新年快乐，虎年来了！

Happy CNY! We're not really into the whole CNY-dong dong chiang type of stuff. I've never really done visiting my whole life...well, maybe when I was little and my grandparents were still around, I might have gone with for abit of house hopping. But for the larger part of my life, I've never really visited anyone's homes during CNY. When HW and I got married, I was happy to learn he didn't have such a habbit either.
So I guess li'l K's gonna grow up without experiencing the whole 恭喜发财，红包拿来 thingy. Heck lah.I wanted to dress him up in traditional cheena garbs but I couldn't find anything I like. See, Keston is very tanned and so, he doesn't look good in deep, dark colours. Which means, the royal blue I like so much is out. He doesn't look good in the golden-yellowish tone normally seen on the boys' costumes either. And we couldn't really come to a conclusion what colour suits him...and so in the end, no ching chong costumes. Gah. We got a pigtail hat though, which he refused to wear. Ah well. No surprise there.I think the little boy really enjoyed having Daddy and Mummy with him for the past ermm...4.5 days. He's been babbling/talking more and really progressing with his puzzles. However, he's also developed some strange habbits. For a start, he says ball-ball with renewed vigour. HW swears he heard Keston say apple....and to be honest, I think I heard it a couple of times too when he was eating apple, but it's really soft so I can't be sure and don't want to be too optimistic.He's finally gotten round to playing with his wooden animal puzzles-- you know, those pieces of animals with wooden knobs where you place on designated spaces on a wooden board. He used to get so frustrated when he can't get the orientation right and can't fit in the animals and will proceed to just fling it aside. But now, he's so fast at fitting it all in. He can fit in 7 out of the 10 pieces...cos if we take all 10 pieces out, he gets no motivation in completing it. We have to leave a few pieces in. Well, he has done all 10 pieces before but most of the time, when we remove all the pieces he just turns away.
Last week I was trying to teach him to nod his head for yes. Like 'Wanna go gai gai?' and I'll man-handle his head and force him to nod...didn't really work :P Ironically, all of a sudden he's shaking his head. It's not 100% accurate yet but I'd say 70-80% of the time when he shakes his head, he really means no. When he wants to say yes, he just doesn't do a thing or tries to reach out instead.

The very undesirable habbit he'd started is banging his head. When he doesn't get what he wants, when he gets frustrated with whatever he's playing with, when he's mad at us...he sits on the floor and slowly drops his head to conk the floor. I've read that it's fairly common and not to give any reaction to it so he'd stop using it to get his way, but it's hard not to!

I didn't take much photos for him this year...cos a few days before CNY, he knocked his head massively and had a huge balugu in the middle of his forehead! :( It looks so horrible so I couldn't bear to take any photos. Seems like he always kenna some mishaps during CNY. Last year, he woke up on 初一 with massive mozzie bites all over his face! This year, a huge bruise on his forehead...sigh~

Closing the door...

As far as I can remember, Keston has always been afraid of closing doors. He seems to think we're gone forever whenever we attempt to close the kitchen door or the toilet door. He'd stand outside pounding on the door and crying his lungs out.

A few days ago, he was being naughty and kept walking through the kitchen, out of the back door to the washing area and touching the detergents. I kept scolding him and warning him but to no avail. In the end, I closed the door on him-- leaving him in the washing area by himself. The second the door clicked close, he wailed and screamed. It was only for a good 10 seconds and when I opened the door, he ran out and immediately pushed the door close. From then on, he no longer wanders into the washing area and would close that door whenever he sees it open! Maybe I should do the same when he walks into the kitchen...

The next day, I was trying to get him to nap but he kept getting up to walk. So I opened the room door and calmly said "You wanna play right? Ok go outside the room to play." He was grinning from ear to ear and happily walked out of the room. The moment he stepped out, I closed the door. Cue dramatic wailing. Again, I left it for a few seconds before I let him in again. And he guai guai climb on to the bed to settle down. Whenever he attempts to get down from the bed, I'd ask him if he wants to go outside again and he quickly gets back on the bed. Sometimes he goes as far as the door and I'd gamely open the door wide for him, but he'll quickly walk behind the door and push it shut. It's quite hilarious really and works wonderfully in disciplining him.

