On The Road To Recovery

Thank you very much for all your well wishes and suggestions. CE's much better now. He was discharged today after staying in the hospital for 2 nights. Yup, he didn't want 100PLUS too and his condition was getting worse. We were very worried about dehydration (won't be able to feed him water in his sleep) and his fever (no fluid intake, how to control it?). So we sent him to the hospital on Wednesday night. Gosh... there were many patients at the A&E, we've to wait about an hour to see the doctor.

His fever was 39.7ºC when the nurse took his temperature (after I told them he's having quite a high fever). I don't know whose ear thermometer is more accurate coz mine's showing less than 39ºC. They sponged him immediately. That's the first time I see how it's done. All the while, I thought warm water is used. But they use cold water. And she didn't use any sponge or cloth. Just used her hand to pour some water on his head, then dab some water on his body. The nurse told me I can do this at home if the kid's having very high fever. Sponge for 15 minutes, then let the water air dry. I forgot she said stop for how long, then repeat the process again till the temperature has dropped below dangerous level. And by then, the suppository would have started working as well. When she was sponging him, the little boy was wailing away while hugging me. But it wasn't as terrible as I had imagined. I guess he was too weak to protest.

~ in the hospital on drips ~

After consulting the doctor, he was poked to get some blood for testing and put on drips. The blood test showed that it's a viral infection so he didn't need antibiotics. His condition improved a little yesterday. He's taken one piece of finger biscuit but still not drinking much water. Doc gave him Isomil (lactose-free formula as he's having diarrhea) but he didn't like it at all. She reduced the drips so that he'll feel thirsty. I diluted his usual milk (Enfagrow) and he drank it. Wah... so sick already but still so fussy about his milk. And the good news is he's not vomited nor had diarrhea today. Hopefully it'll continue to be that way tomorrow. He's still not very enthusiastic about solids (just drank some soup) but he's alright with Enfagrow (although a little diluted).

~ he must have lost at least 500g ~

Looking at him more lively and active now (still quite cranky though), it's such a big relief. I always complain I have noisy kids at home. But in actual fact, I'd rather they bring the house down than be weak, inactive and sleepy the whole day.

One After Another

Ah Boy is sick. He must have caught it from jie jie. They've got the same symptoms - vomiting (XY just once) and diarrhea. XY has recovered already (was not given antibiotics, just probiotics) but CE's getting worse.

He's been vomiting and having diarrhea since Monday evening. His diarrhea's not that bad, once or twice a day but he vomited many times already, especially after drinking milk (can't even take 2 ozs at one go). He's not eaten anything since yesterday morning. And we're very concerned coz he's not drinking much fluid too. It's almost impossible to get him to drink the oral dehydration salt water. He doesn't want to drink it, even though I've added Ribena. I doubt he'll like the orange flavoured one either. Have yet to try 100PLUS but I remember he didn't like it the last time I offered it to him.

I brought him for a check-up again this morning (consulted doc yesterday) as he was running a very high fever (about 39ºC) since last night. Even after putting in suppository, the fever came back very high in 4 hours' time. Looking at his high fever and redthroat, it could be bacterial infection. Doc prescribed antibiotics, in addition to the 5 types of medicine given yesterday - probiotics, fever, vomiting, redthroat and wind.

~ his medication ~

We're very worried he's dehydrated as he's not taking in much fluid and keep vomiting. Doc said if he continues to vomit and not drink enough to replenish what's lost, he may need to be put on drips. He's been very lethargic and inactive the whole day. Couldn't keep himself awake for long.

~ so weak and sleepy the whole day ~

Another headache would be to feed him medicine. I've to force feed the medicine every time. Even the salt water I have to force feed with syringes. And sometimes force feeding makes him vomit. At this rate, he'll definitely get dehydrated. My last bet is 100PLUS and orange flavoured salt water. Dear boy, please please please drink them or else you'll have to be hospitalised. The problem is, he doesn't understand the severity and is not very cooperative. Help!

