Cuteness overload

Little Andrew woke up at 6am and gave mummy a pat then daddy a pat. Followed by grabbing mummy's hand, then pulled daddy's hand, and made us hold hands ^^

My baby is 2 already!

I didn't realise that I have not updated anything for more than a month now! The holiday and the the post-holiday kinda kept me busy for a while. And soon the festivities!

My baby is now 2 and it felt like only yesterday that he was still just a little baby! Little Andrew is getting more and more mischievous, more smarty pants, definitely stubborn!

He weighs 13kg and 93cm, all his teeth are out except one last top left molar is still growing (is now 75%).

Unfortunately, still not talking >.< Improvement though compare to just "mmmmm" all the time. He is talking more by making more sound- especially before sleeps and after waking up! I'm not sure if I should start getting worried about this!

Other than not talking, little Andrew seems to get the hang of self- feeding (though we stopped this while traveling) and obviously prefers the hands than the utensils. He can also hold his pen nicely with his right hand, though can't draw nuts! His fine motor skills are still developing, so during the day I will try to work with him by letting him learn and play.

Loves Lego, cars and of course the iPad >.< I don't like him to be addictive to the iPad but we starts it, it's not easy to take that away from him. and that causes him to be in distress and unhappy and cranky which I prefer not to so I gave in from time to time.

Eats well, drinks well but gotta work on the output. There was a time he used to do his business daily, then alternate days, and now on and off 3-4 days! He is already drinking lots of water, eating his greens and enjoying his juice, sigh, I hope this is just a phase and he will get back to daily business.

Little Andrew will always be my sunshine and everyday I am thankful having to see him grow.

Falling asleep

We have been co-sleeping for as long as I can remember. We tried putting him in the crib to train him to sleep on his own, but he kept waking up every hour and it's driving me nuts. So it was decided then he will "permanently" co-sleep with us.

He sleeps better, we sleep better, everyone wakes up happy!

As he grow bigger, it is getting tougher to "battle" him to sleep sometimes. I don't mind if afternoon he doesn't sleep but at night, I really wanted him to sleep by 9 but with the "battles" evey night, sometimes he ended up sleeping at 10pm! Not good!!

He also needs patting to fall asleep, a habit that I allowed it since young! But now I'm slowly "weaning" him off patting and letting him fall asleep by himself. So as a starter, when he is ready to sleep, I will pat him for a couple of minutes. Occasionally he will fall asleep within minutes of patting. Other times, he might need longer pat and I will pat until he is "drowsy" then I will stop to let him fall asleep on his own. And there are days that he just can't fall asleep on his own.

Well, at least he is progressing with falling asleep on his own!

Almost all is good

Little Andrew's fake measles are almost all gone by the 5th day. And his fever never returned.

He was some what lethargic for the few days while recovering from the fake measles and appetite was normal. I would be happier if he would drink even more water. I kept offering him water and juice but don't know why it seems to be not enough. Since after having the antibiotic prescribed by the ME last Friday, his stool was softer than usual. And now since we stopped it, he seems to have constipation - even if he drank more water than usual and I gave him fruits and yoghurt! Plus lotsa leafy green too!

Something must have triggered it!!! Gotta figure out what caused it. If I remember correctly, it was since I made him the papaya snow fungus soup. So... could it be the snow fungus since papaya is suppose to help? Hmmm... gotta get some more fruits that helps him poo. Hmm... apple used to help him. Maybe a whole apple for him tomorrow.

So it's fake measles

The red dots all over little Andrew's face and body did not appear to be subsiding. So off we go to the clinic. Today his paediatrician is back from vacation (Last Friday was a replacement Medical Examiner On duty) and the queue was long! We waited for a while and most sick kids came out crying! Hahaha! Except for the 2 young babies that was in and out of the clinic in 5 minutes - they are here probably for their development check up.

Anyway, doc confirmed that it's fake measles. He said it's not roseola- which I kept Googling and getting the same result of fake measles is roseola. Anyway, there is nothing we can do about it. It should disappear in 1-2 days. Oh and we should stop the antibiotic since it's viral, little Andrew won't be needing it. However his fever might spike another time before disappearing for good. And he still has inflamed throat n tonsil. So keeping in on paracetamol for another day is a good idea.

Doctor also realised the dry patch on little Andrew's face. He then prescribed us with a steroid cream. He said it's best to treat it once and forever with the cream instead of having it coming back on and off. So for this, he can apply for up to a week.

I asked about Andrew's teeth, doctor said he will not be requiring fluoride toothpaste at this stage for his milk teeth and our water is already treated with fluoride. And it's just milk teeth that will eventually fall off - hopefully not prematurely!!!

