt that the contraction was further apart and slowly faded.

We waited for my gynae to come and by the time she arrived at 11am, the contraction has gone. I just didn't feel it anymore. I told her I'm confused. She said it happened and saw a few cases like that before. I can be discharged. She checked on my tummy and said the baby's head was not engaged. I felt so tired at that time, having to deal with the on-off contractions and sleepless nights. So I asked her if I can be induced but she said NO. I just have to wait.

So, here I am back to work and still pregnant.

Cherating Revisited

2011-07-18T14:25:00.013+08:00

Mummy is 33 weeks & 3 days preggie.....
Ethan is 5 years, 1 month, 3 weeks & 5 days old.....

My company organised a family day at Cherating and we stayed at the Legend Resort for 3 days/2 nights (8-10 July 2011). The first time me and hubby stayed there was in 2003, after our ROM. The timing for this trip was good as we get to escape KL. Otherwise, we will be stranded at home due to the rally.

Although I was 32 months preggie and knew it would be tiring to sit through a 3-hour journey, I was adamant to go because I want Ethan to have some fun before his little brother arrives. I don't think we will have any holidays for the next 6 months at least with an infant in tow. It was a right decision as we enjoyed the trip, especially Ethan. He participated in 2 of the games and won a chess set and I can see he truly enjoyed playing sand at the beach. Apart from that, there were a few memorable moments during the trip:

We got to hold baby turtles for the first time and releasing them to the sea.
Painting batik for the first time.
Mummy got a Tissot watch and a multi-purpose cooker for the lucky draw. Daddy was even luckier coz the watch is for men.

The only minus point about the trip is the hotel room. Some of the rooms were refurbished but most of them were run down including ours. Since we don't fork out a single sen for the trip, I don't want to complain about it lah. Will let the pictures do the talking.

Yay!!! I can see the beach, the pool and had a keropok lekor in hand.

Checking out the beach shortly after checked-in.

Mark his territory?

Happily playing sand, wet or dry, under the blazing hot sun.

Sweets he collected in one of the games.

Trying his hand at batik painting.

The finished art work (with help from daddy and mummy).

Looking at the 1-week old turtles at the sanctuary.

Highlight of the event. Everyone was so excited
to hold and release a baby turtle each.

Mummy and her 2 babies.

The watch that mummy/daddy got

The 2nd Trimester

2011-06-08T11:28:00.009+08:00

Mummy is 27 weeks & 5 days preggie.....
Ethan is 5 years, 2 weeks & 3 days old.....

Baby

Weight at 24th week: 590g

We found out it's a boy on my 16th week check-up. When I asked my gynae if we could see the gender on that day, he told me "Yes, if the baby is co-operative". Well, baby was really very co-operative on that day and showed us everything. I remembered hubby said in the car later "Another boy ah". I said "I thought you said ok to have another boy". He replied "I'm only worried about you. Having one boy already caused you 'dai geng pau' (thyroid), what more another boy now." When I asked him about baby name a few days after that, he said wait until the next check-up to confirm it's a boy. The next check-up showed it's a boy, again. I don't have to explain more on what he prefers right?

As for me, seriously, I don't know what I prefer. It's like 'Ok, I have tried a chocolate cake this time and maybe I want to try a strawberry cake the next time. But the strawberry cake is sold out the next time I wanted to buy it. Well, never mind, I know how the chocolate cake tastes like and I like it and don't mind having it again.' At the end of the day, what we really and I believe all parents hope for is a healthy and normal baby.

The gynae did a 3D scan for us during my 24th week check-up and everything seems ok. It's all that I ask for.

Mummy
The nausea and vomitting stopped at about 4 months+ and the appetite was improving fast. So fast that I gained 4.5kg between the 20th (55.5kg) and 24th (60kg) week check-ups. The nurse was shocked and the doctor was horrified. I was warned to watch my weight and diet. My gynae asked if I was having too much durian and I said only a couple of times but I really craving for sweet stuff. He told there is a high risk of baby being obese and hyperactive if I take too much sweet food. From there on, I try to control the intake of sugar and other fattening food (cakes, durian, carbonated drinks, nasi lemak, fried noodles, etc. etc.). My weight lingers around 61kg+ for the last few days and hopefully, it will not go beyond 62kg during my 28th week check-up.

Baby bump at 24th week. It's much much bigger now.

Preparation

Clothing-Checked. Got more than enough for the baby's first 2 months from my sister. Some belong to Ethan.
Baby cot-Checked. The cot that Ethan used, which was transformed into a toy storage has been cleared and cleaned.
Mattress-Bought a new latex mattress for the cot (and got my sisters to pay for it...muahahahahah).
Latex pillow-Bought a new one.
Bed sheets, cot bumper set, mosquito net-Still in storage. Need to clean it soon.
Breast pump-Checked. Got a pre-loved Avent manual set from my sis. Barely used.
Electric steam steriliser-Bought a new one (Lindam). Although I plan to breastfeed, baby will still use bottles when I return to work.
Cloth diaper-Bought 4 new sets and 1 set used by Ethan.
Napkins-Got old ones, which was barely used by Ethan and bought another 12 pieces.

There are still things that I need to buy and prepare for the baby's arrival. One major task is to prepare myself mentally to breastfeed. I failed miserably in breastfeeding Ethan. He was only breastfed for 1 month and was not even fully breastfed. This time, I want to breastfeed full time, so I'm not going to buy any formula for "just-in-case" use. If baby refuses to suck, then I'll express/pump. What I fear most is lack of sleep and sore nipple.

He is 5!

2011-05-24T12:02:00.010+08:00

5 years & 2 days old.....

Somehow, Ethan turning 5 seems to be a big milestone for me. When he was a baby, I just like to imagine how he would be when he is 5. When he is 5, I'm in my mid 30s. When he is 5, perhaps we will have another baby (yeah, baby is coming). When he is 5, how will he look, talk and behave? I got all the answers now and I think it's a great achievement for us to have survived and cherished our lives in raising Ethan for the last 5 years. The first year was the toughest, I would say, having to cope with a baby who often falls sick and without extra help from our family. Thank God, things eventually got better and we were never happier before. We are truly blessed to have him in our lives.

This year, he celebrated his birthday at school on Thursday (19 May) and with my family on Saturday (21 May). His actual birthday was actually on a Sunday. We prepared party packs for his friends and ordered a double chocolate cake. He has chosen an edible image of superman (while I preferred Madagascar) for the cake and seemed to be very satisfied with it. His friends admired it too. We got all the party packs ready on Wednesday night. Ethan was happy to help with the packing and cutting the thank you cards. I bought colour papers and printed some simple thank you cards for his friends. Since the cake has an image of a superman, I googled for some superman pictures for the card and Ethan picked the one he likes. I think we finished everything at around 11p.m. that night.

Cutting the card. He cried when I didn't let him do it at first
worried that he might ruin the card.
Well, it's his birthday, should let him take part.

Sealed the plastic bag with the card.

All ready for the birthday.

The birthday boy with his superman's cake.

When Ethan woke up the next morning, he wanted to bring the party packs to school. I told him mummy and daddy will bring that to school with his cake later on. He was unhappy and shed some crocodile tears. He is one great drama king. I know, my son is the 'kan cheong' type, very eager to distribute them to his friends. After some coaxing, he was ok. When we reached his school later that evening, he was very happy to see us, beaming from ear to ear. His friends sang happy birthday to him and one of them asked him make a wish. He refused to because I think he doesn't know how to make one...haha!! I helped to cut and distribute the cake to his friends and teachers. We then got Ethan to give the party packs to the kids. It was a simple celebration but he was very happy. That's all that matters.

On Saturday, we celebrated his birthday at Spaghetti Grill at MidValley. I have ordered orange poppy seed cupcakes from FamilyFirst and collected them the night before. When I opened up the box, Ethan was happy to see Tom&Jerry and I was very satisfied with the look of the cake too. The nice aroma of the butter just made me salivating. So tempted to eat one that very moment. Ethan likes the cake and he ate the edible image too. Weird huh. To me, the image tasted like a paper. On the restaurant, I'm ok with the food and like their pizza too but hubby was not too happy with the food. He said Chili's and Hard Rock are better.

Orange poppy seed cupcakes.

His trademark pose.

Mmmm...can't wait to eat the cake.

As for his present, we bought a white/black board with easel for Ethan. Hubby wanted to buy a bag for him because the current one was quite worn out. I thought of white board and have been searching for one with easel because I know he likes drawing. He has been using a small white board all this while and it is already dented. Sometimes I teach him maths with the white board and he enjoys it. I don't like the typical classroom type white board and finally found this at Toys"R"Us. When he first opened up the box, he said "For baby ar? Then me leh? Not good la". He thought it was for babies because of the picture on the cover that shows a small boy drawing on the board. I said it's a white board and you can draw on it...blah blah blah.....then he was happy again. He opened up the present on Thursday after coming back from school and played with it for about 3 hours that evening. It showed money well spent. Sometimes, he just played with a new toy for 30 minutes and chucked them away.

His favourite new toy.

Piano Class

2011-04-14T09:28:00.004+08:00

Ethan is 4 years, 10 months, 3 weeks & 2 days old.....

We have sent Ethan for piano class starting November last year and so far he's still attending it every very week for 30 minutes. There are so many types of enrichment classes out there but I would like him to pick up some skills and put less pressure on academic stuff.

He was ok with it in the beginning and sort of enjoyed it but lately, he's been telling us every time before going out from home that he doesn't want to go. We of course insisted that he goes and if he really doesn't want to go anymore, we asked him to tell the teacher himself. He didn't dare to do it and went ahead with the class. When I observed him in the class, he seemed to be paying attention. So after class, I asked him again if he still wants to attend, I got a 'yes' one time and a 'no' the other time. I guess for the time being, we'll just continue with it until he knows what he really wants. If he's really not interested, we will not force him and will try to find other enrichment programme. I'm thinking of swimming lessons but he's so 'kiasi', so I really don't know if he'll survive the first class or not.

Pic taken during the first class

The 1st Trimester

2011-03-14T09:03:00.003+08:00

15 weeks & 3 days preggie.....
Ethan is 4 years, 9 months, 2 weeks and 1 day old.....

We have been planning for a baby since last year and found out about the good news in January. Everyone was happy about it including Ethan. The morning sickness (or rather evening sickness) was bad but not as bad as the first pregnancy with Ethan. I can safely say that it is over now (finger-crossed). Both hubby and Ethan have been very understanding and supportive. Hubby will entertain Ethan and does most of the chores when I needed to rest. Ethan once asked me "Mummy, why you don't want to play with me?". I told him "Baby wants to sleep" and he said "Ohh" and left the room. From then on, I just have to tell him baby wants this or baby wants that, he will let me do whatever I want without fussing. I think he deserves a big present from the baby when the time comes.

About one month before I found about the pregnancy, I discovered that I have (hyperactive) thyroid. I was on medication prescribed by my GP and then my gynae referred me to a specialist for more detailed check-up/follow-up. I have to go back for check-up every 2-3 weeks. It will involve blood test to check my thyroid hormone levels and a consultation with the Endocrynologist on my condition and the dosage of PTU to take. When I first saw the specialist, I was on 6 pills a day and the dosage has been reduced to 1 pill a day now. The specialist told me that as my pregnancy progresses, my condition will improve by itself (in most cases, it do) but there will be a relapse after delivery. Whatever it is, I still have to go for check-up every 3 weeks now. Earlier on, I asked the specialist, what will be worse case scenario if the thyroid remains active? I was told high chances of miscarriage. Now that it is under control, I can put my worries aside and hope the baby is going to be healthy and normal.

Work wise, it has definitely slow down a little bit. I'm only trying to meet the deadlines of the utmost important thing. Two days before I found out I'm pregnant, I went to propose to my boss about a conference in Canada. He approved it and sent a memo up to the CEO for approval. It was then approved and I was really in a dilemma as to go or not because I was still in the early stage. After a week of consideration and a big NO NO from my gynae, I told my boss about my pregnancy and I shouldn't be travelling long-haul especially. He was very understanding and was ok with it but I still feel guilty for having to pull out and let my colleague went on her own.

Canada was out but I went to Hong Kong with my family when I was 12 weeks pregnant. Luckily, my gynae gave me a green light. Not that I will cancel the trip anyway but I will enjoy the trip more with his approval. It was really a good trip. Next is Guangzhou, a 7-day/6-night business trip that I can't say no again. Will be flying off in 2 weeks time.

My next check-up with gynae is this Friday and if we're lucky, we should be able to know the gender then. Awwwww......so excited.

He is sleeping on his own

2010-12-03T10:36:00.005+08:00

4 years, 6 months, 1 week and 4 days old.....

For the first time in his life, he slept in his own bed in his own room last night. Yay!!!!! Hope he will not change his mind after today. We have been planning to move him to his own room for a few months. To do that we have to clear up the room (which was designated for him but has been used as a guest cum store room) and install a wardrobe in our room. We ordered a wardrobe, which will be installed mid of this month. Before the installation, we have to do some wiring in our room and got it done yesterday. Our room was all messed up and had to clean in up after work. After some discussion, we decided to move his bed to the his room and decorate it later. In the mean time, he will sleep with us on the mattress.

After moving his bed, he said he wanted to sleep in his own room. Me and hubby were like "Yeah right". The first few times we told him that he will be sleeping in his own room, he cried. Several times after that, he didn't cry but got mad every time the topic was brought up. So, how are we supposed to believe him when he just said 'OK'. Nevermind, we proceeded to move his pillows and blanket there and prepared to move them back to our room again.

