A 'Birthdays' Weekend

Daddy went for golf early on Friday but as he's aware of my displeasure, he came home right after the game and even showered Renee(it was requested by her anyway) :)

Yesterday wasn't just our usual weekly gathering day at my mom's, we also celebrated my father's birthday. Nothing big scale, just a normal dinner out with an angpao for him had been the usual way(unless it's on their 'big' birthday year).

And today, all of us went over to my brother, Choon Huat's place, to celebrate his first daughter, Jia Xuan's(2nd child on the way and we all speculated that it's a boy heee) 3rd birthday. Although we were informed of this celebration much earlier, but due to Renee and later myself being unwell, I didn't get to buy the present on Friday as I've planned(to go with Renee after her school, but we didn't send her there). So I had to rush over to the mall after I've got Renee's lunch ready. Spent quite some time at the store as I simply couldn't decide on what to get for the birthday girl - took and returned some boxes of toys/games a few times hahahahaha. Finally, I decided to get her 2 boxes of clay/dough making sets(which would help enhance 'motor skills') of which, our own dear girl was eager to 'share' hahaha.

We arrived at my brother's not too late from the indicated hour - well, that's the best I could manage, after I've finally loaded my car with vegetables, patatoes, toys, I had to rush back home to cook Renee's dinner before we could go over.

After the cake cutting, Renee anticipated the opening of the presents, particularly the ones we had given to JX, heee. However, though she was very excited to play with the toys, I must admit that she had behaved pretty well by not claiming 'ownership' to any of the toys. She just sat there, watching... Good girl, keep it up! :)

But I guess she finally 'gave way' and sadness showed on her face when we got home(oh ya, I remembered when I took her to the toilet before we left my bro's place, she had commented "I want my birthday now", awww...). After much prompting, I managed to confirm my guess - she was sad 'cos she didn't get to 'share/play' with the toys. I told her that it's alright 'cos she has alot of toys to play with, and besides, her birthday will be coming soon too. I also took the opportunity to explain to her how does birthday come about in the first place(not ust about presents) and she was ok right away thereafter :).

Road to Recovery...

Woke up by a feeling of nausea @8am and vomitted 'acid' yeeeek!

Luckily I've pre-warned daddy to 'standby' and pick Eileen up this morning, so I get to rest abit more. He came back whilst I was taking a rest on the sofa and as we've thought to let Renee resume school today, I dragged myself up to prepare the foodstuffs and her meal to be taken in school(menu shows chicken rice will be served today) but temperature takings showed 37.1 and 37.5degrees(each side of ears, always like that, even for me). Anyway, we preferred to let her rest abit more at home as we're afraid that the air-con in their classroom might bring back the fever. Good thing I've put the food in the Thermos containers which she had for lunch just now.

Having only consumed 1/2 packet of the fried carrot cake(it's funny how such delicious food can taste yucky when u're unwell), I felt hungry after Renee's had her lunch but as daddy's dragging his own sweet time, I suggested a pizza delivery which arrived just before he was about to go out :). With a metalic taste in my buds, I couldn't even finish the 3rd piece when normally I could take in 3-4 pieces, but everything just tasted sooo weird...

Now that I'm feeling slightly better, I quickly cut up an apple for Renee and myself and I think I better go shower her soon(before my temperature goes up again, if it's going to...).

Fever Up and down...

I woke up shivering at 7am but I didn't realise that my fever has gone up to over 39degrees! No wonder I was trembling so badly, just like when I had mastitis during my early breastfeeding days. Scary...

Managed to resume my sleep after a while and finally got up at 9:40am. Took out a box of food from the freezer but gave up when I couldn't muster enough energy to cook. So I told daddy to pack char siew rice back for me & Renee(whom was very happy). Took 2 paracetemol and cough syrup before going back to lie down but still didn't quite get a good nap as each time I almost went into dreamland, some noise would occur...haiz.

After a short rest on bed, I felt better(with the help of medicine of cos) and fed Renee her lunch. Wanted to give her an apple thereafter but she fell asleep on the sofa! Not long later, daddy went out and after some chores, I decided to lie down as well but fever came back not long later and this time it shot up to over 40degrees!

However, with no one else at home, I simply have no choice but to drag myself up and feeling super cold, I dragged myself to change into a short sleeves top before proceeding to prepare the vegetables for Renee's dinner. Such hours are always the time when I really wish I have someone to help me out at home(I even dreamt last night, of my mom taking me to the doctor....).

