Update on Kids and Everything Else

I am slowly finding the mood and energy to blog.  The last two weeks have been a bit of a hit and miss, and whilst the first week of school holiday is almost over, I am also slowly finding the mood to write.

Jayden - 4 yrs 9 months

The beginning of the 2 weeks started with an accident at home involving JD.  My son has always had some form of allergies since he was a young infant.  When he was 13 months old, he had a severe reaction to eggs when we tried it at home.  That was only a quarter teasppon of egg then.  Since then, we have stayed away from eggs.  Also because of his allegies, we also later found out he is severely allergic to all kind of nuts.

We have had zero incidents since he was first confirmed with allergies.  Over the years, we have talked to him about his allergies, raising his awareness, getting him to question everything that was given to him, and even when attending parties and social gatherings, he has since learnt to ask “Excuse me, have this got eggs and nuts in it?”.  If so, he has learnt to walk away from the food gracefully without a fuss.  We are always careful if someone next to him might be eating an omelette or a peanut butter sandwich.  We have to make sure there’s absolutely no skin contact at all.

But 2 weeks ago, while we were making pizza for dinner, JD joined in to help.  I decided to try the new jar of sundried tomato pesto my husband bought from the supermarket.  JD asked if he could try the pesto and without thinking twice I just said “yes”.  So he dip a teaspoon into the pesto and had a taste.  Then he helped himself to the pineapples I have put in a bowl.  He liked it.  Well, 10-15 mins later, he came to me and said “Mummy, my tummy feels really full.” So I got him to lie down and he lost interest over the pizza even when it was done.  10 mins later when I checked on him, he had hives coming out around his mouth.  I knew straight away it was an allergic reaction and gave him 5 ml of antihistamine.

I thought it was the pineapples that gave the reaction.  And I also thought the antihistamine would take effect real soon.  But 10 mins later, he was getting really uncomfortable and itchy.  Then he started to cough, his face turned bright red.  He kept saying to me “Mum, I want to go see a doctor.”

It was Sunday night, 7pm, raining, windy and cold.  Most doctor surgeries are shut.  A minute later, he coughed again and this time he really didn’t look well.  So I grabbed my bag, keys, wallet, left Chloe with my husband whilst I calmly drove to the closest hospital and within the speed limit.   I didn’r rush as the road was wet.

In my mind, I was rehearsing the whole CPR procedure I have learned.   Because as you know, when a person has severe allergies, they go into an anaphylatic shock, their airways get swollen and that could impair their breathing.  It was just a 5 mins drive to the hospital but I kept talking to him, listening out to him as I couldn’t turn to look at JD.  When we got there, JD was in a good spirit.  He even sang to me “Mummy, we gotta run run run, run as fast as you can…”. 

I guess everything happened at the right timing.  5 minutes arriving at the hospital, JD went into a severe shock, his whole face turned red, puffy, his lips swelled up, his body was hot, full body shaking, he had hives everywhere all over his body, he couldn’t stop scratching.  The nurse let us in quickly and JD was given all 5 different drugs to prevent his body from going into further shock. 

The doctor had to give him 2 needles in his bum, and man, as much as he hated it, crying out to me “Mummy, I don’t want the needles”.  Like every parent in similar circumstance, I succumb all my energy and faith, stripped down his pants, held him down and said to him while looking straight into his eyes “Jayden, I am not going to hurt you, I just want to help you get better.”

He stopped crying instantly and 2 needles went in.  Then there were 3 other medications he had orally.  40 minutes later, he was completely knocked out by the drugs, and fell asleep.  We kept him there under observation for a few hours and it was close to midnight when I came home with JD and went to bed.  His body shivered all night due to the shock.

Chloe and my husband were worried and did not go to bed till we were home.  Incidentally, my mobile phone also went flat whilst we were at the hospital. 

