C.I.O. Day 7

Put him down at 7:53 pm. I was hoping that whining would stop in five minutes and that he would be asleep by 8:00 pm. But he kept howling for the next 20 minutes. I went inside to pat him a few times but he didn't stop. Finally we fed him milk (180ml) and put him down again at 8:40pm. He was asleep within 2 minutes... Bad news is that he took 45 minutes again (on Day 7!). Good news is that he just didn't want to sleep with an empty stomach...

C.I.O. Day 6

Our report is getting shorter and shorter and will hopefully stop after today (if Joaquin remains a good boy). No need to night feed again last night. I put him down at 8.30pm tonight and he was asleep in less than 5 minutes with no tears shed (he still whines though). We should've done this much earlier!

C.I.O. Day 5

Today we followed the same routine. Joaquin was smart enough to start faking his cry when I was telling him goodnight and to be a good boy by falling asleep himself. I put him down in the crib and he was whining. After I left the room, he was already asleep within 5 minutes! That's a new record time.

Leaving Chamu is Hard to Do

Following our success in CIO, Chamu has been sleeping very nicely. He quit his night feeds (he used to wake up @ 1am and 5 am to feed) and is now sleeping from 8pm to 8am (STRAIGHT!!!). The only downside is really the fact I don't get to see him much. In the morning I would sneak into his room and fix his blanket and kiss him goodbye before I take off. In the evening, I would come home and he would be so excited to see me (which is quite sweet). But within a hour I would need to become this mean witch who dumps him by himself in the room...

<sigh>

C.I.O. Day 4

Today Dadu wanted to be the one put him to bed. I changed him and Jaime read to him. We gave him milk and Jaime sang to him. I guess Joaquin had the expectation that his lovely Dadu would be sweet enough to rock him to sleep so he was quite shocked when Jaime left him in the room. Anyways, it took him 25 minutes to fall asleep (the fact I went inside to comfort him only made him cry even more so no more comforting after the door is closed)! Poor Chamu...

C.I.O. Day 3

Since the time for Joaquin to fall asleep shortened from 40 minutes to 25 minutes yesterday, we really hoped today would go as painless as possible for Joaquin (and for us). For his noon nap, he fussed a bit longer but fell asleep nonetheless. Dadu was getting soft-hearted but both our helper and myself insisted that we follow through the CIO method so we prevailed at the end.
Tonight, I took him to his room around 7.40pm. I changed him and cleaned his mouth. After reading him two stories, I sang to him while I closed the curtains and turned off the light. I kissed him goodnight and then patted him on his back, telling him to be a good boy and to fall asleep by himself. He started whining as usual but it didn't escalate to cries or howls like nights before. Instead, he was just sobbing and whining intermittently and it started to die down after 7 minutes... By Minute 10, he was quiet and...ASLEEP!!! Joaquin is truly a fast learner and I am now confident that pretty soon we should be able to eliminate crying altogether. The only downside is that I don't get to see him much but the good news is that he is a happier baby during the day!

C.I.O. Day 2 (Part 2)

Joaquin woke up at 4.35am, hungry. We fed him milk since we didn't want to cut him out of milk completely on Day 2. Jaime changed his diaper and put him down in the crib. By the time he made it back to our room, Joaquin had already stopped whimpering (which seemed way too fast). So Jaime went back to check. Joaquin was just lying there (and started to cry of course the minute he sensed Dadu could be changing his mind). Dadu retreated and the crying stopped again. 20 minutes later I went back in. There he was lying on his back with feet up on his pillow, head on the blanket and back against the bars, and... sleeping like an angel! Could we be close to declaring the victory?

