Had brought Mal to see the doctor for the itch that he was having . I brought him to the doctor last week after 14 days since the start of the itch, not that I really think that the doctor can help, but more for the peace of mind. The doctor basically tried to get a full account on when the itch started and eventually she derived at a rather vague conclusion, similar to what I found on the internet, that the itch is probably some kind of hive. Not sure what is the cause and she thought that it was not worth the effort to put Mal through all the blood tests to find out the allergen that had caused it. Mainly also because most of the time, such tests were inconclusive. She gave him some medication ZYRTEC which I found out to be some kind of antihistamine and may caused some drowsiness. It was still left untouched and unopened. I had resort to the bathing in Stout approach….endorsed by ??!

It had been 1 week 2 days since Mal started bathing in Stout, to be more precise, it is Guiness Stout and Mal would call it the ‘Itchy Oil’ I would mix 1/3 of the drink with a pail of water and let him rinse with it after his bath before drying him with a towel. His itch had gotten better, at least he hardly wake up in the middle of the night to ask me to apply the calamine lotion. Maybe the stout does have some effects, maybe the potency of the allergen has worn off with time. If ?? will to find out that the former is true, there will be more reason for her to stood by her old mother’s tales belief

This was his exact words this afternoon when I told him that it was naptime. Nowadays, to make him take his nap, we have to usually resort to some props to lull him to dreamland…either the motion of the car, letting him watch his ??? or ???? dvd or reading stories or just me lying next to him. He still cannot fall asleep on his own yet.

I had just bathed him after lunch and before he got dressed. He peed in the room and was reprimanded by me. I was sure he did that on purpose as by now, he could tell me when he needs to pee. Knowing that I was angry and he did something wrong again. He was quick to say sorry and sorry sorry sorry all the way…hoping for a hug from me or to get my usual ‘It’s okay’ reply. He is now very good at saying sorry. He seems to know that whenever he did something wrong, he can get away with his ’sorry’ and he is right as it is hard to continue scolding him when you hear those words especially when they are followed by a sad face with a little sob and he looks as if he is at the brink of tearing.

So after my ‘It’s okay’ reply, I told him it was time for naptime. ‘Mummy, lie here with me’ was his immediate reply which didn’t surprise me at all. I was actually quite filthy, still in my fitness attire as I had just came back from a workout. I was prepared to change into a new pair of shorts so that I could join him in bed but decided to try my luck. I asked him whether he could sleep on his own. He thought for a minute then replied me in a way that really took me by surprise. ‘Mummy, I am a big boy now. I can sleep on my own’ I was speechless for a while but was quick to answer in a very natural way to hide my surprise ‘oh good, then you sleep with monkey (his favourite furry soft toy ?? bought for him), Mummy needs to bath and do something’ With that, I covered him with the blanket, put his favourite monkey beside him, pulled down the shade a little, turned on the fan and turn around to leave the room ‘Do you want me to close the door?’ and his yes was swiftly obeyed. I closed the door behind me still very doubtful about what he told me. I was expecting him to come running to my room any moment.

I went to my room which had the baby monitor turned on and was waiting for him to call for me. It was quiet, I waited a while more before stepping into the bathroom.?He did not call for me nor did he came running to my room! After a good 15 mintues or so, I crept back to his room and peeked through the door, he was already sound asleep! I was thrilled, excited, proud, impressed, shocked, astonished…my boy slept on his own for the 1st time! No stories, no carseat, no dvd, no mummy lying beside him. Just him alone with his monkey right beside him, both tucked under the blanket. I was glad I witnessed this first hand. Another milestone for my little boy

Last Wednesday, Mal played bowling for the 1st time. He was 29 months and 2 days old then It was during one of the wives’ gathering when all the daddies were at work. We met at the bowling alley and it was good that we were given a corner where the kids could run around while the mummies chit chat. It was a weekday and we were told that the kids were allowed to bowl for free from 11 am onwards. We booked a lane and the kids took turns to bowl. They had special fence to block out the drain and special ramp for the kids to roll the ball so that the ball had enough momentum to reach the pins. Mal was able to lift up the ball on his own, not sure what was the weight but I supposed it was the lightest. The kids took turns to play and the mummies took turns to keep an eye on them. We discovered another indoor game where we can have fun together!

