Bye Bye Diapers

Finally I have made the decision of letting Jesse to be 100% diaperless. On the 25/02/09 marks the first day of not wearing diapers at night. I did not put anything extra on the bedsheet as well. So far so good.

She used to wear cloth diapers during nap and refuse to take it off after she wakes up but this does not stop her from telling us when she wanted to pee. I do not understand why she refuses to take it off.

My concern now is when we go out. I notice sometimes she says she wants to pee but ended up didn't pee. She refuses trainning pants, so I used to put the normal disposable diapers for her. It might be difficult for us to look for toilets at times, so to be on the safe side, we used to put on diapers for her. I think we should have more confident in her and we will not put diapers for her anymore.

As compared to Samuel, we started potty training Jesse at later stage. Samuel was not wearing diapers during the day when he was 1 year 8 months old. It took us more than 1 week to train him by bringing him to the toilet every 15 minutes. But both were 100% diaperless about the same time, 2 years 1 mth old.

Is She Ready ?

We started to potty train Jesse when she was 23 months and she gets it pretty fast. Within a few days, she started to be very co-operative with us. She will tell us when she wanted to pee and she can hold her bladder. During daytime at home, we do not need to put on diapers for her except during her morning and afternoon nap. If we are going out for only 1-2 hours, we will not put on diapers for her as well.

After she turns 2, she hardly wet herself while she's sleeping. It has been more than 3 weeks she did not wet herself at night. Just incase she wets herself, we still put on a diaper for her. At times, she will request to go to the toilet to pee in the middle of the night.

I have been hesitating not to let her wear diapers at night but I do not want to take the risk of Jesse wetting our bed. If she wets herself, it will be a big hassle to change our bedsheets. Moreover, I do not want our bed topper to get wet :p

But yesterday night, after she woke up to pee at 1.30 am, I did not put on the diaper for her. She was scratching her back (itchy due to diaper) before asking to go to toilet. And yes she did not wet herself. I am not sure if she is 100% ready to be diaperless although it has been about a month since she last wet her diaper.

What do you think?

1. Should I put on her diaper so that I will have better sleep (not thinking if she needs to go to toilet). This is a good choice but we need to spend money on diaper (after wearing few times, we will throw away the diaper).

2. Or should I not put on the diaper for her and take the risk of her waking me up if she needs to go toilet?

3. Or should I put on Drybees cloth diaper but I'm not very convinced that it is breathable. (Extremely bulky)

Tell The Time

Few days ago, I started teaching Samuel how to read the clock. It is definitely not an easy task to teach your own kid. We tend to loose patience with them. After teaching Samuel twice, he started to realise that I will scold him for not being able to tell me the time.

On Sunday night, when I told him that we will read the clock again, the first thing he said to me was, "Mummy, you don't angry with me ok." When I asked him why, he replied "Afterwards I will cry" Not only I told him that I will not be angry with him, I told myself too that I should not scold him for not being able to read the time.

I tried to stay calm but it is really not easy to do so, I scolded him again when he didn't give me the right answer. He got confused with the long and short needles many times. Eg, 10 past 5 he will sometimes say it's 5 past 2. Another example is 2 sharp, he will say it's 10 past 12. In between, I can see that his mind is wanders somewhere else, which makes me even more angry.

Yesterday morning when I asked him to bring me the clock, again he asked me not to be angry with him. This time, I got frustrated but did not scold him when he didn't get it right. This time, he was better. Eg, when I point the long needle at no.2 and short needle at no.5, he will flip it the other way (ie. short needle at no.2 and long at no.5) and said that it is different.

He did not get everything right but he is much better than yesterday. I can see that when he gets it right he is very happy. He even asked me "Am I a clever boy?" 0_O

I have teach him the whole concept in reading the clock. I only teach him "past", I certainly hope that I don't have a tough time teaching him "to", which I doubt.

Our Girl & Boy Are Sick

Jesse is sick again. Although her fever is not very high, max of 38.4, she has phlegm, cough and running nose. Her cough is probably due to phlegm. Her fever has subsided after 3 days but she looks very weak.

Samuel does not have any fever but has alot of phlegm and cough as well. We have not brought them to see our doctor yet. We have been giving them phlegm and cough medicine as well as pro-biotic but their condition doesn't seem to improve.

If tomorrow their condition doesn't improve, we will bring them to see doctor.

There goes our long weekend......

Look Who's Peeping

Jesse likes to play with daddy's binoculars. The binoculars can only see things from a far, we can't see anything near us. I'm not sure if she sees anything with the binoculars, but she sure looks cute with the big binoculars.

Busy Daddy

Daddy has been very busy lately. Most of the time coming home late around 10.30pm sometimes 11.00pm from work and church.