25 Months Old

Yesterday CE turned 25 months old. Only managed to update his progress today as I was busy and tired after XY's Sports Day yesterday.

Statistics
Weight - a drop of 100g from last month, probably due to flu.
Height - not measured but definitely growing taller. His pants do get shorter and shorter. Moreover, his palm can almost reach under the tap (at the basin) when he tip-toes. I don't have to carry him so I'll have both hands free to wash his thoroughly.

Speech
There's a slight improvement of speech, but very minimal. Although he pronounces most words by saying the last syllable, he does say some proper words. For example, "open" instead of "penn" and "Minnie" instead of "Ni".

Food
His love for fruits has returned. The previous month, he wasn't too enthusiastic about eating fruits. Now he's happily munching them but can be quite selective. His current favourites are banana, persimmon and plum. Getting tired of apples and pears.
He's really crazy over rice. Sometimes he'll want to eat some plain white rice while we're having our meal even though he's just finished his dinner. We offered him rice crackers but he preferred rice! :-|

Eating Out
He's not too cooperative when we eat out. Less problem at home coz he's glued to the tv, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So when he's not eating properly outside, we'll give him biscuit or fruits, feed him his rice while he's eating the biscuit/fruits. Yes, he has fruits and rice in one mouth, eating them at the same time.
Or when our rice has come, he'll demand to have ours and not finish his own. He's happy eating plain rice that was from our plate.

Motor Skill
He's very good at making Mickey Mouse. He uses the round stamper to chop 3 circles on the drawing board. When given some coins, he arranges 3 coins to make up the head and ears. While he's sitting on the potty and playing with the cups (used for gargling), he arranges them nicely and says "mouse ear".

Behaviour
He gives out a very high pitched scream, just for the fun of it. The more we ask him to stop, the more he'll scream.
He fake-cry a lot now. When he doesn't get his way, he goes huuu... huuu... huuu... (dragging the huuu). Totally irritating! Most times, we don't give in. So why is he still using that tactic?
He touches his "bird-bird" when he's not wearing a diaper under his pants. At first I thought he was signalling that he wants to pee, but looks like he's developed a bad habit.

Something's Broken

After I made CE nap in the living room, I put him down on the sofa while I continued to watch my recorded TVB serials. I was enjoying some ME time and eating junk food. Suddenly, I bit something very hard. The immediate thought was, "What??!! A rock in my packet of junk food?" So I spit out everything from my mouth and found this.

~ the chipped enamel (the coin's just for size comparison) ~

At first, I thought it was a rock but upon closer look, I got a bit worried. And I got the confirmation after touching my upper right molar with my tongue. Aicks! My tooth has broken and I wasn't even eating anything hard. Does this look like a hazardous junk food to you?

~ one of my current favourite junk food ~

Luckily I didn't swallow the tooth. And it doesn't hurt at all when I clench my teeth or drink water. Now I have to make time to consult a dentist and see what can be done. Sigh... sien...

Father's Day '08

This is what XY did in kindy for PaPa.

~ a little signboard ~

Although it was Father's Day, PaPa didn't get to relax at home and do nothing. He's still got 'work' to do.

* He brought us for buffet hi-tea at Sun & Surf Cafe (Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa). Travelling time - 1 hour, to and fro. Coz Mummy doesn't know how to drive so far. And I'm sure he doesn't dare to sit in the car when Mummy's in the driver's seat. :p

* He paid for the buffet. Coz Mummy's unemployed. hahaha

* He had to coach XY on her Chinese writing at night, right before bedtime. Coz Mummy skipped that on Friday, thinking there's the weekend to do it, but totally forgot about it.

I agree completely when XY said, "You're the best father in the world."

P/S : I'll try to reduce your 'work' next Father's Day ok? :D

Double Celebration

This weekend we have a double celebration because today is PaPa's birthday and tomorrow is Father's Day. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all fathers a very Happy Father's Day!