Developments of late + weaning off the pacifier

Over the past 2 months, Keston has picked up waving bye-bye followed by kiss-kiss. I was too lazy to say "Flying kiss", so it just stayed as "Kiss-kiss". Whenever we say bye bye, he'd wave his hands enthusiastically and when we say kiss-kiss, he'd bring his palm up to his mouth...sometimes followed by a slight wave at the direction of the recipent.

I don't think he quite understands the meaning of kiss yet. He thinks it means licking his palm! hehe! He's been quite consistent with these 2 commands, especially in the last month. He'd wave and kiss goodbye to our neighbour whenever he's done walking to and fro their gate to ours.

The cheeky boy now claps for himself whenever he thinks he's done something new/clever! The first time he walked down the steps (using the wall as an aid) without having to turn around and do the bum-first motion, he clapped in delight. When he started walking down a step without having his bum touch the ground, he also clapped for himself!

When I went through the developmental milestones at Babycenter just now, I realised that he has actually met all of the required skills, some of the emerging and advanced skills....all except for the speech-related ones! I didn't know throwing the ball overhand and underhand were considered advanced skills at 18months cos he's been doing it for awhile now.

He's also quite an expert at threading/lacing his little animal beads now. When we bought the set at Christmas, he wasn't interested. But after showing him a couple of times how to thread the beads, he'd attempt and succeed occassionally, but usually losing interest after 2 or 3 beads. I don't actually know when he became such an expert, but I'd leave the beads lying about and on occassions when I weren't looking, I'd turn back a while later to see the thread filled with beads.

Weaning off Pacifier
A while ago, Keston had been biting through his old pacifiers. When we were buying new pacifiers, I suddenly noticed that the last stage of pacifiers was 6mths-18mths. So technically, after turning 18mths....the pacifiers weren't suitable for him anymore! We kept mumbling yeah yeah must stop using pacifier, but neither of us were confident about it.

On 1 Feb (Monday), 4 days after Keston turned 18mths...as a joke, HW told Keston "Mummy said must stop using pacifier already so no more pacifier ok?". Obviously Keston didn't respond lah. And I was like errr yeah. That morning, HW still gave Keston his pacifier after his bath (cos he tends to start scrambling everywhere when we're drying him)...and I said "I thought no more pacifier?" He said "Tonight lah, you administer it." Right. I dunno where I garnered the courage, but that night I really didn't give K the pacifier. Just told him to go to sleep....he did fuss abit (no cries, just ee ee orr orr) but managed to fall asleep anyway. Usually when he stirs at night, he'd brush around the whole bed locating his pacifier, stuff it back in and go back to sleep. That night, when he tried looking for his pacifier and not finding it, he started whining in his subconscious state. I tried to resist but after 5 mins of not being able to get him to fall back into his deep sleep, I succumbed. Once the pacifier was in, he immediately went back to sleep. But when I tried to pull it out, he sucked on it even harder, unwilling to let go. Let him suck for a few minutes and took it out.

The 2nd day, K missed his morning nap cos he associates the pacifier to sleeping. No pacifier means not time to sleep. Because of that, he fell asleep v easily right after lunch. No pacifier required. That night, he didn't fuss...just fell asleep himself after scrambling around the bed for awhile.

3rd day. K took his morning nap after I pulled all the curtains to emulate night time. He also took his 2nd nap successfully. Night time as well.

I guess it was a success. Not as difficult nor scary as I thought!!!

...maybe, maybe not...

Right after the last post, Keston started pointing at stuffs more and giving a tiny bit more response to his name. Mostly though, he prefers to grab our hands and shove our hand in the general direction of whatever he wants.