I went to sleep first and hubby made milk for him. I dozed off and when hubby went to bed later, I asked him where is Ethan. He said sleeping in his own room. Phew!!! It just happened like that. Unbelievable. I expected more dramas.

He did woke up two times last night and went to look for us. Not because that he's scared but he had diarrhoea. I just called the school and he's ok so far.

Hope he will continue to like his room. "Finger-crossed"

Hospitalised

2010-11-08T14:41:00.008+08:00

4 years, 5 months, 2 weeks & 3 days old.....

It happened two weeks ago and I found out recently from some Mummies' blogs that quite many kids were admitted for high fever.

24 October 2010 (Sunday)
Nothing special happened on that day. We went to church in the morning and Ethan attended Sunday school. After church, we went for lunch and did some grocery shopping. Around 8p.m. that night, hubby realised that his body was warm. Checked his temperature and it was in the range of 38-39C. Gave him paracetamol and kept on sponging him and checked his temperature like every 5 minutes. After a while, the temperature went down to between 37-38C but shot up again to around 39C before 12 p.m. Gave him another round of medication and continued to sponge him until his temperature went down to around 38C. I think I slept at around 1p.m. and woke up every 1 hour to check his temperature.

25 October (Monday)
At 3 a.m. in the morning, his temperature shot up to 39C++ again. It was less than 4 hour after the last medication, so I inserted suppository (voren). He was ok after that until 8.am. and started to develop fever again. I gave him paracetamol again and this time, he complained about the pain in his mouth. I quickly check his mouth and saw ulcers and red spots. I checked his hands and legs but didn't see any spots. In my heart, I suspected it's HFMD because of the ulcers.

Before I saw the ulcers, I thought it was normal fever. We have arranged that hubby will bring Ethan to the clinic and I will go to work. I was very reluctant to leave him at home but thought that I have to go to work for some stupid reason. I thought I want to avoid from taking EL because the boss is very...very sensitive about his staff taking EL/MC especially when he is not around. He was on 3 weeks holiday and that was the very first day of his leave. When I saw that ulcers, I knew I had to call in and take EL.

We brought him to the clinic and the paed confirmed that it was HFMD after some physical examination. Because it is a viral infection, antibiotic is of no help and thus not prescribed. He was given Brufen (Ibuprofen), E-zyme for his throat/ulcers and an oral medication to numb his mouth before meal. I was warned that the fever will come on and off for 3-4 days.

As predicted, his fever didn't subside the whole day even after medication. It shot up to more than 39C again in the afternoon and another dose of suppository was given. He was ok after that until the temperature shot up to 39C again at 9p.m. Gave him Brufen again and sponged him but the temperature didn't go down at all. I check his temp like every 5 minutes and every time I checked, it went up. When the reading was 40C, I panicked. Never before in his life, the fever was so high. I quickly inserted another voren but the reading was still going up until it reached 40.6C.

At that point, we decided to bring him to the hospital. When we reached there, the temp went down a little bit but the doctor said it's still high and asked us to take off all his clothing and sponge him. We were given the choice to monitor him at home or admit him. We decided to admit him because it will be safer that way. He was put on drip but surprisingly he didn't cry when they poke his hand. I was so prepared for the scene where he will protest and cry like mad. Maybe he was too tired.

At the A&E

26 October 2010 (Tuesday)
The paed came in the morning to check on Ethan. He said that the blood test showed it was bacterial infection and not viral infection, i.e. not HFMD. So, antibiotic is needed. IF........IF the paed (whom we saw on Monday) had a different diagnosis, and if antibiotic was prescribed, MAYBE Ethan will not have to be admitted.

The paed wanted to check on Ethan's mouth but he just woke up (it was 7.30 a.m. and we slept at 1.30a.m.) so he was a bit blur and not sure how to stick his tongue out properly. I was upset that the paed didn't slow talk him but used his force instead to open Ethan's mouth with the stick tingy and caused Ethan to vomit and cried so badly. My heart ached so much looking at him in that condition. After that, Ethan said to me he doesn't want the boy doctor, he wants the girl doctor.

Heart ache when I saw the ulcers. I managed to coax him
to open his mouth wide enough to take a pic.

Went to the playroom with the IV attached.

Played with one hand

27 October 2010 (Wednesday)
The paed tried to check his mouth/throat again the next morning. He cried the moment the doctor took out the torch light and the little wooden stick. I was hugging him and tried to persuade him to open his mouth. At the same time this doctor forced him with the stick AGAIN and somehow Ethan's mouth was bleeding. Ethan was inconsolable and reluctant to open his mouth even a tiny bit. The doctor said he didn't used much force and shouldn't have hurt him. @#^$^%&^&*

He was off the drip in the morning but the fever returned one hour after that. Due to this, the doctor said he's not stable yet and need to stay for another day for observation.

Watching tv almost all day long. When he gets bored,
he played with the bed, adjusting it up and down.

28 October 2010 (Thursday)
No fever for the past 24 hours and he was allowed to go home that afternoon. After 3 nights stay at the hospital, my silly boy said he's still hot (while touching his forehead) and therefore cannot go to school and has to stay at the hospital wor. Anyway, he only returned to school the following Monday.

Important notes:

The nurse at the hospital told me that Brufen/Ibuprofen (oral medication) and Voren (suppository) are the same type of medicine. So, if Brufen does not work, so is Voren. We should give paracetamol and voren instead.
Ulcers + high fever do not necessarily mean HFMD. It could be bacterial infection and antibiotic should be given.

Sunday School (Updated with photos)

2010-09-28T08:42:00.004+08:00

4 years, 4 months & 6 days old.....

We have started going to church again since the last two weeks (started on 19 September 2010). Actually, me and hubby have been talking about it for a few months but never made it because of the timing. I know, it shouldn't be an excuse. The service at the church we used to attend starts at 8.30 a.m. It means that we have to wake up at 7.30a.m. on a Sunday morning. It never happened until one day when I was talking a man on the phone about work. I knew him from work but didn't know that he was a Christian. I called him about work and soon the conversation shifted to family, raising kids, etc. Then he said that we should guide our children properly so that they would turn out well and not ended up as criminals or something bad. He asked me if I'm a Christian, I said yes. Then he asked if I go to church, I said 'no'.....shame on me. He said I should bring my son to church and attend Sunday school so that he will learn about God and a person who fears God will be a better person in life....'ting ting ting'....those words really hit me hard.

Instead of watching cartoon at home on a Sunday morning, now we bring Ethan to church. We found out about another Church with a service at 10.30 a.m. Perfect!! The first time we were there, Ethan stayed with us and he was restless but overall he behaved rather well. The second time, I asked around and we were encouraged to send Ethan to the Sunday school, which starts and ends at the same time as the mass. I was a bit worried that Ethan cannot adjust to the new environment but they told me that he will join the age 3-5 group so I was a bit relieved. When the session starts, all the kids will join in. There are around 20 of them and Ethan refused to let me go. I stayed with him until the break-up session. I think by then he was familiarised with the new environment and he saw only kids about his age in the same room. I asked him if I can join Daddy and he said ok. Phew! The room is separated by glass doors from the mass, so he can see me clearly. They also did some colouring after that.

Overall, he was happy after attending the Sunday school and he said he wants to go again and again and again :-) I told him he has to go to school 5 times, then go to Ah Po's (grandmother's) house 1 time and go to church 1 time. As usual, he asked "WHY?" I told him the Church is only opened on Sunday. He said "Oooh"

The glass doors that separate the Sunday school and the mass.
We always seat at the last row so that Ethan can see us.

Eating some snacks after the craft session.

Redang, 8-11 August 2010

2010-09-13T14:12:00.049+08:00

The three of us went to Redang with my sister's family for a short break. It's always good to be away from work and KL once in a while to recharge and refresh ourselves. It was my third time there but the first for both hubby and Ethan. At first I thought 3 nights are more than enough since there are nothing much we can do there other than swimming. How wrong was I. Wish I could stay longer.

Practically, what we did everyday was eat, swim and sleep. Ethan was of course couldn't be happier when we told him that we are going to the hotel. To him, hotel means swimming pool with a slide and he has been asking everyday (practically) to go to the hotel ever since we brought him to the Palace of the Golden Horses for a 2-night stay, like 6 months ago. Everyday, when I pick him up from school, he will say "Mummy, I want to go to hotel." The frequency was daily and went down slowly to once a week 3-4 months later. Luckily, he didn't ask for hotel again after the Redang trip. Probably he was so scared with the sea now.

I enjoyed the beautiful beach and the crystal clear water but not under the blazing hot sun. I will definitely not soak in the hot sun like the 'mat salleh'. I saw a few of them turned golden brown. When I was younger, I like the sea a lot. Now, sun = pigmentation....therefore I avoid it as much as possible.

The first day we arrived, we went straight to the beach after dumping our luggage in the room. It was still hot at around 5p.m. but we couldn't be bothered. Yeah, not even me. I brought Ethan to the sea and he was a bit scared with the waves. After warming up, he was better and can enjoy playing with the waves but still he preferred to play with the sand.

The second day, we went out for snorkelling. He was a bit tensed during the boat ride and he said "Mummy, come I hold your hand, later you fall down." Then, when we arrived at the snorkelling spot, he refused to go down. I asked hubby to go first while I waited with Ethan on the boat hoping that he will be ok after seeing everybody in the sea. Actually, hubby was not feeling well but I think no one would want to miss the chance. So, off he went. After hubby came up, I brought Ethan down. He held on to me very tightly until I couldn't breath. The moment I push away from the boat, he started to shout "THE BOAT....THE BOAT". Everyone in the vicinity could hear him and I was so 'paiseh' so I quickly brought him up the boat. After that, no amount of talking could make him touch the water. He even said that he's scared that the fishes will bite him. At one point, he was so angry that I talked to him non-stop about going down again, he scratched my hand. Ok, so I stop talking and took turn with hubby to snorkel. We left the place after 1 hour. Ethan was the happiest person the moment I said we're going back to the hotel.

Since the snorkelling trip, he refused to go to the beach anymore. Everytime I brought him to the sea, he swill scream "HELP ME". He preferred to play sand and swim in the pool. Overall, it was a very relaxing trip and I hope we can go back there every 2 years.

1st day's Photos:

The flight was delayed for 1 hour. So glad that it took off.

Time for landing

Paid for RM5/pax for the conservation programme.

Welcoming drinks at the reception.

Dumped everything in the room and headed straight to the beach.

2nd day's photos:

We had a little visitor at the balcony.

Waited at the deck for the snorkelling trip.

View from the deck.

Choosing their mask.

Looking tense when we arrived at the snorkelling spot.

Cloudy day and I like it.

He sat there for more than half an hour looking like this after a short dip.

The colourful fishes we saw from the boat.

Finally, he can smile when we headed back to the hotel.

Approaching the hotel.

Crystal clear water.

White sandy beach.

Ethan loves to play with the sand.

Had a blasting good time.

Another sand playing session.

3rd day's photos:

Took this pic while hiding under the shade. Sis went kayaking
with family and Ethan was playing sand, again.

Snacking in between swimming sessions.

Lovely beach.

Fish everywhere.

A sunset view.

Feeding the fishes. The feed is sold at the diving centre.

Didn't get to ride this. Just posing.

4 day's photos:

Chilling out in the room.

Last dip in the tub. No time to swim in the pool.

Attacked by the sand flies.

The big wooden swing.

A tanned look. Waiting for the lunch before leaving the hotel.

Waiting for our flight home. It was very hot & humid.

Bye Bye Redang.

Some scenery shots:

Electrical Thermos Pot-Is It SAFE?

2010-07-28T11:56:00.007+08:00

For the sake of convenience, I bought a Kenwood electrical thermos pot around 3 years ago. It has been serving us faithfully all these years and I only switched it off occasionally for cleaning. Otherwise, it's running 24/7. One thing I like about this thermos is that it doesn't reheat automatically. It keeps the water warm and only boils when water is added into it.

Few months back, I noticed a screw on the cover came off. It fell into the pot but the screw cap was trapped inside the cover. I left it as it is because it is still functioning like normal. Then, I noticed sometimes there were white particles inside the pot. Everytime I spotted them, I scooped them up but in my heart I felt uncomfortable because I don't know how much of the thing has been dissolved in the water and how much of it has gone into our body.

Two days back, I told hubby about it and I showed him what I scooped up from the thermos. We then decided to buy a conventional flask/thermos instead of an electrical one. The next evening, while I was trying to take the thermos by its handle, this happened..

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The whole cover came off.

See the missing screw and the plastic chipping off?

The white particles

So, I wonder is it safe to use the same type of thermos again? My hubby said he wants the same thing because it is very convenient. We still need to make milk for Ethan (when he wakes up in the morning and before he sleeps at night) and hubby likes to drink chinese tea after dinner.

Reading in Mandarin

2010-06-25T15:25:00.005+08:00

49 months & 3 days old.....

Ethan can read in Mandarin pretty good now. He brought back a book from school one day (that was few months back) and started to read to me. I was very very surprised that he can read in Mandarin. Although he understands Mandarin, he speak very little Mandarin. At that time, I wasn't sure if he memorise the words or he can really recognise them. So, I write some of the words (the simple ones) on a piece of paper and asked him what they were. I'm happy that he can tell me the words. It means he can recognise them.

