Leisure Evenings

As Ethan grows, life becomes better. When he started to take porridge, I had to rush home and cooked porridge for him while hubby will 'tapau' for us. After taking my own dinner, I will feed Ethan at around 7-7.30 and clean him up before tucking him to bed. Sometimes, I will just doze off together with him as early as 8pm.

Now, he will take porridge at the day care twice a day and I don't have to rush home to cook for him anymore. Sometimes, we will fetch him and go out for dinner. By the time we reach home, it will be around 7pm and before long, Ethan will be zzzzzzz.

The last two evenings were really good. On Wednesday after work, I fetched Ethan and reached home at 6pm. Hubby alredy at home with the packed dinner. I told him I wanted to swim and he brought Ethan down strolling at the pool side while I complete my laps in the pool. After that, we went home and I went to shower while hubby fed Ethan milk. By the time I came out from the shower, Ethan already zzzzzzzz and my favourite tv programme just started at 7pm. Very good ler... So, I eat while watching tv without any disturbance. Hmmmmm.....really enjoyable.

Last night, I went straight home after work. Hubby already packed Ethan's stuff and was waiting for me while I took a quick shower. We wanted to go out to look for a sideboard for the dining area. Our dining table is small and we need more space for food during Ethan's birthday party. So, I suggested that we buy a sideboard. Apart from the party, we also need more cabinets to store things. After the shower, we went to pick up Ethan and reached there at 6pm. Then, we went for dinner before hunting for the sideboard. But, in the end we could not make up our mind because Ethan was making noise. It was 8pm and it's his sleeping time. We decided to go home and see around other places first. After giving Ethan some water and a pacifier, he dozed off within 5 minutes after we got into the car.

TV for Kids

I was talking to my colleague the other day and was gossiping as usual. One of the things that she told me make me wonder how many parents out there are doing it. She told me that her boss doesn't allow the kids to watch tv at all. I'm a person who love to watch tv especially movies and chinese drama. I can study well even I watched tv everyday when I was schooling. So, what harm can a tv cause? Of course, if a kid is glued to the tv day in day out, it's a big no-no lar. But not letting the kids to watch tv is a bit strange for me. We can let them watch tv and at the same time introduce more activities including indoor and outdoor. I think moderation is always the best.

For me, I have started to let Ethan watch tv. I bought a Barney cd for him and he loves the songs. I have started to sing Twinkle Twinkel Little Star to him when he was very young and whenever the song is played from the cd now, he will stay still and give 100% concentration. That's the only time I see him doing that and I love to see it. No other things can keep him so quiet. But I don't let him watch tv everyday lar. It's only one of his activities at home apart from playing with his toys, crawling around and climbing everywhere. I bought a few books for him and tried to read to him but the only thing he likes about the books is biting them. Sigh..

Planning for Ethan's Birthday Party

Ethan's first birthday is coming soon. Though it falls on 22 May, we plan to do it earlier. Parents-in-law will be in town from 5-10 May before they leave for Australia for holiday. We are going to invite family and close relatives only. If we invite all our friends, there will be more than 50 guests. Our house cannot accommodate more than 30 guests.

I have just checked out the cakes from Lillian, who made the wonderful cake for Irfan's birthday. Like Nadia said, my eyes really went 'rambang' looking at the cakes. I went through the photos countless times and finally decided on one. It's going to cost RM150. I have never order such expensive cake before but I think it's worth it. I haven't tell hubby about the price...hehe. Don't know what will be his reaction. Food wise, we will order. Easy.

Other than that, I'm still planning on the deco and birthday present. Need to go out and get some ideas. Is Ikea a good place to get the deco items? On the present, I'm thinking of maybe books, push car or a tricycle. I still have 3 weeks to work on it.

I'm thinking of another smaller party at the day care with all the cutie pies around. It should be fun looking at Ethan surrounded by the toddlers. See how the first one goes first.

Conversation with Ethan

I wonder if Ethan understands what we say now. This morning, he woke up at around 6a.m. and we fed him milk. After finishing, he refused to go back to sleep, so I played with him for a while when natures called. I asked hubby to keep an eye on Ethan and I went to the bathroom. Ethan started crying when he realised that I was gone. So, I have to let the bathroom door opened and talked to him. He saw me in the bathroom but refused to stop crying. Daddy was sitting next to him and talked to him. Tears rolled down his cheek. After I'm done I went back to him and he stopped crying. Fine.

Then, it's time for me to get ready for work. So I tried to talk to Ethan. He was playing with a toy by himself while I was sitting next to him on the bed. The conversation was like this:
Mummy: Ethan....
Ethan: (He turned and looked at mummy.)
Mummy: Ethan, mummy go shower there (I point to the bathroom). Ethan plays here with daddy (pointing to daddy) ok?
Ethan: Wuaaaahhhhhh! (He abandoned his toy and quickly crawled to mummy and hugged mummy).
Mummy: (Can he understand ar????? Nevermind, try again.)
Mummy: Ethan, mummy go shower, you play with daddy lar.
Ethan: Eeeehekhekhekkkkk...........

