Somewhere over the rainbow…

Learning Music

Isabelle hasn’t started learning piano or violin. She’s turning 6 soon, so just like her brother, I will enroll her to music class if she’s interested. So far, she loves violin. Some times, she will listen to the clips of guitar prodigy Jung Sung-ha, but she hasn’t mentioned about learning the guitar yet.

I don’t mind her picking it up if she’s really into it. Playing the music is all about fun and building up rhythm and musical sense, and I won’t force the kids to pick up any musical instrument which they found boring. If they are interested in Epiphone guitars, I will let them learn and buy one for them too. Besides that, a guitar is cheaper than buying a piano! LOL!

I would prefer them to learn acoustic guitar though as I can’t take the sound of rock and roll in my small condo.

Since Isabelle is still pretty young for guitar, she might have to wait a few more years before picking it up. A violin might be a better fit for her size, and hopefully will be able to instill her interest in music.

Why not the piano? Oh well. I bet that her brother will constantly comparing their performance, and might even tease the sister if she’s not learning as fast as him. So, to avoid any competition, maybe it’s best that she picks up another musical instrument.

So girl, let’s wait for a couple of years before you can learn how to play like Jung.

Her first cavity filling

We have ourselves a drama queen at home, and as much as I love and adore my little girl, there are times when I feel like my patience is badly tested and I almost crawl up the wall dealing with her tantrums and nonsense.

Last Saturday, hubby made an appointment with a pedodontist as Isabelle’s first adult tooth is sprouting but the milk tooth is not moving much. In fact, it still stands still. FIL is worried that she will have crooked teeth next time, so we decided to bring her for dental check up. Actually, the same thing happened to Justin, and he had his removed by another pedodontist.

For Isabelle, this pedodontist said we can still wait for the milk tooth to be shaky since it’s an early stage of sprouting. Then she found a decay cavity on a molar, which has been there for more than 2 years. Due to our little girl’s effort in brushing and taking care of her teeth, the decay doesn’t get worse. We brought her to see a dentist previously when she’s about 2 years old for the cavity, but she was too young to stay still for a filling. Thus, it waited until now.

So, the pedodontist took time to explain to her what would be done, and even let her see the reflection with a small mirror. The movie was turned on to distract her attention too, but she was too scared to even let dentist do her job. She negotiated with the doc and the nurses for almost 45 minutes!!! She even promised to drink milk and brush her teeth more everyday as long as she doesn’t need to fix her teeth. FYI, my kids aren’t really milk drinkers.

Hubby knew that she won’t come again next time, so it’s now or never for that tooth filling. When the pedodontist asked our opinion if we would like to wrap and secure her for the process, we agreed. Actually, it looks very scary for any little kid to be strapped up and wrapped like a “bak chang”.

Hubby even suggested blind folding her but the doc said it’s a big no no. Kids will really freak out if they have no idea what is going on in the dark.

So…

After she’s all wrapped up (of course she screamed and kicked and attracted a lot of attention), she said she has something to tell papa. So the doc said, say it now, it’s ok. And our smart girl told her that, “I will only say after you unstrap me.” O.o Manyak pandai this little fella. LOL! And she refused to open her mouth! When the dentist and nurses tried to open her mouth, she attempted to bite the doc’s finger. OMG…

After a lot of dramas, the filling process started and lasted in 5 minutes. See??? So fast hoh? And no pain hoh?

Hubby kept asking me to snap videos but I didn’t manage to capture the last few exciting scenes, especially the part she’s trying to bite. LOL!

We got her to thank and apologize to the pedodontist and nurses afterwards, and she’s all smiley again and got some stickers.

What a drama queen.

Polka Dots Girl

She has her opinion about her dress, accessories, and especially her shoes. I just realized that she was all in polka dots to school  last Friday, when uniform is not needed. Thus, I quickly snapped some photos.

Polka dots dress, swimming bag and shoes.

Close shot of her shoes and dress.

Even her hair band has polka dots!

Strawberries

My gal loves strawberries and she’s taking at least a box a week. Some times, the strawberries can be pretty expensive, if they are from US. But once in a while, the Korean ones are sweet and cheaper too, so I will just buy those packs. I love end of the year when we can get Thailand strawberries. They are slightly sour but very crunchy. It’s nice if you dip them in chocolate or a bit of brown sugar. Ok, we should cut down on sugar! That’s why I have never used any shari’s berries coupons discounts to get those chocolate coated strawberries too. But I must say, I love chocolate coated strawberries, they are soooo yummy!

She won’t mind if it’s only a little sour but she mostly prefers the big juicy US strawberries. Mind mind, she really knows how to choose the yummy ones, and little that she knows, they are very expensive too!

Isabelle’s 2nd Hospitalization

That’s a funny title. I don’t wish that my gal will have her 3rd stay!

