Merry Christmas!

After all the Christmas presents were unwrapped, it was time to get changed and visit to in-laws for Christmas wishes. We didn't go to church on Christmas day because we attended the mid night service on Chritsmas Eve and want to make sure that Charlotte had enough rest to the rest of the Christmas Day activities and visits.

I dressed up Charlotte in her new Christmas white color top that we bought for her from Gap Kids. Although the top is slightly bigger (yeah, the kia su mommy bought her a 3T), she looks so "christmas" in that outfit.

She first visited her grandparents (my in-laws) at home and then meet the other grandparents (my parents) and her KooKoo and KimKim (my brothers and SIL) at Maple Gold for Christmas lunch.

She didn't eat much but was having a good time walking up and down the steps. We realized that she is able to take those steps without holding to our hands, and so she was "practising". This is something about Charlotte, when she learns something she will keep doing it until she master it. At home, she goes up and down the stairs without holding on to the handrail or letting us to hold her hands. She says "Myself!" we will have to stay very close to her to make sure that we could catch her in time if she miss a step.

Another Visit to PD

My entire family was sick this Christmas (or should I say last Christmas? anyway, I mean 2007). It started with me, had really bad soar throat 2 weeks before Christmas. I recovered from soar throat but it became cough and flu. Then Charlotte got it from me, then Pat and eventually Brenda too.

I took Charlotte to the doctor when I first spotted some symptoms on her. Unfortunately, she did not respond very well to the medicine prescribed to her and her cough was getting worst and with phlegm. On Wednesday night, Dec 26th she had a slight fever and I decided to bring her to Dr. Rama the next morning.

I did the usual preparation with Charlotte, making sure that she knows where we are taking her and she would anticipate the checking from the PD. We arrived at GMC around 10am but we waited until 11.30am. While we were waiting, I told Charlotte Dr. Rama is going to check on her chest, ears and throat. She then said to me "kiss, hand" and showed her hand to me. That was because during her last visit she was such a good girl and Dr. Rama kissed her on her hand and she remembered!

Usually, Dr. Rama will be checking her as she sits on my lap. I don't know what happened that day, Dr. Rama requested Charlotte to lie down on the examination bed. I thought that is going to trigger her to scream and cry again. To my surprise, Charlotte cooperated. She lay down and let Dr. Rama do the checking, on her stomach, listen to her lungs with the stetoscope and checked her ears and throat. Not a sign of concern or discomfort showed on her face.

I then carried her up and let her sat on my lap as Dr. Rama explained and prescribed the medicines. Suddenly, Charlotte said "doc-tor-Ra-ma", slow but very clear! Dr. Rama, the nurse, and Brenda all broke the silence with big laugh! Oh dear, my girl is applying what I thought her!

Dr. Rama prescribed 4 medications, including a 3 days course antibiotic and phlegm relieves. Luckily, feeding medicine is not as difficult as it used to be anymore otherwise I will have big headache to make Charlotte take all these medicines.

Good news is, she has fully recovered now!

Underneath the Mistletoe

Yes, those were Charlotte's Christmas presents. I told Charlotte to put all her presents under the Christmas tree and can only open them on the Christams day. She followed my instruction completely even though she remembers the 1st Christmas present that we bought for her wrapped in the yellow color ToysRUs gift paper. She kept asking for it everyday but we told her she can only open it on Christmas day.

This year, we managed to attend the Christmas Eve Mid Night Service at church too. Charlotte again was very delighted to see the Christmas performance by the Sunday School children and she was also received the blessing from the pastor as I brought her forward during the Holy Communion. We left the church right after the Holy Communion but the next morning my mom told me that Santa Clause came soon after we left. Again, Charlotte missed it.

See how excited was Charlotte when she gets to open up all the presents finally...

I was surprise to see when she picked up a present and started to shake it like how the adults used to do. I never thought her that and wonder how she knew how to do it that way.

