Me and My Sisters

Me and My Sisters

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Sze Juin Starts School

Wednesday May 26th marked another milestone for SJ. That’s her first day at school.

See how excited she was with her backpack and water tumbler, just like Jie Jie


When we dropped them off at the new school, SY adapted very well. She made friends very fast too. As for SJ, she was quite clingy and wouldn’t want to let me go. So I had to join them in the prep room where everyone was gathered in a room, with the TV program turned on, before school started at 8.30am. I wanted to say an official bye bye to them before I left, so that they were aware of it and quickly made my move. But SJ kept crying and wouldn’t let me go, so I stayed back for awhile. Not long later, I noticed that she’s not looking anymore, but I had not the heart to sneak out on her. Still, I made a move, and I heard her crying so pitifully. I ended up went back there and carried her. My mind was made; I’d take the day off that day and accompany her.

So I settled down SY at her class, and told the teachers that I’d drop hubby to get his car (since we’re carpooling that day) before coming back with SJ to accompany her. Not long after we reached the car park and as I went into the car, SJ asked, “Mommy, where’s Jie Jie?”.

I told her that Jie Jie’s at school.

She then replied, “Mommy bye bye. I want to go to school like Jie Jie”.

So I asked her if she’s ok for me to leave her there with Jie Jie while Mommy go to work. She said ok. Then we made our way back to the school.

After that, we left SJ at SY’s class and left. I called back to check on them, they were doing well. Of course SJ cried at times, but she’s ok when she saw her Jie Jie. I was told that she stopped crying immediately when food was served. She enjoyed the food there, and even asked for 2nd helping! That’s good news to me. I knew she really love eating, and it’s good to know that a new environment didn’t stop her from eating :)

We went to check on them during lunch time, I even brought fruits for them. Of course, when we left, SJ cried again. But that’s just a while. Later when I called to ask how they were doing, I was told that both of them were sleeping together. Aww.. how sweet.

After work, we went to fetch them. They were delighted to see us. SJ kept telling me, “Juin Juin qu school. Wo mei you cry”. Looks like this little girl has a high self esteem too ya. The teacher told me that she did cry when she woke up from her nap, but when she saw her Jie Jie still sleeping, she went back to sleep with them. She refused any milk on that day, and told the teacher that she wanted chocolate milk instead!

Overall, they were doing great there. What made me felt so relieved is that SY could really take good care of her Mei Mei. I observed how she assisted her Mei Mei when it’s time to switch classes, and when SJ refused to budge but cried instead (because she thought I went back already, but actually I was there observing them), SY quickly went to take both her and her Mei Mei's bags before going to console her Mei Mei again. If it’s not because of SY, I would have to take the day off that day.

Well, that’s first day at school. So far so good. When we asked SJ if she wanted to go to school the next day, she said, Yes!


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Sze Juin is Two!

We started off the day by dressing them up even though they were just going to Amah's house.

Daddy and the girls

Mommy wanted to take photo with the girls too

We took the 2nd half off (it was very last minute planned. I was expecting one of chips to be back, so I did not apply for leave, but somehow the shipment got delayed so I could take the remaining day off). However, we did not go to fetch the kids back until rather late since I needed to decorate the birthday cake.

By the time we reached Amah's house, both of them were fast asleep. So we waited for them to wake up, bathed them and dressed them up. Where were we heading?

Yes, to get the birthday girl a birthday pressie -
since Mommy and Daddy were too busy and forgot all about it!

SY found SJ's old doll (which Amah threw away because the paint came out after SJ sucked on it), and SJ's been hooked on it the entire time there. It took us awhile to convince her to let go of that, and we're not successful until I offered to buy her another doll instead. So she settled for that doll (which she picked herself too) as her birthday pressie. Unlike Sze Yi last time when she turned two, I got her what I chose, but this time around, SJ said NO to whatever I picked for her, not even the doll of my liking! My, such strong character at 2!

And guess what Jie Jie was up too while we went pressie hunting?

She's hooked to a game of her own!

Luckily she didn't insist to have that. But she got a gift too, a pink hoola-hoop which she chose herself as well.

After we're done shopping (Amah chose a pair of shoes for SJ, and I got another Hi-5 DVD for them), we headed off for dinner.

Guess where we're going?

Yes, we went to Chilis. SY enjoying her crossword puzzles while SJ enjoying her apple juice


Our order came, and everyone's busy eating. SJ could manage everything on her own, and refused my help. On the other hand, SY asked me to feed her!

Gosh, see how messy SJ's mouth was! But she's certainly enjoying herself :)

The birthday girl finished her plate rather clean!

