Fast Lane

Make way!

High-speed toddler coming through...

11th Tooth Appeared

My 11th tooth has started to appear. It is my upper left canine! Mom finds it very strange, because my left molars have come out but my right molars have not when they are supposed to by now. It seems that the left teeth are developing faster than the right ones.

Recently, in the morning when I wake up, Mom found blood stains on my pillow. Initially she thought that I knock my lips on the baby cot, but she couldn't find any bruise nor wound. Apparently, the blood is due to my tooth cutting. Perhaps my gums started to bleed when I was sleeping.

Mom is glad that she now knows the reason ;-)

Choir Outing

Today is our church's choir outing and Mom participated in it. The venue is at Esplanade Theatres On The Bay.

I and Dad went with her but we just waited at Esplanade Mall until the outing is finished.

Here is a snapshot of all the church's choir members (with me - the future church choir member he he he).

Mealtime Updates at 17th Month

When people ask Mom whether I am good at eating my meals, she would usually reply, "Well, there are good times and there are bad ones".

Mealtimes have forced Mom to crank her brains, trying to come out with different activities (toys or books) that I can do or play with on my booster chair while she is feeding me. When the things that I am doing are no longer interesting to me, I will just stop eating. I will only open my mouth when I am occupied with other new and interesting things. Mom finally came to a point when she thinks this got to stop. You see, I am an easily bored kid, so each time Mom has to come out with new things for me to do so I can eat. There are times when she ran out of ideas or it seems that everything is no longer interesting to me. Mom thinks it is time that distractions during mealtime should be limited, if not, eliminated.

She then decided to not give me any toys or books during mealtimes. She allows me to selffeed the food if possible (e.g. chunky ones like veggies or meat). Or she will just talk to me. It is not easy at first, but I am slowly getting used to it and would cooperate.
But Mom says, she must admit that I can now eat better than I used to when I was smaller. Mealtimes are now less stressful to both of us. I used to eat a very small amount, but now I can eat quite a lot. I like veggies and fruit a lot. I also like noodles and soups. When Mom and Dad eat out, they will allow me to try some of their food provided it is not too spicy or salty. Mom still goes easy on the seasoning when preparing my food, but she slowly introduced me to strong tastes. I can also says "Mam Mam" (read: eat) when I feel hungry and want to eat something. And when I am really starving, I can eat quite fast. Mom says nothing beats the time when I finish up my whole meal in less 30 minutes - it really brightens up her day ;-)

Going Out Dilemmas

In the past, I used to be able to nap in my pram for 2-3 hours when I am outside. But recently, I can't.

My nap time now lasts for less than 1 hour when I am outside, and then I will be tired, cranky and irritated until I knock my self down again for another short nap after 6 PM!

At home, nap time is a bliss for both Mom and I. Usually at 1-1.30 PM, I will have my afternoon milk. Then at around 2-2.30PM, Mom would bring me to my own room to sleep. I will then sleep until 5, and sometimes 6 PM.

It is very tiring for Mom and I when we have to go out from morning til evening, especially when I am lack of sleep. When I am outside, I like to see things and when there are a lot of things to see, it is difficult to fall asleep. Mom has tried carrying me in the sling to put me to sleep, but to no avail. I am no longer able to be rocked or carried to sleep. I will only sleep as and when I want to.

Now that I am able to sleep independently in my room by myself at nap and night time, another challenge is for me to be able to nap on the go when I am outside *he he he*

Swimming With Dad

Finally, I got to swim with Dad. We have been planning this since a long long time but never got to do it since Dad is usually busy during Saturdays, or we usually have something else to do or places to go. But Dad made it a point to swim with me this Saturday. Koko Eric & Erin was there too. Swimming with friends is always fun :-)My buddy Caden also went down to meet us after we finished swimming.
I really enjoy swimming with Dad. Dad, we need to do this more often :-D

Milk 'Tricky' Business

Just checking on my SMS while drinking my milk

When I was smaller, I used to be a very good milk drinker. I can hold my bottle by myself and finish the whole 210ml of milk in one go.