I'm so glad he picks up Mandarin quite well at school now as I intend to send him to a Chinese primary school later. I always got scolding from people for not teaching him. How to teach lar when my Mandarin is so lousy and I don't even know some of the words in his books. Yesterday, he brought a new book (same series with the first one he brought back but this one is higher level). I quickly took a video of that so that I can post it here. I took a video too the first time he read in Mandarin but I couldn't find it now :-(

His Art Book

2010-06-07T15:23:00.008+08:00

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

Ethan likes to colour and draw. I normally buy him colouring books and for his drawing, I gave him a diary instead of papers because I don't know where to keep the loose sheets. He also uses the diary as a sticker and stamping book.

He likes to draw some simple shapes on the book and colour them. Sometimes, he will ask us to draw things like sun, moon, car, etc. Last Sunday, while I was watching tv, he found a pen from our working table and got so excited about it. We don't normally give him pen coz he has 3 or 4 sets of colour pencils and crayons. He immediately went to look for his art book and started drawing.

I continued watching tv and then, he said to me excitedly "Mummy look, Ultraman." I said "Where?". He said "Neh....(pointing to his drawing)"..........

This is his Ultraman.

I was so surprised to see the Ultraman as it was the first time he drew something so complete. After that he asked me what else to draw so I said "monster". This is what he drew.

The monster with sharp teeth

The book has become his art book now and I think I will keep it for him to see when he grows up.

Ethan and his masterpiece

His 4th Birthday

2010-05-27T10:48:00.021+08:00

21 May (Friday)

As requested, we ordered a 'big' Ben-10 cake for his little party at school on Friday (21 May). I was outstation so hubby went to collect the cake on Thursday evening. I asked him to MMS the pic to me. When I looked at the pic, I found that the Ben10 print was a little too small from what I have expected but when I asked Ethan, he said he likes it and was very excited about his little party at school. So, it's ok lor.

Initially, I planned to take leave and go to the school with the cake and to take some photos. Unfortunately, I had to go to Penang for 3 days so I asked hubby how? I said maybe we can give our camera to the teacher and ask the teacher to help us to take some photos. Man being man, he said no need to take photo lar. So, no photos lor. Luckily I asked him to MMS the photo me, otherwise, I don't even know how the cake looks like.

The only shot of the cake.

I arrived home on Friday evening. Hubby and Ethan picked me up at the KLIA. Ethan was so happy to see me and the moment he saw me, he called out "MUMMY" and ran to me and gave me a big hug. I asked him "Do you miss me?" he said "I miss you". I'm not sure if he understand what that means but I don't care. He said what I wanted to hear...haha!! I asked him about the party again, he said he was happy and his friend sang birthday song to him and his friends and teacher ate his birthday cake.

22 May (Saturday) - The Actual Day

The next morning, we woke up around 9+. We planned to go out and look for his bicycle in the afternoon and later go out for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Mum called at around 11a.m. and said she wanted to join us with my youngest sis and my niece (her mum, i.e. my another sis is in confinement). Initially, mum said they can't join us so I thought only the 3 of us will celebrate his birthday. Since they are joining us, we changed the plan to celebrate his birthday during lunch and buy his bicycle later. We went to the Curve and had lunch at The Garden. We went to the place to celebrate new year and I like the ambience, decor and food there. Ethan liked their watercress soup and finished almost the whole bowl when we were there the first time. I ordered the same soup but he doesn't like it that much on that day. He was having a bit of my Aglio Olio Shrimp Spaghetti (my new favourite) and pineapple fried rice.

After lunch, we did some shopping and cake hunting there. I wanted to buy cup cakes but couldn't find any. Saw the shop that is selling jelly cake (the place we bought a cake for his 2nd birthday) but the ready made ones are not interesting. In the end, we got a vanilla ice-cream chocolate cake (paid by sis) from Baskin Robbins for him. Actually, it was more for me coz I'm very into ice-cream lately :-P. We went home and had a little cake-cutting session. I really enjoyed the cake but not sure about the others...hehe. After that, we rested for a while and went out for a simple dinner.

He ran to the rides and happily climbed on
it without asking for permission.

The 2 kiddos

The yummy ice-cream cake

23 May (Sunday)

I bought him a Spiderman bag few weeks ago for his birthday. We saw this bag and he wanted me to buy for him. I told him, I will buy it later. After some shopping, I have forgotten about it and when we were on the way back, he asked for it again. So, I told him to wait in the car with Daddy and I will buy the bag. I bought it, hid it in the car boot and told him the stall has closed. He was so disappointed and shed some tears, knowing that he didn't get the bag. He has asked for the same bag a few times after that and I gave some excuses that we can't get it.

I wrapped it up nicely and intend to give it to him after we cut his birthday cake on Saturday. Somehow, we were too exhausted and forgotten about it. So, I gave it to him on Sunday morning and when he opened up the gift, he was soooo happy to see the bag. He said he wanted to bring the bag to school. He also insisted to carry the bag to attend Darren's birthday party. We just let him lar.

His present from Mummy

After opening up the present, we headed to the party venue and met up with Darren's and Terry's family. The boys were having fun. They couldn't remember each other of course but they warmed up pretty fast and were playing together happily. The lucky boy also received presents from Darren's and Terry's mummies. Thanks to these 2 lovely ladies.

More presents. He wanted to open
them immediately.

The birthday boy and the cake admirer

Enjoying the cake

A rare shot of the 3 boys together

After the birthday party, we went to buy his bicycle. It's a birthday present from Daddy and I top it up with a helmet. Got what we want and we promised to bring him to the park to cycle in the evening. As the bike is pretty big for him, he could not cycle properly at first. His legs were barely touching the ground when he tiptoe, but after a few rounds of practice, he was cycling pretty well. He also learn how to use the brake instead of his shoes to stop the bike.

He insisted to put on the helmet even though
he was sweating badly. He said the guard will
catch him if he doesn't put it on.

The happy boy

I love this pic.

Happenings in May

2010-05-12T12:32:00.009+08:00

3 years, 11 months, 2 weeks & 6 days old.....

On Ethan:

His Birthday:
He's turning 4 next Saturday. This year, it will be the simplest celebration. It gets simpler and simpler every year. We will buy a cake for his small little party at school on Friday. He told me months ago that he wanted a "BIG....Ben-10 cake" for his birthday. I asked him "must be big? cannot buy a small one?". He said cannot, his friends do not like small cake. Kids nowadays are so demanding. I don't know how big is big and how small is small. Whatever it is, it has to be Ben-10 la. Then, the three of us will celebrate his birthday on Saturday. Mum and sis can't join coz sis just had a baby girl and mum is helping out, so no celebration for them wor. Probably just dinner with a candle blowing session and a present. We're thinking of a bicycle. I want it to be a surprise for him but don't know where to hide the bike and when to buy it. Furthermore, I have to go outstation next Wednesday to Friday. We have to figure this out.

Sleeping on his own:
We have planned to move him into his own room but every time we discussed that, he got all teary and upset. Hubby said wait until end of the year wor...

Diaperless:
Some updates from the previous posts, he is diaperless now, day and night. The first few weeks were difficult as we had to bring him to the toilet in the middle of the night. There will be 3-4 'accidents' in a week in the beginning but it reduced week by week. I think it took him around 3-4 months to be totally 'accident-free'. We still have to make sure that he has his last round of milk one hour before bed time and clear his bladder before sleep. Otherwise, we have to bring him to the toilet in the middle of the night.

Brought him to watch Toy Story I & II on 25 April 2010.
The movies lasted for 3 hours and the cinema was
freezingly cold. My fingers were all numb
after the movie ended.

A video of him doing his silly dance

On Mummy:
I have just completed the 2nd semester of my study. It has been almost a year since I "dig this big hole and jumped into it". Hopefully I can complete it by end of this year or latest by mid of next year. I presented my proposal to the examiner on 7th May and the preparation was tough. I have 3 supervisors and each of them has different opinions. I can't fulfill everything they asked me to do but just did what I thought was right. I arranged for a mock presentation on 6th May, a day before the actual day and 2 of the supervisors were present. I got shot by them left, right and centre. That made me very down. It seemed like whatever I have done was rubbish. I went home and corrected my presentation, read up whatever I need to read, went through the slides again and again and pray for the best. Still, I couldn't slept well that night as I was too nervous and worried that I couldn't answer the examiners' questions. Went to bed after 1 a.m. that night, rolled around for at least another 30 minutes and woke up at 6a.m., before the alarm went off. I arrived at the campus one hour before the presentation starts and went through the slides again in the car for another 30 minutes.

While I was going through the slides, mum called and told me sis has just delivered a baby girl by C-sec. She was overdue by a week and I was happy to hear that both mum and baby are safe. After the phone call, I went up to the meeting room and waited anxiously for the presentation to start. I was the 2nd presenter. All my 3 supervisors said they will come and they didn't turn up until the first presentation started. I tried to relax and listened to what the first presenter had to say but the more I listened the more nervous I got, so I looked away, kept my mind blank and and tried to think of other things.

My time came, so I did what I had to do. Each of us were given 30 minutes for the presentation and Q&A. The first presenter stood up during the whole presentation but I knew I had to sit down coz my legs will be wobbly. If they ask me to stand, I will tell them frankly that I will be more stable sitting down. I think I finished my presentation within 15 minutes. After countless questions, I looked at my watch and there was still 10 minutes to go. Gosh, that moment seemed like forever. The examiners asked so many questions and gave some not so important comments. There was a question, which I couldn't really answer. Thank God, one of my supervisors backed me up but in the end, the 3 of them were arguing among themselves on my research. I still think I was lucky because all of them showed their support and turned up. I noticed most of the supervisors were not there and their students had to fend for themselves.

After the presentation at 10 a.m., I had a long discussion with my supervisors. Two of them left after 1 hour and I continued with the other one until 1 p.m. I had initially plan to go for a pampering session after the presentation but my head was pounding by noon, so I decided to go home and rest. Went home to sleep and less than 15 minutes in dreamland, hubby called and woke me up. After that, I couldn't sleep anymore and decided to pick mum up and visit sis at the hospital. We were greeted by this little cutie pie....

My 'just arrived' niece

My Last 3 Trips

2010-02-02T11:26:00.041+08:00

This post is really meant for memory sake for it is so outdated- the last 3 trips my company sent me to.

Nantes, France (14-20 September 2009)
Went there to attend a conference. The journey was boring as usual but not too tiring as there was only 1 transit (KL-Amsterdam-Nantes). Nantes is a very small town but there is a nice old castle there, which reminds me of the fairy tales. There is nothing much to do there except walking around town, do some (window) shopping and simply enjoy the cool weather. I was trying to buy some souvenirs but couldn't find any souvenir shops there. Strange huh? But I bought a bag for myself.

Me and my colleague stopped by Amsterdam and visited the city for a few hours as we had a 10-hour transit time on the way back to KL. If you ever transit in Amsterdam, I recommend you to take a look at the city. You can store your luggage at the airport. The big locker can fit two big luggage and the train ticket to city centre cost less than 5 euros (if I remember it correctly). The best part is, there is a toilet with shower inside the airport. I have used it twice. It's free but they just provide the shower with hot water. You need to bring your own toiletries and towel.

Walking back to the hotel.

Told you I did a lot of window shopping.

The town centre. We hang out there eating ice-cream.

Picnic.

The entrance to the castle.

Inside a Cathedral.

River cruise at Amsterdam.

A typical building in Amsterdam.

Multi-storey parking for bicycle.

Tourists at the infamous red light district.
I saw the ladies waiting for customers. Some pretty, some not
and some are frightening.

Bordeaux, France (3-11 October 2009)
I went back to KL from Nantes on a Sunday, spent a weekend in KL and off to France again the next Saturday. So I crammed myself again in the tiny seat for 10+ hours. This time, I transited in Paris. It's crazy to walk at The Charles De Gaulle Airport. I had to walk for around 30 minutes from one terminal to the other to take a domestic flight.

Bordeaux is bigger than Nantes and there are more things to see and buy. I thought as we get closer to the year end, the weather will be colder so I brought along my thick jackets and sweater and boots. The weather forecast said the temperature would be around 15C. I was wrong and so was the forecast. It was so so hot. It's even hotter because I wore sweater and boots. The mat salleh walked around in shorts and t-shirts. I felt so stupid but it's ok coz I got myself another bag.

The street is closed every Sunday for pedestrian and some bazaar.

The Sunday market.

Spices and sauces.

Funfare and fountain.

The city train.

A hot and sunny day.

Don't know what building is this but I love the stone wall.

The Cathedral at night. We were having dinner nearby.

The place where the meeting was held.

Busy Friday afternoon at the shopping street.

The same shopping street at night.

Skelleftea, Sweden (17-23 January 2010)
This is the best trip among the three. In fact, I would say that it is the top 2 places that I will remember for a long long time to come. First will be Milan, not because of the shopping but the buildings. I just love to see the architecture and people walking around, hanging out at the sidewalk cafes, walking their dogs, etc. etc. It's just so Italian. I will remember Skelleftea for it's snow. It was my first time seeing snow and so much snow. The river was frozen and everywhere you see is white. When you are walking outside, you can just smell the snow. To me, it was really cold but to the locals, -5C is very mild weather. The third day we were there, temperature dip to -17C. I just got to know that Skelleftea has 6 months of winter!!! Wow wow wow!! I did so many new things there like walking in the snow, wearing 4 layers of clothes, riding on a snowmobile and tasted the best salmon ever. It was really a great trip.

Preview of the snow.

A view outside the conference hall. It was snowing at that time.

Another view on a brighter day. We only saw the sun for
one day throughout the 5-day stay. One thing
I learnt-the brighter the day the colder it is.

