Sunday, 27 June 2021

Yang turns seven!

Happy birthday to my little sheep!

I said a sleepy happy birthday to him when he came to find me early this morning to show me his Pink Panther who lost his tail *.* He got it on his birthday last year so it kind of lasted one year :p Anyway, I stitched the tail back.

Celebrations started yesterday.

Somehow, Yang decided that he would have mixed cakes for his birthday. He had been eyeing the bear bear mousse cake from Chateraise for a while so we went down yesterday morning to choose the rest. And since he was turning seven, I got seven items - one cake each for everyone except Kai who doesn't eat cake (!) and two jellies.

Look at Yang's cute expression!


Two making faces and one maintaining the same pose :p


Yang made his wish while taking this photo!


Friday night, I told him to make to make a wish before he blew out the candles. I forgot to tell him to do that after the song :p

Anyway, he gave the bunny to Yu, the melon to Papa and the panda to me. Helper got a non-cartoon chocolate cake. Kai of course had a grape jelly. In the end, both Yang and Yu didn't like their cakes *.* And Yang also didn't like the strawberry jelly, which Yu happily took.

Then Yang tore his "delivery" apart


We started thinking about his present over a month ago but couldn't decide on anything. We're pretty bad gifters oops... So our kids are quite poor thing? Hoho! Then I chanced upon an interesting toy shop and found fun toys on its online shop. So I went there after TCM on Wednesday, and got Kai and even Yu's presents as well!

As Yang likes to receive deliveries at the door, I thought it might be fun to make his present look like a delivery. I wrapped everything in brown paper and stuck a piece of paper with his name and our address on it :p

When they were playing Nintendo on Saturday, I brought it discreetly to the door, then turned around and went, "Yang, there's a delivery for you!" He was so pleased! :) Now Kai and Yu also want their own deliveries - ok, in the works already!

It was a maze puzzle - the sunglasses were to protect against the laser, eh....


Very focused on where to place the mirrors...


He said he didn't ask for this present but he liked it :) His brothers also like to play this game. They took it out of the box to play this morning, after lunch and before dinner. Success! 

A second celebration today with the grands!


That was the third time the candles were lit!


Thinking about his wish...


Done!


Again, he didn't eat much of his cake. Neither did Yu. Why?! The adults enjoyed it very much :p Is it the cake or is it the toys distracting them??

He got his wish - a moving excavator!


Ah Yee even got aquarium stones for him to dig but the excavator ran out of battery amazingly fast. Dad recharged it and the battery ran out again. Yu and I must have spent more than twice the play time picking up the stones! Sito said maybe it's like our drone - only 10 min of play time *.*

Yu went for manual excavator instead


Yang put on his armour again - my little warrior!


Warriors are violent!!


The grands also got him two sets of puzzles, all from his random requests, but he hasn't got down to them yet. After the grands left, Yu said he was hungry so Sito went to buy dinner and Yang decided to go along coz it's his birthday, heh!

Yang got to choose dinner this weekend. Five of us can't dine out, sadly, so we still have to pack. It was wantan noodles yesterday (duck noodles for Kai :p) and udon today. After dinner, I brought out the Pocky that Yang chose yesterday when we went to buy cakes. Sweet ending to the day for them :) But that's not all! After showering, they got to watch Shaun the Sheep until 7 pm when they got their phone. They're watching YouTube Kids as I type now....

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like if I say "yes" to them all the time and let them have all the things they want all the time... They seem so happy :)

Saturday, 26 June 2021

Yawn yawn

I haven't been sleeping well at night.

At first, I couldn't fall asleep. Or I would fall asleep and then keep waking up. It could be because Sito had been working late since he returned from Malaysia. Not the usual late - he works past 3 am at times. I must go in to check on him coz I'm the paranoid sort.

(I know, I didn't get to check on him while he was serving SHN but well, ignorance is bliss?!)

His hours were much better in the past week though, thankfully. But I also didn't sleep well coz we were playing 2048 until quite late, oops. I decided to delete the darn game last night when we ended past 1 am!!

Hope to sleep better from tonight :)

If we lie in bed in the day, it's to chit chat and look like the beautiful skies outside, not nap :)


What did we do during June holidays?

Like last year, it was sad coz we could hardly go places...

But with Kai having year end exams this year, I prepared lot of assessment papers for him, wahahaha! And poor Yang had to join in too. So when Kai complained, I told him to feel lucky he didn't have to do this since primary one!

