Health Updates

The whole family is sick. The only survivor is PaPa. This round, everyone's sick at the same time, Kakak too. XY and I are wrapping "wantons". Me more frequently than her. I sneezed so hard till my head and face ache. *sniffle sniffle* Actually, XY's been having runny nose for almost 2 weeks already. It started with a mild one, stopped, then returned.

Didi had fever for 4 days (no more fever today *phew*). Now he's having runny nose and cough. He was having slight redthroat and diarrhea (luckily no vomitting) when I brought him to see his paediatrician on Friday. I think he's no longer having diarrhea but stomach still gassy. I'm not giving him milk just yet but have included vegetables and more meat in his meals. The poor guy was only eating watery porridge with few slices of fish or chicken for the past 2 days. Although the kids are not well, I'm very glad they're still as active as ever.

Ok, now rewind back to last Wednesday.
*imagine the sound of tape rewinding*
I went for my first dose of the cervical cancer vaccine (Cervarix). I signed up for the BP Diagnostic Centre's promotional offer of 3 jabs for RM500. They've extended their promotion till end of this month.

One of the most common side effects is pain at the injected area. The doctor said some complain of pain for a few days, some for a week. :-| I experienced intense pain (very sore but nothing that can kill you lah :D) for 3 days. It was painful to lift up my arm. I can't lie sideways while sleeping as it's painful when my arm's being pressed down. After the 4th day (till now), it's still a bit sore, especially when I press on the injected area. Other than that, everything's normal.

Wishing everyone a germ-free week ahead! *cough cough*

35 Months Old

CE turned 35 months old yesterday. One more month and he'll be 3. Don't think we'll have a big celebration. We'll most probably just have a simple dinner with family members.

* Statistics (measured on 24-4-09)
Weight - 14.5 kg
Height - 100 cm

Here's a brief update of his antics/development this month :

He is able to say our full names (PaPa's, mommy's and jie jie's). But sometimes the pronunciation is a bit out of tune.
He's still watching Barney's Night Before Christmas frequently. He makes up his own songs (by repeating one or two words) to the tune of Jingle Bell. E.g. "Open door, open door, open open door."
Able to tell which is left and right (hand/leg/ear). But not very good with turning left or right. When he's pushing his tricycle, he's a bit confused when I asked him to turn left or right.
As he likes to ask us why this and why that, we like to disturb him by doing the same. And he'll start his answer with "Becuz...", then followed by statements that's totally unrelated to the question sometimes. hehehe
Imitates the way we talk. He's not so polite anymore. "Didi want to watch tv NOW!" "I said didi dowan to eat!" :- Yup, I obviously use a lot of NOW and I SAID when talking to the kids.
He mixes up the usage of "the" and "to". E.g. "I want the shee shee (pee)."
He's started to drink a whole cup of diluted Milo, sometimes during breakfast (after his milk) or tea time. Previously, just a few sips from mine. Likes to dip biscuits into his Milo drink.
I've been training him to nap without diapers since 11-4-09. He's not been very consistent. He's wet the bed or pants a few times. So far, the success rate is 70%. Will write more about this in a different post.

* Updated on 24-4-09.

First Lollipop

CE had his first FULL lollipop last Friday. He's eaten lollipops before but just a few licks only. At first, he bit it. He doesn't know how to lick it inside his mouth. After a demonstration from jie jie and some practice, he's a pro already. And he really enjoyed his treat.

So why did he get to eat a whole lollipop on his own?

Because he behaved very well during his haircut (his 5th).

~ hair combed neatly by the barber ~

Notice the cut and bruise on his forehead? He hurt himself 2 days earlier (Wednesday). He was running and slipped on the floor mat. Fell face down and knocked his forehead on the tiled floor. Anyway, the cut is barely visible now.

I brought him to the Aunty's salon but it was closed. There's an Indian barber right next door, where he had his very first haircut when he was 20 months old. Too lazy to bring him to the fancy salon with toy car (difficult to find parking), we ended up in the Indian shop.

As usual, he protested when the barber wrapped the plastic sheet around him. I've tried to prepare him weeks ago. I've been telling him that if he wants to have a haircut, he needs to be wrapped up. I even demonstrated with his towel (as often as I could remember) after his bath. Every time he'll say "Ok" or "Yes". But when it comes to the actual situation, it's a different story. Can't really trust kiddo's words yeah. :D

So I gave him a lollipop to hold and kept asking him not to pull the plastic. Promised him the lollipop after he's done. It sort of worked. He didn't fuss much but when he saw a lot of hair on the sheet, he tried to blow them away or push them with his hands underneath. But overall, I'd say that was one of his most well-behaved sessions.