This year, apart from giving him a card, I surprised him with a present - a Braun Buffel wallet. As I've mentioned before, I seldom buy him gifts (my definition of gift = something practical) coz I'm not sure if he'll like them (don't trust my fashion sense hehehe). But I wanted to give him a surprise, like how he surprised me, showering me with lovely gifts. And I was really relieved when he said it's "quite nice" after he opened the present. Hey, that's good enough for me.

We didn't have an elaborate celebration as PaPa liked it simple. So it was porridge for lunch at home and 'latt thong' for dinner at our usual restaurant. He specifically told me not to get him a cake. But he changed his mind at night. Said he didn't mind me getting him a few pieces, not the whole cake. Must be because his precious daughter convinced him birthday must have cake. And he knows she loves to eat them.

We went to Secret Recipe to buy 4 slices of cake after dinner. We sang the birthday song and the kids helped him blow the candle and cut the cake (just once, for formality purposes :D). So now his birthday is complete.

~ the not-so-nicely-arranged cakes ~

And he's got another task to do... open up a durian. SIL brought over a big durian a short while after we reached home. Her father came to visit and the durian is homegrown. See how huge it is (I purposely put a tablespoon there for estimation, CSI style hahaha)?

~ huge leh ~

~ 'slaughtering' the durian ~

~ fragrant... delicious... mmmm... syiok! ~

We tried to eat as much as we could coz it won't taste so good the next day. At the end, only 2 pieces went into the fridge. The kids had their first taste of durian. XY said it's smelly and she didn't like it. As for CE, he didn't spit it out nor ask for more. I haven't eaten durian for a very long time already. It's very fragrant and tasted really good. Very satisfied! *burp* (excuse me)

Extra Ingredient

For lunch, I packed food from a coffee shop near XY's kindy. Nasi lemak for myself and Kakak, and 'kon lou' beehoon (noodle in dark sauce) for XY. I've taken the nasi lemak a few times already but this is the first time I bought from that noodle stall. And it's going to be the last. See what XY found after she's eaten more than half way through.

~ I think it's a fly... ewwww! ~

She told me she had already put it into her mouth, but spit it out to see what it was. She thought it was some kind of nut or something. I didn't ask further as I didn't want her to freak out (well, more like me freaking out). I had a few mouthfuls of her beehoon too.

So far, she's not complained of any tummy discomfort. I hope her tummy's strong enough to fight whatever germs that came with that extra ingredient.

So what do you do when you encounter such 'clean' food? You can't possibly go back to the shop and complain. Only thing to do is to ban that stall from future patronage. *eeeyer...*

School Holiday Activity II

We brought the kids to Genting Highlands last Sunday. Stayed for one night at Theme Park Hotel. As it was a last-minute decision, there wasn't any choice of hotels. Moreover, it's the super peak season during the school holidays. I only managed to reserve this hotel after calling the reservations centre numerous times. I couldn't get any room for Saturday, that's why we went on Sunday.

Sunday ~ We started the journey at 10:30am. Stopped at the Chin Swee Temple on the way up. PaPa prayed while I took care of the kids. Brought them to see tortoises at the pond. Then it rained. So we didn't get to walk around and take pictures.

We went straight for lunch when we reached the hotel. After lunch, it was just after 2pm (check-in time 3pm). We checked-in first although the room wasn't ready yet. Then we went to the First World Indoor Theme Park.

I bought the tickets for myself and XY. There were so many people everywhere. All the rides has very long queues (have to wait 20-30 minutes for our turn). While PaPa waited with XY to play the Junior Bumper Car, I brought CE to line up for the Ferris Wheel. Only 3 of us took the ride. After that, we were all so tired and it's already way past the kids' nap time. So we headed back to the hotel. Took a short nap with the kids while PaPa went to explore on his own.

~ Junior Bumper Car ride ~

For dinner, we had Burger King at First World Plaza. Then we went to ride the Reindeer Cruiser. Next, The Carousel. By the time we finished, it's already 10+. Look at all the time wasted lining up. Sigh... although it was a Sunday night, I guess you can't avoid the big crowd during school holidays. XY doesn't seem very interested in the rides. Some rides that she wanted to play, she didn't meet the requirements, either too tall or too short. :-| Anyway, she's more interested in the arcade games. As for CE, he's ok with anything. Still too young to appreciate the rides, I suppose.

