Parenting

During Ethan’s recent checkup at the PD’s, I mentioned to Dr Jessica that I was rather worried about Ethan’s eating habits; that he did not want to eat pieces of meat and vege, but instead only liked the carbs.  I told her I was concerned if he had worms in his tummy.  And that was when Dr Jessica said she was glad I brought it up, because she normally dewormed her patients when they turned 2.

She prescribed Vermox for Ethan, and it was probably a good thing too, because lately he has a bad habit of playing with his mouth and tongue.  And goodness knows what he has touched before that.  The booklet of instructions contained in the Vermox box specifically warned that it should be administered on kids 2 years and over only.  The dosage was 10ml (the entire bottle) and according to Dr Jessica, it had a sticky constituency.

Pete and I were scratching our heads, trying to think of an effective way to feed 10ml of foreign liquid to Ethan, when even 2.5ml of medicine would be met with protests, kicking and screaming.  I know the Vermox is a chocolate flavored one, which is usually okay with kids, but Ethan doesn’t really like chocolate too.

I kept the box of Vermox in the fridge for a few days, and of and on, Ethan would pick up the box out of curiosity and ask me to open it.  We did consider pouring the Vermox mixture into the small plastic cup provided and coaxing Ethan to drink from it, but the whatif was if Ethan pushed away the cup, the whole mixture would be wasted.

Then Pete suggested mixing it into Ethan’s “nenno”.  I was a bit apprehensive at first because the risk was that if he rejected it, then he might reject future feeds of “nenno” too.  But then last night, I took a look at how much 10ml was compared to Ethan’s nightly 6oz feed, and it was rather negligible.

So I bit the bullet, made Ethan’s milk last night with 6oz of warm water, 3.5 scoops of Pediasure and poured the 10ml of Vermox into the mixture.  The 0.5 scoop of Pediasure was a little assurance to offset the smell and taste of Vermox, if any.  I took a whiff of the mixture I had concocted and it smelled vaguely like chocolate milk, though visually it still looked like “nenno”.

After Ethan’s shower, I took him to the room to dress him up in his peejays.  Gave him his milk when he asked for it, and sang him a few songs.  While singing “The wheels on the bus”, I mentally kept track of the decreasing amount of milk in the bottle.  Halfway through “Thumbkin”, and he was almost done.  I sang a few more nursery rhymes, complete with actions, and voila!  He polished the entire bottle of milk

….together with the Vermox

Scrap Credits
Berrylicious kit from A work in progress 

Accesorizing definitely has its advantages. In addition to giving my outfit added pizazz, I found out that accessories can double up as items to occupy a toddler’s fidgety hands.

A few weeks ago, when we attended BIL’s wedding dinner in Sungai Petani, I wore a black tube dress and a shawl, and as an afterthought, I threw in my 12 silver bangles, bought aeons ago at that place called Isetan. Pssssstttt…this is THE place for accessories, people, because despite the long period of time these bangles have been hibernating in my drawer, not one of them were discolored. Every one of them was as good as new.

So wore them I did. Little did I know that Ethan would be so very fascinated with them. At our dinner table, when he had finished all his snacks, he suddenly spotted my bangles and reached for them. He would remove them from my arm one by one and put them on his arm. Then when he was done with all of the 12 bangles, he would jiggle his arm up and down, creating a nice jingly sound. Then he would take them out one by one again and put them back on my arm, and then repeat the entire process.

When I wore a simple chunky bangle the following night, he also grabbed hold of it and pretended it was a tambourine. I know that’s what he was thinking, cos he was shaking it very much like how we would play a tambourine, and he had been watching Baby Einstein’s Meet the Orchestra a lot.

So is it any wonder why I am so into accessorizing these days? But be careful though, if you are wearing those delicate dangling earrings. Just be sure your toddler doesn’t yank them off!

Scrap Credits
Always Welcome kit from Kelly Puddy
The Promise Collection Alphas from Shabby Princess Designs
Doodle Me Big doodles from Mikkel Paige Original
Monogram ampersand & cluster from Sugarplum Paperie
Word Art - 3 from fei-fei’s stuff  

Getting Ethan to bed is a routine for us now.  He takes his shower at about 8-ish and then has his “nenno” while I dress him up in his peejays.

Then, he will get his fair share of word videos, where he repeats the words he sees.  Sometimes he prefers a good Barney DVD to while his time away.  He kinda knows that he is only allowed to watch the TV after his bath, and so when we undress him and tell him it’s time to bathe, he will very obediently run to the bathroom.

Anyway, after watching his videos, I will tell him it’s time for bed, and he will either walk to the room on his own and wait for us to open the door for him, or if he is in a “manja” mood, he will ask us to carry him into the room.

He will then roll around on the bed, and sometimes, he will only want Mommy to be there with him.  In this scenario, he will push Daddy away gently, wave goodbye and even give a flying kiss to Daddy

Then he will want to hug me to sleep.  There were a few times where I told him to hug his pillow to sleep instead, explaining to him that Mommy will hug my pillow and Ethan will hug his pillow.  Well, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.  But in the middle of the night, if he wakes up because of a nightmare, he will need to be hugged and comforted to sleep.  Even in the mornings, if Ethan wakes up and I am not in bed, he will go over to his Daddy and hug him instead.

I know he will soon outgrow his hugging needs, but I am not sure if I am ready to let go yet…because I’m sure you know how therapeutic a hug can get, huh?  I guess I’ll cherish it as long as it lasts…

Last weekend was a busy busy one for all of us. Pete’s brother, Patrick, got married and so of course, we were rushing here, there and everywhere. I figured instead of boring everyone with a step by step chronicle of events, I’d do a story snippet ala Rinnah, and let the pictures do some of the talking too.

On Friday evening, we headed for Sungai Petani for the dinner reception hosted by the bride’s side. I was working from home that day, and Pete was on leave, so he picked Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s at about 4:00p.m., came back and after freshening up and donning dinner attire, we were on our way. We arrived at the bridge at about 5:00p.m., it was already slightly jammed and drizzling too, but thank goodness, the traffic was moving. On hindsight, we actually made the right decision to leave about 5:00pm and not earlier; my SIL who left Penang for SP at 3:00p.m. only arrived at 5:15p.m. because there was a bad jam on the bridge when she left.

Now, we soon discovered that SP is a town with many many MANY traffic lights and only ONE main road, so although we arrived at the SP (Selatan) exit at about 6:00p.m., we only reached our intended destination at 6:30p.m.ish. All the cars congregated at that one main road and there were non-intelligent traffic lights ALL the way.

This is the very very simple bento set I prepared for Ethan, just in case he got hungry before dinner started, which he did. It’s yummy slices of steamed Italian-flavored sausages, and star-shaped cheese slices. Ethan has just started to say “STAR”, so I figured this was a good shape to make the cheese into.

Here he is enjoying his sausages. That kept him still for a bit. Unfortunately the star-shaped cheese slices had sorta melted into the container, so it wasn’t that appetizing any more.

Ethan sportingly paused for a moment whilst eating to pose with Mommy and Daddy for a family shot too!

And when he was all nicely fed and full of energy, Ethan wandered to the nearby stage to make sure everything was all right. Here he is, being mighty intrigued with the screen that was projecting my BIL’s wedding studio photos. I can’t tell if Ethan was fascinated by the photos being displayed on the screen or the fact that he was creating all the shadows. And when the entertainer danced and sang on stage, Ethan would perform his own personal brand of dancing too. You can imagine how tired Pete and I was, having had to take turns accompanying him.

And here’s another shot of my little energizer bunny! Just look at how happy he is!

The next day (Saturday), we took Ethan for the church wedding after lunch. Pete had to walk around with him most of the time because I was cantoring for the event. And our boy just would not sit still! After the church ceremony, we drove to Patrick’s house to prepare for Ethan’s *duties*.

While waiting for the bridal car to arrive, Ethan suddenly heard the barking of a dog, and he then realized it came from the golden retriever next door. Here he is standing at the adjoining wall, catching a glimpse of the “daw-dawg”, and of course, being all cheeky about it.

Ethan’s first task was to *open* the door of the bridal car, and as soon as I was told the car was arriving in a few minutes, we put on his shoes and socks and waited. Daddy also had to readjust his tie Since Ethan cannot yet open the heavy door on his own, Pete carried Ethan and guided him to open the door when the car arrived. And for completing the task successfully, Ethan received an angpow.

