Khye's First Few Days at Playschool

9 April 2015

We decided to send Khye to a playschool a few months ago. But due to CNY and our recent Sydney trip and some procrastination on my side, we only managed to start Khye in playschool this month.

Khye starts playschool at age 2 years and 7 months old, almost the same age as Shern at age 2 years 8 mths.
Just like during Shern's time, timing was just nice to send him to a playschool then as my tummy is starting to grow and the baby in my tummy is going to come out soon. I wouldn't want to send Khye to playschool when baby is out (fear that Khye may feel I am sending him away). I wish to send him BEFORE baby is out so that he has a routine and be familiar with the people and place.

In the end, we chose a playschool which encourages play. They have outside play every single day, which is hardly a scene here in Penang. I love that.
I also love their concept of 'When the kid has enough play, it is easy and the kid will be ready to absorb anything'!
So this playschool has a lot of playtime and no academics, which would probably shock most parents here.

I am ok with no academics as Khye is only about 2 1/2 years old. And he already knows his alphabets and numbers anyway. haha. And he can pick up some academics at home or when he is a little older.

Khye handled it pretty well, (much better than Shern's time in which his bro cried non-stop and inconsable when I left him there).
As mentioned in Khye's 2 1/2 yo Update post, Khye was all happy and smiley on his 3 days of 'trial classes', bringing along his Mickey Mouse schoolbag!

15 April 2015

And as of now, Khye has attended playschool for more than a week of half day 9am-12.30pm and it was ok, Khye is happy about going to school especially on the first few days.
We build blocks while eating breakfast or waiting for the time to leave for school.

 
17 April 2015

What he eats for breakfast depends on his mood, and also whatever is available, but is usually very simple. I would ask him if would like some fruits of bananas or grapes. Or sometimes half-boiled eggs with some bread.
On that day, it was digestive biscuits with some Milo drink.

They do serve light breakfast and also some light lunch during his 3 1/2 hours in school. And Khye is not very picky on food so he will usually eat some so I am not too worried about him going hungry.

17 April 2015

Here he was wearing his school bag and ready to go.

 

He sits in his car seat happily holding some toy cars or like that day reading his transportation book in the car. 

But after a few days, he got a little sad and cried when I leave. He didn't scream my name or anything, but just showed me his sad face. Luckily, he has taken a liking to one of the teachers there and he would carry him and comfort him when I leave. And every day he would tell me 'Khye only cries for 2 minutes when u leave, and then he would be playing happily!'. "_"

Last week, Khye missed a few days of school because he was sick. At home he kept telling me about school, how school is 'nice', and there are 'slides' and 'toys' and 'mum mum' etc. I could see that he misses school.  After he was well, I took him to school, he was reluctant for me to leave but he wanted to go to school, so he asks me to go inside with him! (when did my son become so clever?)
He cried a bit when I left but he was alright again as usual after I left.

So overall, I would say that Khye settled quite well in his playschool routine.
All I want is that Khye be happy there and I will be happy! ;)

Khye's Swollen Upper Lips a.k.a Gingivostomatitis

Ok, both kids are down. But let me first talk about Khye.

It started off on Sunday evening, when Khye woke up after a nap at Ah-Ma's house feeling really grumpy. I shrugged it off as I thought it was one of his grumpy days. We then went to Tesco and he was alright again after having a McD cone. Yes, he ate the cone only without the ice-cream.

That night was a nightmare. I put him to sleep at around 9.30pm and since then he woke up EVERY 15 minutes to 1/2 hours and whined and cried. Initially I just patted him back to sleep and he did sleep back but to wake up 15 minutes later to whine. I took his temperature and it was cool. No fever.
After a few hours of this, I got irritated due to lack of sleep and that Khye wanted me to pat and sing to him (imagine me singing the whole night!). So I kinda raised my voice and scolded him. Of course he cried louder.

In the morning, I surrendered and woke up at 7.30am together with him and went downstairs. And that was when I saw his upper front lips were swollen.

20 April 2015 - Khye with swollen upper lips

And then I was wondered if that happened because I offered him my boobs just a while ago. But the swelling didn't subside after 1 hour and that was when I got worried.
I then felt bad that I was kinda harsh to him last night. He must be feeling really poorly. :(

Decided to bring Khye to the peds to have him checked out.
Khye as usual was bawling his eyes out in the doctor's clinic as he is scared stiff of doctors.
Dr. Chiah saw his swollen upper lips and after some thorough checking of his throat and mouth and body,he said Khye has gums infections or also known as Gingivostomatitis (a combination of gingivitis and stomatitis). The infection leads to him having fever.
Apparently, this is quite a common infection among children.