I'm checking on him the whole night making sure he is ok. Last night, he sure had a good sleep- from 9.30pm to the next morning 8am! And then this afternoon he did 3.5hours nap!!! Hmmm... he seems to be lethargic today, probably coz he is recovering from his fever. And tonight he slept 10.15pm. Let's hope he will sleep through to the morning!

I hope it's just roseola

Poor baby had just recovered from fever and suddenly he has red spots all over him! It's definitely not HFMD because this is mostly on his face and torso, not the limbs. It's red/pinkish, flat and not raised, so it's not chicken pox. It's not patchy, just dots, so I guess it's not hives. He didn't eat anything new for dinner, so he can't be having an allergy reaction.

I can only hope that this is roseola. Read more here:http://www.babycenter.com/0_roseola_1616.bc

It all happened when his fever subsided, I can only guess the sore throat too, no itch, maybe mild or rather very soft stool. We discovered it at his night shower which is at about 9pm, then at 11pm I checked again. His face was really bad!! Then again at 2am, his face is much better. But overall, the body isn't so bad, mostly the face.

By the morning if it's still there, we are off to see the doctor again. Sigh... Gonna be a difficult for me to sleep. I know I will be checking on the baby :(

So far so good

Little Andrew hasn't woke up middle of the night bouncing, screaming or doing his stunts for a while now and I'm hoping it is here to stay!

He might have been waking up earlier for the day, say around 7-8ish. There are days I can put him back to sleep after a bottle and diaper change - these days are good days! there are days he will go back to sleep but after 2 hours - these days are ok days. And bad days are refusing to return to sleep.

No wonder all the craziness

Tonight I tried checking little Andrew's top row of teeth and finally saw the upper right molar cut through! Now I know what is it with all the crazy sleep schedule, wanting to bite something, easily cranky! And here I thought that these are all the start of terrible two!

So with this one out, we have one last tooth to go!!!!!! And all these craziness will be over! Come one last molar, BRING IT ON!!!

12 hours? Really?

On Sunday morning, little Andrew decided to wake up at 3am when I'm about to go to bed. Ya, I still got this bad habit of sleeping late once in a while and tonight is the night to sleep late AND little Andrew decided not to sleep through!!!!

He will usually go back to sleep after a while, normally. But unfortunately tonight is not the night. He decided not to go back to sleep at all until it's almost 8am! Gave him his breakfast bottle and he went back to sleep FINALLY. He then woke up at 11.30am and thankfully I caught some sleep too!

For the rest of the day, I decided to keep him awake. No matter how tired he got at 5am, he had to stay awake and hubs and I had a mission to keep the bay occupied! Which we did and he had his dinner, showered and had his milk all by 8.30pm. Lights out and the little piggy slept in less than 10 minutes! Good right?

And the best part is, he woke up 8.30am on Monday morning!!!!!! Wow!!!!!!!

So now, do I want him to sleep in late and then keep him up for the rest of the day or should I go back to the old schedule? Still wondering which is better for the little one and for ME!!!

Sleeping better

Little Andrew slept later than usual last night because we were caught in a terrible traffic jam on our way back from dinner. He was already quite sleepy on the way and as soon as we got back, we showered and had his bottle then lights off. But it was already almost 11pm when he dozed off. I thought he might wake up the next day at 7am again!

Luckily for the rain maybe, he slept until 9am!!! Hooray!!! Surprisingly he was quite sleepy again after his morning milk. But I kept him awake until lunch. We had early lunch and little Andrew was too tired to finish his lunch already. So we napped at 12pm and up by 2pm. Great timing actually.

So by 8pm, he is already wearing off and after his shower and last bottle, he is already in half dreaming state. Took him about 10 minutes from lights off to zzzz.

Let's hope he keeps his sleep routine!

Sleep... again...

Little Andrew's sleeping pattern has been all over the place! He used to go to bed and wakes up quite on schedule but lately it's going crazy again!!!

There are nights, he would wake up at 3am and won't go back to sleep with or without milk. Sometimes giving him milk works. Otherwise he would be rolling, bouncing, making noises, shouting, disturbing daddy but mostly mummy coz daddy is dead asleep! And he could go on and on and on for 2 hours!

Then there were times he would wake up only at 7am! The difference is he sometimes will not go back to sleep even after 2 hours. In the end it's shower and breakfast downstairs. Then he will have some playtime and followed by lunch by noon. Sometimes he couldn't even make it to lunch and is already sleepy. And we will have trouble during lunch! He will eat little because of his sleepiness leading to crankiness! And then there are times he will
still chow down his lunch and proceed with his nap after that.

