tick-tock, tick-tock

I've moved

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 04:32:00 +0000

Thank you so much for all your support (and comments) for the past three months. It's not quite done yet but I've decided to move my blog to a new domain, http://joannkee.com/blog to stop confusing myself. I haven't been blogging for a while because of this. I've got unwritten posts and overdue tags. So, you who have my link, edit my url please. I haven't thought of a name yet but I'm currently using woof & arf and most probably will stick to it like I have for this blog (tick-tock, tick-tock). See you there!

Update

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:29:00 +0000

Sorry no update for the past week. I have a lot of things to write but am currently moving to a new site which is still under construction. Too many things in my head so very blur now. Don't know if I should blog here or at the new site. Should be up in a week's time, it won't be totally done though since I'm still getting used to Wordpress. Slowly lar...

Japanese Tetris

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:56:00 +0000

JY (my lil'bro) sent me this very funny video of a Japanese game show. They always have the new ideas for these sort of things which will eventually be copied by the Hongkies. The video is 4+ minutes but it's worth the watch. Enjoy!

Japanese Tetris - Watch more free videos

Tag: My 7 Vanity Sense Facts

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 15:34:00 +0000

Tagged by Mommibee. It's funny that us as mums tagging other mums on this topic since we merely have time for many other things let alone our beauty. It might not be the last on my long list but it certainly is not the first, or second, or third... Took the Vanity Quiz and rated

You Are 23% Vain

Okay, so you're slightly vain from time to time, but you're not superficial at all.
You are realistic. You know that looks matter. You just try to make them matter less.

How Vain Are You?

Yeah, it's true. So don't expect much from these:

I don't have sensitive skin, I have the opposite. So any kind of skincare works for me. I use those where you can buy from the supermarket shelf. I can never feel the difference.
I do the basic facial care everyday; cleanse, tone, and moisturise, plus the weekly exfoliate and mask. THAT'S IT!
Up to this day, I only went for facial twice.
The last time someone put make up on me was last year when I took my wedding photos. The last time I put make up on myself was...can't remember. It would probably take me an hour plus to apply a full make up. I do have the cosmetics but I think they're long past their expiry, most still untouched.
Eyebrow plucking - once a week, just to clear off the excess.
I wash my hair once every two days because the hair is too much and it takes a while for me to blow-dry them. No I don't do it like they do in hair salons. What I do is tilt my head down, and blow-dry from the back of my head, using my fingers as comb.
When I get a haircut, I'd say to the stylist, "Just cut whatever you like as long as it fits my face." Normally it won't be very short because I have a round face. When I was younger I used to bring photos of the haircut I wanted, but it never turn out that way so why bother?

I can honestly say that I was very vain in my school years, needed more attention then. In college still slightly vain, then moved on to uni, not so vain, and now I'm 23% vain. hehehe... Eddie doesn't like heavy make up but I think that he would like it if I use some make up. Ahhh...the advantages of being a full time mother, I can be excused most of the time.

I'd like to tag:

Shirley of Binky, blogging & such

Harimau of moments in a day

Mrs. Wallace of Mrs. Wallace Notes

Angeleyes of RamblingMoo

Rainqueen21 of Mommy's Make Money

He did it!

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:24:00 +0000

About a week ago and at about 6 in the morning...

*splash*

is what I heard then woke up immediately and shouted ["OMG!"]n times. That of course shocked the hell out of my husband who woke up asking me what was wrong. I just pointed at Ethan, who was at the end of our bed, holding a 1 litre bottle, cap off, with a little bit of water that's left inside. It was quite full before we slept. We left it on the pc table at the end of our bed. Just then, he shook the bottle again and *splash* I'm wet! (Both of us were laughing already at this time) The water soaked through our quilt and went straight on our bed sheet...and mattress obviously. Eddie quickly took the quilt off our bed. He asked me why I only know how to shout OMG instead of acting fast and take off the quilt earlier so our sheet won't get soaked. I mean, hey, c'mon, I was awoken with a *splash* and it was 6am! Okay, I was a bit slow. Then we had to cover the large patch with kind of like a protector cloth (which I 'took' from the hospital) to be able to sleep on it again until later in the morning.

Ethan: "Yeah, it was me. That wet patch, I did that."