The birthday cake by the House

SJ was rather surprised at first when they sang birthday song to her. But she didn't cry, and was happy when everyone clapped and sang to her. (Last time when Jie Jie's 2, she cried when they sang to her in TGIF). When it came to candle blowing, she still didn't know how, so Jie Jie blew for her (SY's been asking to do that many many days before the actual day, with the excuse that Mei Mei was still too small to blow the candle).

After dinner, SY requested for some rides before going home



The Minnie Mouse Birthday Cake

I  baked the chocolate chip cheese cake on Saturday, and didn't freeze it till Monday. That's because I was not sure what would happen to the texture if I freeze a cheese cake. When I went to get some decorating stuffs from the cake shop, I was told that I should freeze it, or I should finish the cake in 3 days' time! I panicked and quickly went back to freeze it, and only started decorating it on Tuesday. When we ate it, I was disappointed to note that the orangy flavour had gone (it was still there before I froze it). I'm still wondering if that was due to it being frozen? Anyway, we didn't quite like the oreo base (last time I used the digestive biscuit base). In terms of the decoration, I was lucky that I managed to find a Minnie Mouse sugar paste, or I wouldn't know how to make a mousey cake (SJ's very fond of Minnie/Mickey Mouse, and she would pick anything with the mouse picture on it). My only regret was that I didn't apply the butter underneath it before pasting it on top of the cake, because I was lazy to wait till the butter melt. Maybe that's why I got such a crumpled effect on the sugar paste, but anyway, the kids didn't mind. So, it's still ok :)



Celebrating the birthday with their cousins and Kim Poh
SJ actually knew how to sing the birthday song in 3 languages too - English, Mandarin and Korean. And this time round, she knew what's she supposed to do when it came to candle blowing. But she didn't manage to blow the candle off, so Daddy helped her.

The girls eyeing for the marshmallows and sweets - thats what they liked best from this cake (I threw away the sugar paste since I didn't want them to eat it later)

Presents opening time...they loved their new toys!

Happy Birthday Sze Juin! You sure know it's your birthday and even sang the birthday song to youself the days before! Ah, and what makes Mommy so proud of you is that you're now taking formula milk (Pediasure Vanila flavour) from the bottle (and even cup) while at Amah's place. Bravo girl!

Now, Mommy can plan to wean you off slowly...

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

My First Climb!

Yesterday I had my first strenous exercise - unintentionally. You see, all the 3 lifts to Amah's house were not functioning, so I had to follow Mommy climbing the stairs up till the 17th floor. Mommy couldn't carry me, since Mei Mei didn't want to walk. Furthermore, both her hands were full as she's also carrying a bag full of 2 filled water tumblers and 2 225ml bottles of fresh milk.

We climbed the stairs counting loudly whenever we reached a new floor, and Mommy even taught me how to do subtraction to see how many more floors we needed to cover. It was fun, I enjoyed the process and Mommy even praised me for being able to complete up to the top by myself without any fret. Guess I could now sign up for the Komtar's climb, ya?

When night time came, the lifts were not up yet so I told Daddy I didn't want to go back. My buttocks were still aching from the morning exercise. Daddy had to carry Mei Mei back since she insisted to follow. Haha, I guess I made the right choice, by sleeping over at Amah's place, in case the lifts were still not up when tomorrow comes.  

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

A Terrible Week Has Passed

And I'm so glad that it's over. SY's suffering peaked on Monday. Luckily Hubby's on duty that day, while I was at work (I'm so glad Hubby's understanding enough to back me up, as my chip just came back, the whole world's waiting for updates and I couldn't take leave then). She whined all day, hardly able to eat as her ulcers started to grow like trees. Hubby needed to give her a koala bear hug all the time to comfort her. When I went back during lunch time, we even discussed if we should ward her instead, since she hardly ate or drank at all. Luckily I managed to persuade her to take something before I went back to work. That needs a lot of psychology talk, and I was so glad that she's willing to accept that (this won't work on SJ).

After work, I quickly air the house immediately, cleaned the bedsheet and washed her clothes. Continued to make her take more food (hubby was unable to get her to drink or eat anything earlier). I was very happy when I finally got her to pass her urine (it's been a whole day!). But not too long later, I felt feverish, and experienced the most painful sore throat in years. I quickly took some paracetamols, and we decided to let SJ stay overnight in MIL's place for that day before she got the virus too.

It was my first night apart from her (minus the one night I went over for my sister's convocation while she's just 3 months old), and I missed her terribly. I needed to express my milk before I slept, as I felt engorged - something which I've never experienced for a long time.

The next morning, we got a call from MIL, saying SJ has already got a fever. So we decided to bring her to see the doctor, but before that I went to check for myself first. I explained that my daughter had HFMD, and asked him if I was also having the same thing. He checked my temperature and it was already 39++, so he told me that mine was H1N1, not HFMD because my fever was so high and I didn't have ulcers. I had a vey badly inflamed throat instead. He went on to give me 2 days MC and told me to monitor my condition, if the fever didn't go down, I'll have to go get treatment for H1N1.