There were occasions when he woke up at 7am and return to sleep at about 8am and sleep till 11am! And then he will shower and have a heavy lunch! On these occasions, there will be no afternoon nap!!! Oh deary my! I would be super exhausted but he still has enough energy to last till the night!

So the sleep patterns really is crazy lately. I am not sure if I should blame it on teething. I thought I could feel hardening of the gum but I can't see for sure. So I'm not blaming it solely on teething If it is then he will probably have a full set of teeth before turning 2!!!! This is crazy. I'm hoping if we can get it over and done with, we can avoid the terrible 2 stage! Dream on!!

Learn and play

Haven't been updating for a while... Little Andrew is getting so big now! And he certainly has learn quite a few tricks! I tried to let him learn through play and not just for the sole purpose of play- play.

He can insert the beads into the chopstick with ease but still gotta learn the trick to keep all 4 inside :) I didn't show him so I shall let him learn and discover himself.

I use the same beads to do "match the same shape/colour" with little Andrew. He seems to know what I want him to do. He managed to pick the same shape and colour when I asked him to pick from the lots.

He knows his shapes puzzle all too well already so I'm keeping that aside and will rotate back to shapes on and off. He has a match the animal puzzle but he wasn't able to match that earlier on. Will try it again soon to see if he gets it already.

Lately, little Andrew is very interested with Lego! It took sometime for him to get the hang of it but he is now an expert already. Though he is still just "building", I hope one day when he talks he will tell me what is it that he is building.

And then the sorting cups!!!! He has been playing with it for a while already but he could only managed at most 4 out of 10. But one day after I return from work, he could do it all already. Daddy said he showed him how to do it in the afternoon and he got it already! I did it with him before but he didn't get it. It's like he suddenly grew up!!

Drawings! I bought him a set of triangular crayons and he is not very interested in drawing though. He will probably enjoy it later out of the blue again!

Sleep

Sleep is something that is so uncertain for little Andrew. He can sometimes sleep through the nights. So I really have no idea why sometimes he can't! And if he doesn't, it is always at around 3am that he will stir and wake up. And lately, he will only go back to sleep after 2 hours of rolling, walking, fussing, chewing, bouncing, mumbling... It's the same if I gave him milk immediately or 2 hours later. Gotta work this out why is he waking up...

His nap time is quite fixed, by 1pm he will most likely need his nap. Sometimes it's 1 hour and most of the time is 2 hours. And occasionally it's 3 hours of nap. As much as possible, little Andrew should not nap beyond 4pm, 3pm is best. This is so he can sleep early at night. Most of the time, he will not require any patting or humming and he can fall asleep by himself.

At night, if he is super duper exhausted, he can sleep by 8.30pm. Otherwise it's 9.30pm. Anything beyond 10pm is very rare which is good because he will tend to wake up by 8ish and occasionally 9ish (whether it's sleep though the night or after his stunt sessions at 3am).

Most nights, little Andrew will still need patting and lullaby to help him fall asleep.But lately I am shortening the duration of patting and humming. If he doesn't fall asleep after a while of patting and humming then I will let him be and he will have his usual stunts of rolling, standing up, walk about, and the thing I wish he would stop doing, biting and chewing the pillows!!!!! Once he had enough, he will find his spot, usually my arm, and fall asleep.

Until now, we are still co-sleeping. I am not sure when will he be moving to his own room. For now I'm enjoying it - even if this means less space on the bed or getting kicked in the face! I am thinking maybe after he is toilet train or is able to TALK!!!!

18 teeth and counting

Baby, your teeth is growing way too fast! I'm so scared that they will rot before you turn 6 when your permanent teeth grows! We are 4 years away from that!

Little Andrew must be feeling so frustrated with the itchy gum that he is chewing EVERY TIME before he sleeps. The pillows and the blanket is smelling of his saliva which actually makes them all smelling like little Andrew! Haha!

We've got to break this chewing habit!

WIP: Self-feeding

At 20mo, we are still a long way from fully self-feeding cleanly but it's nonetheless good progress!

Last jab

Little Andrew had his last jab and it won't be until 4yo that he will take any more! Hooray!

The doctor did warn us as usual for fever and little Andrew seems ok.

We had to struggle the last few times we visited the clinic. Even just to take his weight seems to trigger off the scream machine. So we have been giving him some training at home with the scale and the thermometer.

