My Son... the Bossy one...

16 Jan 08 - My son picks up after his mom ...especially in terms of his boss..iness. Poor Daddy had this first hand experience while Kayden was in KK hospital undergoing treatment for Rota virus.

This event happened in the ward with Kayden while TT was on her way back home.

Kayden (while eating oranges): "Papa, i want to 'Ngnn Ngnn'(SHit)"

Daddy: "Ok, Papa bring you to the toilet now"

Kayden: "No, i want to Pung Sai in the Potty"

Daddy (looking surprised): "Why need Potty?? Papa bring you to the toilet"







Kayden: "No, YOU need to get the Potty.."

Daddy:" Where is the Potty??"

Kayden (starting to look crossed):"YOU NEED to get the Potty from the Doctor"

Daddy went to ask the nurse for Potty...

Daddy (coming back with the Potty and putting it in the toilet): "Come Kayden, the potty is in the toilet"



Kayden (looking frustrated) : "Noooo, YOU NEED to put the Potty on the bed!!"

Daddy (feeling amazed): " OK OK.. Potty on the bed"

Daddy placed the Potty on the bed but had difficulty figuring out which direction to place the potty...

Kayden (impatient already): "Like that Correct.....!!"

Daddy removed Kayden's shorts, leaving him in a squatting position.

Kayden (looking crossed already): "PaPA!!.. YOU NEED to hold meeee!!"

Daddy (feeling frustrated too):"OK!! you dont have to raise yr voice at me..."

Kayden (starting to look agitated): " YOU NEED to get the wet wipes!"

Daddy (starting to feel amused) started to look for the wet wipes but cant find any : "Can we use toilet paper?"





Kayden (agitated already):" NOoo.. YOu NEED to use Wet Wipes!!"

Daddy finally found wet wipes and held on to Kayden while he shitted...
After finishing his business, Daddy cleaned his bum and took the potty to the toilet.
While wearing back Kayden's shorts, Daddy's turn to nag: "YOU NEED to put yr hands on my shoulders cos i don't have hands to hold you"

Kayden (being a difficult person) purposely placed his hands on Daddy's head instead of my shoulders.

After wearing his shorts, I told him i wanted to throw his shit away.

"Noooo!! YOU NEED to show the doctor!!" replied Kayden.

" for what?!!!" I replied impatiently too.

"YOU NEED to show the doctor!!" Kayden answered impatiently.

Daddy decided to call Mommy to verify this in order not to look like a fool...
After giving back the pot of gold ..(shit) to the nurse, i returned to the ward to check that everything is in order.
Feeling relieved that this ordeal is over, i was about to sit down on my couch when i heard a little voice coming from the bed...

"Papa, I want to eat Orange...."

Breakfast with Sophie

My dear Sophie finally get to accompany her Daddy for breakfast outside today. I think this was our first "date" in her 2 beautiful years of life. 

We had earlier dropped TT off at Paragon to meet her buddies for breakfast and I was wondering where i should be having my breakfast. It just happened that we spotted Uncle Lek doing his stuff with the luv of his life by the road side and we decided to give him a surprise visit. And so i turned into his housing estate and parked my car there. I asked Sophie to approach Uncle Lek while i hid behind a pick up truck. My dear Sophie was totally unfazed and walked right up to the top naked man who was also spotting his new colorful looking tattoo (must have been a carp??) on his right shoulder. I couldn't quite see their facial expressions but i can imagine both of them looking at one another in awe..... 'who the hell is that?' ... 

I had enough of a giggle and made my appearance - much to Sophie's relief! After a brief intro (with Sophie saying hi to Uncle Lek), we settled down and watched Lek clean & polish his Bike. Sophie was pretty amused to see her own reflection on the bike and she even got to touch the red carp on Uncle Lek's shoulder (something that can only be done under her Daddy's supervision!!). She must be wondering why there is a fish on a man's body!?!

For Lek, he couldn't quite recognise Sophie even though he is a frequent reader of this blog. He commented that Sophie looks much better than in the photos... hhmmm? who's the photographer?!

Sophie got to ride on Daddy's shoulder on our way to Great World City for a McDonald's breakfast. We shared hotcakes and hash browns and Sophie was visibly delighted with her brunch...

After the meal, we had a short stroll around the shopping area and the light-hearted Sophie 'marched' around with her knees all straightened. We then walked back to Uncle Lek's house and Daddy took some photos of Sophie with Lek's Harley Davidson bike. I had wanted to place her on the bike but was afraid of dirtying it (not forgetting watching Lek put in hours on his bike). I had also intended for Sophie to take a photo with Uncle Lek but she was little bit intimidated.

We soon bid farewell to Lek and headed for home. Sophie enjoyed her Sunday morning outing with her daddy but at the same time, missed her brother sorely. On the way back, she kept asking, 'where is Kor Kor?'.... which not only sums up her feelings but mine as well :) 

CNY haircut

KAYDEN

And so I gave him another haircut today... Jennie, this is for you :) He looks much boyish with shorter hair, and I gotta say fresher!

Its so hard trimming his hair as the boy hates to have it fall and stick on him. So he will scream and scream when the hair touches his shoulders, and then of course, the hair ends up in his gaping mouth as well as nose. Giving him a haircut is no walk in the park, for sure. 

Needless to say, with every session, I learn something new. Today's?

Lesson 1 

Start from the front. I left it to last as I know he hates them falling over his face, boy was that a mistake as his tolerance and patience gets shorter with every snip. So, sorry boy, your fringe for CNY is really quite bad, with gaping "holes" on the right side.

Lesson 2

Whip out the haircutting cape much earlier though he may not want to wear, force! Cos its easier to handle him when he is not crying in terror of the sticky hair. Haha.

