The BRAND NEW Piggy Family

The BRAND NEW Piggy Family
The cartoon is by Piggy Daddy who is a full time educator and freelance illustrator. Anyone who needs freelance illustrations, please contact us! :)
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Monday, April 30, 2012

"What happened to the monkey?"

Tonight, RL surprised me by saying the above sentence while playing at ILs place. "What happened to the monkey?" She said it a few times. She also sang Twinkle twinkle little star with perfect diction. A few months ago, she was still mumbling her words in her babyish voice.

My little baby has grown up by so much. I really feel 'bu she de', keke. ;P

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

RaeAnne's bicycle


RaeAnne drew this picture in class on the back of a 笔画 practise sheet, can still see the dots from the flip side. Thought she drew it quite well. She said 杨老师 taught her to draw bicycle today. She drew all of us in too.

She said the two girls with ribbons are her (taller) and Mei Mei (shorter one). I asked her why I have no ribbon, she said she forgot. When I asked her why, she said 因为你很少绑头发嘛. Asked her who is the person standing beside Mei Mei and she said Daddy. Daddy's reaction was 'Huh? Why am I the shortest one?' Told him at least your hair is the shortest so she did get something right. Asked her why all of us have no hands and she said because our hands are behind our back. hahaha.

Guess there is no logic in a kid's drawing. Just enjoy her 全家福 bah. :)

(L-R) RaeAnne, Mummy, RaeLynn and Daddy

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

HFMD :(

RL has been having a persistent low grade fever since Sunday night. She failed the temp check in school so yesterday and today, she did not go to school. Decided to bring her to see GP just in case it's something serious. End up GP diagnosed it as HFMD.

Very surprised cos the teachers, hubby and me have checked her mouth these 2 days but we did not see any ulcers. No spots on hands and feet either. She didn't have much appetite on Sunday according to hubby (I was working), but this morning she drank milk at 630am, ate some cornflakes and even a slice of plain bread before going to school so appetite is good. Also, her temp is from 37+ to 38.4. Not high temp like 39+ when RA got it.

But GP used the tongue depressant and showed me the cluster of small ulcers at the back of her throat. Some of the ulcers were a bit bloody. He confirmed HFMD so RL has MC till Sat. Will bring her to review on Sunday, dr said if ok then she can go back to school. Called to inform the CC teacher but she said there are no cases of HFMD in Elfa. Strange, don't know where RL got it from. :P

Gave her ibufen (dr said it will reduce the swelling and improve appetite), I left her at ILs cos I wanted to come back to wash bedsheets and disinfect the high contact bumper mats and toys. CC i/c called me at home and asked me to keep RA away from school as a precautionary measure. Brought RA to see GP as well, GP said she is ok and even wrote a letter to certify. Visited RL after that and ILs said she ate very well, slept well. Glad she seems to be having a mild case of the virus. Either that or because she has high tolerance of pain. But since RA is not infected yet, still have to separate the 2 gals so we left RL at ILs place for the night. If CC accepts dr's letter, I can put RA at CC and pop over to visit RL. Feel bad dumping her at ILs place when she is going to be down for some days.

Sidenote: We started toilet training RL last Monday. Asked the CC teachers to start while we continue over the weekend at home or ILs. This morning at 6+am, hubby said RL knocked on my bedroom dr and said, 'Mummy, I want to shh shh'. 'Mummy, I want to shh shh.' Too bad, I was too tired cos slept late after changing her poo stained diapers at 2+am so didn't hear her. Luckily, hubby brought her to pee. No wonder her diapers were clean at 8+am when I checked and brought her to toilet to pee again. Clever gal! :)

P.S. hubby said his colleague had HFMD and he had contact with him. Not sure if he brought the virus back cos he had sore throat last week. Hubby, me and RA all had HFMD before so not sure his symptoms were not obvious then unwittingly he spread to RL? Duh...