You think that was bad? Well, the story didn't end there. (This part not funny) Before we slept, Ethan vomitted on his papa's pillow and kena the bed a bit. All I can say is, lucky not my pillow!!! hehehehe... Don't worry, he got a new pillow the day after.

Mini muesli & apple muffins (by Heinz)

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:20:00 +0000

Got this recipe from the back of Heinz Muesli & Apple cereal box. Ethan absolutely loves it. I made it once quite a while ago and it took Ethan forever to finish all 24 of them (23 actually because my brother ate one not knowing they were for Ethan). I only gave him one or two a day at first, then I realised it was taking too long so I started to give him four muffins for breakfast, not everyday though. You can actually freeze them for up to 3 months but my freezer was full at that time.

It says there, "Recipe suggestion", so I guess it means you can replace the ingredients. I skipped the sultanas (raisins). I'm gonna write the recipe out without using the Heinz brand ingredients like they did.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups self raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup muesli and apple cereal (okay this one is Heinz but if you don't have that you can just use normal muesli)
1/2 cup light brown or raw sugar
2 Tbsp sultanas (raisins)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup full cream milk
1/3 cup canola oil
120g pureed cooked apples (the original suggestion was 1 x 120g can of Heinz Apples)

Method:

Combine flour, muesli, sugar, sultanas and cinnamon.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Stir in the milk, oil and apples, until just combined.
Spoon into lightly greased mini muffins tins (I used patty pan cases).
Bake at 180ºC for 12-15 minutes, or until golden.

MAKES 24 (freeze up to 3 months)

Happy baking!!!

Happy Aussie Premmie Day!

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:42:00 +0000

Just found out that today is the National Premmie Day. Wishing all the premmies out there good health and have fun on this day!

My Ethan is a premmie, he was 6 weeks early. Not very early compared to many others we met, earliest we know was born at 23 weeks, 17 weeks early. We are very lucky to be living at this time with the advanced medical technology that had kept many of the very early premmies alive and living.

Eddie's off today. Too bad they don't have any events here in Adelaide. We went to premmie playgroup last year but have no idea whatsoever about this day. Maybe not as many premmie born here compared to other states.

7 Random things about me

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 11:56:00 +0000

Tagged by Mommibee.

I'd eat my breakfast, which normally would be a mixture of chocolate cereal and non-chocolate cereal with milk, before I brush my teeth. Unless we're going out for breakfast then of course I'd brush my teeth first.
When my room is messy, it is VERY messy. When my room is tidy, my drawers and wardrobe gets even messier.
I wish we would be able to move into our own home here in Adelaide with at least 3 bedrooms (so we'll always have a room for guests) and 2 bathrooms (so we'll always have one to use if the other is occupied).
I'm a pretty boring person. I hardly go out with friends, whom I hardly keep in touch. I bring Ethan to playgroup but I only keep the 'mums' relationship there. Eddie said something to me the other day that is very true, "Everyday you have the same routine, and every week you are just waiting for my day off to go out." :(
I wish I'd cook more for Ethan instead of feeding him baby food all the time. Both of us are getting bored. They just seem so convenient. I'd feed him our food but we normally eat after he sleeps. It's very hard for me to eat if I had to feed him at the same time. He's already 15 months old and I hope we can get out of the baby food habit before we go back to KL.
I'm a super duper major procrastinator.
I have a slight obsessive-compulsive-behaviour, where I'd prefer things in a certain way, or I do things in a certain number of times to get it perfect. For example, when I eat rice, let say there are two dishes, I will always alternate between the dishes when I eat them. If there are four dishes, I'd eat them in the same order I started. Another example is when I brush my teeth, it has to be in multiples of 5 strokes on each surface. Weird huh? I used to have more of these freakish habits before but I slowly got rid of them.

I would like to tag:

Mrs. Wallace of Mrs. Wallace Notes

JY of all the little things in life (my bro)

eiko of Dancing out! (couz)

yeloh-powah of yeloh-powah (BIL)

I don't know many mums, those I know have been tagged already. So I'm tagging my family!!!

Yay, we're going to KL!

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:22:00 +0000

Yes! We are flying back to KL on the 25th of September and returning on the 22nd of November. Woo hoo! Eddie is leaving one month after us and returning on the same day.