Went to a nearby park on Sunday evening. The park was full of activities. We joined the crowd to watch a soccer match played by some young teenage girls. They were so good and I was lamenting to Daddy why we don’t have such activities for our girls back home! So cool! But again, how many parents will like the idea of their daughters playing soccer. Anyway, our attention was soon diverted from the game to something more interesting. It was Mal and his new found friend. They were so cute, funny and innocent. Make me smile even when I think about it now heehee

During one of those working trips where Daddy was away for 2 weeks. Mal welcomed Daddy home with his 1st artwork. He made it using some $1 stamping pads and ink I bought from Target and it was nothing creative or artistic…actually it was quite a mess but I thought it is worth noting it down. That was about 3 months back.

Summer is finally over and the weather is finally getting cooler. Since we came here, I have not really paid much attention to the change in weather except this time. Maybe the heat was too unbearable that the slightest rainfall, the slightest dip in temperature was worth a big whoohaa. It all started on Labour Day after Daddy came back from Las Vegas. There was a storm that night and that was followed by more storms in the next few nights. I found out that it was the monsoon period. Since then, the weather seem a bit cooler in the morning and at night. On the weekend that passed, we had the best weather for the last 6 months. Now, we can almost turn off the air con in the day and just let the air outside cool the house.

With the change in weather, it was time for some great outdoor activities. On Saturday, while Mummy spent few hours shopping, Mal played at the outdoor playground which he had so much fun. Daddy was happy sitting under some shade, reading his book, entertaining Mal at the same time. It was a fabulous Saturday for the 3 of us!

On Sunday, it was cool and sunny even at noon time. Daddy suggested that we should have a BBQ. He prepared some simple BBQ food and within an hour or so, we were ready for our BBQ lunch. It was yummy, delicious, fun and relaxing…Daddy is a genius!

For the past 2 weeks, Daddy worked in the day and it was nice to have him joined us for dinner every night and have him read bedtime stories for Mal. Time passes swiftly. Me and Mal would make short trips to the library and departmental stores in the morning after breakfast. We would drive back after lunch and Mal would normally doze off in the car and would continue sleeping till late afternoon. After he woke up, it would be time to join me in the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Mal has been attending library every Wednesday for quite a while now. The 1/2 hour session includes some song singing, nursery ryhmes and story telling. I found the session not very innovative as every week they seem to be singing the same songs and nursery ryhmes and by now Mal could almost memorize all of them. On a few occasions when I skipped the library session, I sensed that he missed the session as he started singing those songs and ryhmes at home. I concluded that Mal enjoys the session even if it may not seem very interesting to me.

The story telling session is followed by a playgroup session which Mal is not very keen at. But still, we tried to hang around to let Mal mingle with the other kids. Most of the time, he will grab some books and ask me to read to him. Once a while he will play with toys and I notice Mal likes girls which are quiet, shy and demure and he is more ready to share his toys with them. For kids who are more aggressive and loud, Mal can get quite nasty with them, like snatching toys away and shouting ‘NO’ at them and that is why most boys who come close to him get that from him

Mal still loves to sit close to me everytime we go for the library session but he is getting more vocal during the session and his loud singing has earned some great comments from some of the parents. It makes me feel so proud and happy when parents come up to me and say Mal has done really well for the story telling time session. During the last session, Miss Erica read one of his favourite book when he was a baby. When it came to the last page…’How big is Baby Elmo?’ he made heads turned when he shouted ‘SO BIG!!!’ It was so funny that I can’t help to grin with joy and pride.

I don’t think I will do that. I called back home in desperation the other day hoping that ?? will have some idea on how the itch came about since we used to have quite problematic skin when we were young too. This gave ?? the chance to come up with all kinds of secret and traditional rememdies which normally will fall upon deaf ears on my side. I know she meant well but a lot of times you don’t see me follow what she recommends and sometimes I would even retort her with a sneer which instantly kills her enthursiasiam to continue her old mother’s tales explanation. Her explanation may sound absurd to me but I knew she believes in them herself and she really thinks that it works. I certainly don’t blame her as I know she is just trying to help in her own ways.

I has been a week since Mal started to get the itch and rash and it seems to get worse in the night when he was sleeping. I had went on the internet to do a search on the common itch and rash for children and I think in Mal’s case, it is probably some allergic reaction to some plants which he got while doing gardening the other day with Daddy. Here is the list of itching symptons and I think Mal’s symptoms resemble the one under Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac. I have been applying calamine lotion especially in the middle of the night when he wakes up scratching. This helps to soothe the itch a bit and allows him to fall back to sleep. Will continue to monitor the itch and if it gets worse, will probably bring him to a doctor. But if it is really due to some allergic reaction to some plants or insect bites, the doctor probably can’t do much also. Meanwhile, I will put the bathing in Stout idea on hold first. Maybe will do so if I get desperate enough and will see how Daddy laughs his head off !

