Advance Birthday Celebrations

My birthday falls on 03 Apr but mummy & daddy decided to celebrate in advance for me. They chose the Sun prior to my bday week as most of our family members & relatives are at home. If we celebrate it on a normal weekday, might nt be possible to assemble everyone.

Wanted to do a video record on his birthday song singing session but my camera play me out. So cld only manage to take this very short clip after the song session where Lionel is too eager to cut the cake.

Injury Updates

Mummy: I've gt a little monkey who still swings, jumps, runs & skips like nobody's business. Despite her injury, she is still very active which of cos is good. But looking at the way she runs & skips can be quite scary at times, cos u nvr know when she will fall & hurt herself again. And nt when she still hv an injury on her arm.

But poor little monkey seems a little affected by her injury. Not from her movements but rather her skin. She is gettin rashes on her shoulders, below her armpit & ard her neck. Not sure whtr the rashed were caused by her bandaged arm cos some aunties & frens did mention the area ard the bandage will cause itchiness. And with the warm weather, my little monkey is perspiring like hot cakes with the butter on. She can change into 3 outfits per day as her clothes are always soaking wet. And to keep her cool, we apply powder on her most of the time & on & off allow her to run into Guardian.

Mil did suggest to us to bring her back to KK & see if can change into another kind of cast. Instead of this softcast which she is having now, can the doc changed to only a soft padding ard her elbow, leaving her upper arm free. But i was thinking since her next appt is on 9 Apr ( another 1.5 weeks away), wldnt she hold or can she hold?

Waiting for hb to decide to bring her for a change ( appt needed) or to wait till actual appt date. Most imptly, i hope her wounds hv been healed; cracks closed. Rashes & itchiness can be treated easily but if her wound in nt healed completely, then she wld still hv to be in a cast. Fingers crossed!

Termly Developmental Milestone

Mummy rcv my termly developmental milestone report from teacher Shufen, my form teacher. Teacher Shufen mention dat i still hv room for improvement. Mummy stared at me, her eyes big big. She's gonna set a routine for me again; she did dat last year & she's gonna do it again. Here are the comments (word for word):-

Language Arts
During this term, sight reading was introduced to the Nursery through readers & wordcards. Lionel picks up the words quickly but alos tends to forget them easily. I feel that he requires more practice in this area as having a strong reading foundation will help him to read better in the future years. However, Lionel knows his alphabet & phonics sounds very well. He is alos quite independent in is written work but needs constant reminder to complete his work neatly.

Maths Concepts
Mathematical concepts like matching, comparing of sizes, height, length, etc were introduced to Lionel. He understands the above mentioned concepts & is seen trying to relate his understanding into play. For example, he does compare which block toner is taller, which bowl has more food & etc.

Chinese Language
志聪：虎头虎脑的小家伙, 很讨人喜欢。他象个小大人似的，老师讲课能睁大眼睛看着老师；很专注。他的学习能力较强; 儿歌，唐诗，生字吸收很快，发音方面须加强。上课画儿的彩色不是很均匀，须更加认真。加油！志聪！你一定会做到我们班里最棒的。

Others
A boy who enjoys music and is always seen dancing and moving to songs & rhymes. Lionel is also interested in pretend play as he is keen to express his ideas & feelings through play times. However, he needs constant reminders to share, take turns & not being too rough in class. Furthermore, Lionel also needs to put in more effort in his speech like pronounication as his speech is not quite strong. I strongly believe that Lionel will make improvement in his weaker areas if he continues to work hard.

Lionel dear, pls "jia you" Next time when u grow up & happen to see these comments by your teacher, you will then understand why i hv to be hard on you always. The education system is not like drinking plain water, whereby u can spill & splash all you like. There are ever changing rules & regulations & i need you to follow closely so that you will not lack behind. It is not easy to explain & i also do not wish to complicate matters. So just remember - To study hard is your main priority now. Its for the sake of your future.