Monday, April 9, 2012

Picnic at East Coast


Asked RA what she wanted to do for Good Friday weekend cos I knew I had to work on Sat and Sun so wanted to compensate her. She said she wanted to go for a picnic. So I stayed up until 130am to prepare the sausage skewers and assemble the salad partially. Can only start at midnight after I put the gals to bed. Then woke up early and started preparing sandwiches, boiling fish balls, fish cakes, making a jug of honey water etc. Finished at 830am and we finally left the house at 910am to go to East Coast. Reached East Coast close to 10am, didn't know the entire Macdonalds builing is under renovation so we parked near Burger King instead.

Weather was good, cloudy without much sun. Spread out the food but the gals were only interested in fishballs and fishcakes and honey water. Duh. But luckily hubby and I were hungry cos we didn't have BF. RA wanted to build a sand castle but too bad I forgot to bring their pails and sand play toys. Too busy packing the food, haha. Mei Mei was initially apprehensive about touching the sand but they soon had fun scratching the sand with sticks. RaeAnne dug too deep and disturbed a red ants nest. Freaked me out to see so many ants at the gals feet, luckily I managed to pull them away and dust the few ants on their dresses away before they got bitten. :P

As the gals played at the beach, we noticed that the sky at the horizon getting darker and darker. Soon, dark clouds moved closer and we heard thunder. No time to waste so hubby quickly dismantled the tent then we kept the food etc. Left east coast at 11am, just 1 hr of play after 3 hrs of preparation. Hiaz.

Continued our picnic at home to finish up the leftover food. Still had enough to give some to my PT cleaner who was still busy ironing. haha.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Jurong Bird Park - 1 Apr 12


Finally brought the gals to the bird park on April Fool's Day. It was a place that hubby and I said we will visit together since our pak tor days but we never made it there. Journey is one of the main reasons cos we dun have car back then.

Actually, RA just went to the Bird Park last yr due to the school excursion but they didn't get to play at the Birdzplay Waterplay area cos it's not open yet. Even if it is open, don't think the teachers will want to handle the logistics of 60 wet kids. :P So, RA kept asking her to bring her there. Thanks to Stephanie, a forum mummy friend, we got 50% discount for the tickets. Still need to pay separately for the Monorail tickets, $5 per adult, $3 for RA, luckily RL is below 3 yrs old so no need to buy any tickets. 1 Apr happened to be the last day of service for the Bird Park Monorail so we were lucky to try it before it disappears into history.

To be frank, we didn't see a lot of the exhibits cos we reached there at 1130am and it was already very warm with blazing sun. Saw the penguin exhibit then took the monorail to the Lory station. There was a super long queue and we reached Lory station at 12+pm. We tried to feed the lories but it was a Sunday so lots of visitors and feeding started at 1145am so they were too full. Took a group photo anyway since it was our first family trip to the Bird Park. After that, took the monorail to the Waterfall area.

By then it was time for lunch so we took the monorail back to the main station and had lunch at Hawk's Cafe. After lunch, walked slowly to the Birdz Play waterplay area. Enroute, we passed by the white and pink flamingoes exhibit. Took a very nice photo of RA with the flamingoes. Too bad I don't have a good camera, if the background of the flamingoes are a bit fuzzy, it would have been perfect. As for RL, it is difficult to take nice photos of RL cos she is either trying to look sad or she is looking elsewhere, not at the camera, still not focused.

When we reached the waterplay area, it was 2+pm and super duper hot. But it's going to be hard to convince RA to skip the waterplay when she has been looking forward to it for so long. So we let her play but restrict to about half an hour. RL was having a bit of runny nose so initially hubby didn't want to let her play in the water (we didn't even bring her swimsuit). But I see her looking on and felt she is so kelian so asked hubby to let her join in with her tee shirt and diapers. Luckily, my mum asked me to pack an extra set of clothes for both of them so at least she had something to change into.