Anyway, here are some photos taken during her 4 days stay, which is the longest hospital stay she had ever had. I was expecting something like a night, but her condition was much worse than we expected. She was diagnosed with gastroenteritis and bronchitis. So, she was on drips for first 2 days, and then under a lot of oval medications and jabs. The moment she saw the nurses or pediatrician walked into our room, she got really scared.

She’s admitted at 5pm on last Thursday, and it’s a last minute decision, after seeing her puked and pooped too much in the last 24 hours. Nothing can go down her throat, not even the medicine she had at 4am on the same day.

Once she’s changed, I was asked to leave the room. Then, I started hearing her screaming and crying due to the intravenous needle for her drip and antibiotic. Poor gal…Then she was wheeled to the room, and the nurses gave her some stickers to cheer her up.

She was very tired by then, and she dozed off after a while.

Justin tagged along with us as hubby had a night golf appointment. He always mixes work with pleasure!!! Should I kick his butt for not canceling his night golf?

That’s why Justin spent the first night with us at the hospital, and hubby came by at midnight. Since the first night, Justin stayed at the hospital with Isabelle until she was discharged. He still went to school and classes as usual, and hubby became the driver.

I’m glad that the room was big enough for 4 of us. Hubby and Justin shared the 2-tiered sofa beds, while I slept with Isabelle. I left her with hubby on the last night when I felt very sick. Let’s just say that I couldn’t even control what’s coming out from my mouth and back**de, and I sipeh ill. I had no choice but to pass the baton to hubby so that I could catch some sleep on my own bed.

Most of the time, she’s asleep. When she’s awake, she would watch some TV or iPad, and dozed off occasionally. After 2 days on drips, she was allowed to be removed from it, but she still ate a little.

On the second day, she was wheeled for X-ray to check her lungs and stomach. She had bronchitis, so the doctor suggested nebulizer and physio patting for her relief.

At first she detested the oxygen mask, but after a while, she got used to it. It made her breathe better too.

The nurses here can really pamper her. She kept buzzing them for a chat or keeping her company.

During this stay, she had a lot of jabs until I can’t remember what they are for. But then, she recovered faster.

I think she has got the idea of getting sick is no fun at all. Hopefully, both kids will stay healthy from now onwards!

Discharged

We are back at home! Yippie!

As Isabelle is slowing recovering, I’m getting affected by her bugs and started puking and p**ing like hell. Now I know how it feels like to be as sick as her. It only started the day before she’s discharged, and I couldn’t even spend the last night at the hospital. Hubby drove me home so that I could catch some rest, and the moment I stepped into the house, I started puking. Not a pleasant sight but it’s the fastest fat burner to make me lose an inch on my waist. I can feel my loose pants now.

Right now, Isabelle is staying at home with the babysitter while I came to follow up with my work. Things are really piling up! My sales even went to the hospital to have a meeting with me last Saturday, so you can tell how busy I was. I cannot afford to be sick!

After this hospital stay, Isabelle is so scared of getting jabs and taking medicines. She’s taking a lot of meds, I would say.  She used to love taking meds but now she cries each time she has to take them. I can’t blame her, she has to take a few bottles of meds to fight both gastroenteritis and bronchitis. So, she’s getting kiasi to be sick again.

I’ll post some photos taken during her hospital stay after they are uploaded.

Gastroenteritis

That’s the medical term to describe Isabelle’s condition now.

Gastroenteritis (also known as gastric flu or stomach flu, although unrelated to influenza) is inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, involving both the stomach and the small intestine and resulting in acute diarrhea. It can be transferred by contact with contaminated food and water. The inflammation is caused most often by an infection from certain viruses or less often by bacteria, their toxins, parasites, or an adverse reaction to something in the diet or medication. Worldwide, inadequate treatment of gastroenteritis kills 5 to 8 thousand people per year, and is a leading cause of death among infants and children under 5.

Where did she get it? I’m not sure as Justin and all of us are fine, so I don’t think it’s from our food at home. From school? I haven’t heard of any kid got sick as well. Maybe she’s just too tired, can’t be bother to wash her hands properly at school after play, and went straight for food by hands? Maybe. She eats her bentos with her hands.

It’s already more than 36 hours that she’s not eating. She’s lost some weight, as I can see from her face and flatten tummy. No weight loss pills that work faster than this. But since she’s on drips, I’m not so worried about it. I still try to convince her to eat but she won’t. One more thing is, she doesn’t like milk. She can’t take milk anyway due to diarrhea, so she will be given soy milk. Worse, she hates soy too! That’s why nothing goes down her throat since the moment we checked in.

Her pediatrician just came, and he suggested that she go for X-ray for her lungs and stomach too. Isabelle has been coughing for a few days too, and I know she has some phlegm. A nebulizer is a must now, so I know she was totally freaked out with her first experience. Furthermore, the nurses took nose swap sample again and she was screaming and crying.

It seems like she won’t be discharged tonight.