As soon as he received the red packet, his good friend the golden barked again, so here’s Ethan posing with his angpow and articulating, “daw-dawg”.

After the tea ceremony, Ethan shook hands with his Ah Chek and Ah Chim, and got a second angpow. Then it was time for his second task of the day: the potty punch!

Although Pete and I didn’t have this potty punch tradition during our wedding, I vaguely knew what was supposed to be done. I told Pete to guide Ethan to punch the potty and collect the angpow inside, which was precisely what he did. Pete held Ethan’s had and punched right through. Inside there was an angpow and two oranges. And true to how I raised my boy not to be materialistic, he reached for the oranges! Lawl. So all in all, Ethan got THREE angpows for all his efforts

No wonder our boy was all tired out after that, and slept for most part of the afternoon. This is a picture of him snoozing away, and also making the sign of “cat” at the same time.

Ethan woke up at about 6:15p.m. and we had to get ready for the cocktail and dinner reception at gHotel at 7:00p.m. Gave him a quick shower and got him dressed. Touched up my own makeup and we were all set to go. I didn’t have any sausages left, so I brought along his ABC biscuits to while his time away while waiting for dinner to start. And for the record, our boy polished clean the entire Tupperware of biscuits.

Ethan enjoyed the prawn crackers served during the cocktail before dinner, in fact he enjoyed them so much, he couldn’t even be bothered to smile while posing with Ah Ma and Kong Kong.

The gHotel captain approached me and asked if I would like some buns for Ethan. Happily, I said yes. And 10 minutes later, these were served. They smelled really good and were warm and nice too. I waited for the buns to cool down a tad and buttered one for Ethan, but unfortunately he had other things on his mind.

This! Look…..he was all excited about the stage again, and had to constantly “check” that all the wiring was set up perfectly well. Climb up, climb down…. and even after he pooped and I changed him, he resumed his exploring antics.

What a night, and what a weekend to remember! Congratulations Pat and Christine!

Last Monday morning, Ethan and I woke up nice and early, and got ourselves ready to go to the airport to fetch Daddy. Daddy had been away in the States for two weeks now, was supposed to be back on Sunday, but because of some flight delay, he only arrived on Monday morning. I had been telling Ethan about Daddy’s return and I could tell he understands. When he woke up on Monday, he looked over to Daddy’s side of the bed and said “Daddy!”

Anyway, off we went to the airport. The last time I took Ethan along to fetch Pete from the airport, Ethan was hardly 2 months’ old. But the last time Ethan stepped foot in the airport was during our Singapore trip last year. Upon arrival, Ethan pulled my hand and headed straight for the escalator, but I told him I wanted to check first if Daddy’s plane had landed…and it had! So I told him we’d only go one round up the escalator and down the stairs, but because Pete had to wait a long time for his luggage, I had to take the restless Ethan up and down a second time.

When at last Ethan saw his Daddy coming through the arrival gates, his lips curled up in the sweetest smile imaginable, he gave his Daddy a hug and a kiss and reached his hands out to him. Pete had to carry Ethan around after that. Hahaha…. Ethan kept looking at his Daddy over and over again just to check that he was really back.

It’s definitely great to have Pete back again. This time round, Daddy really went overboard getting clothes for Ethan. Pete said that had I been in US, I would have bought even more!

I especially like the adorable pajamas he bought. It’s made snug-fitting on purpose because the material is flammable, and instead of the traditional long sleeve and long pants pjs, these were short-sleeved tees and shorts which are simply adorable and cute. Don’t you think Ethan would look cool in them? Gonna try them on him tonight…

For lunch, we went to the Fatty Loh chicken rice shop in Nagore Road (because the one in Fettes Park was closed and *someone* just HAD to have chicken rice). When we were almost done, Ethan asked to get out of his baby chair and made a straining face. Immediately, I hurried him off to the toilet at the back of the shop. Took off his jeans and Itti Bitti D’lish diapers (which were still unsoiled) and there and then, it marked the first time ever I helped Ethan poop in a public restroom. Cleaned him and dressed him up again, and we were on our way. So proud of him.

And since Pete’s return, Ethan has been simply overjoyed. Walking up and down escalators with Daddy, wrestling with Daddy in bed and pulling Daddy to the swimming pool were just some of the activities he indulged in.

Then when Ethan was ready to call it a night, he laid down on the bed quietly, looking at Daddy with so much love, still taking it all in that his Daddy was indeed back home.

We’ve missed you Daddy…and we are SO GLAD you are back home

Today is Mother’s Day and I am technically allowed to have some extra shuteye in the morning, yes?  Obviously *someone* was not informed.

Ethan boy, even though you got up at 6:30a.m. and forced me to go out to the living room with you to watch Barney, I love you.

Even though you weren’t too keen on drinking the warm milk I prepared for you, it’s okay.  At least you took the oats I cooked, mixed with a little bit of Frosties. 

And when we went to church today, you were fidgety after half an hour and wanted to go out wandering.  Even though you roamed the entire compound of the Wesley Methodist Church with Mommy following you around the slightly muddied field in my heels, I still adore you.  Perhaps because it was a new environment for you to explore.

And when we arrived at Mama’s for lunch, even though you kicked up a fuss and cried at the top of your voice, wanting only Mommy to carry and console you, I love you…for I knew that those were cries of hunger, and sure enough when your favorite tau ewe bak came served with warm rice, you walloped an entire big plate of rice all by yourself.  Thankfully they did not charge for your share of the rice.

Even though you are sometimes a little bit hard to handle, I feel so much love surge into my heart whenever I see you sleeping peacefully.  And when I lie down next to you for our afternoon nap, I thank God for the adorable darling little boy He blessed me with. 

You enjoyed your dinner at Friday’s where Mommy jazzed up your order, by getting you grilled chicken sausages instead of your normal spaghetti.  And although you later went round the restaurant with your red balloon hitting everything that came in your way, we love you.

Ethan, you make motherhood a wonderful and life-changing experience for Mommy…and although I know you sometimes test my patience, I will always cherish and love you. What a splendid Mother’s Day we had together today.

I better get to bed now, in case you decide to wake up *early* again tomorrow morning.  Yes folks, motherhood is definitely a life-changing experience but something I will never ever change in my life.

Happy Mommy’s Day to all the beautiful mommies out there!… and of course to me!

We made an appointment for Ethan to see Ms KE Chia, a speech and language therapist/pathologist at the i-Sports Center in Island Hospital last Friday.  Ethan, now 2 years and 3 months’ old, cannot yet express himself in words, and although some friends have advised that “It takes much longer for boys” and “Soon he will be talking non-stop” and “Just you wait.  One fine day he will start speaking, and you’ll want him to shut up“, we decided to err on the side of caution and bring him in for an assessment all the same.

We chose this speech therapist because when we enrolled Ethan for the parent-toddler class in The Learning Garden, I  noticed that the center was started by Ms Chia’s husband.  Her name sounded familiar, and upon checking the MASH (Malaysian Association of Speech-Language and Hearing) website, I was glad that she is a MASH certified therapist.

We waited for about 20 minutes before the therapist arrived, after which we were ushered into her room.  The major part of the room was filled with toys and books and puzzles, and Ethan immediately went for the ball.  While Ms Chia jotted down some historical details and information from us about Ethan, Ethan busied himself with all the *goodies* that were there.

Ms Chia told us that the first session that day was basically to perform an assessment to ascertain if Ethan was a habitually late talker (which is rather common in boys), or if the speech delay could be due to other factors, of which further therapy would perhaps be neccesary.  She assured us that we had made the right decision in coming over to see her, if anything, to allay our fears and confusion about Ethan’s delay in speech.

Speech delay in kids could be caused by:

• Natural speech delay (more inherent in boys) - no therapy needed, just patience.
• Behavioural issues, of which ADHD was one of the causes - some therapy needed
• Autism - therapy and treatment needed.

She performed a few *tests* on Ethan while playing.  Simple evaluations like calling out to him, and asking him to bring certain toys and also some imitation play.  After the roughly 1.5 hour session, Ms Chia almost certainly ruled out autism, which she said is not likely because:

• Ethan’s other development milestones, such as his motor skills were very good and above average.  She did ask us when he started walking and if he is eating well, all of which was in the “very good” category
• Ethan had fantastic eye contact.  When his name was called, he turned around and looked at her.