He still can't stand still on the scale but at least he stood on it for just a split second! And the thermometer!! Oh boy. there was no way getting that thing into his ears. So daddy been letting him trying out out ear buds, and we started taking temperature at home with the handheld machine. He was ok after a few times. So at the clinic, he was a champ when I told the nurse to let me "poke" the machine into his ears. Easy peasy ;)

The hearing teat is another matter all together. He allowed the ear bud to be inserted but the moment the nurse switched on the machine, the scream followed soon after. So it's still a no go. Boo hoo!

My baby grows up way too fast

Each day little Andrew grows and I'm enjoying every moment of it. Be it happy days or getting-on-my-nerves days, I'm enjoying it all.

I told myself the boy gotta have more activities so he can grow mentally and intellectually or whatever-ly that he needs.

Little Andrew has just started to join a music class by Kindermusik. It's new to both of us and we are both learning together :) I'm glad that he didn't cry!!! Hahaha! So I think he enjoys it even though he hasn't a clue what's going on!

The main reason I need him to join this is for him to learn things and have some interactions with other children same or similar to his age. By joining this, I can also pick up some tips on what to activities can we do together at home.

Partly I have my concern and another reason for me to let little Andrew have more things to do/learn is the thought of him having traits of autism. His lack of eye contact really scares me coz that is the first thing you read about.

Even though we have only gone for one class, it has improved. I guess the other part that plays important factor is TV/iPad time. As much as I can, I am limiting or omitting those out of his daily routine. Today I did let him play for less than 30 minutes. He was happy with it and I'm glad he didn't throw a tantrum nowadays when I said it's times up and I proceed to switch it off.

And other skills that I thought he did well are:
- (sometimes) after stripping him, he will put them into the laundry basket
- (sometimes) after taking out his diaper, throwing into the bin and close the lid
- feeding himself with spoonful of rice scooped up for him. Am gonna let him learn to scoop it up himself soon!! Gotta be fun!
- Allowing us to brush his teeth. Though he sometimes like to bite it!
- Knows how to lift up his limbs when wearing clothes or putting up his legs when putting on his shoes
- Knows how shapes work and can differentiate the shapes

There maybe more things that he can do now that I'm not sure if I've listed them before. But I'm glad he is growing and hopefully he enjoys all the time spent with me!

Been a while...

Wow! I've been lazy updating lately... Sigh... Ever since the HFMD, little Andrew had 2 other incidents.

The first was a football injury. We were playing ball and then Daddy was talking to mummy and I only turned my head for that split second, and our little footballer did a header - onto the floor! Oh boy oh boy! This has to be the loudest ever little Andrew had ever cry! 

Just when the forehead recovered, another incident happened when little Andrew fell and knocked the back of his head. And daddy had no clue how could you possibly fell from the bed since you have already mastered getting down the bed! Besides the "tallest building" there was also bleeding. And this happened when I was at work! I drove madly home and off we go to the hospital. 

And when we arrived the clinic, little Andrew cried like there is NO TOMORROW at the sight of the nurses counter. And it got worse when we were in the doctor's room! You used to be a champion!!!! Sigh! I think little Andrew now hates going to see his pediatrician. Boohoo~

So heart-wrenching to see my little Andrew cried so much and in pain. During lunch little Andrew leaned back on the high chair and touched the back of his head, and he let out another one of his loudest cry :( During nap time, he just turned sideways by himself. so still in pain...

But when evening came and it's time for bed, it seems nothing had happen already. He rolled and turned and did all sorts of stunts before falling asleep on his back again.

HFMD

Poor little Andrew was diagnosed with Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease on Tuesday by his pediatrician. It was the worst news I could ever hear! It can't be real! I mean, he is cared for a home and hasn't come in contact with any other children because he doesn't go to playground and anything like that! Unless... shopping malls? Restaurants? Gawd, my heart sank when I heard those words!

It all started with Andrew's body feeling a little warm after dinner and after shower, he was SHIVERING!!! I checked, he's having fever of 38C. Hubs and I bought tickets for a movie and sis helped to watch his body temp. I told her if it hits 40C, just head to A&E. I put Andrew to sleep and left. After the movie, came back, it's 39.6C. Hubs said to pack up and go to A&E. Partly because we have no Paracetamol at home so best that we get the prescription and the only way to get it is A&E at 1am!!!! We drove to the TMC and the MO on duty gave checked on Andrew and gave him a suppository immediately and prescribed a 6-hourly paracetamol. We went home and Andrew's body temp was brought down to about 38C.

On Sunday, Andrew woke up for milk at about 8am. Made his usual 8oz of milk. While drinking half way, he vomited everything out. And looked like as if more than 4oz came back up!!! It was scary. I moved him to his side and he continued a bit more. There was even milk coming out of his nose!!!