Private Movie Screening

2nd day of 'official missed school', they phoned daddy to check on Renee 'cos I've forgotten to inform them of her absence due to fever and phlegmy cough.

Although I have to postpone my facial appointment tomorrow as it's unlikely that she'd be resuming school so soon, we're still going for the eye clinic's private movie screening. Sent Renee, together with 2 sets of her toys and dinner to Eileen's and co-incidentally, Li was also there and she went in to play with her, without even saying good bye to me, tsk tsk tsk.

We managed to grab a bite from the buffet dinner just 15mins before we were asked to get into the theatre.

The surgeons(one of which is a MP) were nice to keep their speeches super short. Since the official opening by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan in November 2006, Eagle Eye Centre has grown from a new clinic to one that has the highest volumn of patients and the highest rate of successful surgeries in the private practice(Singapore). And this year, they have a closed door private movie screening to celebrate their 2nd anniversary for 3 days!(it was only 1 day during their 1st anniversary celebration).

They are also the ONLY and First in SouthEast Asia to acquire, in tandem, the 2 latest and most advanced Laser Technogies(the Allegretto Wave and the Ziemer's FEMTO LDV Bladeless Laser) - Now, who says that the government clinics/hospitals are the ones which are equipped with the most advanced equipments? hmmm... Anyway, I'm glad to hear that and reminded daddy the importance of a good surgeon/doctor, especially in a specialised field and not how cheap the fees are(well, cost does play a part, in our considerations of whether to proceed or not, that is).

Am I promoting on their behalf? hahaha, No, just glad that I've had my lasik done at a good clinic owned/run by reputed doctors :)

The movie 'Eagle Eye' has not so strong a storyline but it was interesting with good effects, not too bad a show to go for. A short movie, but with all the un-necessary adverts, it finally ended at 9:30pm and daddy, not realising the time, asked if I'd like to walk around hahaha. Well, I wished too! But the thought of my girl made me wanna hurry back to fetch her, besides, it'll be at least 10pm by the time we get to my sister's place and we shouldn't impose on her too much either...

Tonight's 'outing' though brief, was nevertheless a nice one for us, especially when we don't have to 'worry' so much about Renee since she's much older now. However, sad thing is, I too, had caught the fever by the time we got home :(

Home Rest

No school today, so I 'planned' to sleep in late but failed, as daddy(deliberately I think...) made alot of noise when he came back from breakfast. I guess it somehow didn't register in him that I am also feeling abit unwell - like I do always, whenever the kid's unwell. Anyway...

Again, we bickered over a small issue(he likes to jump into his own conclusion no matter how 'innocence' my remarks are, super ego!) today before he left to meet his client and couldn't stomach his nonsensibility anymore, I decided to give him a piece of my mind via sms. *phew*, finally :D.

As I needed to get some groceries, I thought to bring Renee out for my lunch but got delayed for a while because the sky had turned dark by the time she's finished hers but mainly 'cos I didn't know where to go. I wanted to have a quick lunch at Punggol Plaza but the mention of buying char siew caused Renee to insist on going to Hougang Mall hahaha. I tried to dissuade her as she seemed very sleepy but she insisted that she'll only sleep during the journey and will wake up upon reaching the mall/home. True to her words, she even smiled when I woke her up when we arrived at the mall's carpark hahaha.

Grabbed a quick bite at Macdonald's and went to Minitoons for her to 'shop around' before we proceeded to the Supermarket and finally, the BBQ stall! lolz.

For the past 2 nights, her appetite at dinner time was lousy as compared her lunch's but tonight, woah, she not only finished her bowl of rice + charsiew + vege, she even stole her daddy's char siew to eat before she gobbled down her soup hahaha. Relieved to see that...

However, her fever returned and she was at her 'pitiful' mode again, haiz. Really hope that she will recover soon as she's already missed school for a week due to our trip and is asking to go back to school....

Sunday

Daddy came home at 2:50pm with my lunch and Renee, although drowsy from the medications, was so happy that she didn't go to nap hahaha(not even when her daddy had gone for his).