My friend from Sydney, Bird, called me today to tell me about the promotion Jetstar is having. Jetstar is a sub from Qantas, of cheap fares, like Air Asia. They are launching flights to KL in September. The promo price is $199 per way from Sydney. So I have to get flights from Adelaide to Sydney and back separately. It's well worth it. The return tickets for KUL-SYD is less than $400 and Ethan gets to travel for free. Currently the domestic tickets is $114 per way so it comes up to about $600 in total. We are waiting to see if they have promotion for the domestic flights then only we will buy.

If I were to take Malaysia Airlines back from Adelaide it would cost me at least $1,000+ return. Ethan's ticket would cost another $100+. And that ticket is for 35 days only. It's either that or one year. They don't have 3 months or 6 months ticket. Since Jetstar's price is one way so there's no time limit, but if you want to take advantage of the promo then have to be back by December lah. Also we had to search for the dates that had the cheap fare and they do not fly everyday to KL.

Since it's a cheap fare there won't be blanket, meals nor entertainment. I hardly use the blanket, I can always bring my own meal, and I cannot be entertained with Ethan around anyway. If we wanted those extras we had to pay $10 for blanket, $30 for meals, and $10 for entertainment. I think I would feel weird though, when they serve meal to everyone and skip those who did not pay for it.

It's just too bad that they do not have flights to KL now. My godbrother is getting married on Saturday and we didn't get to go. *sigh* Here we would like to wish all the best to the newlyweds, Chris and Ee-Leeng.

First video of Ethan @ 20 weeks in gestation

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 15:02:00 +0000

This was the post I wrote when that autosave feature failed me. Wrote a whole long post then GONE! Didn't have the mood to rewrite the other time. Oh well, my memory is still here, just hope that I'll be able to write it out like I did last time, only this time it will be more summarised.

30 November 2005
I just came back from KL a few days ago. This day was my appointment for my second antenatal check up and first and only ultrasound. Yup, the first video of Ethan in the womb. I made the appointment for the ultrasound on my first antenatal visit. They had a notice on the wall that said we could bring a video tape or dvd-rw to record the ultrasound. It was really exciting.

When we were at the waiting area there was another notice on the wall that said those of us who wish to have our ultrasound recorded it would only be of a few minutes and we were not allowed to ask for more. Now I really regret doing exactly what the notice said. There's no harm in trying. A dvd can record more than an hour and the ultrasound only takes 45 minutes.

So anyway, when my turn came I really wanted to pee already because of all the liquid I was required to drink. I'm not much of a drinker. But I had to keep all the liquid inside of me until the ultrasound was over. The process was actually quite boring as our technician didn't really talk much. She had her own tv while mine is at the end of the room and I didn't bring my glasses which wasn't that big deal if the tv was BIGGER! She just showed us all the important parts of the body except one that distinguishes the gender. I asked her about it and then she asked me back, "Oh, so you want to know?", err...duh! It's really funny now that I think about it because when she showed me the 'extra' part I couldn't really see it but I kept saying, "Oh yeah, there it is!" There what is? hahahah... When we left the room I asked if Eddie saw it, he told me he was half asleep. I don't blame him. She gave us three photos and the dvd before we left, and told us everything is well and in place as it should be.

I don't have a scanner to scan in the photos but a video is so much better isn't it? Enjoy our precious in his first video. Don't have to turn on your speaker.

Happy Mother's Day + 3 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:02:00 +0000

Haha, it's the beginning of the month and I AM BACK! I mean my internet speed is back, finally. A long wait of about 8 days. Wrote this post long time ago but couldn't publish because I couldn't upload the photo, again because of the internet. Also there will be a new post on Ethan's blog.

I hardly, actually NEVER, write blogs that happened on the same day. So my posts are all backdated, like my pregnancy one is like 2 years ago...hhahaha...didn't have the motivation to blog then. Oh well, never too late.

So, Happy belated Mother's Day to all! Before Eddie went to work, he ran out to the florist next door and got me a bouquet. Back to the time when I gave flowers to my mum, I remembered that we would always choose carnation, it was like the official flower of Mother's Day (or was it Teacher's Day? Someone refresh my memory). Can you guess what is the official flower of Mother's Day here in OZland?

Kuk far (Chrysantimum)

Slowed down

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Wed, 23 May 2007 15:45:00 +0000

I've written one post for this blog and one for Ethan's but haven't publish them yet because I can't seem to upload the photos. I've tried for a few days but to no avail.