Working on their timed assessment papers


Also made them rebuild old Lego sets like this that they dismantled ages ago


These two activities took maybe two or three hours each morning, with Yang slacking off during Lego time! On leave days, Kai and I spent more time on Lego. On working days, I could only let them play Nintendo.

We also went to the pool quite a bit in the first half of the month when it was less rainy. There are so many of us when social gatherings were limited to two so we pretty much stayed at home, going only to play scooter downstairs or play water.

I think Yang was lying on his float... 


Dug out this old hat which previous helper left behind :p


With Sito working at home nowadays, sometimes the kids went to find him... Usually that happened in the evenings when there was no Nintendo and I was showering :p

This was a staged photo for Sito to send to his office for some Fathers' Day thing :p


I took leave to wrap rice dumplings as usual but with Mother's surgery, we decided not to do it coz it was hard work washing leaves and cooking. But I went over anyway that Monday, 14 June - eat glutinous rice from the hawker centre! It was the same auntie from my kindy days, gosh... 

So yummy!


But I found Mother doing laundry - saving water from the machine rinse and putting clothes out to hang *.* I offered to help but she said she must exercise. Um, hello, I don't exercise. And look at my breakfast! :p

Buckets of water from the rinse!


On Wednesday, I was on leave again and this time, I brought Kai and Yang to Jurong Lake Gardens! They have been cooped up at home for so long! But it started drizzling just as we arrived so we waited it out at a pavilion. Thankfully, it wasn't a long wait. And the rain made the walk very nice and cooling!

Yang took this picture - tried to explain 独木成林 to them


This Kai had a lot of complaints on the way - wet ground, sticky shoes etc. Yang looked up more often and was more curious about things. But the highlight had to the playground.

Big see saw! Very fun but I was too heavy :p


This looks fun but Yang wanted out shortly


Flying fox! Kai found it easier to pull the thing back with Yang on it!


Found an insect on a flower next to the flying fox


On our way out, they decided to lie down on a hammock - and Yang insisted on the same hammock...

Yang gave Kai a swing!


Very relaxed...


Passed by this lovely flower with water droplets on our way out


We took the train back again. I was quite tired and was in a daze when we reached Jurong East where we were supposed to change. I didn't move but thankfully, Kai saw where we were and got us out of the train! Then he couldn't help asking me cheekily if I was going to daydream again when we got to CCK *.*

Yang's cute pose on our way home


They asked to use their pocket money savings on kiddy rides and they shared for the more expensive rides


That week, I also started them on typing. I first learnt typing in primary three so it's high time Kai learnt it too, especially when he uses the laptop more than I did at the same age, what with HBL and even the young zoologist badge online. He did some back in P1 but I found that website to be too crowded.

Might as well get Yang started too


On Thursday, Yu and I were chatting about recycling and he started saying that cardboard would go into yellow bin etc. When we got to the mall, he ran to this kiddy ride to show me what he meant.

There were really four coloured bins in the kiddy ride!


I had wanted to bring Kai and Yang to Mother's place on Monday to show them the whole process of wrapping rice dumplings. But ended up we cancelled the wrapping. And I also had to go to the bank to close an account so I didn't bring them. Then they wanted to see Mother's kidney stone. So ok, let's go on Friday!

Cookies and cream ice cream from AhYee


Yang had one or two bites and decided he didn't like it. Kai didn't want half-melted ice cream so I had it *.* And that was after I had two sweet potato balls with red bean paste that Mother made! So full I gave up having the 老伴豆花 I bought along the way.

Time to show them the stone and tell them to drink more water and not to hold pee!


Later I also asked Mother to show them her dentures - another lesson here: brush your teeth properly!!!! :p We left shortly to go pick Yu up. Wanted to find Yang's teacher but she had left already, oh well!

Yu got to play kiddy rides with his brothers who once again brought some coins along


It being June, Facebook reminded me of past trips to Legoland. Really miss those trips - fun for the whole family, crab and Korean BBQ and massage for the parents!! Showed Yu a photo of him in Legoland two years ago and he packed his bags, hoho!

跑路啦!


Spent Friday before going to Mother's place and Saturday after my vaccination to finish three toy hammocks for the boys. I've had enough of their toys lying all over their beds, and them spending time arranging their toys every night or throwing toys around. Plus the dust. So found a solution online. Just that instead of getting fabric for this, I repurpose bolster cases!