However, we will need to test if Ethan is doing things based on situational scenarios or if he really understands it.  For example, if we open the door and say “Ethan, let’s go kai-kai!”, he will run and get his shoes, but whether or not he understands the concept of shoes is a different matter altogether.  What we need to find out is for instance, if Ethan can pick out his shoe amongst a group of other things, if he was asked to do so.

After the assessment, Ms Chia is still inconclusive about her findings on Ethan.  When she asked him to get her the ball while placing the ball and the car together, he doesn’t go and get it.  But he did look at the ball.  Which means he does understand what a ball is.  Why he did not get the ball for her is a mystery.  It could be because he was shy or because of behavioural reasons, i.e. “Why would I want to get the ball for you?  Go get it yourself la!” he might be thinking.

So before we left, Ms Chia gave us a Home Program to try out with Ethan.  It was essential now not to drill the words into him and force him to say it, but to make him understand what the objects really are.  We learnt that speech is something that cannot be forced, but will come naturally when the child is ready.  However, for kids with speech delay, we can do something to intervene and prod them in the right direction by helping them to understand.  For example, if I have a set of pictures of farm animals, and if I ask Ethan to pick out the duck or the chicken, he should be able to give it to me.  He didn’t do it at the session of course, but as I said, we are still not sure if this is a behavioural problem that needs to be addressed.

Anyway, some of the suggestions given for the Home Program are:

To improve listening and attending skills
This includes:

• Bubble play (I bought 6 bottles of bubble solution from Toys R Us last Sunday) - Bubble play will get the kid’s attention and it offers us parents the opportunity to prod him to say words, like “More?” or “Give the bottle to Mommy/Daddy”
• Rolling a ball - “Roll/throw the ball to Daddy/Mommy”.  By the way, Ethan is now beginning to enunciate the word “ball” even more clearly.  He started with “Ba”, then it was “Bor”, and now lately it’s “Ball” (with added emphasis on the L)
• Awareness of environmental sounds - We will need to help him by being his “eyes and ears”. Now whenever I go out and I see/hear birds, I’ll say “Ethan, look at the birds! Tweet tweet!  Can you hear the birds?”  I also sign “bird” when I say it, and I am very happy with the progress, because now whenever Ethan hears the birds singing, he will sign “bird” without my prompting.  And this only after 2 days of teaching him!  Sometimes I don’t even realize there are birdie sounds until I notice Ethan signing “bird”.  This is a positive thing, and it shows that he understands what a bird is, because he is signing it.  Ms Chia was also very happy when I told her that Ethan can sign many words, although he doesn’t say it.  According to her, this shows that he understands and is willing to communicate.
• Finger play - Nursery rhymes with actions, etc.  His current favorite is Itsy Bitsy Spider and One-Two-Buckle-My-Shoe.

To improve imitative skills
Trying to get Ethan to copy what we do.  This is one of the most important steps towards learning.

To improve turn-taking skills
While playing with Ethan, we can take turns doing the same thing.  For instance, taking turns to play the xylophone, and saying, “Okay, Ethan’s/Mommy’s/Daddy’s turn!”  He will have to learn to wait his turn before doing it.  I foresee some difficulty in this one because our boy is quite an impatient chap.  Well, it’s time for him to learn patience then.

To improve understanding of common objects, animals, family members, etc

• Ms Chia suggested making my own flash cards by taking pictures of the objects Ethan often sees. So I will be doing that soon.  Then the options of playing and learning with these cards are endless.  Placing them around the house for a hide-n-go-seek game, matching the cards to the actual objects and so on.
• Wooden puzzles with pictures - The wooden puzzles that Ethan owns now has pictures of animals of which I don’t even know the sounds of (like zebra, hippo, alligator) :P.  So Ms Chia suggested using farm animals instead.  Last Sunday, I bought a wooden Melissa & Doug puzzle with farm animals, and I am currently in the process of training/teaching Ethan to get to know the animals and the sounds they make.  I will say, “Ethan, where is the duck? Quack Quack!” or “Ethan, show Mommy the pig? Oink Oink!” And if he doesn’t respond, I will pick up the correct piece and show/tell him.  So far, after 2 days of education, he is getting the “duck” quite well.  Last night, when I said, “Ethan, give Mommy the duck.  Quack Quack!”  He replied with “da-duck!”

Oh by the way, the understanding and comprehension of objects around the child is more important than say, understanding colors or shapes, which Ms Chia says will come when the child is about 3 years old or maybe 4 (US standards).  Nothing to worry about.

So yeah, I think he is getting there.  Hopefully there will be a vast improvement within the next three months or so.  Pete and I are both very excited about the information we had gained from the therapy session.  Ethan was also tired out after the session, I believe, because he fell asleep in the car on the way back.

Let’s just pray for the best

 
Scrap Credits
A Gift for You papers from Érica Mathia
Rainy Days collection from retrodiva {designs}™
HoldEmUps from Tara Dunstan
Heart doodles from fei-fei’s stuff
Funky stamped alphas from Scraps by Fashiondeeva

Lately, ever since Ethan decided to become more independent, he loves to climb into the back seat of our car on his own. His car seat is fixed behind the co-driver’s seat, so he prefers to walk all the way round to the rear door behind the driver, and he will put his hand on the handle and attempt to open the door. Of course he cannot, just yet. But when we do open the door for him, he will climb into the car on his own, using his upper body strength to push his butt up onto the seat and sit in the back seat, smiling happily as if he has accomplished something.

And here’s where the problem starts. When we try to load him into the car seat, he wouldn’t budge. We have never had a problem with Ethan sitting in the car seat before, simply because he has been trained to do so from birth, but now, he is very reluctant to sit in his leather-trimmed car seat. Little does he know that if he sits on the regular back seat, his view of the outside world from the car would be severely hampered.

So how? Every time it will be a battle. We will try our very best to put him into the seat and strap him in, sometimes using decoys like cellphones to distract him. It has never crossed our minds to give in to his cries though. So however hard it is, we will still put him in the car seat. Safety comes first ma. Once he is in the seat and the car starts moving, he will be okay.

I really hope this is a phase he will outgrow soon. Please. It has even come to the point that we are thinking twice every time we need to go somewhere where we need to reload him in the seat. And I’m not even gonna start thinking about doing it alone. SIGH.

Scrap Credits
Rainy Day Sunday add-on kit from Amy Bleser
Sundance cardboard from designs by krista
Pondlife Alphas from Joanna Cinnamon
Stamp cluster 4 from Lindsay Jane Designs
Ilétait une foi star elements from Petit Moineaux
Star doodle: Doodle Me Big from Mikkel Paige Original

You are my shining star,
the light of my life…
The world can be so dark and gloomy but when you smile, everything is pure sunshine again.
When you giggle, I just want to shout out from the rooftops how much I love you, just for being you.

You are my shining star,
glowing brightly every day in my heart.
You fill my life with so much joy, just by doing little itty bitty things like hugging my leg and never letting go, and then planting a kiss to say you love me so. You hold on ever so tightly to Daddy’s leg, never letting go until he hobbles with you into the elevator.

I love the way you react to the “Otak burung unta lagi kechik daripada matanya” statement. It’s so adorable the way you place your hands on top of your eyes, emulating the little girl in the advert on TV.

I love the way you kick and throw the ball, with such passion, that can only be inherent in the soul of a footballer. Oh, you do slam dunks too, by the way..so perhaps you aspire to be a future NBA MVP too?

All the beautiful colors of the rainbow cannot ever surpass the colorful way you have brightened our lives with everything you do. From the simple little things like cuddling up to sleep with Mommy on the sofa to the not-so-little ones like clasping your hands in prayer position and wishing everyone in church “peace” when the appropriate time came for you to do that…, you really inject such happiness and sincerity into the things you do. You can almost see Mommy beaming with pride and adoration just noticing all the parishioners in church gesturing at how adorable you look doing so.

You have an absolutely delightful sense of humor and you can laugh at yourself in videos I have captured of you. Sometimes you clap in joy too, and you know, you definitely have a great sense of musical rhythm because you can dance and clap to your favorite Barney songs. Someday I know you will sing along too, yeah? Maybe you watch too much TV and DVDs, but you just make us so happy when you prance around, enjoying the music.

You are growing up so fast now. Sometimes you get too naughty and daring for your own good, and Mommy and Daddy will need to step in and reprimand you. But bear in mind that this is all done with LOVE. Regardless, you will always be our darling little boy and our bright, glowing, shining star.