Seemed like he really understand what I said wor. Then, I asked hubby to take him out to the living hall and play so that I can go shower lar.
Daddy: Come, we go play outside. (He was sitting on the bed)
Ethan: (No response)
Mummy: Bee, you stand up lar.
Daddy: (Stand near the door and held out his hand) Come Ethan, we go out.
Ethan: (Quickly lean towards daddy)
Daddy and Mummy: (Looked at each other)

(He knows his toys are in the living room)

A Little Accident

I received a call from the day care owner, M, last Friday morning. As usual, every time I receive her call, my heart beat will increase by double in split seconds. You know, they won't be calling to tell you that your son was crawling for the first time or your son enjoys the music class. There must be something....something not desirable that have just happened to your son.

So, M told me that there was a red spot on Ethan's left eye. She said it's not very serious but advised me to bring Ethan to the doctor. I wasn't very sure of what happened to Ethan. Being the usual me, I cannot wait until the evening to find out what happened to my baby. I zoomed off to the day care and saw the red spot, more like a blood spot. That worried me. I quickly called the clinic to make an appointment and off we went to see the paed.

The paed said the blood vessels burst and it was caused by trauma. Either Ethan was rubbing his eye too hard or he knocked on something but he's ok and can see things as usual. What a relief. He said the red spot will go away by itself within a week and medication is not necessary. He was perfectly normal that morning and I'm sure he didn't knock on anything at home. So I thought he must have either rubbed his eye too hard or knocked on something at the daycare. On Sunday, we noticed that there was a little greyish area under his left eye. I think this confirmed that he knocked on something lar.

I've been telling myself that kids do get bruises from time to time especially when they start crawling and walking and 'please don't be panick'. But when things like this really happen, I guess I cannot just be cool about it.

Look at the red spot on his left eye.
He was watching Barney at that time.


A little stunt that Ethan likes to perform

Teething Again

Ethan had fever twice last week. It was a mild one. I was worried that he will get viral fever again. Luckily he was ok after taking the medicine. A few days after that, I saw part of a tooth on his lower gum. It was his 7th tooth (the 3rd one on the lower gum). Wonder if the 8th is coming also. Normally he will have two coming out around the same time. He is drooling and still loves to bite.

Whenever I say 'kiss kiss' he will lean over me and open his mouth and then when he touched my lips, he will try to bite. Of course, I will quickly pull out lar. He also likes to bite my shirt, near my shoulder, when I carry him. Most of the time I will just let him bite but now I have to be more careful. Why? Because he accidentally bit part of my arm the other day (see the evidence below). It was more painful than anything else. I can only scream. Not too loud lar, I don't want to scare him also. I cannot slap him either. My tears were nearly rolling down or maybe it actually rolled down, I don't know. Luckily he let go after hearing my scream. When I checked on it, my arm was already bluish red with two bite mark, one up one down. I asked my friend once if her daughter bite when she's breastfeeding. She said it happended before but after telling her not to do so, she stopped biting. I just cannot imagine how to let Ethan knows that he cannot bite if I'm breastfeeding him.

Separation Anxiety

Ethan has been super clingy recently. I think he must be experiencing separation anxiety now. What puzzled me is how come he only clings to me? He doesn't even want daddy. He clings to me like koala bear and will cry if I'm out of his sight. It's even worse during his sleep time. That day, I went to shower leaving him and hubby in the bedroom. He cried and cried and cried until I came out of the bathroom and carried him. He sounded really 'kesian'. The same thing happened the next evening. My heart really melted when I knew he cried for me even when daddy was around. So I teased hubby and said that 'Ethan wants mummy, doesn't want daddy'....hehehe, so wicked. Hubby was like half agreeing half denying. At first he kept quiet and then he said that it will be easier for him. Hmmmm, true or not? No heart ache mer?

I read an article on this, here, and it says never leave a child by sneaking away as it will create more anxiety. Errr, I have been doing this because I thought that's the only way that can prevent Ethan from crying. But of course, I leave after saying goodbye and kissing him without fail everyday. Then, they will carry him (while he grabs onto my clothes tightly) and distract him while I quickly sneak away. Sometimes, I will stay for a while and play with him before sneaking out. At times, I just felt so bad that I have to leave him while he's crying. I wonder if men will feel the same as we mothers do or are we just too emotional. I still remember myself crying on the first day we left Ethan at the day care. I guess I was having separation anxiety too.

