Playing doctor for the week

I am officially resting at home since Wednesday but I didnt really get to rest. This whole week I have been busy taking care of my 'patients' at home.

It started with hubby running very high fever of above 38 degrees on Monday and taking panadol prescribed by his company doctor didnt help as the fever remained at the same level for the entire day. So I quickly brought him to see another doctor which is near our place when I returned from work. The doctor gave him a stronger panadol and antibiotics. Alas, it didnt help either...his fever was at 39.3degrees at its peak. I had to resort to sponging him. I even got him to take a cold bath to help relieve the fever. When it didnt help (fever maintained at 39 degrees), I called the clinic again as its operated 24hrs. I was advised to feed hubby another dose of panadol, the normal kind, 2 to 3 hrs after taking the strong panadol. I did as instructed. That was close to 1am. Thank god, his fever came down at 2am. For the rest of the days, his fever didnt come back again but he was feeling rather weak. He had three days mc and finally returned to work on Thursday.

As Trenyce was sharing room with hubby. She was put away to sleep with the grandparents during these three days. Then on Thursday morn, the same day hubby was fit to return to work, MIL dropped me a bomb. She told me Trenyce was having fever and had given her panadol at 2am. Oh my! Her fever symptom was exactly like hubby. Her fever was at the range of 38 to 39 degrees and it persisted the whole day even Nurofen and sponging didnt help. We decided to bring her to the clinic when hubby returned from work at 7plus. Hers was at 40degrees when we were at the clinic. So high! Doctor prescribed nurofen, panadol and antibiotics. He didnt recommend the 'buttock medicine' as he said it would affect the liver and hence try not to use if possbile and usually only recommended for younger children not for children as big as Trenyce becos the dosage would be higher for Trenyce. Usually its only one pill inserted but for Trenyce's age, it would be 2 pills.

As usual, I had to play doctor/nurse again. This time, Trenyce swopped room with Kaden. She slept with me the entire night. Her fever was still high after taking Nurofen so I waited for 3hrs to give her another dose of panadol, the normal type. Her fever was down for the rest of the night.

Did I mention that Kaden wasnt feeling well too the same day Trenyce was having fever? Luckily his was not as severe as Trenyce. He had some cough in the morning when he woke up somewhere around 7+am, then developed running nose and mild cough around 9+am. Fed him some panadol and cough mixture. Thank god the medicine was sufficient to control his condition. We didnt have to bring him to see doctor. Guess he was really feeling a tad bit unwell so he was rather grouchy the entire day. Kept requesting for his pacifier and going to the bed to ly.

Anyway, very thankful that all have recovered within the week. Though Kaden still having a little cough other than that all's well for him too. I couldnt imagine if they were still sick when I had to go into labour ward to deliver 妹妹!

Praise the lord! Mood: Thankful

Spending time with my big gal (1st to 2nd May 09)

It was labour day long weekend. Hubby and inlaws, together with Kaden went back to Msia...leaving Trenyce and myself behind. Main reason why we didnt follow for the trip was becos its too close to my EDD and Trenyce has to attend her speech and drama class on Saturday. It has been quite some time since we spent time alone. Good opportunity for me to have some quality time with her.

The first day on our own. We went to CCL Open House for SMRT Staff and Family together with my sister's family. And on the 2nd day, we didnt go anywhere except the usual wknd marketing routine in the morning followed by Trenyce's speech and drama class in the noon. Strangely, Trenyce developed a mild fever after coming back from the market. Fed her some panadol and flu medicine as she complained that she has running nose. Might have caught cold somehow somewhere and most suspicious person is hubby as he has been sleeping with her since furnishing the study room. Well, thats not impt right now...I just hope she will get well tomorrow morning....

Some pics taken at the open house...

Interestingly, the benches at the station actually beared the name of the station. Mood: Relaxed

Father is 70! (Part II)

Celebration on the actual day.............

Father is 70! (Part I)

FIL turns 70 this year. We brought him to a korean restaurant (Hansang Korean Family Restaurant) at Novena Square2, level 3, to savor some korean dishes since he hasnt had any and so is MIL. This idea came to our mind when we heard them mentioning about the korean cds they had been watching back at home (Labis).

We tried the famous ginseng chicken soup and....

(clockwise from right)1. SSAMBOB: BBQ pork wrapped with lettuce, the purpule rice and the bean paste. The dish comes along with the kimchi soup. 2. Cold Buckwheat Noodles. 3. Dduck Bae Gi: Stewed beef. 4. Dubokgee: Fried Nian Gao. 5. Appetizers (1st dish): Kidney bean, mashed potato, chilli ikan bilis.