~ enjoying his reward after lunch ~

~ jie jie also got rewarded for finishing her lunch fast ~

Special Request

After almost a week of hair-pulling experiences (on our side, of course), the internet is finally working. Anyway, I'll spare you the details (we all know the efficiency of our broadband service). :-) Only now I'm able to upload the pictures and post this.

XY made a request to PaPa to bring her to Kizsports (in 1-Utama). She's not been there for a long time already. SIL and I usually bring the kids there during school holidays. But I didn't bring them anywhere the last 1-week school break.

We went to MidValley last Sunday as I wanted to redeem the free voucher from Sony Centre. After a satisfying meal at Madam Kwan's, I brought the kids to MegaKidz while PaPa run some errands.

It's our first visit to MegaKidz. XY was like a monkey off the leash (latt seng ma lau hahaha), running here and there excitedly. Didi was quite contended playing at the area for toddlers below 4 years old. He was trying out all the toys, didn't stay put at one place for long. But at least he's only moving around in that confined area. Kakak took care of him while I went around taking photos.

~ my daredevil girl went many many rounds on the long spiral slide ~

~ in the "toddler below 4" area ~

After 1+ hours of exercise, the kids fell asleep in the car. XY continued her nap at home but didi, the energetic bunny, didn't want to nap anymore. So mommy couldn't have her much-needed rest too. But he fell asleep quite fast during bedtime.

Naptime Experiment

CE's been diaperless (except for naptime and sleep at night) for almost a year already. When he wakes up from his nap, his diaper is usually just slightly wet. It has never been completely dry. But I wanted to give it a try.

Today I did an experiment. I asked him to pee before he drank his milk (he drinks 7 ozs everyday before his nap). Then I asked him if it's okay if he doesn't wear a diaper to nap. He said "okay". I kept reminding him that he needs to wake up to pee as he's not wearing a diaper. After he's finished his milk, I let him pee again. Then off to slumberland. I put a rubber mat under him, just in case. Halfway through his nap, I had to readjust the mat because he's no longer sleeping on it. Good thing he was sleeping like a log. :-)

He woke up about 1.5 hours later, without wetting his pants. Yay! He didn't even need to pee immediately. It's definitely a good start. Let's see how it goes for the next few days coz usually he'll nap for 2.5 to 3 hours. But I'll wait till he's really ready for the night time training. This mommy too lazy. :p

Spelling Ability

CE likes to separate the alphabets from the alphabet mat. And keep those alphabets in his toy car. While I was having breakfast just now, he was playing by himself near the mat. Then he came to me and said, "Mommy, see pot." He's arranged the letters to spell P-O-T! I am soooo impressed coz this is the first time he's spelt a word correctly. I've not seriously taught him spelling (not p-o-t anyway). I guess after watching WordWorld (educational programme from PHDC) for the hundredth time, he can recognise the word. Pot is one of the regular words in the show.

~ photo taken with the Nokia N82 ~

I tested him some more to see if he really knows how to spell. So I asked him to spell box, he arranged Z-O-X. hahaha I told him there's a letter B. Then he spelt B-X-O and finally, B-O-X. So before you say he's clever, I think it's just a one-off thing. Still, I can't help but to 'syiok sendiri' (as Sasha puts it :D). I think every mother is guilty of that, no? :p

Another thing that I want to 'syiok sendiri' is that XY's been doing very well in her spelling tests in school, for all the 3 languages. The best part is, I don't have to spend much time to drill her (especially for English and Bahasa). She can already spell them out the first time I test her. But I have to clarify that the words given are much easier (max 5-letter words) compared to other kindies that I've read in some mommies' blogs. But what the heck, I'm still very proud of her. Hope she'll continue to do well when the words get tougher.

Jigsaw Puzzles

~ so preoccupied with the puzzle ~

CE likes to play with jigsaw puzzles. His first piece was Sesame Street. Jie jie did it together with him. I was quite amazed that he was able to put them together after a few tries. He doesn't seem to get bored with it. Sometimes when Kakak is busy, I'll ask him to wait for me in the room while I take a quick shower. He'll be happily doing the puzzle while waiting for me. Usually, he would have completed it before I'm done so he'll just mess up the room with books and flash cards. :D

~ CE's first jigsaw puzzle ~

Then I bought him a small Barney puzzle. Playing puzzles is one of the rare moments that he'll stay still for a long while to finish it. I wanted to get more puzzles but can't seem to find them where I normally shop (was not actively looking anyway). Recently, I saw some bigger Barney puzzles at Jusco Serdang so I quickly grabbed 4. There are 8 designs altogether. Well, it's pretty easy for XY. So the li'l teacher was happily guiding didi while playing together (when they're not fighting over it). After a few rounds, CE was able to put them together too, with some occasional help.

~ the small Barney puzzle ~

~ 8 designs of the 40-piece puzzles (W21cm x L28cm) ~