Btw, I have been their hairdresser since they were born - Kayden went once only to those children's salon (they're costly!). Of course, there are lotsa disastrous sessions (their Godma even kept an MMS photo of Sophie with a terribly short fringe so the girl will have a reason to bribe me when she is older). But of course there are also times when I get praises, haha, funny right. And hey, its not from friends who wanna chummy up with me, but other parents I meet in classes or etc who wanted a reference of the salon where their haircut was done! Whatever it is, I still aint good enough to be a hairdresser for sure :P

Oh yeah, I wanna say... Look at this pic... Where in the world did he learn to gesture a peace sign with both hands when posing for a shot???? We never did that! I could only think must have been from school, where what they see, they do... Its funny how small gestures stick in their mind and they then pick it up as a new habit :) Haha in this case, its quite cute too la... Cant complain, at least he is willing to pose for me, something that happens severely rarely.

(Husks from the CNY blooms - see pic above - that he scattered on the ground. He said its a man, with super long arms that has gotta be Papa as Papa has long hands (Bee - Are you going huh???) :P)

SOPHIE

And now, let's move on to dear Sophie gal's haircut for CNY, it's a topic I've been wanting to write since last week. 

Most of you do know Dora the Explorer? She is a fairly new cartoon character (gotta be, since she's not from my era haha), and I suspect she loves outdoors (see the haversack on her back!) and goes on adventures with her animal friends. I seriously know nothing about her :)

Currently its Mei's favorite character. Gotta say its my fault, I had unknowingly cultivated this interest by buying the only available cartoon character melamine plate for girls from NTUC at that time. So thats how she knows her since we dont even watch Dora on TV and for sure we've never had any Dora toys before Christmas last year! :)

So last week, when WK came home at midnight and saw Mei for the first time after her haircut, he said "Hello Dora". Mei having woken up and smiling so ever happily to see her Papa seriously answered "No, Sophie". This went on and on. Well at least she knows she ought to be called Sophie :) And I like to tease her in the same way too since then, and she still says "No, So-phie", with a great emphasis on her name.

And it didnt stop there, when she went to school last Thursday, one of the accompanying maids was chatting with me and casually mentioned Mei is cute, and that her new hairstyle looks like Dora.

Ha!

Its so funny la, but I realllllly didnt do it on purpose, I just wanted to give her a straight across cut, both front and back... hehhee, so... (My dear girl, its cool, no, to have a "famous" cut? :)) And here it is, her current look for your inspection :)

Conversation: I can fight!

While the kids were having lunch on Thursday...

Gigi: Kor, Gigi Aunty is going back to the Philippines for holiday, but I will come back. I bring Mei Mei ok?

Kayden: No, cannot.

Gigi: Why cannot? I will bring her back, dont worry.

Kayden: No, cannot. She is MY sister.

Gigi: Dont worry I will bring her back.

Kayden: Cannot! I can fight you.

Hmmmm.... Its apparent that the kids both love each other. But can you detect the violence? :) His favorite sport is fighting! :) He manhandles everyone, especially his sister who often cries for help :) But yeah, they're super cute together when they are not fighting.

I've gotta admit, the thought of having another baby this year kept coming back these few days, but with the focus for 2009 being getting our own place, its just not the right time for Project Baby 3 :) Maybe in another 2 years, if it still feels right then...

Gong Xi Gong Xi

Welcome, ushering in the year of the Ox in 3 days!

Chinese New Year is my favorite-st celebration/festival in the whole calender year. Guess, I am really Chinese at the core though I am a "banana" (not proficient in Mandarin) and dont practise or agree with a lot of Chinese customs and traditions.

I just love the festivity. I love the thought of the whole family coming together to have the reunion dinner, and everything is in red red red (my fave color other than pink :P) and its so fun! I even love visiting relatives' homes to pay respect to the elders, though I know WK detest this to the fullest :) 

Needless to say, I love eating the cookies, pineapple tarts, steamboats, yee sang, Yeo's winter melon tea and other Tetra Paks! As a kid, I love too playing with fireworks. I dont ever remember not enjoying my CNY, and gotta say, I am in very high spirits now that CNY is really just round the corner!

This year, as usual, we will be going back to Penang on the 2nd day of CNY. The kids, Gigi and I will stay 2 weeks while WK will return on the 4th day as he has to work on Friday, the 5th day. Mei's actual birthday will also be celebrated in Penang this year in view we're there. I'm so looking forward to going home! :)

Just yesterday, the kids celebrated CNY in school. Both had to wear a traditional costume, and boy, do they look cute! :) Reminds me that we'll need to get a bigger size for both next year as the outfits bought by their GM fits just nicely this year!

Here's wishing you a happy and prosperous new year (dont we all need this in the coming year of deep recession). And may your life be filled with love and lotsa gold (huang jing man ti!) like the gold coins in their 1st ever ang pow from their schools :)

Pebbles play

Idling away the rest of our Sunday afternoon after returning from a Kayden-tantrum-filled trip to Paragon and Taka.

That's us, without the Papa who was asleep on the couch. Photo taken by me, at least the kids cooperated this time :)

Today's fun was in the garden porch with these precious....

Yeah, white pebbles we once used to pave the side walkway :)

Oh how they arranged, mainly K whilst Soph dashes back and forth with more pebbles for her dear brother. Me? I sat and snapped photos, easy! :)

 

To get them to put the pebbles back? Introduce another new game with 2 plastic container/cup. Fill with stones, pour back in the dune. K then added a twist, Mei to collect, put in her container, pour into his cup, he dashes back to the dune. And then there was also filling up his crocs and then pour it back. The more variations the better for me, so long as they keep them and I didnt have to! :)

All in plain fun, and best of all, its free :) 

Oh btw, Mei's design? A row of 5 pebbles "Boat boat".

Kayden? The long "branch" but.... "Its a dinasour Ma".

OK :) I try hard not to kill imagination at their age though, seriously, I see none of those! :P 

Do you?

The Sophie I love too

Written on 9 January 2009.

When my brother was in town, his biggest lament was "Chieh (hokkien for sister), how can you be so unfair?"

He sees that I pay less attention to Sophie, preferring Kayden more.

His observation's quite true.

I am the only one who can control Kayden and he sticks to me like glue. He is a monster to everyone else and they often throw up their hands in despair as he dont listen, thus run wild and throws tantrum easily.

For everyone else, Sophie, in retrospect, is as easy as charm. She listens, obeys and my brother even said, "Of the 3 kids (including his son, Nathaniel), Sophie is the easiest to handle, and most guai (hokkien for obedient)". My reaction? Pure SHOCK. 