She received a wide variety of gifts, such as books, crayons, toys, game set, shoes and dresses. She was very excited and overwhelmed with all the presents received. My guess is, she is going have some level of expectation when comes to Christmas next year. I better start to tell her to be good if she wants more (quality & quantity) presents next year, hee hee!

Merry Christmas Baby!!!

Christmas Carol

We missed the Christmas carol at my parents' place last year because the caroling team only came after 11pm and Charlotte was too young back then to stay up till late night. This year however, the caroling committee managed to arrange for an earlier schedule to the house and Charlotte was able to witness the Christmas carol for the first time!

On Dec 22nd, I dressed her up in red and white jumper that we bought for her from Jusco. It was a perfect Christmas dress and Charlotte looks so adorable in it.



The caroling team came right on time, 10.00pm. The ladies were in white dresses and white shirts/black pants for men. The team also had 2 little "angles" with them (I don't remember we have that before) and they both wore a angle crown (more like a hairband), angle wing (or butterfly wing?) and a wand in their hands. When they were all standing at the doorstep Charlotte was delighted to see them, especially the angles. She kept very quiet, observing and admiring the carolling team throughout the session. I think she has the potential to be in the church choir, just like mommy (hee hee). I joined the caroling when I was 8. I was the youngest in the team because back then the church only allowed >13 years old to participate in the caroling. We didn't have the little angles role back then, and we were expected to remember all the songs (around 15-20 songs) by heart (yeah, I saw them bringing along the song book this time).



The only thing missing this year was the Santa Clause! Where has the Santa gone? I was telling Charlotte that she could see the Santa Clause that night. Although I didn't think that she knows what Santa really is even though we bought her a toy Santa at home. Apparently, the carolling team has been split into 2 to accommodate the number of houses to visit each night. The Santa Clause is following team #1. I am disappointed a little when I knew about the situation, however it could also be a good thing because I was also worried if Charlotte is scared of the Santa just like she is scared of the clown giving out balloons at the mall sometimes. I was prepared to tell the Santa don't come to shake hand with Charlotte when they arrived because I know about the carolling "process" very well. God must have knew about my worries, Amen!

Charlotte was very delighted with the whole carolling "thingy". She even blow kisses to the team when they were in the van prepared to leave for another house. The carolling team wind down the window and all blew kisses back to Charlotte too and shouted Merry Christmas as the van moved away.

Outdoor Fun!

We bought Charlotte a battery operated motorbike back in June this year. She barely had the control of the motorbike back then. She always ran into corners or hitting at the road blocks after short ride.

Pat took out the motorbike last Sunday morning and Charlotte had so much fun riding on it. She is now able to control the direction very well with the handle, lift up her right leg to stop and make U-turn or change direction by pushing and turning the motorbike with her legs.

Inside the house, she is also able to ride from the living room to the kitchen and make u-turn back to the living room without hitting at the wall or corners. Sometimes, she shows a big grin on her face and we can tell she is so proud of herself too :)

So Courteous

Charlotte is learning to apply "sorry", "excuse me" and "thank you" in her daily conversation recently. A few situations I found out recently...

Situation 1
When Charlotte is trying to get pass us through a narrow walk away, she says "excuse me"!

Situation 2
When Charlotte is hit by something or fell down, sometimes she says "sorry". I think that's because we used to say that to her when she's in pain. So she picked it up and apply it that way too (oops...)

Situation 3
Charlotte loves to run at Malls and hypermarkets. When it is so crowded and she kept bumping into people, she kept saying "sorry" to the person in front and turn to another direction and continue running. Like an energizer bunny. The way she says it is so sweet and innocent but with so much pride! Sometimes I could hear people commenting "so clever this girl!"

Situation 4
When you give something to Charlotte, if she is impressed she will say "woh!" but she always forget to say "thank you!" until we reminded her.