We attended 2 farewell dinners over the weekend. One was at a restaurant with horrible service and I think it will be the last time for many of us to patronize that restaurant again. The other was in Daddy’s office on Saturday night.

I regretted not bringing the camera out on Friday night as we were all dressed up for the dinner and it has been quite a while since we have done so. There was a full moon on Friday night and we saw a really full and round moon on our way for dinner. It was hanging so low in the sky that it looked almost unreal. Mal was the 1st one to notice the moon in the midst of all the streetlights when we stopped at the traffic junction just outside our house and he went ‘The moon so big’.
Mal : ‘I grow so tall can jump and reach the moon’ ,
Us : ‘No you can’t’
Mal : ‘I use ladder to reach the moon’
wahahaha!!!

On Sunday, Daddy was in a mood for cooking. We started our day with sausage, egg and toast and in the evening, we had Daddy’s signature dumpling noodle for dinner. We had discovered the best way to eat the dumpling…FRIED IT! It tasted soooo perfect with Daddy’s preserved green chilli. There is another good reason to miss Daddy when he is away now!

It is Sunday morning and the weekend is coming to an end. Thankfully Mal’s cough is getting much better since Friday night and he has stop taking cough medicine since 2 nights ago. However he still itches all over, especially last night after we came back from Daddy’s office after a farewell dinner buffet. It was almost 11pm when we got back and was way passed his bedtime. So we did not bath him and I wonder that had contributed to his itchiness. These few days, he had been getting patches of redness on his body or wherever he started scratching. His body would feel warm…warmer than his usual temperature that I can remember. I would bath him, followed by moisturising him thoroughly and applying antiseptic cream on his insects bites. These would most of the time relieve the itch but I am still not sure what has caused those ugly itch. I thought the itch he had last night was because he did not have his bath before he went to bed but I am not sure, this only happened recently maybe a few days before the insects bites in the garden. Luckily the red patches will fade away after a while.

His itch has sent me into a cleaning frenzy as I suspect it might be because I have been neglecting his hygience. I changed his bedsheet, mopped the whole house, vacuum his bedroom thoroughly, washed the all the rugs in the house, changed his towel, cut the labels behind his shirts as I thought that might have caused the irriation (now he will boss me to cut away the tag when he starts to feel itchy)…but still it doesn’t help. Maybe it is a case of bad genes for the skin from me, if that is so, the itch will not go away so fast. Will continue to monitor.

I woke up one morning telling Mal that ‘Mummy is sick’. Actually I wasn’t really sick, not to the extend of not able to get off the bed. I was tired and was still having the nasty sore throat and nasal congestion. It just occurred to me that what if I am really so sick and Daddy is not around and I have to handle Mal all by myself. So while lazing in the bed, I turned to him and said, ‘Mummy cannot make you breakfast’. The first thing he said when I told him I was sick was ‘Mummy, you need to drink more water!’ which sounded so familiar! and then he continued ‘Mummy I make you breakfast, ok?’, ‘I make you kaya bread with peanut butter, ok?’ my ‘ok’ sent him running to the kitchen. He pulled a chair to reach the bread but realised that he couldn’t even untie the plastic bag for the bread.

4th September was labour day and it also marked the end of summer and the beginning of fall. It was a Monday and it was a public holiday. We spent the day lazing at home and in the evening, while I cooked dinner, Mal did gardening with Daddy. They were busy pulling out all the weeds in the garden. By the time they finished, Mal’s cheeks were all flushed red after working so long under the evening sun. Mal was constantly reminded to drink his water as I had been feeling abit sick for the past few days with a bit of sore throat and nasal congestion probably due to insufficient fluid intake and flu bug. By the way, I had been either boiling barley water or chrysanthemum drink every other day as sometimes it can be so difficult to ask Mal to drink water. With barley water and chrysanthemum drink, which were sweetened, it was a bit easier and for a while, he could easily gulp down the whole cup that was given to him. Unfortunately, the sweetened drink is about to wear out its spell too as recently he seem to lose interest. This guy needs variation when it comes to drinks, for eg. he doesn’t want to drink from the same cup everytime, sometimes you need to give him the drink in a plastic cup, sometimes in a sipping cup, sometimes in a glass, sometimes with a straw, sometimes in a disposable cup…the variations seem endless! Anyway, I digress…from the gardening, Mal had gotten some really ugly and potent insects bites. The bites only started to show effect that night while he was sleeping. He was scratching all over, from hair to neck to back to arms when actually only his feet and legs were bitten.