The bridge we have to cross (i.e. walk) to go back to the hotel.

It was pitch dark at 3 p.m.

On the way to the Svansele Wilderness Centre and saw
these lovely red houses. Almost all of their houses are red
and they look really nice surrounded by ice.

Moose on the loose!!

Dinner being cooked.

Dinner is ready-It's difficult to balance the potatoes on the
curved plate that is made of wood. The cutleries and
mug are made of wood too.

Moose and reindeer meat.

Great coffee and ginger bread.

Ben 10

2009-12-08T13:49:00.011+08:00

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

After the previous unhappy incident, daddy voluntarily bought 3 tickets for the Ben 10 show. I was really surprised that he is willing to spent RM49/ticket on a kid's show. The last time I got a surprise like this was more than 2 years ago when he brought us to a Valentine's dinner at a hotel. We were the only couple who brought a child along. Back to Ben 10. Well, it is not really one of Ethan's favourite show but when daddy told him that we are going to watch Ben 10, he kept asking for it non stop. He knows what is tomorrow but can't really understand that today is Wednesday and the show will be on Friday. So, we had to bear with "Daddy, I want to watch Ben 10" like 20 times a day for 3 days.

He got really excited that Friday (27 November 2009) morning. We got up at around 9 a.m., had breakfast and headed to KLCC. We reached there around 11 a.m. and walked around. Too bad the christmas deco was not up yet that time. Otherwise we can snap a few more photos. There was nothing much to do so we went for lunch and went to the convention centre around 1p.m., took some photos and waited for the show to start at 2p.m.

Ethan complaint of stomach ache right after lunch and I bought 'yu yee' oil for him at the Guardian pharmacy and gave him some chinese medicine. He was ok after that but the stomach ache bothered him until Wednesday, when we finally decided to take him to the paed. He has no diarrhoea though. Everyday when he complaint of discomfort, I gave him some chinese medicine and applied oil. He will be ok after that but the next day, the discomfort returned. His paed. said it was wind and prescribed some medicine for him. After two days, he has fully recovered.

Back to Ben 10 again. The show didn't start at 2 sharp (biasalah....we are talking about Malaysian time here) and ended at around 4.45p.m. Ethan really enjoyed the show. He paid full attention to the show especially during the fighting scenes while I was busy taking photos and videos most of the time. Hubby was enjoying looking at Ethan's expression most of the time. He must be very satisfied thinking that his money was well spent. All in all, we were all happy at the end of the day.

We went for a bite at the Burger King after that. Boy, I haven't been there for a long long time and I don't even know when did they stop the free refill for soft drink but I noticed that we can pay with Touch & Go card there. After snacking, we went for some shopping at Isetan but left empty handed. Ethan refused to sleep in his pram even it was way past his nap time. We decided to leave KLCC at 6.30p.m. and wanted to stop for dinner on our way home. Ethan was still wide awake then.

So, off we went to the car park and when hubby tried to turn on the engine, it couldn't start. Gosh, I was panicked a little. He tried a few times but still the engine refused to cooperate. Then, I saw the car park management office tel no. on the pillars and asked hubby to call them. A guard was doing his round on a bicycle and hubby asked him something. I couldn't hear what he said coz I was at the lift area with Ethan.Then he said he's going to walk to the management office. So we waited for him there for like 15 minutes before he returned on a motorbike with a management staff. They jump-start the engine and we quickly drove away. Ethan fell asleep even before we reached the car park exit. That's how exhausted he was. It was already 7p.m. by then but we decided to check out some shops to get the battery replaced. As it was a public holiday, most of the shops were closed. Luckily we found one that was still opened. We got the battery changed, went for dinner and 'sempat' stopped by a warehouse sales on the way back. I have never been to so many places before in one day. We went out at 10.30 a.m. and reached home at 9 p.m. It's a record!

Posing time

His very own silly pose

Another one.

There...he saw something..

....and dragged daddy to buy for him

The stage.

His very own seat but it is too big for him.

One of the scenes.

The show ended but he refused to leave.

Frustrated Frustrated!!!!!

2009-11-19T10:07:00.005+08:00

WARNING!: BEE, THIS IS NOT FOR YOU TO READ.

I'm so gonna explode!! I do not know what he thinks and how he manages things even after knowing him for more than a decade. Let's get to the details.

WHO?: My 'lou kong'

WHY?:
He said he might need to go to Jakarta like few weeks ago. So, I kept on telling him go to apply passport earlier coz he is not born in P.M'sia. No, he did not do anything about it. In the meantime, he kept on saying he might need to go..he might need to go.

On Tuesday, he said "I might need to go this Friday". Still refused to apply passport and he even told me that his colleague said can get within one day. I told him a MILLION TIMES that he's not born here, so need longer time to get a passport.

Then the day after, which was yesterday, I saw the tickets so I asked him have you got your passport. Guess what......NO!! Who on earth (other than this man) will issue flight tickets without a passport. You tell me. He said he will apply tomorrow (which is today). I don't want to comment already. What else can I say right? From the beginning I told him that he needs to get his passport first. The best thing is his boss doesn't know that he doesn't have a passport! Great or not? I also asked if he knows what documents he needs to bring. I got a stern reply that he already went to get the forms and everything. Fine. I keep quiet after that. I expect he has asked everything since it's already so urgent.

This morning I got a call from him. Surprise surprise....He said he needs to fly back to his hometown this afternoon to get it. If he applies here, it takes 5 days. How will you react? Why on earth this question was not asked when he was there to collect the form??? Didn't I SAY it takes longer for him? DIDN'T I?? WAS I TALKING TO THE WALL OR WHAT?? I was totally speechless. I was VERY MAD but there is nothing I can do about it. Do you know that kind of feeling? When you are so mad but you don't want to let it out so you just keep it inside until you feel like exploding? You can't talk, you can't shout and you definitely do not want to cry. I didn't talk much, just asked when is he coming back and told him I don't want to talk already.

My phone rang again not long after. Once I saw who is the caller I took a deep breath before I answer it just to keep cool. He asked me where is his birth certificate. ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Now only you're asking me that?? I managed to tell the location of the document without raising my voice and end the conversation qucikly before I lose it.

My phone rang again. I took another deep breath. He asked me if I can pick him up from the airport on Saturday evening. I said I don't know. What else am I suppose to say??? I'm fuming inside and cannot think straight.

WHY? WHY? WWWHHHHYYYYYYYYY????

Diaperless At Night

2009-10-21T10:15:00.004+08:00

3 years, 4 months, 4 weeks & 1 day old.....

What happen when you run out of diapers at home? Normally, we will rush out to buy a packet, no matter what. But not this time. We ran out of diapers on Sunday night but were tooooo lazy to go out. Also, I was having migrain since Friday night. So, I really didn't feel like going out. I told hubby that we might try and train Ethan to sleep without diaper. I noticed that sometimes he did not wet his diaper throughout the night and I thought that maybe we can give it a try.

We have taken some precautions. First of all, get him to clear his bladder after milk, before bed time. Secondly, I put a cloth napkin inside his brief, just in case. Thirdly, put the changing mat covered by another layer of cloth on the bed, again, just in case.

The first two nights went by without a hitch. No soiled napkin. Third night...well.....we were not as lucky. I woke up at 5a.m. (which is this morning) and found that he has wet his pants. So, I got to get up and change him. When he woke up, I told him that he shh shh (pee) in his pants, he angrily replied me with a "No!". Ok, I got it. He doesn't like it so I just cut it and changed the topic.

I think (women think a lot and always do the thinking, don't you agree?) he didn't wet his pants on the first two nights because he slept late and woke up early. We slept around 10p.m. last night, which was slightly earlier and maybe he couldn't hold it that long. Hmmmmm......what to do tonight? Perhaps get him to drink his milk half an hour before bedtime and clear his bladder just before bedtime. By that, hopefully all his milk will be cleared from his bladder.

Painting

2009-10-16T09:06:00.020+08:00

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

As mentioned in my previous post, we have bought a set of water colour for Ethan. He likes that a lot but I don't know how long it will last. The set we bought him (a book with a colour palette and a brush) at MPH cost around RM30. He has finished the colour on the palette so hubby bought him another set of water colour in tubes. I don't know how much it costs as I was away at that time. In the beginning, he doesn't know how to control the amount of colour and put way too much colour on the book and after it dries off, the pages just stick together. I wanted to take photo of what he has painted but when I tried to separate them, I ended up peeling the pages. So, what you see here are the photos I took recently (11 October 2009) and he can paint better now.

The book, palette and brush come in a set.

Ethan at 40 months old

2009-09-24T08:54:00.016+08:00

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

Oh dear. I have abandoned the blog for almost 2 months. I just lost the momentum to write.

Ethan is behaving quite well lately. Nothing much has changed or have I lost track about his development? I don't know. The routine is the same, his food intake is still the same. His taste bud changed a little though. He began to take some vege especially beans. He likes mushrooms very much and also lotus root. He can eat rice without soup now but he eats more rice with soup.

He can go to toilet unaided now. He knows how to pee on his own, flush the toilet, wash his hands afterward and wipe them with a towel. When he poops, we need to put him on the toilet seat and he will asks us to go out until he is done. I don't know why. He is diaperless on afternoon naps now. He was like on and off the diapers but now I'm quite sure he will not wet his pants in the 1 hour plus during his nap. When we are out, he will always tell us he wants to pee or poo during meal time. It's annoying sometimes. I will get hubby to bring him to the toilet most of the time...hehe. There were a couple of times when he needed to pee so badly in the car I gave him a plastic bag to relieve himself. My friend put a potty in the car for incidents like this but I hate to clean potty. Plastic bags work just as good (for boys only). For poo-poo, he can hold himself until we got home. Thank goodness.

He talks like a parrot and likes to imitates me on the phone. When watching tv, he asks so many questions that you can hardly concentrate. I doubt we can bring him to the cinema again. We brought him to watch Terminator few months back (his first time) and taught him how to whisper. He sat through the movie but it was uncomfortable for us as he was sitting on our lap. Need to buy him a ticket next time.

His latest craze is Power Rangers. To date, he has 3CDs and 3-4 figurines. It's adding up very fast coz everytime we go out, he will asks for toys. We managed to buy him two sets at Jusco with 70% off. Phew!! We also bought him a water colour set after he painted with a set at my sister's house on Monday (21 Sep) night. After we left for home that night, he asked for a set non-stop. Seriously, he asked for it every minute or so. Even after we said yes, he will still ask for it. We couldn't stand it so we brought him to MPH at Midvalley the next day and immediately bought him a set. Then, he started to tell us he wanted to go home coz I told him we can't open it until we get home. He started to ask us to go home non-stop for the next 2 hours. No explanation will satisfy him. In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and I told him if he wouldn't stop it, I will throw his water colour away. He stopped for a while after that. He painted some pictures that night and sat quietly on his table for quite some time. I forgot to take pictures but will try to do it later.

About his previous obsession, Ultraman, he can recognise the different Ultramen and can tell me their names by looking at the pictures. Amazing. I intend to start something more educational with him since he can memorise things so well. Perhaps I will print out the multiplication table and stick it on the wall for him to memorise.

Playing with his stroller. We kept it away for a few months
and now he likes it as if it's something new.

Pretend to sleep.

What's Up

2009-07-29T14:24:00.006+08:00

That day while I was chit-chatting with my colleague, we mentioned that how time flies this year. It's already end of July now. I realise I have been blogging less and less mainly due to work commitment. When I'm at home, needless to say, I hardly touch the laptop as Ethan will ask me to switch on Ultraman (from Youtube) for him. Once he starts watching, he refuses to stop and always ends up crying when we switch it off. I've been telling hubby that he is watching too much Ultraman already. We try to limit it and he is watching like 4-5 days a week, every day limit to 1 hour.

Talking about my work, well, I have not been anywhere this year except for Port Dickson in June and will be going to Penang, next week. I'm not looking forward to any travelling actually. Don't know why. Just don't feel like going anywhere. At the same time, work in the office has been...errr...how should I say.........manageable but a lot of ad-hoc stuff, which I don't like. A Deputy Director has left our division in April, so we have to pick up part and pieces of his work. I hate to pick up people's work. I rather handle everything from the beginning.

I have made a very big decision for myself this year. Well, I'm going back to study and is taking Master of Science now. Actually, the planning started sometime mid last year. I first started thinking about taking up a Master degree because I feel that's the only way for me to get out of this company. Not that I have decided to leave but I have a strong feeling that I should have a back-up plan. What if the company cease operation one day? or what if I get a nasty boss in the future and I couldn't stand him/her and cannot find another job? I was very very bored with my job at one point and I have tried to look for another one. After sending out many many applications, I only received some calls for jobs with lower pay and lower prospect for career advancement. I'm not a very ambituous person but if I do not get better offer, I might as well stay put. At the same time, I felt that I need to do something about it. Hopefully, after I got my Master, I would have better chances in the job market. For all we know, I might stay in the same company until I retire..heheh.

Classes for the semester started in July and I need to attend only 1 class per week on Tuesday from 6-9 pm. I will go to class after work and hubby will fetch Ethan. So far, things are working out well with the study and with my two boys. I have yet to start anything on my thesis, which is the hardest part but I just want to take things one step at a time. Before I register, I have been thinking seriously should I proceed with the plan. I even thought of giving up, many many times but felt that it's not a right thing to do. Even now, I'm not sure if I could complete my study. I know it would be such a waste to drop it especially after planning it for more than a year. Hubby is supportive about it too. But it is really tough, especially mentally, to go back to study after 9 long years. Furthermore, I have a family and job to juggle now, unlike last time when I was doing my bachelor degree where everything is taken care of. I really miss those carefree years. Things are very different now. I need to be very determined in order to complete my Master degree. Hopefully, I can complete it in 3 semesters (1.5 years).