Cheese

Days after that incident. I'm still as active as ever; i dun let my injury hinder me.

i still like taking fotos... pics taken by Lim Keow Gu Gu. Tks.

fotos taken on Mon 16 Mar 2009

Happy Sweet 20mths

The 1st most important lesson learnt....

do i hv rosy cheeks or wat?
fotos taken on Tues 17 Mar 2009

Still wanna take fotos despite the injury i am having. i still "buay kia see" (hokkien). Still running abt as if nothing had happen to me. LOL!

After my review on Thurs, 19 Mar 2009:

The specialist @ clinic P, Dr Sean Leo P M (Dept of Orthopaedic Surgery) told Mummy & Daddy i wld need to hv my cast removed & re cast again. Tis time, into wat u called a scotchcast - soft cast. And 3 weeks later, i will hv my cast removed permanently. The doc told Mummy nt to worry; i am young, i will recover fast.

So far, Daddy paid:

$85/$80 (after gov. grant) - registration fees

$60/$25 (after gov. grant) - professional consultation

$37.70/$18.85 (after gov. grant) - x-ray investigation

$71.50/$37.50 (after gov. grant) - application of scotchcast

Total: $161.35 ( Mummy asked Daddy to claim from my insurance.)

Went for a flat review & sale @ Marine Parade blk 63 dat very night. Daddy wanna buy a unit; but nt for ourselves, rather for rental - to rent out to others to earn extra income. Tis a 4 bedroom flat, upgrading works goin on, move in condition. Only a few pieces of furniture remains. Mummy is eyeing at the cupboard, the air condition & the fridge but Daddy say cannot remove la. The cupboard still can consider but the fridge also dunno whtr spoil anot cos the occupants hv moved out long ago & all electrical applicances were nt in used for a period of time already.

Rachel surveying the area; must get her approval first :P

everything seems fine to me

Huh? What?

One more time, mummy

hey daddy, wait for me

Remember to switch off the lights

fotos taken on 19 Mar 2009

Cracked Bone

Mummy & Daddy were at last night's IT Fair @ Suntec when Mummy got a call from Li Qi Gu Gu, informing her that i had fell & hurt my arms. Gu Gu was nt very sure which part of my arms were hurt but i was crying badly whenever they tried to move my left hand. Gu Gu informed Mummy that they were at that time bringing me to see the Chinese Sinseh as most clinics were already closed. Time was abt 9pm plus. Mummy & Daddy immediately rushed back, fore-going their dinner.

Mummy called Gu Gu on her handphone & was told there are already at the clinic. Daddy drove at a speed of 120km/hr ( which of cos was against the speed limit la) on the CTE. Daddy, although did not say anything but was obviously quite worried also, otherwise, why the need for speeding. Mummy prayed dat no traffic police wld stopped us or kenna accixxxx...

Here is Ah Ma's account of what had happened.

- She was in the kitchen, hanging out the clothes & i was in the living room, walking ard & playing.

- I kept calling out to Ah Ma & ah ma kept saying: "coming...coming.."

- All of a sudden, Ah Ma heard a loud thud & realised that i had fallen.

- Ah Ma thot dat i had hurt my head & begin to console me.

- At this time, Li Juan & Li Qi gu gu returned from dinner & ah ma told them wat happened.

- They checked me from head to toe to see where i had hurt myself.

- Ah ma initially thot dat i had hurt my head & begin checking for swells & bruises but dun hv

- I had stopped crying at tis time so ah ma decided to change me into my pyjamas

- They they realised dat whenever they lift my left hand, i wld start howling in pain

- They then gt a conclusion i must hv hurt my arms somewhere.

Mummy & Daddy rushed over to the chinese sinseh & was told i gt a bone dislocation. Mummy burst out: " What?!!!! So where were we? Mummy asked. The sinseh told Mummy we had only just left so Mummy quickly called gu gu & we agreed to meet up at the carpark . Mummy & Daddy rushed me down to KKH, Childeren's A&E

There were many many people at the department, mostly kids with high fever. Some with more serious conditions like bleeding from the head with serious wounds or on the body. There was one little boy with blood all over his clothes & his head was bandaged up. His daddy who was carrying him was also covered with blood & his mummy was crying, eyes red & puffy.