Sophie? Sophie has always been a monster to me, she cries and throws tantrum to get her way - most likely learnt from her brother, and cos she is too young to understand that thats not the right way, neither Gigi (when I am around to witness) nor I can reason with her when she goes into those foul moods. She screams and wails and throws her fists on the floor, writhing. 

How could anyone say she is otherwise? 

WK then shed a big light... the thing is Sophie is really angelic without me around - she listens and she is really very good. But when I am there, she just becomes the opposite, screaming always to get my attention, no one else can substitute for me.

So when there are 2 tantrum throwing monsters, I am irritated. I pacify K as he wont take anyone else. Gigi is able to handle Sophie. And see, I have just dug my own grave - so the saying goes. The more I stick with K, the less he wants to share me, thus the less time I have for Sophie, and thus the more she shouts for me. And thus, the cycle continues and continues.

However, since my brother left and having more adults around to play with the kids, I finally get to see my daughter, the real her that everyone else sees, and understand her preferred treatment from mainly her father, who finally had taken leave and was around.

Sophie is someone who will only respond to soft treatments. She does not like to have voices raised at her. Once she detects a higher pitch, she goes into a defensive mode and shuts off everything with a "No, no, NO" and the screams if she is forced to do something. However, if one speaks to her nicely she will obey.

Thats the only secret with her. Plus the fact that she is bribe-able :) When it comes to food eg "OK Mei eat this, Mama give u that" She opens her mouth wide and chomps down.

And this year, as I spend more time with her without her brother around, I am beginning to see the Sophie that everyone sees and love. The easy one. And boy, am I falling head over heels in love with her all over again... She is very cute, and mostly, largely independent.

She is OK to play by herself, and look, this morning, she arranged the books in a straight row again... She loves to then step over them like playing hopscotch except that its done with both legs, purely hop-walking :)

   

She havent learned the art of jumping thus bounces herself up and down on bended knees and says "Hop hop hop". She loves doing this when she is happy :) She will also jerks up (jumping her style) with one hand hitting the air when she is very happy with a particular news.

She loves rice, not noodles. She loves chocolates, cookies, cakes, sweets, anything sweet. Her favorite foods are the typical ones described in the children food books.

She talks. She loves to talk and can say most about anything. She calls lollipops "a-pop", dog "kog", many other funny ones. But boy she really can say a lot of words now :)

She loves to sing, dance and sway. And her necklaces, bracelets and bangles.

And she loves Elmo and Dora... Although she dont sleep with them, her security blanket is still the muslin cloth, or cloth diapers (when muslin's out of stock, ie in the wash :)).

And I love love that she loves something of her own... ie Elmo and Dora. She is developing her own personality and preferences. She is growing up and next month, she turns 2. My baby is not one anymore, she will be a big girl and one who loves to chat and play... mostly she is happy all the time.

She loves us all, and she knows that I love her. This is really important, as I do, truly, from the bottom of my heart.

Sorry, photo blur, only one I have, taken by K yesterday in the garden. 

Thus is the hazard of being the family photographer :)

My 2nd handmade patchwork quilt

See my title says it all, and here it is....

This one's for the boy.

By choice of his patchwork fabric, not difficult to guess his favorite color at present. Though if you do ask him, he will say "Green, blue, red". All 3. All his favorite. But he tend to always choose green mostly.

This time it took me 2 days of a few hours each to complete the patchwork and the name embroidery with stitching. But a full whole 3 months to find and cut a backing fabric to finish it into a quilt. Procrastinator, I yell! Indeed. Somemore, of the easiest part (so my mom says).

I only was pushed to complete it cos at hospital, the sick boy asked me if he was using the blanket I made him. I told him "No, it's Mei's cos Mama havent finished yours". It made me feel a little guilty :P So as soon as am able, I forced myself to choose a fabric from my current stash and cut out the size, handstitch the sides last night. This pm, coming home from Macs, I machine sewed and binded it, and yippee hooray, its done.

Have to say, this design is much easier to do. Just cut fabric into long strips and join join join. You'll soon get a big piece. The backing, as its comfy teeshirt material, it tends to curl at the seams. So I've decided to let it go au naturale and just stitch 5-7cm from the edge. Did a triple stitch this time with green (his choice again) and red threads. 

I like the effect. Wonder how it'll look like tomorrow after a wash. 

Have I also mentioned I love love love polka dot cloths? So I definitely love the backing, though I gotta admit the patchwork's a little too blue and green for me... but the kid likes it, guess its important yeah. As I've the exact same fabric but in reds, I am seeing one for Mei so they will have one each of the same size - its close to a single bed.

See my 2 monkeys rolling on it in the garden refusing me a decent solo shot of it... They were happy :)

And mostly, I am happy. There is a sense of joy and accomplishment finishing a craft. It just feels so good to be able to create with one's hands. But I do know, I am far from good, far far.I even get lost reading sewing instructions as I dont even know the basics other than sewing straight lines, hhaha. 

This is only my 2nd sewing project and it has plenty of errors, but hey, handmade gotta have imperfections right? :) Heheh, my current customers dont even see it :) So thats waaaaay cooooool :) Wait till I make one as a present for family and friends :P

Are we well now?

Today K and I are a whole load better, and we're back with a vengeance. Ferocious appetite. I've not seen the boy ask for and ate so much before.

Breakfast

1.5 slices of peanut butter sandwich

Butter popcorn

Lunch

Went out with GPs for dimsum, had crispy noodles (his fave)

Dunno what else cos WK and I didnt go

Tea

1 slice pandan cake 

1 packet McD french fries, by himself

1 packet McD children's apple juice

1 mandarin orange

Dinner

1/2 plate of rice and leftover crispy noodle

1 ang ku kueh

1 small slice Mei's bday cake 

Amazing, and hope it keeps up, so he can grow! He is so petite, I havent written that he's 2nd smallest boy (horizontally as well as vertically) in his class of 12 boys? Hmmm.

For me, I am back to my usual diet too (tsk tsk welcome back 4kgs lost) and activities. Even brought K out to get CNY goodies for the grandparents and thats when we went to McD - again latter, at his request.