C.I.O. Day 2

Today is the second day of Joaquin's CIO sentence. We were quite encouraged today because after last night, he only woke up at 11.45pm to eat and then went back to sleep until 7am straight. He was so happy and energetic in the morning and didn't require a morning nap at all (he usually naps for at least one hour from 9 to 10 ). He then fell asleep on our way to lunch around 1pm and stayed asleep through our entire meal. He stayed happy all afternoon (with a power nap of 10 minutes around 6pm). After dinner, he played for a little bit and finally started to rub his eyes around 8.45pm.
I took him to his room, read him a story, sang him two songs, and then put him in the crib and kissed him good night. Of course, the howling started immediately I closed the door. I went back two times to pick him up and comfort him. As usual, I stayed in the room last round, listening to him cry with indiscriminate callings of "jia jia jia..." continuously (not sure if he thought it meant 'mami' and 'daddy'. Soon he started to cry with less power and longer pauses in between and finally fell asleep. Tonight it took us 25 minutes (a 15-minute improvement from last night). He fell asleep on his stomach with one leg out in between the rail and one arm out the other side. I quietly tucked him inside the blanket, wishing for a good night sleep just like last night...
I hope this won't have a permanent psychological effect on him (the point of this exercise is so that he fully undertands that there is no one coming to put him to sleep) and that he won't be wondering why Dadu and Mamu all of sudden decided to punish him and, lastly, there won't be a need for Day 4...

C.I.O. Day 1

Today we took little Bandido to see his judge (doctor) for the nine months check up and also to get the judge to give him his final sentence. First, his latest measurements are: Height 75 cm; Weight 10.4 kg; Head 49.5 cm. I guess he is still making good progress according to the chart. Secondly, upon hearing our opening statement about how little Bandido still wakes up constantly at night and cannot fall asleep by himself Judge Tam ordered the most serious sentence to be carried out immediately: Cry It Out.
I know we have talked about letting Joaquin CIO for a long while but we are both too soft to carry it out (despite the fact our friends all have given us tips and wisdom about how much we would appreciate it afterward). But not being able to sleep for 9 months has finally convinced us that the only way to improve the quality of our sleep is to let him CIO.
During our dinner time, Joaquin became sleepy and I took him to his room immediately. After singing him a song, I kissed him goodnight and left him in his crib and turned off the light. He of course goes into his usual defiant crying mode. I left the room and started the timer. After first 5 minutes, Jaime went inside to comfort him (but he couldn't really let him go before he would stop crying so I took over and put him down in the crib). We closed door and waited for another 5 minutes. I went inside to give him his milk and got him to stop crying and put him down again. After a few repetition, he was still howling hysterically . I couldn't left the room so was hiding in the corner in the dark to watch him cry. Just as I thought stubborn Joaquin would never give up (and that we are punished forever), his cry slowly turned into sobs and then he started breathing heavily and felt asleep. Total time was 40 minutes.
I guess it's a good start but as the doctor warned the consequence of not being able to keep it up: Any little deviation would turn us back to square one. Otherwise, after one week, we can start to enjoy uninterrupted evenings again. It's really a stubbornness test so let's hope that we can win this contest (and that little Joaquin can learn fast)...

End of Breastfeeding

Today marked the end of breastfeeding for me. It was supposed to be quite a liberating act since how to keep up the breastfeeding was always the first thing I had to consider whenever I planned my daily schedule. But when it does end, it doesn't feel as liberating as I thought it would be. I enjoy very much watching Chamu when I breastfeed him. He always looks so peaceful, satisfying and contented. It also made me feel as if he is still part of me and connected to me, as of the umbilical cord was never severed.
I remember when I first returned to work six months ago, it was very difficult to leave him in the morning to go to work (it still is) and it was even harder when he later preferred to be comforted by our helper than me. Then he started to recognize me even though I am the one who spends the least time with him every day. This is part of the reason why I kept up breastfeeding for nine months, hoping that we can bond with each other more (apart from all the health benefits). Now since I have got nothing to offer, will he still love me the same?

Bandido

Old Dogs can Teach New Tricks - Part III

The most amazing trick was the one taught by Dadu. He has been showing Joaquin how to fly an airplane since we bought this toy for him four months ago. Little did we know that he was secretly learning to fly it himself. We got really surprised when he started doing it himself (with the sound effect too!)

Old Dogs can Teach New Tricks - Part II

The second trick he learned (from our helper) was to stick his tongue out on command. Not quite as useful as the Gongxi Gongxi skill but it's something we can show off.

Old Dogs can Teach New Tricks - Part I

For Chinese New Year, being able to say Gongxi Gongxi is like holding the key that unlocks the treasure box so this is the first skill that Joaquin needed to master but he learned the trick one week too late...(Last day to get red pockets was February 9 -- January 15 on the Lunar calendar)

Joaquin Flour Power

Poopoo Milestone

Today for the first time Joaquin used the training seat successfully! It's probably more about training us than training him at this point :)

Back in HK!