JE is starting N1!

JE is starting N1 at PAP Sparkletots two streets from home.. two days from now.. I think as parents, we are more kanchiong, or maybe jux me the ever worrisome mother.. she hasn't been away for classes before, as I didn't want a big age gap so while the kids are 22 months apart, they are academically only 1 year apart.

I did think about signing her up for classes but did not want to just leave helper and JY alone at home.. around November, we started this Music and Movement class on Saturdays where a teacher comes to our house for a 45 minute session of nursery songs, animal play and tinkering with the ukulele, drums and cassinet.. it has not been the most regular yet, think only 4 classes so far as the class is small, my neighbor, her friend's boy, and JE. jY joined in the class since he likes music too and it's just in our own house..

Hopefully classes can be more regular in the new year.. it's a exercise for mummies too cox we move along with the kids, e.g. do the elephant walk, or run around like a mouse, or carry the kids n shoot off to the sky... Hubby was thinking of signing JE up for classes at Yamaha instead but then that would lead to JY not being able to participate too..

Anyways, back to school, I hope JE takes well to it, since I have to count on our helper to bring her to and fro classes daily. Hubby and I will take turns to bring her for the first week, and hopefully she's ok for the 2nd and onwards.. and will meet great friends and caring teachers that make her love and enjoy studying..

There's nothing to prepare for a N1 preschooler, right? Right...

Breathe in, breathe out..

JY is 1!

JY has turned one year old, in fact, he's turning 13 months old come early Jan! Lazy mummy has been lazing on updates.. 

We held a party for him a day earlier at Sis-in-law’s condo function room.. the venue is great and we booked both the Karaoke and function room.. the room.was already decorated with festive LED lights cox it was going to be Xmas season, same case as his first month baby shower party during early Jan.. my boy sure picked a good month to be born during the year end festive season, helped us save abit of decor and the condo management helped hype up the place..

Anyways, I had bought party stuff from.taobao since August.. abit over-excited and actually didn't use everything that I had bought.. because of the great11.11 sale and shipping concierge ezbuy couldn't handle the surge in orders, some of my goods actually came way after the party.. ?!?!?

Oh wells, you can't save all the money so pay peanuts and you get monkeys.. 

But some of my orders are wonderful.. got decor balloons for just $6 that totally didn't look like it..

Bought some cutesy cookie wrappers and got snacks from Bencoolen to fill them as party favors.. bought chocolates from Cocoa Trees and put them in my old but festive-looking Cookie Museum tin.. also bought 3-tier bowls from NTUC for Bangkok cookies, displayed Pocky and Pejoy sticks.. and that was my less than $100 dessert table.. of course the buffet and venue rental was another sum, all in all I guess $1000plus or likely lesser for a crowd of 70 pax..

Jts some of my party buys:

Balloons: https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=527209706539

http://h5.m.taobao.com/awp/core/detail.htm?id=19598923878

http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=531297500368

http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=540156529310

Cake stand:

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=530689445115

Led balls: http://m.intl.taobao.com/detail/detail.html?id=12399180735

Mummies can also search for cake toppers or 蛋糕插 on ezbuy or taobao.

some additional links for other stuff that can be used at both the party and after: 

https://ezbuy.sg/Product/Detail?url=https%3a%2f%2fitem.taobao.com%2fitem.htm%3fid%3d533917018861&src=

https://ezbuy.sg/Product/Detail?url=https%3a%2f%2fitem.taobao.com%2fitem.htm%3fid%3d524770619277&src=

https://ezbuy.sg/Shopping/EasyBuy?url=http%3A%2F%2Fitem.taobao.com%2Fitem.htm%3Fid%3D526965074330%26spm%3D2014.12193480.0.0&IsFromPrime=Y

https://ezbuy.sg/Product/Detail?url=https%3a%2f%2fitem.taobao.com%2fitem.htm%3fid%3d529685953889&src=

https://ezbuy.sg/Product/Detail?url=https%3a%2f%2fitem.taobao.com%2fitem.htm%3fid%3d520248448218&src=

https://ezbuy.sg/newcategory/?keyword=cake%20toppers&isPrime=false

On his birthday, we went to the temple to give thanks.. I bought e-tickets at $34 to go to the SEA Aquarium, and topped up $40 to convert my day pass to annual pass instead of $88 for annual pass.. promotions only lasts til 31 Dec.. was contemplating about buying a RwS invites membership or not as there's an ongoing promo as well for MasterCard holders at $135 instead of $150 as they offer $200 dining vouchers at those fancy restaurants.. thought its quite worth it and the til 31st Dec deadline is making my heart race.. oh wells...

