Swollen Eye

Poor little Caitlin has a swollen eye! I was shocked to see that she woke up one morning and one eye was red and swollen. I brought her to the GP downstairs who prescribed antibiotic, and constantly assured me, the anxious, worried and frightened mother, that she do not need any eye drop or wash. So I gave her two doses of the antibiotic that day (once in morning and once at night) but the next day, the swelling got worse. The upper and lower eyelids were so swollen that her eye look permanently shut! So we went to the GP again who referred her to KKH.

Here's the answers I got from the doctor at KKH.

• It's not contagious.
• It's an infection of the eyelid, most likely due to her excessive rubbing of the eye when there is a broken skin on the lid. He suspected the broken skin is due to insect bite, mosquito or something else.
• It should get better in two days. If not, we have to go back to the eye clinic. We were given an appointment in case we need to return.
• Caitlin has a stubbornness to reject medicine and spit it out while we feed it to her. So if she continue to reject the medicine and the swelling persists, she has to be admitted to hospital and be put on drip.

So when we come home, hubby changed the bed sheet and vacuumed the bed. Maybe she was bitten by an insect while she was sleeping, maybe not, but we are not taking any chances! I just mopped the floor with tea tree essential oil yesterday. Every night starting from yesterday night, I diffuse lavender essential oil to ward off the mosquitoes and hope we all enjoy a better sleep.

The experience at KKH was quite good. The waiting time was long but the process seamless. There was a flat charge of $103 for children emergency cases that included doctor's consultation, blood test, urine test, medicine etc. But when I was purchasing the medicine from the pharmacy, I was told that I have to pay for the amoxicillin antibiotic as it is not a standard drug. Standard drugs, like paracetamol, are free. I hope more drugs can be subsidised. This could make a big difference to low income families.

Pray hard that Caitlin get well soon!

一家人在一起才幸福

Very emo today because hubby isn't around these few days.

I'm used to having us together as a family. Like Kieran said, "一家人在一起才幸福."

I will take this chance to clean up the house and make sure everything is neat before hubby return home.

The happiest moment of my day is at night, when I have gotten the kids ready for bed, teeth brushed, clothes changed, and we tumble around together on our big family bed. Two days ago, I stayed over at my parents' place and it just didn't feel right. I refused to stay over tonight at my parents' house after a relative's wedding dinner banquet. Here at home, our cozy bedroom is our paradise, our natural habitat, and I'd love to cuddle the children, nurse my little Mei mei, throw bolster missiles at Kieran, tell them bedtime stories and give them more cuddles before it's lights out and kiss good night. They snuggle in close to me as they drift off to sleep. Sounds like a mother bear snuggling in a den with her baby cubs?

That is what 幸福 is about.

Kieran, 3 year old

Kieran is 3 year old and he is very active, smart, cheeky and happy.
He actually can tell me, "爸爸去哪裡？我很想爸爸。我們一家人在一起才幸福嘛。"
Once he spoilt my iPhone cover and he knew he was wrong. He said "Mummy, I'm so sorry. 我弄壞你的東西。"
Makes my heart melt when he said it! We don't know where he learn to say such things from!

I am teaching him some basics of writing, reading, alphabets in capital letters and small letters, 1-10, and some chinese words.

We do bread making together.

We do painting together.

Everyday, when the weather is fine, we go to the playground together.

We do lots of fun together!

Caitlin, 20 months

The problem with his little toddler is that she is super clingy to me. I'm her source of comfort and food which never fails to sooth her day or night, on demand at any time whenever I'm in her sight. So as long as she sees me, she will fuss for "Ma ma! Ma ma! Milk!" Sigh. My parents said that when I leave her with them, she is totally a perfect little angel, she will play by herself, play with her gor gor and she won't cry and fuss.

Speech Milestones:

She can speak a lot of words now.
She can call everybody in the family including "gu po" and "ye ye".
She can tell people what she wants and what she doesn't. Boy, she's very obstinate on what she thinks is right! A typical conversation goes like this:

Mummy points to picture of a camel and says, "Mei mei, camel!"
Caitlin shakes head in disagreement, "Horse!"
Mummy says, "No, camel."
Caitlin says, "horse!"
Mummy says, "Camel."
Caitlin stamps her feet and shouts, "Horse!"
Mummy says, "Ok, horse."
Caitlin nods, "Horse."

The same goes for duck and goose (I say goose, she says duck when it's obviously a goose!).
When gor gor snatches her things or shouts at her, she looks pitiful, points at him and complains to me "Gor gor! Gor gor!"

She likes to use her sweet girly voice to say "Share share?" whenever Kieran disallow her to play with his toys or when I disallow her to play with my iPhone. Very smart girl. The sweet voice and cute face just melt your heart and make you so incline to say yes.

Physical Milestones:

She's rather petite but she's within the normal weight and height range, and she looks chubby. So we are not worried.
She can climb up the playground slide, ladder, anything with little assistance. Very agile and active. Kieran wasn't as brave and agile at her age.Caitlin rushes to the playground and squeal in delight. Kieran would look fearful and stand by to observe before he decides its safe to climb up the playground ladder.

Founding Father of Singapore passed away

Today, the founding father of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew passed away.

Just want to mark this day in my blog. It will be a day to remember - 23 March 2015.

