Croup (We think?)

Alexander got sick again yesterday. We think that it's croup (the seal-like barks were pretty telling). He also had a 101.7F fever, in addition to nasal congestion and coughs. We called the doctor's office, but apparently, there wasn't much we could do except to give him Tylenol or Motrin for the fever. As usual, he was crying a lot and wouldn't nap at all. At night, I let him fall asleep on my chest to keep him elevated. This morning he seems to feel a lot better.

I guess this is another drawback of going to day care - he gets sick a lot. On the positive side, he's building up his immunity. It's just tough seeing him so miserable when he gets sick.

Back to Daycare

We decided to let Alexander stay in day care part-time (2 days a week). During the 2.5 weeks that he was in daycare when my mom was traveling, he has advanced so much. He was more social, more verbal, and according to the teachers, was doing things that we weren't able to get him to do (like sitting down at the table for lunch, or reading a book in a sofa, all on his own). He seems to have a lot of fun there, though it may not always appear that way when we drop him off in the morning.

On the days that he goes to day care, while I enjoy the quietness at home, I also can't wait to pick him up in the afternoon. He always looks so ecstatic when he sees us. He'd jump down immediately from wherever he is at (sometimes in a teacher's arms when she is standing...), babble some happy non-sense, and either run or crawl towards us (maybe he thinks that crawling is faster?) You'd think that he is miserable there from the way he reacts when he sees us, but from the teachers (and from me constantly checking on him on the internet camera), he seems to enjoy his time there.

As much as we like the idea of him going to day care now, the only drawback is the high price. At $110 per day for a two-day program, we are still weighing the cost and benefit. Since we have a full-time care-taker (thank goodness), putting him in day care is not an urgent need right now. I think we'll either keep looking for a more reasonably priced place (though I really do like this facility and the teachers), or take him out and wait another year before considering a Montessori program. In any case, I think we'll keep going until August - it was not easy for us to convince the day care to consider us for the part-time program (that was before we found out the per-day price though!). We don't want to upset them by pulling him out right away and burn the bridges. It'll be like a summer camp for him, I guess!

Suzhou, China (5/27/11) - Part 1

寒山寺，拙政園

Brian really liked the temples and gardens in Suzhou! We bought the backpack just for this trip, and it was money well spent. Alexander seemed very comfortable in it. A lot of people were pointing and commenting in amazement. In the U.S., that would've been considered rude (to point fingers so explicitly), but since most comments were positive, I didn't mind. :)

A famous poem about the temple, engraved in the stone.

Suzhou, China (5/27/11) - Part 2

Very beautiful garden!

The backpack turned a lot of heads.

Potty Training, continued

After the success yesterday, we repeated the same routine this morning. As usual, he played when I was in the room with him (understandable... I suppose it's hard to go when someone is watching you). So I walked out and waited outside. It only took one or two minutes before I heard noise and saw that he was already standing up. He frowned, with a bit of a disgusted look on his face, and closed the lid down really hard. I looked and, yup, there was something that he was trying to get out of the sight. ;) With that, I claim today's morning potty training session another success. :)

Potty Training

We decided to start potty-training Alexander last week. Until today, we've tried using the potty twice - both times I put him there because he looked like he was "straining" (you can always tell when he's making something in the diaper...). Both times he just sat there and played with whatever he could reach. He didn't know what it is, and what he is supposed to do "on" it. That's alright, I thought, it's a bit early anyway.

This morning, while eating breakfast, he showed signs that he was ready to go. So I took him out of his high chair, undressed him, and put him on the potty. Again, he was looking around curiously. He removed the pee blocker thing and started playing with it. He looked like he was having fun, so I walked away for a couple minutes thinking that maybe he would be able to "concentrate" better without anyone around (In retrospect, that was really not a safe thing to do, since the bathroom is not baby-proofed yet. That'll be on the to-do list for this weekend... or rather, Brian's to-do list...). When I went back to check on him, he was just walking out of the bathroom. He saw me, and then tried to close the bathroom door behind him. He had an... anxious (?) look on his face. I thought that maybe he got bored, or maybe he just didn't want to sit there by himself. I walked closer to hold his hand, and then I smelled something... I peeked inside the bathroom, and saw that the potty lid was down. I opened it, and there it was, evidence for his first successful potty training episode!

I was so surprised. I don't know if I was more amazed at the fact that he actually did it, or that he closed the lid on his own after he was done. Though it could've been an attempt to cover up his making, which explains the upset look he had when I first saw him - he probably thought that he did something wrong! I gave him a big hug and plenty of compliments. Once he understood that I wasn't upset, he clapped his hands like I did, looking very proud of himself.

So I guess we have to keep going now with the training, no more slacking off. ;) I think the peeing part would actually be more difficult. I have no idea how to train him to pee in the potty. But then, I had no idea how to train him to do the other thing either, and he did it after only 2 attempts. Now if only I could train him to wash the potty after he is done... :)