New Blogskin

I have been toying with the idea of changing Daryl's blogskin for some time already as I find that his current 1 is not that suitable for a toddler. After many days of searching on Blogskins, I finally shortlisted this current skin.

Initially, when I uploaded the skin onto Daryl's blog, I got an error message! I was so fed up coz I had spent some time figuring out how to upload it. Thus, when it was not successful, it was so demoralising.

After some searching, I found out the reason why. Apparently, when Blogger upgraded to Blogger Beta, it runs on XML coding instead of HTML. Unfortunately, the majority of the skins are created by HTML. Therefore, when I tried to upload the new skin onto Daryl's blog, I got the error message. After somemore searching, I found out that I need to change to classic view so that I can upload it. Once done, I finally managed to upload the new skin to Daryl's blog.

That was not the end of it. When the new skin was uploaded, I realised that there were a few problems. The alignment was off, the posts were kinda of too small to be read, I can't seem to be able to edit the profile at the side of the posts, etc...

Luckily I remembered that Kat is quite familiar with Blogger as she was the 1 who told me about Blogskins. So I asked her for help. When she replied that she can help me, I heaved a sigh of relief.

I went back home today so that she can help me to adjust Daryl's blog. The result.... Well, you can see for yourself...

The Trigger

Remember my last post about Daryl's hives? After a few days' of observations, I suspect that the trigger is dust. Why do I say that? Coz an incident just now confirms my suspicions.

Kel wanted to go out & tapao dinner for us at the coffeeshop near our place. As Daryl wanted to follow Kel, I brought him along since Kel is driving there. As it was quite a humid evening, we decided to wait in the car while Kel went to tapao our dinner. While waiting, Daryl who was standing in the backside started to bang on the panel behind the back seat which house the speakers. I didn't think much of it then as Daryl is always banging on the panel whenever we wait in the car. I just make sure that he washes his hands throughly when we are home.

However, today was slightly different. When we got back home, I noticed that some reddish bumps started to appear on Daryl's hands & arms. The funny thing is that they only appear on his arms & hands, not his whole body. I suspected that the panel was dusty, thus I told Kel about my suspicions. At the same time, I also asked Kel whether he vacuums the panel regularly. He replied that Asty will vacuum it whenever they washed the car. However, it's still kinda of dusty as the panel is covered with fabric. Thus, it traps dust very easily.

When I heard that, it confirms my suspicions! I am kinda of relieved as I believe that I had found out what is the trigger for Daryl's hives. Now, we just have to ensure that the environment that Daryl is in dust free so that his hives will not be triggered. At the same time, I am also worried about Daryl. We stayed beside PIE, thus dust is always present at our house. What we can do is to vacuum & mop our house more diligently & to keep the windows closed so that our house will not be so dusty. Another way is for us to shift house. Sigh... that's easier said than done as there are so many things that we have to consider.

In addition, due to his condition, he may have to avoid some places & activities, e.g. some fashion boutiques (you wouldn't believe how dusty some boutiques can be), outdoor activities such as camping, hiking, etc. I am keeping my fingers & toes crossed that he'll outgrown this condition soon.

Hives

My poor baobei got hives!! We 1st discovered his condition last Fri when we were at the coffeeshop near our place having breakfast.

That morning, Kel & I met up with Roger for breakfast to discuss about some work matters. As he is a long time friend, we decided to bring Daryl & Asty along too. After breakfast, Daryl got restless in his seat. Thus, I told Asty to bring him for a walk so that he wouldn't disturb us. After a while, Asty came back & showed me a lot of reddish bumps on Daryl's legs. The bumps on the back of his legs were even more severe. His back legs were practically covered with those reddish bumps. Kel & I were shocked to see them. As we didn't know what caused the bumps, we suspected that the chair that Daryl is sitting on might be dirty, thus the allergic reaction.

As we needed to print some forms to pass to Roger, we decided to bring Daryl back so that he can have a shower. I drove Daryl back while Kel stayed on to chat with him. Before I left the house, I told Asty to monitor Daryl & to call me or Kel if his condition worsen.

After the meeting, I went to meet Jerlyn & Rachel for lunch. I couldn't cancel or postpone it as I had already postponed this lunch previously due to some unforseen circumstances. We had a very nice lunch @ Beppu & did lots of catching up. After that, I went to run some errands & went back home.