I slept a little that night.  The next day, my mind was all over the place.  I so wanted to talk to someone.  My hubby had to be away for a conference for the next 2 days.  I kept thinking of what food have caused the allergies.  After one morning, I realised it wasn’t the pineapples.  It was the sundried tomato pesto.  Like all pesto, which I have learned now, consists of cashews and pinenuts.  Yikes.  I held my breath for a while, but also breath a sigh of relief because at least it wasn’t a new allergen. 

Later that day, I sat down and calmly explained to JD about the incident.  I said to him it wasn’t the pineapples, but the sundried tomato pesto that caused his allergies that night.  I said it has cashew nuts and pinenuts in it which I did not realise.  Therefore the unfortunate incident and I was glad and proud of the fact that he knew his body wasn’t feeling right and insisted on seeing a doctor. 

That was 2 weeks ago now.  I did not blame myself for the incident and neither did I embark on the guilt trip.  Because the main thing is I identified the reaction, followed up with the necessary actions, got to the doctor at the right time, JD got treated and recovered.  It’s important that as mothers we do not blame ourselves, because we can be on that guilt trip forever.  So whilst at the hospital, I told myself in words “Pris, you are not going to blame yourself for this.”   Because knowing myself, if I have blamed myself, my week would just go downhill from there.  So I had to stop the guilt trip before it started.

It was just more of the shock and lesson I learnt that shook me up a little bit and left me feeling slightly disoriented for a number of days.

For now, he is back to normal.  I still carry the Epipen (adrenaline shot for allergic reaction in times of emergency) with me everywhere I go, continuing to check all labels, checking the food when we dine out…

JD is due for another allergies follow up in August.  Oh, and we also since consulted a naturopath about his allergies condition, and JD is now on a health kick diet of NO corn, maize, cow’s milk based product, chocolates and white flour.

Here’s a shot of the Ninja JD snacking on a big bowl of fruit salad for his afternoon tea.

So in the last weekend, I spent 2 hours in the supermarket studying every food label, buying brown rice milk, stocking up on more wholemeal flour, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal cereals, brown rice, thinking creatively of healthy snacks that don’t use any of the above. 

He is doing very well.  On his last day of term 2, his teacher gave each of them a Freddo frog chocolate.  He gladfully handed it to me, said he would swap the chocolate for somethingelse.  Another day someone offered him a glass of bottled orange juice, he politely declined and said “No thanks, I don’t need it.” 

Chloe - 1 more day to turning 2

Chloe, apart from her snooty nose is doing fine. 

She said some funny things.  The other morning, upon hearing the rain, she exclaimed out loud, and this time in Mandarin:

“妈咪， 滴滴嗒嗒， 滴滴嗒嗒， 下雨了”！

She is talking well, very chatty, very curious, very friendly, love her brother, love her friends that come around everyday.

Her favourite saying in the morning is “Wake up mummy, good morning mummy, wake up 哥哥， good morning 哥哥， bye bye daddy!”

Sometimes she sounds like the DJ greeting us on the radio station, hee!

She rushed to the gate every morning, reporting back to me whom have arrived.  She run to the children, saying “Hello, good morning” really really close to their face.  She knows every child by their name.  When it’s home time for the other children, she knows to pick up the right bag, right water bottle, right shoes for the right kid.  She is quite an observant child, watches every move around her, and imitate.  Oh, she is funny.

She is also Miss Independent at this age.  She has to try everything herself.  Climbing into the car and her car seat.  Putting on her own shoes.  Taking off her own clothes.  Undoing her own nappy.  Pouring milk into her cereal bowl in the morning.  So to not crush her desire to be independent, I let her do most things but by factor in extra 10 minutes into most things so that we won’t be late for school, appointments and etc.  That way, there’s not much frustration involved, she gets to learn, I am on time and it works out well.

She is turning 2 tomorrow.  2 years old she is going to be.  Not a baby, but still the baby in our house :) 

Some cupcakes we baked earlier in the week to celebrate with all her friends.  These cakes, apart from the icing, are super healthy as it’s made with wholemeal flour, no eggs, olive oil, and very very litle sugar.