I came back from lunch last Tuesday with a big bag of Christmas presents (thanks to the mother from the playgroup). I gave the bag to her and she peeked inside and said "woh!!!" and showed me a big grin. I told her those are her Christmas presents and asked her to put all the presents under the Christmas tree and can only open them on the Christmas Day. She did exactly as I told. I don't think she knows when is Christmas (or what is Christmas) exactly but I guess she just has so much trust in me that I will give it to her one day. So she didn't hesitate at all. Good girl, isn't she? But she forgot to say "thank you" *slap head*

Situation 5
I found that the Coffee Beans is selling packets of very cute mini gingerbread man. Six pieces in a pack, cost RM9.60. I bought one for Charlotte (not that she loves to eat it but it's just kinda cute and also good chance to show her what a gingerbread man cookie is) and she said "woh!!" (as expected) when I gave it to her. I asked her if she wants to eat it and she nodded. So I took out 1piece and gave it to her. It is kinda hard and she couldn't bit it off at first. I told her to bite at the gingerbread man's hand, it has a tinnier structure and should be easier to bit it off. She did it, and gave me a big grin. A short while later, I heard she said "sorry"! Then she went on to bite at the other hand, then again she said sorry after the hand was bitten off. *LOL*

Sick, But So Brave!

When I was out with Pat for lunch yesterday, Brenda called. I knew something must have happened for her to make that call. I picked up the phone and Brenda told me that Charlotte was having fever, 38.1 degree C. I rushed home in 20min and when I checked her again the temperature has gone up to 38.3 degree C. I quickly feed her the PCM and the fever subsided after 40min. She then went for the nap but when she woke up, temperature came back and I also noticed that she was coughing too (I had a terrible soar throat and cough last week, I must have passed it to her). I decided to take her to the PD for early treatment.

As we were getting ready, I told her that I will be taking her to see the doctor as usual. Her respond was nothing else but "NO!" and started to cry. While changing her, I took my time to explain to her the reason I am taking her to the doctor. My last update about her visit to the PD was in Sept when she was due for the JE 2nd jab. She was very good then and I prayed that she will be as good (if not better) this round.

Me: Charlotte is sick, cough cough, so must see doctor
Charlotte: No cry!
Me: Yes, no need to cry. Doctor will just check you and listen to your heartbeat.
Charlotte: Check, check (with her imagination of a stethoscope on her chest)
Me: Yes, doctor can hear your heart beat goes "dup dup"
Charlotte: Poke! (pointed to her arm)
Me: No, no injection today, no poke. Just check check your ear, and check check your mouth. You must say "ah...." and open you mouth for doctor to see, ok?
Charlotte: No!

So we arrived at the Hope Clinic around 6.30pm (I know and have heard so much about Hope at Sg. Ara, but I had no choice as I have a meeting to attend that night and Pat was still in the office) and registered ourselves. Unfortunately, we were told that the doctor will only come at 7pm. I had no choice but to bring Charlotte elsewhere first. I then took a short trip to my SIL place and came back around 7pm.

As we entered the room, Charlotte was very nervous and she held on to Brenda very tightly. I told the doctor what happened and he started with his stethoscope as we expected. Charlotte was anticipating that and she kept very quiet and still until the checking finished. Once the doctor removed the stethoscope, she immediately asked Brenda to take her outside. Unfortunately, the checking was not over. Doctor needed to take her temperature with the digital thermometer. I told Charlotte to look at it, so that she knows what is going to happen. And I told her it will be the same as how I check her at home. So, again she kept very still and let the doctor take her temperature.

We thought all was over by then, and Charlotte was pointing to the door again. But the doctor said everything was fine, lungs are cleared, temperature is within the limit although slightly warm. So he said he needed to check her throat. Luckily, I told Charlotte about this part of the checking too. She wasn't quite cooperate the last time when Dr. Rama wanted to check her throat but it was a surprise this time as she opened up her mouth so wide and hold for quite awhile when she was asked by the doctor.

Finally, the checking was over and everything went so well without even a single struggle. I praised her for being such a brave girl right immediately we came out from the doctor's room. Actually, she did very well too last couple of weeks when we went for her Hepatitis A booster jab (that's how she remembers the "poke" part). Dr. Rama too complimented her for being such a brave girl!