'Dumb and Dumber' Hairstyle

2009-07-01T10:53:00.005+08:00

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

We brought Ethan for a haircut last two weeks or so after we returned from the trip. A few people thought Ethan is a girl, so his hair must be really long lar...hehe. We have been going to this salon for his hair cut since he was a baby but there are two hairdressers there. We normally get the thinner lady to cut his hair. The other lady cut Ethan's hair once and I did not like it. That day, when I brought in and saw that lady, my heart went "Oh sh^t, she better make it right this time or else it will be the last time she sees us." The result......"Dumb and dumber" hairstyle. Sigh. I have trimmed Ethan's hair myself a few times after that as it was really badly cut. The hair was uneven, like some Chinese say: bitten by a dog. I will not let her touch Ethan's hair
again.

Before

After

Birthday and Such

2009-06-19T00:37:00.000+08:00

3 years and 4 weeks old.....

The Birthday

(A very, very backdated post)

We celebrated Ethan's birthday with an early dinner on 16 May 2009 at Tony Roma's with my sister's family and mum. The birthday boy got a dessert f.o.c from Tony Roma's but we all shared it lar. It was also to celebrate Mother's Day. On the actual day (Friday, 22 May 2009) , we took leave and brought him to Genting to have a fun-filled day. This year, we simplified everything. Only one cake and one trip. No pressie for him...hehe. We arrived at around 10.00 a.m. and left on the same day after dinner at 7.30 p.m. I was dead tired and couldn't walk anymore. We went to both indoor and outdoor theme park and took almost all the kiddy rides. That's the good thing about going there on a weekday. The little one was so excited that he refused to nap. The moment we put him on the car seat, he dozed off.

His birthday cake-green tea with red bean

The birthday boy enjoying his cake

Birthday larva courtesy of the restaurant

His favourite ride! He went on it for at least 5 times.

At the Chocolate Wonderland

The 'caterpillar' ride. Our last ride at the outdoor theme park.

Tried his luck and....

he won a pillow all by himself!

The Trip

We went back to hubby's hometown on 11-15 June2009 to attend his brother's wedding on 12 June (Friday). The wedding went on well despite a few hiccups e.g. sister-in-law's MPV broke down the day before the wedding so we borrowed a neighbour's van and we didn't know that the air-cond. was not working until we started the engine. Everyone was drenched in sweat on the way to the church that morning. Once inside the church, I hurried myself to a seat nearest to the fan. Luckily, I didn't lost much of my make-up (which was barely there in the first place). Thank goodness, they got the MPV back that evening just in time to attend the dinner. I was very very relieved.

Saturday was a rest-and-relax day. Having nothing much to do on Sunday (14 June), we brought Ethan to the Matang Wildlife Centre to see Orang Utan. I haven't been there before so I did not know what to expect. I brought milk and clothes for Ethan (I brought these wherever we go) and also mosquito repellent. We headed to the visitor's centre and continued our walk to the animals' enclosures. I have never imagined that the place is practically a jungle. All the enclosures were built under the natural surrounding. It was like jungle trekking.

Half way through the walk, we had to climb up a flight of stairs to reach the sun bear enclosure. After the hike we were so exhausted and took a rest there. At that time, hubby suddenly saw a hairy caterpillar (ulat bulu) on his hand. He quickly shook it off and I saw the caterpillar crawling on the floor. It was only around 2cm long. I didn't take any pic of it coz worm/caterpillar is my biggest fear. I just look at it from distance.

We then continued our journey to look for the Orang Utan. Ethan was tired so hubby carried him. After a few minutes, he started scratching his body, hands first then his back. We suspected something was not right so my mother-in-law asked me to carry Ethan instead. I carried Ethan for a while and reached the Orang Utan's enclosure. Ethan started to scratch more frequently and we suspected it's the caterpillar that cause the itchiness. I appllied some mosquito repellent on him (that's the only cream I had with me that time) but he still scratched all over his body.

We hurried our way out and found a toilet so we stripped Ethan off his clothes and washed him with some water. Red spots started to develop on his hands and back. After washing him, I applied the mosquito repellent on his body and changed his clothes. He fell asleep in the car shortly after that and the itchiness seemed to have gone away.

Too bad, the worst had yet to start. After we arrived at SIL's house, we quickly took shower and applied antiseptic cream. The red spots then became swollen and spread to other body parts. Ethan got it worst - both hands, leg, back, tummy and some on his face. I got it on my hands, neck and tummy. Hubby was very lucky as he only got a few spots on his hands.

The attack happended around noon and by 6 pm that evening, the itchiness became very bad. The antiseptic cream did not help at all. I told hubby we need to get to the pharmacy and guess what? There was no pharmacist on duty at the Guardian. All I could get, with my limited knowledge on this kind of situation, was a bottle of calamine lotion. And.....it was useless.

We went for dinner with hubby's family after buying and applying the calamine lotion. After looking at our condition, they suggested we tried some traditional medicine and so we did. It helped but not for long. After two hours or so, the itchiness came back. Ethan had difficulties falling asleep but he did not fuss at all (I'm so glad). He just scratched all over non-stop. We had to help him rub his body to prevent him to scratch too hard. He fell asleep eventually. That was around 10 p.m., I think. I dozed off half-an hour later but was awake around 12 a.m. as the itchiness became unbearable. I turned and saw Ethan scratching badly also.

Before I fell asleep, I told hubby that maybe we should go to the hospital and see a doctor. As usual, he said not necessary and hinting to me no need to exaggerate. So, when I woke up at around midnight, I woke him up as well and ask him to look at Ethan and how bad he's scratching. He then quickly called his friend and asked where is the nearest hospital. Off we went to the emergency ward and got both myself and Ethan registered.

The doctor's advice: Everyone's reaction to allergy is different and that we should get treatment within the first 4 hours of attack. Even though hubby was ok but myself and Ethan had very bad allergy reaction to the attack. In bad cases, it can cause swollen tongue and breathing difficulties (that freaks me out). Luckily, the doctor said our lungs were clear and asked me to monitor Ethan's breathing. If I hear wheezing sound, we should send him to hospital immdiately. We got oursleves some medication and cream plus two shots on my arms for fast relief. We slept quite well after the medication but woke up twice to help Ethan apply the cream and stroking his body to prevent him from scratching.

The worst was not over yet. I woke up the next morning (Monday, 15 June) and saw the swollen spots on my hands and they were watery inside. We went to see another skin doctor and he prescribed another cream for us. I also tried to use dettol with warm water to wipe Ethan and myself. It helps a lot. I repeated the routine (wipe with dettol and apply cream) the whole day and happy to see the improvement very fast. The red spots subsided and were not as red before. Still, the itchiness was there the whole time but not as intense. We took a flight back to KL that night and as usual, there was a delay in AirAsia's flight by one hour. We reached home past midnight and after repeating another round of dettol and cream for both of us, I was dead exhausted.

Ethan and myself rested at home until yesterday (18 June) and went back to our normal life today. What a trip.

Hubby's and my hands. See the difference? Mine was all swollen.

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Don't scream, ya

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Ethan's body on the 2nd day. He's much much better now.
My heart ache like mad.

Writing, Reading, etc.

2009-04-29T14:56:00.009+08:00

2 years, 11 months and 1 week old.....

There are some new developments on his writing/colouring and reading skills. He started colouring months ago and started to like it since then. On a good day, I can get 15 minutes of peace when he's in the mood to colour. In the beginning, he will coloured the whole page without following the picture lines. You can't see anything on the paper other than random colours. Just a few weeks back, I noticed that he can colour (almost) within the lines and you can (almost) see what is the thing he coloured.

I happened to buy a work book for colouring and writing (those alphabets with dotted lines) for him. I thought just let him colour and I will sit down one day and teach him to write some basic alphabets. Then on one fine day he took out the book and started colouring. I just let him be and did some chores. To my surprise, he traced along the dotted lines by himself. He also likes to draw lines. So, I bought a few more work books for him. This year, I'm determined to use up the RM1,000 allowance given for books for my income tax. So 'pissed' with Income Tax. I have even signed up for MPH member card. I've been contemplating to sign up before this but since I want to spend more on books this year, I've decided to sign up for it.

I drew a house with basic shapes for him to colour.
At least I can see a rectangle and a triangle after he coloured it.

Learning to write number 3.

An activity book I bought for him at MPH. It comes with
a marker but can be replaced with any white board marker
(non-permanent). You can write on it and wipe the ink off
easily with tissue paper thus can be re-used forever.

We just introduced him to online educational games
and he's hooked to it. Colouring is considered educational right?

As for reading, I also bought a few books for him during the recent book fair at PWTC. I always use book to lure him to go to bed so that he can settle down and sleep. I don't do it everyday lar coz sometimes I'm just too tired to read to him and attend to his 'WHY this, WHY that' questions. Sometimes, he will refuse to read also and want to play Ultraman with me. Just last night, I told him "Come we read book" and he said "We play first". So we played Ultraman. (He's Ultraman and I'm the monster).

Ok, I digress. Back to reading. At first, I read to him and he listens. Then, he started to ask questions. Later on, he learnt to read after me (his favourite being Humpty Dumpty). Now, he wants to read to me. He will point to the words and read in his own language. Although I don't understand his story, I'm glad that he likes book. Here's a short video clip on him reading. Don't worry if you don't understand what he reads coz you'll never will :-).

Cluttered Mind

2009-04-13T13:10:00.007+08:00

A few untoward incidents happened today. First of all, (d@#n the gov) I have to pay extra RM1k income tax, even after deducting the PCB. My salary is already so low and still have to pay so much tax (it is a lot to me). Why? Coz the gov is so hungry for money and has started taxing us on meal allowance that we got for travelling. Stimulus package....WHAT STIMULUS PACKAGE!! For God sake, that money was given to us to buy food! If we eat McD every day, then we might have a few extra $$ left for some souvenir shopping. The worst part is, we are not allowed to get exemption on money spent on food by showing them the receipts. In other words, if you get RM200 per day for food and you spent it all on food, the gov. is still taxing you the full amount. I am really PI$$ED!!

Secondly, the pipe in my house is leaking. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the water drips to the car park which is one floor below my unit. As it is not someone's house, no one complaints. But if it is somebody's house, we can share the cost of repair. The water mark on the wall is already 1 feet high and spreading across the whole wall in the living hall and my bedroom. We have identify a plumber to fix it but hubby said he's too busy to apply leave. So, I might have to apply leave. Worst case scenario is, the plumber might have to hack the wall/floor to seal the hole and we do not know how big the damage is coz we cannot pin point the source of the leak and where should we start hacking. After the plumber finish his job, we have to look for people to fix the tiles and paint the wall. If we can get the same tiles, then not so bad. If not, we will have different colour tiles on the floor.

Thirdly, I wanted to register for a course and need to submit my examination transcript and certificate. I lost them and went back to the University to get them. They said they will not issue another cert so they will just give me a letter to say that I lost it. I paid and submitted a form. To my surprise, they called me 2-3 days later (I thought it takes them at least a week) to inform me that the papers were ready. So, I went to collect the papers last Monday BUT they only gave me the transcript and not the letter. Fine. They said they will do it and call me when it's ready. I haven't receive their call until now. The worst part is, the line was either engaged or not answered when I called!!!! How on earth that could be? I called another no. and the guy asked to call back the same no. coz. he does not have the details. The closing date for submission is 15 April. Wish me luck.

I couldn't think anymore. Talking to people around me did not ease my frustrations either. I hope the day will be saved by some good news.

Cuti-Cuti Bandung & Hot Air Balloon Festival in Putrajaya

2009-03-24T08:40:00.019+08:00

2 years, 10 months & 2 days old.....

Bandung, 15-18 March 09

I went to Bandung with a few of my colleagues for cuti-cuti. We bought the ticket at zero fare and just paid RM200+ for airport tax. I enjoyed the trip very much coz for the first time, I travel with colleagues for holiday and not for work. The feeling was totally different. So relaxing and enjoyable. The best thing was everything was well planned and arranged before we left for the trip. From hotel and itinerary to money changing. I just packed my bag and hopped in.

All we did there was shop, eat, spa, reflexology, shop, shop and shop. I'll never get to do all these in KL. I didn't buy lots of things but I just enjoyed shopping all day long. I haven't done this in many many years. Just imagine, 3 full days of shopping without worrying that you will be late to pick up your son from school. No need to worry what to feed him tonight. The only worry is that he will be sick at home but I called and sms hubby to check everyday. Both of them were ok throughout the trip.

I went for my first ever spa in Bandung and paid 425,000 Rupiah (approx. RM 136) for a 2.5 hours package. So much cheaper compared to KL rite? The foot reflexology is also very cheap. It only cost 25,000 Rupiah (approx. RM8) for a 1-hour session. Unbelieveable. I asked the girl twice for the price coz I was really stunned.

One thing I realised was that their chickens taste so much better than those in KL. They are more juicy and taste like ayam kampung, not ayam pasar. I better let the photos do the talking (most of them were taken by my colleagues - A&A).

We visited the crater on the second day. Nice place but have to
go there early in the morning when it's more cooling.

The crater.

What we saw from one of the viewing decks.

Rows of shops selling local handicrafts.

