March Hols

This March Hols was a slow and lazy one esp for me as I didn't have to rush to bring Jedi up and down from school. Realize I need to let him have more sun to build up his immunity so am trying to work a playground and outdoor time into his everyday routine. Tiring for me but I realize the two kids sleep so much better at night esp Krisa who seldom wakes now except to ask to pee pee.

Jedi mastered his bicycle which still has trainer wheels. He was super excited and wanted to practice everyday. So I brought him down to cycle while Krisa played at the playground. Good sun and a good breather for me out of the house.

Dan took leave on Thurs and we brought the kids out to catch the Thomas Roadshow at Jurong Point. We refused to stand in line to wait an hour earlier just to get a seating space for a 15 min show so we just hung around the sides to catch a good glimpse. Had my butt smacked by some kid who felt I was blocking his way and the mum didn't do anything! grrrrrrrr! But the kids enjoyed themselves having tea at Macs and taking the MRT home. Topped off with Jedi going for his haircut at his favourite barber so that he can get his lolly from him!

Was a good time with the kiddies and a good break for all of us. Thanks dear for taking leave to spend with us.

Sibling slumber...

A snapshot of the two kiddies finally sleeping together in peace and harmony with Krisa being a cooperative Mei Mei and not waking so much at night. The hospital stint was actually a blessing in disguise as I found out that "itchy itchy" actually meant she was on high tide and needed to pee!

Tummy Flu Woes....

Had another bout of sleepless nights since last Sat as Krisa would wake up to 7 times in the night. Was frustrating as we didn't know whats wrong with her. On thurs she was at her ultimate crankiness level ,leaving me very thin on patience. But she was still her active self and ate well and played with Jedi. So I was really unprepared when during her bedtime milk she began throwing up all her dinner. I thought it was just a choke but it happened again 5 min later and thank God Dan was around to help me clean up while we took turns to clean her up. She threw up again 5 min later so we thought its best to bring her to the doc.

I brought her down to the GP and the first one I went to was a long wait so I decided to see another one. Just before I left that clinic, she threw up all over the clinic floor and the clinic assistant calmly passed me a rag and told me to clean up my own mess and dispose the rag. So helpful! So off we went to another clinic and I quickly changed her clothes on the way. Doc gave her some medicine for her stomach and vomitting and I quickly rushed home to give it to her. Gave her the medicine but she puked it out 1 min later. So let her rest and gave it again. This time it stayed down so we put her to sleep. She asked for some water before she slept and we gave her and she puked again, water and medicine. Cleaned her up and decided to just let her sleep. She dozed off and woke 15 min later and asked for water. So we gave her and she puked again! So cleaned her up and as we lay her down her tummy began making those awful retching noises and she puked again, water. We felt something wasn't right so Dan decided to bring her down to KKH. It was almost 10pm by that time. At s we were changing her, she puked again more water. And at the door another round.

Got a call from Dan abt 12 am saying that the doc suspected it was stomach flu. They needed to test to see if she could take in fluids to decided if she could be warded or not. she had to drink an electrolyte drink every 15 min to see if the water stayed down. The last dose was the one that prompted everything out again. So the doc advised that they could do the test again or ward her. Dan decided to ward her and she was warded at 3am. Doc said she was already 3% dehydrated. So they had to put her on a drip. when Dan told me that over the phone, I felt so sick with worry. I have never felt so terrible but it was agonizing for me not to be able to the there with her at that time but one of us had to be home to watch over Jedi while he slept.

So the next morning, after sending Jedi to school, I went down to the KK to see her.Pained me to see her on the drip and attached to the machine. Dan and I decided to take turns. My aunt who has always been there for us in times of need and always willing to help us in times of need, willinglly lent her help. So on Fri, Dan fetched Jedi from school and helped me settle him for the whole day. And on Sat we arranged for Jedi to be at her place the whole day till evening so that Dan and I could tend to Krisa in the hosp. I decided to stay the night on Sat as Krisa was quite clingy and I was also lazy to fetch Jedi and settle the things at home.

Finally on Sun, the doc decided to take the drip off as she was taking in more fluids and food so it was a good sign.We were so glad to be out of the hosp! Staying in hosp is seriously no fun and Krisa being an active one resented being 'chained' to the drip machine. So to let her move around, we had to unplug the machine and carry her while pushing the drip machine. very very tiring. Those times Dan was not around, I had to wheel the drip machine into the toilet with me so I could pee at the same time telling her not to move around too much. And at night, she surprisingly slept well but not me as the nurses would constantly walk in and out to check the other patents in the 4 bed ward. Krisa's other hospital mates was a colic baby ( so you can imagine the crying at night at hourly intervals), another family with a young 5 month old baby whose mum was incredibly patient ( i need to learn from her!) and a Malay family who had some 'drama' about tussling over the custody of the sick child who was having an asthma attack. The bed for me was super hard and creaky!

All in all I am thankful for my hubby who took leave to look after Krisa in the day while I stayed with her at night. It was tiring for him to bring Krisa down in the wee hours of the morning as we don't drive and then staying with her patiently through the tests, warding and more vomit. As we are much on our own without much help except for my aunt, he was a great support to me in helping me with Krisa in the day and looking after Jedi at night. I don't think I could have survived this whole episode without his help! Shuttling back and forth and juggling one sick kid and one healthy one from one place to another is no joke. I am really thankful to the Lord for his support and love for the family without complaint. (thanks dear )

We are also thankful to our relatives and friends who showed much concern by praying and taking the time to visit Krisa despite their busy schedules. Especially to my dear aunt who came down to see Krisa with some lovely books to cheer her up and for helping to watch Jedi while we were at the hosp and also to my bro who came with his group of frens. My parents gave me much support by calling and asking how Krisa was as often as they could so they could keep her in prayer as they are still in Perth.

All in all KK was quite good in its treatment and service and the food was yummy too! Was impressed they had toddler menus and even pureered food for those younger children. Was a good stay all in all despite the discomfort.

From this whole episode, I have learnt that true family ties are the ones that see you through such crisises and these are the ones who have shown much care and concern for us and Krisa. These are the people really there for you in times of need. A big thank you to you all once again! :)

The Answer!!!

After 10 days of being super sleep-deprived, I was not exactly the most pleasant person and mummy in the house. Felt so overwhelmed as really didn't know what had gotten into my dear Krisa. She had been so good for the last two years in terms of just putting her to sleep, prayer time and lights out without making a fuss and she would just settle and sleep on her own to sleep till the next morning.

On the 9th night of sleepless night, Dan was still so patient and did his best to settle Krisa when she awoke. The settling was torturous as it was one hour of trying to figure out what she wanted. She would tell us she was itchy, wanted to drink water, wanted powder, put her blanker properly....and all which we did was not good enough as she would repeat the whole list 5 min later. This could take up to an hour and we resorted to threatening to put her back in her old room as she would wake up Jedi in the wee hours and he had school the next morning. She also wouldn't settle and putting her to sleep for naps and at night became a real phobia for me.

I really thank God for my hubby. For being a godly man. He reminded me that we were relying on our own wisdom in handling the situation and not the Lord's and that we needed to be united and not let anger and frustration get the better in dealing with the situation. My parents' also gave me much emotional support and reminded me that they would pray for me too and even asked me to consider taking a break in Perth with them for awhile so they could help with the kids.

So on Wed night, after praying with Dan and praying with the kids at abt 8 plus at night, I decided to do something different. I told Dan to leave the room while I snuggled with Krisa and placed my hand on her chest and began to pat her lightly. All her fussing stopped immediately and she slept in 2 min!!!! When she awoke in the middle of the night, I did it again and she went back to sleep till abt 7 in the morning.

No more screaming, no more fussing, no more crying and no more taking more than an hour to settle her. All it took was some TLC from me and from Dan and she settled into sweet slumber. All she wanted was that but I guess she couldn't express it. And as for me I had forgotten in my parenting journey that every child is different. Jedi didn't need that and has always been happy to settle to sleep on his own without this. I guess Krisa being a girl is more 'teh' and wants that TLC and physical touch to feel the assurance of being loved by us.

Love conquers all.

Sleepless in Sing

Had a really tough week last week as Krisa suddenly didn't want to go down for her afternoon naps. She would take one hour to settle and it was super frustrating for me as her afternoon nap was the time I would settle my cooking for dinner and also spend time with Jedi doing his reading and writing. What's worse is that it would be another battle at night to get her to sleep at her usual bedtime at 8pm and she would take another one hour to settle leaving especially me (as Dan is sooooooo much more patient than me) with super frazzled nerves and about to explode with livid anger!! To top it off she would wake at 12am, 2.30am and 5.30am....which means two very sleep deprived parents. For me, I NEED sleep or else I'm the Grinch!

I tried to reduce her nap by half but still with the same ordeal in the middle of the night. So by Fri, I decided to just cut it off all together. Worked but she would again wake at 2am and be super hard to settle. So I mentally went through my development checklist:

1. teething - NO
2. sick - NO

So what was it???????

Finally after much prayer and words of my wisdom from my dear hubby, I realised what the prob was. Firstly, I think she wants out of her cot. Secondly, the weather has been getting real hot and Krisa sleeps in the room near the corridor. I have a next door neighbour keeping a Golden Retriever illegally that LURVES to bark and bark and the family members LURVE to have conversations outside Krisa's window!!! So I have been keeping all the windows shut with just the fan on. No air con as the kids kept having chronic cough in the past. So poor Krisa has been melting the past week in a stuffed up room!

One of the final transitions for Krisa was to shift her out of her cot and to sleep with Jedi together in his room. Over the past few months it has been an uphill task weaning her off the pacifier, the bottle and the toilet training which she was surprisingly real fast. So I decided that it was time to take that leap of faith and not procrastinate this final step which I have been dreading with fears of her walking around in the middle of the night as she was no longer in her cot and then playing in the middle of the night. Dan was a dear in setting up the room and installing a wall fan and buying the bed rail for the lower bunk of Jedi's bed. Even bought a new hi-fi as the old one was spoilt to play their night time music. Jedi has been very welcoming surprisingly and looks forward to having her sleep with him. We asked him what he would do should Krisa cry at night and he said he would settle her with some water and go down to the lower bunk to pat her. He is definitely more patient than me! Perhaps its a guy thing.

Yesterday was the first night which went smoothly except for Krisa waking at 4 am asking to poop and to go out of the room. Told her that she would be packed back in the cot in the 'hot room' if she still insisted to not sleep after pooping. Suprisingly she went back to sleep till 7am in the morning.

Tonight is the second night and I'm still feeling anxious what's in store in the middle of tonight. Praying hard that she won't wake and if she does it would be easy to settle her back....feel like I'm taking an exam and waiting for the results....sounds crazy I know but I think I love my sleep too much!! sighz.... Transitions are not easy especially for me who hates change. But that's what parenthood is all about I guess....

Secret Admirer?

Jedi looks forward to the goodie packs he gets from school birthday celebrations which aref full of sweets and snacks! Amongst all the goodies, his favourite and most prized item is the LOLLIPOP!

So we were surprised when he asked us to put his ONLY one that he had in his goodie pack from school in his bag. He said he wanted to give it to someone.

The next day, he told us that he had given it to a girl and looked kind of shy about it as well. His only indignant feedback about the reciever of his gift was that

"She didn't even say thank you!"

Never knew little crushes can start so young? He's only three and a half! But it was sweet of him.

CNY 2009!

Had 2 reunion dinners on Dan's side and at my grandma's side with my bro, relatives and cousins. Felt wonderful to eat together with loved ones and catch up with one another. Wish my parents could have been there too though! My grandma's helper, replicated my mum's signature lemon chicken so it was comfort food indeed!

Here is Krisa smiling with my handsome brudder....Jono!!!

And another one with Jedi giving his cheekiest face. Giving my bro a taste of handling two kids on his own! Wahahahaha!

First day of new year is always spent at Dan's office. The kids were totally in awe at the lion dance in spite of being deafened by the "dong dong chiang"!

Then its back to Dan's parents' place for a nice home-cooked lunch cum dinner!

Second day was at my grand-aunts' and uncles' place for another round of home-cooked food! super yummy!! Krisa met up with her cousin whose mummy happened to be my primary school classmate in MGS! They began kissing away to the delight of the relatives although the mummies were concerned about gender orientation! Then we continued our eating escapade at my aunt's (dad sis) place for another round again!

All in all it was one of our most hectic new year visits ever! But the food and company were worth it. So were the kiddies ang pows! shhhhhhhhhh!