Yu's was the first to be ready


He was so pleased with it he let his monkey sleep there at night instead of with him


I also sorted out my old Montessori files and this is Yu practicising using scissors


The day after Fathers' Day, Yang decided to make a card for Papa :)


Cards on the wall :)


Psst: Check out Sito's new arm chair! The kids like it coz they can sit on it "like a boss", haha! Thankfully, we have only had to pull them off the chair a couple of times so far... 

Went through hanyu pinyin exercises and played a game with Yang


"I'm strong!"


On Friday, the last weekday of the school holidays, Yu was also home due to a scheduled centre closure. I promised a prata breakfast but we couldn't all eat at the hawker centre so must pack. When I woke at 7 am, I dragged myself out of bed to get prata. When I went to grab a mask, I found, to my surprise, Yu sitting on his bedroom floor playing quietly on his own!

He knows that room was meant for him so he kept "treasures" there. First, he used the drawers and cabinets in Sito's desk. Then I emptied them into a drawer so that Sito could have more space. Barely a week in, the toys were back to occupy his drawers! At least he has cabinet space...?

This Ga-Hock Roti Prata about two bus stops away was recommended by a colleague-neighbour-friend. The Chinese boss was very friendly and proudly told me he is one of only two with this onion sambal thingy in Singapore. Maybe next time if we get a chance to dine in there...

The skies were scary as I walked back and I had to walk very quickly (auntie cannot run!) to avoid getting caught in the rain!

They like the prata, yeah! :)


Yu must stuff his mouth to pose for this.... Anyway, Kai and Yu tried both the fish and the vege curry, and preferred the fish. Me too :p

Made these troublesome boys lie still to wait for me to change to go to the library


The one who lay still the longest was to get a prize! They kept asking, was it a big fat kiss? Kai even got up to find me to tell him he thought there was no prize. Yes, no prize for you coz you got up. Yu won coz Yang sat up. I gave him a burger....sticker! And he was happy :)

Reading jokes while I read to Yu


The plan was to go to the playground coz we didn't go out the whole day. I had thought of bringing them prawning. But not sure if they would like it. And it rained in the morning... But it rained while we were in the library so the playground was wet. 

We ended up playing downstairs


We are not done with this boat but it's looking very good already!


Kai calls himself the "fixer" while I'm the "finder" though I could only help on leave days. Guess our roles? :p From now on, we probably would have time for this on only weekends, until the next school holidays. Looking forward to the whole thing :)

This weekend is Yang's birthday weekend. Will write more about it later... Next week, they older two are having HBL. There were many messages from the school yesterday. I prepared some notes to remind myself what to do to prepare for this round of HBL. Have to get all of us ready coz I have to work!

Sunday, 20 June 2021

"Where is kakak?"

Yang and Yu asked this today when they were on the throne and I wasn't able to reach them immediately when they said they were done. 

But... Even when helper is here, she doesn't respond immediately too leh...

Demanding kids...

Anyway, today is helper's regular off day. She decided to stay home to work (with pay) the past couple of off days since there was no dining in. There's still no dining in today but she decided to go so I let her coz 勉强是没有幸福的 :p

The number of visitors is now five but Mum thought it better to keep the kids home so instead of us going over, she brought lunch to us. 

So today, it's as if we have no helper. Not the first time that we stayed home without helper but for the first time, I felt very accomplished, having scanned and dumped 50% of my old Montessori files during the kids' TV time and cooked dinner with minimal number of tools and zero spill. And even better, I have a very supportive hub today :) 

He did all these:
  1. Washed up after lunch while I cleaned up Kai's spilled pear juice
  2. Played with Yu while I was cajoling Yang to finish up his lunch
  3. Bought sausages to 加料 at dinner
  4. Coached Kai on his holiday homework while I cooked dinner
  5. Offered to wash up after dinner but I asked him to stay with the kids instead
Just nice it's Fathers' Day today. We generally don't celebrate such days. Only the preschool kids kid would bring something home.

A trophy from Yu!