So there he is, can even climb atop Ronald, Hamburglar and oh no, I forgot the green guy's name.. let me google. Its The Fry Guy! :) Yes, I was crazy too about McD once in my life, a long long long long while back when I was 12 and had my birthday party there :P Yes, indeed it was a little old to have a party there, cos my friends and I just sat around eating. But I rmbr then, there was a Ronald McDonald cake. It had been my then wish my mom granted as its so cool to have a party in Macs, that time, it was a new name in town somemore, waaaayyyyy coooool!

Conversation:

Mama: (as we were leaving the car) Kayden, Mama cant carry you when you go out with me, so you'll need to walk.

Kayden: (no disagreement this time) OK.

As we were walking to the shops, 

Kayden: Ma, what if I am tired?

Mama: Then we'll stop and we'll let you rest until you can walk again.

And indeed, stop we did, everytime we're halfway up the ramp. I could even have snippets of conversation with other pedestrians it was cute.. about the tired boy - he was slumping and sitting on the walkway. No lah, in case you think I torture him, the ramp is only half a storey each... :)

And as for the other 2 members of our motley crew...

As for Papa, WK was feeling so sick today, he was just hibernating in front of the TV on the bed. He was even in the same position when I come back 2 hours later! Barely moved. He had more diarrhea today, maybe cos he ate more... So he is the only one with Rotavirus symptoms at present...

Mei, dear Mei still has a green eye discharge but otherwise she is normal. Hope she's not having any conjunctivitis of sorts. Today her grandparents also got her a bday cake since she wont be celebrating her actual bday here and we missed the actual chinese one cos of the hospital stay. I'll post the photos once I transfer them all from the DSLR. All photos you've seen here recently are taken with my phone - gotta say, the quality's not bad :) Sony Ericsson!

OK time to write my next post... worthy of a separate one instead of continuing here. Check it out :)

A whole host of illness - in summary

My hubby commented "Everytime you only write about being sick. Everyone will be so bored".

I'm sure he's right, but really the past few days had been nothing but being sick. And since I am record keeping on the blog, will recap what happened the last few days, for future reference sake, haha.

Wednesday

I had diarrhea for what seem like 30times. It was bad, as soon as I pulled up my pants, I felt the run's coming again, and really, had to go again. Sigh. Needless to say, by Thursday my face was longer and less pudgy, I think I look much nicer when I am skinnier! Tsk tsk. I outdid Kayden on the gross score that day, he only went 4 times. 

Alas, poor Papa was shivering and suffering from fever in the office, he still had to stay the whole day as that was the day he had to submit the finance's numbers. At end of day, he came back (after not being able to feel his legs anymore) at 6+ and was just concussed asleep until the next day. He didnt even eat. Hrrmmpphhh.

Thursday

Definitely a memorable day for me, and record breaking! I went to see the doctors 4 times in 10 days! 2 different GPs, cool eh? Ear infection's back, fever's back, fungal infection's back, everything. Only good news, I had diarrhea 10times, that's all, woo hoo. And best of all, I havent vomitted (boy do I hate that most) at all. 

Kayden? He only went 3 times. But you know, worst is, he refused to pee in the evening, cuckoo bird pain! Great yeah? The tip's infected, so we brought on the ice to apply, and he finally relented to have a bit out.

And the papa, finally on MC today, slept alot, but had 1-2 times of diarrhea. Lethargy's there. I think rotavirus affects everyone differently? Or perhaps his symptom is less severe than us (in terms of the toilet department) cos he's had the stomach flu twice before? Both of us also didnt get bodyaches what my mom had when she got the virus from Baby Nat.

And Mei, poor girl ran a very borderline fever today with green eye discharge just like her brother before he fell sick. Scared we were. I definitely do not wish to nurse another sick child or stay in the hospital again when CNY is just round the corner. Luckily temperature was normal at night.

Friday

Today, today is promising, everyone seems a lot better (hope I didnt just jinxed myself).

Mei loves the barley water we brewed for her, she's drunk 3 bottles in the morning alone :) Yiippeee.... And definitely no fever for now.

Kayden? Went to see his usual PD Dr YY Yip - the doc always puts me at ease. Perhaps of his calm and cool demeanour, he explains cause and is detailed in his diagnosis, even ask of Sophie. K's got an infection at the tip of his penis, and thus cries blue murder everytime he tries to pee cos of the excruciating pain. I definitely dont look forward to applying more ointment for him. WK had to hold his legs open and arms down, whilst me, needs to push open his foreskin a little to apply the ointment. Not any of our favorite departments for sure. But good thing is, Dr Yip says it will only take 1-2 days to clear! He better be right.

Me? I only went to the loo once. And got more medication from the gynae for my fungal infection and like Kayden, need to also take probiotics to up my good bacteria level.

Papa? He seems OK today too, but tummy still a little quesy and energy's on low. I think he ought to take the probiotics just like the 2 of us other rotavirus people.

Overall, I hope we'll all be good by this weekend. Its a real bummer to have a sick-party for the family. Cant even eat cake you know?? What sort of party man!

And I hope the good almighty up-there would have recognised how much sickness we've endured start of 2009, perhaps keep the rest of the year sickness-free? Please please please!

And you, have a sickness-free weekend!

P/S. Come to think of it, I've decided to put some lucky charms here and for our health. I'm the ye 'ol faithful sort, hehe)

(Photo credits: http://blog.usa.gov/roller/govgab/resource/images/4leafclover.jpg and http://www.mcmullinkilts.co.uk/images/horseshoe%20pin%20large.jpg)

Rotavirus - Day 4

K was discharged from the hospital this noon with my word given to the doc that he will be given water and stay properly hydrated.

The boy was in good spirits, and one thing, he seems to love hospital food! He fed himself fried bee hoon for breakfast, somemore with his left hand! And lunch, he wanted to eat from the hospital tray and thus, we trooped back into the vacated room having 'checked out'. His appetite is back to normal.

As for me, I am still 70% deaf and worst of all, I caught a trace of his virus, hence, am having diarrhea and a slight fever this afternoon. Though I think my symptoms aren't as bad as him as I no longer felt like puking, I havent yet.