We didn't go with daddy to the dinner(despite of the big angpao he's giving the wedding couple...). 1st, whilst daddy was getting himself ready, we went to collect the last batch of my recent overseas sprees(Old Navy) before heading to the mall for my dinner(brought Renee's along too). It seems like we now have ALOT of ankle socks for Renee and it's a good thing that those that I've bought from sprees are much thicker than those Elsie has given us, so they will not 'crash' in their 'purpose' :D

As usual, one's temperature goes up at night and so Renee began to feel lethagic before we'd even reached the mall and we headed home not long after we left the restaurant/bought some stuffs(as requested by her - must buy something hahaha).

Shall not let Renee attend school for at least the next few days(as she's still not well and even if she's recovered, she'd be vulnerable as immunity would be lower) and hopefully, there's no more new HMFD cases in the school since the last reported case.

'Singulair'

Decided to bring Renee to the Paediatrician's this morning and co-incidentally, just as I was sending a sms to PeiXiang that she could come slightly later when I got hers saying that she'd be late, lolz.

We went in separate cars(Renee's with me of cos), as daddy need to go back home to let PX in. This caused a little mix-up thereafter(as he parked 1 level abv mine, I even went up to look for him after waiting awhile for him at 'my' level haha), but when we finally met up at Rivervale Mall and were going for our breakfast at Mcdonald's, I realised that I've forgotten to bring my purse! So daddy had to go back to get it... I took Renee to look around the make shift stalls in the mall lobby and saw a 4 stories + CDs book which I planned to get later but forgot :(. By the time Daddy returned, Mac was already very packed so we went to the foodcourt. We finally bought e toy golf set for Renee as we've been unable to find a real golf club/set for Renee due to her left-hand inclination.

After a long wait of 3 solid hours at the PD's, I was given a couple of recommendations for her frequent phlegm cough(even though she's ok when she doesn't attend sch, but according to the PD, she's had sensitive/allergic nasal prob since birth, it's very likely she'll get this prob whenever someone falls ill in school). As both PDs had to leave earlier at 1pm for a conference, I didn't get to re-consult the PD on her recommendations(medications already prepared) when we came back from the toilet. I told the assistants that I would prefer not to take the prescriptions now(to be taken for few months) and instead, I was given(still...) the earlier recommended one - Singulair, which comes in tablet/powder form and each tablet cost S$3.50(to take 1 every night for 2 wks min). Decided to just give this a try, since the PD had indicated a review in a month's time.

More information here(pls click onto the page to read):

TGIF but HMFD!

As daddy's golf game's in the afternoon, I need not bring an unwell Renee to pick Eileen(although Renee's woken up at 8am, not long after me). She cried when I left as she had remembered that I was to bring her along 'cos I've thought earlier that daddy would be out in the early morning...

I also took the opportunity to show daddy my displeasure and when he asked if I'd be using my car today, I told him to replace his own with a 'smaller' car if he's afraid of driving his to JB :D - these are considerations he should have made in the first place especially when safety is the main concern. Anyway, I may need to bring Renee to get some stuffs, so NO WAY is he going to use my car today.

Received 2 emails from Kinderland on HMFD, aiyoh! It is a notice on the closure of that session of the affected class for 1 week upon 2 cases of HMFD :

1st email(on Tuesday):

Dear Parents
HFMD
I have 2 reported cases of HFMD in the school. Both cases were made known to us on the 29th of September. This is from our Nursery class – Studio 1. On our end we will continue to maintain high hygiene standards in the school.

This includes:
1. Regular washing of toys
2. Disinfecting all equipment and furniture in the classroom daily
3. Washing the toilets, twice daily
4. Air the rooms in the afternoon.
5. Daily classroom checks on the children

We will appreciate it if you co-operate by keeping your child at home if he/she is not feeling well. Once your child is detected with fever in school, he/she will be isolated and you will be asked to bring your child home. Please do reinforce good hygiene habits at home as well.

Once we have 2 cases of HFMD in a particular class, our standard procedure is to close the class for 7 days to break the infection cycle. Any subsequent new cases reported from the same class, will mean that we will extend the closure. In such a situation, the class teacher will keep you updated.

I appreciate your attention to this concern and I also seek your co-operation in controlling the spread of this disease.

2nd email(Thursday):

Dear Parents
UPDATE - HAND, FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE
Thank you for working with us in containing the infection.

While I have two more cases of HFMD reported to us, one from the previous batch of reported cases have informed us that he has recovered. Therefore our total active case to date is 3. We have decided to extend our closure for the affected nursery class (1st session-studio 1 by one more day. Class will resume on Tuesday 7-10-2008).