And we will love you forever and always.

Scrap Credits
Odds ‘n’ Ends Seven preview kit from Pam Lefors Designs
Crumpled border from Jess Gordon
Elegant word art (Wonderful Memories) from Bethany
HoldEmUps from Tara Dunstan
Boxed words from Chantal

Last night, on our way back from our family dinner at Queensbay Mall, Ethan got restless in his seat. Maybe he was a little bit tired and sleepy, but he kept on throwing my hand towards my handbag, and I knew it was cos he wanted to view videos I had captured of him with my phone. Oh yeah, the reason I was sitting with him in the backseat was because I had to make sure he didn’t accidentally call overseas with my phone. You see, we had to distract him with my phone while strapping him in the car seat. Nowadays, he prefers to climb into the backseat on his own and would then prop himself jubilantly in the back seat. He would then smile and grin for all to see and refuse in his usual strong manner, to get into his own seat. So that’s why we have to resort to these tactics. He’s still way too young for the seat belt adjuster, otherwise I would have gotten one for him…

Anyway, there we were in the back seat and Ethan was fidgety. I didn’t want to give in to his demands and kept telling him we were already nearing our home. He just wouldn’t listen. Then I suddenly started singing. I think I sang a repertoire of songs; the ABC song, One Two Buckle My Shoe, London Bridge and Head & Shoulders (the latter two are the same tune). He usually claps his hands when I am done, but this time, he clapped his hands and after that reached his hand over to my neck, pulled me close and gave me a sweet, loving kiss right there on my cheek He will kiss me whenever I ask him to give Mommy a hug or kiss, but this time it was the spontaneity of it that caught me off guard.  Nobody had asked him to do it, and he did it out of his own accord…

I didn’t wash that part of my cheek that night…just kidding.

I won I won I won!!!!

Well, not quite the lottery, but something special and luxurious for Ethan. Those of you who have been secretly praying for me to stop getting cloth diapers for him, please stop reading here…but actually I didn’t buy this ma…I got it FREE!!!!
I won a lucky draw contest at the DiapersAsia forum and the prize is one gorgeous Starbunz AIO diaper. There were so many adorable designs to choose from, I had a hard time selecting just one. Finally, I chose the puppy design simply because Ethan was born in the year of the doggie.

I was ecstatic the moment I found out I had won, and even more happy when the diaper came in the mail today, all fluffy and cuddly.
Lookit how gorgeous it is! And don’t you just LURVE the fluffy puppy ears??!!!

It’s supposedly a great diaper for the heavy wetter because it contains two hemp soaker pads, topped with a fleece top to keep moisture away. I can’t wait to try it on Ethan once I’ve washed and dried it.

Thank you Tiny Tapir!

Scrap Credits
Spring Forward mini kit from Eva Kipler
Netter’s Alphas from Scarlet Heels
100% Tampons apostrophe & brackets from [ v.vv ]
Doodles: Doodle Me Big from Mikkel Paige Originals
Boxed words from Chantal

My dearest darling Ethan boy,

Daddy came back from India last Saturday night. After four nights away from us, you were able to hug him once again. Daddy took the cab home from the airport because he didn’t want Mommy to go to the trouble of fetching you to the airport at night and all. I had been telling you that Daddy will be home soon, and while you were enjoying the videos of yourself on Mommy’s cellphone, our doorbell suddenly rang. You climbed down from the couch, curious more than eager, and followed Mommy to the door. The moment you saw Daddy, I could feel your emotions in your eyes…how much you missed him and you even had to do a double take to make sure it was indeed Daddy. I had to reassure you over and over again that it was Daddy, because at first you didn’t look like you believed me. It had, after all, been days that you had not seen him.

Last Tuesday, while you were still at Ah Poh’s, Mommy fetched Daddy to the airport. He had travelled to India on a short business trip. I asked you not to worry, because he won’t be away for long, and he will be back on Saturday.

Daddy told you the night before he left that he would be away from home for a while and you pretended to ignore him then. But on the morning of the day he was to leave, when he carried you to Ah Poh’s door, said buh-bye and told you to be a good boy while he was away, you grunted and let out a whine of despair. Although I know you still do not know how to express yourself in words, I can feel that you missed him. In fact, we both did miss him a lot, didn’t we, Ethan boy?

Please don’t be angry with Daddy for being away. It was only for a few days anyway and did you see how happy he was to hold you in his arms again? He hasn’t been travelling for a long while now, the last time being when you were about 3 or 4 months’ old. You probably didn’t realize it then. But you have been a good boy, and I can tell in your eyes that you were looking for him for the past few days. You looked ever so confused when you could not find him anywhere at all. Well, he is home now, so you go knock yourself out having fun with him, yeah?

The night that he left, it was just you and me home alone. Daddy had suggested that I have my dinner and my shower first before picking you up, and I thought that was an excellent idea. It allowed me more time to spend with you, without running the risk of being lethargic.

It’s a good thing too that your Ah Ma and Kong Kong from Ipoh were here from the second night onwards. They miss you so much too, you know. I’m so glad you had a lot of fun with them both.

Since Daddy returned, you have made his day with all your giggles and funny antics. The Sunday morning after he came back home, when Daddy woke up, I asked you to give Daddy a good morning hug, and you ran over to him, put your arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheeks. I thought that was simply adorable.

All my love,
Mommy

Cloth diapers, to be precise! :) 

I’ve been putting off my cloth diapering plan for Ethan for such a long time.  My original plan was to have him fully on cloth diapers as soon as possible.  And I am ashamed to say that I have been so bad at keeping to that.  Last year, I bought him four pieces of megacute cloth diapers, but that was about it.  Sometimes they would leak because of the way I put them on him and I would be frustrated.  So I kept putting my plan off.  And then lately, the diapers began to stink big time.  Even after just an hour of putting them on, the smell was rather revolting.  Which led me to suddenly remember that I probably need to strip wash them.

And strip wash the diapers I did.  After that, the diapers worked perfectly again and my love for cloth diapers was reignited!  And thanks to so many many emails back and forth with my diaper guru, Christene, I have learnt so many additional terms and jargons about cloth diapers to educate me for life!  I recently ordered more diapers, different brands this time, just to have a variety and feel of all of them, and of course to satisfy my insatiable appetite.

I got two diapers from Sandra for starters.  The first one is a My Precious Baby fitted diaper, with side snaps.  Christene recommended this for the heavy wetter, i.e. Ethan, and I absolutely LOVE this diaper!  My Precious Baby diapers are handmade diapers made by a WAHM in the USofA.  These gorgeous diapers are made from velour, which is 80% cotton and 20% polyester, and they look so LUSH!  My Precious Baby diapers have 2 layers of velour and 3 layers of thirsty hemp fleece sewn into the diaper.  There’s even an additional piece of soaker included for the sake of the heavy wetter.  What I really love about this diaper is how the colors and prints coordinate beautifully.  I ordered the purple and orange combo diaper with a zoo animal print soaker that matches the diaper perfectly.  I was fortunate that Ethan, being of small built, can still fit into an M size, because it was the only size available in this color combination.

Can you tell how adorable they look?  I fell in love with it instantaneously!  And I was pleased to note how trim the fit is!  Even with the diaper cover (fitted diapers need a cover by the way, but it is really up to individual preference), it still doesn’t look bulky.  This is really a diaper which looks absolutely gorgeous and is fully functional at the same time!

Then I also got one Drybees pocket diaper for Ethan.  These are fastened with velcro, so I wanted to evaluate them before I got some more to let Mrs Tan use during the time Ethan is with her.  I’ll have to say I am reasonably satisfied with this diaper.  It’s not as smooth and soft as Bumwear though, but putting it on is a breeze.  Unfortunately this has leaked a couple of times already, and I am now determining if it is because I got it in too large a size for Ethan.  One thing I have to say though…Drybees diapers come in fantastic prints!

Lastly, because I wanted to make up the minimum order of RM200 to qualify for free shipping, I also ordered some Wahmies cloth wipes, also thanks to Christene’s recommendation.  There were so many pretty prints to choose from that I had a hard time zeroeing in on my final selection.  I plan to use these as much as possible to replace the wet wipes, and in fact, while waiting for my order to arrive, I had already begun using wet cloth hankies when we go out, instead of using wet wipes.  These Wahmies cloth wipes though, are really softer compared to the conventional hankies, because these have flannel on the print side and soft cotton sherpa terry on the other.  What luxury! 