Me

Oh, I am okay.  Tired some days that’s how I would put it. 

My mum asked me to drink chicken essence which I have been faithfully doing.  But I need to go see my herbalist for hebs to supplement my qi.  I am feeling quite depleted of it lately. 

I was very moody and tired the weekend just past.  I felt drained.  Somehow as the school term ended, my whole body also felt the need to rest and recharge.   I was tired of looking after so many children in a week.  They have all been incredibly demanding and challenging. 

So to sort out my messy thoughts, I cleaned out my children’s clothes from new born to now and was shock at how much clothes they have.  With a boy and a girl, there’s almost double of everything.  I have cleared it all, some pass onto friends that are expecting, some to charity, some I kept for keepsake. 

I don’t want to put a pic of me up here yet because 1.  I need to go trim my eyebrow 2.  My hair needs a cut and perm again.  Yes, look is still important to me

As a family 

We are going away on a short trip tomorrow, 4 days 3 nights somewhere down south.  We just booked the accommodation 2 hours ago and I hope for a good break.

 

Overheard from my 23 months old daugther..

“哥哥， fight fight, hia hia hia”….

All the time, she was using her fairy magic wand, swinging around in the air, with one leg up to her knee…

Ah, too much superhero influence.

 

The Beauty of 2

A friend and I met up for coffee the other night.  As we sat there, exchanging stories about our day, the school holidays, the kids, their antics, our frustrations, we laughed, we agonised, we frowned, we nodded in unison,  and we came to realise that…

Yes, some days it can be a lot of work.  Different levels of interests, needs, wants, expectations, routines, abilities between 2 kids…

But then, they are a lot of fun.  They are priceless.  They are good kids.  They drive me crazy some days, but they are still my kids.  And I love them so.  So much. 

There is nothing better when you sit in the living room, watching the siblings played, laughed, teased one another, rumble tumble with each other, one rolling onto the other’s back, chuckled and yes, it is noisy, rowdy at times…but you know what…

It is good noise, healthy noise, happy noise because that’s what a family home with children should sound like.  Sometimes we must also be thankful for the times when they cry, fight, bickle because again they are all in the process of growing up.  And they are healthy and happy.

 Sometimes she cried because she didn’t want to sleep, put them 2 together, they played till they fell asleep.

They love catching the train, going to see daddy in the city, one of their favourite Friday outings.

Big brother JD taking over the role of teaching his little sister…C, Cer, for Chloe

She loves sitting on her brother’s lap, sometimes he obliged, sometimes he say “No Chloe, you are too heavy!” Hiakhiak

Sometimes he just let her play with his toys while he watches on…

 

 

Together. They Make Me Happy.

My two kids are now at the stage of really playing together.

They ride their bikes together in the backyard.

They roll around on the bed together.

They goof around together.

They like hanging out with one another.

They pack up the mess together.

They eat together.

They do lots of things together.

More often than not, they are also in mischief together.

They fight.  They cry together.

But watching them together make me happy.  Really happy.

 

I Still Love You

You have been waking up every night in the past week, created a big fuss, refused to settle by anyone.

Because you just

- wanted me to hold you while you went back to sleep

- wanted to hold  my hands till you were ready to let go 

- wanted to make sure I was there day and night

- wouldn’t leave me alone

- wanted to be cuddled, held, picked up…

Oh, it’s one of those phase we are going through again, tiring it may be.

But I still love you.  Because I know those damn molars that are trying to stick out are pain.in.the.butt!  And luckily you are cuter that those 2 damn molars!

 

 

Here Comes The Food Monster, Again.

A number of weeks ago, JD and I planted lots of new flower and vegetable seedlings in our garden.  Every day he waters the plant, watch them grow, using his measuring tape to measure the growth of the vegies.

Well they are all growing happily, but we haven’t harvested the vegetables to eat yet, because we thought we will let the lettuce grow a bit bigger.