I realise he responds selectively. The 100% sure proof way to get his attention is "BISCUIT" or "CHEESE". The problem is, if there's no food waiting for him when he turns around, he gets pretty annoyed. Also, he responds more to his daddy than me when we call his name. I think he takes me for granted :P

Keston's basically a very friendly kid-- always smiling at people. Yesterday, we were having dinner in Far East and the aunty there kept calling him "Yan Dao". He loved it and would keep grinning shyly at her everytime she hollered Yan Dao! He keeps very good eye contact.

HW keeps saying "You see him like that, where got A-t----c?" (We avoid using the word ever since I had my suspicions :P)

Well, as long as he points and responds to his name...and hopefully comes up with an understandable word sometime soon...I guess my worries may be unfounded. Till then, guess all I can do is keep talking and teaching him.

ASD

ASD, short for Autism Spectrum Disorders...or better known as Autism.

I've always complained about Keston's slow developments and today for some reasons, I had a niggling feeling and googled Autism. What I found was NOT very reassuring and I am now guaranteed a sleepless night!

Symptoms

By Mayo Clinic staff

Children with autism generally have problems in three crucial areas of development — social interaction, language and behavior. But because the symptoms of autism vary greatly, two children with the same diagnosis may act quite differently and have strikingly different skills. In most cases, though, the most severe autism is marked by a complete inability to communicate or interact with other people.

Many children show signs of autism in early infancy. Other children may develop normally for the first few months or years of life but then suddenly become withdrawn, aggressive or lose language skills they've already acquired. Though each child with autism is likely to have a unique pattern of behavior, these characteristics are common signs of the disorder:

Social skills

• Fails to respond to his or her name check. Keston has almost never responded to his name!
  
• Has poor eye contact
  
• Appears not to hear you at times Sometimes. But usually when we're telling him off.
  
• Resists cuddling and holding Sometimes.
  
• Appears unaware of others' feelings
• Seems to prefer playing alone — retreats into his or her "own world" Sometimes.
  

Language

• Starts talking later than other children Check! He knows no words!
  
• Loses previously acquired ability to say words or sentences Check. He used to say Mama but not anymore (for a long time).
  
• Does not make eye contact when making requests
• Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm — may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech
• Can't start a conversation or keep one going
• May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn't understand how to use them

Behavior

• Performs repetitive movements, such as rocking, spinning or hand-flapping Hand-flapping when he's happy. Does that count?
  
• Develops specific routines or rituals
  
• Becomes disturbed at the slightest change in routines or rituals Quite adaptable to changes actually!
• Moves constantly Yes. But don't all toddlers?
  
• May be fascinated by parts of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car
• May be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch and yet oblivious to pain

Young children with autism also have a hard time sharing experiences with others. When read to, for example, they're unlikely to point at pictures in the book. This early-developing social skill is crucial to later language and social development.

As they mature, some children with autism become more engaged with others and show less marked disturbances in behavior. Some, usually those with the least severe problems, eventually may lead normal or near-normal lives. Others, however, continue to have great difficulty with language or social skills, and the adolescent years can mean a worsening of behavior problems.

The majority of children with autism are slow to acquire new knowledge or skills and some have signs of lower than normal intelligence. Other children with autism have normal to high intelligence. These children learn quickly yet have trouble communicating, applying what they know in everyday life and adjusting in social situations. An extremely small number of children with autism are "autistic savants" and have exceptional skills in a specific area, such as art, math or music.

I read somewhere else about the lack of ability to point. And I kept droning on to HW about how Keston doesn't point. He sticks out his index finger only to poke us, but never to point at stuff.

Of course when we went home this evening, the kid went around pointing at everything. Just to prove a point? HW says he probably felt what I was thinking of all day.

Anyway, I digress. While there are some 'symptoms' that seem to be displayed in most/all toddlers, there are some really disturbing ones that I've highlighted above. Particularly the name-recognition and speech delay bit.

HW thinks I'm overreacting and refused to participate in further discussion with me. I think I need to get Keston assessed! But then I read from local forums that you can only get a proper assessment at 2.5yrs old. That's 1 year more!!!

Seriously hope K starts saying something soon. It's really quite distressing especially since I've always thought the first and foremost symptom is the refusal of eye-contact! I had no idea there were so many other symptoms!!! I hope what he has is just a speech delay. I keep hearing about kids who didn't speak till they were 3 and then they wouldn't shut up...I hope K is one of them. I promise I won't tell him to shut up.