Too bad he could not see the SG50 celebration this National Day. But I think it is good that a person leave without suffering too many years of confinement in bed, pain and discomfort. My paternal grandmother left one day suddenly without being confined in bed for long. My maternal grandmother lived a longer life but she was bedridden for many years. I guess less suffering is good for both the deceased and the family members. I wonder whether the government will mark this day as a National mourning day every year?

CNY 2015

Chinese New Year 2015 had been a busy and fun period for us. Thankfully, the kids did not get sick. We were very strict on their new year goodies quota for every house visit, and we keep those goodies out of their sight at home. Also, lots of water everyday. Regular home cooked healthy food everyday, no slacking off even during festive season. We would bring home cooked porridge in tumbler to restaurants if we need to eat out.

The kids on CNY Day 1

Family photo!

Now is the busy time for Kindergarten registration. I am hoping to enrol Kieran in PCF and MOE Kindergarten near by but unfortunately, the vacancies are limited. I'm looking at a new My First Skool Kindergarten at Compassvale, PCF at 303A, PCF at Punggol Plaza, and MOE Kindergarten at Punggol View. If he couldn't get into any of these, we might have to look at private kindergartens that are much more expensive and located further away which might be inconvenient. 

Caring for children's teeth

I'm just sharing some tips by the paediatric dentist on caring for the preschooler's teeth:

• Bring the child to see the dentist when she is young (some recommend when the first teeth sprout) to get her used to seeing one, so that when she needs cleaning or treatment done later on, she's not so afraid. I started bringing Kieran for dental visits when he was two years old. I was a bit late. Many started at one year old or younger.
• Brush the child's teeth three times a day. By this time, the child will have all his baby teeth. And he would have learnt how to spit out water after gargling. So you can brush with a fluoride toothpaste. 
• Use an adult strength fluoride toothpaste. The dentist recommended one with 1400ppm (the strength of fluoride in the toothpaste). We bought one with tutti fruitti flavour at 1350ppm, which is close enough. The fluoride will help to re-calcify the enamel if food/acid/juices decalcify it. This prevents decay. Kieran will not use an adult's toothpaste because of the mint.
• Floss the teeth which are close and tight together as trapped food will cause decay. Kieran's teeth have tiny spaces in between them which the dentist say is great because these are spaces for adult teeth to come in. That is good news for us because it means we only need to floss between those teeth that are tight together which is between the molars and between the two front teeth, total of 5 times.
• Floss at least once at night. I floss whenever his teeth trap food which is after every meals. But then I'm a SAH(Paranoid)M so it's my prerogative. Haha!
• Reduce teeth contact with food/milk/juices. Kieran usually had a bottle of milk to sip throughout the morning. I changed it to lesser amount of milk so that he can finish the milk quickly and brush his teeth. He also took very long to finish his meals so now I time him and coax him to finish his meals within an hour. He has some vitamin gummy bears a few times a week. I let him eat them before lunch, then the sweet stuff will be chomped away while he eat his lunch, and then brushed away after lunch. I also reduced his intake of sugary drinks when we go out. I used to buy him yakult or strawberry milk or fruit juices to drink while he's on the stroller. Now he drinks plain water and he only have these sweet stuff occasionally after meals and then brush after drinking it.

The paediatric dentist said his mouth and gum shape is very good and is genetically determined for a nice set of adult teeth. I hope this means no need for braces. He must have gotten the good genes from his daddy. Hubby has a beautiful set of teeth that look like you know the silhouette logo you see on 黑人牙膏 packaging? Haha!

Now, I'd also like to share some tips from another dentist on getting the preschooler to fill his teeth:

• Prepare him for the treatment. Talk to him about it, show him videos about filling teeth. Tell him that it will be quick and painless (which is true, contrary to what we believe! No, Kieran does not need local anaesthesia at all for his filling. But then again that's because his cavity was shallow. If your child needs a root canal, it will be a different story.)
• Get the calmer parent, and the parent whom the child is less attached to to accompany him into the dentist's room. In my case, it is the daddy. Kieran fussed to see mummy and the dentist and daddy said he could very soon if he will be cooperative. Daddy won't give in to his cries and whims, unlike me! So this is a very good decision, to let Daddy go in for treatment with him.
• When you bring the child for his first visit, let him get used to seeing the dentist and build a rapport with her, and let her do some less scary treatments like cleaning and polishing and checking the teeth. This also allows the child to not be afraid of lying down on the dentist's chair.
• The dentist's clinic has a computer on top that lets him watch cartoons on youtube while she fills his teeth so that's a very good distraction.
• Give a small toy as reward to the child for being brave after he has done his treatment. Kieran has been saying that he wants a doctor's toy set so we got it for him and passed it secretly to the dentist, and the dentist said she will give it to him after he gets his tooth cavity cleaned and filled. He was allowed to hug the toy while she filled his teeth.

I am so happy to see the black spot on his tooth replaced with nice white composite filling. Kieran hated brushing his teeth like all preschoolers but it's our job as parents to make sure he gets his teeth clean no matter how much he hates it. Clean teeth means no toothache, no heart pain, no anxiety and no need to worry about coaxing the child to do dental treatment, and of course, less money spent.

I noticed some greyish spots on his teeth but I guess decalcification has already taken place on some molar crevices, so I'm extra vigilant. Even if it's the festive period now and sugary temptations are everywhere, there can be no slacking off the brushing and flossing for mummy and daddy.