I'm not sure if this problem is related to my internet connections. I just found out today that we have gone over our download limit for this month, so the connection will be slowed down to a dial-up speed, half of my broadband speed. It's just the way internet are offered here in Australia. Unlike Malaysia's Streamyx with unlimited download. Sometimes I find the terms they use here are quite redundant. They say 'unlimited download', then in the fine prints they say 'after 12gb of download the speed will be slowed down to 256kbps'.

I'm actually with a quite good provider already, AAPT, because this is the best deal that I found compared to other big communications provider. We're paying A$41.00 per month for 12gb download at 512kbps. Also came with a free modem. 12gb has been enough for us before but I was told we're 4gb over the limit this month. We have to wait until the 1st of June before we get back our original speed. So everything is going to be slowed down until next month. Sorry I won't be doing a lot of visiting to other blogs until then.

Hate it when this happens

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Mon, 21 May 2007 13:40:00 +0000

Okay, this is really frustrating. I just wrote a whole long post, just missing the ending, that is to link the video. If you're using blogger you should know they have this new thing where they automatically save our drafts. So before I close the window it says down there that it's saved already, I can't click on the button anymore. And I have done it before, nothing wrong. But now...AAARRRRGGH!!!!!!!!! I've been meaning to write that post for so long already but now it's gone, goNE, GONE! *curse* This really puts me off.

It's not just blog. Sometimes in emails also like that. I wrote a whole long mail and then click 'send'. The next thing I see is 'Internet Explorer cannot find the site'. The difference is emails doesn't automatically save our drafts. So blogger gave me that assurance, which I'm not going to trust again.

Disclosure policy

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sun, 20 May 2007 14:23:00 +0000

This policy is valid from 20 May 2007

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact joannkee@hotmail.com.

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does contain content which might present a conflict of interest. This content may not always be identified.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

About my husband's annoyance

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:16:00 +0000

Just want to add something here to my 5 ways my husband annoys me post. No, I did not find more flaws to add in here.

I didn't expect him to read that post, I wrote the post after that one and then he saw the title. He was like "What is this 5 ways annoy?". I told him I let him read after I finish doing everything. He fell asleep before I finished that night but I got him to read it a couple days later.

Okay, I know I can write like 100 ways and he still won't be mad at me. That night when he read the 5, he was laughing all the way (because he knows they're true). I also told him the little ones that I didn't put up and he laughed at those too. He even corrected me on the #4 impatient one, so I'm going to put up the correction here in honour of his good sportmanship (thanks for the word sis!).

Instead of "Baby, hang jor" (hang already);
he'd say, "Baby, why like this? Is it hang already?"

Mini Hawke

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Tue, 15 May 2007 14:10:00 +0000

Haha, got tagged by someone other than sis, this time by sweetpea. And since it's still quite new, I want to do this fast so I can tag others. I never get to tag anyone before because by the time the tag reaches me everyone I know has done it already.

The origin of Ethan is Hebrew. We're not Jewish, we have our religion but we're not religious. I don't know the history of the name but it means firm and strong. I didn't think of the name as what I wanted my child to be but when he arrived prematurely I thought this name really suits him. Got his name from the actor, Ethan Hawke. He's cute (but recently I find his teeth not very attractive) and the only Ethan I know. Turns out Ethan is one of the most popular baby names.

Another name considered was Justin. E for Eddie/Ethan and J for JoAnn/Justin. Didn't think of girls names at first because I've always wanted my first to be a boy. I was the one who thought of the names. But right after his birth the midwife asked us what's his name and Eddie's the one who said it. I was lying on the bed thinking, actually I wanted to have a few more choices but okay.

No Chinese name for him since we're Chinese illiterate. I wanted an 'invisible' Chinese name for him (cause mine is, my mum was pretty cool). I asked MIL for ideas. Then she said what for give Chinese name if you just want to call him Ethan? So what she did was just translate Ethan to Chinese, I also didn't learn to write. Then later I saw this TVB series and heard one that I really like, 'Tin Long' (in Cantonese). MIL told me it means fine weather. But we didn't use it anyway.

Instructions :

**Start Copy**

Proposition: What is the meaning of your kid’s name?

Requirements: write about what or how or why you giving the name to your kids.

Quantity: FIVE PEOPLE.

Tag Mode:
1st - You leave their blog and post link and add to the list below.
2nd - Let the blogger you want to tag know they been tagged by comment in their blog or etc.