Kaden with grandparents. How come Jiejie is missing?
Thats becos Missy hasnt finished her food!

Finally, Missy caught up with the rest and managed to 'pitch' a ride ;p

Goodbye Vios Hello Odyssey

Bid farewell to my faithful friend today.
She is only 4.5years old. Still so young. Sigh.
Feel a little emotional when she was driven away yesterday.
And still feeling the same when I see her again today.
Shed my tears, actually.
Afterall, she is our very 1st and it has served us well.
Many times, it brought us to-and-fro Malaysia safely, whether rain or shine, never utter a single complaint.
Our family getaways, will never be as fun, without her.
I will miss you, my dearie.
Forever in my memories......

****************

We embraced a new member to our family yesterday.
It was a dream come true.
Although she didnt spend her early years with us, we promise we will still love her dearly as if she was already with us from day one.
I havent got a chance to spend time alone with her yet.
Think maybe not now.
I am not confident that I will be able to handle her as yet.
Maybe. Maybe wait till 妹妹 arrives first.
Anyway, welcome to our big family.
Indeed, a family of 8 (including the domestic helper) is big eh!

The Kiddies' Room

Finally, finally, finally.........
After so much shifting and moving, the furniture are staying for good at this position.
Yes, we are shifting the furniture in the study cum kiddy room again.
It was kiddy room when Kaden was borned and turned back to study room when confinement auntie left.
And now its going to be kiddy room again and this time, its for good and I meant it.
Cos there's no where we can shift the single bed to....hahaha..
For once, Trenyce feels like she has a room of her own.
Well, for a good 8 weeks before 妹妹 arrives.
There will be some minor changes to the sleeping arrangement but the furniture will stay for good.
*Heng ah* Hubby must be very glad he doesnt have to do all the shitty shifting again :p
Well, I'm glad this tricky thing has been solved, so now is just the waiting game....

{picture to be uploaded}

Easter Long Weekend in Singapore (Jalan Kayu Animal Resort and Downtown East Explorer Kids)

We originally planned for a short trip back to Labis but changed plans last minute and hence spending our Easter long weekend in Singapore instead.

DAY 1: 10th April 2009, FRIDAY, SINGAPOREWe brought the kids to Downtown East on the first day of our long weekend. I have planned to bring them to Downtown East for a long time eversince they renovated and finally did it on Friday. We spent the entire morning at eXplorerkid and even got a chance to taste the chicken rice from the ex-Manadarin Hotel Chef who dished the famous chicken rice from Chatterbox, the shop is called Mr Chicken Rice. Both the kids had lots of fun especially Trenyce. Frankly there are more things for her to play than Kaden (only the toddler play area). But Kaden doesnt seem to mind, he has much fun walking around the big playground;) As the floor is rubberized, you dont have to worry about your little toddler getting hurt from falling hence watching over him is a breeze, all I need to do is to keep an eye on where he is wandering to....

It was still early, so we hanged around the fish pond area. The kids enjoyed watching the fishes.
Kaden弟弟 at the toddler play area.
Trenyce 姐姐 at the Ball'O'City.
Kaden弟弟 climbing up the MegaPlay with 爸爸's help.
Trenyce 姐姐 at the ballpool.

Just an hour at eXplorerkids is enough to wear off the kids' energy. Trenyce was perspiring madly and I stopped her from playing though she insisted that she was not tired. Anyway, we decided to call it off a day when our one-hour time is up. Kaden was also showing some signs of tiredness as he didnt have his usual 3hourly-interval nap yet. We quickly headed for the ground floor where Mr Chicken Rice is located to have our lunch. We were lucky as it wasnt very crowded and we managed to find a seat quite easily. As expected, the boy started to get grouchy midway when I was feeding him, he wasnt cooperating with me. Nevertheless I struggled through the feed and managed to make the cranky boy sleep with a full stomach =p

If you are interested:
1. eXplorerkid at Downtown East level 3, operate from 10am to 10pm on Weekends & PH. Do remember to bring your kids' and your own socks!
2. Mr Chicken Rice at Downtown East level 1, operate from 11am onwards.

**************************************************************************
Day 2: 11th April 2009, SATURDAY, SINGAPORE

We went to Jalan Kayu for a prata feast in the morning. After food, we brought the kids to the nearby Animal Resort. It was our 2nd visit but Kaden's first. He was so very fascinated with the animals he saw at the resort i.e ducks, peacock, dogs of different breeds, goats etc. His favourite though was the ducks and the dogs while Trenyce's favourite was feeding the rabbits with carrots bought at the animal resort.

Kaden弟弟 and 爸爸

Trenyce 姐姐, Kaden弟弟 and 爸爸.