For the whole day, he refused to eat anything. The only thing he had was Apple juice! And he had the most juice in a day!!! Other than that, nothing. He even refused porridge at night. Though out the day, his fever remains at 38ish. We continue with the suppository and paracetamol.

On Monday, the fever went down to about 37C. And he had milk in the wee morning and then at 10am. We were in KL and so we travelled back to JB, checking on his fever all the time. Andrew seems to be tired and sleep through most of the journey. By evening, his fever seems to have subsided but once it's close to the 6 hour mark, his fever would creep back up.

When it's time for his evening shower, I realised he has red dots appearing all over his limbs. It's not at an alarming amount but enough to know that it's not insect/mosquito bites!!

Tuesday morning I checked his body... NO WAY! More dots! And it's only confined to his hands and legs. It worries me. If it was roseola, it would have been all over his body not just his limbs... By now, his fever has subsided even without meds! So we went to the pediatrician to seek consultation.

To my horror, the doctor said HFMD after checking his arms and legs and confirmed it after checking his throat - It was a horrible sight!

Nothing much can be done, except to continue giving him paracetamol plus cataflam - both meds working together to bring down the fever and pain relief. We were given a throat spray that will help numb the throat so Andrew can eat.

Doctor told us to monitor his liquid intake and making sure that he drinks more than 500ml a day or he will be admitted for dehydration! NO WAY!!!

By Tuesday, Andrew's appetite improved and he had a mantou for lunch then rice and soup for dinner. To make sure he drinks lots of liquid, APPLE JUICE is the life saver.

By Wednesday, he looks much better. The dots are disappearing fast and his appetite is getting better. He drank his usual amount of milk and managed to eat his solids for lunch.

By night, he is having his usual amount of rice and soup plus a whole nectarine!  His usual happy active self is back!

Today, Thursday, I can hardly see the dots anymore!!! I've stopped all medication by today and he seems
to be alright.

 

 So today, I let him enjoy his dinner!

Cooking for little Andrew

I have been experimenting with cooking for little Andrew. I don't think I'm graduating to be a good cook, but I am definitely still learning. I mix and match the vegetables, and most of the time it's steam. I guess as little Andrew grows, I will have more method of cooking. And I am definitely evolving and changing and hopefully improving!

All these prepared with love and most of the time little Andrew will clean up everything. But these 2 nights, he hasn't been finishing up his dinner and it's mostly half portion. I'm not worried about my cooking but more of him not feeling well. He got sick after retuning from our Japan holiday :( I blame my itchy fingers for spraying the saline!!!! Hope my little darling will get well soon.

This is becoming a habit...

2 times this week, little Andrew was super duper whooper sleepy during his meal time. I'm hoping this will not become a trend and that it's just the flu meds that's making him sleepy and moody. 

He is also back to his habit of chewing/biting/gnawing everything!!!! I don't think the second set of molar is coming yet, because I don't see any whitish gum. Maybe he's just now feeling well. Oh ya, I'm gonna blame everything to the flu. 

He got the flu after we returns from Japan. It was cold in Japan and he didn't even get a whiff and upon returning... the flu just appear out of no where! Well, not really... I sprayed the saline to clear his nose and suddenly, everything just flow out!!!! Sigh. I blamed my itchy finger!

I hope little Andrew will get well soon and be his best again.

My baby walks...

Little Andrew started walking in time for our Japan holiday which is great. This lets him enjoy more than just sitting in the stroller I guess. He gets to walk around the here and there, and mostly in the hotel room!!!

Lesson learnt, always bring more warm clothings for the baby!!!! And don't save on good moisturiser for the baby! Little Andrew skin is super dry and it's getting reddish and itchy, poor baby can't help scratching himself even when he sleeps.

I'm glad my family took the trip. It's a special bonding time for my parents especially to spend time with little Andrew. I would like little Andrew to grow up loving his grandparents as much as I love them.

Traveling with the baby

We decided last year that we will go Japan with the baby in tow, of course with my family along so there will be more people to help keep watch on the baby :) This is our first time self-guided traveling in a foreign country (Singapore doesn't count). It has been quite an adventure so far and it is definitely not the same anymore.

We used to be able to "go further" by stretching ourselves, but not with the baby. We tried our best to accommodate little Andrew, not too worried about his sleep since he has been so good in sleeping in the stroller. It's more of where and what to eat. We adult may not be hungry or can wait a bit longer but not the baby! Hungry baby is a grumpy baby!

Yesterday, unexpectedly, Andrew wet himself so many times due to overflow diaper! I had to buy a set of new clothes for him from Uniqlo! What a day it had been.