Eventhough daddy has not been at home much to spend time with mummy, Samuel and Jesse, daddy wants them to know that daddy misses them so much.

Mummy, sorry daddy has not been spending enough time at home. Will definitely spend more time with you and our "babies" over the weekend.

Daddy's gifts

Mont Blanc Wallet

Mummy brought daddy out to choose a gift at The Mall before Valentines day and daddy chose a Mont Blanc wallet. This was initially what daddy thought mummy would have gotten him. Daddy was so wrong. When daddy bought many many gifts for mummy to surprise her, daddy was caught by surprise when mummy actually bought something that daddy could never imagine.

Mummy gave daddy a medium sized green glossy wrapped box that was actually quite heavy. Daddy was very curious what it was and daddy opened it immediately. Tearing off the wrapper, daddy was wondering what could it be.

Its a Breitling Chrono Colt Watch

Daddy is so happy mummy surprises him even more than the way daddy surprised her.

Mummy's Gifts

This Valentines day, i received a few Valentine's day gifts from daddy. Yes, not a gift, but a few gifts! One of the gifts are for us. A new bedsheet set and a mattress topper. I have been complaining that I have sleepless nights. It is not easy for me to sleep back once I'm awake (usually wake up by Jesse). Daddy wanted to make me feel more comfortable, so he got a Microgel (Down Alternative) Mattress Topper and Jean Perry Royal Premium Luxury Linen Sateen, Bedsheet + Quilt Cover, 500 threat count, Egyptian Cotton Sateen which cost about B$500 after 20-30% discount. This is the 1st time we got such an expensive bedsheet set and first encounter with a mattress topper. Oh, the mattress topper feels really comfortable.

Besides "our" gifts, daddy also got me a bouquet of roses. Both of the gifts was given to me on the eve of Valentine's Day. Samuel came home from school on the the eve of Valentines day and told me that daddy has bought me flowers. Daddy's plan was to dress Samuel in his suit and present the roses to me. Daddy was dissapointed that Samuel has told me about the flowers because it was meant to be a surprise.

Besides the flowers, daddy also got a Scrap Album, a 320 GB durable shock resistant external hardisk and a 50mm f1.8 potrait lens for my Canon 450 D. I have not done any manual scrapping before but I will try to make an album for the children. Daddy bought me a shock resistant external hardisk, which meets the US military drop test standards because I once dropped our old external hardisk and all the files were gone together with all my digital scraps which I did not have any backup. Daddy didnt want me to loose my work anymore so he got me a good one this time :)

Valentine's Dinner

We went to The Empire Hotel & Country Club for our Valentine's Day Dinner, just the 2 of us. Before we had our dinner, we took some pictures. The tables at the Atrium Restaurant were nicely decorated with confetti and petals of roses.

They didn't have a special menu for this special day. It was a Valentine's Day buffet. The only difference was lots of seafood and the special dishes they had was the desserts. Most of the desserts are heart shaped, but we did not try most of them as we had alot of main dishes. We tried almost every dishes. We had oyster, muscles, beef, chicken, fish, prawns, different types of rice, sushi, udon, soup, lasagna and many more. I helped myself with two rounds of seafood. I took 7 oysters, it was yummy! Daddy likes the udon the best. The chessecake was nice as well but i didn't dare to take another slice. We were extremely full after the dinner.

The dinner came with a rose and a gift (facial products) for every couple.

The Driver & The Passenger

Samuel and Jesse likes to play with the tractor. It is either Samuel drives alone or daddy will push both of them. Samuel doesn't have the strength to cycle when Jesse is sitting in the wagon. Jesse really knows how to relax lying in the wagon.

Samuel's Library book became Jesse's

The Book & The Mesh Bag

Samuel will bring back a library book chosen by him every Monday fortnightly. Last Friday, he asked me to inform the teacher that it is his turn on Monday. On Saturday, he asked if I have told his teacher. I told him not to be worried, the teacher will know.

On Monday, he did not get the chance to go to library and I totally forgotten about it. Yesterday morning, Samuel told daddy that he did not get a library book. He was dissappointed and asked daddy to ask his teacher. Daddy asked his class teacher and was told that he did not get his library book because the teacher incharge was on emergency leave and they can't find his library mesh bag. She admitted that it was their mistake that they misplaced the mesh bag. (One of the school library rules is, "No library book without the mesh bag")

Today, daddy reminded the teacher incharge, but Samuel didn't get to choose his library book until later when daddy picked him from school and reminded the teacher. Samuel was very happy taking a book home from school. Once he reached home, he showed me his library book. As Jesse was there and saw his book, she wanted his book, as usual. She pouted her lips and asked for the book. Since Samuel was not reading it at that time, I told Jesse to return it back to Samuel once she finish reading and she agreed. Usually when she agrees, she will keep her promise but not this time.