Keeping the gross score, K had diarrhea 6-7 times today with a constant accident on his underwear so I resorted to him wearing diapers, as I cant increase the risk of Gigi being sick, since she is the one washing his clothes and most importantly looking after Sophie fully. As for me, my gross score to now is 4, so the little boy still win.

Today is Sophie's chinese birthday, 18th day of the 12th month. I had originally planned to celebrate this in Singapore in view we'll be in Penang during her actual birthday. Guess we cant and her sole present's having her mom and brother home, though at arm's length away. I only succumbed to carrying her in the evening as I felt much better later in the day. Happy birthday sweetheart, mama miss you.

As rotavirus is highly contagious through feces, and K is having lotsa accidents with his diarrhea, him and I have contained ourselves mainly in the room. Washing hands with Dettol handwash and using the Dettol hand sanitizer has now become a routine everytime after we've gone to the loo. Hopefully Sophie will not be sick.

Confirmed with their PD clinic today that indeed K did not get the Rotarix vaccine as it was only introduced in Dec 05 and had to be given before the infant turns 6months old. Luckily, Sophie had the vaccine. Though, as with all vaccines, its not foolproof but apparently the severity is much more muted with a vaccinated child. According to the doc, K's right in the middle.

Ooopps oooppss my tummy is feeling funny, think will need to run to the loo again soon... Will write again tomorrow, and sorry no pictrues, lazy to download. Tomorrow yeah.

Its Rotavirus!

K's feces sample was sent to the lab this morning, and it came back with a positive for rotavirus (Bingo to Miaka who guessed it right last night).

Today he is definitely more hydrated than before and doc halved his drip dose. We were told that the drip will be removed in the afternoon but that didnt happen (and thus, I need to still pacify the 3 yo's request for it removed). Apparently his consumption of fluid's inadequate, thus they will keep the drip on until tomorrow morning before discharge. If only they had told us so, we would have fed him more water, something he's willing to drink anyway. And as when he was a baby, his poo and pee are charted by the nurses this time instead of me. 

His vomitting had stopped yesterday and the runs have officially begun today, just for the record, 6 times up till now. 

Reading through the google results on rotavirus, the incubation period's 2 days before symptoms start to show. Its no wonder he went from a healthy normal boy to one who merlions every time he eats or drinks. There is really no clue.

And it is an extremely contagious virus, easily passable via unsanitary handling of feces. The only way to stop the spread is to wash hands thoroughly after handling of feces. Contact with contaminated surfaces and ingesting it will result in one falling ill. Its not a wonder as K is ever so fond of putting things - be it string, plate, bag strap, fingers, anything! - into his mouth all the time.

As the virus stays on in the body for several weeks after diarrhea stops, stringent handwashing will be so essential for us at home to protect dear Sophie.

Alright, its 8pm and need to let the boy sleep. Need to go logoff now. Just a snippet of conversation earlier...

Me: Do you like to stay in the hospital?

Kayden: (Shook his head) Because I want to see Sophie.

Kayden: (Smiling) And Nai Nai. 

Kayden: And I want to play with my toys, I dont like to stay here.

Alright boy, we'll be heading home tomorrow! :)

Gastroenteritis - Day 2 & KKH - Day 1

Its now 9.05pm and Papa had just gone home to accompany Mei for the night. Gigi had put Mei to sleep at 830 without fuss and hopefully she will be OK tonight without me. She's quite used to looking for me, and ahem, my breasts in the middle of the night.

I feel so so bad that Mei cant join us here... not exactly that we're having a party or ball of a time, but its just that she cant be here to complete our little family, and I miss her. A lot. I have called home about 5 times today just so to ask Gigi how she is and to talk to her... And its good to know at least that she had stopped asking for me in the afternoon. But I miss her so much that tears swell in my eyes when I think of her. Tomorrow, tomorrow I will see her. WK will bring her here... maybe just for a while? If not, then I will just go home for a while to see her.

K is ever so clingy to me... He usually is when he is not well or when he is fighting for my attention with Mei. He will asks of me every few minutes. So I need to be within sight, or actually, best if I am right there in his face or holding his hands.

At least he appears to be better now... After sleeping the whole morning and early afternoon, he woke up and could talk normally, though still a little whiny. He perked up when he requested for apple and orange juice (his fave beverages). 

And boy, I have NEVER seen him ask for food or drinks so much in his life... "Ma, I want to eat" "Ma, I want water". Nonstop. Kept on crying for them until I had to ask the doctor for permission to feed him. Lucky she could swing by and permitted him to have some soup or porridge... But since we had none, he had a few sips of Milo, pinches of bread and 1 cracker. He was one happy boy and thus contented to sleep now.

He finally peed also at 4pm, after having no fluid ie urine since last evening at 7pm. He looks good, and so far, touch wood, have retained the sips of water from this afternoon. His fever is currently under control with paracetamol. Hopefully doc will clear him to be discharged tomorrow. 

His blood test result's OK and one doctor has been referring to this term gastroenteritis (see wiki for details). Thats what he has, until at least there are more indications of otherwise.... Based on what I read briefly, a form of stomach flu and a common strain being the rotavirus.

And I finally found a way to post pictures from my mobile to the blog without bluetooth! That is to send as an email attachment from the phone :) So here, him being concussed straight after admission, with the drips, totally knocked out.

The nurses here's quite nice. The doctors are all really young, and doing their medical attachment (cant remember wat its called) as required in public hospitals before they can join the private sector.

The nurses has an array of stickers to decorate his IV candula - he had 4 stickers of his choice - Spidey, Ben 10 (his fave at the moment! Think he is officially over Bob the Builder and now at this superhero phase... My boy's grown up!) and 2 Spongebob (latter chosen by the nurse since K didnt illicit much response).

Glad the boy's OK now... As for me, my sore throat's back and my infected left ear's totally deaf (most likely blocked I guess? It shouldnt be permanent). Tomorrow's last day of antibio, guess will have to see the GP again latest Tuesday.