The 2nd challenge was feeding the medicine. It was a nightmare and I was so very worried. But we (Brenda and I) tried to explain it to her as how we told her about visiting to the doctor. Hoping she will be able to accept it. Unfortunately, the 1st feed was still the same as before. We had to hold her down, she struggled and vomited everything. We had repeat the process.

Because her fever come and goes, we had to feed her the PCM around the clock. The process gets easier and better each time as we repeat the same explanation to her. Charlotte is accepting it and taking it very well. The latest "achievement" is when I told her it's time for medicine, she is ok to open her mouth (without us holding her) and let me put the medicine inside the mouth and swallowing the medicine without a single struggle. She will then say "eat cen (medicine), no cry!". Yes, she says "no cry" in a few situations: bowel movement, seeing doctor and taking medicine. We have gone through all, and hopefully she will be consistent in her "self control" discipline.

I am so very proud of her and this also has clearly demonstrated to me that she is no longer a little baby. She understands and she listens to explanation and reason. I should not take assumption of her as a little baby anymore.

I am so very proud of you, my princess!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

It's 2 weeks prior to Christmas. Malls, restaurants and offices are decorated with Christmas tree, Santa Clause, and we can hear Christmas song almost everywhere we go. Christmas shopping is done early this year and what is pending is the wrapping!

Yes, this is the time of the year or the occasion that I enjoy the most. Last year Christmas, Charlotte was just 13 months old and she barely knew what was really happening. This year, she is already 2 and she is very fascinated with the Christmas tree we put up at home. It was very funny to me as I found out Charlotte was stepping her foot repeatedly, but at some kind of rhythm while she was looking at the Christmas tree one evening. So I took a closer look. She stepped her foot and the lights on the Christmas tree turned on coincidently and a short while later, she stepped it again and the light went off. Haha, it was the blinking lights that we put on the Christmas tree! I don't quite prefer to have it blinking, but the one I bought does not allow me to stop the blinking totally. I can only turn the blinking down to a very low speed. So it looks like it is turning on and off at a very low pace, but it is not blinking. Charlotte must have thought that it was some kind of magic when she steps on her foot and the light turns on! It was so funny, unfortunately I didn't manage to capture in a video clip.

She is also very fascinated to see all the big and nicely decorated Christmas tree at the malls. She will ask us to take photos of her in front of the Christmas tree. She says "mile" (smile with the silent 's') and put her two index fingers by her cheeks. That's how we know she wants to take a picture (LOL)

Slide, shooo....

There is something very funny about Charlotte, she associate most of the thing/object with sound (or maybe that's because I use this method to teach her). For example, if I point at a dog and ask her what that is, her response is always "dog, wou wou". If I pointed at an aeroplane and ask her what that is, she'll say "air-plane, fly high high, weeooooo". When it comes to slide, sha says "lide, shoooo"

Lately, she is very into slide. We didn't have a slide at home but she will ask me to curl up my knees to form a V (upside down) shape and pretended that that's a slide. She will sit on my leg and start to slide for quite awhile. I told Pat that it's time to buy her one as I saw a set on Toys"R"Us brochure, but it's expensive. Slide + swing = ~RM4xx.

Then I remember my sister-in-law (Charlotte's KimKim) has a small slide which Charlotte loves to play every time Charlotte goes to her house. It is definitely too small now for all my 3 nephews. So, I decided to ask her if she would give it to Charlotte. The answer was "yes!" of course. In fact, most of Charlotte's toys are pass-downs from my nephews and those are very well kept.

Charlotte has been playing with her new favourite toy for the last 2 nights, she loves it!

Water & Sand!

Last week, Pat came back from business trip and decided to bring Charlotte to the beach in the evening. It was Charlotte's first visit to the beach and we wonder if she will enjoy it.