To my relief, the bumps on Daryl's legs had subsided substantially when I reached home. Since it had kinda of subsided, I didn't bring him to see Dr Chua.

However, over the weekend, the bumps appeared again on his legs & even his whole body!! It pains my heart to see him with all those bumps. Therefore, Kel & I decided to bring him to see Dr Chua today after lunch.

At Dr Chua's clinic, the bumps had subside substantially, thus Dr Chua diagnosed that the bumps were caused by insect bites. He gave us a bottle of medicine & 2 types of creams for the bumps on his face & body respectively. But... our relief is short-lived.

To our dismay, the bumps appeared all over his body later in the afternoon.

They looked kinda of mild in the pics, but believe me, when you see them in real life, you will be horrified! His whole body is practically covered with those bumps! We decided to bring him to see Dr Chua again in the evening.

Before dinner, we brought Daryl to see Dr Chua again. He then diagnosed that Daryl is suffering from hives!! The unfortunate thing is, there is no cure for hives. What we can do is to minimise the itch by applying creams or taking medicine. We can also try to prevent the hives from appearing. However, we need to find out what is the trigger. Dr Chua said that hives can be due to something which he ate or touched recently, thus he asked us to recollect whether Daryl had ate or touched something new. But we couldn't think of any. Dr Chua then asked us to monitor him further.

When we went back home, it was with a heavy heart!! Why must this happened to Daryl?? Seeing him with those bumps on his body makes my heart pained. The lucky thing is that Daryl still doesn't know that he can scratch the bumps to relieve the itch. I am keeping my fingers & toes crossed that it is only a passing phrase & that he'll outgrown this condition soon!!

Clever Daryl

Daryl did something very funny tonight. Let me tell you all about it...

Daryl & I have a routine every night. When I went to take my shower, I would switch on his Sesame Street show & give him his books so that I can shower in peace. Tonight, as I needed to work, Asty was the 1 who switched on his show for him. When I had finished my work, I came into our room when he was about halfway through his show. I didn't noticed it, thus when Asty left our room, I didn't changed to a new disc for him.

During my shower, I would stole peeks at him to make sure that he is not up to any mischief. Tonight, I did the same thing. I opened the bathroom door slightly to peek at him. Then I realised that he was not on our bed watching his show. I got worried & called out his name. When I didn't get a response from him, I opened up the bathroom door to check where he was. I got the shock of my life when I saw my little boy standing at the bathroom door, looking up at me with a cheeky grin & said, "Jiak..." My cheeky boy was waiting patiently at the bathroom door there for me to finish my shower!! It was so heart warming!! Then he raised up his hands, waved them & said, "No more... no more..." My reply was, "Darling, what no more? Mummy is still taking my shower. Can you go & watch your Sesame Street? Mummy will come & join you later k." I think Daryl understood what I was saying. He turned around & walked back to our bed. :)

When I stole peeks at him later, I saw him either standing by the side of our bed, watching the TV or sitting on our bed reading his book. When I came out of the bathroom, I understood why he had said no more... Apparently when he came to look for me, his show had finished already. That's why he came to look for me to tell me no more... It was so cute that I couldn't stopped smiling. As a reward, I gave him a very big kiss & went to change to another disc for him.

Lunch at MacDonalds

Christina, Esther & I planned to go to the Elmo's Colouring Book show in June. As Maybank credit card holders have priority in booking from 12 to 25 April, I went to buy the tickets.

The nearest ticketcharge outlet is at Century Square, thus I decided to bring Daryl & Asty out for some fresh air. I feel that it's better for them to be out rather than being cooped up at home with my father-in-law. At least, I can keep an eye on the 2 of them when we are out.

We went out at about 12pm. As Kel took the car, I decided to take a bus to Century Square. While we were waiting for the bus at the bus stop, Daryl had a great time looking & pointing at all the buses which passed by. Ah... the innocence of youth... Daryl is so easily satisfied just by looking at the buses.

When we reached Tampines bus interchange, it was passed Daryl's lunchtime already. Thus, I decided to settle our lunch at MacDonald's which is situated in the interchange.



































See the funny looks on Daryl's face when he's eating his MacNuggets.

After our meal, we went to buy the tickets. Chris, Esther & I planned to get front row seats, but pity that they were all sold out already. I didn't know that the tickets were so hot. In the end, I only managed to get the last row tickets in the front section.