Alrighty, signing off from KKH. Dont wanna bore you too much with always, tales of pain and illnesses. Yikes, seems like 2009 will may be a medical year for us, its been such a bad start! Or perhaps, its always gets worst before it gets better? :) Hopefully so.

Tatas, and see ya tomorrow. You take care!

P/S. Pa, dont need to help me post photos anymore, I've done it, thanks :)

Gastrointestinal virus - Day 2

Writing from KK Hospital Women & Children's Hospital.

Kayden had been admitted this morning for dehydration and he is now on a drip and sleeping. Sorry forgot to bring the bluetooth device, unable to post photos of him on the hospital bed and with the intravenous candula. The boy has a terribly low blood sugar count and is thus on 2 bottles of drip at the same time, one with a higher dose of glucose.

We brought him into Paediatric Emergency this morning as he was vomitting the whole night. I even lost count! 

Dont really know what is the cause, doctors say could be many reason:

1. Food poisoning
2. A virus that he caught from school - doubt so as the kids are all the same ones, and from what I know, none are sick
3. My throat/nose virus which could cause different symptom in different people

His blood had been sent for a test and we're waiting for him to pass motion so they could test his stools as well. But I doubt it will happen soon as he had not eaten for the full day yesterday and definitely today too...

Its nice there is free wireless in the room, and will write later, when WK brings in the laptop charger.

Poor Mei is home and I miss her. I think we all do... But definitely better at home and healthy than here with us. I'll see her tomorrow, as I definitely have to stay over tonight, Kayden only wants Mama for now.

Gastrointestinal virus - Day 1

Oooh... the spotlight's not on me anymore, officially now, Kayden gets the limelight.

The boy had puked 8times and diarrhea 3times since 11am today. He has finally gone to bed about half hour ago still asking for water, which is a substance he cant keep down. So the request had to be denied.

Its interesting how a sick child captivates/concern the whole household, especially one who throws up every 15-20minutes, ie after he ate something be it plain crackers or plain soba (hey, not that we serve culinary food, but its upon his request! His fave food actually :))

And one more thing, he went to see a GP for the 1st time today since our regular PD's not open on a wknd afternoon/evening. I was surprised that the bill came up to $60+! That's ex! For a GP as we probably would have paid the same amount for his PD. WK says its a premium or so called normal charges for a weekend GP. Again, I think its good to be a doctor, income wise, but its not a profession for everyone esp the faint hearted etc. Not to say the health risk for a doc is way high.

If the boy's still vomitting tomorrow and cant keep fluids down, we'lll likely have to bring him to KKH for the drips. Let's see how it goes.

And strangely, across the Causeway, my nephew is also vomitting and having diarrhea today. So is sis-in-law Miaka who was hospitalised last night for observation. Strange isnt it that everyone's having the same type of illness even when we're so far apart?

Finally, me and my boring ENT problem, there's not much pain anymore, just numbness. And definitely a hearing loss of at least 80%. So now, everyone, speak up please! 

Bloody ear infection - Day 5

Finally decided to change the title so I can easily recall how terrible it is to have blood coming out of one's ear! I tot it only happens to corpses, not a wonder I'm not a doctor eh?

The paracetamol I took yesterday at 9.30am lasted 11hours! Throat started to be sore again but luckily ear pain's gone (yippee) just a faint throbbing sensation left, not much of a discomfort. Perhaps the antibiotic is starting to take effect! :)

The bloody discharge is still coming out from the ear, as is today. But at a lower rate, I had stopped stuffing it with tissue when I sleep at night.

My mom's diagnosis is that I am heaty so made some barley water to drink, hope I'll be OK soon as its so irritating to be sick! Everything's the same today - numb throat that is starting to itch (cough) and numb ears with very impaired hearing.

OK enough about me.

One more person in the family's sick... dear brother Kayden.

He vomitted twice so far and also had a little tummy run on his underwear. Hopefully its not a serious bug or anything as its so not fun to have sick kids... How clingy they become! But most of all, how sad it is to see a kid sick, yet again.

Guess of this 2 weeks, the only person who's unharmed's the ironman Papa. We need at least one in tip top condition so he gotta hold fort...

I'm starting to ramble stupidly, time to sign off and maybe take a nap with the sleeping kids. Will write later, tas!

Being sick - Part 4

Think a more appropriate title should have been Being Sick - DAY 4. How would I know this will turn into a running marathon from the onset? It was afterall just a no-apparent-reason fever that was not too high.

After half an hour from taking the paracetamol last night, I finally could function normally again with no more sore aching throat and best of all, no more excruciating pain in the ear. Bye bye stabbers in the ears! I think I must have drifted to sleep at around 2am.

Shortly a while, didnt feel like I was asleep for long, I felt fluid trickling out of my ear. I tot, wow, good, whatever trapped moisture inside is finally leaking out, the swell and ache should be gone thereafter. I dabbed it with a tissue and was surprised to find its BLOOD. 

Being one who trawls the internet for explanations of a health condition, I remember not waking up last night to google the symptom. In a daze, I remember telling myself "Whats the point? The worst has happened, its blood, not just puss or water or whatever. Whatever's supposed to happen will, just sleep". And so sleep I did after stuffing a tissue loosely into the ear canal and lining the pillow with a face towel.

When I woke this morning, the ear's still wet with fresh blood. Guess its not ended. But I am so so so glad, the paracetamol still works, no aches, no pains. GOOD.

WK says no need to go down to the clinic, call the doc.. So here I am at home, waiting for his nurses to pick up the phone instead of sending the calls to a fax machine or some sort of machine after their opening hours of 9am.

I wonder now, should I down more paracetamol now before the effects of the 2am pills wear off? And why oh why is my right ear itchy now???

This is just so not funny, but its pretty cool heh? My first ever ear infection.

Think my mind's not working very sanely at the moment, but hey, as long as I am not in pain, I dont mind being in a cool mood.

WK googled and one of the search result is an article here, if you're interested. This one definitely dont make it sound bad, so, perhaps I wont lose my hearing after all. I think I am definitely taking the paracetamol. Adios!

Being sick - Part 3

Its 1.32am.