And now, I am excitedly awaiting another batch of diapers to arrive, all the way from USA, this time!  Yes, I know some people might say it will be time for Ethan to start toilet training soon, but why delay putting him on cloth diapers?  Besides, I am only now starting him on the big business toilet training, so he will definitely still need to be on diapers.  In any case, it sure feels good going green!

I took the second half of the day off from work to spend some time with Ethan on his birthday.  Unfortunately, due to work commitments, Pete could not make it, so it was just my boy and me.   I picked Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s place after lunch and my first stop was at the D’View hair salon.  Ethan was due for a haircut and I figured if there weren’t too many customers around, we could try and see if he could get his New Year haircut then.  Pretty ambitious of me to attempt this on my own, but you know me, stubborn as a mule and determined as ever.  It was Ethan’s first time there, and at first he was a little shy to enter the shop.  But then Cindy the hairdresser offered him a cracker and turned the TV on to the Playhouse Disney Channel and he was hooked immediately.  Smiling away, Ethan allowed me to help him put on the cute little cloak around his neck, to ensure most of the hair wouldn’t fall on his shirt.  Then he obediently sat on my lap while Cindy did the magic.  After a very neat shave, all the while with Ethan munching away happily on the cracker while kicking his legs to the Mouskadance tune, Ethan looked very macho-like with his new haircut.  Well, now we know where to go for a fuss-free, scream-free, struggle-free haircut for Ethan, all for RM10.  See, I could even manage to snap a few shots for proof.

Next on the agenda, Ethan and I went to Gurney Plaza.  He was delighted to play at the children’s playground and today, he finally learnt how to slide down a slide the correct way.  Previously he would climb up the slide and then climb down without sliding.  Today, I showed him how to do it, by putting him at the top of the slide and then pushing him gently down.  That was it.  Over and over again, he would go up and down the slide.

We also made a stop at MPH, where Ethan had a good time playing *catch* with me.  :P  Then we went down to the basement where I bought a drink for us both to share.  Before leaving the mall, we made a final stopover at the children’s playground again.  You know why…

After resting for a while at home, and after he had had some milk, I decided to take Ethan downstairs for a swim.  He got all excited when I dressed him up in his swimsuit, and promptly brought his float to me.  We had a great time swimming, Ethan and me.  Ethan enjoyed the water so much, he even wanted to drink it on purpose, much to my horror!  And me, I managed to get SOME form of exercise done, at least for my lower body.  Heh.

We then washed up and got ready for dinner.  We picked Daddy up from work and headed on to Friday’s.  Ethan had his favorite spaghetti, of course, and everyone could tell he was enjoying himself tremendously.  We didn’t get the servers to sing the birthday song for him though, because Pete was concerned that Ethan might not be ready for their loud singing just yet.

What a fantastic day for all of us!  I’m sure Ethan enjoyed himself very much too, so much that he didn’t even have his daytime nap.  Happy birthday darling Ethan boy!

 
Scrap Credits
Choco-Noisette from Kawouette
Boxed words from Chantal
Delight Series Red Inked Alphas & Let’s Scrabble Alphas from Foxy Designs

Ethan woke up today at about 7:15a.m., yawned and stretched and when he saw me, he sat up in bed, reached his arms out towards me, and gave me a big hug. I put on his Baby Einstein’s Meet the Orchestra for him to watch for a while, and he said “wee wee” (that’s how he says “TV”).

You’re two today, baby…. and your smile will always melt my heart. 

I’m so excited because I have a date with him this afternoon, just the two of us.  I am taking the second half of today off to spend some quality birthday time with my boy.

Happy, happy birthday, Ethan boy, with all the hugs, love and kisses in the world!

Scrap Credits
Wild Flower Holiday Quickpage from Gina Huff
Rough & Tumble Add On elements & alphas from Flergs

A few months ago when I called my girlfriend Audrey, she told me that every Saturday her almost-4-year-old daughter and her indulged in a mother-and-daughter bonding session.  They would go to a nearby mall in the morning, do some grocery shopping, and then have lunch together.  When I told Pete about this, I expressed how I longed for a similar experience with Ethan… well, that experience might not be too far off…

Yesterday evening, Pete had dinner plans with his colleagues.  So I had two options: one was to have dinner myself first and then pick Ethan up from the sitter’s, or two: to pick him up and hop on over to Queensbay Mall for dinner, per our usual Friday routine. 

I opted for the latter.

I was working from home yesterday, so I left our house around 6:15p.m. for Mrs Tan’s place.  Ethan was very excited to see me, even to the extent of refusing to allow Mrs Tan to carry him to the car, preferring to stick to me like a koala bear.  Surprisingly though, although he looked happy and recognized the route to the mall, no excited panting accompanied his joy.  Nevertheless we arrived and I was happy that there were plenty of parking lots available.

After reading about Susan and little Samuel’s pleasant dining experience at Wong Kok Kitchen last week, and since we have never tried the food there, I thought we might as well give it a shot.  The restaurant was not packed and we were promptly seated, with Ethan of course occupying a very familiar Ikea white and silver high chair.  I ordered the wanton mee and the char-siew pastry puff: stuff I figured Ethan would like to eat too. 

He seemed very happy in the restaurant, even kicking his legs in rhythm to the music being played.  With his cheeky smile and strategically positioned high chair (he was facing the counter area), it didn’t take long for him to command the attention of the servers at the restaurant.  I was rather astonished that he didn’t scream loudly in protest when they all started looking and smiling at him, instead he smiled back, well sometimes he showed his cheeky toothy grin… and when he was too overwhelmed, he lowered his head and peered shyly at them.  He did take a few spoonfuls of the mee too, but not the pastry.

Overall, it was a fun experience for both Mommy and Ethan. He was at his bestest behaviour and I was very proud of him …actually, the first time I’d taken him out for a meal myself :)  Pete was a tad concerned if I would be able to handle Ethan on my own in the mall, but his fears were unfounded because Ethan is always in a good mood in the mall… and that just makes everything so much easier…

After dinner, we went for a walk to Borders to get a copy of January’s Malaysian Women’s Weekly… here’s why…

What a fabulous way to start our weekend, eh?

This evening when I went to pick Ethan up from Mrs Tan’s after work, I was aghast to discover that the swell under his eye as a result of *something* that bit him had become so much worse.  Ethan didn’t look like he was bothered with his swollen right eye though (as you can see from the pictures), and every time he smiled, his right eye would close up.  It was quite pitiful to see him with the swollen eye, although it was apparent that he wasn’t in any form of pain.  Nevertheless I decided to err on the side of caution and take him to see Dr Jessica, who coincidentally was on night duty tonight.

I had to take Ethan to the hospital on my own tonight because Pete had a dinner function with his company.  I grabbed a quick dinner at home and rushed to the hospital (okay, I drove carefully… :P) .  We were fourth in line … not too bad.  Guess where our boy insisted on going up and down on?  Yep… the escalators!  Since I was the only one there with him, I had no choice but to bring him up and down and at the same time, keep a lookout for when it was our turn.

Finally we were called in but the doc had so much trouble checking him.  He simply wouldn’t open his eyes for her to check them.  Dr Jessica prescribed Piriton syrup, which was an immediate relief for the allergic reaction, and told me to continue applying the fucicort thrice daily. We were also to keep monitoring his temperature in case it shot up.  I requested the nurse to help me feed the Piriton to Ethan since I was sure I would not be able to do it on my own at home.  Surprisingly all of the syrup went in, although Ethan put up a struggle.

I then took him back home, gave him a warm shower and got him ready for bed.  I waited till he fell asleep before I applied the fucicort.  I pray that he will be all better tomorrow morning after a good night’s sleep tonight.

Ethan is now on the road to recovery. Breaks our hearts to see him suffer the way he did, but I was so glad to wake up on Sunday morning, being greeted by his adorable and cheeky grin.

On Saturday and Sunday, his stools were still primarily watery, I suppose due to the fact that his diet consisted mainly of breast milk only. But I am hoping that with the additional solids he is slowly taking, his diarrhoea will be gone really soon. His appetite has not returned to normal yet, but he took some siew mais and chicken koay teow on Saturday. Funnily enough though, he didn’t want any siew mai on Sunday.

