my Pillar my Rock

These past 2 days have been tough for me.

Kae developed a fever suddenly on Saturday morning. The fever continued on and off, and she was still not fully recovered on Monday, so we decided that she would skip school. And missed school she did on Tuesday too.

Don't get me wrong. I lurve to spend time with my daughter. But it gets really depressing when she's sick and whiny and refusing to sleep. Plus the fact that I am heavily pregnant now doesn't help. She lurves to whine for daddy now in the mornings, perhaps she's used to taking the car together with daddy in the mornings to school. It's their time together, just the 2 of them.

So the past Mon and Tue had been torture for me. Kae whining for daddy since she was awake at 7am in the morning. And her refusing to take a nap even after medication (isn't medication supposed to make one drowsy and sleepy?) really pisses me off. I lost my cool at her finally on Tue afternoon; she only slept at 5pm when she usually knocks out at 1pm in school! My parents who were at my place saw me lose my cool for the first time. Hah!

I was depressed. So I sent angry sms-es to dar. And being the understanding hubs he is, he just "listened" to my sms-es and never retort back. Coz it would seem to him that I am angry at him and not at the whole situation. He doesn't like it when I start to yell at him even though he ain't part of the problem or issue that I'm angry with. Yah, that's the man he is. But knowing how stressful I was with the whiny one at home, he just reminded me to keep my temper in check instead of the usual rebuttal he would give me when I throw a temper for no apparent reason.

Thank you for being my pillar and rock. Thank you for keeping quiet when I am so frustrated, and helping me care for Kae without complains when you have had such a busy day at work and still have to put up with my rantings and grumblings when you are home. I cannot thank you enough.

Thank you for keeping me steady. Muacks!

* photo taken by Kae with the iPhone

Less good food the 2nd time round

I just realised that poor Baby K is deprived of good food.


Good food meaning food that is deemed nutritious for the baby and mummy. I remember when I had Kae, mummy would consciously cook fish ("gnaw" fish or cod fish) everyday for lunch. Then I would meet dar for dinner outside. Or I would tabao economical rice with 1 meat and 2 vegetables. And every (other) tuesday when my mum was on her off day, she would cook dinner for us back at Bishan. Dinner as in fish, meat and vegetable, which is to my liking, which I can't say the same for my dar, hah! No special/nutritious food for me at the in-laws' for our weekly dinner though.

I would also watch what I eat. Strictly no raw food, not even half boiled eggs. I only had 2 pieces of salmon sashimi once during the 9 months I was pregnant with Kae. No steak, as even though you ask for well done steaks, they would not be so well done in the end.

Now, with Baby K, I only cook fish for lunch every alternate day if I am hardworking. Sometimes I just survive on bread, milk, and cereal for lunch. And instant noodles too. I am too lazy to go tabao economical rice for lunch, unless during my lunch trips to NTUC. Yes, I still go NTUC now to buy the household stuff. In my big yellow bag. Hah! My mum does not cook dinner on her off days now, as she and my dad would go pick Kae from school and take care of her instead. And still no special/nutritious food at the in-laws' for our weekly dinner.

I eat raw food still. Though of course not frequently. I think I had some sashimi (maybe around 5-6 pieces) like twice in this pregnancy. I had well done steak once. I still eat foie gras. And I am eating more sweet stuff, which is not good, erm gestational diabetes duh!

So, it's no wonder Baby K weighs less than Kae when they are of the same "age". The gynae predicts that Baby K will weigh between 2.8-3kg at full term, while Kae was 3.465kg when she was born 4 days before full term.

This is also why my sugar level is high on the average range this time round and why my iron count is low. I need more good food!

You are not alone!

I was reading a friend's blog just. She gave birth to her firstborn in March. Barely 2 months into the birth, she is having problems communicating with her mother-in-law on the upbringing and handling of the baby boy, basically differences in opinions.

This brings me back to 2 years ago, when Kae was born. I wonder if all women face the same problem: the mil. We have been brought up by our mothers in the same era as when our mils bring up our hubbies. So their methods or beliefs do work. However, as time evolve, new discoveries and methods have also been proven to be more effective and the older ways and teachings no longer hold water.

I won't dwell into the differences in opinions that occur 2 years ago. But somehow, it always stem from the in-laws' side. My own parents, I can just chide or brush them aside as they are my own parents. They usually just give up after 1 nag. But I can't do the same to the in-laws. Hence the unhappiness.

I guess my friend is feeling the same now. We do want to insist on our ways and methods now as this is our own baby we are talking about, and we want our own baby to be treated the way we want. And not by some old fashioned method which are seriously, in some casess, unhygenic and so not scientific.

I cannot imagine though I have to go through what she is going through again. I suspect I will flare up this time round as I am not a fan of repeated nagginess. Stop with the dry rice without soup already!

Then again, my own mum may well be the problem this time round as she is staying with us and helping me out for the confinement. God help me! I swear I will flare up and not give face if the 2 women gang up on me. Hah!

J & J's wedding dinner

We attended my cousin's wedding dinner on Saturday. I wanted to attend their morning ceremony, but alas Kae had lessons in the morning, and I would have been too tired in view of my super huge tummy and lugging along a super hyper 2 year old.

This is a cousin whom I grew up with in our early years. As far as I can remember, our 2 families would hang out at least once every week during school term and even more often during school holidays; at our grandma's old house at Jalan Mata Ayer, and their old place at Mandarin Gardens.

Kinda of surreal to see one of my younger cousins getting married, although she's just a mere 3 years younger than myself. To me, and I suppose us all, our younger cousins would just be our younger cousins, I still see them as small kids I grew up with.

This is the happy bride Joan with the sister and bride to be (next March!) Sophia, and me with Kae.


We didn't take much family photos. This is 1 of the 2 that we took actually.