She just wants to hold on to the book, she did not even flip any pages. When shes tired of holding she just puts it aside. Only when we ask her to return to Samuel she quickly grabs it and hides it behind her. She repeated this twice. She just wants the book because it was Samuel's.

Enjoying Mandarin Oranges

Sitting on the coffee table in the living room peeling mandarin orange
Concentrating in peeling
Done with the skin, now the fruit
Putting some oranges on the table.....

........... and in the mouth
Continue to put on table
and in the mouth...

....... more and more in the mouth

This is what Jesse likes to do during Chinese New Year. When she sees us holding mandarin oranges, she will request for one too. Upon taking one, she will leave us alone and concentrating on her peeling. Sometimes, she doesn't want to eat. She just want to peel. So, sometimes she will me feeding mummy or daddy her oranges.

Flying To Outer Space

Both Samuel and Jesse like to turned the chair over and sat at the middle of the chair, pretending that they were driving. Samuel was the one who gave Jesse such idea and usually first thing that she does when she goes into his room is to turn the chair upside down. She is so good at immitating others.

Lion Dance

This year we missed a lion dance in one of our friends open house. Nevertheless, we were invited for another lion dance by Samuel's art teacher. We were there with Samuel. It was a long 30 minutes lion dance without any special stunts. After the lion dance, we had some food.

I was really glad that Samuel was not afraid of the loud noise. He closed his ears throughout the lion dance and lighting of fire crackers. I can still remember last year, he cried non stop when he heard fire crackers. This time he was good. Hope he grew out of his fear for loud noises.

Happy Chap Goh Mei!

Today is Chap Goh Meh (15th day of CNY), it is also the Chinese Valentine's Day. Apparently, back during those days (long long time ago) in China, the guys will be throwing mandarin oranges and the girls will be picking them up. Daddy was suggesting to me that he will throw mandarin oranges and i should pick it up. o_O

We might be playing some firecracker later with Samuel.

Happy Chap Goh Mei!

Family Fun with the Mac

It has been ages since daddy posted anything fun about the family. While going through mummy's macbook this morning, daddy found some funny photos of the family. These photos were taken with mummy's macbook sometime in may last year.

Winter in Brunei

Recently, Brunei has been having unexpected weather conditions. It's a tropical country that has summer like weather all year round. Surprisingly, these couple of weeks has been unpredictable. Today is extremely cooling it averages at 23 degrees celcius. Even colder than Sydney which is 24 degrees. Though it's summer in Sydney, it's not common for Brunei to be so cold.

Keep warm my friends in Brunei!

Toddler Carrying Another Toddler

Having 2 toddlers at home can be very noisy at times. But, it can also bring alot of fun and amusement with 2 of them. One of those days when both our kids were playing, Samuel who is about 16kg was trying to carry Jesse who is about 11kg.

Samuel used to carry Jesse from her neck. We have to keep reminding him that he can't do it from the neck.

Fever Not Jesse

When Jesse was having fever, she hates to put the cool fever pad on her forehead. Infact, Samuel hates it too. I remember once he asked me (as he cried) "Where is my forehead?" o_O

But lately, Jesse likes to play with the reusable cool fever pad. She has been asking for the "baby box" every night. Although I am curious whether she will actually use the cool fever pad when she's sick, I certainly hope that the day will not come.

Supplements

I did not realise that Samuel has been taking so many supplements until I put them together.

He starts off with Scott's Emulsion Fish Oil, then the Vitamin C tablets when he was 3. His supplements has extended to different types when he turned 4.

In the morning, after his milk, he will take 1 tablespoon of Scott's Emulsion Fish Oil, a tablet of Vitamin C and a tablet of Mix Berries. In the afternoon after lunch, the maid will give him a teaspoon of Ceelin Vitamin C (recommended by doctor). In the evening, I will give him 0.5 oz of Veema Mangosteen Juice.

This juice was actually meant for Daddy, who has extremely bad allergy. I read about this drink and there has been very good comments about this supplement. And most important of all, as according to articles, it helps with allergy.

Jesse only started taking supplements about half a year ago, when she started to get sick often. In the afternoon, we will give her a teaspoon of Ceelin Vitamin C and 0.5oz of Veema Mangosteen Juice.

On and off, whenever they like they will take the Vitamin C chewies.

When Samuel was at Jesse's age, he gets sick very often. He has running nose often because of allergy, just like daddy. But since after all these supplements, I can see that he seldom falls sick. I'm glad that he has better immune system as compared to when he was younger.

I hope Jesse will be stronger after these supplements.

Scraping

I have been very busy doing children scraping lately. I started scraping again more 2 weeks ago and I got really addicted to it. I have only done about 30 and there are at least another 15 more to go for those photos taken in 2008. I hope I can finish the album for 2008 before end of the month.