1) Msaufong - Meaning Of SQ & Kiki’s name
2) Miche - My ACB
3) Sweetpea - My Little Fire
4) LiL'deviL - Mini Hawke

I would like to tag (my first time tagging others, this is fun!)

binky
Mrs. Wallace
RamblingMoo

My sis had already been tagged so I only have three to tag, sorry! Don't even know if Mrs. Wallace wants to be tagged, I don't see any tags on her blog.

First antenatal check

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 12 May 2007 16:13:00 +0000

21 September 2005
I forgot how many weeks pregnant I was when I went for my first check up. But it was quite late, round about the third month. I regret I never keep a copy of my health checks record. Actually I requested one weeks after I left the hospital after giving birth but they never manage to give it to me.

All the basic stuffs for first check ups -> filling in forms, taking measurements, blood and urine sample. Was given a 'Pregnancy hand-held record' which I'm told to carry with me all the time just in case there's an accident, a baby diary which I never keep up-to-date, and the first Bounty Bag for mums-to-be which contains lots of goodies like magazines, samples and brochures.

I was given a few choices of antenatal and birthing care and asked to choose one, but I didn't know anything at that time so I just asked the midwife to help me choose. She said she will put me on a waiting list on something but I didn't know what then. It was actually the Midwifery Group Practice (MGP), which is 'a midwife-led model of maternity care that offers continuity of midwifery carer to women and their families throughout pregnancy, birth and the early weeks at home with a new baby'. With this, I will be cared by a group of same midwives. This was a new service with certain restrictions and with limited places. There are other types of antenatal care but the one I eventually took was hospital care where I saw midwives at the hospital clinic. I was seeing the same midwife until my last visit because she was pregnant too and began her maternity leave already. I only knew that MGP was the better choice when it was too late. The hospital actually called me before to inform me that I was going up on the waiting list but me being stupid and told them I don't mind the type of care that I get, so I guessed they kick me out of the list.

Before I left I was to make an appointment for my next visit and ultrasound on my 20th week. I already planned to take a visit back to KL at the end of the month for about two months so I would skip one check up but the midwife said it was fine. So my next check up will be on my 20th week gestation together with the ultrasound.

5 ways my husband annoys me

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 12 May 2007 13:00:00 +0000

Second tag also from sis, a few days ago actually. It's kinda difficult to do this tag not because I'm afraid that Eddie might read it but it's hard to find flaws in him. He's a good husband + good papa. I've been thinking for a few days and might be able to come up with some. Maybe as I write I'll be able to fill all up 10. Here goes...

1. He must wake up as late as he can, even on his day off. So I'd be the one to get up to feed breakfast to Ethan. He always say that I can wake him up earlier if I want him to do stuffs, but I'd prefer that he wake up earlier by himself voluntarily and offer help.

2. He doesn't take breakfast. If he does, it's instant noodle. He just loves instant noodles a lot and will use every opportunity to eat them. This really annoys me because everytime he cooks that as breakfast I'll be nagging him as if I'm his mother. The worse thing is that he'll just keep quiet and ignores me (like I'm his mother).

3. He's quite picky in what he eats and he doesn't like western food. He's a typical 'Cinapek' and worships rice. He's not the adventurous type, hard to get him to try new food. Once he found something he likes, that's the only thing he will order from that place. Everytime when we go out for lunch he would ask me what to have for lunch, then I would say this place (that I know he would prefer not to go) and he would give me the shocking "Har?!" sound, like "Must we?". With him it's always laksa or beef noodle for lunch, rice for dinner.

4. He's impatient. He doesn't like it when I take my time to shop. With him, he can just go into a shop, sees what he wants and grab it, no need to try. With me, go into many shops, pick many things, try on, choose colour, maybe buy one. Most of the time I ended up buying nothing because he started to get impatient and I don't like to be pressured. But I hardly shop for myself these days, only for Ethan. Another example is he can't wait for the computer to finish loading after it's turned on to start opening programs. Of course then it will take longer time to load and then he'll say to me, "Baby, hang jor" (hang already).

5. He must sleep late, like after midnight, and he must watch a show before he sleeps, it's like his sleeping pill. He's saying that he loses a lot of time if he sleeps early. The thing is, he doesn't want to wake up early.