Since our house is quite a distance from the the Penang most famous beaches (Batu Ferringhi), we decided to only bring Charlotte to the nearby fisherman's beach at Teluk Kumbar. When I told Charlotte that we are taking her to the beach she was very excited (as usual) but I doubt she knows what I was talking about. To her, maybe it's just another "kai kai" trip. I told Brenda to prepare her beach spade set and get some clothes for me to change her later. Charlotte then said bye bye to her aunty Brenda and off we went.

She was really excited and jumping with joy when she saw the beach. She start to sing "roll, roll, roll the boat..." (with action too!) when she spotted a fisherman's boat. There were a few people nearby and gave me this smile as if telling me that she is such a clever girl! *proud*

I asked her if she wants to get down and walk on the sand, she replied "yes!". So I took off her shoes but inside me I was doubting if she knows how it feels like. Just as I expected, immediately after her feet touched the sand she clung back on to me and said "no! ak ak (dirty)!". We then brought her closer to the shoreline as the sands are finer there compared to the one she just experience. But nothing's changed, she still didn't want to get down. We tried to distract and convince her with all different things and objects we could spot from the beach, nothing worked out until we took out the spade set. Daddy started to show her how to use the spade set and dig into the sand. Thank goodness, she finally agreed to go down and stand on her own feet.

She started to enjoy the digging and sand castle building. Pat even found a baby crab and showed it to her. We put the baby crab into the bucket and thought Charlotte would be fascinated looking at it but again, we were wrong. She didn't want to have the crab and kept saying "no, throw away!". She just want to enjoy the digging...

While Charlotte was enjoying the digging, one small wave falling in and wet her feet and pants (yes, we were very close by the shoreline). That triggered her and she started to get uncomfortable again. We then had to bring her further up from the shoreline and reassured her that it's safe there.

What's about going to the beach without touching the water and feeling it? Before we head home, we decided to let Charlotte try it again. Pat showed her as he washes his feet by the shoreline. Charlotte found it interesting and decided to try it but was holding on her daddy very tightly. She giggled as Pat carried her and let her feet touched the water but she didn't want to get down, still.

It was only for a very short while and she started to struggle again. She lifted up both of her legs indicating that she has had enough of it. It was a very funny moment and I managed to capture it.

On our way back, I asked her if she wants to go the beach again, she shook her head. I thought maybe she didn't get what I was asking, so I asked again. Same reply. I then asked her if she wants to go to the mall? She nodded and said "Bay Mall" (Quessbay Mall). Well, she did get what I meant, I was the one didn't get her.

''No Cry!''

Charlotte is now potty trained. She is able to tell us every time when she needs to wee-wee or poo-poo. However, this doesn't mean that she has gotten over the phobia of doing the "big business". I can tell when she wants to poo-poo instead of wee-wee even though she said "ng-ng" to indicate that she needs the potty. I can tell by her facial expression. Somehow, she has this concern look when she is about to poo-poo. Mainly because she is not doing the "big business" everyday like most of the toddlers. Usually, both Brenda and I are counting the days if Charlotte has not poo-poo. My limit is 3-4 days, by then I will have to apply the suppository.

Last week, she told me that she wants to "ng-ng" and immediately I know (from her facial expression) that it has to be the "big business". So I brought her the potty and she sat down. I could tell that she is trying to over come her fear of doing bowel movement. She held my hand very tightly and leaned forward on me (yeah, while sitting on the potty). I tried to comfort her and told her that it's really nothing to be afraid of, it will be over before you know it. She tried to hold back her tears and tried to push harder and then he said "no cry!". I was very impressed of her determination of getting the "task" completed.

No too long after that, she clapped her hands and said "sai sai", "no cry!". I know everything was over then, phew! I tell you, it's really a relief knowing it's over and usually it would be a big news to tell everyone in the family.

After I cleaned her up, she wanted to see the "output" and I thought I should show it to her, hopefully she will understand that it's really nothing to be afraid of. So, I showed it to her and she giggles and said "chou chou" (smelly), LOL!