I Found My 2nd Helper

It was not long ago that SY was so eager to help me with the change of bedsheet. Now, ~3 years later, look who's my new helper?

Do you think they look alike? They were about the same age too (SY was 2 year and 4 months then, while SJ is 2 year and 3 months now).

Now, I'm waiting for them both to do it themselves, without me being in the picture! Hmm.... am I too ambitious?

The Vegetables School

Yes, that's what Sze Yi told Amah - we sent her to the vegetable's school! They only ate vegetables there :)

Now, Sze Yi would say her grace out loud before each meal, regardless of where she had her meals - at home, or while dining outside. And automatically Sze Juin would stop eating and follow suit. Sometimes I'm not sure if I should feel proud or embarassed - she's drawing too much unncessary attention!

Before we went to Russia, I left them at Amah's house for a week, because SJ got bronchitis while SY's having minor cold. So they actually missed school for quite a while - about 3 weeks. When we're back, naturally SJ didn't want to go back to her classroom - she joined her Jie Jie at 5-year old class. So I dropped them at SY's class  (her class teacher is ever so nice and could handle SJ too!) every morning for about 1 week. Then SJ's class teacher would come and bring SJ back to her class after she warmed up.

I was told that SY is a very good Jie Jie. She really takes great care of her Mei Mei, and I'm very proud of her. Even the teachers there praised her and asked Daddy if they ever fight at home. Because everytime when we came to pick them up, we always see SY either holding SJ's hand, or guiding her somewhere - to the toilet, or to take their shower, and even helped her take her school bag and stuffs. SJ would always said it's too heavy for her, and ran to me straightaway :) But too bad SY's only so caring in school. At home, she likes to bully Mei Mei, and they always fight! Mei Mei has very good defence system too, in fact I often heard Jie Jie crying and calling for help when Mei Mei went too wild!

One obvious improvement I saw in Sze Yi is that her character has improved a lot. She can understand a lot of things very well, I just need to explain to her and she would listen to me. She's also not as naughty as last time. Unfortunately, I also observed there's a switch of role between the girls - Jie Jie becoming more kuai while Mei Mei's becoming more cheeky and naughty. The worst thing is that she wouldn't listen, and it's hard to explain to her, unlike her Jie Jie. Maybe she's still small, but she's certainly showing a very bad Terrible Two behaviour. I have never beaten Sze Yi with cane when she's small. But with SJ, it became so uncontrollable and there's no way to make her calm down or listen to me unless I use the cane. That's the only thing that would make her stop for awhile before continuing to throw her tantrums. Sigh... and I'm losing my control very easily nowadays too.

Over all, I'm quite happy with their new school - the teachers were all very caring and helpful. However, most of the time, I couldn't help noticing that SJ would always be in somebody's arms. She would only let certain teachers carry her. And at times she wouldn't want to participate in the activities at all. I guess she's still a baby - the school didn't accept any 2 year old, the youngest is 3 year old. But they took SJ in because they are very understanding on our situation and for the first time I could feel that they were doing it out of love and not for profit at all. The only drawback is that this school is really a school, not so much like a day care where we can request the teachers to do additional things for them. But looking on another perspective, this environment would quickly train them to be more independant, which I see that SY has adapted to really nicely. As for SJ, if she's not so manja, maybe she'll adapt faster too, but because she's the youngest, and most of the teachers are extra lenient with her, that's why she has a lot of exception. Luckily she has a Jie Jie to keep an eye on her and help her adapt.

My First Pony Ride

I had my first pony ride during the Family Day event organized by the church that Poh Poh and Gong Gong went to. Daddy didn't join us as he's attending a company event. Luckily Small Ee Ee was there so she helped to take care of me while Mommy attended to Mei Mei. 

Initially I was afraid, but after Mommy let me observed for one time, I felt that I could handle it. Mei Mei was sleeping, so I went alone. It was fun at first, as you can see me smiling all the way. 

Not even half way thru, suddenly the pony suddenly shake his body so I got a fright. I cried all the way and kept telling Mommy that enough's enough.

But the pony guide still let me finished up one whole round before they let me down. Phew! What a scary experience!

Up Close and Personal with Moscow

We're in Moscow for about 5 days. Initially I was rather worried on how to handle the kids during the long flights (we had 3 continuous flights, the longest was around 9 hours), but luckily it all turned out rather well. SY was kept entertained by the little doodle that I bought (I actually went to buy 2 sets - one for each girl in case they fight over it), and they sure came in handy. SY loves doing maths and drawing things in it - and I was amazed at her drawing and math skills, really. Where as SJ was still scribbling most of the time, but she enjoyed it too. Then there were those in-flight movies and games which kept them entertained, so I didn't need to worry that they would get bored with my very limited handphone games.