And because of that, he recommended antibiotic (2nd time on antibiotic. 1st time when he was 2weeks old and had a swollen 'lil toe) and also antiviral. Initially he suggested to try out antibacterial meds and see if it takes its course, but then since he has quite a high fever then (38.7dC at the clinic!), it is better to take both. I agreed seeing how uncomfortable Khye was as he didn't sleep the whole night and he didn't eat well as well.

Look at my poor baby (still with very swollen upper lips) having a long afternoon nap after he got back from the hospital.

 

And the same day evening, Shern also fell sick and ran a high temperature. (will blog about this in a separate post

Coupled with the antibiotic and antiviral, he was also prescribed antihistamine meds, and of course PCM if needed and also an oral gel to ease his swollen gums if he refuses food. Even the doctor told me this is a lot of meds for a kid!
I told the doctor how difficult it is to feed Khye meds and he told me top priority is the antibiotic and antiviral and PCM if fever. The rest are secondary.
So in the end, I just fed Khye the priority ones. :)

Khye tends to vomit out the meds if I force him to eat while crying. So now I put the meds into his Yakult or Iced Milo and he drinks all up happily.
Certainly made feeding meds more easy, especially with so many meds to feed to an unwilling patient.

 
20 April 2015

The next day was a little better, although he was still having mild fever. But his lips were still a little swollen, though has subsided quite a lot compared to the previous day.

 

21 April 2015

However he slept well that night and after that, no more frequent waking ups like the first night. 

On the 3rd day, things were definitely much more brighter for this little boy, with no more fever (less than 38dC) the whole day although body is a little hotter than normal to the touch. But his appetite did came back slowly, eating half a bowl of rice and some fruits.

22 April 2015

And as of yesterday, he was all well again. No more fever and appetite was definitely back!
Look at him posing for my phone nicely. Lips are just a teeny 'lil bit swollen, but other than that, he is all well!
Looks like this little boy is all ready for school on Friday!

  

23 April 2015

Another learning process for me as a mummy. 

I didn't know Gingivostomatitis/Gingivitis can be quite sickly too.

And now the next blog post will be about Shern as he fell sick too almost at the same time! #lifeasamummy #beingamummyisnoteasy 

Khye's First Time In A Cineplex

The kids woke up at 7am last Saturday morning (a nightmare for all parents I believe), and by 10am they were getting restless. Wanted to bring them out to the outdoors but then it is so hot and humid these few days.

But hubby and I packed them both into the car anyway and then only decided where to go and where to bring them. Decided to have brunch in Secawan @ Hutton, my favourite cafe.

While waiting for our food, Shern playing finger and hand games with Daddy,

While Khye posed away for my camera...

     

All giving thumbs up on the food. 

Shern loves the pancakes there. And I like the Ms Bernaise there, which is actually Egg Benedict with salmon. Khye ate everything so can't say which he likes. haha. 

  

 And I took a selfie with my babies.

After that, we decided to catch a movie with the kids, bringing Khye in as well. We think that Khye at 2 1/2 years old, will be a little bit more well behaved and also he can watch a movie for a little longer.

We let Shern choose if he wants to watch Cinderella or Home, and he chose Home, much to my disappointment. haha. 

Anyway, Home it was then for the 12 noon show, which I think is a better choice for Khye too as it is a cartoon. 

 

Hubby and Shern tried out D-Box.

 

While waiting for Daddy to buy popcorn. 

 

Into the cineplex area...

The kids sharing a seat (bought a child seat ticket for Shern, and Khye's free).
Khye tried the popcorn and hated it and puked it all out. He just drank the iced milo.

So how was it?
Well, Khye was behaving quite well, though sometimes he forgot to whisper and talked a bit loud.
He sat down and watched the movie for about 45 minutes, and he even loughed with the rest of the people.
After 45 mins, he got a bit restless as it was also his naptime. So I told him to tell me if he wants to sleep. So he says 'oi oi and nen-nen'. Haha. I gave in and nursed him to sleep in the cinema.

He woke up when the movie ends, and I asked him 'is the cartoon movie nice?'. Khye answered 'nen-nen nice!'. What a cheeky boy indeed.