I continue to urge you to remain vigilant and maintain high hygiene standards both in and out of the home.

We will continue with our daily cleaning and disinfecting of the classrooms and the environment.

Haiz, really wonder how does this disease come about...(I had thought that usually the centres/schools will only close if the no. of affected children hit more than 10? Anyway, I'm happy with this procedure)

Our trip to Seremban

We're back! :D

How's the trip, many of you would ask - hmmm, I would rate it a 50-50... why? Well, simply because it turned out to be almost what I've anticipated. I've not wanted to go along this trip as I've expected that it's not gonna be an easy one when daddy's client is the host! Although they had been very nice/friendly and most hospitable, there's still a need for us to be on our 'best behaviour', especially during dinners, when not just the host and hostess were involved, their good friends and even a couple of Datuks were present, haiz, that certainly left us with no choice but to be at our best, no matter how friendly they are, ain't it?

The 2nd day was the most tiring for me. I had thought that we could rest in the hotel room after a swim with Renee but when we went to check the pools out the day before, the sight of leaves/flies in the pools(I've taken some pics of the pools with my mobile as daddy's left it in the car, shall figure out on how to load it up soon) put us off although the pools were very nice. So, out we went with the hostess to KL(about 45mins drive) where she took us to the Sunway Lagoon water park(but we went to the shopping mall instead as it'll be a waste of entrance fees since we're not going to swim there - the hostess had insisted on paying for everything, so it's not nice on such wastage).

The hostess had taken a liking to Renee and although this made things easier('cos it can be annoying to the adult(s) if the kid is not likeable to them) but it caused me some problem thereafter, haiz... How so? - She spoilt her! And I can't say 'no' too often(much to my annoyance, yet I can't show!) and Renee taking advantage of this 'privilege' certainly made it harder and so, I ended with a unwell kid back home(expected, with all the french fries, ice-cream and peanuts!!!), arrgggh!

We were at a very large mall but I didn't get to shop at all hahaha 'cos all the hostess wanted to do was to please the little princess and so she went on searching for toy shops(she almost bought a toy set for Renee also but I declined) and playgrounds. We passed by the Ice-Skating ring but Renee wasn't keen to watch the skaters(or were angry that we hadn't allowed her to watch earlier lolz), so we proceeded further where she had quite a 'play-ful' at the McDonald's mini playground. There was a even bigger playground in the mall as we moved on and upon its sight, the hostess urged me to let Renee play there. Since I've to go along with Renee, she took a rest somewhere.

I had not liked the idea as I've witnessed at McDonald's, how rough the children there had played and this playground had more children as it's much bigger. After watching Renee closely for a while, something happened when I just turned my head away to look at something! The moment I looked back, I had my little darling looking at me pitifully and told me that she's had a fall, aiyoh! Keeping my calm, I asked her gently if any kid has pushed her which luckily, the answer was No and it's only when I brought her to the washroom, then I realised that she had not only fell but even rolled over and hurt the back of her head when she began to relate the whole incident, aiyoh, Big Big Heartache!!! I told her I was sorry that I had let her out of my sight for that mere few seconds and she cried, sooo manja but then again, it must have hurt :(

Renee had woken up coughing with phlegm this morning and I told daddy to stop by the Physician's on our way home so I don't have to bring her there myself tomorrow. There's a slight temperture on her now and I hope she'll be ok in no time, haiz - good opportunity to 'tower over' daddy(whom's arranged to go for another golf game tomorrow!!!) now...

Before we head home, we stopped by the hostess' house after breakfast and Renee was delighted to meet the hostess' god-granddaughter who's 4 yrs old and their 7 dogs(though she's afraid when they all rushed to her, especially the larger size dogs haha). Renee even steadily agreed and told us to go back to pick her up later when the hostess asked if she would like to stay over for one night, ya, like real hahaha.

This is the view we get from the restaurant where the 3 of us had our lunch:

We had these rides after our tea break/snack - our hostess had wanted her to ride on the bigger 'animal' but she insisted on this smaller one lolz:

Here's a short video(back version of cos heee)

Another one I have, shows the 'xin fu' look on her face whilst riding it hahahahaha:

I had wanted to take the front seat of this ride but Renee wanted this.

Though a short ride, it's still quite a fun experience going ard e mall on it :>