But now, drinking milk has become a little bit more challenging, at least for Mom. I drink 180ml of milk in the morning and afternoon, and 210ml at night before bedtime. Each time, I will hold my bottle by myself at first, but I always could not finish the whole bottle. Usually it is about 40-30ml left. Mom has to use different types of distraction to make me finish my milk. She would give a book to hold for instance, and then while I am looking at the book, she would hold the bottle and feed me. So, each bottle can only be finished in 2-3 feedings.

Mom: *shake head*

Before Taking A Shower

Bath time is my favourite time! When Mom says "It's bath time now", I will run to the bathroom and straight to the shower. Mom will help me undress, and then I will put my clothes in the laundry bin by myself. I will then get my bathmat and lay it down in the shower cubicle for me to stand on it so it is not slippery. When Mom runs the water using the shower head and shower it over my head, I will be a little 'tense' he he he coz usually the water is rather cold at first before it gets warmer after a few minutes later. But then after a while, I will be full of chatter and laughter as Mom lathers some soap on me. Yeap, shower is fun :-)

Friendly

Mom said that I will definitely not smile at strangers. I think she meant, 'unfriendly' strangers.

In fact, I do smile at strangers, but I am selective ;-) If the person looks friendly and nice, then I don't mind putting on a big smile or just having a small chat with him/her.

I also like to greet people. When I am at home and I hear that our neighbour passes by, I will go quickly to the gate and say "bye-bye" to her (it's actually the old auntie who lives next door). Eventhough sometimes she cannot hear me, I will still say bye-bye to her :-P Mom says, the auntie may start to be very cautious now when she is about to leave the house or coming back, since there is a toddler watching her every move he he he.

In the MRT, when we have reached our destination and are about to board off the train, I will say and wave bye-bye to everyone in the train. Outside, when I meet someone and the person talks to me, I do not hesitate in saying 'Hi' to him/her.

On the other hand, if the person looks scary and cold, I usually keep my mouth shut. And yes, I do turn my face away and sometimes I just close my eyes, pretending I don't see him *hehehe*

17 Months Old - Mom's Note

Nathan is 17 months old today. Most people told me and my husband that children will bring more complexity to our lives as a couple and family. It sure did, but Nathan is also the one who brings us closer together. He never fails to put a smile on our face when we discuss about the new, amazing and funny things he does everyday. He is definitely our little 'comedian' :-) We surely thank God for entrusting him in our hands.

Note on Nate's physical growth:

He is indeed one active little boy. He moves around alot and loves to run. Even when his father is holding his hands while walking with him, he'd walk like a galloping horse. He can now climb up and down a small set of steps without holding on to things. He loves exploring new things like most kids, and this excites him the most. He is very interested in laptops nowadays and is very curious to work out how the keyboard and mouse works. Yup, just like his Dad.

Nate also loves to go out, maybe because that's the only time when he can actually find new things to do or observe. When we are about to leave the house, he can climb on to his pram, sit nicely and even help me put the seatbelt on. When he is outside, after sitting for a while, he'd ask to walk. And once he walks, he'd refuse to sit down on his pram.

His mealtime is still the same as the previous recent months. Still not interested in breakfast (would eat very little), but can eat a larger portion during lunch and dinner. He prefers to have different meals everyday and he still needs to be occupied during mealtimes (e.g. reading a book, play with his toys, etc). He can self feed certain food like noodles, pastas, or fruit.

He still drinks the same amount of milk, 3 x 180-200ml. But recently, he does not finish one bottle straight away but requires at least 2 feedings. He doesn't seem to like fresh milk no matter how I tried (mixing the fresh milk with formula, or all fresh milk) as he always cannot finish his bottle if there is fresh milk in it. However, he doesn't have preference of a particular formula milk brand. He still prefers to drink his milk from the bottle rather than straight from a cup or using a straw.

Nate loves to drink water a-l-o-t. If we let him, he can finish the whole bottle of water no matter how big the bottle is.

