Finally, a happy trip to the PD

Since early this year, Bryan had developed a fear for his PD. Each time he sees his PD, he’ll get a painful jab on his bum-bum or his upper arm. And it is made worse as this year he was admitted to the hospital twice.

Blood samples are required both times and during his stay, he gets his antibiotics via IV. So poor boy had to go through the experinece of having 2- 3 nurses to wrap him up in a sheet and hold him down so that the PD can insert the needles for blood samples & for the IV. *sakit hati-nya*

So it is no wonder that the mere mention of “Dr Sim” brings fear to him. In fact at the hospital, he would cry whenever any stranger – nurse/ cleaner walks into the room. So I had to made sure that he stays in a private room to minimize the number of strangers that will come into the room. Otherwise, the poor boy will be crying non stop.

We had to take him for his Hepatitis A jab this month, and I was worried that it will again be a scary experience for him.

So I tried to use Charlotte’s mommy’s technique on Bryan. I had bought the Dr’s play set for Bryan for months, but he was not very interested in the set.

About 2 weeks before the vaccination appointment, I play the Dr’s set with him almost everyday. I would show him how Dr Sim will use the stethoscope on him, how he will check his ears, mouth, etc.

At first, Bryan would say…”Dr Sim, tah- tah (beat)” or “Dr Sim, mai-mai (no)”

And i would correct him by explaining to him that Dr Sim sayang him and Dr Sim check-check so that Bryan will be well and not be sick. He understands the definition of “being sick” so I guess eventually he understands that Dr Sim is not really a bad guy.

Anyway, yesterday was his vaccination appointment. Again in the morning before we left, i let him play with the Dr’s set. I let him check me, check my mom, and even his teddy bears.

When we arrived at the hospital, he did not protest when we took him to the waiting room. And he recognized Dr Sim’s office, because he pointed to the door, and said “Dr Sim”

He did not start crying or run away, which is an accomplishment in itself, but I could see fear in his eyes. We waited about 45 mins for our turn though my SIL had helped me drop the registration card about 3 hours ago. Yes, that’s how popular the PD is.

While we were waiting outside, I took Bryan for walks around the waiting area to distract him and he happily pointed and named the different cartoon/ animal characters on the wall. He even had to go to the toilet twice to wee-wee (yup, he was diaperless the whole trip).

Then…TENG TENG TENG….it was our turn.

Bryan walked in bravely into the PD’s room. I asked him to say “Hello Dr Sim.” and he did, albeit softly.

Then i seated him on my lap. The PD had to make a short phone call and while he was on the phone, Bryan imitated what the PD was saying on the phone for a short while.

Then he noticed the huge Barney doll nearby and he wanted to play with that. Then he saw the weighing station and he wants to get on that as well. So the nurse came and weighed him…12.2kg, and he cooperated fully. (the last time he was there, about 1.5 mths ago, he was wailing loudly and refused to get on the weighing machine).

After that, I took out a plastic rocking horse and let him play with that. As he was happily rocking himself, the PD finished his telephone conversation, and he begin his examinations on Bryan. He used the stethoscope on Bryan and checked his ear and body temperature. And all the while, Bryan did not resist at all. Then Bryan noticed a McD toy cup on a saucer which can spin and spin. So i took that for him and let him play with it.

Finally, it is time for the vaccination. The nurse asked me to carry Bryan on my lap, and I let him hold the toy McD cup in one hand. Then the nurse held the other arm, and the PD administered the vaccination.

And surprise surprise to all of us in the room. Bryan did not cry at all. He had a slight pained fearful look in his eyes, but no cries at all. Even the nurse was surprised and she kept saying…”Wow you are a very very good boy today, very very good.” and she made the thumbs up sign many many times to Bryan.

The PD was also happy because Bryan has earned the reputation of crying & screaming non-stop each time he sees him. (psst…in his last visit, he cried till vomit)

So as a reward, I told Bryan to ask for some stickers from the PD. And the PD was more than happy to give him the stickers. ( now the car window on Bryan’s side has stickers all over)
My parents were with me at the visit, and all of us were so proud of Bryan!

Bravo Bryan!!!

Bryan’s Christmas Day

We don’t really celebrate Christmas, though Bryan received lots of Christmas gifts from my friends. However, I always make an attempt to do something special with Bryan on a Public Holiday.

Most weekends are spent window shopping at the nearby Queensbay mall. And I am getting worried at the amount of time Bryan spends at the mall. So for this public holiday, I would like to do something healthier with him.