And then this morning, as we departed from Osaka to Kyoto, the train door just slammed shut right at my face! Luckily hubs and my parents are with him. If baby is alone with my parents, I would have been a lot more panic!! And thank goodness that the frequency of the train is 15minutes apart!

So far, baby has been a charm :)

My baby can walk!

Ah, my baby can finally really walk. Little Andrew wasn't really into walking until recently. I think he was afraid of falling and feeling the pain. Now that he is more confident, he is always on the move. And is showing dislike being in the stroller too!

There is still room for improvement but little Andrew is definitely walking - before turning 17 months old.

Journey of self-feeding

On and off when I'm feeling adventurous, I would let Andrew try to self-feed. Be it with a spoon or fork or even his fingers. I would like him to explore and train him to eventually feed himself. And I just want him to enjoy his meal time.

Little Andrew is an expert picking up his food with his fingers - even a grain of rice! He can also use the fork, though sometimes the angle is wrong. But the spoon is a long way to go, well, partly because I hardly let him try feeding himself with the spoon. He does get the rice into his mouth, but if I let him do it for the whole bowl of rice, he will probably get 10% into his mouth! But I do let him try it out on and off.

Drinking from straw cup

I bought the straw cup quite a while ago and little Andrew doesn't know how to suck it yet. I tried giving it to him repetitively but he just doesn't get it. So I stopped giving it to him.

Last week I decided to give it a try and this time I pour some of his favourite apple juice. To my surprise he can drink from the straw cup! First few times he would suck it all in and choke. After a few more days of getting the hang of it, little Andrew can now drink like an expert!

Baby is 15mo today!

Little Andrew is 15mo today (pix was taken the day before). And we have been so blessed to have him. My parents love him to bits! He continues to be our sunshine everyday and may that goes on for a long long time.

So far what else can you do since we updated our stats:
- MOST IMPORTANTLY we weaned you off your pacifier!!! Woohoo!!!!
- Walk a few steps now before slowly planting your butt to the floor and crawl
- Cover your bottle when you finished your milk
- Just discovered how to unscrew your bottom balm container!
- Getting down the bed with your legs first and you will stop at the edge whenever I say "Nothing there"
- Just yesterday, you tried to pry open my eye because I was still asleep when you wake up
- I think-sort-of say "nen" when you are hungry and "mum" when you are waiting to be fed during meal time

Likes/dislikes:
- Egg. You are not a fan of hard boiled egg. So I've got to mix it up before you will eat it. But you enjoyed Chawanmushi! (Got to learn how to make it)
- iPad. Gawd. If you are watching your favourite show and we stopped it, you will cry. So we are trying to minimise your time spent in front if the iPad/TV. Oh and your new found movie- Garfield! One day Waigong was changing channel and you watched Garfield and burst out laughing! So daddy got it for you and you can really laugh!!!!
- Still loving FOOD and shower time.
- Instead of not liking us to wipe your face after meal, you always lick or chew the wipes/tissue/hanky now
- BITING before falling asleep. You will sink your teeth to the blanket, the pillow, the dinosaur, etc

Not quite sure what else to update here and my mind is blank now because it just took me forever to put you back to sleep!

Little Andrew has been waking up around the same time everyday- 3am!!! Why is it that you can wake up almost the same time everyday is beyond me. By waking up at 3am, this is the killer and is very tiring. I hope this is just a phase and will pass soon.

Still just that one-two steps

My dear little Andrew is so scared of falling that he will hang on to my hands so tightly when we "walk" together. And he will stop walking the minute I let go of one hand!

He did walk but it was only one or two steps before he gets down on four and starts crawling. I tried motivating him but he will just get down and crawl over >.< He can certainly stand very steadily ONLY in the shower!!!! Unbelievable!

Baby, you are gonna be 15mo soon. Please walk already!!

This is it! Fingers crossed!

I think we made it! We have weaned off THE buddy! Andrew had 2 day nap, one fallen asleep in the car so that can't be counted. Then at 4pm, Andrew had another hour of nap which he didn't even put up a fight, no more crying or yelling. And tonight, he fell asleep within 15 minutes, which is shorter if not the same amount of time he needs to fall asleep.

For the last few rounds when he didn't put up a fight, I realised he roll around the bed lesser than before. Or maybe he is just plain tired. But I'll take it as a good habit!

I like the hours that Andrew took his nap today. He napped at noon for 1.5 hours, only if I can try to stretch that to 2 hours. Then at 4.30pm, he had another hour of nap. He was in bed by 9.45pm, and fell asleep in less than 15 minutes. So by my calculation, he is sleeping 13 hours a day. Is it enough for a 14mo?

See! No buddy!

