Separation Anxiety?

So we went to see the pediatrician today to find out if Dan Dan had an ear infection that caused him waking up almost every night. Turns out he's fine and despite some ear wax, no ear infection. So we just talked about the sleepless nights. Since there hasn't been any stress or change in Dan Dan's life or routine, and he wakes up at various times, the doctor said it's probably separation anxiety. This is what she suggested:

- a small night light because he might be scared when he wakes up and doesn't see mommy
- mommy will need to sleep in the same room with him to soothe him if he wakes up crying (not whimpering or whining in his REM sleep)
- do not pick him up or turn on the big light; just pet and soothe to make sure mommy is here
- once he seems better, move the mattress in his room a little farther away but still in his room
- eventually mommy goes back to her room

Doctor also recommended the book by Dr. Richard Ferber, 2nd edition of "Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems". She said it gotta be the 2nd edition, as the 1st edition has some controversial methods. Of course this is the doctor that's famous for the Crying-It-out Ferber method. As the doctor said, there's much to the CIO method than just letting your kid cry. I guess that's a very broad generalization and misunderstanding of his method. I'll see if I can find that book at the library so I don't have to buy it.

I am hoping Dan Dan won't wake up tonight as he's too tired today and we got him a nice fluffy pillow, just like how he likes to sleep on our comforter. He slept well last night, hopefully he'll sleep well tonight again. October is almost over, I am hoping for a better November.

It's that time of the year to get sick...+... sleepless nights

We are all sick this week. First it's mommy catching a cold, then spreading it to daddy. Lastly, Aidan caught it, too. I think daddy and mommy got it a lot worse than him. He just ran around with a runny nose and coughing a little. With us, we had to call in sick from work.

We're supposed to go to a Pumpkin Carving event and a Halloween party yesterday. But since we're all sick, we just basically stayed home and didn't do much. It's a shame coz I wanted Aidan to wear his pirate costume. Actually, I wanted the whole family to wear the pirate costumes. Now we'll just have to resort to Halloween day trick-or-treating and pray for nice weather.

More sleepless nights for Aidan. I am not sure what has been happening to him. He hasn't been sleeping well for this whole month of October. Spooky! I think there were about 5 nights in October where he slept through the night and I actually got to sleep through the night. He's been waking up screaming for no reason. When we're on our trip, it took me 2 hours to get him to sleep, which I could understand because it's a new environment. But even before he went on the trip, he's been waking up.

2 nights ago, it was so bad that he woke up screaming like someone was torturing him. I worry our neighbors would call the cops and think that we're torturing him. Took me a while to get him back to sleep... with us. Last night, because we're all not feeling very well, daddy had to actually sleep on the couch, while mommy slept with Aidan in bed. Of course I didn't sleep very well because I worry Aidan might roll off the bed. I had to periodically wake up to check on him.

I hope this is only a developmental stage and this will pass. October is ending soon, and these night terrors (maybe?) or nightmares (maybe?) better stop!

So much to say...

So much has happened since my last blog. I've been wanting to write all about it: S. Cali trip, sleepless nights, and pumpkin patch experience. However, now that time has passed, I don't feel like writing everything down anymore. Maybe just a brief update.

Oct 10-13
We drove down to S. California to visit Disneyland, California Adventures park and Legoland. We first stopped at Harris' Ranch for some yummy meat and then dinner at Downtown Disney. I had one of the best Mac and Cheese at Catal Restaurant.

Second day, we went to Disneyland. Overall it was a great experience and I think Aidan had fun. The only lousy experience was trying to meet Mickey Mouse at Toontown. There were soooo many people (you couldn't tell when you first lined up), and the line was moving super slow. We just left after half-way through Mickey's enormous house. California Adventures was fun as well. Aidan's favorite was the water park. Anything water was fun to him! The same day after California Adventures, we drove down to San Diego, checked-into Doubletree Del Mar and headed out for dinner. The following day, we drove up to Carlsbad to Legoland. I was a little disappointed. I heard this is a great park for little kids, but Aidan was a little TOO little. He didn't meet most of the height requirements (34") but he did spend a lot of time at the water park area. It's more fun if your kids are over 34" because the lines weren't that long and kids all seemed to have fun. We drove back home the following day.