After buying the tickets, we went to walk around Century Square. There was a stall by Big Bookshop selling books & toys. After browsing, I bought this 12 x Sesame Street Matching Numbers Kids Learning Game for Daryl. I figured that it would be educational for him as it can teach him how to count.

At about 4pm, I decided to go home as Daryl is getting cranky already. I don't want to be carrying him all over Century Square while I do my shopping.

My Little Helper

I am beginning to think that Daryl is spending way too much time with my maid already. Why do I say that? Coz I realised that he has learnt how to do housework! He's been helping Asty to wash our laundry, hang the laundry, sweep the floor, change our bedsheets, make our bed, etc...

This afternoon, I came out of the study room to get a drink of water. As I didn't see Daryl at his usual places, I went looking for him. I found him outside our study room, doing this...





















I followed him into our room...





I was laughing so hard when I saw this. I showed Kel the pic & vids when he came back from his appointments. He commented that our baobei is going to be my good helper when he's older. Well... at least he can help me out with the housework should we become maidless. :P

Ye Ye

I found out by accident today that Daryl knows how to call Ye Ye.

In the evening, I was sitting at the coffeetable, multi-tasking as usual by doing my work & watching TV at the same time, when Daryl came & squeezed in so that he can sit on my lap. He was fascinated by my laptop, thus he was trying to press the buttons & play with the mouse at the same time. In order to distract him, I decided to show him some pics which was taken on the 1st day of CNY.

I taught him how to press the right arrow so that he can scrolled through the pics. When he saw Kel's pics, he pointed to Kel's pic excitedly & called Papa. When he saw my pic, he called Mi2 mi2. Btw, that was the 1st time he called me Mimi also. I have no idea where did he learnt it from coz no one called me that. Then we came to the pic of Kel's father with Daryl. He pointed to the pic of Kel's father & said, "Ye Ye". I was so surprised as it was the 1st time that I had heard him say that. I decided to test him to see whether it's a fluke or not.

After a few more pics, I scrolled back to the pic of Kel's father with Daryl, he called "Ye Ye" again. It was then I confirmed that he knows how to call Ye Ye already. What a clever little boy! :)

Notti Boy

Daryl is such a notti boy today that I absolutely can't stand him!!

When he woke up this morning, instead of a smiley boy, I got a grouchy, whining & fussing boy. Boy, what a way to start my day & week!! As I can't stand him, I passed him to Asty so that she can look after him. For the whole morning, as I was working in the study room, I can hear his cries all the time.

As Kel is going to his office, we decided to take him out & have lunch outside so that he is distracted. He behaved himself when he's out. I think it's coz he was too distracted by the sights & sounds outside, thus he forgot to misbehave.

However, once we were back home, he showed his true colours again. I got so fed up with him that I decided to collate some evidence so that I can show him when he's older.



































Daryl is crying coz he didn't get what he wants. The thing is, we have no idea what he wants. So I just left him on the sofa to cry it out.



My drama boy... Noticed how he would look at me out of the corner of his eyes to make sure that I am looking at him...

The finale of his fussing today... he got a major spanking from me in the evening coz he was so notti!! I was so fed up that I refused to look after him, look at him, speak to him, carry him, pat him to sleep, etc... Kel & Asty took turns to take care of him while I went to do my own stuff. At this point in time, he is being look after by Kel while I was writing this blog entry. Let's hope that he'll behave himself tomorrow when he wakes up.

Daryl Dancing

For some unknown reason, Daryl likes the music of my alarm clock a lot. Whenever he hears it, he would drop everything, run into our room & start to dance. It was so hilarious that it never fails to make us laugh.

The alarm clock proved to be very useful whenever we need to 'attract' Daryl into our room, e.g. when we want him to take his bath.

This morning, Daryl was helping Asty to change our bedsheets when Kel switched on the alarm clock as he wanted to film Daryl's dancing.



He was so cute when he was dancing!! The funny thing is, he would stop halfway during his dance & point to the numbers on our matress & go, " Eight, eight..." We were laughing so hard when we saw that!

My Sweet Baobei

Daryl is usually a sweet little boy especially when he have enough sleep. When he wakes up in the morning, he would usually laze around in our bed till he's ready to get up. Kel said that he resembles me a lot in this way. Hehe...





















Daryl had just woken up. See the blur look on his face.





















Striking a cute pose for Kel.

Daryl the Stylist in Making

Daryl surprised me again with 1 of his antics just now.