And of course, a photo of the 4th generation must be taken: Chloe, Issac and Kaelyn.


Kae can still remember that she "yum seng-ed" at the dinner when I asked her just.


And these are all of us. And the number of people in this picture will just get bigger and bigger :)

the Persistent Cough

Kae started having a cough 2 weeks ago.

At first it was not that serious. Then she started to cough in her sleep. So last week we brought her to the clinic at Thomson Medical Centre. It sort of grew worse even after she completed her course of antibiotics. Hence we went back on Thursday. The pd was quite worried and asked for a blood test and an X-ray to make sure that the culprit was not pneumonia. Luckily for us, Kae was a very good girl, not to mention brave, and did not flinch when doing the X-ray and the blood test. She did whine a bit when she saw the red blood and not when she was poked at her finger.

The tests were all clear. No pneumonia. But it turns out that there are some "pericascular mottlings" in Kae's lungs, i.e. slight mucus found in her lungs. The pd said it's a mild case of bronchitis. Kae was given another round of antibiotics amongst the usual medication. Plus inhalation therapy: medication in the form of a mist inhaled into the lungs using a device called a nebuliser.

This is the first time I've seen or heard of such a treatment. Apparently, it is commonly used in treating respiratory diseases like asthma. Kae had to sit holding the mask at her nose for a good 10-15 minutes inhaling the smoke. Which is quite tough as she is really quite hyper and can't sit still for too long. She did not however reject the treatment as other kids did (a lot of kids were given the same treatment at the clinic), but instead, find it to be fun and interesting. We call it her breathing toy, and she somehow keep thinking that it's a dryer, as in hair dryer. Hah!

So she has been on her medication and the inhaler (3 times daily) for the past 2 days; we had to rent the nebuliser from TMC for the treatment. Her cough seems to not have improved much, though it was said it will take some time for the mucus to clear.

Hopefully, she will get well soon. She will be away from school till next Wednesday; we still have have to bring her back for a follow up coming Tuesday. Sigh. I wonder if its our fault for bringing her to the pd a week too late. Sorry Kae.

1st Mother's day present from Kae

Alright, it isn't exactly made entirely by Kae, the teachers must have helped out. But anyway, this is my 1st handmade mother's day present from Kae, courtesy of the teachers at LSH. I received this one day later on Monday as Kae was absent from school last Friday.


It's a card with a butterfly and a flower . And that is a picture of Kae on the flower. I wonder if Kae will be able to make a card entirely by herself the same time next year.

Run Kae Run

Kae will be participating in the Cold Storage Kids Run 2010 on 23 May located at the F1 Pit Building. She will be in the category for 2-4 year olds, the Singapura Finance Blue Sky Chase.

We just collected her race kit on Sunday. Heehee. And daddy got the matching shirt too as he will be running alongside with Kae. They would definitely look so cute wearing the same shirts together! And of course, her little friends Zhengyu, Thane and Terelle will be running too!


Hmmm, I wonder if she can take the 800m run, and if she will be too afraid to run as there will definitely be a huge group of people there. Mummy can't wait!

Sweets for the mummy!

I celebrated my 3rd mother's day this year.

We didn't have much of a celebration actually. Dar and I had an early mother's day dinner on tuesday at Plaza Market Cafe (mainly for their durian pudding and dessert!), so we didn't really plan anything for the actual day. Unlike last year, when we stayed at the Sentosa Resort and Spa.

Anyhow, we didn't do much today. We only went to Vivocity to relax, and also, mummy wanted to try out the chocolate delights at Max Brenner.

And the sweets did not disappoint! As we were quite full from lunch and Yakun, we ordered just 1 drink, the Suckao, and 1 waffle, which I forgotten the name, to share.

I have to rave about the Suckao. *It is the espresso of the chocolate drinks; a small dense concentrated shot of rich chocolate. The term Suckao is made up of 2 words that describe the utensil and the unique drink it contains. Suck, is to draw the dense liquid through the metal tube. Kakao, the spanish word for cocoa beans from which this rich chocolate drink is made and which determine its quality.* (taken from the Max Brenner website) Oh, and you get to choose from dark, milk or white chocolate. And Kae kept taking the chocolate bits to eat. Think she had easily over 20 chocolate bits.

I forgotten which waffle we ordered. But it is the 1st waffle out of the 3 waffles on the menu. It is to die for! The waffle was toasted to perfection.

A sweet afternoon to remember definitely. I will return for more! And oh, this is me with my mother's day present from dar and kae. Thank you! Muacks!


Happy mother's day to all mummies!

We need a name!

We still have not decide on the baby K's name. Both english and chinese.

Ideally, baby K's name will start with the letter K, same as Kae of course. But both me and dar have not found a name we both are comfortable with. Even when we do, the meaning of the name will deter us from using it. Hah.

By the way, Kaelyn means "Pure".

Any suggestions? Maybe I will do up a poll here and you can help me decide. Heh.

the Dream Stokke Nursery

My Dream Stokke Nursery. You can create your own Stokke Nursery at their website.

Okay, this came about as we are now looking to buy a new cot/cot bed for baby K. Kae's hand me down cot is now with another family.

Sigh. We should have bought Kae her own cot/cot bed then and baby K would have been able to share her sister's lovely cot. And since it will now be used only once, it doesn't make sense for us to spend too much on this. So bye bye Stokke Nursery. Forever.

my One and Only

This is dedicated to my one and only dar!

Thanks for helping out to do the housework, mainly sweeping and mopping now that our part time maid is no longer available. Thanks for helping to carry Kae everytime we are out. Thanks for helping to bathe Kae daily (almost). It's all these little things that help to make my pregnancy easier to bear.

Thank you!


* photo taken by Kae with the iPhone