Hope this post helps you to save some money too!!

Sharing post on KKH

I am sharing my experience at the L3 fetal monitoring clinic for mummies back in 2015.

I had a scare midway through my second pregnancy and went to KkH one evening for tummy aches that lasted an entire evening around 26 weeks and was asked to go to the L3 monitoring clinic. The nurses told me I was having contractions and possibly miscarriaging and scared my wits out of me. For quite some time, I didn't know what was going on, i was left alone while being strapped to the monitor, then they gave me the news while I was alone, subsequently I asked for hubby to come in as I was crying and shaking. They had to ask the Registration for permission for some steroid jab n i could either ward or go home. Not reassuring by any count when I was filled with dread and fear. I was wheeled up to the ward around midnight as we decided to stay, not knowing what and how the worst may have happened.

The nurses at the ward were really angels from heaven, extremely reassuring and tender and held onto my hand while they inserted the IV. They calmed me and soothed my frazzled mind, allowing me to rest for the night after a junior Dr came and gave his preliminary views. The angels at my ward continued to care for me over my 3D2N "staycation", while an extremely gentle lady Dr came and told me I probably caught some infection down there that triggered the contractions, until I was discharged. It was mind-blowing how different the nurses were, and to this day, I still dread my harrowing experience at the L3 clinic..

I have only one other experience of KKH children's A&E, and hopefully no others to come. My girl had fell and hurt her nose and mouth and was bleeding and rushed to KKH around 5plus 6pm. I rushed down from work and she was thankfully already calmed down and attended to by the time I reached about 6.40pm.. however, I have heard of other stories whereby my friend's son was administered stitches without sufficient anaesthetics and it was a terrible experience..

So, I guess it all depends on the nurses and Drs you meet..

Recipes for bone wellness

My father in law somehow fainted in Chinese Garden last Friday and fractured his arm. On first look the injuries are quite bad, as he somehow got a black eye as well.. He also got a couple of injuries here and there.. i googled online for some soup recipes that could be useful..

Found this website useful for reference on Chinese herbs: http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/chinese-herbs.html

Source: http://5elementfood.blogspot.sg/2014/11/three-chinese-bone-soups-for-healing.html

Pork Bone Soup 

1 pound of Pork Bones (preferably Neck Bones)
Enough Water to Just Cover the Pork Bones
Enough Water to Cook the Pork Bone Soup
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Salt
Optional: 2 cups of Soybean Sprouts

Place Pork Bones in a soup pot and add water to jut cover the bones. Bring to a boil and turn off when the scum rises to the surface. Throw out all of the water and then refill the pot so that there is about 4 inches of water covering the bones. Add vinegar and salt and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer on low for 3 hours or more. Cool and strain broth. If desired, reheat and cook Soybean Sprouts in the soup for about 15 minutes before serving. Otherwise, reheat one cup at a time to boiling and serve in a mug. Season with additional sea salt if desired.

Chicken Bone Soup

1 pound of Chicken Drumsticks
1 large yellow onion, stem ends removed and cut into chunks (can leave peel on)
1 Celery Root, washed and cut into chunks
2 large carrots, washed, stem and end removed and cut into chunks
2 - 3 Parsnips, washed, stem and end removed and cut into chunks
2 large Celery Stalks, washed and cut into chunks
1 - 2 Turnips, washed, stem and ends removed and cut into chunks
2 - 3 teaspoons of salt
10 - 12 cups of Water

 In a large soup pot, put in chicken thighs and all the root vegetables. Cover with water up to 4 to 5 inches above the chicken. Bring to a boil and then turn down heat to a simmer. Cook for 1 1/2 hours. Taste and add salt. Strain broth and serve individual portions reheated and poured into a mug. Season with additional sea salt if desired.

Beef Bone Soup

4 - 5 pound Beef leg bones,
1 large Onion, stems removed and cut into chunks (leave skin on)
2 large Carrots, washed, stem and end removed and cut into chunks
2 - 3 stalks of Celery, cut up
3 Large Tomatoes cut up
12 cups of Water
3 teaspoons Salt
1 Bay Leaf
Handful of Parsley

 Put beef bones in a large soup pot and barely cover with water. Bring to a boil until the foam rises. Drain water and rinse the bones. Put back into the pot with the water, vegetables, Parsley and Bay Leaf. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Skim additional foam as it rises. Cook for 3 hours. Cool and scrape out the marrow if possible and add back into the soup. Strain and refrigerate. When ready to serve, heat up one cup at a time and serve in a mug and season with additional sea salt if desired.