Well, compared to his brother who only went to the cineplex at 4yo, Khye behaved really well and the fact that he did not make any fuss is good enough for me. And also thanks to the power of breastfeeding! ;D

Shern and His Frequent Urination

April 2015 - 5 years 10 mths

Shern came back from school the other day with different clothes and slippers. He then told me that he peed in his pants in school, during Chinese class because his teacher didn't allow him to go to the toilet because he just went not too long ago.
I listened to his side of story and then just shrugged it off. I knew these things happen sometimes. I told him was ok and that he should tell his teacher if he really needed to go. He nodded.

Two days later, we went out for dinner and that was when we noticed that Shern went to the toilet many times. Just from the time we paid the bill to walking to our car, which took us about 10 mins, he asked for the toilet 3 times!

Then only I started to notice how frequent he peed at home too. (usually I don't count how many times he pees at home. He doesn't need to ask permission to pee at home!). I checked and there was pee every time, not just drops but about 2 tablespoons of pee. Hmmm...So initially we suspected UTI. Called his peds to make appointment for the next day.

Shern skipped school the next day to see the doctor, and also because he told me he was scared to go to school as he needed to go to the toilet so many times. And thus, he refused to drink water, which I feared may make the matter worse. Poor boy.

At the hospital, he took a urine test for UTI. His urine test came out clear, which means it is not UTI. His paed suspected that his accumulated stools/poop may be blocking and pressing on his bladder, thus sending signals to his brain that he needs to go pee.
I was in disbelieve as Shern poos almost every day, though not a lot to be honest. A piece of poo or two only usually. Dr. Chiah said that was the problem. He does poo every day but only little, and then we thought it is ok. Thus the accumulated poo inside.
Dr. Chiah said apparently, this is a common problem among kids, where they gets so distracted and just poo a little as they can't wait to go out to play!

He tried to press him tummy to feel the poop, but Shern being soooo ticklish and laughed and tensed up, so the doctor couldn't feel anything.
And also the fact that Shern doesn't take any fruits at all, (he doesn't even like orange juice or orange ice-cream!), and almost no veg except for the french beans in his fried rice!

We also did Shern's last immunisation booster jab for polio (which we told Shern doctor was checking for ants in his hands. Yes he really didn't know it was an injection!), and Shern declared that this felt better than the tickling. And doctor said this was supposed to be a more painful jab because it was injected into his muscle. Weird kid.

And so his doctor advised us to try to release all his poo in his tummy (he prescribed some stools softening meds, and revin enema to instantly remove all his poop for once), before checking for further tests which needs x-ray and blood test. I agreed.

And sure enough, after pumping the tube in his backside, 6-7 stools came out. But then his condition did not improve yet. We went for Yamaha class the next day with him going to the toilet 10 times in 1 1/2 hours including traveling time!

Shern went to school and I did write a letter to his teacher informing his situation so that they understand him. No complains from Shern after that.
But Shern was sad that his 'bladder is spoilt'. He told me that he already prayed to Jesus to make his bladder strong again but why Jesus never listened to him?
I told him that Jesus only helps those who helps themselves, so he must do his part to drink more water, eat more fruits and vege and poo poo often.

Texted his paed and he assured me to let him try for 3 days, and then see how he fares before we make another decision. On the 3rd day, his condition improved, and his need to go to the toilet decreases. I'm sooo happy for him, and he is happy too.
Shern did improve quite a lot. From a totally no fruits person, and now he eats apples, starting from a slice of apple a day, to today 5 slices of apples! Big improvement indeed for him!

And so this is a little lesson for me and for us all.
That is not enough if he poos every day, we must see the amount of poo! :)

Anyway, I'm glad my big boy is now ok. And Shern has been telling his teacher that 'my bladder is now stronger already because I am eating apples!'

Yiu-Khye - 2 1/2 Years Old

2 March 2015 @ Khye at 2 1/2yo

Speech & Vocabulary

In this category, Khye has improved tremendously, since he started talking after 2yo, with him repeating words after me at 25 mths, cheekily calling me 'money' instead of mummy, and knowing and reading numbers at 2 yrs 3 mth, and then recognizing the alphabet one month later. 

I'm pretty impressed by my own kid that he kinda knows so much without us really teaching him, and proud that he loves it. And to think that he could only talk after he turned two. He must be storing lotsa things inside that big head of his. haha.

Khye can now tells me things by himself, and he knows how to express to me that his leg is itchy, or that he spotted ants, etc so it certainly makes things way much easier now that he is very verbal, though he has some problems with some pronunciation.