I am sitting at the table writhing in pain. Feels like someone is stabbing my ear canal with a knife from inside. There's a crackling, fizzing sound from within the ear canal. The fizzles and pop came first before this sharp pain at 1am. I was just trying to go to sleep and it felt like someone opened a can of shook up soda inside my ear. Its crackling now too. Its so painful.

I've taken another 2 paracetamol, and am waiting for the medicine to take effect so the pain can stop and I can sleep.

I went to another GP today and had already taken 3 doses of antibiotics amoxicillin. It didnt really work for me as the ear continued to throb and pulsate the whole day. Then at 11pm, it stopped, and I tot, wow, its finally working... no more aches. It was good until 1am.

And here I am now... still waiting. And the pops and fizzles continue. The sharp stabbings are there too.

Will I be OK tomorrow? For sure, I am gg back to the GP, I think I need a referral to the ENT before I lose my hearing for good.

Btw the 2nd GP's diagnosis this morning: enlarged tonsils, irritated nose, red and swollen left ear. An ENT infection that is supposed to be cured by this 5day course of antibio, but????

OK just an update, will sign off. Write again if I can tomorrow with an update. Pain pain pain.

Christmas for us, 2008

As per my previous post, I dont ever celebrate Christmas. 

Christmas in the past, to me, was just a chance to exchange presents with friends. It was also a time to spend with inlaws by having a family BBQ - usually. There was once, in 2003 (if I'm not wrong) the year I got married, that I baked an excellent succulent turkey and ham for the inlaws, Jason also came by Spore for a holiday then and we sat around and had real Thanksgiving food on the table, though on Xmas eve. It was complete with a Gingerbread House from Coffee Bean and Jason even gave us a rock and roll Christmas carol CD.

So other than that one time, Christmas really was just like any other public holiday.

This year however, with the kids understanding more of the holiday, we decided to introduce the spirit of receiving gifts to them. Even a month prior to Xmas, both of them were already singing Christmas carols they learn from Mei's school party. Their favorite was Santa Claus' Coming to Town - as in one of my previous entries, it soon became Gigi and my favorite too as we could use that to get them to behave! Haha :) To Kayden especially, it is important that he stays nice to get a lollipop from Mr Claus, well, if he so think so, I definitely wont be one to argue :P

So this year, we went out to get them Xmas presents - all toys actually. We both got one each for each of them from Toys R Us. And boy, do I hate last minute Christmas shopping as the queues at the cashiers are so long, so is the gift wrap counter. Not to mention also, by then, the great bargain toys have sold out. Next year, Pa, we will do it earlier ok!

We also decided to practice a Filipino tradition (we learn from Gigi) of hanging socks at the window for Santa to fill. I dont have any Christmas socks, so we just made do with WK's socks from Alaska that had reindeers and bears on them. I made name tags to hang together as well. Of course, Santa never came, it was me, who filled it up with chocs and Chupa Chups the night before. But, grrr, it was a wrong move as the candies were filled with ants when we woke in the morning, yucks! So lesson learnt, next year, to fill up at 7am!

For Christmas eve, we had a steamboat dinner with SH, the kids godma. It was also the last chance we could celebrate Noel with her as she is relocating. We walked Orchard Road after that, which I felt was really meaningless. Next year, we'll stay indoors in our own home for sure.

On Christmas Day the kids woke up and get to open their presents... I didnt count but I think there must have been 7 sets of presents for them. So that makes it 14 parcels, but I had thrown in 2 extra gift for Sophie as I found Elmo at the last minute in Taka. 

So here they are, with their mountainful of presents.

Take 1 - wo grandparents' presents

Take 2 - w Grandma's presents, but still wo Ah Ku and Ah Kim's presents

Kayden was busy ripping wrappers apart but Mei, Mei is still not quite trained in this area and prefers to play with the toys her brother opens.

Mei opening her 1st present, from Grandma

For me, the best present for Christmas 2008 was received later from the airport. My brother and his family came for a holiday to Spore and stayed with us for a whopping 8 days - it was great! We had so much fun, though its really tough handling 3 kids.

Ho ho ho! Until next year... 

Being sick - Part 2

My left ear drum's throbbing, pulsating more like it. My throat feels like its on fire, and this pm, had to down 2 more paracetamol. No good no good. I'm starting to self-diagnose that perhaps I have an ear or throat infection that's causing the fever to still rage on for 2 days.

And, Sophie, she is also running a low grade fever. And Kayden, his temp is just 0.1 below fever grade, all's not good.

Tsk tsk.

Otherwise, we're all still quite alright. Doing our usual things, no different :) Kids did some craft, pasting and cutting today while I tidied our table.

Ooh and before I forget, Kayden and I also dropped by Newton Circus Car Park today at noon to meet the Gold 90.5 DJ Denise and Tim at their drive thru to collect our car decals, ang pow packs and mandarins! :) Haha, it was along the way home after all.

Denise was nice, even gave Kayden 4 oranges, she came back with another 2 after the standard 2. She chatted him up asked him his name, if he's on the way to school or going back (since he was wearing his school uniform), but the boy, the boy just kept quiet and tried to hide his face! He told me after he was shy! Definitely needs to talk more esp with everyone else. He could only chatter non-stop with us at home.

And, in case u're wondering, GOLD 90.5???? 

Haha, yes, since I got married and in my late 20s, I had already switched to this channel as I find all other radio stations being obscenely noisy and unpleasant to the ears esp their breakfast shows. I dont like how the male DJs on the other stations making chauvinistic jokes and they're not even funny! So anyway, our tuner's always dialled to 90.5 since and at most, I switch to Class 95 in the evenings as their evening song dedication program's quite nice :)

Value of a gift

2 nights ago, WK lugged a big bag of belated Xmas present that he got from SH, the middleman, during lunch hour. I gave her a tiny Taka bag and got back a huge big Taka bag... The exchange is quite worth it I must say, haha. Guess for WK its not a good deal as none's for him, hehe.