Five Element Analysis Soups, and especially broths are a Water Element food. But, each soup is made with a different kind of bone. Pork Bones belong to the Water Element, Chicken Bones to the Wood Element and Beef Bones to the Earth Element. The Soybean Sprouts contribute the Wood Element to the Pork Bone Soup and the Celery adds more of the Wood Element to the Chicken Soup. However, the Celery Root is an Earth Element vegetable as are the Carrots, Parsnips and Turnips in the Chicken Soup. Onions add the Metal Element to the Chicken and Beef Soups and the Parsley and Bay Leaf add even more Metal to the Beef Soup. Tomatoes contribute the Fire Element to the Beef Soup. The Pork Soup is for tonifying (nourishing) the kidneys. The Chicken Soup starts adding essential nutrients and supports the Liver and Stomach. The Beef Soup is for enhancing the blood and energy. 

Found a vegetarian soup recipe here too: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/food-recipes/recipe-bone-nourishing-soup.html

 Du Zhong/Toh Tiong (Eucommia Bark) – 3 to 4 pieces (cut into thick strands)
Chuan Gong/Chun Kiong (Szechwan Lovage Rhizome) – 20 pieces
Chinese Black Dates – 1 cup
 Goji/Wolfberry – 1/2 cup (soaked in water to remove any colouring)
Red Cane Sugar – 1 tablespoon/to taste
Mushroom stock – to taste
Eggs – 4 eggs (boiled in advance) [Optional]

 Pour some water into a small pot, bring it to boil and place the eggs into the boiling water. Pour the 1/2 cup of wolfberry into a bowl of water, wash and drain it. Cut the Eucommia Bark into smaller pieces. Fill the slow cooker with boiling water up to 3/4 of the pot. Put in all the Eucommia bark, Chuan Gong, Chinese black dates, and wolfberry into the the slow cooker. Add 1 table spoon of red cane sugar and about 1 teaspoon of mushroom stock. You can add more according to your taste. Let the soup boil for 4 hours, then soak to 4 eggs into the soup. Leave the boiled soup in the slow cooker to keep warm. 

Another vegetarian soup here: http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/no-bone-broth/ 

14 cups cold water
2 large onions, chopped small
5 garlic cloves, crushed
4 large celery stalks, chopped small
1 large potato, chopped small
1 large carrot, chopped small
10 sprigs parsley
1 large zucchini, chopped small
1 large parsnip, chopped small (optional)
3 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 corn cob (optional)
1/4 cup diced green onion
1/2 cup arame
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke or smoked paprika (optional)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

 Place the cold water in a large stockpot over high heat. Begin chopping the vegetables and placing them in the pot as you go, along with the arame. Add bay leaves and peppercorns. Cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain well before using. Add liquid smoke if using, and salt and pepper to taste before serving.

For phlegm (shared by fellow mummies in my grp)

This post is up to record recipes for phlegm in babies.. by mummies Cindy n Denise..

Pear with almonds soup
Cook the pear and Chinese almond soup with a bit of the chuan Bei powder..

take one Chinese pear (cut into pieces, skin removed), one tablespoon each of the nan xing almond and Bei xing almond, one quarter of the dried tangerine, 白木耳 (one quarter, soak in water to soften first). Add 1 big bowl of water and put everything in the slow cooker.. Boil for a few hours. Before you serve LO, add a bit of the chuanbei powder. The chuanbei powder is important as it is the one that reduces the phlegm, not too much.. Just give LO, 2-3 tablespoons of the soup..

Chinese yam 山药
1)yam, peeled, cut into small pieces into the food grinder, together with half a bowl of water yam processing into a thin paste,

2 )then cooked while constantly stir to boil.

The best to eat with empty stomach. 1 bowl of yam can be divided into 2 or 3 times to feed your baby 

yam spleen and stomach, lungs gas, kidney essence, is best suited for infants and young children, not only can cough treatment of asthma, also on the baby anorexia, sweating more, drooling. Qi deficiency, timid and other diseases also have a good therapeutic effect. Note that, yam's boiling time should not be too long, otherwise the starch contained therein would break down, leading to the loss of tonic effect.

Note: not my recipe, just posting for record and to share with fellow parents.. somehow I can't upload the pictures shared.