小插曲:Yu showed me this when I fetched him on Thursday, holding both ears of the trophy. I offered to hold it for him on the way home but he wanted to hold it himself. But he kind of had a little trip as we stepped off the pavement and one ear broke. I took the trophy from him as we crossed the road, telling him that I would help fix it. He was rubbing his eyes as we crossed the road. When we got over, I saw that he was sobbing! Poor baby... But I taped it up and he happily gave it to Sito that evening :)

To my dear husband: Thank you for your support! Keep this up, and I'll give you a best hub trophy too, haha! :)

Happy Fathers' Day!

Sunday, 6 June 2021

Curse of the nose allergy

Yu went back to school this past week. On Tuesday, his Chinese teacher called to tell him about his sniffling. I told her he has allergy.

On Wednesday, Yu as usual struggled in the morning as he didn't want to go to school. He wanted to be home like his brothers. His argument? He was sniffling so he could not go. I sent him in knowing it was only allergy.

On Thursday evening when I went to fetch him, his teacher told me they couldn't take him if he kept sniffling. If I must send him, they might have to just keep him in the sick bay. They would need a doctor's letter for him to go to school.

During this COVID time, I really wondered which doctor would certify a child fit for school without a negative swab test??? I'm certainly not going to subject Yu to a swab test!

That evening, I asked the K1 parents and friends with doctor friends. I realised I don't have a single doctor friend; later I learnt that Sito has but he was cooped up in his room working and I didn't even have much chance to speak with him.

A K1 parent said her friend in polyclinic said they could still issue fit-for-school letters. JY's PD said they no longer did that due to COVID. 

I also googled madly. But I should know myself - there is no single diagnostic tool to confirm a person has allergic rhinitis. All the skin prick tests and whatever tests can say is that a person is allergic to the specific stuff being tested. JY said a heightened level of eosinophil could indicate allergy so a blood test was a possibility. But again, allergy is only one possible reason for high eosinophil. Further, neither can tell us how the allergy is manifested, e.g. through sniffling and running nose.

So I sent a long email detailing allergic rhinitis to the principal and the various tests available, and ask for what exactly they needed. I was half thinking I would pull Yu out of preschool if nothing worked - after all, the compulsory education act does not extend to preschool. I also include circumstantial evidence of his allergy - family history (me, Kai, Yang) and Yu has no other symptoms indicating other reasons.

I continued to send Yu in. I told him he might have to stay in the sick bay. He was so sweet. He could tell that I was unhappy after his teacher spoke with me on Thursday, and he said he would go to school; he wanted me to be happy :))))

When his principal replied, she said Yu told her that he would go behind her office, i.e. where the sick bay is. Awww.... So she wanted a letter stating his condition. I wondered whether that was possible. But I had to try.

So after settling Kai and Yang's work for the day, I fetched Yu early to go to the clinic. Thankfully, it was pretty much deserted so less chance of catching something when he was not even ill in the first place.

We were lucky to get the more experienced doctor there. He said he couldn't issue fit-for-school at this time but he could indicate that Yu has allergic rhinitis, woohoo! 

Happily watching TV outside from inside the clinic


He also recommends using nasal spray but I'm still hesitant due to possible side effects on growth. That night, I read clinical research until I dozed off - dreary reads haha! But what I read wasn't terribly informative. Couldn't find long-term studies on the growth of children who took nasal sprays. I don't quite buy short-term studies when this nasal spray is a long-term thing. And every child can grow differently so it's hard to pinpoint the cause. Who knows, the allergy itself could be a cause of slow growth! :(

Eh wait, I'm pretty tall. Sighs... Wait a few more years and send them to TCM.

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Twelve

We had planned earlier on to go out today but no dining in *.*

Unlike last year when we ordered in, I cooked a nice little lunch for us - Kagoshima ramen with pork dumplings! Bought a packet from Don Don Donki yesterday. Forgot to take a picture though...

Then we went to town to grab a pair of jeans for Sito. For his last trip to KL, he needed to pack two pairs of jeans, i.e. all of his jeans, so he had to wear an older pair of really tight and uncomfortable jeans just before his trip. Better get another pair for his next trip. We ended up getting two pairs. We could have collected today but we didn't want to hang around too much. Will collect them when I go for TCM next week.

Before we left ION, we picked up a cup of yummy Hey Tea and dinner supplements - roast duck and char siew. Also packed a snack on our way to the bus stop. It was a pretty chop chop trip - COVID and he had to return for a meeting.

With our tea


Yang enjoyed the biscuit with strawberry jam - I think I should get down to making some scones!