Back to the hotel, I put the kids to sleep and PaPa went to try his luck at the casino. I was already in deep sleep when he came back at 2+. He was very lucky so our trip was partially sponsored. hehehe

Monday ~ After breakfast, we went to the Rainforest Splash Pool (with heated water). Luckily I checked the Genting website prior to the trip. So I brought along the hotel passbook, which entitled 4 passes to the pool (so happy can save some money :D).

The kids enjoyed the most in the water park. XY, as usual, went to play on her own. Didi, on the other hand, is contented enough to splash water standing on a particular spot. I asked if he'd like to play the water slide, he said "no". I managed to carry him up the stairs and down the slide. He didn't ask for a second round. Then he discovered his favourite spot - the flat tub at the end of the slide. Luckily he was not blocking people's way. So he just sat there and played on his own.


Bringing the kids to the water park was a wise decision coz they really enjoyed themselves and we old folks got to relax awhile in the heated pool. They played for about an hour, then we went back to the hotel to pack and check-out. It had started to rain again. After lunch at the Chinese restaurant, we left for home sweet home.

How was the holiday? Not that tiring for us (all activities within the same area) and I think mission accomplished - to bring the kids out for a fun outing. Well, I think they did enjoy themselves. Although not at the theme park, I'm sure they had plenty of fun at the pool. But if we ever plan to bring the kids to the theme parks again, we'll go on a weekday, when it's not the school holidays. The crowd's just crazy!

School Holiday Activity I

Last Thursday, SIL (the driver) and I brought the kids and our maids to 1-Utama. We went to Kizsports first, hoping to avoid the after-lunch crowd. During our visit the previous school holidays, there were a lot of people after 1pm. But surprisingly, there weren't many kids that day.

XY was a bit timid, wanted me to accompany her on the slides. So I had to climb up very high and come down the twisting slide. Boy, that was really scary! I nearly had a heart attack! Good thing I was holding on to her. If not, I would've cried out (so chicken hor hehehe).

CE spent most of the time at the play area for children under 3 years old. But he was very unfocused. He wanted to play everything, at the same time. He touched a push-car, within 10 seconds, he was touching the rocking toy. Within the next 10 seconds, he went off to another thing. The only thing that interests him the most is the playhouse with slide. He likes to turn the steering wheel. I brought him to play at the big slide but he wasn't too interested. He didn't stay long in the ball pit, unlike the previous trip. As for CH, he was also interested in the big slides, apart from the toys at the small play area.

While the kids were playing (accompanied by Kakaks), the mommies were resting (and got a bit bored), freezing (air-cond was very cold) and hungry. After 2 hours of playing, we went for lunch at Wong Kok Char Chan Teng. After CH finished his lunch, he fell asleep. We decided to go for a movie (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) since CH's already asleep and I was quite sure CE's going to nap soon too. We were in luck as the timing was just right. We bought the tickets and popcorn, got in, then the movie started. CE was very cooperative although it was his first time in a cinema. I just hugged him and he slept till the show was almost over. XY (her 2nd movie) was happy helping herself to the box of popcorn, munching away. She even laughed at some hilarious scenes.

It was a really nice break, to watch a movie on the big screen. I've not stepped into a cinema for 5 years (since XY was born). As for the story line, it was nothing superb. But I love to see Harrison Ford. Although he's quite 'aged', he's still very 'yau yeng' (manly). hehehe

Before going home, I stopped by Mothercare. So my hunt for the Tommee Tippee Roll & Go Bib is over (thanks Shireen, for the information). Unfortunately, CE doesn't want to wear it. He prefers the cloth type (which he's been using all these while). He'll pull the bib off or push it away every time I try to put it on for him. I even asked jie jie to wear it during meal time, hoping he'll follow her, but he totally ignored us. Sigh... I wonder if he'll take a liking to it later. Anyway, can always keep it for my future nieces/nephews.