4D3N in Bkk

12-15th Jan-- Keston's 2nd trip overseas.

About a week prior to this, HW came home asking me "Do you dare to bring Keston to Bkk next week?". I said of course! I think it was largely due to the way the question was phrased. I saw it as a challenge, as opposed to a query.

Because it was quite a last minute trip, we weren't quite prepared and did alot of last minute preparations. Number 1 on our list was food concerns. We did not really allow K to take outside food, and yet we would not be able to do any cooking on this trip. Our salvation came in the form of Wakodo baby food, found at Isetan. They had this awesome instant porridge (not cereal) that needs only hot water. Score! We also got a few packets of baby food to mix with the porridge.

The flight to BKK wasn't too bad actually. The flight was actually delayed for an hour, so we were stuck in the plane while K happily grabbed the in-flight magazines, climbed up and down our laps...grinned cheekily at the ang mor 2 seats away. We kept ourselves busy grabbing him back from wandering out, and from playing with other peoples' shoes :P The bugger fell asleep just before take off...and lasted till the food arrived. We proceeded to stuff him with bread to keep him still.
The weather in Bkk was quite nice, rather windy comparatively. K was an absolute joy for most parts-- smiling at everyone. Due to the v unclean environment, I kept him inside the Ergo for the most parts. Only when we were in spacious and clean malls, then did I let him out. Keston adored his newfound legs and freedom and would then run round and round the place, falling down and touching everything he saw. It did help that he was so smiley so the shopkeepers were more amused than harrassed. Most people played with him, tickling him and playing peekaboo with him as he scurried past.

Most Thais expressed disbelief when told that K was 1.5yrs old. We were led to believe that K is a giant baby!!! I suppose it's just a relative comparison cos he's not considered a big sized kid over here. Over there, we got alot of "Oooh! Big Boy!"

His naps were very affected as he does not sleep well outside. He still got his 2 naps, but the durations were 30mins-1hr as opposed to his usual 2-3hrs each. The good thing is, he knocked out every night and slept till late morning everyday. He also pooped everyday before we left the hotel.

We even managed to squeeze in a movie, Avatar. K was napping and I thought he'd sleep through the movie...who knows, he slept through the advertisements and got up when the movie started! But he sat there quietly through almost 2 hours of the movie before we started worrying that he was getting too cold (he was dressed in a singlet and shorts as we didn't plan to watch a movie) and it was past his milk time. I suppose if he had on a jacket and we had his milk ready, we could probably finish the movie.
The flight back was abit of a nightmare. Keston fell asleep when we were queuing up to board the plane. He slept even as I sat down and put the seatbelt around us. But just when the plane was about to take off, he woke up!!! ArrghhH! He wasn't cranky, but he just wanted/needed to walk around, play on the floor..and basically be a menace. When we tried to restrain him back, he'd threaten to cry. It was a vv long flight.

I must say HW was a great help, he packed everything and made sure we had everything we needed every morning before we went out. I just had to scream "Water!', "Towel", "Spoon!", "Toy!" and he'd duly hand everything over. At the end of the trip, he was complaining to K-- "I feel so disgusting, my pockets are all filled with all your things....I feel like Xiao Ding Dang!" Haha

We have another holiday planned in a couple of months and are discussing distractions for his next flight already!

Visit to Fidgets

On the 10th day of Christmas (3rd Jan 2010), we decided to visit Fidgets. I was all excited cos it's pretty near home and would be convenient to bring Keston if he does like it.

When we first entered the main door, I was quite impressed by how big the place is and how the cafe was bustling with life. On the right hand side was a big empty space, occupied by a teeny li'l ballpit. The area was labelled "Little Fidgets", and there were 2 crawlers there. I thought to myself "K is waaay overage for this, let's move on to the left hand side."

On the left were huge structures with slides and ramps...and we stood there for a few minutes before realising the structures were too advanced for our mini toddler. Also, there were too many rowdy pre-schoolers/pri schoolers dashing in every direction.