After his evening bath, he was sitting on our bed watching Sesame Street while I went to take my shower. After I had finished, I came out of the bathroom & sat on the bed to apply moisturizer. Daryl took my hand towel which was beside me & started to dry my hair for me!! Even though he was doing it all wrong & was getting hair in my eyes, I was soooooo happy!! His action was soooooo sweet that it melts my heart.

Cleaning the Living Room

I was working on the coffeetable in the living room just now when I heard Daryl fussing. I went to investigate & found that he was clamouring for the Kao Magiclean wiper which Asty had brought out from the kitchen. She had wanted to bring it to our room to clean the floor.

Being the little emperor in our household has got its advantages. When he fussed, Asty gave in to him & he went about his activity happily. You may wonder what is he going to do with the wiper, take a look at the vids below.





After he was done, I went to inspect his work. Considering his tender young age, the floor was pretty clean. :P

Our Wedding Anniversary Celebration

Our 4th wedding anniversary is on 27 Match 2007, however, we decided to celebrate it today so that my mum & my 2 sisters can join us. We decided to have dim sum @ Lei Garden @ Chijmes as my mum & sis haven't been there before.

Initially, we wanted to cancel the lunch as Daryl is having a fever. However, Kel said that since his fever had subsided already, he feels that it's better if we brought Daryl out. The fresh air & the exercise might do him good.

During our lunch, Daryl seems a little bit listless & his cheeks were redder than usual. The good thing is that his appetite was not too bad considering that he is having a fever.

I took some pics of him during our lunch. However, he wasn't too co-operative when we wanted to take pics of him with Kel, my mum & my 2 sis.













































































After lunch, we went to Robinsons to shop around. Then we proceeded to my mum's place while Kel went for his appointment.

In the late afternoon, I noticed that Daryl is getting more sticky & listless. Upon measuring his temperature, I noticed that it had shot up again. Worried, I called Kel to come & pick us up once he's done with his appointment so that Daryl can rest at home. My mum thinks that Daryl might rest better if he's at home coz he's too distracted by the stuff at my mum's place.

Kel came at about 4.30pm & we left for home. I hope that he gets better soon.

Daryl is Sick (Part II)

An update on Daryl's fever...

His fever spiked in the early morning. I woke up at about 5am to measure his temperature again. I sensed that something is amiss when I saw that the Kodomo cooling adhesive had dried up already! This is the 1st time that I saw a dried up cooling adhesive eversince I had started using it on Daryl. I went to take the thermometer to measure his temperature. To my horror, it was 40.3 degress!

I quickly woke up Kel. He went to prepare a basin of water so that he can sponge Daryl down. By doing so, we hoped that we can bring down Daryl's temperature. Daryl was very upset at the sponging. He cried & protested very loudly. It broke my heart when I heard that. On 2nd thoughts, I rather that we are the ones doing the sponging rather than the hospital staff. We do not have any control over how they do it. Think it's even more traumatic for Daryl.

After the sponging, Daryl's temperature went down slightly to 39.6 degrees. Kel went out to the kitchen to fix a bottle of milk for Daryl & to bring his medicine in. Daryl drank the milk & the medicine & went back to sleep.

When he woke up at 10am, his fever had went down to 37.6 degrees already. That was such a relief. However, we'll need to monitor him further just in case his temperature went up again.

Daryl is Sick

Daryl is sick again! :( He was a bit feverish in the afternoon. However, I thought that it was coz of the humid weather as the active boy refused to stay in a place long enough for the fan to cool him down. To burn off his excess energy, I brought him down to the playground near our place.

When we came back, we had our dinner. After dinner, Asty went to bath Daryl. When she finished Daryl's shower, she came out to tell her that Daryl is a bit feverish. Alarmed, I went to measure his temperature. It was 37.8 degrees celsius. As it was quite high, I fed Daryl paracetamol, hoping that it can bring his temperature down.

It's going to be a long night again...

Little Tikes Car

We went grocery shopping at Giant in the afternoon. Daryl was quite a handful today, he'll walk a few steps, then turned to us as he wanted us to carry him. It was no joke carrying a 14kg toddler around Parkway, thus we decided to rent the Little Tikes car from the Customer Service Centre so that we don't have to carry him all the time.