Mummy paid the registration fee & we went ahead to take an x-ray to see what happen to my arm. The waiting game begin. We waited, waited, waited......from 10.30pm to almost 12.30am ---- for 2 whole hrs. Nos. were nt called in sequenced & more serious cases were attended to first. Mummy was a little frustrated; isnt my case considered a serious one?!

The doc looked at my x-ray & told mummy & daddy dat i had a slight fracture on my elbow. The bone is still intact; dat's good, just dat on the outer sides of my bone, there are 2 slight cracks. The doc will speak to the bone specialist & see whtr an admission is required for me anot due to my age.

The doc came back to mummy after speaking to the bone specialist & was told no admission needed for me. I only need to hv my hand plastered & in arm sling

to minimise my movement. There was also no medication for me as the doc said the crack will heal by itself; i suppose wat's with all the cells & tissues doing the healing process. :) Mummy heaved a sign of relief. :)

The doc & an assistant nurse begun to put my arm in a plastered cast & sling me. I was crying & howling away cos its sooooo painful. Mummy's eyes were teary but she tried to hold her tears back.

We were told to come back on Thurs for a review to see whtr my bone is healing wonderfully. Please pray for me. I wanna be up & abt again.

Mummy asked if i wanna be notty & climb high & low another time anot. I shook my head. Daddy asked if i wanna be like spiderman & climb even higher anot. I nod my head. Dilema!

Look at poor o'lil me. My left arm in a sling. Quite uncomfortable for me cos i cannot turn easily & hv to sleep on my back most of the time. Bandages sucks!

A pillow was put below my left arm so that i can rest & relax & nt feel so rigid. Mummy knows hw uncomfortable it is for me & she trys to make me feel comfy, as best as she could. But at the same time, she is also afraid of hurting me even more.

Rachel darling, pls get well soon. we wanna see u up & abt again. pls also bear with the uncomfortableness for awhile.

造句

Mummy: i felt that i just hv to pen this down before i forgot completely. This happened quite some time ago but i still remember. Its actually on a piece of homework that my nephew did; cant remember whtr its his tuition or sch work.
Anyway, they were suppose to do 造句 - sentence construction. ** Note: he is in primary 4 this year. I happen to pick up his book & was flipping thru the pages when i noticed this sentence construction........ready?

可怜：可怜的小猫三天没吃东西了。(nothing's funny rite?)

可怜：可怜的小猫三天没吃东轩了。(notice the highlighted words in both
sentences?)

I caught the "joke in action" & passed his book over to his 二姨 (Priscilla) & pointed out the joke. She laughed out loud & soon the booked was passed on to everyone who wanted to share the bulk of joke.

If u still cannot "catch" the joke here, let me explain. The 1st sentence he constructed is the correct one but iso writing the word 东西, he went to write his own name 东轩. So the whole sentence sounded like the poor cat has not been eating "东轩" for 3 days already.

Marina Mandarin VS Health Zone @ SGH

Yippee! We are going out again. Basically, no i shall say actually its nt a complete family outing as Daddy hv to work; we only tag along. Hahaha....

First stop @ Marina Mandarin. Daddy need to do some works at a tailor shop so Mummy, myself & Rachel hang out at the 4th floor of the hotel. There is a stretch of oil paintings & birds, real birds singing & chirping for us to marvel. Nah, nt really marvel but just fooling ard.

Marina Mandarin Hotel Lobby

Look at hw high the hotel is....

Tulips....anyone?

We wanted to go to the pool side but Mummy is afraid both of us wanna splash inside the water. No no no, says mummy. We are nt allowed to get ourselves wet eventhough Mummy came prepared with a towel.

There was an incident which made Mummy laugh, almost embaressed. We had just come out from the toilet & after walking only a few steps, i stood there, rooted with a silly sort of expression on my face. Mummy asked wat happen & to her horror, i replied: " Mummy, my pants are wet." Mummy looked down & saw that i was standing in a pool of water. Mummy clapped her hands to her forehead & exclaimed:" Didnt we just came out from the toilet? Why & hw did u wet urself again? Goodness!"

