Nice!

As I am writing this, I realized how quiet our hotel room here in Penang is. No stern-talking daddy responding to demanding toddler in the background. Why? That is because Craig is with my parents 150 miles away while Brian and I are here in the idyllic island of Penang for work. This is the second time in the last two months that C gets to spend the weekend with his PohPoh and GungGung sans his parents. The last I heard from my mom, other than a fluke vomit episode (hopefully!), he is having a ball. Such news is always welcoming for parents who have to be away from their children for work.

On the way to my parents, due to some unforeseen circumstances, we had to buy a full ticket for C (he gets to fly for almost free for a few more months before he turns 2). Needless to say, he thoroughly enjoyed his flight. As we were waiting to board our flight, I pointed out to him our plane to which he responded, "Plane!... Nice." Now that he is older and more aware of his world, he gets excited over things like new shoes, new books and toys, and the anticipation of being in a plane. He was acting so silly (cute-good silliness) as we got ready to take off but was very good in staying in his seat belted, to which we all thought - Nice!

Notice how he has his legs are crossed:

Uncharted territory

Last week work took me to the uncharted (well, for me, at least) territory of the state of Kelantan in Malaysia. Geographically located on the northeast of Peninsular Malaysia, Kelantan is right by the border of Malaysia-Thailand. As the state is populated predominantly by Malay Muslims, the ruling party there is an Islamic party. All these factors contribute to the uniqueness of this state compared to the other states in Malaysia. The differences were obvious to me as soon as I arrived. See here on more information on Kelantan.

The famous Sultan Ismail Petra Arch - notice the Quran on the pillar:

I was really anticipating my visit to Kota Bahru (Kelantan's capital city) having heard so much about its rich heritage and reputed Malay-Siam cuisine. And I was not disappointed. While my schedule did not grant me the luxury of seeing much of the town, I did manage to squeeze in a quick tour of the famous colorful Siti Khatijah market that graces every almost postcard on Kelantan. What one can buy at this market is amazing - from everyday fresh meat, vegetables and fruits to the exotic cacti and turtle eggs (which are illegal?). For more pictures, go here.

On the home front, Brian did wonderfully with Craig all by himself though on the second night C did cry inconsolably looking for mommy. But overall, B scored an A+!

"I'm lovin' it"

Stomach flu, work, high fever, work-travel, family-wide cold, death of dear friend and more work. All of the above and more occupied most of our last few weeks - hence the absence from this space. It is not unexpected that my return to full-time work will leave me with little time to report to family and friends the little fellow's rapid growth.

And swift it has been! Since he started at the creche (and turning 19 month old), Craig's social and verbal development have embarked on the express train. He is stringing two to three words together to form simple sentences and even picked up a few Mandarin words from his teachers. He is loving his time at the creche - always full of anticipation in the morning. Like most babies and toddlers, he loves the routine at the creche. This is a great relief for me, especially, to know that C's time away from us at the creche is so positive for him.

See him in his uniform:

It is hard to believe that it is the crazy time of the year again when my travels for work will be back to back the next few weeks till we make our annual pilgrimage to see Brian's family back east (of the US). But till then, I will be away at least three days a week from this week on. Meanwhile, I can't wait till November...

Last week C brought home his first handicraft project - a lantern for the Mid-Autumn festival. He is rather proud of his "handiwork" as he's been swinging it around at home rendering it its demise soon:

Self-service

Before Craig started at the creche, my fear of mess (especially those which require soapy clean up) had been a deterring factor in Craig's delay to acquire the skill to self-feed. Other than using the fork on his eggs (for breakfast) and cheese squares (for snacks), he was not intentionally encouraged to learn how to use the spoon to feed himself. Besides, everyone tells me that the tots will soon pick up these independent skills when they see how dexterous their classmates are. In addition, mealtimes are happy and easy affairs for C and for us who feed him as he loves his food (his teachers at school never fail to be impressed by his appetite).

However, last evening C decided that he will no longer tolerate being held captive in his high chair and insisted on using the spoon himself. So, after attempts to assuage the hellion's ardent and feet-stomping determination failed, I decided to let him have his way with the spoon and his dinner. I had expected mess and a turned over bowl but the little boy surprised us all by his deft spooning - leaving very little for me to clean up. So I guess a toast is in order as we celebrate this significant milestone of our fast-growing toddler! Congratulations, little boy! You are growing too fast for us to catch our breath!