9m + milestones

JY can now:
-stand 3-5 seconds without support
-crawl on all fours
-play peekaboo on his own,
-point to his head
-salivate a little less.
-sound like he's calling jiejie
-climb down backwards from the sofa
-scream along with jiejie

It also means I'm heading towards two toddlers in the house soon!! Crawling n walking and screaming around the house.. Yikes!!

Baby Jaundice

I recall this as I was congratulating a new mummy friend about her delivery… Her newborn has jaundice and had an extended stay in the hospital after birth..  Both my kids had jaundice that was picked up around Day 3 post-delivery. Hubby and I stayed an additional night for both kids as we wanted to be with our babies.

During JE’s time, being a first-time mother, I didn’t know what to expect. I had learnt about jaundice during the pre-natal class but it didn’t kick in until I was told my baby had to stay additional night and I couldn’t carry her home immediately. We stayed one more night after being checked by Dr Lim to be fit for discharge. The next day, the PD still deemed the jaundice not sufficiently low for discharge and had to stay an additional night again! We had to check out as it was silly spending so much so on hospitalization fees when I was well enough to rest at home. We stayed at mum’s as it was nearer from TMC and more convenient to visit JE to bring her freshly pumped milk. At this, I remember tears spilling out of my eyes when I toppled my painstakingly pumped milk while trying to transfer it after my first manual pumping session at home.

When JE was finally discharged, we happily went home… only to be readmitted during the one-week check-up because the damned jaundice spiked again. I held back my tears while in the Dr’s room but they rolled torrentially down my face once I was out waiting for the nurses to get the forms ready for admission and photo-therapy. It was a horrendous experience as hubby was busy and my sister was accompanying me.

When it was JY’s turn, I was calmer and knew I had to leave it to the experts, but still the readmission from the PD led to a pool of tears and funny Dr Tan saying “Aiyo… you don’t cry leh, I’m very scared when girls cry..” We did the readmission and went home to JE and some sleep. Both kids were diagnosed with blood type jaundice as they followed hubby’s blood type instead of mine. However, JY’s case turned into breastmilk jaundice and continued well until he was 1 month old. In the end I cheated and gave FM instead of breastfeeding for the few days prior to the last check-up. Thankfully, he managed to clear it  and did not have to go through those blood tests and pee tests nor therapy again.

Some of the methods we tried to alleviate the jaundice:

• -          Feed and bathe with honeysuckle flower (Jin Yin Hua) from traditional medicinal shops. Boil the flower in water, and then bathe the baby in a tub mixed with the solution for at least 3 -4 days. Info: http://www.heartknowsbest.com.sg/qna/QuestionDetail?qid=1045
• -          Sun bathe. Bring the baby out to the gentle sun for Vit D rays
• -          Cut down on ginger in mummy’s diet. Apparently I took Wen Dong Ginger which was very heaty and prolonged the jaundice.
• -          Gave formula feed for the 2 – 3 days prior to the check-up after baby was identified for breast milk jaundice. I was too upset with the multiple pricks for blood test.
• -          We also did a bath with warm rice water, though I forgot was it for jaundice or for a bloated baby..
• -          What I read but didn’t try: You can bathe baby in stout beer too!

Diarrhea

Can't believe I'm posting about diarrhea after constipation but well, they happened to different kids.. so.. JY was down with diarrhea yesterday. Not sure if it was the addition of a tiny bit of avocado in his oat cereal that caused it or something else.. might have been due to teething.. but he pooped 5 times yesterday and granny asked me to bring him to the Dr.

I thought to bring him to the clinic opposite mum's since at 4plus, Most clinics have stopped their PM sessions and that clinic had a evening session between 1900 - 2030. So I gobbled up my light dinner and prepared to make a visit across the road. I had called a couple of times but no one picked up! Irritatingly, the Dr put a note to say it had closed at 1940! Hubby had seen the Dr open awhile before that and of all times it had to close after my boy woke from his nap n gave a lil poo!

Arghh.. we hurried home and rushed to go TMC instead as Dr Tan at L6 was open til 2000 for the last registration. But we reached at 2004 and the nurses hae closed the desk. Hurumppphhh... We trudged down to l1 24-hour clinic instead.. got some powder meds and probiotics powder, plus anti nausea ones in case. When collecting meds, I then remembered to ask the nurse about diluting his milk feed and was told to stop his regular milk! She gave me some Similac total comfort samples instead to give JY for the time being, at least for 2 days.. and offer solids like white bread, porridge, steamed fruits in place of milk. She said some babies might even be sensitive with soy milk..

Thankfully, everything is fine now. But will still watch his diet for the next few days..

