Diaperless At Night

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 :-).