He can now imitates whatever we says. But he also understands instructions, hence our communication is now two-way. For example, when we ask him "What do you say when people give you things?", he'd then answer "Thank You". Other new words that he can now say are: "Tap" (as in tapping the EZLink card to take the MRT), "Cet!" (as in "Pencet" or push a button in Indonesian), "Pe Pe Sou" (or clapping hands in Chinese), "Hi!" and "Amin" (Amen in Indonesian). And oh, he sometimes calls me "Mommy" instead of "Mama" as he is supposed to. He calls his Dad "Mommy" too when he feels like it *hehehe*

He loves his bathtime as he always has since he was a baby. After I undress him, he can bring his clothes to the bathroom, put them in the laundry bin, walk into the shower, lay down his bathmat, and stand on it while waiting for me to come in to bathe him. During bathtime, he is full of chatter and giggles too.

I must say his biggest achievement so far is to be able to sleep independently. Deep inside my heart, I am very proud of him because of this since I know that even I did not achieve the same thing when I was his age. When we bring him to his room, put him on his bed, say goodnight and leave the room, he will remain still and quite. He'd then fall sleep by himself. He still wakes up early in the morning though (around 5 -6 AM), but would fall asleep after 10-15 mins of crying and continue sleeping until around 9 AM. Nate used to be able to nap for a long period wherever he is, but recently he is only able to do so only when he is at home. When he is outside, most of the time he only sleeps for 1 - 1.5 hours. And because I have been training him to sleep independently on his own bed since he is a baby, it no longer works for me to try to put him to sleep by carrying and rocking him.

Note on his emotional growth:

Nate loves to laugh and he sure has a big laugh. He easily laughs with you when you laugh nearby him. He is also very very chatty. If he finds you familiar, he will not hesitate in talking to you, in his own baby language of course :-) He will also greet you or play with you, or even kiss you on the cheek.

On the other hand, he is also very shy. If a stranger looks at him or tries to talk to him, he'd hide his face or close his eyes pretending not to see that person. He'd definitely not smile at strangers.

When playing with his buddies, he can actually play well with them. But most of the time he prefers to play by himself and interestingly he plays with things or in a way that other kids are not interested in :-D Perhaps he tries to avoid confrotation with them. He doesn't seem to enjoy desktop activities (e.g. colouring or scribbling), or perhaps not yet. He still loves to move about.

Most of the time, he doesn't mind when other kids snatch things from him. But, if he thinks that he owns the right on that thing (it was given to him or the thing is his), he will definitely defend himself and will be very unhappy when it is snatched from him.

He loves to help me around the house too. After I finished doing my laundry, I would bring the empty basket to him and ask him to push it to the bathroom. He'd be very glad to do so very much that he'd even lift it up while carrying it :-) I also try to teach him to tidy his toys after playing by putting them in the box together. Whenever we reach home after going out, I'd also ask him to sit down and take off his shoes (with my help). He can now bring his shoes and put them in the shoe rack.

Terrible Two seems to start early too for Nate. He knows how to throw tantrum now. When he is not allowed to do certain things that he really really wants to do, he'd scream on top of his lungs, throw things away and sometimes try to hit me. He probably does not intend to hurt me, instead he does that out of anxiety or depression. When this happens I will sternly tell him off or even slap the back of his hand. This does not often happen though, and it seems that at the end of the day he gets the message that hitting is totally not acceptable.

After a few incidents, he'd usually understand what is allowed and what is not. But it does not stop him from trying. If I catch him and sound a warning, he'd usually stop whatever he is doing and walk away. Sometimes he even tries to talk me as if he is trying to explain what he has just done he he he.

When I discipline or scold him, he usually looks away and avoids looking at me in the eye. But when the disciplining is tougher than usual, he might cry. The aftermath is that he'd be somewhat distant himself from me and sometimes doesn't want to be carried by me especially when someone else is around. But after a while, he will be the one who tries to be himself again, trying to cheer me up with his chatter and laugh.

I still do not allow him to watch TV until this moment. I am waiting until he's older, probably at 2 years old. So what does he do then? He'd still roam around the house, trying to find something interesting to do or play with. Or, he'd just sit on my bed with me, and we'd play, tickle and laugh together ;-)

Mom and Dad loves you very much, Nathan. We could not imagine our lives without you. We always remember you in our prayer. We pray that God would always keep you in His hands and make us the parents that He wants us to be so we can teach you in His ways in order to grow to be a man who is after His heart.