But here comes the little food monster, whom has found her own way to the food source!  Yes, she found them.  And we couldn’t stop her.  She thought this is the coolest thing.  Food, glorious food!  She has food within reach everywhere, even when she is in the garden playing!  Yee ha!  I think this girl will never go hungry.  Just wait till the day she can make her own sandwich.  Perhaps I need to lock the fridge, wahaha!

 

Chloe - 20 months

Oh, I am not even sure where to start.  20 months old is such a happening for her. 

She can be…

Funny. Entertaining. Full of character.  Ferocious at times.  Intense.  Doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.  Negotiative.  Cute.  Annoying at times.  Cheerful.  At times sulky.  Eat like a horse.  Drink like a fountain.  Always wanting to be different.  Always wanting to try.  Never want to miss out, no way! 

She is a little package, petite for her size, but so full of character.  That at times, I just stand quietly and watch this little person in action.  At times, I am just thankful for the fact that she already knows her stand at just 20 months old.  Just in the right balance is fine. 

She loves her brother.  She is always looking for him.  She looks for him first thing in the morning.  She always take an extra share of food for her brother.  She is always calling out for “哥哥”（brother) in the house.  When she asks me for something, be it food, drink, books, toys, clothes, bathtime, she will ask the same for her brother.   Her way of asking is always “Please, ta, 哥哥！“  She will always take 2 of everything, one of her, one for 哥哥.

They enjoy their shower time together, when JD will wash her hair and she will pour bucketful of water on JD.  The house is noisy, with the two of them talking, laughing, giggling, playing in the backyard…oh, it’s great to see the two of them together. 

As Chloe has an older brother as role model, this girl has no fear at times.  She can be really grotty when she plays in the backyard.  She runs around with no shoes.  She is always bare feet when she plays in the garden.  She has no care if her pants are all wet and dirty from their little “sand n water” science experiment in the backyard, she plays till the sun set!  She runs,  She rolls around on the grass.  She chase the birds.  She laughs out loud when she is happy.  She would shout from the garden “Mummy, look, this…” when she sees something really cool in the garden bed, i.e. snails!   A quick kiss and a hug is all she needs when she falls.  Then she is off again.  She is a bundle full of character, and not to forget, energy too!

She watches my every move.  She sees me turning on the dishwasher.  Putting the dishes away.  She sees me using the same colour cloth everytime to wipe the table.  She sees me dressed and putting on my make up.  She knows my favourite pair of red shoes.  She sits at the stool next to me every morning.  She knows the colour of lipstick I would use.  The particular eye shadow I like.  And she try to do the same, playing with my lipstick, brush and etc.  She knows me. 

Before I know.  She helps me to put the dishes away.  She wipes the mess at the kids dinner table for me.  She tells me if there is a mess.  She packs up the playroom.  She is usually the first to pack up, to clean, to tidy.  She does it gladfully, everyday.  I feel a sense of comfort, gladfulness, and encouragement when I see her eagerness.  I know she has been observing, learning through our daily routine.  I love it when I hear her singing to herself “Pa way (pack away), pa way (pack away), da to pa toys way (time to pack the toys away)!”

That also explains her fondness with dressing up.  Pants.  Dresses. Skirts. Tights, Socks.  Oversize shirts.  Oversize pants.  Hats. Sunglasses.  She loves the dress up corner.   Just this morning, she decided that putting a pair of mismatched socks over her pair of tights look pretty good.  Well, it’s her choice and I respected that.  And not forgetting she walked into daycare the other day with a summer dress, her winter pyjama pants, a pair of green fluffy slippers and 2 hairclips on her very fine hair.

She knows what I will do when she misbehaves.  She knows when I look at her a certain way.  She will look away from me and drop her head when she is wrong.  She gives me a cuddle to say she is sorry.  We cuddle.  We forgive.  We move on. 