And so we scuttled back to Little Fidgets. But...but the ballpit there is so ermm...blah? For lack of better words, it's just boring. It's shallow, narrow and dark. And it was squished in with a wee slide that does not allow adult sized objects to navigate. So we couldn't guide Keston in, and truth be told it was v claustrophobic. We stayed there for abit since Keston likes balls but I think even he got bored after awhile...the next section was a big empty area with just 1 little tikes coupe, already occupied by another toddler. We thought we'd come back again when the tod was done, and moved on to the next section. This was a round pit area where there was a ramp with many touchy feely stuff. It's quite nice, albeit small and currently occupied by 4 pre-schoolers prancing about.And thus we were done with Little Fidgets. We moved back to the little tikes area but the same toddler was still at it. And we were bemused to see an angmor girl squeezing herself into the car with the bewildered toddler.

Since there was nothing else to play, we decided to brave the big kids area. It was very difficult to persuade K to climb up the ramp. I understood why when I tried it myself. The foam in the footholds had gone all soft and they collapse when you stepped on them so they didn't really help in climbing up. In addition to that, the ramps were very steep. So it was really difficult to navigate up the ramps. Nevertheless we made our way up the ramps. Came down soon after when I realised the way forward was blocked by 2 huge rotating blocks that had space only for puppies to climb through. Ok fine, kids can squeeze their way through, but there was no way I am gonna get through. And there is NO way I will let Keston get into it himself and get stuck there.

So, up another ramp we went. At least there were 2 ways to go this time. 1 of the way was another of those 'Kids only' entrance and I panicked momentarily when Keston slipped through. I screamed at HW to find where it leads and to stop K at the other end. Thankfully Keston crawled back out to me after a short while. We found a nice shiny slide, which was vvv steep looking. It looks like you're doing a free fall and felt quite scary. BUT wah lau eh, they never wax it or what...cannot slide down! You move for like 15cm and stuck already...anti-climax!

The structures were definitely not suitable for K's age and the pre-schoolers were pretty rowdy as well. When we were getting K to climb through a tube, a bunch of kids just pushed their way into the tube with him and forced their way through. When K was in the teeny ballpit, an angmor boy came along and attempted to step on him for God knows what reason, and then went on to mutter something rude (can't remember what). Not everyone was rude of course, there was a nice Chinese boy who kept picking up balls to give Keston (??) .

In the process, we kept a lookout for the little tikes car. By now there was a pre-schooler Chinese boy occupying it. He looked to be about 3-4. Everytime he wanted to get out of the car, he'd stand by the door. Once any other kid attempts to take over, he'd push them away and squeeze in again. This went on for quite some time. As we were about to leave the place already, HW wanted K to try the car. We knew K probably wasn't really interested in it but wanted to try anyway. So HW brought K over to the boy in the car and asked him if we could borrow the car for a couple of minutes. The boy flatly said NO and sulked at him. HW was so taken aback by the boy's attitude that he made Keston stand beside the car so the boy's mummy will be pai sey and ask the boy to give way. It took her a few minutes to get the hint. And when she asked him to give way, he flatly refused again. She went back to sit but HW persisted in asking her to get her son out for a few minutes as we were gonna leave. As the boy refused to give up possession of the car, she had to drag him out. Did I say drag? I mean DRAG! She pulled with all her might and the boy held on with all his strength. When she eventually won the tug of war and got his butt out, he still refused to let go of the steering wheel. When she finally managed to pry his fingers loose, he yelled and screamed and bawled. Then he went on to knock his head on the parquet flooring with a loud THUD! The mother was embarrassed maybe, pissed most definitely (although possibly at us :P) and went on to spank the kid. Aiyoh, at that moment I wanted to denounce any links I had with HW and K....I felt so bad lor! Later I asked HW why he was so insistent, he said cos the boy was rude!! Haiz...I hope K never reaches this uncontrollable stage!In summary, I don't think I will go back to Fidgets again. At least not for the next year or so.