He cannot really pronounce the sound '-er', so water becomes 'wati', doctor becomes 'docti', and uncle becomes 'uncky' which sounds like aunty, so it seems like he is calling all uncles aunties. haha. 

Doctors (a.k.a Docti)

Khye loves playing 'docti' at home.

He has this Doctor Playset that Min-yee got for him and he plays with it almost every day. He would wear the specs (I dunno why all doctor playsets come with specs. Do all docs supposed to be wearing specs?), and starts hearing my heartbeat and then put the plaster across my head. 

 

2 and 19 March 2015

But this naughty boy is scared stiff of the real doctors. 
It may be due to the fact that he was hospitalized quite a few times before he turned 1 yo (but I doubt he can remember it right?), or that all the recent visits to his pediatrician was to get his immunization jabs, since he rarely falls sick now. 

1 April 2015

Anyway, this is Khye about 2 weks ago waiting happily outside his paed room, but the moment we went through his room door, Khye was crying hysterically and screaming murder! Sigh.

Eating

It is so easy to feed Khye now. He eats practically everything. His current favourites are bananas or all kinds of fruits, rice and also mee-mee (noodles), and iced milo. 

He eats everything ok so he gets a wholesome, well-balanced diet most of the time which I am pretty happy.

3 April 2015

The only thing he doesn't really like are ice-cream and yogurt. These two are cold, so I think he thinks ice-creams and yogurts are the same probably.

So when Shern has ice-creams at McDonald's, he would just eat the cone. 

Btw, McD charges me the same if I just ask for the cone. So I usually ask them for an empty cup and asks them to separate the ice-cream (put inside the cup) from the cone! 

Breastfeeding

Before I was preggy, Khye was very addicted to my boobs, asking for 'nen-nen' as and when he likes it anytime of the day. Then, I had reduced his dependency on my boobs a few months ago. (I will talk about this in another separate post). He no longer needs to latch on to nap/sleep.
Anyway, as of now, I am considered STILL breastfeeding Khye, but he no longer asks for it as often he did a few months ago. 

'Terrible Two' Stage Is Not Here YET!

Either I am blessed with a very good temperament toddler, or Khye's Terrible Two Stage is not here YET! I did read somewhere that some toddlers only go through that when they are 3yo or so. Well, I am keeping my fingers crossed that it won't come.
Khye is now 2 1/2yo and he is still a very smiley and good temperament boy.

This is his face every morning when he wakes up. Happy and smiley.

3 March 2015

Khye is also a poser for the camera. It is easy to ask him to smile when he knows you are taking a photo of him. And he has this thing for spectacles or masks. He loves wearing them. 

27 March 2015


19 March 2015

And look at him making his 'hiao' face. Cannot tahan. Haha. 

2 March 2015

Not-So-Glory Moments

We were on our way home after the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, and Khye was hungry and tired so I gave them some snacks in the car. But Khye fell asleep with a Coco Pop in his mouth. 

(Yes, I did take it out from his mouth after taking a photo of his not-so-glory as I think that piece of cereal may choke him).

21 Feb 2015

Khye has his bad days too. 

Recently,Khye refused to take his afternoon nap. When I asked him to sleep, he would say 'No Sleep. No Sleep' and then he would run away from me. I let him be and he would continue playing with his toys.
And then 10 minutes later all was quiet in the house. I turned and looked and saw Khye fell asleep on the floor, his hands still holding the train he was rolling just awhile ago. His saliva dripped from his mouth to his cheek to the floor. Another not-so-glory moment. 

 

5 April 2015

And Khye refused to nap again in mum's house just a few days after that. 

Mum informed me that he would rather sit on his toy bike and then leaned his face on the wall and close his eyes, rather than sleep properly in Yee-Pho's arms or in the bouncer. Haha. 

6 April 2015

Going To Playschool

After months of searching and procrastinating on my side, we have decided which playschool to enrol him in. We have decided on a playschool which encourages play. I like their concept of 'When the kid has enough play, it is easy and the kid will be ready to absorb anything'! So I hope he will be happy there.

This is Khye, all happy and smiley when I told him he is going to school. He loves his Mickey Mouse school bag from his 3-Kau Kong and Kam-Pho. 
It has been 3 days of 'trial class' last week and he is still lovin' the school and everything in it. And today he is still as happy as a lark on his first day of school (3+ hrs without mummy!) 
Hope this lasts!

  
9 April 2015

Ok, that would be all for now.