**************************************************************************
Day 3: 12th April 2009, SUNDAY, SINGAPORE

We went to Bishan Library in the afternoon. It was Kaden's first visit to a library. He was happy to see so many books surrounding him. Hmm, or maybe he feels like he's in a maze with many bookshelves surrounding him? Anyway, I brought him to the toddler's corner to get some books for him while he stood there 'digging' at the books. When I found him a book, he was happy to walk around the library with the book in his hands. At one point, he even sat down nicely at one of the steps 'reading' his book. =)

Kaden 弟弟 at Bishan Library.

Chatty Kaden

Little Kaden has been 'talking' alot recently. He expanded his vocabulary by another two words just 2 days ago. It was "No" and "Kaka" (meaning sister in malay). He will even shake his head when he says "No"..haha. He is also able to call Ester, our domestic helper, "Kaka" these few days and when he hears me mentioning Ester's name, he will shout 'ka ka' after me. Sometimes he will even walk to the kitchen and call her......the whole family is so amused by his reaction...haha...

His 'talking' milestones

His initial first words was 'mum mum' meaning food and 'ah ma' meaning grandmother and for the first few months when he started to babble, he would refer everything as "ah ma" but strangely, not 'mum mum'. Hmmm...interestingly, he is able to associate 'mum mum' as food and nothing else.

Occasionally, he would call me "mom mom" meaning mother, but it wasnt very often =( Then he learnt to call Trenyce as 'jiejie'.

The next word he learnt was 'there'. If you asked him where is ah ma? He will say "there" and point his finger at ah ma. Likewise, if you asked him, for example, "where is the fan?", he will point at the fan and says "there!"

Just two weeks ago, he started calling 'papa' or 'da da' and his pronunciation is getting better everyday and now he can call 'papa' very loud and clear!

And finally, about a week ago, the grandfather finally had his turn to be called. Kaden finally calls the grandfather 'gonggong' hehe!

No wonder people says the 2nd kid usually learns things faster because they get to imitate their siblings. And they really imitate very well! ;)

Mood: Exciting Milestone: 14 months old

Yet another milestones for Trenyce!

I am happy that Trenyce is finally joining us at the dinning table. It started about a month ago and somehow got 'cut off' in between when she was down with fever but we resumed the 'schedule' again about 1 week after she recovered when we noticed MIL was cooking porridge for her lunch & dinner again. Besides that, I am also training her to eat by herself as MIL has been feeding her all along in order to "speed things up". I am also trying to expose her to more fruits variety. She has apples, orange juice (with pulp) and honey dew just this week. Out of the three, I would say the third mission is the toughest as she doesnt like fruits so sometimes it really get on my nerves just to get her to 'swallow' the fruits. Nevertheless, I will keep trying.

Added on 12 April 09: Bought some strawberries for girl today, another exciting venture awaiting me....

Dear Lord, pls grant me the patience to bear with all the obstacles faced in getting Trenyce to eat fruits. Amen.

Mood: Grateful Milestone: 4 years old

Guilty

How time flies...Im already in my 3rd trimester. Counting down now, 9weeks more to my EDD. Oh not much time left, better hurry to get all my stuff done before 妹妹 comes. It has been tough for this 3rd pregnancy, maybe becos I have to take care of Kaden at the same time and this boy needs alot of attention. Not that he is an attention seeker but rather he is so very active that he keeps knocking his head here and there....just yesterday, he 'earned' himself two 'fifty cents' on his forehead. He is so active that at times I still need to carry him like a baby to feed him his night feed before he goes to bed otherwise he will be struggling with the bottle. Just imagine carrying him with a protruding tummy, tough eh!

Sometimes I do feel very guilty, guilty that I wont be able to spend much time with this boy once 妹妹 arrives. I hope the parenting magazine is right...that siblings with age gap less than 18mths will not feel anything about a new silbing taking some attention away from them. So I am trying to make up now by spending more time with him as well as Trenyce. I wouldnt want history to repeat itself again. I am thinking of setting a timetable or something to allocate my time for the kids. Of course, BB will still get the most attention from me and will be even more so if I BF her. But I wouldnt want to neglect my other 2 children especially Trenyce. I do notice that she needs alot of attention from us and gets upset when her presence is ignored. For Kaden, I guess is he still too young to notice anything and I hope he wont!

I better start working on the timetable thingy soon..

Mood: Thinking hard....

Kaden Vs 妹妹

Just feeling curious about how big is 妹妹 compared to her brother when he was a foetus then. So took their scanned pics and compared....hehe

Looks like 妹妹 is slightly smaller than Kaden in the beginning but managed to catch up later...hmm...

Kaden's scanned pics.

妹妹's scanned pics.

Mood: Creative