Dead tired and not in the mood

It's one of the days when you have had to wake up the previous night to attend to your 6 month old infant (Benedict) and you are dead tired. I felt like I had a spltting headache and my limbs just felt aching in fatigue. I couldn't tolerate the noise that Christa and Clarissa was making. I cancelled the movie that we were supposed to have watched. I was bad! Ask Mommy, Daddy behaved like a kid!

"Must have been work?", she asked. "Nope, I feel just tired", I replied. Maybe it was work and some of the activities that I'm working at. But I thought, it's not that bad is it? "Hmmm...., time for the whole family to take a break together!". Let's see what we can come up with soon.

Uhm ... Daddy to the rescue!

I was busy doing my work this morning when the Montessori teacher called me up. "Clarissa has high fever and diarrhoea", she said. I instinctively thought that Mommy could sort it out for me. Unfortunately, she was at an outstation assignment.

I looked at my diary and quickly told my staff to find a replacement. "Ok, I'll come to pick her up now", I replied, half thinking what I would do with both Clarissa and Christa. It took me 30 minutes to get to the Montessori and another 30 minutes back to my office. "Hmmm ... so that's how the new Montessori looks!", I thought in my mind. I guess it's good that I had a feel of what the girls are going through each day and met the teachers.

I quickly sorted out the remainder of my 'work', got Clarissa some medication and told my staff I would be taking half a day off. "Don't think I can baby-sit while working", I said. I was quite surprised that both girls were quite well-behaved as I only provided them with a pen and a piece of paper and they were 'at work', not creating any mischief. She probably had a viral infection and soon recovered with medication.

As a reward (or rather to keep them happy), I decided to bring them to McDonald's along NKVE on the way home. Keeping the VIP pass handy, I managed to get 2 Apple pies free, 2 vanilla cone ice-cream, a fillet-o-fish and a Big Mac for me.

Mommy soon came along to save the day,... but I think Daddy did the trick this time. But I don't think I would be able to handle too many such episodes!

Partially Torn Toenail

This brave little boy was playing with the wooden spring door when it came off the hinges and fell on his little toe. He was lucky to have only a partially torn toenail and memory of excruciating pain when the door hit his toe.

When I asked him whether he was in pain, "No", he answered with tears still in his eyes.

It was impossible to save his toenail and it came off with a little tug. You can see the toenail in the kidney dish (see photo). That's why I don't allow Clarissa or Christa to play with the kitchen cabinet doors! One could get those child-safe locks for kitchen cabinets from IKEA if you are afraid of you children taking out your groceries or cutlery and injuring themselves.

A new beginning

Just a simple photo taken from Grandpa's garden which reminds us that nature is precious and therapeutic after a busy week's work.

Ive started telling Clarissa and Christa the name of flowers and plants in hope that they will appreciate nature. The will be a tendency for them to pluck every nice looking flower as long as they can reach it.

Baby walkers - not safe enough for use

Here's Benedict placed in a baby-walker inherited from Clarissa and Christa. Is it safe? It is probably not as safe as you would think unless it is used under very close supervision. Would you trust your infant to 'run' around in the walker? Could you prevent him from zooming into the car-porch, falling off the stairs or hitting other potentially dangerous objects?

A 3-year, 8-month period study looking at walker-related injury occurring in 65 infants <1 year of age treated at Emergency Department in Charlottesville and in Albemarle County showed these findings:-

Mechanisms associated with walker-related injuries included:
1. stairway falls in 46 infants (71%),
2. tip-overs in 14 infants (21%),
3. falls from a porch in 2 infants (3%), and
4. burns in 3 infants (5%).

These injuries predominantly involved the head and neck region (97%), with few injuries to the extremities (6%) and trunk (3%). Although the majority of injuries were minor, significant injuries occurred in 19 infants (29%). These injuries included skull fracture, concussion, intracranial hemorrhage, full-thickness burns, c-spine fracture, and death. After excluding the burned patients, all the serious injuries resulted from falls down stairs. The annual incidence of injuries occurring in infants <1 year of age, related to the use of walkers, and resulting in an emergency department visit was 8.9/1000, and for serious injuries was 1.7/1000.

It was concluded that the incidence and significance of infant walker-related injuries in infants are unacceptably high. (see reference)

I don't think our elderly baby-sitters could run as fast as Benedict when he is on the baby-walker. So, Benedict, you days on the walker are numbered! Let's play with something safer!

Here's the position statement of the American Acedemy of Paediatricians:-
Injuries Associated with Infant Walkers
Baby Walker: Q & A

Good food from Sitiawan

I love the Mee Suah with rice wine and the red stuff (sediments from the rice wine) cooked with chicken. If I have it my way, I'd have Kampung chicken and Grandma cook rather than eating in the restaurant. At least then she cuts down the sugar content in the savoury soup. Mommy just loves the soup and the girls (Clarissa and Christa) can't resist the noodles!

Everyone just loves the Oyster omelette! You have eggs, onions and small fresh oysters (although I would prefer larger ones!) served with parsley, chopped fresh chillies ahd a tinge of soya sauce. Some may prefer to have some Teriyaki sauce instead but I like it the original taste.


Tender Pork chop sliced into pieces and marinated with a mixture of Marmite Sauce, Brown Sauce and possibly Soya sauce or Oyster sauce. I would prefer this as in comparison with Sweet and Sour pork which often contain more fat in the meat selection.

When are we going back to Sitiawan again?