As it turned out, Pete and I were invited to be witnesses at a friend’s wedding in church on Sunday, so we had to drop Ethan off at Mrs Tan’s place for a couple of hours that afternoon. I expressed my concern that he was not eating much yet, and asked Mrs Tan to cook some mee suah for him. When we picked him up, she told us that he happily devoured the mee suah and bread also! So we tarpowed some of the mee suah back home for his dinner.

Guess what? Our boy didn’t want any of the mee suah, but instead chose to share some of my wan ton mee dinner. Maybe he associates mee suah only with Mrs Tan’s house?

He looks ok now, doesn’t he? These are some photos I took yesterday…. pretty blur because he kept moving up and down on the couch. It’s just that he needs to regain his appetite really soon.

We should have known. Ethan hardly ever overeats. And that first incident of vomiting turned out to be the beginning of a nightmare for all of us.

Chronology of Events

Thursday
8:30p.m. vomited, with slight diarrhoea. Vomitus contained the rice he had taken for dinner.
Breastfed him and gave him a little bit of water. He fell asleep soon after.

Friday
2:30a.m. Woke up and vomited on our bed and on me. There were a few grains of rice, more milk and water in the vomitus.
Cleaned ourselves and our bed up, fed him breastmilk and he slept.

7:00a.m. Woke up, coughed a little and then vomited again. On the bed and on the floor.
Cleaned him up and discovered he had diarrhoea too.
Fed him water, breastmilk and a few grains of Rice Krispies.

8:30a.m. Diarrhoea again.
He drank some Yakult.

9:00a.m. Vomitted all the Yakult out. We all rushed to the hospital after that.

Thankfully we didn’t have to wait too long for the doctor that day, and Ethan was quite happy playing with the toys in Dr Jessica’s office. Doctor diagnosed Ethan as suffering from acute gastroenteritis, caused by a virus, possibly the Rotavirus. She said it was not food poisoning, because he did not have a fever. His persistent vomiting and diarrhoea had also resulted in a weight loss of about 1kg!!! He was only 9.9 kilos when he was weighed in. I was very worried about Ethan’s inability to keep food in though, and he was given a dramamine shot to help prevent that. After the shot was administered, we waited in the pediatric ward area for 30 minutes before giving him the oral rehydration salts (ORS) mixture (Dramamine takes 30 minutes to take effect). Well, of course he didn’t want the ORS mixture, and would only take breast milk. Doctor told me to give him only the fore milk for now, so I took him to the nursing room and breastfed him there. After that, we waited for a while for the rice water to be ready. We had ordered some from the hospital and it was one of the fluids that was recommended for Ethan. He didn’t really like it though, took a few sips of it and pushed it away.

Pete and I decided to tarpow Mc-D’s for lunch on the way back, and our boy fell asleep in the car too. But he suddenly woke up when we reached the Mc-D’s in Greenlane, fussed and cried and then threw up again! Luckily I had asked the nurse at the hospital for a plastic bag just in case he vomited. I called Dr Jessica when we reached home, and she said that we would need to bring Ethan in for an intravenous drip if his vomiting still persisted. We certainly didn’t want that! I told the doc we think he vomited because he was lying down instead of standing vertically up, so she said to give it a few hours first.

Poor boy… we took him back and let him rest for a bit. He didn’t really want to drink anything (we were to try offering him fluids like rice water, ORS, 100-Plus or fore breastmilk, but he would only take water and breastmilk), and we could tell that it was the phobia of throwing up whatever he took in. Then he suddenly decided that he wanted Yakult, so I gave him some, and then later on, he suckled himself to sleep again.

Unfortunately as he was sleeping in my arms, he woke up crying and threw up again. This time, I already had a container ready just in case. I tried to rinse Ethan’s mouth with water to get rid of the vomit smell, but he would not let me. I was very worried about Ethan’s condition then, I didn’t want to see him suffer like that, but still I really could not stand the thought of him on the IV drip. It was already 3:30p.m. at that time, and Pete said we ought to give Ethan another chance. And I am thankful we did.

He began to get better and better after that. He fell asleep in my arms at about 5p.m. and I was careful to prop his body up at an angle so that he felt better. I was literally counting the minutes to the 4-hour time frame that he did not vomit. At about 7:30p.m. it marked the 4-hour vomit-free duration, so I tried giving him some Rice Krispies which he gingerly ate. We were still wary about the fact that he could throw up any time but we were glad that he was improving.

He was still having diarrhoea though but we pray that he will recover from that soon.

I asked Mommy for permission to put up another post as a guest blogger since it is a post for her birthday.  And I am so glad she said okay

Last Saturday, Daddy, Mommy and I went to the E&O hotel for Mommy’s birthday eve lunch.  They had seafood fried rice that day and I was very eager to show off my self-feeding skills.  I get a kick out of eating using the spoon all by myself, and feel a sense of accomplishment when Daddy and Mommy tell me “Good Boy!”  As you can see, I enjoyed myself very much and was very reluctant to leave the place.  I love to play with the window sills and run around the restaurant.  After lunch, Daddy, Mommy and I took a short leisurely stroll by the sea.  But it was only for about 5 minutes or so, then I ran back inside, with Mommy and Daddy hot on my heels.  Some good exercise I gave them after the buffet eh?

On Sunday (Mommy’s birthday), I woke up and gave Mommy the sweetest smile ever and hugged her.  Then I asked her to go out of the room with me because I just poo-pooed in my pants. 

That very same day, Ah Ma and Ah Kong from Taiping came to Penang to visit together with Kor-kor.  We went to Maple Gold for lunch with Ah Chek and Aunty Christine also.  Here, I had the opportunity to show off my drumming skills with a pair of chopsticks.  Then I had yummy steamed rice with tofu and vege for lunch.  I bet Daddy and Mommy must have been very proud of me because I finished about one bowl of rice! :)  Of course, when I found that feeding myself with the spoon took a very long time, I decided to use my hands instead.

Mommy had a birthday cake too.  Daddy was singing a Happy Birthday song really loudly but I haven’t learnt it yet.  I hope to be able to sing that song next year for Mommy.

We must have gone through almost all types of infant cough medication, all in the fervent hopes of making Ethan recover completely from his cough. It breaks my heart so to hear him coughing, because his cough is of the forceful kind, and he sounds like he is suffering whenever he coughs.

First, we gave him Rhinatiol from Dr Jessica. After a few days when there was no improvement, we switched to MucoFlux, which was also prescribed by Dr Jessica. Two days into the medication and there was still no sign of recovery. Pete and I then decided to try the Vicks method. No, no, it is not the application of Baby Vicks to his chest and back (we already do that every day anyway). The Vicks method is one that has been circulating the internet, suggesting that to cure a cough, all we need to do is to rub some Vicks liberally on the soles of his feet and put on a pair of socks. All this we did when he was in dreamland. Although it reduced the cough slightly, Ethan was still coughing. We did it for 2-3 days. Well, perhaps it was because we used Vicks Baby Rub instead of (adult) Vicks. (The regular adult Vicks was to be administered on kids aged 2 and above only).

The next thing we tried was aromatherapy. I quickly bought a bottle of Magnolia essential oil, rubbed 2 drops vigorously in my palm and applied it to Ethan’s front and back, and also his throat area. There was some level of improvement in his recovery rate, and his cough appeared to faze off, but we were not satisfied, because he was not completely healed yet.

So when push came to shove, we decided to turn to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Charlotte’s mom had told me that she gave Charlotte Pak Poh when she was coughing, and it cured her cough within 2 days. On top of that, Charlotte did not need to be forced to take the medicine. It was worth a shot. Such is the desperation of a parent. So we got a box consisting of 6 powder vials of Pak Poh from Eu Yan Sang. I used just one teaspoon of warm water to make the Pak Poh mixture for Ethan, tried giving it to him, but he rejected it immediately. I then tried mixing it with his favorite yogurt, but although he took a little bit, he was not very happy when his taste-buds told him that the bitter-tasting Pak Poh marred the taste of his yogurt. We had no choice but to shoot the mixture straight down his throat using the syringe.

And now after SIX torturous sessions, Ethan is finally medicine-free, and has been so for about a week now. He still coughs slightly, but is getting better every day. I’m praying and praying and praying…. We’ll leave it to his antibodies to do the work then.

Check out what I got for Ethan last Merdeka weekend:

Yep, those cute adorably colorful thingies you see there are Ethan’s new Bumwear Cloth Diapers, which I got from Sin Dee. Don’t they look gorgeous?