As we left the waterplay area at 330pm, the Birds of Prey show just started so we went in to watch the live show. It was fun to see the falcons, eagles and owls for the first time. Never knew they were so large. RA got restless cos she missed her nap, so we left at 4+pm before the show ended. Don't know when is the next time we will go to the bird park again. Personally, I enjoy the zoo more. hee.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Gals' updates

Raelynn did not sleep from 945pm till 1145pm, kept on singing songs and tossing about. I was getting really angry with her but she surprised by telling me that she wants to shh shh twice after putting her to bed. And when I carried her to the toilet seat, she did pee. hope this means that she is ready to be toilet trained cos I am tired of spending a bomb on diapers and wet wipes when she is already 28 months. :P

Yesterday, I made arrangements to call and talk to Yang Laoshi to ask why RA has phobia of 笔画. I wanted to know if she is really so bad in class that it is causing her to worry or is it just an excuse. In my 15 mins conversation with her teacher, she said RA's performance in class has always been above average and she is quite obedient. 笔画 practice is only on Thurs afternoon and not everyday as RA fears. She also spoke to RA after our conversation to try and understand her fears. RA did not say much but the teacher thinks that RA is just too 好胜 and 笔画 is a new subject so she is still not familiar but anxious to do well and thus putting unnecessary pressure on herself. Oh well, hope after her teacher's encouragement, she will stop telling me everyday that she doesn't want to go to school because she doesn't know her 横竖撇捺.

Tonight, RA surprised me by saying that she wants to attend arts and craft lessons. Brought her to Globalart at the CC again but she changed her mind once she realised that Mummy cannot accompany her for the class. Hiaz, make me happy for nothing. Anyway, from Aug 2011 when she draw her first stick figure until now, I can see some improvement in her drawings. Of course, it's not as professional as other artworks I have seen in her peers but since she has not attended any art class, it is still truly her own creative work so I am proud of her. :)




RIP

It has been more than 2 weeks since my last post. Wasn't in the mood to post earlier. Dad was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer on 23 Mar, Fri 12noon. The dr said he may have 3-6 mths left. Yet, he passed away on the next day on 24 Mar, Sat night because his condition deteriorated very fast from Fri night and his BP n HR kept dropping despite the heart stimulant drug he was given.

It has been a difficult time, everything happened in just 3 days. But now I am coming to terms with it, since there is nothing the doctors can do for him anymore, I am comforted that at least his suffering was short. Symptoms of colorectal cancer include changes in bowel habits, changes in size of stool, constipation, blood in stools. Dad has had chronic piles problem over 20 yrs. He won't suspect anything is wrong even if there is bleeding.

Anyway, even if we had found out earlier say Stage 1 or 2 of the cancer, he would have been a good candidate for surgery and chemotherapy, given his age. I am lucky to have a short window of time on Fri night to talk to him and tell him how I feel while he was still conscious but unable to speak (can only try to nod or shake). I was also there as he gasped his last breath. So at least I am thankful that I had closure.

During the funeral, we were lucky and thankful that a lot of our relatives and cousins volunteered and helped us 守灵 for 5 days till 28 Mar. As Dad was hospitalised since Wed night, Bro and I were tired out with just 4 hrs of sleep from Wed night till next week Wed morning when he was cremated at Mandai Crematorium and laid to rest at 三清宫 at Bedok North on Thurs morning. We received a lot of generous donations from relatives and friends too and appreciate their kind thoughts and condolences.

Went to my mum's place to stay over on Thurs night for my Dad's 头七. As I slept in my old room on a foldable bed, it seems like my dad visited me cos I felt a very cold front descend on my chest but it lifted before I felt any pressure. I woke up wondering if it was a dream but the next day, my 2nd aunt said my dad did visit me. She said the same thing happened to my cousin who was woken from her sleep by a very cold hand touching her arm when my maternal grandma passed away. Some things in life cannot be easily explained. I never had such a feeling before in my life and both my bro and mum didn't feel anything so I like to believe it is true.

My dad is a free thinker but we did Buddhist rites for him cos my mum is a buddhist. Wherever he is right now, I hope he will rest in peace and be free from any pain or suffering.