The One Ring

We were at Toy Tag at harbourfront on Sunday, and while Ewan was browsing in the store, I was watching the kids just outside.

Christian wanders up to the store window, and spots this game.

 
"One. Ring." He says, with a dramatic pause between the words. Surprised, I almost half expected him to start reciting this.

"Oh my gosh, what did you just say? Who taught you that?" I ask him, completely bewildered.

He goes closer, points out the image of the 'O', and says there! "One, ring."

Phew. Ok tile with a ring and number '1' on the bottom right.

Thought we had a 2-year-old LOTR genius on our hands.

In The Swim Of Things

When I was pregnant with Christian, I swam loads, easily doing about 30 laps, right up to the end of my pregnancy. Must have rubbed off on him, cos he loves going to the pool now.

With Connor, things were different. Having a toddler around, I hardly had the time for anything, much less going for a swim. Any spare time I had was happier spent lazing in bed. So, we were keen to see how he'd like the pool.

Last weekend, we brought packed the boys up (along with a huge bag - it's amazing the amount of stuff you have to bring for a swim when you have young tots and babies) and took them to the club.

Connor's eyes lit up the second he saw the pool.

Get me in da wataaaaar!

Christian, on the other hand was busy instructing daddy how to help him change into his swim diapers and swimsuit.

The two older boys headed for the water first while I got Connor ready... And the water was colddddd!

Brrrr cold!

Christian was shivering as he got in, saying "bubby (his nickname) moving, bubby gone crazy!" Guess he's never quite experienced the sensation of shivering before!

I'm swimming, I'm swimming!

Then it was Connor's turn and the little guy just absolutely adored the water!

Now you see daddy

And now you don't!

Only one person looking at the cam

 Lil' C splashed and kicked and floated and had an awesome time.

Shiok-ness

Water ballet - I can point my toes!

Daddy time

Family fun!

We'll definitely do this again soon!

Christian turned 2 and Connor's 1 month celebration!

Happy birthday sweethearts

A backdated post here on the bubs' celebration that we had on 29th March '13. 

Looking after a 2-year-old and a 1-month-old is no mean feat by itself so planning an elaborate party was certainly out of the question.

We just wanted to book a restaurant/cafe and let them handle the food, and give us the opportunity to give Christian a treat, and introduce Connor to our friends and family.

We went with Empire State at Greenwich, because Christian always loves the "monkey place" and there's a nice open space with a water fountain right outside for the kids to run around. 

He was going through this 'Thomas' phase at that time, so I just ran around a couple of party shops to pick up some balloons and decor. Thomas and Percy cakes were from Polar.

Here are some beautiful pics (as always) that Ben took for us.

With my parents and Godpa

Candles time

Thomas & Percy cakes

In his element

Bubbles with Godpa

Little Ian

Grace and bubbles with her Godma

Sweetie Joy

Happiness

Eli and fam

Wide-eyed cutie

Cheeky bugger

Little Eena and fam

Who's birthday is it?

Happy 1st month chubster!

Fry or ang pow?

One with mummy

The sicklies

I write this post as a reminder never to take our health for granted.

Some three weeks a ago, sickness struck our household. First to get hit was Christian. A mysterious rash had started to appear on his body. There weren't any other symptoms - no fever, itch, or anything else, so we just put it down to a mild allergy.

Rash starting out on the thighs and mildly on the torso

However, when the rash persisted for the third day, I decided to take him to our GP. She checked his mouth, found a couple of ulcers and made a diagnosis: HFMD! We were quite horrified, as we knew how contagious that was!

Still, I had a nagging feeling of doubt, as Christian did not have any rash on his soles and palms, neither did he have a fever nor difficulty eating.

Anyhow, we tried to keep the kids separated as much as possible.