I had known all about Bumwear Cloth Diapers for a long time now, yes, even before I gave birth to Ethan, but I only started revisiting the idea about two weeks ago.  The prospect of going *cloth* has been really enticing and I had been tinkering about getting them for Ethan. Our boy has all along been on disposable diapers. I did use the traditional cloth nappies for him when he was a newborn, but since he was a fully breastfed baby then, his poo was really runny, and well…let’s just say there were quite a number of unwanted *accidents*. That, plus the toll of having to wash the nappies day in and day out made me switch to disposables. It was very convenient and hassle-free.  Although not very friendly on the wallet, disposable diapers were very easy to use and throw.

However, I recently took a step back and decided to make a change. For the better.

I learnt about disposable diapers causing an increase on scrotal temperature in boy babies, which could potentially lead to infertility.  There has not been enough proven evidence that this is entirely true, but the facts were enough to raise a concern (at least with me).  And this is one of the main reasons why I decided to make that switch.  Don’t get me wrong, I am also switching because of the increasing landfill problem caused by disposables and also because of the toxic chemicals used in disposables, but while the change I make now would only make a small difference in the landfill problem, it would make a significant change to Ethan’s comfort :)  And that’s mighty important to me!

Switching to cloth diapers would not make a whole lot of a difference cost-wise too, because Ethan is already 19 months old.  Those who have been using cloth diapers since baby was born would see a huge savings in the long run.  Besides, we will still need to launder the cloth diapers which would also take up some time and effort on our part.  I have not decided to make a full switch or not yet, because I want to try these new Bumwear diapers first before I consider introducing them to Mrs Tan.  However, the extra effort I put in will be well worth the effort.

For one, these BumWear diapers are nothing like the conventional nappies.  These are so cool and adorable looking, plus they come with diaper inserts which allow fluid to be absorbed with tremendous ease.  Also, using these BumWear diapers would mean I do not need to apply barrier cream like Drapolene anymore!  One of my concerns was that with these cloth diapers, they would not be able to last through the night.  However, I discovered that by using 2 inserts, the absorption is doubled and I can then use these throughout the night, just like any ordinary disposable diaper.

Tonight is the very first time Ethan went to bed garbed in his Bumwear diapers.  Doesn’t he look adorable?  Check out that look he is giving…looking very much like a model eh? *wink*

Scrap template from Lindsay Jane Designs,
papers from Lindsay Jane Designs & Anita Designs

We adults can certainly learn a thing or two from kids.  Forgiveness, tolerance and most importantly, just be happy!

Yes,… Ethan taught me to smile… even after he had accidentally slipped and bruised the upper corner of his right eye while climbing in and out of his bath tub which he doesn’t use anymore.  Just SMILE and the pain will all go away…. see how easy it is?

… but only in the case of this breastfeeding mommy, I guess.

If you hadn’t already known, I am in the process of weaning Ethan from my breast.  However, although we have succeeded at a certain level (he is down to only one feed of EBM while I am at work), the fact that I have procrastinated and dilly-dallied on the weaning resulted in Ethan still being breastfed when I am with him.

And you know, as I watch him recovering from his recent illness, I am so grateful that I am still breastfeeding him.

After he regained his appetite after his spell of vomiting, he only wanted breastmilk and that is really the best kind of food he should take.  Now that he is recovering from his diarrhoea, breastmilk is the best because even if he doesn’t take too keenly to water, breastmilk contains about 90% water.  Even Dr Jessica says it is the perfect solution to help him get well sooner.  Besides providing him with all the antibodies to help him get better, it helps to soothes and calms him down too.

Yesterday evening, Pete was out for his weekly futsal match, and I was left to attend to Ethan by myself.  Boy was he a handful!  He definitely looks better now and he was back to his mischievous ways and was up till almost 11p.m.!  I’m still praying he’ll be 100% well as soon as possible.

Scrap Elements by Lindsay Jane Designs

Today we took him to GMC for his checkup with Dr Jessica, after the 3-day antibiotic (Rocephin) course jabs he took.  Unfortunately, I was not aware that Dr Jessica was on half day leave today, so we had to see Dr Rama instead.  Upon inspecting both Ethan’s ears, Dr Rama reassured us that the infection has definitely gone down in both ears.   :)  However, he prescribed another 5-day course of antibiotics (Cedax) just to be on the safe side, ensuring that the bacterial infection would be totally eliminated.  Dr Rama reassured us that Cedax tasted slightly sweet and we only needed to administer 2.2ml once a day for 5 days.  We were to see Dr Jessica again after the 5 days for a final checkup.

SIGH… guess we’ll have to see if Ethan will be okay with taking this final round of medicine then…

Poor Ethan. As a side effect of the course of antibiotics, he has diarrhoea. Last night I noticed that he also had nappy rash. It must have been because of the diarrhoea. Because of his nappy rash, Ethan would cry when I gave him a shower. I applied Egozite last night and this morning the rash had subsided somewhat, thank goodness.

But when we picked Ethan up just now for his third and final dose of the antibiotic jab, Mrs Tan reported that Ethan had had diarrhoea thrice all morning. She also mentioned his nappy rash.

You know, throughout these few days when he was sick, Ethan doesn’t feel like drinking much water. Truth be told, Ethan NEVER had a problem with water, and loves to drink water ever since I started giving it to him when he started on solids. This was because he was on a 100% breastmilk diet from birth till 6.5 months, i.e. no water at all during this time. But now that he is sick, and he needs the water, especially since he has diarrhoea, it is disheartening and rather worrying that he doesn’t want to drink much. Yesterday I figured that he preferred to drink from the cup rather than from a straw, and that was how I got him to drink a substantial amount of water last night. Yay me! And that’s how Mrs Tan got him to drink water too, today.

Dr Jessica prescribed a special nappy rash cream for Ethan and also oral rehydration salts to prevent dehydration after the diarrhoea. He had a slight incident of diarrhoea at the pediatric ward again just now, while we were waiting for his jab to be administered. And for the 2nd time in 3 days, we had to change him in the hospital (we’re getting to be pros at this, aren’t we now?). Although he still complained of some pain because of the nappy rash, I was relieved to note that it was not as inflamed as last night.

So, the final jab has been given and the worst is over… we will go and see Dr Jessica tomorrow for a final checkup. I’m praying with all my heart that all the infection has disappeared and he can stop all medication then ….

From the moment I saw Pete measure out 5ml of the Zinnat antibiotic into the syringe, ready for feeding Ethan with, I knew something was not right.  The mere smell of the medicine was revolting enough, and the consistency of it was that of a emulsified solution, whitish, thick and gooey, as if it was made from crushed tablets dissolved in some liquid.  This morning was supposed to be the first of 10 antibiotic doses we were to feed Ethan over a period of 5 days, after the first course of antibiotics didn’t do the trick.

So anyway, we tried feeding it to Ethan… here’s the procedure we employed.  I would sit Ethan down and gently tell him that Mommy was going to take him for his antibiotic feed now.  I would reassure him that it was for his own good and wellbeing, and that it would make him feel better.  But the moment he saw Daddy with the syringe in hand, he started struggling and screaming.  Nevertheless, we managed to pump the entire 5ml into his throat….. but…. no sooner had we done that, Ethan threw up the entire contents of it on the floor.   Well, so much for trying then.  We had to turn to the other alternative.
I called Dr Jessica when I was at work today, and told her that we had decided to take Ethan for the antibiotic jab instead, since he didn’t take at all kindly to the oral method.  The jab would be 3 doses in total, and Ethan had already had the first dose yesterday.  Pete and I had a quick lunch and fetched Ethan from Mrs Tan’s.  We reached GMC slightly past 12:30p.m. and I took Ethan straight up to Dr Jessica’s clinic.  It was a good thing she was still there and she managed to check on Ethan real quick.  She said the infection in the right ear had gone down (yippee!!) but the left ear was still slightly red.  She told me to bring Ethan in on Thursday, a day after the 3-day antibiotic course would have been completed.

We then went up to the pediatric ward with the prescription and after a short wait, Ethan had his second jab.  Even though he cried out loud, I am very proud of him for being such a brave boy. The jab was all over in a matter of seconds…. Two-thirds of the way through now …

Ethan fell asleep on the way back to the baby sitter’s.  I just called Mrs Tan and she told me that Ethan’s appetite was returning as he was eating more of the mee suah now.  And that is a good sign, yes?

All I can say is that we made the right decision to postpone our trip to KL last weekend.  SIGH.