What I learned from this trip, is not to jam packed so many theme parks! I should have stayed in Anaheim another day, instead of driving down to San Diego. Just too much too little time. Also, next time we're definitely flying. Sitting in a car with a 21-month old is not fun anymore. It was too long a drive for Aidan and for us.

Bye Bye Paci!

Last night was the second night in a row that DanDan slept through the night without a pacifier. I am so glad he is able to cut it out of his life just like that. He actually has been pretty good with his pacifier, using it only when he sleeps. But still, after hearing horror stories, I'm glad this is an easy one for me. No paci fairies, no donating paci to poor children, just plain cold turkey! I am so proud of him!

DanDan has been talking a lot more even though we're unable to make out of the sounds coming out of his mouth. It's funny how he likes to talk in our ears or face when we're sleeping. Like he wants to whisper some secrets to us. He's still as musical as ever. Especially now that his mouth is not being shut by a paci, when he lies down in bed at night, he would sing for a little while before falling asleep. In the morning, instead of quietly waiting for us to get him, he would be saying "ma ma" and talking to himself loudly. It's all broadcasted through the baby monitor. Even though I know he's not saying "ma ma" to call me his room, it still motivates me a little more to go in his room early in the morning to fetch him.

I am thinking about what to dress him up for Halloween. I really want to get him an airline pilot outfit since he's been obsessed with airplanes in the sky. We live close to the airport and we see airplane very often. But I can't seem to find a 18-24-month outfit. They are either 18 months, or 2T-4T. Gotta keep searching. Or maybe I should just get different pieces separately, so that he can actually re-wear the shirt or pants or jacket after Halloween.

Ah, my boy is growing up so fast.

San Mateo County Fair

Last Sunday (8/19/07) we went to the San Mateo County Fair. Got some free tickets from work, including free parking, so we ventured out to the San Mateo Event Center. It was a beautiful day and it was pretty warm.

We got there after lunch at our favorite Taiwanese restaurant in Foster City and it was very crowded yet. The Fair opened from 12 p.m. to 11 p.m., so we were actually quite early. Luckily, we were able to find a pretty good parking spot and didn't have to walk too far away.

It was a pretty big fair with different farm animals, children's playground, exhibitions and hands-on museum, games, entertainment, and food. Aidan got to check out different animals and he seemed very interested in them. I think he got tired very easily because of the warm weather. He was actually pretty clingy to me.


We played a few games and won a couple stuff animals. Aidan was actually not very into stuff animals except the big Winnie the Pooh at home. Since he's still too young, we didn't get on any rides. We missed the little kids section and since it has gotten hot and close to his nap time, we opt out of visiting that section.

I think the highlight of Aidan's day was the visit to the hands-on exhibition area where he was turning this wheel around, hitting a musical instrument with a rod, and playing with some games. I had to physically pull him away from spinning the wheel.

The other highlight was when we got some frozen treats. Daddy went to get mommy a frozen yogurt, and he got a chocolate-dipped frozen banana AND a chocolate-dipped frozen cheesecake! Man, were we sugar-high after that! Aidan particularly liked the cheesecake. He usually likes banana, but I think it was too hard and cold for him to bite in. After the cheesecake, he got some frozen yogurt from me. Weekends are
definitely days when he got his sugar intake.

We left after the treats since it's getting late and

Aidan was getting sleepy. He took a nice long nap after that. We were able to leave just in time to beat the crowd and the heat. He was still so full of energy in the end (after the sugar) and wanted to jump all over. He's been trying to squat and jump, but still can't quite jump up yet. But it was just too cute when he was trying to do so.