What else did we do in Moscow? The pictures that I shared in the previous post were on Red Square. Here are more...

Our transportation mostly were metro, bus, and walking most of the time. We also had a boat ride in St. Petersburg, so Sze Yi was very happy that she covered all types of transportation while we're there. We used to promise her to take her for a bus ride when we're in Penang, but never had the chance to do so. Now she got to experience all in this trip.

The escalators to the metro - it was so high and fast! SY and Daddy counted until 100 before it actually ended! How scary!

A closer view at the metro station (all metro stations have their own unique design and architecture)

We went to see a Cat Show on the 2nd day there. 

It seems that only Russian can train cats very well

This activity was mainly planned for the kids. Unfortunately, they were rather afraid, especially when the clowns started throwing the balls to the audiences. Sze Yi got scared and cried :) Then, Daddy and Chew Chew were called up to the stage to perform with the cats! I only managed to capture that with my handphone, so it's a bit blurry.

Well, the cat's claws accidentally scratched my brother's legs when it climbed over him to the poll, they sure were sharp! Honestly, I was more impressed with the 2 dogs there than the cats :)


The third day was my sister's convocation. The whole event was organised by the students themselves.
 

Many people got attracted to the kids maybe because they were the youngest audiences there. Some graduates asked to take photos with them. When SY refused, one even gave her a flower until she agreed!

After that we adjourned to the Malaysian Embassy for a garden luncheon. It was a very nice environment. We tasted the traditional Russian rice cooked with mutton. It was delicious, but the rice was rather oily.

This is the place where we stayed, we're neighbours to a souvenir shop. The shop lady liked the kids so much that she gave them a souvenir each :) And we even got to take photos with her!

The last picture on the right bottom corner was taken at night. The day time there was longer since it's summer, it's still very bright until around 10pm. In the morning, it would start to be bright as early as 4am. So for the first few days there, I woke up at 3-4am in the morning! Well, maybe it's partly due to jetlag too, coz it's 4 hours behind Malaysia.

Here's the places and scenes that we'd pass thru each time before we get to the metro.

It was quite a long walk. In fact, we're really tired from the walking, and my back was aching from carrying SJ most of the time. I only let her walked along the Arbat Street, as that's the safest place to walk on her own.

This is the post office. We actually sent postcards back to ourselves, but we still haven't received them yet.

Finally here's the Metro Station. If you look carefully, there were two policemen on duty. The security were not as strict as last time, after the bombing event.

The following day would be our last day in Moscow before we flew to St. Petersburg. So my sister took us for some souvenir shopping. Not that we had a lot of space for souvenirs, because our luggages nearly reached the max limit (39.8kg, our limit was 40kg!). Anyway, it's fun to see the types of souvenirs sold there, right?

We had Russian Kebabs for lunch that day. Even though I packed lunch for the kids, they didn't always want to eat. They were more excited to try the food that we had. For our lunch/dinner, we normally cooked 1 meal and ate out for another meal. Unless we're too tired that day, or the outing extended till very late, we'll just eat out for both meals. The kids were satisfied with just potatoes, so I just had to make sure that their porridge or mee suah had potatoes in it. And surprisingly, they even ate chicken or pork with their porridge/mee suah there! Maybe it's softer? They hardly eat meat in Malaysia!

The Russians were very particular in culture and arts. Their works include a lot of details, which can also be seen in their buildings' and churches' architecture. They are also very good in painting and potraits. I couldn't help admiring the Russian ladies there too. Their features were sharp and nice, which were very well accentuated by their great taste in dressing. Even their main souvenirs - the matryoshka doll were very unique - each were hand-painted and not 2 sets were the same.

Well, that's all on Moscow. Too bad we didn't get to visit my sister's university, as she excluded that from the itinerary towards the last minute since my parents were tired from all the walk (actually we're really tired too, especially when carrying the kids along while they're sleeping). But a good thing was that we got to see it from the outside. This trip would not have been easy without my sister's bf's help. He helped a lot in many many ways, especially in helping to entertain Sze Yi most of the time. He's the most patient guy I've ever seen, and he's also a good cook. The meals that we had at home, mostly were prepared by him and my sister, while some were by my dad and elder sister.

Ok, stay tuned for my next update on our St. Petersburg trip.

From Russia With Love

We finally made it there :) It was Mei Mei's first oversea trip, and she's having a great time!

We actually prepared pacifiers for them in case they complaint of ear pain due to the height pressure. Furthermore, since both of them still having runny-nose like syndrome, we're advised to prepare lots of juices or sweets for them to chew as the runny nose might cause ear pain during the flight. But I found that pacifiers worked best for them, and came in real handy too, compared to lollipops and mentos! Surprisingly, both of them took it very well, and we don't have any problem with them at all during the flight there. At first, Jie Jie was afraid of the aeroplane, so Daddy told her it's train. Somehow she bought in that idea, and didn't seem to be scared anymore. But when we reached there, she told Daddy that actually she knew it's aeroplane, but decided to play along with Daddy! As for Mei Mei, she's very excited, and didn't show any sign of fear at all. I do nursed her on and off so maybe that helped on the pressure problem too. I also gave her the ventolin spray before the takeoff.