She learns fast.  Just like how we accidentally toilet train her with the poop business.  Thinking of just giving it a shot.  She got it pretty quickly.  Already helping us to cut back on nappy costs since she is usually on cloth diaper.  She now sits on the throne, and does her poop everyday.  She runs to the toilet.  Pull her pants down, climb on the stool to reach her throne…quite cool really, one less thing I need to do :)  And we all know that, changing pooey nappies can sometimes be a potent business, complete with gloves and masks.  Also, I hate pooey nappies especially when they have past the new born stage.

She learns and takes instructions in both languages.  I always speak to her in Mandarin that it almost feel foreign to me if I speak English to her.  It just doesn’t feel right anymore.  Recently, I heard her chanting “洗手！洗手！”（wash hands) when I told her it was dinner time.  She knows her body parts in Mandarin and her clarity is getting better each day.  But I have a feeling English might still be the more dominant language in her, as she is exposed to more English in the environment we are in.  But, I am glad I have sowed the seeds in her and I hope we can keep going with it.

20 months old is a fun age.  She is full of character.  Totally carefree.  Totally happy.  I love her.  I love watching her.  I enjoy this time I have with her.

                 

 

Welcome Back Term 2, 2008!

After 2 wonderful weeks of break, just spending time at home doing  major “autumn” clean, planted new flower seedlings, some vegetables, rearranging our playarea, preparing my weekly daycare programmes…

I also brought the kids out to a few birthday parties, meet up with friends, and sometimes just the 3 of us having a quiet time at the park.  It was very peaceful just alone with my 2 kids

I also took some time out for myself while JD and Chloe spent a day with Andrea at daycare.  I used those days to go for massage, running errands, going to the bank, claiming some outstanding bills, and best of all, lunch by myself quietly, peacefully, at a quiet cafe corner. 

Those time away from the children were much needed and very healthy for my mind and soul.  JD was particularly thrilled to spend some time with Andrea and his old friends from daycare. 

Well, this morning, we all rise early, got ourselves ready, did some quiet meditation for a good 15 minutes and then we welcome back everyone to our family daycare for Term 2, 2008!  This term, I have changed a few things around to enable me to operate better by cutting back some work, but most importantly, I hope it allows me to have some reserved energy for myself at the end of the day.

My 2 kids were excited to see their friends arriving this morning, and the 2 of them were just fooling around when I tried to take a pic of them 2!

 

 

At 7.00am on a wet Thursday morning….

What happened when my 2 little ones decided to get up earlier than usual?  It was only 7am, we had changed, gotten ready for our morning walk…and then the rain poured!

So, we changed plan, JD said “Let’s bake a cake!”  Chloe being selective listening, “Yay, cake, cake, cake!”

So, we baked a butter cake at 7.30 in the morning.

An hour later, we had some early morning tea before dropping off a few slices to our babysitter and a neighbour.

The rain finally stopped, and we walked to the park for a good play!  And to burn off the calories from the butter cake, yes, 250 g of butter I used to make that cake!

 

Look and she will find…

It was 5pm in the late afternoon.  I had gone to put away some laundry in the kids room, and as I walked past the hallway to check on the kids, I heard someone busy pushing the stool around…

Then I saw a very happy camper…

And why so?

Because she found food!!!!  Yes, I heard her pushing the kiddy’s kitchen step stool around, tip toed and reached out for some dim sim I brought home for her that day.

She is happy if there is food involved….

And as I put another load of laundry into our bedroom, I came out again and saw this…

She had taken another char siu pao from the box and she has food in each hand…

But, I just love her “love for food”.  Because she loves sitting at a corner in the kitchen, slowly, carefully, deliciously eating, tasting, every single piece of food I offer to her….

But more often that not, she is pretty good at finding her food source!  Who needs mummy when she can do it all herself!

Also, another thing to note about her shirt, yes, she has gone into JD’s bedroon, ransacked his wardrobe and picked out a size 4 shirt she wanted to try, for that day.  It will be something different again tomorrow.

Why can’t she be contended wearing her own size 1 shirt, with pretty embrodiery…ah yes, the grass on the other side is always greener :)