Post Lunar New Year

Gong Hei Fatt Choy to all!

C made speedy recovery and went visiting with us this CNY. Visits were kept brief but purpose served - to reconnect with our families/relatives and to enjoy the festivity.

2015 has been good so far. The kids are relatively healthy and they get to spend more time together. Siblings rivalry is still strong, arguments between them rampant but both being older now means they back away from fights and give in more easily. That's an improvement.

Couple of months ago, we went into a state of worry when told that our girl was not performing well in school. The raise of this issue triggered off the red flag especially having taken a mental note of her inability to focus and other behavioural issues.

You see, we have 2 very special children in this household. They are direct opposites of each other in terms of physical abilities, temperament and learning abilities. These significant differences sometimes made it hard for us to disregard their differing pace in development.

Seeking help from a therapist has opened up my heart a little more and brought new perspectives. As the therapist had said, it's not all about academic achievements and having a child who is able to recite her alphabets and numbers (forth and backwards). What good does it do to have a child who is intelligent but fails to strive in a social environment? Or to kill a child's love for learning when pressured to conform to today's standards? It is important for parents to grasp that not all are built the same (there will be elites and there will be commoners). Setting boundaries/rules and having "punishments" in placed are a must to groom and guide a child but having done that, parents must come to understand that at the end of the day, whatever the outcome, your child needs to know that parents love them for who they are, it is ok for them to stumble and fall, to not live up to expectations and that they can go back to their parents for emotional support and acceptance. Building a relationship with your child is all that matters to ensure that they grow up as secured, confident, esteemed adults.

This got me thinking about C. When we were first expecting C, we spent a long time naming him. We wished for him to be knowledgeable, excels and performs better than his peers hence the name 闻越 was chosen. Indeed he grew up to be all that we asked for; an intelligent boy with a thirst for learning and advanced than most toddlers his age. If only we knew... then perhaps asking for good health would have been the wisest thing to do. It is only under circumstances as such, we parents get a reality check and come to realise that nothing beats a good healthy body. What would YOU ask for your child? Think hard and think twice.

Which is why our wishes for the year were kept simple - children to stay healthy, things to be smooth sailing and adults to take things in stride.

(Fast forward...)

Today is Rare Disease Day. This year, we celebrated the day with other special families at Bishan Park. Here are some of the photos taken:

Group photo of the families present

Hand-prints of Papa, Mama & Big C circled in photo

The Lam Family

Tomorrow will be another long day for us as we celebrate C second birthday. Stay tuned for more updates! Got to sleep now. Good night all.

Alamak!

For 3 weeks, we tried to keep C away from this bug at home. Cayla was the first to show symptoms i.e. occasional runny nose and cough. That went on for 2 weeks. First line of defence came down when Daddy fell ill. One week later, I conceded defeat. Our last line of defence was broken when C exhibited signs of choking few days back. Initially I thought he might have grown weaker over time thus the swallowing issues. So I had been monitoring him closely for other signs. None. No fever, no mucus, no coughing except after choking and he slept fairly well with a slightly lower O2 and higher pulse rate (still within acceptable healthy range).

Until Dr Chong came by yesterday, did a quick check on C. Suspected that C might be having a mild flu with no flowing mucus to hint that he's actually having one. Backflow of the mucus could likely have caused the recent 'choking and coughing' incidents.

This morning C was significantly weaker and lethargic. Last I checked he was running a fever. I can foresee that this will be a stay-home Chinese New Year. Hope C will get well soon for his birthday celebration in March.

Pay It Forward

We made a pledge to offer packed meals for the elderly during our Indiegogo crowd funding campaign. With Lunar New Year round the corner, it's about time we work on that promise.

We were linked up with St. Andrew's Cathedral Home for the Aged about 2 weeks ago. Our initial intention was to provide packed meals but the Home needed help with their weekly groceries so we thought might as well go with what they wanted since we had already set aside the budget for this.

Hubby was given a list of (ahem) 25 items to purchase. 

 

1) Chinese sausage x 4pkts

2) Yam x 4nos

3) Pumpkin x 4nos

4) Turnip x 4nos

5) Bitter gourd x 6nos

6) Eggplants x 8nos

7) Long beans x 2kg

8) Green leafy vegetables x 2kg 

9) Tofu x 10pks

10) Cabbage x 4nos

11) Sambal belachan x 3bots

12) Pineapple x 6nos

13) Ginger x 3kg

14) Tomato x 1kg

15) Chilli padi x 200g

16) Dragonfruit x 15nos

17) Chicken sausage x 8pkts

18) Herbal packet for soup x 10pkts

19) Dried longans x 4pkts

20) Potatoes x 5kg 

21) White fungus x 3pkts

22) Broccoli x 2kg

23) Arrowhead x 2kg

24) Small limes x 2kg

25) Garlic x 3kg

Hubby roped in buddy to help with the logistics. So off they went with the entrusted list this morning (honestly I was a little worried whether these 2 men could do proper marketing lolx). I shared this list for only one purpose - to commend Hubby and Jason for their efforts 'cos the picture below didn't do justice in showing the sheer amount of food these 2 men carried. Hubby said both of them made 3 trips (walking and carrying these food) from wet market to car and 2 trips from car to the Home just because they had to park far away.

 

Anyway the food was delivered along with a red packet so they could purchase the Four Season Lime plants which they wanted but we couldn't manage logistically. Overall I must say it's a wonderful job done!