Both girls carrying a Tigger each with them

My sister had rented a very nice and cosy apartment for us. It was located on Moscow's most charming and lively pedestrisan street, The Arbat. I felt like being in Europe while walking down that street.

We're very very satisfied and happy with our apartment, really.

The girls in their first winter jackets

Looking at the photos, you must be thinking how cold it's in Russia right? Well, we're already warned that it's summer so it's adequate to just bring windbreaker or normal jackets, but since Sze Juin had bronchitis 1 week before the trip, we wanted to be more equipped. Ended up, Hubby and I kept thinking it's very cold there, so we bought mostly winter clothings for the kids and ourselves. That ate up a lot of luggage space actually.

Who knows when we reached there, it's so much hotter than in Malaysia! But luckily the apartment that we're staying in Moscow was fully air-conditioned, so the girls still get to wear their winter jackets :) Just for fun, actually.

Warming up the fireplace?

I'll just share a few shots of the places we went to in Moscow on the 2nd day there (we actually arrived in the late afternoon so we stayed in the apartment most of the time that day.

Russia is so much sunnier and more colorful than what Hubby initially projected as cold and grey. More photos to follow later, after I've compiled them. So stay tuned :)

Bronchitis and Father's Day

Sze Juin had fever for nearly a week before we finally took her to see the doctor. Prior to that, Jie Jie had fever first, we took both of them to see the doctors (two separate doctors) and during both times, SJ was checked and diagnosed to be perfectly OK. So only Jie Jie was on antibiotics, but they couldn't find anything wrong with SJ.

So when SJ's turn to have fever, we thought it was just a normal sore throat and took her to see the doctor. But still again, nothing wrong with her, not even a red throat. So we thought it's OK. After about 1 week and her fever still didn't really go down, we took her there again, and this time the paed suspected it's bronchitis. We're asked if we wanted to send her for chest x-ray to be certain that it's not pneumonia, we agreed. Luckily it's just bronchitis. Initially we didn't want to take her to see the doctor because if it's suspected dengue, she'll need to have her blood taken and we didn't like that. So we just stop her fever by using Paracetamol and IbuProfen.

We chose not to be admited, so we had to make several trips to the hospital for nebulizer treatment. I took the day off and my boss is so nice to let me work from home for half a day so that I can bring her there at least 3 times a day, and thank God after the 4th time, doctor found her 80% recovered. I was so relieved, because we'll be travelling in a exactly a week's time.

This was also her first time taking antibiotics Zithromax. I only managed to protect her from antibiotics for 2 years and 1 month :( Anyway, that helped her condition to improve a lot, so I wouldn't fret. Besides that, she's also on Singulair, and probiotics.

SJ holding her own nebulizer valve

She's so coperative when it comes to giving her the nebulizer treatment. Even the nurses were surprised, normally kids that age would cry or protest, but SJ co-operatively allowed them or me to put that on her. Sometimes, she even wanted to hold it herself, all through the whole process. I was so proud of her. 

Being a kiasu mom, I also took her and her Jie Jie for Ayurvedic treatment, since I wanted something to keep them from harm while we're travelling. It's OK to take the Ayurvedic herbs together with the western medicine (1 hour apart), and I felt more secured  having something with me while we're away. I'll also be bringing all the basic medications along. The paed also gave me the ventoline inhaler, in case I'll be needing that during our trip. I think we're well prepared, and since SJ's recovering very fast, I'm hoping she'll be fully cleared by then. 

Well, all this actually happened on Father's Day. So you can guess how Father's Day was celebrated this year. Anyway, we did manage to squeeze in a simple dinner together as it's also Sa Chik's birthday that day.

Amah's Birthday

We celebrated Amah's birthday at Hokaido Restaurant. Hubby's really impressed with the dishes there so he took us there for an experience for ourselves. I couldn't agree more with him. What I liked best about the restaurant was the sequence on how they served the dishes - large plates of fruits and vege before meat and finally carbohydrates. Really a very creative and healthy way of eating!

Preaparing to cut the birthday cake

Did you noticed the girls in their new dress? It's a belated Christmas presents from Aunty XP, and they loved it very much! Thanks XP, it's so very thoughtful of you. The dressses just arrived at the right time for such a special occasion :)

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!

Ni Shi Hao Wa Wa

SJ learnt this from her Jie Jie sometime in April...

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...

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.  

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.