Tonight is the 5th night without his buddy and it took him 13 minutes to fall asleep. There was no crying or rolling. Has he totally wean himself off? I don't know for sure.

I think he is ready for 1 nap a day but I gotta make that 1 nap longer. He is only doing just about 2 hours. Since he cut down the morning nap, I'm hoping he can stretch his afternoon nap to 3 hours.

4th morning/noon

Last night or rather early morning, little Andrew woke up at 3ish and refused to go back to sleep. After an hour or so, I'm dead tired and kept dozing off and so asked the daddy to put him to sleep. Like ALL MEN, he fell asleep before the son and ended up little Andrew was rolling all over the place. I ended up putting him to sleep at 5am!!!

This morning, little Andrew finally woke up at 9am. He didn't go back to sleep after his shower, like he used to when he was still enjoying his buddy.

These few days I realised he will only go to sleep at noon. Yesterday he had lunch before nap, but today he didn't. So I'm not sure how long he's gonna nap for. Surely he will be super hungry if he wakes up later than 1pm.

Oh, without the morning nap, it was easy putting him to sleep. Just a couple minutes of patting and humming, zzzzzz :) Maybe it's time to change his nap routine to 1 daytime nap?

Tonight marks the 4th night

Morning is 3rd morning but night is 4th night without his beloved buddy pacifier. And tonight took little Andrew 20 minutes to fall asleep. He was already tired anyway so that kinda made myself easier!

Earlier on when we were on our way home in the car, little Andrew was so tired that he just couldn't keep his eyes open. I just wanted him to hang in there a bit more so he can sleep in the bed easier without the buddy. And we made the right choice for sure!

Tonight, little Andrew only rolled a bit here there and chew on his sheepie (but I took it away) and that was it. No crying no yelling no tears. How I wish that THIS IS IT! I certainly hope so.

On the 3rd day...

Morning was horrible!!!! Little Andrew refused to sleep. He will roll and cry and YELL and crawl all over the bed, sit up, stand up... he did stay still for a moment and I thought he was gonna fall asleep... argh... he turned and started crying again. So I gave up... decided to bring him down to have some playtime.

Then it came lunch... I can see that he is very sleepy and tired already. So immediately after lunch, we came to bed and sure enough, little Andrew cried his lungs out! I decided to hold him and put him to sleep. After 10 minutes or so... zzzzz. If he decided to do 1 nap a day, is fine by me. As long as he stops all the yelling and crying and rolling and crawling...

Round 2 update

Yesterday afternoon little Andrew refused to sleep even though he was super tired. He cried and rolled and yelled and did lots of stun on the bed, and still refused to sleep. Gawd, afternoon nap is worse than the morning!

Then comes the night time... 45 minutes. That wasn't so bad. He did the same crying and rolling and lots of chewing everything his hands reached out to! But overall, manageable.

Weaning round 2

Last night wasn't so tough, it took me about 15 minutes to put little Andrew to sleep. So mission was a success.

This time I cut off the whole tip of his buddy. When he put into his mouth, little Andrew can totally feel it's different. He took it out a few times and put it back and he could even put his little finger into the buddy! This happened with the lights on.

When the lights were off, I gave him his buddy again, he immediately spit it out! I tried giving again, same thing he spit it out! Alright! And so I pat him to sleep without the pacifier. He made some dissatisfied noise and cried a little but it was ok. He rolled around a bit to find his position but pretty soon found it and fell asleep after a bit of patting.

Little Andrew woke up a few times looking for his buddy so I gave him the same one, he spit it out and went back to sleep pretty easily.

Success!!!!!

And this morning, oh oh oh, is a different story! After his morning milk and shower (oh and little Andrew poo poo before that), it was time to nap. And this is totally different scenario! Like last night, I gave him the broken buddy, he realised it's the same one and threw it aside. Then comes the fury!!!! Lots of rolling, crying, standing up, sitting up, kicking, to some extend shouting and chewing his blanket/ pillows, and finally fall asleep after one hour of stun! Boy this was tougher.

I stood firm on weaning off the buddy! It was painful to see tears rolling down little Andrew's cheek but I gotta stand firm and not give in. I was by his side the whole time, cooing, singing, hugging, patting... assuring him that I'm there for him. It took an hour, but I'm glad I didn't give him and he finally fell asleep in my arms.

2 steps is better than none!

This is right about 2 minutes before little Andrew took his first 2 steps without support. He was on FaceTime with my parents and some how he decided to walk the 2 steps without my support. I reckon he was trying to impress them! Hahaha!

Little Andrew is walking all the time with support but he still can't stand still! The only time he can stand still is when he is in the shower! Unbelievable! Gotta work harder on the standing up and walking!

