Chicken Pox: Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chicken Pox

2 years & 2 months old.....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Potty Training: Part 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Disciplining a Drama King

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

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

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

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

Bitten By A Girl

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

Our Very Own Photobook

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

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

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

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

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

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

A little insight to my photobook.....

The cover page.

One of the few introductory pages

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

Month to month update

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

Costly Milk Powder

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??