We let Daryl choose the car that he wants. He choose the Tikes Patrol Police Car. He was so happy when he was seated in the car. Seeing the happy look on his face, I wanted to take a pic of him. However, he was so engrossed in exploring his new car that he paid no attention to me.



































These pics were taken when we were on our way to Giant.

My relief didn't last long. After about an hour inside the car, Daryl got restless & he clamoured to climb out of the car. Lukcily, we were almost done with our grocery shopping already. Thus, I went back to the Customer Service counter to return the car while Kel & Asty went to pay for our groceries.

After I had returned the car, I went back to Giant to meet up with Kel & Asty & we went home.

'Scolding' the Shower Head (Part II)

Remember my last post about Daryl scolding the shower head? Today he did it again. :p

Daryl & I spent the day at my mum's place today. When we came home, I told Asty to bathe him. Remembering the last incident regarding the shower head, Asty decided to tease him by letting him hold the shower head. Do you know what he did? He also remembered what had happened the last time that he held the shower head. Thus he started to scold the shower head! This was even before Asty had on the tap!

Kel & I who were in the bedroom, heard his scoldings & went to investigate. When we reached the bathroom, we saw a naked little boy, holding the shower head at an arm's length, with a fierce look on his face, scolding the shower head!! The scene was sooooo funny that we couldn't stopped laughing!!

To be honest, I was pretty amazed at how Daryl's mind works. When he saw the shower head, he can remembered what had happened the previous time. Thus, he pre-emptive it by scolding the shower head 1st before it can blast him with water. It's so amazing how fast his mind works. Hopefully, it can developed into something great. :)

'Scolding' the Shower Head

I did something very naughty today. :p

Asty brought my notti boy into our room so that he can undressed for his evening bath. He refused & was kicking up a fuss. Then I came into the room & managed to undress him. I brought him into the bathroom & asked him to stand there while holding onto the water pipes. I took the shower head down so that I can bathe him. Daryl kept pointing to the shower head as he wants to hold it, so I let him. It was then I realised that the shower head was facing his face directly. Do you know what I did? I went to on the tap! Thus Daryl got a short blast of water in his face! :p

Now, imagine a little boy standing there in the bathroom naked, holding onto a shower head, with water dripping down his surprised face! The scene was so funny that I cracked up!!

The best thing was Daryl's reaction!! After he recovered from his shock, he started to scold the shower head in his baby language! Now imagine this, a little boy standing there in the bathroom naked, holding onto a shower head, with water dripping down his surprised face, scolding the shower head! Priceless... I was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face!

When Kel heard my laughter, he came in to see what was going on. When I told him about it, he was laughing while he scolded me for making fun of his bao bei!! Hahaha...

Phut... Chou Chou...

My notti boy surprised me today again!!

Daryl likes to put his head on the bed or sofa & lift up his butt as if he's going to somersault. He learnt this when Kel taught him how to somersault. Since he obviously can't flipped over, Kel or me would normally assist him. Thus, he'll do this whenever he wants to somersault.

Today, he did the same thing on the sofa just now when I was watching my Princess Hours DVD. I flipped him over a few times. Then I refused to flip him again as I am tired already. It's no joke trying to flip over a 14kg toddler. My arms & back are aching already. Thus, I decided to tease him so that I can distract him. I went "Phut..." as if he had farted & said "Chou Chou!!" Then I held my nose & "fainted". I did this a couple of times. To my surprise, he actually imitated me!! When he lifted up his butt, he went "Phut Phut...". Then he sat down & said "Chou Chou" with a cheeky grin on his face!!

I laughed till tears came into my eyes!! Asty was also laughing when she witnessed that. Pity that Kel is not here to witness it as he's out for an appointment. Asty then told Daryl to do it again when daddy is home. I am going to ask Daryl to do it again tomorrow so that he can show Kel the new stuff that he learnt!!

1st Cut

Daryl cut his left 4th finger today! :(

It happened in the late morning when I was preparing to go out for an appointment. I didn't see what had happened exactly as I was having my shower. When I came out on hearing his cries, his finger is already bandaged. Poor boy...

What I heard from Kel & Asty is that Daryl was stacking Kel's beer cans when they fell down. He managed to stack 4 cans on top of each other when they collapsed due to some unknown reasons. Unfortunately, they fell onto Daryl's fingers & cut his left 4th finger.



































See the deep cut that he sustained. Kel told me that there was quite a fair bit of bleeding. Poor boy... My heart also bled when I saw the cut.