Slept all the way

As we travel back from KL to JB this morning/afternoon, little Andrew slept ALL THE WAY!!! This is the first time ever he slept his way through. Looks like he is getting comfortable in the car seat and is definitely getting very used to it. I didn't expect him to sleep all the way. He mostly slept for 1-2 hours, never go pass the 2 hours mark. And today all the way, 3+ hours. Well, little Andrew did woke up but he went back to sleep almost immediately. I knew he woke up but ignored him. He probably felt bored and knew that there is nothing he can do, so he slept back in his own.

Happy!

Weaning

Tonight I decided that we should slowly wean little Andrew off his buddy aka pacifier. So I made a small cut at the neck of the pacifier.

I gave it to Andrew and nothing happened! He still sucked like nothing is different. Well, he did take it out for one or two times but he just carried on!

So when he went for his bath, I cut it even longer, like 2-3 of the length. So I gave it to little Andrew while putting him to sleep. AGAIN NOTHING!!! It's like nothing changed or no difference from
his normal pacifier. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!!????

So tonight mission failed :(

What did you do Baby?

This is a first time ever that little Andrew poo in his bath! As in poo in his bath tub and caused one heck of a shitty mess!

Keeping up with the stats

I haven't been diligently with keeping up with all his stats, such as when he started lifting his head, or rollover or crawling or which tooth started growing when etc. I know I should have been more detailed in all these little stuff. After all, you only grow up once right?

I shall start doing it more diligently by keeping up with the stats here, right here right now. Never too late right?

Let's see what little Andrew can do so far:
- "Bye"
- "Clap"
- "Flying kiss" though a bit cacat with one finger sticking into the mouth
- "Open" "Close"
- "There"
- "Give mummy" though not working all the time
- 90% of the time poo in the potty, 1% of time poo in your back, 9% of the time poo in your diaper
- Hold your own milk bottle (since 8mo)
- Drink from sippy cup most of the time but learning to drink from a "cup"
- Expert in standing in the shower and not much of other places, well perhaps on the bed from time to time
- Pinch even the smallest piece of food into your mouth
- Feed yourself with the fork, though the fingers are your preferred choice
- Getting the hang of putting objects/shapes into the hole- though u just bang them into the hole (the shape box & the bus), putting back the rings into the holder (on your learning table)

Likes/dislikes
- Prefer rice or chunkier food than purée/porridge (since 9/10mo)
- LOVE your fruits, except avocado
- LOVE bath/shower
- Not liking washing your hair and neck
- Likes swimming though takes a while to warm up when without the thermal wear or when we swim in the condo freezing pool water
- Can't live without the pacifier
- Not liking wiping your face with wet wipes after meal
- LOVES Sesame Street songs (Elmo is your favourite), Brave, Puss in Boots (short film), Kungfu Panda 2, and lately Hop (i suspect it's because EB plays a drum)
- Doesn't want anything put on your head!
- Cannot take heat, like since birth!
- Will not sit on the potty if it's not time to go
- Cannot stand it when your romper/pants is wet (when diaper leaks or overflows)
- Cannot stay still for diaper change!
- Doesn't like it if I say "no" or take things away from your hand (which in the first place you should not be playing with)
- Likes and happy to FaceTime with 外公, 外婆, 姨姨, 姨丈! And occasionally with mummy and daddy!


And we still co-sleep! Operation returning to the cot go halted when little Andrew caught the flu bug. I am quietly enjoying sleeping next to the baby, even though most of the time I lose sleep because of space constraint! (Perhaps an excuse to get a bigger bed)

And your nap/sleep time varies but standard will be waking up around 8-9am, milk, shower, 10am nap, playtime, 12pm lunch, 1-2pm nap, 4pm milk/snack, playtime, 7pm dinner, shower, sleeps by 9-9.30pm. And if you have only one nap during the day, you will cranky by 8pm.

Life is never the same with a baby and I'm enjoying it with a grateful heart.

Baby got teeth!

Little Andrew teeth is really growing up a storm!!! By 13 months, he has 3 molars growing simultaneously! And I thought it's suppose to be one at a time! The first molar is top left, and the top right and bottom left is just cutting through. No wonder Little Andrew let out cries at nights!!!

He hardly lets me check his teeth, so by the time I check again on the top molar, it was already quite big, say 70% surfaced already grown out. The other 2 is just cutting through and I can only see a small little white tip. In fact, I felt it with my fingers first then a couple days later only I managed to see it.

We are getting little Andrew to get used to brushing his teeth with step 2 tooth brush from Combi and he still loves his banana-shaped toothbrush :)