Sleep Updates

I have been sleeping in my own room since I was 6 months old. After all the bedtime routine (i.e. milk, bible story, night time prayer), usually Dad would carry me, then I would say bye bye to Mom and Aunt Cindy. Then Dad would bring me to my room, put on the classical music, and then put me in my cot. All the while, Dad would stay in the room until I fall asleep and then he'd sneak out of the room q-u-i-e-t-l-y. If I woke up and cried, he'd return to the room and wait again until I fall asleep before going out. The same thing happened when Mom puts me to sleep.

Mom thinks that I am big enough and ready to sleep on my own, as in, fall asleep on my own without being accompanied in the same room. She also noticed that everytime I wake up early in the morning (eventhough I only had less than 8 hours of sleep), I would cry wanting someone to bring me out to my parents' room. Mom feels that I should be sleeping at least 10 hours straight by now. So starting last week, I have been put on this advanced sleep training :P

Mom used the Ferber's method to train me. It goes like this: after the bedtime routine, she would escort me to my room, put me in my cot, say good night and leave the room. If I cry, she would come back after 5 mins to just briefly check on me and pat me. Then she'd leave the room again. If I still cry, she'd only come back again in my room after 10 mins to do the same, and the time increases gradually everytime and everyday. Mom will not carry me or speak too much. She would just gently pat me and ask me to go back to sleep. The idea is to let me fall asleep on my own and for me to realize that crying will only get Mom/Dad to check on me very very briefly and they will not accompany me in the same room again.

Day 1: I cried for nearly half an hour until I finally fell asleep on my own. Dad checked 2-3 times, and at the end he 'broke' the rule - he carried me.

Day 2: Cried for 20 minutes. Mom did 2 checks on me.

Day 3: Cried for 10-15 minutes without any checking. But woke up very early in the morning (5 AM) and wont stop crying for more than 15 minutes until Dad had to bring me back to their room to sleep with them.

Day 4: I cried only when I was put in the cot. But once Dad left, I did not cry any more and fell asleep instantly. But I woke up 3 times at the dawn of morning, and finally Dad brought me to their room at 6 AM.

Day 5: I cried when I said my nighttime prayer, knowing that it is time for me to sleep on my own *hehehe* But once Mom put me on my bed, I fell asleep instantly! And today, I slept for 9 hours straight without waking up. *YAY!*

Mom and Dad are very pleased with my progress. It was tough at the beginning for the three of us. But with perseverence, the end result can be achieved and it is for the good of all of us. We'll see how it goes and I hope to achieve independent sleeping real soon.

Nate's First Movie!

Lead Actor: Me

Director & Editor: Mom

Who is this???

A puppy or a cheeky little boy?

Cough & Runny Nose

I have been having cough and runny nose since Good Friday. No fever, though. Actually it has gotten better now. During the initial days, I coughed alot especially at night and my cough is very phlegmy. I would wake up at night and cry. So for about 2 days I slept with Mom and Dad because I kept waking up at night (more than once) because of coughing.

Usually when I got a little bit of cough or runny nose, Mom usually does not give me any medicine straight away. She'd wait and see whether I can counter it with my own body. But it got worse after a week so Mom gave me some cough medicines that we got from the previous visit to my paediatrician. I got better after a few days but in the morning when I wake up I would still cough and choke myself with phlegm. But for the rests of the day I would be just fine, with maybe a little runny nose.

It's been 2 weeks now so Mom got a bit worried. She finally decided to bring me to see a GP. At first, she was a bit hesitant because we have visited a couple GPs nearby our house but their prescription seems to be not working very well on me. But once she brings to me to see my paediatrician, I am cured within just a day.

Coincidentally, she found this clinic which is not very far from our place and she decided to bring me there today. It's a family clinic. The doctor is still quite young and he is very fond of children. He told us that a lot of people actually bring their children to this clinic. He's got many fancy kids toys on his desks. He's also very gentle on me and he speaks to comfort me, unlike most doctors. At the end of my visit, he even made me a poodle out of a balloon!

The doctor prescribed me an antibiotic just to clear whatever infections that still cause my phlegmy cough. Apart from that, I am okay and I should be completely up and running in a few days time ;)