Mummy quickly dragged me inside the toilet, with Rachel as well, ignoring the puddle of water. Luckily the floor is carpeted & dull in colour so its nt really obvious. People will nt suspect its urine but rather water. Haha.. :P

I changed into my pampers; i was wearing underwear initially. Mummy took off my underwear & pants...shhhh...dun tell anyone here...but she actually took both garments & hv them air dried using the hand dryer. Now, tis hand dryer is the new type whereby u put ur hands into the dryer itself & the air comes from the sides. Not those kind where u put ur hands under the dryer. Hopefully u know which kind i'm toking abt here.

After a good 10 mins, Mummy told me to wear back my pants as it has already dried up. Mummy says she has a spare set of clothings for me but she say nt to let me wear those yet in case i hv another incident (watever it may be) later in the day. Then she took my underwear & did the same thing. Hahaha....luckily nobody came into the toilet else Mummy wld feel so pai sey. When we were ready to leave, Rachel passed motion. Faint.....we spent another 10 mins inside the toilet where Mummy cleaned up Rachel. I tink we spent a good total time of half an hr inside the toilet.

Once done, we headed back into the hotel lobby & settled down in some nice cosy armchairs for our snacks. Mummy has packed some bread & biscuit for us both. So while still waiting for Daddy, we ate our snacks & sort of snuggling down into the so call sofa cos its so comfy. Before long, Daddy came up to us & say lets go.

Our next destination is the Health Zone @ SGH. Daddy is also going there to do some lighting works & hence decided to bring us out to play as well. Health Zone, wat else, is all abt our health, from head to toe, inside & out. What we shd know, hw we shd prevent, wat we eat, hw we excercise, etc...

We went out at abt 9am plus in the morning & only came back ard 5pm in the afternoon. Boy! What a day! :)

. remember to drink 6-8 glasses of fluid everyday.

. power up your breakfast to energise your day

. avoid sweet drinks. go for water & fruit juices instead.

. snack the smart way. avoid high sugar, high fat snacks

. skip sweet desserts. go for fresh fruits

. 2 servings of fruits & 2 servings of veggies everyday

. eat all food in moderation

. balance energy input & energy output to maintain a healthy weight.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is used to gauge the amount of body fat in adults.

BMI = Your Weight (kg)

_________________

Height (m) x Height (m)

** Singaporeans have been found to be at risk of developing heart diseases and diabetes at BMI values of 23kh/m2 and above.

Most people have an average resting heart rate of between 60 - 90 beats per minute (b.p.m)

Do you know that if you climb up 20 flights of stairs everyday, you would have climbed a height almost equivalent to the height of Mount Everest in one year?

Cancer: The abnormal growth of body cells. Normal cells grow, divide & replace themselves in an orderly manner. Cancer develops when these cells divide too rapidly & function abnomally.

Heart Disease: A complete blockage of blood flow to the heart muscles results in a heart attack. When this happens, the pain is prolonged & a part of the heart muscle dies.

Stroke: Occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery or when a blood vessel breaks. Blood flow to the brain is disrupted & brain damage occurs.

Diabetes: A disease in which a body produces too little or ineffective insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, which helps the blood glucose enters the body cells to be used for energy. In a person with diabetes, the glucose cannot enters the body cells, building up in the blood , giving rise to a high glucose level

High Blood Pressure: Force of blood that goes around your body.


Age Forties: Thinning of Hair; Stiffer Joints; Far Sightedness
Age Fifties: Dry Skin; Brittle Bone; Menopause ( for woman only)
Age Seventies: Poor Eyesight; Hearing Problem; Slower Digestion
Age Eighties: Weak Bladder; Memory Loss

I wonder hw abt age sixties; its nt shown leh.

How do i look with different type of spectacles? Cool eh? Hehe...

Dish #9 - Deep Fry Tofu

Mummy: What i did for the family tis evening was deep fry tofu. The tofu was nothing special but rather, its the sauce i prepared dat gave some surprising comments. Tofu itself is particularly bland. It goes well with any kind of sauce; plain chilli sauce, light soy sauce, sweet & sour, etc... What i hv prepared for the tofu dip was sweet & sour. Sweet = Sugar ; Sour = Vinegar. But cannot js base on tis 2 sauce alone & mix rite? Or can it be done? Anyway, i did more than dat.