After breakfast, we went to check out the renovations for our new house. We got home about noon. And initially, I wanted to feed Bryan his lunch first before the next activity, but the boy got too excited about it, and insisted that we do that immediately. Do what?

Swimming of course!The sun’s position has shifted this time of the year, and the pool is shaded by noon time. Usually it would still be sunny at the pool until late evening. No wonder the pool water is so cold when we go there in the evening.The water is still quite cold as the day was not very hot. But the cold water does not seem to bother Bryan at all. And he happily paddled around the pool.

As it was mid day, there was no one else at the pool and we had the pool all to ourselves. I even had the opportunity to swim a few laps myself while Bryan is under the watchful eyes of his daddy by the pool.After his swim session which lasted close to 45 mins, we took him home for his bath, and then fed him his lunch. Then it was naptime!When he woke up, he was pretty cranky. And he wants to go shopping. No-no, no shopping today. So we told him that we’ll go to Youth Park, and he says, “Youth Park, turn-turn”

So we left for the park after he had a light snack of yogurt. He refused to eat the fruits that I had prepared for him, so I had no choice but to pack the fruits up in a tupperware and take that out.

Once we arrive at the Youth Park, Bryan kept saying “turn-turn”

There were so many things to play with at the park, but Bryan was not interested in any of it. He walked around looking for “something”….until he found this.

It has been months since we took him to Youth Park, and I am surprised that he still remember this wheel from his last trip

He played with it for a very long time. And while he was busy turning the wheel, I was busy feeding him slices of apple and grapes. At one point hubb and I were wondering if this is THE only thing that Bryan is going to play that evening.

Luckily we manage to distract him away to play with something else.

He played at the see saw for a short while then turned his attention to a giant tic-tac-toe station. But later, he got very interested in the tunnel slide.

I was a little worried that he may be afraid of sliding down the tunnel. But he was not at all.

He first slide the “traditional way”…sitting up down…

Then he slided down bum-bum up, face down…

Then he got more adventurous and decided to go head down first…

He really had a lot of fun on the slide but it was getting dark, and we were getting hungry. So we left and went to Northam Beach cafe for dinner.

I guess all the workout made him really hungry. He finished about 75% of the HK Wantan Mee that I ordered, and about 3 wantans…plus almost 2 apoms!

I really should take him outdoors more often!

Merry Christmas darling!

Bryan can swim

I was doing housekeeping on my PC when I found this old video clip, taken when Bryan was 18 months old.

Bryan loves swimming and is very comfortable in water, but the weather has been quite cold recently, so I have not been taking him swimming regularly. I took him swimming at our apartment pool 2 weeks ago and the water was freezing cold eventhough the sun was shining brightly.

I really should take him swimming more often, so that he does not develop any fear of water… Besides, when we move to a new house, there won’t be any swimming pool for him anymore…

Toilet training milestones

Toilet training is progressing better than I thought. There have been few accidents and none major so far. Usually it is because he could not tell us in time and some had leaked to his pants. LOL. So he will scream loudly…”MOMMY SIAU PIEN” or “SHI SHI” and we have to quickly rush him to the toilet.  Luckily he is able to hold back his urine, so there is not a lot of mess to deal with.

Milestone #1: He is now able to sleep through the afternoon nap without wetting his nappy. But we still let him wear a diaper when he naps but we take it off once he wakes up.

Milestone #2: Since he able to tell us when he needs to urine, he is diaperless for short trips now..to places where we know that the toilet is easily accessible.

• Saturday – took him to MIL’s house.
• Sunday – for dim sum breakfast and then to our new house.
• Occasional evening trips to the playground near my mom’s house.

Milestone #3: His nappy was dry for 4 nights last week. Of course, this record is not good enough for us to consider nappy-less during the night, but it shows that he is able to control his bladder well now.

Right now, instead of washing my cloth diapers daily, I am doing it once every 2 days. Most days, it is only 1 diaper (night) or sometimes no soiled diapers at all. So what I do is to rinse the nappy with water and let it dry so that it doesn’t smell since I may not wash it until the following day.

This progress is excellent as it means my stash of cloth diapers is now ready for Baby Jie.

Clever boy, Bryan!

Oh ya..the next thing that we need Bryan to do is to tell us when he needs to poo-poo. He still doesn’t say and we have to monitor his facial expressions / body language to tell when he wants to poo-poo and quickly take him to the toilet bowl. He refused to sit on the potty/ kiddy toilet seat. So the only way now is to hold him over the toilet bowl.