Riung Sari, the restaurant where we had our lunch on the first day.
Nice food, nice ambience, fair price.

Lunch at Riung Sari. The one on the right is Nasi Timbel Special. Delicious!

One of the outlets

The price list at one of the beauty salon.
This is where we did the foot reflexology.

The spa we went to.

The place for baju kurung, kebaya and kain.

Putrajaya, 22 March 09

After returning from Bandung, me and hubby brought Ethan to Putrajaya on Sunday, to see hot air balloon. We were supposed to meet a friend, her hub and son there. We all arrived almost at the same time at around 8.45 pm to find that all the ballooons have been launched at 8 am. Only one balloon was still at the launching pad and it was only opened for charity ride, i.e., for orphans, etc. We saw some balloons floating around while we were on the way there but thought that there will be a few more around. Mana tahu, only one left. They called it hot air balloon festival but there were more stalls selling food than the hot air balloons around. I didn't have high expectations for the festival so it was only a minor dissapointment for me.

However, Ethan enjoyed it very much coz he saw the big balloon and a few paramotors flying around. He was so amazed to see the 'Uncles' (he calls any stranger men as uncle) flying around and kept saying 'So many, so many'. We spent slightly more than an hour there before adjourned to Alamanda for brunch. He started to warm up with Zac, my friend's son and played with him while we ate. The kids had a good time playing while the adults had a good time chatting. At end of the day, we were happy coz the kids were happy. That's all that matter.

The one and only hot air balloon around.

So many! So many!

Looking at the paramotors with full excitement

Playing with Zac

So You Want A Cheap But Meaningful Valentine's Gift

2009-02-18T08:39:00.007+08:00

It was last Friday when I realised that it will be a Valentine's day the next day because my colleague said she want to get a Valentine's gift. I was blog-hopping then and I found the recipe for steamed moist chocolate cake. Thanks to Family First!. It looks very do-able to me. The recipe and instructions are easy enough for me to understand and I know I can get the ingredients easily from the supermarket. So, I printed out a copy of the recipe and my colleague saw it and asked for a copy too. I went and bought all the ingredients after work. On the way home, I mumbled to hubby. I said "The ingredients are not cheap and I don't know if the cake jadi or not". He said something like "Might as well buy one from the bakery". I said "I have not even started and you didn't even give me support".

Hubby was not working on that Saturday, which happened to be a Valentine's Day lar. Not that we have any plans. I didn't feel like going out to the mall and so was he. Since we all "mou-mou liu-liu", I might as well try to bake the cake lar. Meanwhile hubby entertained Ethan with a bubble-blowing session.

Everything went on smoothly until the last step when I needed to pour the self-raising flour into the mixture. I bought the flour few months back and when I opened it up, it was infested with tiny insects, which look like 'kutu' to me. OMG!!!!! So geli. I tried to sift the flour but it failed to separate the insects. Sigh.........my pot of mixture was sitting there and half way done and I don't have the FLOUR!! I quickly grab the car key and went to the nearby mini markets to buy the very important FLOUR. I went to 3 mini markets and all of them do not sell self-raising flour. ARGHHH!! How ar!! Then I thought, rather than throw the mixture away, I might as well give it a try and use normal flour and add more baking powder. That's what I did and the cake turned out well.

Thank goodness, I have a Valentine's gift at last. Ethan, who does not like cake, happened to like that cake very well. He insisted to blow candle but we couldn't find any at home. We just asked him to sing and so he sang "Happy Birthday" and insisted to cut the cake himself. He ate 2 slices of the cake!! As for hubby, when I asked him how is the cake, he said "Hmmmmmm.....". My translation of that answer is "If you must get an answer, I think it is nice". Luckily I still have a son, who is more supportive than the father.

The ingredients

The mixture in the steamer. I put the plastic timer
too close to the heat, it melted a bit :-(

Part of the mess!

Finally, the cake with a small deco that Ethan brought back
from school.

P.S. My colleague used the same recipe but she said her cake turned to be more spongy than mine. Maybe it's the self-raising flour. So, it's blessing in disguise? Since I have extra ingredients, I'm going to try to bake another one with chocolate glaze.

My Baby Can Cycle!

2009-02-10T15:25:00.006+08:00

2 years, 8 months, 2 weeks & 5 days old.....

I bought a tricycle as a gift for Ethan's 1st birthday and he played on it on and off. Most of the time, we just pushed him around in the apartment compound and he always gets bored after a while and ended up pushing the cycle himself. The other day when we were at my mum's place during CNY, he sat on it (my sis has a similar one for my niece) and suddenly I saw him pushing on the pedals and the tricycle moved a little. Seeing that his legs are long enough now to reach and push the pedals, I started to teach him to cycle on that day (yeah!! after buying it for more than a year). He made a little progress and most of the time he cycled backward.

Since then, he's very interested in cycling and there was one day he cycled in Giant while we shopped. I kind of like it coz it's easier for us when he cycled compared to pushing the big trolley around and hitting everyone in his way (he wouldn't let us touch the trolley). In the end, Daddy had to force him to let go of the bicycle coz we're not buying another one just yet. He was crying non-stop on the way home. I told him that we will play bicycle at home and once we reached home, I quickly washed the bicycle and let him played in the house. So there is an additional thing now to clutter our house further.

Here are some photos and a video of him cycling.

No. Lelaki / No. Perempuan

2009-01-22T16:11:00.003+08:00

I received a call from an anonymous and this fella is definitely "sot-sot dei" (tak betul/ crazy/ cuckoo).

Me: Hello
Caller: Hello......................
Me: Yeah?
Caller: Ini no. lelaki ke no. perempuan?
Me (scratch head, never heard this kind of question before): Huh? You cari siapa?
Caller: Takda.......mau tanya ini no. lelaki ke no. perempuan?
Me (WTH??): HUH?? WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM????
Caller: Takdela....saya mau tanya ini no. lelaki ke no. perempuan?
Me: Kalau perempuan jawab...No perempuan la!!
Caller: Ok.....bye...
Me: ?????????????????? Wasted my time. Should have just hung up.

WTH? Can't he just tell me where he is calling from or at least tell me the name of the person he's looking for??? CRAZY!!

32 Months Old

2009-01-22T08:27:00.017+08:00

Time flies!! (So many people said it so many times already, but I still have to say it). Ethan will celebrate his 3rd birthday in four months time. I have no idea on how to celebrate his birthday this year. We had 3 dinners and 2 cakes for his 2nd birthday. Why 3 dinners? Coz there are 2 people in my family, who cannot meet face to face, so got to celebrate separately. Very the "ma-fan" (troublesome). The 3rd dinner was a simple dinner for the 3 of us on his actual birthday.

Some updates on Ethan:
Height: 92-93 cm
Weight: 13 kg

Speech
Life is easier now as he is older and he can communicate pretty well with us.....sometimes can "bok-jui" (argue) somemore. The Aunty at his school told me last week that he also argues with his teacher and when he lost, he will pout his mouth. The teacher also "saja kacau" him.

He picks up words very fast nowadays so I try very hard not to say bad words in front of him. Instead of f@#k, I say s@#t. Better right?

When I scold him now, he will say "You naughty....I don't want you...Go away....I say go away". (Lei war sei mmm sei...)

Latest craze: Ultraman!!
It happened when I went to NZ late last year. Hubby introduced him to that rubber-costume-super-hero, which shows on tv in the evenings. The craze started from then on. I think he should be watching Barney instead at this age as it is more educational.

He is so crazy about it that he can watch the same cd over and over again. And when he's not watching it, he wants to play Ultraman with us. He is Ultraman and Mummy is dinosaur (monster). My mum scolded me for letting him watch too much Ultraman coz he always pretends to be dinosaur and makes ugly faces.

His current Ultraman collection consists of:

6 Ultraman figurines (5 pasar malam toys and one came free when we bought a cd). Of these, 2 has broken into half, 1 with head fell off but glued back. Cheap toys ma....
4-5 CDs
1 set of pyjama. I normally buy RM 10-19/pair types of pyjamas for him but this set cost RM24!! I made daddy paid for it.
2 sticker books (all bersepah already)

Talking about stickers, there were a couple of times I went to work with his stickers (thank God not Ultraman!!) on my leg and sometimes elbow and shoes. The best part was I only realised about it when I was about to finish work!! So darn malu if people saw me with the stikers on. OH GOSHHHH!!!!!

School
He adapts pretty well at the school. Instead of saying "Don't want school", he sometimes says "Ethan go to school" when I'm driving him there. He still clings to me when I drop him off especially when does not have enough sleep. Then I have to spend 10-20 minutes sweet talking to him until he let me go willingly/ half willingly...as long as he doesn't cry. I don't want to leave him while he's crying as I'm worried that he will hate going to school. He's barely 3 and he has a long way to go before University. I don't care if he does not excel academically, I just want him to get a degree, at least. Not too much to ask for right?

I don't know what he learns at school but I'm not too concern about it. I think it is still too early to emphasis on education at his age. I doubt the school is practising Montessori as claimed but I don't care la. As long as he likes to go to school, mix around, happy and healthy, I'm a happy mother. I'm also happy that the daycare Aunty is taking good care of him. She always reports to me what happens to him at school and she speaks fondly of him too sometimes.

Diet:
He takes milk 3-4 times a day:

6 am, when I wake up, when he's half awake.
Noon, before nap
Late afternoon, before I pick him up but sometimes he skips that if he takes snack
At night, before sleep

He's currently on Friso Gold and Pediasure (chocolate flavour). After I changed him from Enfagrow to Friso, he seems to be less interested in milk. Then, his solid food intake also seems to be reducing. My sis was giving her daughter Pediasure coz she will only drink milk with chocolaty taste. So, my sis found Pediasure with chocolate flavour and mix it with Mamil and the little girl started to drink milk. From then on, she became chubbier and chubbier. Ethan tried the milk and he likes it too. Hmmmmmm........ so I also went to buy a tin of Pediasure too and mix it with Friso and walla.......problem solved.

I mix 4 scoops of Friso with 1 scoop of Pediasure in 7 oz of water. At school, he's taking Friso only. I asked the Aunty about his milk intake and she said no problem. So I just let it be lar.

Other than that, I also noticed some differences in him after changing milk- less phlegm and less hyper. However, I'm not too sure if the phlegm thing improved because of the milk or because he's growing up. He used to have a lot of phlegm from time to time when he was younger and the doctor did advised us to change milk and see if the situation improved. We didn't change his milk at that time coz he's still young and seemed to be ok with Enfa. If I remember it correctly, the doctor also said that the phlegm problem will get better as he grows up. So, I don't really know which is which.

About the hyper active thing....I think I'm pretty sure it's caused by the milk. I'm not saying that all kids taking that milk will be hyper active. Maybe the milk is not suitable for him...that's all. He was so active at one point and it worried me. He can run non-stop, like for more than 15 minutes, in the house just chasing the ball alone excitedly. He can never sit down and concentrate on one activities like drawing, playing puzzle, blocks, whatever it is. Even when he's watching tv, he will move around and stop for a while to catch a glimpse of his favourite show. Now.......he can watch movie with us at home, from beginning till the end. Hubby has been contemplating of bringing him to the cinema. Probably his attention span is longer now as he's older and has nothing to do with the milk. I don't know.

We seldom take photos of him nowadays as our digital camera is not good at capturing moving objects :-) Here are some photos taken by a good friend during our friend's wedding in September 2008. I like them very much. Thanks Erica!!

Christmas Is Over

2009-01-05T08:10:00.012+08:00

2 years, 7 months & 2 weeks old.....

I like Christmas. Probably it's because of the decoration that cheers me up or the holiday (= no need to work) that sets the relax mood. I was on leave from 23 - 31 Dec. SIL and family came over to celebrate Christmas and I thought it will be nice to have a Christmas tree at home. If we went back to hubby's hometown to celebrate Christmas then I guess I would not have insisted on that. So, for the first time in my life, I decorated a Christmas tree. We bought a small tree (4' height) at RM39.90, very cheap. After adding all the ornaments and lighting, the bill tripled. I was so eager to put up the tree that I started immediately after we came back from the mall. That time was around 11pm and I completed it more than one hour later. Ethan was happy to see the lights and he gave me a big smile. Worth the effort, I thought. Unfortunately, his excitement lasted for only 10 seconds.

Our first Christmas tree!

Ethan with the tree and presents

After getting the tree, I thought it would be nice to have some presents under it. I told hubby the idea and he said "Of course it's good to have presents" and that's it. No mention of buying, what to buy or when to buy. Nevermind, I went ahead and bought everyone a present, a total of 7 of them (excluding myslef). So, I told him I'm the Santa Claus this year coz I gave presents only. My nephews (3 of them) were so happy to see the presents with their names on them when they came to our house. I'm so glad they were happy. At least I know someone appreciates my effort. Ethan is happy too but not because of the presents (he's too young to understand what is present) but there will be 3 cousins to play with.

On Christmas eve, we went to Malacca with SIL's family. The Eye On Malaysia is there but we didn't take the ride. They have beautify the river bank and I think the money is well spent. After a half-day sightseeing tour and lunch at the Jonker Street, we adjourned to A Famosa Resort. The last 2 times I went there, I stayed at the bungalows but this time, we booked the condo. They have a few blocks of high rise buildings but they look rundown and to some extent look haunted. Only a few units on a few floors were occupied and the foyer area of our block was idle. The reception, cafe and swimming pool are at another block. We went to the basement parking but what we saw was only old furniture. The place is used as storeroom and abandoned! No wonder all the cars were parked outside. We even saw a man (looks like someone who was staying there) took a framed photo from a store room near the lifts. Luckily the studio room was ok. Whatever it is, I will not stay there again.