Ingredient for sauce:
1 tbsp apple cider or 1 tbsp rice vinegar.
4 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp cornflour : 4 tsp water ( thickener)

Mix all ingredients together except cornflour. Bring it to a boil in a wok & add the thickener. Serve hot.

Now here are the surprising comments:
" Did u buy the sauce?"
"No, i mix myself "
" Very good" Taste quite nice"
" This sauce can be used for any dip like tofu, fishball, ngoh hiang..."
" Ya hor...tis taste abit like the sauce for yong tau foo leh"
" This sauce very nice, goes very well with chee chong fun"
" What?! Chee Chong Fun? Chee Choong Fun sauce where gt vinegar one?"
" Oh...inside gt vinegar ar? But very nice"

So the left over sauce was kept in the fridge by my fil to eat with his chee chong fun. Muahahaha!

Dish #9 - Stir Fry Bok Chye

Mummy: Till date, i hv learned to cook 2 types of veggie dishes. 1) Assorted veggies with mushrooms & 2) Stir Fry Bok Choy. Okay okay, i know...big deal; 2 kinds only rite? Yup, its big deal to me ma! Hehe :O

Ingredients:

- Bok Choy - base of the stems removed & stems cut into bit size pieces

- 2 shitake mushrooms - drain & sliced

- 1/2 carrot - skin peeled & shredded

- 6 prawns with shells removed & devein.

- 1/2 tsp garlic - chopped

- 1 tbsp corn flour mixture (thickener)

- oil for frying

- half cup of water

Sauce:

- 1 tbsp oyster sauce

- 1tbsp light soy sauce

- 1/2 tsp sugar

- a dash of pepper

Preparations

Heat wok with oil. Saute garlic till slight brown. Add in carrots & mushrooms. Stir fry for abt 1 min. Add in the stems of the veggie first. When stems are soften, throw in the leaves. Continue stir frying for another 2-3 mins or till leaves begin to soften. Add in the prawns last ( as they cooked fast). Combine all sauce ingredients & pour in. Add water. Cover wok & bring it to a boil. One last toss & food is ready to serve.

Dish #8 - Sweet n Sour Pork

Mummy: i dun really know hw to make the sauce for this dish so i cheated. Yes, i cheated. I bot the ready made sauce from Lee Kum Kee (李锦记). But the ingredients used are from some recipes i look thru myself. Errmm...so happens some of it are abt the same ingredients as stated on the sauce packet. :P i suppose its all standardised. Hehe.

Ingredients:

- pork cubes but i used sliced lean meat here.

- 1 green bell pepper - seeds removed & sliced

- small onions - chunks

- a little of sliced ginger

- pineapple chunks - water drained. i bot those canned ones

- corn flour for dusting

- 1 beaten egg* ( sort of wasted here cos the instructions says only to use 1 tbsp)

- 1 tsp sugar*

- 1/2 tsp salt*

From left (clockwise): green bell peppers & onions, beaten egg, lean meat, pineapple cubes

Preparations:
Marinate* pork slices for abt 1/2 hr. Dust with corn flour. Heat wok with oil. Saute ginger slices till golden brown or fragrant. Add in pork slices & stir fry till cooked. Remove.

Saute bell peppers, onions & pineapple chunks. Add Lee Kum Kee Sauce & bring it to a boil. Add in pork slices & mix well.

End product does nt look appetising ya? I know. But the taste still nt bad la. Except some commented dat the pork slices too big le; shd cut smaller. :P

** I decided nt to use pork for future cooking le cos well, somehow, i dun feel comfortable using them & i'm nt sure they can be well cooked. As in the case for this dish, when i tried after cooking, i found dat the pork pieces were nt well cooked; a pork smell still lingers. I hv to refry again :( **

Diarrhoea

Mummy: Rachel has been having the runs ( loose stools) since Fri evening. No idea wat she ate but according to my mil, its the usual rice with fish, meat & veggies. We thot its js some indigestion so we left it as it is.