Post-dinner happy spoon-dance - obviously pleased with his feat:

Breakfast on Saturdays

My mom is here on her monthly visit and as always her presence is greatly welcomed. This means, other than having additional company for Craig, I don't have to worry about dinner on week nights but instead come home to familiar comfort dinners.

We are pleased to announce C is rather adjusted at the creche though so far he only stays till after nap time. Especially with my mom being round, the little boy gets to come home early for his snacks instead of at 5pm when I pick him up.

As a family we've started some kind of a tradition where we have breakfast out on Saturdays when I don't have to work. With the weather permitting yesterday, we indulged in Mickey D's latte and deluxe breakfast at the beachside outlet close by. A stroll on the beach park was perfect to round up our big breakfast outing. Unlike our past few visits to this park, this time C was much more interested in the playground. We took time to let him run around bare foot in the sand and he was absolutely thrilled! Afterwards father and son took delight watching the marine traffic out at sea.

Say Cheese!

Many parents have told us that once a child starts at the creche they will learn independence in many ways. I remember Brian's mother telling me how Brian blossomed when he started going to home-based childcare. We are beginning to see the same with Craig. On a daily basis we see his personality coming through - his laugh, sense of humor, babbling, etc. Good fun!

Inaugural Youth Olympics Games

The inaugural Youth Olympics Games officially began two days ago here in Singapore. A day before that, we had the opportunity to witness the Olympic torch relay pass right by our apartment block. Years from today, Craig will tell his friends that he was that close to the torch relay of the first ever Youth Olympics and the following video clip will prove it. (Please pardon the unintended commentary in the beginning of the clip):

Creche landing

Our little boy turned 18 months old yesterday. A major milestone in many aspects but a significant one is that he is now old enough to start at the creche. As this is his first week, he is there only for half of the day and one of us is asked to stay with him. The real test will be next week when he will stay on longer and without either one of us with him. Having spent the first day with him, I think he will do alright although tears will be inevitable next week.

What a big boy! Riding the train holding on by himself:

We love the fact that the creche is a mere 7-minute walk from our apartment. The plan is that Brian will send him there in the morning while I will pick him up in the evening. He has two English-speaking teachers and two Mandarin-speaking ones. We are looking forward to his learning Mandarin from his Chinese teachers who are native-speakers (they are from China). Maybe the day will come when C will teach his parents some Mandarin!

Anxiously waiting for lunch to be served:

"No, no, no, no, no!"

As work required both Brian and me in Penang over the weekend, we took advantage of the close proximity to where my parents live by leaving Craig with them for a few days. Though initially apprehensive of how the little boy will do in view of his recent intensified separation anxiety, our fears were allayed after the first night when they reported that he is happier than ever. And having loads of fun.

It is hard to believe that I've been back to work for a month now as the weeks just flew by. Though greeted by a few pressing projects upon my return, my calender was still rather manageable for the rest of the year. Not so the case today. The months ahead are filling up with various speaking engagements including quite a few that require travel. Ah, yes, it is all coming back to me now...

Having worked over the weekend, we decided to take Monday off for C. It was a day well spent at a mall here which has a huge children's recreation area. As it was a school day, we did not have to deal with crowds both at the park and at the restaurant afterward for lunch. Other than a few minor tantrums fueled by exhaustion and hunger, C did really well. Nonetheless, we are very aware that the dreaded T2 is closing in on us as we definitely see manifestations of the phase - favorite expression now: "No, no, no, no, no!"

Being his first time, he was reluctant to approach the water spouts. I had to coax him:

He clearly enjoyed them subsequently:

Wordless Wednesday

Groovin'

It has been too long since we took Craig out to the city. So we decided that we will eat out for dinner. On the way back, we dropped by a CD shop to browse around and C could not resist the beat of a song that was playing at the store. Modestly, he moved his booty as evidenced by the video below. Enjoy!

Father and son days

After enjoying a year of Stay-at-Home-Mom privileges, I returned to full-time work two days ago. This means my days of long commute and brown bag lunches are back. As Craig is a month short of turning 18 months, the creche that we have him registered at would not be able take him in just as yet. Hence instead of diving straight back into his doctoral research, Brian will have to take another month off to stay-home with C. I'm confident that the two boys will have a blast bonding over books, toy trucks and cars, duplos and daddy's music of preference (Though I beg to differ, B reckons that it's never too early to introduce C to White Stripes!).