Then, it was Ewan's turn to feel unwell. It started with some body aches, and he started to feel cold and hot alternatively. He developed a rash, fever and had severe migraines. We begun to suspect that he had Dengue fever - he'd had it before and he noticed similar symptoms. We hurried him to the A&E at Mount Alvernia Hospital, and he did a blood test. Thankfully, it was not Dengue, but a viral fever. In fact, we also thought that perhaps that was what Christian had - and not HFMD - as the rash looked quite similar.

We were relieved, thinking the worst was over.

Then Connor came down with a fever. It never went very high - hovering around the mid-37 degrees to 38 degrees. I wasn't too worried, because, well, kids come down with fevers all the time. Right? Right? (Second-time mum speaking here)

Hot hot!

We gave him some Progesic, slapped a fever patch on his forehead, and the fever went down each time.

Then one Saturday night, Connor woke up repeatedly through the night. He felt warm so I gave him some medicine and the fever patch, but the fever just kept spiking.

Sunday morning came, and I decided to take him to the A&E as the GP and Paediatrician weren't open. I rushed down to Mount Alvernia Hospital and he did a blood test. The poor little fella was screaming as they tried to draw blood from his teensy finger. The test results showed that his white blood cell count was extremely high - 1,350. The normal range is just 0-6!

A urine test followed and we found out that he had a urinary tract infection and had to be warded immediately.

Patch me up

Dr Ong Eng Keow, who's actually Christian's PD, was on hand at Mount A, so we went with him. He checked on Connor and put him on Augmentin, an antibiotic.

Drowsy from the meds

All this time, while I was settling Connor in at the hospital, Ewan was with Christian at home. Christian wasn't feeling too good either. His rash was clearing up, but he didn't have much of an appetite (a rarity!), and when he did, he was throwing his food up. After eating, he would practically double over in discomfort. His meds were making him drowsy and he would just doze off while sitting in the living - something that NEVER happens. Ewan ended up bringing Christian to the A&E on Monday for a quick check - and he was found to have a viral fever, probably what daddy had.

Masked men

Connor stayed at Mount A for two nights. He was always his cheery self, except when we had to give him his meds, which he hated (who could blame him).

Love the huge bed to roll around on

On the second day, he had to get an ultrasound done, to make sure his kidneys and bladders were structurally normal. Thankfully everything was. Right after the scan though, he did a major poop (antibiotics causes loose stools) and leaked everywhere! I had to run back up to the ward and give him a bath.

Unfortunately for him though, he had run out of rompers (daddy was bringing them only later that afternoon) so he had to wear Mount Alvernia's official garb for infants...

Sexy and I know it

The nurses at Mount A were a great bunch. The morning after he was warded, he had woken up at 6am, and was being fussy all the way to 7am. The nurses saw that I was exhausted and offered to watch him for a bit while I went to freshen up. After I took a quick shower, I found him in the corridor playing with the nurses - little things like that, I was indeed grateful for.

Mornings at the hospital spent watching Channelnewsasia with mummy

On Monday morning, Dr Ong came to see him with the results of another urine test and we found that his white blood cell count had gone down to 80 and could be discharged. Boy, were we relieved.

He'll have to go back for a review in two months, and we'd have to decide if we want to do some additional tests to ensure he's fully cleared of the UTI, but that's another story for another day.

Imma superhero

All's well now and I'm so thankful. I pray that we'll always be blessed with good health.

Sam L J

Loved him in movies and love that he gets parents of young kids.

This video totally cracked me up!

Model Behaviour

Yeah right!

But seriously, Christian had a little ‘modelling’ stint for a fashion spread in Mother & Baby in July, and Connor just did one in the October issue.

Action only

Laughing at daddy pretending to jump of the boat!

My lovely baby lumps!

A tad nerve wrecking for us, but it was fun!

Connor's first foods

We gave Connor a taste of his first semi-solid food (avocado) last weekend. The verdict? A mixture of shock and horror! Here's the video!

PS: Yes we were laughing, but it was just too funny ;)

Tantrum Tales

Oh my goodness!

We have an awesome two year old.

He rocks out to Aerosmith, ACDC and Guns N' Roses, insists on wearing mismatched socks and two tees at the same time and asks us to refer to him as Pluto.