Tho the kids got truckloads of Xmas presents this year (evident in my next post), I didnt get much - the 1st present was an iPod Shuffle from hubby - one he got free from his bank, its still a gift I know tho its kinda like a regift. Then 2nd, Gigi, our maid gave WK and I a couple key chain, which I returned to her - I told her I didnt want to waste her money on me and Sir, and pls do bring the keychain back as a gift to her family, she was happy. 3rd and last present, I opened last night, from SL.

2 weeks ago, I had agreed to meet the girls (SH and SL) for dinner but Sophie fell sick, I cancelled last minute, also not to mention it was a really tiring and long day we spent in Sentosa. I know I had disappointed both of them by not turning up, as SL put it, it was probably the last time 3 of us can meet in Spore with SH's impending move to Switzerland end of this month and SL's return to HK. I was sorry I didnt see them, as I always enjoyed catching up again.

Last night, as soon as WK brought it back, I tore open the giftwrap of a big shoe box and found many many many presents inside. For starters, I only got 1 present, 3 for Kayden and nearly 20 items for Sophie (ahem, no gifts for men of course). See, life is quite unfair when one have kids!

The array of gifts from the box 

- 2 kids tshirts, 1 travel pillow, many accessories for Mei, sticker and wristband for Kayden!

All for Sophie, hairclips, bangles, necklace, hairbands, hat, etc!

But, it struck me, how nice and wonderful it is to receive a parcel, out of the blue. Whatever gift inside's not important, its really the thought that counts. I was really happy that I am remembered. I felt loved and that I am (we are) important enough for her to remember us and to cart a big box back from HK.

In retrospect, I've been such a failure at gifting. Maybe also cos we never celebrate Xmas back home in Penang. Its just not a tradition. But its different here in this country. If this is considered a new year resolution, I tell myself I want to do a whole lot better in gifting. Be it birthdays or christmas from henceforth.

Secretly, since I stopped working, I felt that I am no longer able to give any good presents as to me, a good present has to be expensive. And in the past receiving many lame gifts from distant friends had proven to me that if its not good, better dont buy, cos it will be stashed aside after all.

However receiving SL's present made me realised otherwise, its not the cost, but really the same old saying, the thought that matters. As cliche as it may sound.

So in 2009, I will work harder to make sure my loved ones and best friends get something from me. I cant guarantee it will be ranked as Best Gift of the Year, but hey, it'll be chosen with care and utmost loving thoughts. And definitely, it will not be expensive.

Being sick

I've just downed 2 more paracetamols making it 4 today.

I remember having a very sore lump in my throat last night as I was sleeping but I managed to somehow swallow it this morning. I remember too covering myself shoulder to toes in the blanket feeling so cold and yet so warm. I remember feeling very tired and cold this morning as I go about bringing the kids to their schools. I remember having bad body aches and pains.

After Mei's school, I came back and measured my temperature, I was running a fever, 38.4degress. I know I wasnt supposed to mingle in places with kids with a fever running through me, but seriously, I didnt know I had a fever in the morning...

The doc checked my throat, nothing wrong. But what caused the fever? He says its just a virus and I dont need any antibio (great!) just paracetamol to control the temperature. As I was driving home, I chided myself for forgetting to tell him of my body aches and phlegm.

So anyway, after taking 2 paracetamols in the afternoon at 230pm, I felt good. I was back to myself at dinner time and I thought, hey, its not too bad. I'm fine now... Definitely dont need the 3days to clear as the doc said.

And u know, silly me, I even ate some chocolate drops and rice. For after all I was feeling well.

So now, at nearly 10pm, I'm shivering again, with the body aches back. Served me right. For not watching my diet and thinking I am stronger than an ox.

What striked me is that, how aging affects one's body. I was only running a temperature of 38.4 and I was already feeling so listless and weak. Needing to lay and sleep. But for the kids, even when their temperature is 39+ they are still OK, can still jump and run and behave normal. Guess an older body has just a different reaction and stamina from a young one.

I hope that I'll feel better tomorrow and that my now aching throat will no longer feel fiery tomorrow. Dunno what virus I caught, hope it wont spread to the family. Being sick is definitely something we all dont need.

Back in 2009

Its been so long since I last blogged that I dont even know how or where to start. Hubby have been hoping that I had written something every night when he comes home, and well... You know, once the wheel has stopped, its quite difficult to oil the machine and get going again... and somemore for someone as lazy and procrastinate as much as me, its tough.

It is the new year, 2009. A year of changes, more love, more happiness. 

I've never ever made any resolutions before, and this will not change as well this year. My husband wrote about his, I am happy to see he has many goals, and every single one, I fully support. I hope to be able to work together with him to achieve them, but where do we start? I wonder... Maybe one of these days when he has some free time, we can talk about it. How do we start behaving in a different manner, put a different spark into our lives? How can we even behave differently everyday? Tough, but I guess if there is motivation, everything else will follow.

Kayden has now moved to N2... and during the parent orientation talk on Monday, the Head of Centre said "To us, its just another new year, a new day. But to them, its change at a totally different level." The difference of a day to the kids means they move from N1 to N2, and they change teachers, have new friends (tho its still an all boys class), move classroom etc. He seemed happy in school today, he didnt cry when I left him there today on 1st day of school, much to my surprise, but let's see how it goes the next few days.

 

I had withdrawn him from St James, I know its the right decision for him, but I must admit, my heart still aches a little thinking of the cost of putting him there. I do have a few irritations with St James, but they're minor. Mainly revolving around them being haughty and money faced, but then, with their position as the biggest kinder in Spore with a huge long wait list, can totally understand they have to operate in the way they do. So I shant write more.

Sophie still loves going to school, and she throughly enjoyed her class today in PlayClub. She is now the "veteran" in the class as there are a lot of new younger kids joining us this semester. I'm definitely going to try her out in Grace's Kids Rhythm in Me, as she so love dancing and singing. Will sort that out with Eliza this or next week.

I've so many things to sort out or complete, its scary even thinking about it. On top of the chores, I am yearning to make more quilts, and even pretty hair bows for Sophie. I read some craft blogs, and boy, some people are just so arty and creative!

This, is just the warm up. Sort of to get my engine going. 

Btw, I dont post much pictures anymore, as again, the lazy bone me finds it just too tough to download photos from the DSLR.

OK will be back, tas!