Last Thursday night, Ethan developed a fever, so we gave him a dose of the Paracetamol suppository.  He was also coughing with traces of phlegm.  The next morning, he still had a fever, so I gave him another dose.  His body was slightly warm when we left him at the baby sitter’s though.  We told Mrs Tan that we would come by to see how he was doing during lunch.

When we got there, I took his temperature and it read 37.8°C!  So we told Mrs Tan to give him the suppository and that we would come and take him home at around 4:00-ish.  When we arrived at 4:30p.m., Ethan’s body felt really hot, and although I was already panicking on the inside, I tried not to let it show.

5:30p.m. I took his temperature and it was a horrifying 39.4°C!  Since we had already run out of the PCM suppository, we had to force a dose of the oral PCM down his throat.  I breastfed him and could only pray that the fever would subside soon.  Dr Jessica’s night clinic would only be open at 7:00p.m. so we had to wait till then.

At GMC, Ethan’s temperature had subsided somewhat, although when the nurse took his temperature, it still read a relatively high 38.9°C.  Despite nursing a fever however, Ethan was still very interested in the escalators at the hospital.

The diagnosis?  Ethan has an infection in his throat and left ear, Dr Jessica said.  When she inspected, his left ear and throat were red, but thank goodness there were no white spots in the throat yet (white spots meant trouble, I had read somewhere).  The initial throat infection probably had spread to the ear.  Besides the infection, he was also suffering from a runny nose and of course, was coughing too.  He was prescribed Paracetamol (for fever), Rhinathiol (for cough), Polaramine (for flu), Azithromycin (antibiotics) and Iliadin (nasal drops).  All familiar names to me by now, because Ethan had been on the same range before.

We went to Old Town for dinner where I was very thankful that Ethan took a bit of the koay-teow.  We took him back home, and practically had to force the medicine down.  His fever was also monitored closely.  That night proved to be a highly trying night for us.  I had to give him the PCM suppository every 4 hours because throughout the night, his body temperature hovered around the 39.2°C mark.  It was a sleepless night for all three of us.  Ethan decided he wanted to wake up in the middle of the night to watch Baby Einstein and walk around the house, I had to wake up with him, and Pete, being a light sleeper, could not get any sleep as well.  Ethan finally went to sleep but was still rather feverish in the morning.

Saturday morning, I reported to Dr Jessica that his fever was still on the high side, and she assured me that it would take about a day or two for the antibiotics to react.  Thankfully, Ethan’s fever subsided throughout the day.  Pete and I also decided that we should see our doctor to get some medicine ourselves since we were both also sick, with somewhat similar symptoms.  We then had Japanese food for lunch.  Japanese food is always our *comfort* food whenever any one of us is sick.  And since all three of us were feeling under the weather, the choice was obvious.

Sakae Sushi provided us with a booster chair instead of a high chair, and that was really good because then, the chair would not block the pathway.  Ethan enjoyed his chawan mushi and rice, as usual.  And we were glad that he was eating, at least.

After lunch, Ethan fell asleep and when he woke up, he seemed very listless and rather pale.  He rejected my breast and would not even drink any water, instead preferring to walk around aimlessly.  When we offered him his favorite Yakult yogurt drink and his Calci-yum yogurt, he angrily rejected them too!  I even tried mixing a feed of formula for him, but this was met with just plain disgust.  I offered my breast again and again, but again and again he made a face and pushed me away.  This was very unlike him and very odd indeed, as he has NEVER EVER rejected my breast before.  “Could this be the start of him being weaned from my breast?” I thought to myself.

Come dinner time, he didn’t even want a single strand of the spinach noodles I had prepared for him.  We managed to get him to drink a few sips of water and he did nibble on a few grains of Rice Crispies and raisins, but that was all. 

Then it was time for his medicine.  Pete would usually give him the antibiotics first, followed by Rhinathiol and then Polaramine.  This time, after his force-feeding of the Rhinathiol, as I was carrying him away, he suddenly threw up on the floor!  There was very little vomit only though, because our boy had hardly eaten anything since 3p.m.  And that was the first time he threw up ever   We finally managed to feed him the medicine and gave him a shower after that, although he was very upset.  Our boy was very sleepy by then, and he also looked very tired and weak, because he had not eaten or drunk anything much.  After his shower, he fell asleep immediately.  No comfort suckling at the breast, I just put him in his cot and he was out like a light.

Then at about 3:30a.m. Ethan woke me up.  I took him to the kitchen to get some water because I could tell he was thirsty, and he vomited again!  I cleaned up the kitchen floor, and gave him a few sips of water (he was still not interested in breast-milk at that time).  He fell asleep after that, but woke up about half an hour later and threw up again on our bed and on me…..   :(  It was extremely worrying as I knew he was probably dehydrated, but there was nothing we could do… we could only let him sleep.

The next morning (Sunday), when he woke up before 8:00a.m., I tried to breastfeed him again, and I was so overjoyed that he FINALLY drank the milk.  I could tell that he was VERY hungry then and was craving for it so badly.  My heart ached to see him suffering the night before when he rejected the breast.  It was as if he knew he had to refrain from drinking breast milk because  *knew* that if he did, he was going to throw up. 

He fell asleep again after his feed and only woke up after 10a.m.  His appetite seemed to have returned somewhat, although he would only take breast-milk for breakfast and lunch, and throughout the day.  But at dinnertime, he took some koay-teow too!

After dinner, and after his medicine was administered, he again rejected the breast.  And he again fell asleep without being breastfed.  Even more worrying, his temperature shot up again to 38.5ºC!  I gave him the PCM suppository and monitored his temperature through the night, as usual.

Pete and I took the day off today to take Ethan to see Dr Jessica again.  His temperature was going up and down like a yoyo and that was not something we were comfortable with.  Dr Jessica checked his throat and said the infection had cleared up.  However, both his ears were infected now.  So she prescribed another round of antibiotics (a different one, this time: Zinnat), which we were to administer 5ml twice a day for 5 days! I almost fainted… We decided to have Ethan take the antibiotics jab first in GMC, so we could start the *torture session* only tomorrow.  His fever had returned too, so we had to give him a PCM suppository in the hospital as well.  We were instructed to bring Ethan in for a follow-up check after the 5-day-antibiotics-dosage had been completed.

After the Zinnat jab and PCM suppository, we were told to wait for an hour to see if there were any adverse reactions before we were allowed to leave the hospital.  Good thing there was a playroom at the pediatric ward with a Little Tikes house to keep Ethan busy… of course, to add to the drama, our boy chose to poop then and there too, so we had to clean him up.

So….we’re back home now, and Ethan is finally asleep.  This whole experience has reinforced in us that it’s really tough being a parent.  It comes with its ups and downs, I guess.  I pray that God will bless Ethan and grant him the strength to fight against his illness and that he will recover soon.  Get well my darling boy.  I can’t wait to see you back to your cheerful, cheeky self again!

A vacation to Singapore would not be complete without a visit to Sentosa Island, now would it? I can barely remember my last visit to Sentosa Island, but my Mom tells me I was really young then. I vaguely recall taking the cable car all the way to the island and back though. In fact, my parents had their honeymoon in Sentosa Island. The island must have changed a whole lot since then. For one, we had heard a lot about the Underwater World, and were eager to show Ethan all the underwater life which we knew he would so love.

After our breakfast, we took the MRT from Little India to Harbourfront, which was about 6 stations away. This time, there was no need to change to a different MRT line and it only took us slightly more than 15 minutes to get to our destination. The Harbourfront MRT station is directly connected to VivoCity, the newest, biggest, trendiest shopping mall in Singapore. We’ll get to the shopping later, I thought to myself.

Initially we wanted to take the cable car because we wanted to have a good view from above. We then learnt that a cable car ride would cost SGD11, and comparing that to the monorail, which costs only SGD3, we opted for the latter. The monorail ticket was a return ticket, and it was inclusive of all the bus rides we would need to take on Sentosa Island itself. As it turned out, taking the monorail was a great decision on our part, because not only did we get to take in a spectacular view of our surroundings, the entire journey via the Sentosa Express took only a mere 10 minutes (which is a bonus for Ethan who is prone to getting restless)! From the monorail, we could see the cable cars moving towards Sentosa Island, and comparatively, they were taking forever! Upon reaching Sentosa Island (Beach Station), we took a bus all the way to the Underwater World.

Ethan of course enjoyed free admission, but we adults had no reason to