Okay, that's it. Can't think of anymore. There are other little things but they don't annoy me as much for me to put them up here. I would put smoking up there but he quits already finally. That is also because he wanted Foxtel (satellite tv) and since our expenses are quite high I asked him to choose between that and cigarettes. Our expenses are still high, but at least he's healthier by a lot now. He pretty much is a great guy and I don't really have much complain about him. I'm so lucky to have found him. If he's reading this, "Baby, I love you!"

It's all good now

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Fri, 11 May 2007 04:24:00 +0000

I was so busy with Ethan that I didn't have the chance to go online last week. Also because busy choosing videos and photos to burn into a dvd for my family. So many videos and I chose different ones for everyone, that's why took a lot of time. I've sent them out, but only one with the videos (lucky sis, because most expensive to mail to her)...hehehe...will take my time and burn the rest later.

Thanks for all your concern. Ethan is beginning to eat again. He's also eating banana and grapes which he rejected before. I even made some new food for him and he's taking those too. I will blog the recipe later, they're easy and yummy.

On the other hand, he's learned a new trick which no one will appreciate, scream. When he doesn't get what he wants or when I put him to sleep, he will perform his new trick. It's funny when he smiles after that but it's beginning to annoy me especially when putting him to bed. Used to be easy to put him to sleep. But now... *sigh* He's starting to show tantrum, which I don't know how to control. I got the Toddler Taming book by Dr Green but haven't got the chance to open it yet. Also got the What to Expect in the Toddler Years as a gift from two very close friends. If anyone read those book, please point to me anything good in there that I can use. Thanks!

The day after daddy's day off

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Fri, 04 May 2007 16:33:00 +0000

01 May 2007
Ethan woke up at about 5:30am and I fed him again but he took less than usual. Gave him another dose of Panadol and took him temp again and this time it was 38.7C. I thought that was quite high so I called the Parent Helpline and asked if he should be admitted. The lady told me that they would only advise to bring the child to ER if he's 39.5C. She told me to take his temp 45 mins after I gave him Panadol and go and have him checked up with the doctor. So I did and his temp did go down a little. Called up GP later in the morning and he was fully-booked but the receptionist was nice enough to squeeze Ethan in as I told her it was kind of an emergency.

The GP didn't really examine Ethan, as always. I don't know about other doctors around here but Brandon's doctor is really thorough. He talks about things like food and sleep, and Brandon gets measured everytime even just for immunisation. This GP doesn't seem to do much, just check his ears, listen to his lungs and tummy, and try to check his throat (difficult because Ethan will bite on the stick and refuse to open his mouth, and then he'll just scream). I wonder if I should worry and change to another GP. But I don't know which one is good. I pick this one is because it's neareast to where we live, and we can walk there. We are looking to get a private health insurance soon so that we could get a paediatrician from the hospital to look after Ethan. We are currently on public health so everything is free, so good.

Anyway, the GP's diagnosis was Ethan got hit by some virus. Told me to keep up his fluid intake since he won't have appetite and keep giving him Panadol. He also suggested to give him a warm bath to take the fever down. If he brings up his food then we will need to bring him in again. So we got home and he was like normal, playing with his toys and all, except he was still warm. He wouldn't eat much, and that includes milk as well. I was really worried that he might be hungry, so I gave him something he won't reject, yoghurt, and that's what he had for dinner that day.

Before he sleeps I gave him some milk which again, he didn't finish. He was able to sleep so I thought he should be okay. He woke up crying after a while so I tried to settle him back to sleep. He realised that he was in his cot, which he hates because it's confined, he wants me to pick him up which I didn't because I was so frustrated and tired. He cried and screams as I was trying to force him to sleep in his cot. Because he screamed so loud and hard, he started coughing and vomited his milk and yoghurt out on his one-day old bedsheet and of course all over himself. So had to take a bath again. His fever subsided after the bath. I didn't bother to put him back to sleep because that would only make me more frustrated, so I just waited for Eddie to come back.

When he came home he put Ethan to bed while I have my dinner. I was supposed to make something but Ethan was occupying me the whole night so I couldn't. I also didn't have appetite to eat by the time Eddie came home. It was a long and tiring day.