The past few weeks have been going to Dr visits, tiring on the senses and pocket.. hopefully the kids stay healthy and accident-free...

Visit to NuH

Talk about emergency for kids and most people immediately think of KKh. However, I keep hearing of long wAits there even in late hours of the night.. becox presumably, the whole nation's parents go there after GPs and PDs are not available..

About two weeks ago, my girl had an acute constipation episode where she was straining in pain n sweat for more than an hour. She has had a bit of a problem pooping since after 6 months old when brown rice cereal was added to her milk to fill her up. In the past, my grandma had manually cooked brown rice paste for us in place of milk. But now, it was the Nestle one we used.

Back to that night, granny, my hubby , maid and I tried to see where's her poo after an hour of sweat and crying, it was at her anus but it was too big and hard to come out. After Calling the GP who advised us to go KK, I decided to go NuH instead since it was closer. We live in Bukit Panjang, I guess either would take us about 15-20min in smooth traffic, but the queue at KK would be far longer. Given that I had not too good an episode during my 2nd pregnancy where I had an emergency admission into KKH, I was also less inclined towards KKH.

We spent about 2.5 hours at NUH that night, registration was fairly smooth. Told the triage about JE's ongoing flu and constipation. Saw the Dr who left JE rather traumatized especially after the medicinal liquid was dispensed up her butt by the nurse.

It was a good thing she wasn't toilet trained yet, and just pooped into her diapers. Else it would have been a mess. I brought a diaper and set of clothes just in case for the a&e trip, but the diaper wasn't enough. And thankfully, we got one more from the triage.

By the time we settled back into bed, it was past midnight. Thankfully Dr had given MC and I applied for urgent child sick leave the next day. Lactulose was prescribed to soften her stools over the next week before a follow-up appointment at NUH Children's Clinic.

On the appointment day, JE was in high spirits after I told her I was bringing her to sit the train. She had only taken the train once when we were waiting for our appointment at Yuguo baby massage and the queue was horrendous so we went to Paya Lebar for a walk in the mall.

It was abit more than an hour's trip on the bus, and transiting across two trains from Bukit Panjang to Kent Ridge. We arrived at 1144 for our 1145 appointment. Her razor eyes zoomed in on the play area but paranoid mummy forbade her to enter the playroom since it was presumably a sea of germs. After taking her weight, we were led to a quieter waiting area outside the Dr's room. I gave her old one baby puffs and vitamins I had packed.

It was a horrendous crying fit upon entering the Dr's room having been traumatized the week earlier at A&E. She was crying and reciting "Go outside ah..." Throughout the 45minutes of consultation where a pretty Dr asked about her history. I had forgotten how her constipation had started, and only realized I missed out some facts in the night when recounting the episode to my granny.

After collecting 2 more bottles of Lactulose, and appointment for a month's time, we went to meet my Sis who works at NUH ENT Clinic for lunch at Xinwang. JE feasted on the papaya fish soup beehoon I ordered, plus some of Yiyi 's mushroom pasta before my order arrived. Afyer lunch, we went to the ladies for a diaper change. It was then time for Yiyi to head back to work, but the little one clung onto her Yiyi like a koala and we bluffed her that her beloved Yiyi went to buy cakes. Yiyi then escaped back to work.

I brought her to buy a fruit tart at Deliverance home in consolation, and then cabbed home. jE fell asleep on the ride back but woke once I put her down. Arghh.... She only fell asleep out of exhaustion around 1630.. not before I nodded off while patting her to bed...

Hopefully the situation improves, with more water intake, along with vegetables and fruits. She only takes packaged purees rather than fresh fruits.. and spits out if I give too much spinach or any other vegetables. I wonder when will she freely eat everything offered...

Found a useful link for further reading: http://patient.info/health/constipation-in-children-leaflet

8m milestone (Aug)

Time flies.. JY is turning 9 months. I've had tough times, cox the boy is somehow hungrier, fiercer and stronger than his sister. He is increasingly vocal now, and will flip in the Yaolan swing if he's awake or if he doesn't want to sleep..  He's sitting on his own for quite a bit now, and will try walking when we hold him and inch forward, still doing the leopard crawl but now it's from the TV area all the way to the common toilet or bedroom. Agile lil one, he has been trying to pull himself up using the TV console drawers and coffee table. And knocked his head against the floor a couple of times. He also likes to climb against the folds of the back of the sofa and try grabbing the window grilles.. much as I try to baby-proof the house and be careful, I foresee heart-stopping moments to come and pray that the knocks would be light ones..