He loves the guitar!

After checked-in we rested for a while and went to the water park at around 4.30pm. Ethan had a ball of the time and the weather was perfect. The park is not well maintained and some of the rides for adults were shut down. Some of the facilities at the play area were faulty too but it didn't affect us coz Ethan just played with the slides. After shower, we went to the Cowboy Town for dinner and watched the Red Indian show. My advise: DON'T EAT THERE!! All you get is expensive lousy food. The rides are lousy too. Worse than the local funfare. The only good thing is the Red Indian Show, which includes a parade and firework. I think the parade and firework are special programme catered for Christmas. Not sure if they have the same thing for normal days. If not, not worth going.

We just lazed around the next morning before checking-out and went home. I think the kids enjoyed the trip but for that kind of money, I prefer Genting.

Thrilled with the rides

Waiting for the show to start

Dozed off less than 5 minutes after the show started

We also took the kids to Aquaria KLCC on Saturday, 27 Dec. It was darn crowded especially during the shark feeding time. The area was so packed that I had a hard time squeezing in with Ethan. I had to be kiasu for the sake of my son...hehe....We got to the centre after some people left the area. By then, I was already drenched in sweat. When he saw the guy feeding the giant ray, he was stunned. He just watched without saying a word. After watching the show, we went back to see other exhibits which we missed earlier on.

Other than the two places, we just spent the holiday eating and shopping.

Surprised? Frightened?

Shark Feeding Time but we didn't see the shark

Posing with the turtle before going home

Pregnant?

2008-12-09T11:25:00.009+08:00

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!

2008-11-17T11:04:00.011+08:00

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

2008-11-12T09:00:00.024+08:00

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

2008-10-16T15:24:00.002+08:00

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

2008-10-15T08:00:00.011+08:00

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

2008-09-28T21:26:00.005+08:00

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:

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'.
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.
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.
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.
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:

Where Daddy go?
Why so dark?
Why so dirty?
Who do this?
I want go kai-kai
I want poh-poh, ah yee, mei-mei.
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

2008-09-24T08:27:00.019+08:00

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

2008-09-04T13:35:00.005+08:00

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

2008-09-03T10:05:00.006+08:00

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

2008-08-29T00:23:00.008+08:00

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!!

2008-08-26T00:48:00.007+08:00

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

2008-08-11T00:46:00.002+08:00

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

2008-08-01T10:38:00.007+08:00

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

2008-07-29T20:15:00.002+08:00

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

2008-07-22T12:11:00.009+08:00

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:

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.
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:

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.
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.
They are active as usual unlike HFMD, in which case they are more lethargic.
Fever subsided fairly quickly compared to HFMD.
Itchy rashes/blisters in the case of chicken pox.
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

2008-07-09T00:02:00.006+08:00

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

2008-07-04T12:14:00.007+08:00

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

2008-06-30T14:39:00.010+08:00

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

2008-06-24T14:20:00.017+08:00

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

Costly Milk Powder

2008-06-17T21:39:00.001+08:00

2 years, 3 weeks & 5 days old.....

Just before I left for Japan (about 3 weeks ago), we went to stock up Ethan's milk. He is taking Enfagrow A+. I would normally buy the milk from Chinese Medical Halls, which is much cheaper compared to the hypermarkets or supermarkets. At that time, I saw the new formula was already on the rack and my eye balls almost pop-out when I saw the price. It's an increase of RM5 per pack. The old pack was selling at RM54.50 (for 1.4 kg) and the new pack at RM60.50 (for 1.3kg) at that particular shop. That was before the petrol price went up.

Actually, if we calculate it properly, the increase is around RM10.00 per pack of 1.4 kg. It's sooooooo crazy to see the price being increased that much. Of course, it's justified by the claim of added nutrition e.g. 4x DHA, Inulin, FOS....bla bla bla. Still......It's not like we can choose between the two formulas. So, it's either Enfa or other milk now.

I'm wondering, does a kid need that much of DHA?? Too much DHA will not cause side effects?? Can they absorb them all?? or is this only a tactic to increase their price and to claim as the no. 1 milk powder in the market??

For the Young and Beautiful

2008-06-11T10:32:00.006+08:00

Good news for the young and beautiful! Interested to enter a beauty contest and try your luck to win a 10,000 USD price or get spotted by a modelling agency? Check out http://www.lookoftheyear.com. Send in your best pictures and keep your finger crossed that you will be the next model working in Paris, New York or Milan.

Daddy Cooked for Ethan

2008-06-09T12:48:00.011+08:00

While Mummy was away in Miyazaki, Japan to attend a conference, Daddy had to look after Ethan for one whole week (30 May - 6 June). The routine was pretty much the same with hubby sending and fetching Ethan home after work and sent Ethan to 'Poh Poh' (maternal grandma) during the weekend. Unfortunately, 'Poh Poh' had a 'very important' appointment on Sunday afternoon so hubby had to figure out what to feed Ethan. I was very....extremely...utterly.....surprised when he said that he COOKED. Pheewittt!!! That is super sexy to me.

I asked what he cooked and he said soup with rice and that Ethan had no comment. I don't know how he expect Ethan to comment, if there's any.

He never cook since Ethan was born...Errr except for frying eggs and poured hot water on instant noodles. Anyway, I'm really grateful for having such a good husband. I think I shouldn't complain anymore. He helps out with house chores, he can handle Ethan from A-Z and he's patient. I should remind myself more on all this and I will try harder not to nag (finger-crossed).

I didn't do a detour to Tokyo even though the flight transitted at Narita Airport/ Haneda Airport because I don't want to be away from my boys any longer than it's supposed to be...and not to spend more money. I think it's a wise decision considering the price hike in almost everything lately especially the petrol price. It's scary. I don't know how the lower income group going to survive. Although we can still live comfortably, both hubby and me still think that we should be more prudent with our spending.

On my trip to Japan, I found that Japanese are very nice and polite. Service is world class. Whenever we buy things, they will ask if that's a present and they will wrap it for us f.o.c. (regardless of what we bought). They even have plastic bags to cover the shopping bag to avoid the bags from getting wet. It was raining season there.

Apart from shopping there were nothing much I did it Japan. So, these are the stuff I got....

Clothing for Ethan and my niece

Nice hankies as souvenirs

Japanese cotton

Stuff from the Daiso (a.k.a. 100 Yen shop coz almost everything is 100 Yen)

Plastics over paper bags to protect them from rain. Nice er?

Nice wrappings

We can only afford this for dinner. A RM30-bowl of noodles

Ethan is 2!

2008-05-22T08:09:00.007+08:00

24 months old.....

My baby is 2 today!!! Big deal for me. It has been 2 years but I still remember every moment of his birth. I've forgotten about the pain though (no epidural there). Although it has been tiring taking care of a demanding baby, then an active toddler, I never regret a single bit of it. I insisted to take care of him at night instead of sending him to a nanny 24 hours, by which I will have the luxury of undisturbed sleep. I'm glad I made the choice and I will go the same way 'IF' I have a second one. Errrr.....Don't know when the 'IF' will happen.

Some updates on Ethan:
Weight: (will check tonight)
Height: 84.5 cm

Milk:
He is taking more milk now. 8 oz. each feed. 4-5 feeds a day. He normally drinks at 9.30 p.m. and if he sleeps late, he will ask for another round, sometimes at 10.30 p.m. (just 1 hour after the previous feed).

Still taking his early morning feed, usually at around 4-5 a.m.

Meal:
He is very Asian. Must have rice or noodles. When we go out, we must go to Chinese restaurant or any other restaurants that serve rice or noodles with soup. He dislikes bread, cakes, cheese and Western food. He takes French toast sometimes.

Still taking porridge at the nursery. On weekends, I normally boil soup for the family. For Ethan, I will boil noodles and then add the soup base (my version of soup noodles). He likes it better than porridge. I guess he gets bored with 5 days of porridge already. For dinner he will have soup and rice. Sometimes I will steam fish for him too.

He dislikes vegetables and most of the fruits. He only takes banana and papaya sometimes. When he has constipation, I give him half a bottle of Vitagen. A bottle will cause loose stool.

For supplement, he is still taking Scott's Emulsion everyday.

Sleeping time:
He sleeps late now. On weekdays, he naps around 2 hours at the nursery and will sleep at around 10pm at night.

On weekends, he naps at 3pm! Sometimes at 4.30 p.m.!! He normally takes 3 hours of nap and will sleep very late at night. Earliest is 11pm.

Speech:
He says quite a lot of words and picks up fast too (have to mind my words there) but not all are pronounced perfectly. Sometimes, he got so frustrated when we couldn't understand what he said. The funny ones are:

di di yen = little lamb (which means he wants the song book with the song 'Mary had a little lamb' and wants me to sing. Took quite some time for us to figure this one out)
bring bring = guitar
ah ger = tiger
ah bern = elephant

He can't count yet. He will start with 'one' then continue counting with his own numbers in his own language.

Pre-school:
He was upgraded to the oldest group at the nursery (most of them are 3 years old) and a teacher was hired to teach them. He is coping quite well but sometimes will cry in the middle of activities so they will transfer him back to the younger group (no teacher, free activities).

He did a few crafts with the help of the teacher. I don't know which part he actually did but I think 99% were done by the teacher. Some of the crafts he did:

Ethan's 2nd Birthday Celebration

2008-05-20T08:51:00.014+08:00

23 months & 4 weeks old.....

We celebrated Ethan's birthday on Friday, 16 May and Sunday, 18 May. Both Daddy and Mummy were too lazy to host a party at home so we decided to go out for dinner. Friday's dinner was at the Golden Sun Club while Sunday's one was at the Zun Kitchenette. I personally prefer the Zun Kitchenette as the food was much better and the place is more cosy.

As for the highlights of the events, which were the cakes, we bought a New York cheese cake from Bakerzin and a jelly cake (can't remember the name of the shop but it's at Ikano). Ethan doesn't quite like cakes so he didn't take any of those. He enjoyed the candle blowing sessions though.

The yummy cheese cake.

The colourful jelly cake.

Trying to blow the candle before the birthday song was sung.

Cheeky faces

Let's Go To The Zoo....

2008-04-28T16:07:00.011+08:00

23 months & 6 days old.....

......There are lots of things to do...

I used to hear the song when I was young. I think it was a KFC song because there used to be a KFC restaurant at the zoo. Well, it's no longer there.

We brought Ethan to the zoo two Saturdays ago (19 April 2008). We planned to go there before I left for my overseas trip but we didn't make it that time because I had to prepare/ pack for my trip. So hubby brought us there after I returned.

We arrived at around 12.30p.m. and we visited the elephants first. Ethan was terrified when he first saw the elephants and giraffes. He held on tightly to hubby all the time. Shortly after we entered there was a light shower. We waited for the rain to stop and proceeded with our walk. The weather was extremely humid after the rain and all of us sweat like crazy.

Held on tightly to daddy.

It's not moving that's why he's not scared.

The second agenda was to take the train ride so that we can rest a little before heading to the animal show. Ethan kept saying 'too too train' everytime a train passed by. The services of the train has been improved. It comes with a guided tour now and the rides are more frequent.

After the train ride, we went to the animal show. Ethan was awed by it especially when the birds performed. We decided to leave at around 3.30 p.m. as it was way past Ethan's nap time and I can see he was exhausted. He slept in the car shortly after finishing his milk (with the milk bottle still dangling in his mouth).

Couldn't contain his amusement with the birds' show.
This expression lasted for a good 10 minutes.

All worn out. He dropped the bottel from his mouth
just when I pressed on the the camera.

I would say there are no drastic changes at the zoo compared to my last visit about 5 or 10 years ago, but I think the animal show and the train ride have been improved. Oh yeah, no more KFC there, which is pretty sad for me because I still remember sitting inside licking my finger while watching the flamingos outside.

I think it's a great visit for Ethan although he's scared of most of the big animals. After the visit, he showed great interest on animals especially the figurines we bought for him a couple of weeks ago. Before this, he didn't show particular interest on them but now, he would bring them to the daycare and whenever we go out. I wouldn't mind to bring Ethan there again.

Went Crazy about Flowers!

2008-04-22T11:50:00.011+08:00

I always love to see flowers and of course to receive them. Unfortunately, I can count with my one hand (it's one hand which means 5 fingers ar) how many times I have received flowers from hubby. Ehem!!! Anyway, I took the opportunity of my trip to Brussel to stay one night in Amsterdam. It was a rare opportunity as my office booked me on a flight which transit in Amsterdam and it's Spring! Apa lagi, I extend my stay there and went to visit Keukenhof! I tell you, it was really really breathtaking! Some of the photos taken....

Change in Sleeping Time

2008-04-08T13:39:00.008+08:00

22 months, 2 weeks & 3 days old.....

My little boy has turned from an early bird to a night owl. The crying episode in the middle of the night has come to an end since last Saturday (29 March 2008). It also marked the beginning of him sleeping late at night. He used to sleep early, as early as 7.30 p.m. but on a typical night he will sleep at around 8-8.30 p.m. and will wake up at around 7 a.m.

Last Saturday, I brought Ethan to my mum's place and we stayed overnight there. I let him slept late because he can wake up late the next morning unlike weekdays when he has to wake up at around 7a.m. He slept at around 10.30 p.m. and surprisingly he didn't cry that night. So, I was wondering if the crying episode was due to his early bed-time. It sounds ridiculous but that's the only night he didn't cry and I couldn't think of other reasons. The routine before bed-time was the same.