Daddy's day off

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Thu, 03 May 2007 15:14:00 +0000

30th April 2007
Went to Harris Scarfe on Monday. They had a one-day sale, 50% discount storewide except certain stuffs which I wasn't interested in buying. Got some clothes for Ethan, a wok and a mini muffin baking tray (to make muffins for him). Ethan had lots of fun walking around. Poor Eddie and I had to hold his hands and stop him from touching everything plus trying to shop at the same time. He doesn't want to sit in his stroller and doesn't want to be picked-up. He also didn't have much sleep, he never does whenever Eddie's off.

It was a long day, we went to Coles after that. I bought a lot of ingredients to make food for Ethan. I got this Women's Weekly Fresh Food for Babies & Toddlers magazine not too long ago and found some yummy and easy recipes. I just wished I had bought this earlier. They have recipes for 6-24 month olds.

When we came home, Eddie swept and mopped the floor and cooked dinner. I changed our bedsheets, fed and bathe Ethan. He was getting ready for bed, read him stories and gave him milk. He just had a bit of milk and then started coughing and vomited his dinner out, on his clean face/hair/clothes and on our clean bedsheets. Pity him, he was terrified. So I had to bathe him again while Eddie cleaned the bed.

A little while after that Eddie felt that Ethan was a bit warm so I took his temperature, or at least I tried. We got this 'armpit' thermometer which takes forever to get his temp especially when he's moving around and trying to take it out. The temp recorded before he took it out was about 37+C so that's higher than normal. Gave him a dose of Panadol and then tried to give him some milk before he sleeps but he only took some.

I actually thought of buying the ear/forehead thermometer before as they take really fast temps. Then I thought we don't use it often so I didn't buy it, but now I'm definitely going to get one. Really saves a lot of trouble and I don't want to make him feel uneasy when he's already sick.

Will continue with the next day on my next post.

Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:07:00 +0000

Been sleeping early since Ethan have been waking up early. That's why haven't been able to update my blog last week since I didn't go online at night. I started training him for one daytime nap about a month ago. I wanted him to sleep earlier forgetting the fact that he will wake up earlier. Good: able to do more things at night. Bad: early mornings!!! Well, early mornings are not that bad if I am able to wake up before he does (which is NEVER! Unless he goes back to sleep). After he had his milk in the morning, he can only 'roam' around in our bed since both Eddie and I are still trying to get as much sleep as we can. So he will climb over us trying to get down from the bed, or trying to go over the bed to play with the keyboard/mouse/lcd/water bottle/whatever that's on the pc table, or what he loves most, pull the curtain and look outside. That's not so much of a problem but the curtain is located behind the top of our bed, so imagine being sat down on your face or feet stepping on your hair...ouch! When he's had enough on the bed and starting to make lots of noises, then I'll finally wake up and take him outside.

I take such long time to write a post, now I'm way past my bedtime. Good night..zzZZZzzz...

To keep or not to keep? (end)

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:52:00 +0000

After reading Mrs. Wallace Notes I realised I forgot to write something in my previous post. Another reason on top of whatever I had to keep the baby was the difficulty to conceive. I know a couple who tried for about 8 years and now they've signed up for adoption, and the waiting list is pretty long.

Even if you get lucky and managed to conceive, it is not easy to keep the embryo long enough to become a foetus. I saw this documentary, The Human Body by BBC (I highly recommend it), it's a six-part dvd that brings you from the time of conception to the time of death. I don't know the statistics but it's in there, there's a very high chance that you will lose the embryo and it will come out as your normal period and you wouldn't even know it. We did not plan for Ethan, but after knowing that it's not easy to conceive, we feel so lucky that he came to us.

Also, to be pregnant at the same time as my sis, that's another blessing. We had so much to talk about. Sharing the same experience at the same moment. What more could I ask for? Actually I could ask that we could be nearer. We could've shared the babies stuffs if we were near. Our due dates were about a month apart. I still remember people asking me what if the babies were born on the same day and I specifically said that it was impossible because one month is a big gap. How wrong was I! One month apart became one day apart. Who would've thought, not only did Ethan chose to came to us, he also chose to meet us earlier than he was supposed to. More details on that as I blog along.