The worse thing was he started to get nose bleed again in the middle of the night and with the itch…he couldn’t fall asleep until a long time. In the morning he still woke up as early and obviously he was tired and so were we. On Tuesday he started to get cough and on Tuesday night, he was having cough and itch throughout the night and did not sleep well at all. This morning, I quickly went to the nearby pharmacy to get all the medications that I think I will need, for cough, for fever, for itch and even the exergen roll on thermometer which I have been wanting to get. His palms and body have been feeling a bit warm today but his temperature was ok. I have been diligently applying the antiseptic cream and anti itch cream for him and hopefully the venom of the bites will wear off soon and with the cough medicine tonight, hopefully he will be able to sleep more peacefully so that we can all rest.

When we first came to the US, one of the thing that fascinated me was the playground at MacDonald. They were HUGE! even so in relativity to a kid! It was a humongous thing that was sheltered and kids were allowed to run inside, maybe like running in a maze as when you were inside…esp for a little boy like Mal, you couldn’t tell where each turns would bring you to. It did not register to me as a fun place, rather it was bit scary and maybe even claustrophobic. But still, the kids love them. Maybe as adults, we tend to think too much and worry too much and thus we tend to miss out all the fun.

We tried to bring Mal to MacDonald a few times to let him try out the playground but he was never interested. He would rather sit beside us and have his hotcake meal…watching other kids scream and run in and out the little holes. He was probably too shy to join the other kids and also too small to be running around alone in this humongous plaything. The minimum age to play is 3 years old.

Just before Daddy left for his 2 weeks detachment, we brought Mal again to the nearby MacDonald for breakfast. It was early Sunday morning and playground was empty…we encouraged him to give it a try. He was hesistant and we could tell he was scared. He wanted Daddy to join him. Luckily this particular MacDonald allows parents to get into the playground…as it was stated in the rules. Even with Daddy tagging behind him, Mal was afraid. He dared not move about much inside the playground…not knowing what would happen with each climb and each fall. Finally even Mummy joined in! After an hour or so of persuasion and encouragment, he was beginning to relax more and enjoy the plaything more. But still he needs us to be constantly be with him.

When Daddy was not around, I brought him to the MacDonald playground twice. Each time with some other kids whom we know. The 1st one was back to the nearby MacDonald. He did not need me to join him as there were ??s whom he knew playing with him. He had a great time. The 2nd time was to a different MacDonald. This time, he was not familiar with the setup of the playground…still…with the company of another ?? who was 2 years his senior, he had fun at the playground. I was abit worried though, as the playground definitely looks too big and challenging for a small kid like Mal. When I stood outside and watched him played…I realised that to be able to run around this humongous thing required quite a bit of courage and independence from a young boy like Mal. It was a milestone for my little boy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ops5yPOk2ug]

Daddy was finally home from his 2 weeks detachment in Las Vegas. Though this was not the 1st time that he was away, it was the 1st time that Mummy and Mal were home alone as before that ?? was always around. It wasn’t so bad afterall to be home alone just the 2 of us. Without Daddy around, Mummy doesn’t need to busy herself preparing all the meals. The 2 of us can easily opt to have a quick lunch outside…Wildflower Bread Company nearby was one of his favourite restaurant though he only go for their soup and bread. It is however good enough for lunch once a while. For the last 2 weeks, we had shopped more than we had shopped for the past few months when Daddy was around! Actually one main reason that we shopped so much while Daddy was not around was…we were bored at home and going out seems to make the day passed faster…ultimately, we still miss Daddy. Without him, the night seem more quiet and the house seem bigger and emptier.

We woke up early at around 7 as usual and Mummy started her whole day of cleaning the house from the toilets, bathtub, washing the clothes to changing the bedsheets. It was a tiring day. Mal was following Mummy everywhere…trying to help scrub the tiles, the sink and vanity top. It was hard not to let him participate. Everything went on quite well until it was time for his nap time. Mal was already very tired by then, and normally it takes less than 10 minutes for him to doze off. Today, Mummy took more than an hour and it had definitely made Mummy lost her patience. So at around 3pm, Mummy call it quit. Mal skipped his naptime. That was a record broke! Maybe he knew that Daddy was coming home as he kept asking Mummy to go pick up Daddy. At 4.15pm, we made our way to the Daddy’s office to pick him up and surprisingly, Mal could stay awake in the car! Guess he was really too excited that Daddy was coming home!