Featuring this boy coz he couldn't spell "twelve" in his maths paper in the morning :p

Hope thirteen will see us lead a more normal life!

So small, so painful

Mother had to go to A&E on the afternoon of Friday, 23 April, for back pain. It turned out to be a kidney stone. YQ stayed with her until night time when she finally got a bed in an ambulatory ward. I tried to visit on Saturday morning but found that visiting hours were limited *.* So I went back only on Sunday afternoon. Think there was quite a wait for the scan to happen...

As luck would have it, the doctor came by when I was there. We discussed - with me on WhatsApp with my siblings as well - and decided not to insert a stent but to use medicine to try to flush out the stone. They started her on the medicine that night and discharged her the next day.

Last Monday, MZ took her back for a review. The stone was still there! So no choice, surgery. And it was my turn to send her in.

I left before the kids woke and got to AMK by 7 am. We reached TTSH by 7.15 am. Registration etc was fast though we spent some time waiting on a bed before being told to change and verify documents etc. I realised many of the staff were non-Mandarin speaking but they got a Mandarin-speaking nurse to be with her during the procedure when family couldn't be present to help. She was pushed in just before 8.20 am.

The procedure was expected to take two hours. So I thought I would grab some breakfast and read while sipping coffee. But I forgot about no dining in :(

I bought a pancake from Mr Bean and ate it while looking at the mall directory. Grabbed a coffee from Wang and sipped at it in NTUC - supermarkets open early woohoo! - where I looked at the nutritional labels of cooking oils, hoho! Wanted to compare omega 3 vs. omega 6. 

Next was Japan Home. Love going there to look at storage solutions, ironing boards, pots etc :p But I wouldn't buy anything since there's one near home.

But there's no Don Don Donki near home! And the last time Sito and I tried to go into one, there was a long queue. So I got some snacks for the kids and a packet of ramen for the adults. Also got a pair of cleaning beans for water bottles - can't wait to try them!

Then I spent a long time at Daiso. This is a small one but I went through all the household and kitchen products to identify interesting ones and those I could potentially use. Of course I topped up my supplies of wet wipes :p

At Daiso, I received a call from the hospital to say that Mother was done with the surgery and would need to be observed after GA and be reviewed by the doctor before she could be discharged. And I could not go back to the hospital yet.

I went through the mall another time before moving to the adjacent mall. Found a Guardian which was well stocked with masks so I took my time reading their useful comparison charts and selecting two boxes to buy. I stuffed everything into my Donki bag, which was filled to the brim after Guardian.

I went through this mall and found nothing of interest. Eventually, I went back to the first mall. I considered a foot massage but it was more expensive than our usual place and quality unknown. I also wasn't sure how much longer it would be. I thought I would check out a massage place I went to years back. But along the way, I passed by a TCM place, which offered a 20 min shoulder massage - I just had a massive knot in my left shoulder so I went in.

The massage was good. And it came with a concurrent 10 min moxibustion which I chose to do at my lower back after all that walking, and a 15 min infrared foot roller massage. What a life saver!

I didn't know what to do after that. So I bought a snack and ate outside the mall, facing the hospital. Still no call.

Needed a drink so went to this shop I bought from years back - it's still there and facing a.... TAXI STAND! I finally found seats!!!!!

I was so happy to be seated! T.T

But shortly after, my back started to itch. The parts that were massaged with hot oil and underwent moxibustion were very, very itchy! Just as I couldn't stand it anymore, the hospital called. 1.20 pm - gosh.

The nurse explained everything to me and I keyed into WhatsApp at the same time to inform the others. There was even a little souvenir - the culprit stone! It was tiny!

Mother was a bit dizzy and felt like puking - normal GA side effects. MZ came down to fetch her from taxi and I continued home. She later puked and felt better.

When I got back, I realised I was very tired. And I realised it was because my core is very weak and cannot support long periods of strolling and standing. I was also using a shoulder bag which meant I had to counter-balance it. And those darn slippers. Should have worn walking shoes. Need to exercise to get my core back in shape - think there was no shape since Yang or Yu :p

Anyway, I told Kai and Yang where I went when I got back. Kai was absorbed in Nintendo but Yang said, "What? How come there's a stone in the body?!" Yes, boy, drink more water!

Called Mother today to make sure she was taking her medicine coz she has an issue with tablets. As expected, she didn't take the painkiller coz not so painful!! Hope she's taking now...