My handsome boys:

I have mixed feelings about heading back to work but I believe that it is time for us to move on to another phase in our lives: for me to resume my professional life, for B to make progress on his research and for C to embark on new learning experiences.

Thankfully my first work week was a short one (I was back to work on a Thursday!) and my mom arrived yesterday for another visit. Her being around will definitely alleviate some of the pressure and anxiety of my work mode as she helps B with the curious toddler and eases the burden of meal preparation for the family. Here's to ten days of comfort mommy-cooked dinners!

Toddler diarrhea

Travels and sicknesses occupied most of our days last few weeks leaving us with very little energy left at the end of every day for luxuries like blogging. Soon after my last post, Craig was admitted into the hospital for an intestinal infection. Turns out his fever was not vaccine-related but a precursor to a bout of diarrhea, vomitus, diaper rash, temporary lactose intolerance and yeast infection (in that order!). While the little boy was not too sickly throughout, his Pediatrician recommended that he be admitted for observation.

After two nights of antibiotics treatment, he was allowed to go home when his fever finally broke and when his blood work came back negative. I stayed over with him the first night while Brian took over the next as I had to leave for Toronto for work. It was extremely tough to leave but I knew C was in the good hands of my mom and Brian. Yiyi also flew in to surprise C and her visit definitely sweetened his otherwise miserable weekend in the hospital.

By the time I returned from Canada, the toddler was almost back to his normal self. Unfortunately, he had another bout of diarrhea almost ten days later when we made a day trip to Malaysia for work. This time his fever was short lived though. A few days of intense lactobacillus supplement, his stomach finally stabilized. (By the way, we highly recommend any Probiotics supplement which contains the strain of LactoGG lactobacillus)

In the midst of all these, he turned 16-month old! Here are some tricks up this toddler's sleeve:

• Says almost 70 words (guess who's counting AND listing!)
• Hums when you ask him to sing
• Plays "baby-pictionary" with his parents on the floor with crayons
• Knows and says what's hot and stays away
• Rummages the pantry and asks for crackers and cookies regularly
• Goes to the kitchen, points at the pot where we make his food and says, Mam mam, around meal times
• Plays hide and seek with his parents (we hide, he seeks)

P.s. Some new pixs of C here.

Little did we know

When I was Craig's age, my mom told me, I would throw up whenever I had fever. So far, that has been the case with Craig, too. (Should I be consoled by this fact that at least he does takes after me in some ways?!) After the last vaccination shot he had three months ago, he threw up in the middle of the night with a temperature. Then, over a month ago he barfed profusely at the onset of a viral fever. So, we were prepared this time when we took him in for his 15-month vaccination. At least we thought we were prepared.

As always, the little boy took the jab in stride and merely let out a brief cry. And as we were getting ready to leave, the doctor informed that he may experience some mild side effects in 5-10 days' time. "In 5-10 days' time???" I thought. But don't side effects manifest almost immediately? Apparently not this time. After some online research (which I really should have done before the doctor's visit) , I discovered that reaction to the Mumps-Measles-Rubella-Varicella (chicken pox) vaccination typically show up days later. Common reaction include fever (I read: Barf!) and rashes. And, some toddlers also experience intermittent fever over a period of two weeks.

This information does not bode well for me at all as I leave in a few days' for a week for work. Thankfully my mother will be arriving tomorrow and Brian will not have to handle the situation all by himself. Besides, the boy started having a temperature today (no vomit, yet - I'm keeping my fingers crossed). Hopefully after tomorrow the side effects would have run its course and C will be fine while I'm away.

Sicak! Caliente! Panas!

No matter how you say it, it's still hot, hot, hot! The weather here has been most unbearable - almost saturation-point humidity plus sweltering heat from the scorching sun. You would think the occasional precipitation would bring some relief to the soul but in reality, the rain actually worsens the humidity (imagine water landing on hot surfaces - yes, steam!) and leaves one feeling more clammy than before. And under such draining conditions, one hardly has the desire to do much - even on a weekend.

However, it would be heartless to cage up an active toddler at home. So we decided to brace the mugginess and go for ice-cream at The Daily Scoop (Click on name to their site) an ice-cream parlor that serves up the most delightful concoctions, and most wonderfully, very close to where we live. It was the right thing to do as after a few scoops of Utterly Avocado and Nutty Macadamia, the world was a better place for all three of us!

Craig helping himself to the cold treat:

Happy ending to weekend: