Sunday Morning Snapshot – Sibling Play
1 toy, shared by 2. Looks a trifle squeezy to me though.
Walking Bag Stand
One handbag, one laptop bag, one pump bag, 2 paper bags…. Here comes the walking bag stand!
No photo because all my hands are full. No free hand for a self portrait.
Still, I must be grateful that I only look like a walking bag stand for the short journey from the car park to the office. When I’m having external appointments, I can pop over to the car to get the pump bag. I get to use the car now.
3 years ago, you’d probably see a walking bag stand traipsing all over Orchard Road.
Once again, be grateful for the things I have in my life. Thank you car!! <3
Foreign Language
Drinking his feed, just before his morning nap, he decided to express his displeasure at being left in the cot while I had my breakfast
With his mouth full, both eyes boring into mine, “MMMM MMMM M!”
Me : Erm mm mmm m?
Him : MMM MMMM MMM!!!
Me : mm m mmm….
Him : mmm mmmm
I wasn’t too sure what transpired but he looked mighty pleased at the end of the conversation. I hope I didn’t make some promises that I will regret later. Foreign language is a headache…
Silly Triangle
It’s the once a term teacher-parent session. I don’t think my parents had ever stepped foot into my schools in the entirety of my studying career. Because during my time, only parents of naughty children were summoned to school. I certainly weren’t an angel but didn’t justify for parent summoning.
Now, parents want to see the teachers, to keep track of their children’s progress. Even pre schools are doing it now! Once every term. Parenting has indeed evolved. From the hands off parents of the past to over zealous ones of the present.
For 宝贝, it’s the usual stuff. No red flag. Good enough for me. No news is good news! No more weird feedback like her lining up for 3-4 helpings of food when she was in nursery 1. (Her n1 teacher must think that I starve her at home…)
Something caught my eye as I was leaving.
I almost burst out laughing. It’s so “her”. I call her Silly Sally whenever she does silly things at home. The rest of her friends were using the normal textbook adjectives. Maybe I should tone down on the “Silly Sally” usage… Hmmm…
This is her BFF’s. It really looks like the child, right down to her cute bangs.
Children’s art – a reflection of reality.
Baby Fragrance
I love sniffing him. His hair, his face… He probably thinks I’m a dog. But he loves me anyway. He giggles and grins at me beatifically.
There’s this inherent sweet smell that he emits. Smells like a baby, literally. I just can’t get enough of him. Even his stools don’t stink. Well, they do look icky though. I’m not being biased ok!!
I’ve another 2 months to enjoy this fragrance. In another 2 months, he will be starting on solid food and he will lose his fragrance, his stools will start to smell.
Til then… Sniff sniff!!
I’m sure when I read this post a few years later, I’ll laugh at myself. But hopefully it’ll trigger my memory of how sweet he smells.
Eczema
The raging war against eczema started way back when she was a wee baby. The symptoms were all there.
At 6 months old, due to my dwindling breast milk supply, I started her on formula milk. Her over reactive immune system triggered an instant reaction of severe hives on every single part of her skin, that included her face. Panicked, we rushed her to the hospital’s a&e. It went away with the administering of anti histamine. That’s the first sign of her brush with allergy.
She was on and off allergic to various food. Luckily I was diligent on the 3 day food introduction exercise and managed to identify the cause. She was on an unprocessed, no condiment food diet until 3 years old. Fortunately she was an easy going child who loves food.
Her relationship with atopic eczema started when she was 8 months old. Berries triggered a mild reaction which quickly ceased when she stopped the intake and with external application of the Sebamed baby cream, religiously, every 2 hours.
Whenever she had a flare up, the sebamed baby cream ritual started. It all went well and suddenly, one fine day, it stopped working. No matter how much and how frequently we applied the cream, the redness spread. We switched to the California Baby Calendula Baby Cream. It ko-ed the eczema.
We had a 1.5 years relationship with the CB calendula cream until it stopped working as well. I switched to the Weleda Calendula Ointment. It pushed the eczema wave back a little, the redness spread, pushed it back a little and then it came back. It went on like a daily tidal cycle. It started from the right crook, then the left crook, her right wrist, right elbow, the back of her left knee, her neck.
She itched, she scratched and she cried.