No Luck

We went to interview the nannies on Thursday night. Both of them claimed to have 10-20 years of experience in babysitting. The first nanny is quite pleasant. She is taking care of two toddlers at the moment, a 2-year-old girl and a 1-year old boy (turning 2 soon). I don't mind about having other kids around. Her husband has just retired and help her out at home. She agrees to feed Ethan twice a day and wanted to charge RM600/month (Mon-Fri). The only thing that I don't like is the children will be confined to the dining cum kitchen area the whole day and they cook almost everyday. I asked her "What about the children when you cook?" She said "Oh, no problem one, we open the windows, so the smoke will go out". I was like *Errr, not dangerous meh? Children playing there while you cook. Somemore, the kitchen must be oily one mar because you cook so often*. I cannot imagine lar. Even at home we do not allow Ethan to go into the kitchen. No lar.

The second nanny is a very typical 'see lai' (housewife) and is a bit rough. Her husband has also retired and help her out at home. She is taking care of a 3-year-old girl. She said she just wanted another companion, that's why looking for another child to babysit. After saying that, she wanted to charge me RM650/month (Mon-Fri) including two times of porridge per day. Somemore, wanted me to pay deposit to confirm. She said "You know ar, things are very expensive now, gas, tomato, vege". No mention about meat or fish for the porridge. We noticed that the house was not so clean and I spotted her soles were dirty, greyish dark. Ethan is in the crawling stage now and likes to pick up things from the floor and put into his mouth. Aiyerrr, cannot lar. I also asked her "So, you cannot go out lor when taking care of the kids". She said "No lar, I don't go out during weekdays, I don't play mahjong also. Only that sometimes I bring the girl to the morning market". Errrr, something I don't quite like lor. I think I will tell her not to do it with my son if we ever decide to take her. But, judging from her personality, I think she will scold me back if I ever complain anything about her babysitting style.

So, in the end, we decided to reject both of them. In the meantime, we are giving Ethan multivitamins in the hope of boosting his immune system.

Nanny Hunting

Ethan falls sick frequently. I would say once every month on average. Every time he falls sick, my heart really ache and the question 'should I send him to a nanny instead?' always pop up. I know some will ask why we chose day care instead of nanny in the first place? I always got funny look from people when I told them I send Ethan to the day care. You know, that kind of look that tells you that you are a lousy mother, who doesn't bother about her child's welfare. I just brushed it off because I know what I'm doing. Me and hubby have discussed about it.

It's not that we don't want a nanny, but it's difficult to find a good and reliable nanny. I wanted somebody I know or at least someone recommended by somebody I know. I've came across a few advert at my apartment offering babysitting services. It's a piece of A4 paper pasted on the notice board/lift. It's very convenient because either hubby or me can send and pick Ethan up, no need transport. But then, I don't know these people. No doubt I can interview them and look at their place but who knows what happen when we are not around. You know people living in apartment hardly talk to their neighbours. Some more my place is new, just about two-year old. So, how well do we know our neighbours?

Ethan was under my late aunt's care in the first two months after my maternity leave. Then, she said she cannot cope. She was taking care of another boy of around 3 years of age. We were searching high and low for a nanny because I don't want to force my aunt to continue. I knew she had health problem so, I'm scared that something bad might happen. We asked her neighbour but she said she was committed to someone else. Then, my mother recommended me to her neighbour. She said ok at first but pulled out few hours later.

Then, we decided to put Ethan under day care. We knew from the very beginning that the only downside of it is he will fall sick more often. We also know that Ethan falls sick easily. He has a very sensitive nose. We endure that. Flu and cough is common I think. But how about viral fever? diarrhea and vomiting? Hand Foot & Mouth Disease? Ethan is only 10 months old (yeah, today he is exactly 10 months old) and he has been through all these. Is this common? I was told that children will fall sick eventually when they attend school and some said let them build up their immune system earlier because every time they are sick they will build up their immune system. But no parents would like to see a sick child so often. Furthermore, when our babies are sick, parents tend to quarrel more.

Of course, there are many other good things about the daycare. I'm not worry that he will spend the whole day sleeping or watching tv. I've heard stories about nannies as well. At the daycare, he mingles with other kids and has music class and other activities. I would say that Ethan is a very sociable and friendly baby. He is not scared of people.

In case you ask, how about grandparents? Well, my parents-in-law are living in a place across the sea. My mother has backache problem so, afraid to commit herself. I understand that. After all, she raised the three of us, me and my two younger sisters, and I don't want to tie her down again.

I've got two nannies, whom I'm going to see by today or tomorrow. I got the contact of one of them from the paed. She approached the paed. but the paed. told me that he doesn't know this lady personally but can give it a try. The other one from the Mead Johnson forum. I hope we will have better luck this time. I really want Ethan to grow up healthily.