We love his quirks - But like most two-year-olds, he can throw pretty epic tantrums - we're talking lying sprawled out on the floor screaming, arching his back and flailing his arms. But then he also provides us with funny gems: Like if I tell him don't scream, he says must scream! Or if I say don't cry he says must cry!

It's exhausting but hilarious at the same time.

Over time though, I've learnt certain strategies to help - both us and him - cope with this phase.

1. Distraction

Ice cream, Harold the Helicopter and Stickers make mealtimes happy

It's simple really - something yummy in one hand and a toy in the other, and he doesn't realise that he's doing exactly what you want him to.

2. Cause And Effect

I'll wear my shoes if I get to shoot you.

Or positive reinforcement. Or bribing. Whatever works.

Pretty much goes something like this.

Me: "Wear your shoes please."
C: "Nope."
Me: "You want a biscuit?"
C: "Yes."
Me: "Wear your shoes then you get your biscuit."
C: "..."

Works sometimes.

3. Engaging

Shopping trips are fun when I get to do this!

I recently read an article that stated that "Children tend to throw temper tantrums in public for two reasons: they are deliberately disobedient, or they are bored out of their minds."

How true - especially the second part. As parents, it's easy to "expect" the kiddo to simply follow you around for the day, whether your catching up with friends over coffee or going shopping, forgetting that these tiny human beings need to be engaged at their level. 

Even while Ewan and I are talking to each other, we try to make it a point to address Christian once in a while, so he feels included in the conversation, and not simply drowned out in the background.

4. Routine

My new stuffed toy

One of the hardest things to do these days, is to get Christian into bed. 

From a young age, we got him into a routine of having dinner, then bringing a bunch of "cool" stuff into his room for some pre-bedtime play, then milk and night night time. 

As he got older, he started to bargain and drag his bedtime.

I'm thankful though, that because of the nightly routine, once he's convinced to get into his room, it's a pretty straightforward bedtime ritual because of what he's used to.

5. Naps

Snoozing 

One of the most basic but underrated toddler needs. Christian's at a stage where he can ALMOST drop a nap - he does that some times when he sleeps in in the morning, so we simply put him down earlier at night. But for most days, he does need one, and will get incredibly cranky when he doesn't get one. The key is to be aware of when he's getting tired and to quickly pop him into the car or stroller (if we're out), or give him a bottle of milk to lull him to sleep.

I think we're handling the "twos" pretty well - so, here's to new parenting adventures and experiences!

Yellow

One of the most terrifying things I faced as a new mum was Jaundice. For some reason ― perhaps because my babies were both born at 37 weeks and their livers had not fully developed ― they were checked out of hospital with low jaundice levels, but the levels went up a few days later, and they required phototherapy.

For Christian, we decided to rent a phototherapy bed from the hospital. We’d already come back to the comforts of home and really didn’t want to have to be admitted again. As it turns out, that might have been the wrong decision. The poor little guy cried almost the whole time his tiny body was in the phototherapy unit and stopped only when we took him out to feed him. As first time parents, we cried along with him and I recall the hours we spent by his bedside holding his hand and praying as he screamed his lungs out.

Christian under phototherapy

For Connor, we were told to give him a sun bath every morning and evening from the day he came home.

Morning, Sunshine!

But after a few days, we noticed his skin was still yellow, and so were the whites of his eyes. So, we weren't surprised when his bilirubin levels were high at his first paediatrician check up. This time though, we decided to check back into the hospital with me staying in a single ward with him. We sure didn't want Connor crying through the night, especially when Christian, who was still grappling with the idea of a new sibling, was trying to sleep.

However, it seems our fears were quite unfounded, as Connor slept like a dream in the hospital, only waking up when he needed to feed. As for me, that hospital stay was pretty much like breastfeeding boot camp - so my supply certainly went up by leaps and bounds!

Connor under phototherapy

Thankfully, after a couple of days in the light, both my babies got much better :)