Every bath was a crying affair. She screamed when the water and soap trickled down the open lesions. I asked her,”Do you want pretty arms?” She tearfully nodded. “Well, then, you can’t scratch them.”
I would start applying cream on the areas without open wounds then the 2 crooks would be the last to be treated. After I massaged cream into her left arm crook, she would chant,”not pain not pain”, although tears started to well in her eyes. She’d bent her arm so that she could resist scratching. After the application on her right crook, she would bend her arm and whimper, “Mama please hug me…” I’d hug the poor girl who still had both arms bent. She’s my brave little soldier.
The external application seemed to be helping but it wasn’t good enough. It seemed like a never ending battle, back and forth, every day. I decided to bring her to the TCM.
He’s a renowned TCM who used to be a Professor at our local university. He prescribed some medicine for her at a reduced dosage for her age. It looked brown and unappetizing. And he recommended her diet to be free of prawns and shellfish. She agreed and henceforth, whenever she is offered the taboo food (even when I am not with her), she will politely reject it.
It helped. The back of her knee healed, the ones on the neck too. But as you can see from her expression, it looked like I was the evil stepmother who was trying to poison her! =.=”
It took 30 mins just for her to down a few ml of brown medicine, amidst lots of coaxing, coercion, intermittent licks of honey. And I had to administer it to her twice a day!!! It was just too much a mental stress for me!
I seeked help on Facebook. Ah! It’s a useful thing. Many people left me messages on various medication, alkaline water etc. Thank you to all these kind souls out there! I’ve written down everything and I’m going to try them all one-by-one.
I’m now trying LactoGG.
LactoGG is a probiotic. It is a special, unique good bacterium, which has been proven to promote health in the human being.
Well, in short, it is an army of good guys introduced into your body to fight the bad guys!
She’s had it for about 1 month. The patch on her wrist looks somewhat better. The patches on her arm crooks too. But they still have a long way to go to being totally gone.
I’m still administering the Chinese medicine to her, when both of us are in good moods. I may change her external application cream when it runs out, to another one on my list to see if it can help push the tidal wave back.
I’m determined to win this eczema war with her! Eczema, we will triumph over you!!
Mother’s Day
My 2nd Mother’s Day present from 宝贝. She made a purse for me last year. I’ll have to get around to document it.
She loves to draw stick figures which have thin long legs, round black eyes, L shaped nose and a crooked smile. This is one of them. All her drawings are very colourful, perhaps it’s a reflection of her sunny disposition.
Anyway, that’s me she’s drawn. I must be a really colourful character in her heart. >.<
Sunday Morning Snapshot – Trio
I love this photo. It took a while to arrange everyone to fit into the frame nicely. It’s a self taken shot, so the size is limited by the length of my arm. :p
宝贝’s knowing sideways smile. 小小宝贝’s clueless look. To me, it’s a gem of a photo.
That one moment, captured in eternity.
Flowers
I love my short get-together time before bed with 宝贝. She’ll lie on her bed and recount her activities in the day to me.
宝贝: Mama, it’s your birthday today but papa didn’t buy you flowers. (With a very serious frown)
Me : *sigh*
宝贝: (she sat up on bed and patted my head gently) Never mind, never mind. Tomorrow I’ll draw many flowers for you. Ok? (Big eyed empathetic look)
Me : That’s real sweet of you!
宝贝 : But I don’t know how to draw flowers!! (Thinking hard, brows furrowed) Fish ok?? I know how to draw fish!
Me : (*bo he hair ma Ho! in this case, it’s bo huay, he ma Ho!) Erm fish?
宝贝 : (sensing my hesitation) I’ll draw many many fishes!! And a pond! And a duck!! Ok ok?!
Me : ok! (How can I reject her sincere offer?!) <3 <3
*bo he hair ma Ho = hokkien dialect. Literal translation : no fish, prawn works as well.
Birthday
It’s my birthday today. Well, it still is, for another 30 minutes.
It just dawned upon me… (I know some of you are going for the comments button on various witty remarks on my age. Shuddup!) that when I made my wishes, I started off with my family first, then ending with myself. (Erm… How many wishes did I make? Loads of course!! It’s a once a year thingy!!)
I used to make many wishes, only for self centered little me. Now I make wishes for my loved ones.
It’s crept up upon me. I’m now… A Parent.