To keep or not to keep? (part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:10:00 +0000

September 2005

Sorry to keep the suspense, now let me continue. The only reason I could think of at that time to keep the baby was my age. I was not too young, mid-20s, I would say, just nice to have a baby. My baby would be that same age when I turn 50, so kinda can 'escape' earlier, maybe even become a grandparent if I'm lucky. Also, if I want to have more children then I could do it before I turn 35 (hopefully) with the age of the children spaced more widely apart. Most people say it's easier to have the children's age closer, so that they will have 'friends' and easier for the mum (and dad) to go through the hardships of childbearing (and childcaring) at the same time. But I'd still prefer it my way, financial reasons, for my husband's sake. It's already hard for him now to support all of us. Although, no one could tell the future. I do hope that the history of this little 'accident' won't repeat itself. I'd like the next one to be a planned one.

Back to the topic, I got an advice from a nice lady (it's too difficult to explain our relationship) who paid me a visit. She didn't know that she was giving me advice, she thought that she was just telling me her life story. To make her long story short, I'll just mention the parts that made me decide what I did. She has a son, about 18 years old that time and a daughter about 9 years old. Any curious person would ask about the big gap. She said that actually she just planned to have one child. She wanted to work and didn't want to be tied down. She didn't want to have another child also because of financial reasons. After many years she saw her son was lonely and then she realised all her reasons for not having another child was really selfish. And then it hit me. That word, 'selfish'. I made my mind up that instant.

Before her visit I was still unsure. I was weighing more towards keeping the baby although there weren't many reasons to support it. But not keeping the baby is a really big decision and I'd know that I'll regret it sometime in the future. It's throwing a life away, a life that's part me, part my husband. That's why I feel so blessed by her visit, it made me certain that keeping the baby is the decision I should make. No more being selfish. It's amazing how much power that one word has.

First tag: All about Ethan

noreply@blogger.com (LiL'deviL) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:46:00 +0000

My first tag, well actually Ethan's first, but I get to write it. Got tagged from sis, the first time. Actually I think she tagged me once before I started this blog, wonder if that counts? So anyway now it's all about Ethan, here goes...

On the outside
Name: Ethan
Date of birth: 04 March 2006
Current status: Just started walking
Eye colour: Dark brown
Hair colour: Black
Righty or Lefty: I feed with both hands but I sign on my right (both hand and foot)
Zodiac: If Brandon's a Pieces then I'm a Pieces

On the inside
Heritage: Aussie-born-Chinese, of Cantonese and Hokkien
Fear: Nothing...yet!
Weakness: Mum-mum (food), I always go near whoever's eating
Your perfect pizza: ???

Yesterday, today & tomorrow
Your first thought waking up: Must use all measures to wake either mummy or papa up
Your bedtime: 7-8pm but I cry often when I'm too warm or when I want mummy or papa to pick me up and rock me back to sleep
Your most missed memory: ???

Your pick
Pepsi or Coke: Got milk?
Mackers or Hungry Jacks (aka McD's or Burger King): Any food is good but I've never tried these two
Single or Group Dates: ???
Adidas or Nike: Papa would prefer to buy Adidas for me
Lipton Tea or Nestea: Lipton Tea, never tried Nestea before
Chocolate or Vanilla: Either
Cappucino or Coffee: Haven't tried. Sounds like something my friend had, babycino...have yet to try

Do you...
Smoke: Mummy hopes not
Curse: Not yet

In the past month
Drank alcohol: I drink water everyday
Gone to the mall: This is my every week activity
Been on stage: Nope, never
Eaten sushi: Nope, never. Funny because papa is a Japanese cuisine chef
Dyed your hair: Nope, never

Have you ever
Played a stripping game: Love it!
Changed who you were to fit in: Fit in what?

Marriage
Are you hoping to be married: I'm wanted for two of papa's friend's daughters

In a guy/girl
Best eye colour: ???
Hair colour: ???
Short or long hair: ???

What were you doing
1 minute ago: ZZZzzz....
1 hour ago: Giving mummy a hard time
4 1/2 hour ago: Just gone zzzZZZ...
1 month ago: Should be ZzzZZ...
1 year ago: Definitely zZZZZzZzzzzzzZZ...

Finish the sentence
I love: to hear mummy makes funny animal sounds when she reads to me
I feel: excited to see papa walk in the door when he comes home from work
I hate: being confined, being strapped onto a seat (except car seat because car rides are fun and sleepy at the same time)
I hide: my eyes and mummy will say "BOO!"
I miss: going to prems playgroup on Thursdays
I need: attention most of the time because I knock my head too much

I didn't wanna be tagged because I've got no one to tag. But this was fun.