Gosh, I was shocked, but not alarmed. I thought it was funny, and Hubby even laughed when he heard that. Anyway, I took the antibiotics (I hardly took antibiotics before this) and the paracetamol, before bringing the kids to see the doctor. SY was supposed to go back the next day for checkup, but since we're taking SJ there, Hubby thought that we might as well do it together to save us another trip to the hospital later.

The paed couldn't tell if SJ's having HFMD (no sign of spots), but when he checked her throat, he saw a very big ulcer at the back of her throat. So he asked us to proceed with the standard procedure - ECG and blood test. Everything was ok, so we were given the same medications as her Jie Jie and we went home.

Surprisingly, SJ could still eat and drink, so I thought it was not that serious. However, the only setback was she refused to take paracetamol, which explained why her fever could hardly go down. After several attempts of fighting with her, I nearly gave up and thought of warding her since she was feverish all the time. Despite that, she's as strong as a bull, and she even managed to grab the syringe from both of us while we're trying to feed her the medicine. I used force, and she vomitted out everything. It was terrible, and I was really helpless when Hubby went to work the next day, leaving me alone to handle the two kids by myself. Even though MIL was around, she couldn't help much. That was a terrible time for me, especially since my fever haven't really go down - I depended on a 4-hourly paracetamol and antibiotics dosage to keep things under control for myself. If I skipped once, the fever will come again. Luckily by then (Wednesday), SY has recovered and could start eating by herself. So that gave me more room as SJ hardly slept but hang on me 24 by 7. I only got to eat my dinner after Hubby came back from work to relieve me.

Despite all that, SJ was very adventurous and not someone who can give up easily. If SY refused food or drink of any kind due to the ulcers, SJ would ask for water in different cups (she even requested for my cup!), and take a sip. She also asked for food, and tried some here and there. She thought with different cups, or food, it might not be as painful. So, she's tried yoghurt, ice-cream, vitagen, yakult, etc. but never finished any of them. I thought I could breastfeed her, but she refused too. It was painful for her and she cried after she tried one time. So the 2nd time, she would tried to touch my breast, but kept on saying, "Don't want Nen Nen". Still, she'd pull my blouse. I offered her my breast, telling her, "Can see only ar, cannot drink ok". Only when I used this trick, she would want to try, and after awhile, she'll be nursing away, and slowly fell asleep. But that was not for long. After a while, she'd cry, saying "Dun want Nen Nen", and woke up again. I was really helpless then, didn't know how to comfort her, and was very tired and sick myself. Hubby told me it was a good time to wean her off totally, and I shouldn't offer her anymore milk. MIL was the happiest person on earth when I told her SJ refused to nurse.

On Wednesday night, I think she got hungry, and finally she asked me for jelly. I was surprised, and I wondered aloud, "Where should Mommy go find jelly for you at such late hour?" Then I remembered that I told her that the chia seeds were jellies, so I quickly soaked some in the water and let her try. She finished everything! I was so happy then. She didn't cry anymore later :)

The next day, I decided to let her see an ayurvedic practitioner, recommended by a friend. We took her there during lunch time, and from then till 7pm, her fever NEVER came back after she took his medicine (which were purely herbs)! We're both awed by the effectiveness of the treatment. Alas! It was not for long. That night, we had to force down 3 doses of paracetamol to get her fever down. And she's not been sleeping very well too. She complained of the pain (or is it itchiness) from the spots, especially at her buttocks and private area. She had less spots compared to her sister, and they grow in different parts of her body too. Not at the normal place on the hands and legs like her sister, but buttock and private part instead. But amazingly, the next day, she didn't have fever at all, and she's basically fully recovered! I think the ayurvedic herbs does speed things up a bit.

So, SY got it on Saturday, recovered on Wednesday, while SJ got it on Tuesday, and recovered on Friday. What a record. On Saturday, we even attended my brother-in-law's house warming party, and they were eating with full appetite! Praise the Lord!

 
What about me? I'm the slowest to recover. I got it on Monday night, and I only recovered on Sunday. Hmmm..... when I asked Hubby why my immune system was the worst (he was also down with a puss in his throat earlier, without fever and he recovered in a few days only), here was his reply:

"Do you know why people say a mother's sacrifices are much more greater than a father's? That's because when a Father got sick, he could sleep for 24 hours, but when a Mother was sick, she still needed to care for the children and did the house chores".

I couldn't agree more. I was up at 3am in the morning trying to catch up with work, on the 2 days that I was on MC. I couldn't log in at all when SJ was clinging to me like a Koala Bear earlier. And I even had to go back for more medicine (paracetamol and antibiotics) when my fever came back on Thursday night, but my supplies had finished. Sigh.... that's the price one needs to pay for being a mother.

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