Ever since that night, he has become a night owl. He refused to go to bed at the normal hours and he can stay up until 11.30 p.m.! The earliest time he would sleep now is 10+ p.m and he still have to wake up at 7 a.m. If it's not because that he has to wake up early in the morning, I don't mind him sleeping late. I'm worried that he does not have enough sleep.

Every night when we brought him to the room, he will refuse to let us switch off the light and because of that he can continue to play until the wee hours. Sometimes when we have no choice, we just have to switch off the light. And yes, and he will wail, which will lead to only 2 endings:
- He cries himself to sleep or
- We give up and he sleeps very late

I think I cannot switch him back to the old sleeping time. I just don't know why the change is so sudden and not gradually. Is this also part of the terrible-two syndrome?

My mischievous little one. Wanted to
be put inside the washing machine
but regretted it shortly afterward.

P/S: There will be no updates on this blog from 9-16 April coz Mummy will be away.

Nightmares?

2008-03-27T20:39:00.005+08:00

22 months & 5 days old.....

Ethan has been crying in the middle of night for the past 2-3 weeks, for no apparent reason. It's frustrating because we do not know what was the reason he cried so pitifully every night. When we tried to pacify him or hug him, he refused to let us touch him and will say 'NO! MUMMY NO!' and kick and cry even louder. He vomitted a couple of times. Scolding did not work either. Most of the time one of us will have to sleep with him and he will stop a few minutes after that. Milk helps sometimes. When he wakes the next morning, he's perfectly normal and sometimes very cheerful. I'm really puzzled.

I tried very hard to control my temper when caught in this kind of situation. I can feel the blood just rushed up my head when all the efforts failed to pacify him. I really, almost landed my palm on his face. I smacked his leg last night though. I was really really frustrated. One small smack and he cried louder after that.

Thinking about it again now, I wonder what makes us (or rather me) think that a smack will stop a child from crying? It doesn't really make sense right? It only let out our frustration but will never solve the problem. The child will definitely continue crying when he's smacked coz he's in pain or maybe shocked. I know in situation like this, we should take 5 and cool down but in the middle of the night, all I want is to sleep and how to take 5?

Two nights back, the same thing happened. He just cried and cried and cried and then pointed to the door and said 'Neh! Neh! Neh!'. I got up and carried him to the door. He wanted to go out so I brought him out and let him down. He stood there clinging to his favourite pillow and gave me a clueless face. He then sat on the floor. I asked him "Are you ok now?' 'Happy?' 'Can we go back to sleep?' 'Come, lets go to sleep'. No response from him. Then I went in to the room and asked the same questions. He got up and leaned against the wall, hiding himself from me.

Not knowing how to deal with him, I went back to the room and climbed up my bed. I told hubby (who had since gone back to sleep) 'Look at your son. Look what is he doing.' He held up his head to look and that time Ethan came out to peep at us. When he saw me on the bed, he started to cry and wail very badly. I couldn't bear to see him cry like that so I dragged myself up again and carried him back to the room and decided to sleep with him. Thank goodness, the crying slowly stop.

I don't know what kind of phase he is going through now. Initially I thought the crying was due to the sickness, that he was uncomfortable. But he has fully recovered for almost a week now and the crying still goes on. On a good night, there will be one episode of crying and on a not-so- good night, there will be 2 or 3 episodes. Just hope that this phase will end soon, I mean real soon.

Doing some puzzles before bed time - his latest favourite

Bad Things Come In Three?

2008-03-22T21:17:00.004+08:00

22 months & 2 days old....

This will be the third consecutive post about Ethan being sick. Another episode of fever on Thursday (20 March 2008) evening and this time was because of throat infection.

(Updated on 24 March 2008)
I was only half way through the post when the Internet connection failed me. So, I have to update it now. Sorry to Darren's mummy that you have to read my unfinished post but thanks for your comments.

Actually, the throat infection came from me. I wasn't feeling well last week but I couldn't refrain myself from kissing Ethan. Hehehe....

Anyway, the fever lasted for a day and he is ok now (finger crossed). He was all well and happy before the fever. We went to the mall for lunch and some marketing. No symptoms or what so ever. Suddenly the fever came in the evening. We brought him to see the paed the next morning and he confirmed that it's due to throat infection. No antibiotic this time because he said it's not very serious and let the body fight for it. However, if the fever persists for another day then we should go back and ask for the antibiotic. He's right. Ethan won the war this time without antibiotic. A slight relieve.

Sigh......I am so paranoia now. I will touch his forehead whenever I wake up in the middle of the night (worry that he might have fever) and check his throat whenever he laugh or obligingly open his mouth when I ask 'where is your teeth?' (to check for throat infection and blisters).

Enjoying his carousel ride at the mall before he had the fever

It Was Ear Infection Lah

2008-03-12T20:57:00.001+08:00

21 months, 2 weeks and 5 days old.....

The fever came back on Thursday evening, 6 March 2008. Needless to say, we made another visit to the paed. When I picked Ethan up at the daycare, I felt his body was warm. Bad sign! Checked his temperature once we reached home and it was 38.9C. Gave him medicine at 6.30 p.m. and called the clinic to make appointment.

Ethan has developed fear for doctors. I don't know why because the paed. is very friendly and gentle. When we arrived at the clinic, he was all ok and happy. He loves to be surrounded by children. But when we were called to the waiting room, he started to recognise things and asked his daddy to open the door and wanted to get out of the room. Things got worse when we went to the adjoining room to see the paed. The moment he saw the paed. he held on very tightly to his daddy and refused to look at the paed. The cry and wailing started when the doctor took his temperature. After checking his temperature, ears and throat, the doctor confirmed that it's ear infection and prescribed antibiotics for him. I think it's the third time for Ethan.

He was on the road of recovery after taking the antibiotics - but it's only his health not emotion. After this episode of sickness, Ethan became extremely CLINGY and 'UNREASONABLE'. He also developed a liking to cry whenever his wish was not fulfilled. He was never...NEVER... a 'cry' baby. Before this, he will only whine whenever he's unhappy or in pain but now, tears came rolling down his cheek within a second.....YES! ONE SECOND when things did not go his way. A sign of terrible two?

He refused to sit on the car seat (at the rear) and wanted to sit on the front passenger's seat. I gave up and put him in front with the safety belt strapped on him. He cried and wailed every morning when I drop him at the daycare. He even pulled my shirt and refused to let go. But he will stop shortly after I left. I witnessed that so I was kind of assured that he will be ok even though I look like a cruel mum, who left her son despite the crying and shirt pulling. I'm sure whoever saw the situation will think I'm a blardy cool blood mother. In that moment, I felt that way too.

I was late for work EVERY single morning since last Monday because I couldn't get up in the morning (due to the frequent wake-up at night) and Ethan refused to let go of me at the daycare. The worst was last Friday when I reached the office 1 hour late because I tried to settle him down before I left. Whoever came close or called out his name, he will cry. Tried various methods but all FAILED. In my last attempt, I sat with him on the swing for a good 15 minutes. In the end, he still cry when I left. FUTILE efforts.

Down With Fever, Flu and Cough

2008-03-05T16:06:00.007+08:00

21 months, 1 week & 5 days old....

I think everytime after I said something good about Ethan, immediately something bad will happen. Just like the old folks said, "Don't compliment a child in front of him". I have to believe it now. I mentioned that Ethan's health has improved tremendously in the previous post. Then, he was already down with fever last Saturday.

I was attending a good friend's wedding tea ceremony in the morning and around noon I sms my sister to ask about Ethan. My mum babysat Ethan and my sister and niece were there as well. And I got a bad news! Ethan had fever and was given medicine. So I rushed back without a second thought. Me and hubby were to attend the wedding reception in the evening but I was prepared to abandon the plan. At around 4 p.m., the fever came back and I gave him another round of medicine. By 6.30p.m., he was ok and active as usual. So, we went ahead with the plan. Check with my sis on his condition and he was ok, no fever. At around midnight, the fever came back and we took him to his paed. the very next morning.

The last time Ethan went to see this paed (excluding immunisation) was in September 07 due to fever and diarrhoea. This time, no throat infection but he has to take 4 types of medicine - fever, sensitive nose, cough and phlegm. Luckily, Ethan has no problem in taking medicine (touch wood!). In fact he likes them. Choi Choi Choi!!

Jeeez......I can't recalled what exactly happened on Sunday after we visited the paed. Ok, fast forward a little. Monday.....can't recalled too. I only remembered I slept with him for the last few nights and kept on checking his temperature and he was ok. The fever came back yesterday at around 4 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Today, when Ethan woke up, he was SUPER cranky. He had very mild fever (less than 37.5 C) and his lips were all red like Snow White. I managed to take my bath but after that, he was a KOALA! Refused to let go of me and didn't want Daddy. When Daddy came closer he will SMACK Daddy and say NO! So, I decided to take EL and Daddy went to work. But he cried when Daddy left for work. Sigh...

I sat with him all the time watching his favourite VCDs. Then, he wanted to move around but wanted me to carry him instead. So, I carried him and walked around. When I wanted to sit, he CRIED! I was so helpless. Don't know what to do with him. Thank goodness he did not demand me to drink his milk from the bottle like what happened to this mummy. He looked so moody and sad. Then, I asked him "Do you want to go to Kakak?" He smiled with a nod and said "Kakak ah! Wan ah! kakak..." Off we went to Kakak (the daycare).

When we arrived his friends were playing at the lawn. He was happy and I put him on the swing together with two other girls. When I walked away to put his bag and sign in, he cried a little but stopped shortly after that. I came out to find him sitting quietly on the swing in the same position, looking blankly at other kids. My heart sank even though he did not cry. It was not his usual self. He would be all over the place if he is well.

After dropping him at the daycare (around 9a.m.) I went to the Chinese Medical Hall to buy some herbs to cool his body down. Thanks to Darren's mummy. I already had something in mind. When I asked the senseh what to boil for children of around 2 years old for heaty, he said the same thing - "Ling yong". Cost RM10 per (small little) pack and I was advised to boil 2 packs with 5 bowls of water. Tapau noodle for my brunch and went straight home to boil the thing for Ethan. I was told to boil it for around 2.5-3 hours. While waiting for it, I did some house chores - laundry, mop the floor, changed the bedsheet, watered my dying plants, etc. Since I only took half day off, I sent the herbs to the daycare and went to work.

I hope he gets better by now. By the way, there is no improvement on his flu and cough since Saturday.

It has been 4 months....

2008-02-22T00:38:00.005+08:00

21 months old.....

.....since I last updated on Ethan's progress on this blog.

Height and weight:
Anyway, I didn't measure his weight and height since the last 2-3 months because I'm not as worried about his development as before. He now (thank God) eats well, drinks well, sleeps well and plays well too. When he was younger, he fell sick very often. No kidding, every month we visited the paed, sometimes twice or more. At one point, I felt so embarrassed for going back to the paed so frequently. Why my son was unwell all the time? Am I a bad mother? Can't I keep him in a better shape? I kept asking myself all these things. However, since he hit the 1-year-old mark, his health improves a lot. Thanks to the Scott's Emulsion and Colostrum capsules I give him.

Speech/Langauage Development:
He can now easily pick up simple words that we taught him and he loves to talk (not in front of strangers though). Some new words he picked up:

moon = moon
gar = star
sin = raisin
nana = banana
apool = apple
ah-wer = flower
shoo = shoe
bly = butterfly
bear bear = bear
ish = fish
gag = scared (will say it while patting his chest)
poot = when he lets out gas
bess = press (he likes to press on the door bells)
da gung gung = 'tai seong goong' (too much mahjong sessions with mummy)
sig = sit
walk = walk
seek or oi oi = sleep
goog = drink water

He knows most of his body parts and when asked, he will point to them. He knows where are/is his:

ears
nose
eyes
head
leg
hand
tummy

Ethan showed off his skill in the video below, which was taken on 15 December 2007. I just realised I kept saying 'yeayy' in the video. Actually I always say that or clap my hands whenever he did things right just to reward him :-)

I bought him a book on animals in the jungle for his first birthday and I taught him the sound made by some of these animals. Now, when I asked him (while pointing at the picture) 'what the monkey says' he will say 'oo oo oo'. Others are
bird: jii jii jii
snake: ss ss
lion: aaaauuu
tiger: aaaauuu

Will buy another book on animals in the farm for him.

Food Intake:
2 times solid (porridge or rice) and 4 times milk (7 oz. per feed) per day. I'm happy he's taking more milk now and he can finish them most of the time. Comparing to the last update when he was 17 months old, he only took 4-6 oz per feed with the same number of feed per day.

Emotion/Character:
He is definitely showing a lot of terrible-2 signs and throws a lot of tantrum when he is with us. With other people, he behaves and is manageable. When we go out, he likes to walk unguided. If we insist on holding his hand, he will kneel or squat until we let go. Another option will be to scoop him up and carry him. He struggles of course.

Dexterity:
He also likes to feed himself using the cutleries but most of the time the food will end up on his body, table or floor. So 'malu' when we have to leave the restaurants with a major mess on the floor and table.

Favourite Songs/Shows:
When we ask him what he wants to watch, he will tell us. If we play the wrong CD, he will ask for the one he wants until we change it to the right one. Those he knows are:

Noo-noo = Teletubbies (remember how afraid he was when he first saw it? He likes it very much now)
Ai-yoo = Old McDonald's song
aa-nee = Barney