On Sat morning at abt 7am, Rachel developed a fever. I didnt realise until Rachel hand landed on my face while still sleeping. God! Its alarmingly hot. I took the thermometer to check her temparature & guess wat? Its shows only 36.4 degrees. The thermometer also having fever, hw can it be only 36.4? I checked again, tis time testing the temp using the other ear. 36.5? Crap!

Nonetheless, i make her her morning milk & gave her paracetomol. She finished her milk, rolled over & fell asleep. At 8am plus, while at the hardware shop, Rachel had loose stools again. We gave her the medication for preventive diarrhoea. But we noticed watever she ate or drink, she is sure to pass out. My mil told me dat she didnt eat much for lunch & dinner. Dat evening, she again pass out watery stools.

On Sun, we stopped giving her the normal milk formula. Daddy bot soya milk for her. But still she kept having loose & watery stools. But Rachel is still very active & running ard as usual. She doesnt seem to be affected by her "stools".

Today is Mon. No more fever but her "stools" are still present. I bot the infant soy formula for her to drink, hoping it will help. She is now with my mil. Updates tonight.
=================
Updates @ 2056hrs on 9 mar 2009:

Mil told me dat Rachel refuse to drink the soy formula. Maybe becos its tasteless or the taste is horrible. Some frens i know told me before their kids also refuse to drink tis soy formula for infants. So what mil suggested is to mix both the milk & soy formula - 1.5/1.5 = 3 scoops per 6oz water level. And rach is also given chinese medication today since the wetsern type doesnt seems to help much. And apparently it helps cos after lunch today, nt once did rach pass out loose stools. i repeat, not once at all. So hopefully, the chinese medication helps & her condition will improve asap.

East Coast Park VS Kallang Leisure Park

I called Mummy & told her we are goin out so could Mummy prepare our stuff.
Mummy hv no idea where we were going so she just packed the basic - extra clothings for the both of us, pampers for rachel, water, wet tissues, etc...

We ended up at East Coast Park for our 1st stop. What else but water play at the beach. Alamak! Mummy says she did not bring any towel but we were already stripping off our clothings. ( Mummy says she better packed a bag with towels & extra clothings on standby & leave it in the car later tonight). We enjoyed ourselves very much. Let the fotos do the toking...

Outside the newly revamp Big Splash

Onwards to the beach..

Somebody (a stranger) commented Rachel is very sweet looking with her hair clips

夕阳西下, 海风清送晚霞, 东海岸, 美如画 (familiar lyrics?)

Then we went to Kallang Leisure Park for dinner & shopping. Since its has been renovated, we hv nt seen the new outlook. According to Mummy, she has only been to the old building once & it was boring. Even the ice skating ring cannot be compared to the one at Fuji ( Mackenzie Road) & Jurong Entertainment Centre.

After our dinner at Kou Fu, (the spoon provided was too big for Mummy to feed Rachel so she went to the drink stall to get those coffee teaspoon. We had slice fish soup with rice. I only ate plain rice with soup & ikan bilis whereas Rachel had slice fish, toufu & soup. She finished 1 whole bowl which was very unlikely usually) we went jalan jalan ard the mall - bowling, cinema, Bambini ( kids playground), JWT Enrichment Center, games arcade center, K-Box (karaoke), Cold Storage, ice skating, etc... We wanted to go hv a look inside the ice skating ring but u hv to pay $3 per admission per person. There is no such thing as: "see for a few minutes" as indicated on a notice due to security reasons.

Daytona Racing

Vroom vroom...

Mummy exchange for some tokens & we played Star Ball.

Ahem...wrong ball la..not this one..where this ball come from?

We were supposed to throw at the mosquitoes & nt the baby, otherwise we will lose.

Heckcare la. Just throw!

Quick ...throw.

See the big baddie mosquito?

No more ball. Game over.

We headed home ard 9pm plus after shopping at Cold Storage. On the way home, both of us K.O