Random Kiddo Pics June 2020

Just throwing in pics I find cute.

Saloon With Mama June 2020

This will probably be a regular thing since 萱萱's hair are pretty long and it's difficult for Yeeyee to cut. Plus I think Meimei meant it as a treat for her with individual attention and no disruptions from 阳阳.

New Ikea Bookshelf

The round bookshelf is over-flowing and books have spilled to the TV console. I reassigned to the mess but it seems to have bug Meimei enough that she went and bought an Ikea bookshelf.

It's a very fitting move. The new bookshelf had a taller shelf so we could stand the bigger books in it. And we can expand this setup when the kids get older with another in place of the kitchen and the muji storage boxes.

First Outdoor Play In A Few Months

萱萱 and 阳阳 have not been to the playground nor basketball court for several months now due to the virus. You can tell they are restless, especially 阳阳 who doesn't get to go school yet. 萱萱's been out to the hospital for the past few weeks.

So finally we brought them down to the basketball court for some outdoor play. They were naturally over the moon and were jumping with joy in the lobby and lift. We took all the appropriate safety measures and insist they continue wearing their masks. It makes it harder for them to breath but it was necessary. 

Kids are meant to go out and play and not coop up at home. They learn through play and denying them of it strips them of intellectual and cognitive growth. So weighing the risk and benefits, I'm gonna try to bring them out more often now that we are now in Phase 2 where some outdoor activities can begin again.

2 Antibiotics?!

萱萱's fever has gone down for the past 24 hours so they are letting her go home. There's no point keeping her warded since none of the doctors can explain what is causing it. And because they don't know, they decide to prescribe 2 courses of antibiotics. Two!

萱萱's gums are already swollen from all the medication. And we are to continue with it even when we go home. Haiz ... these ten days of hospital stay has not let us get any closer to finding out what is wrong.

Well I'm glad we brought her home today but will the fever recur? What if it comes back when the course of antibiotics end? So many questions and little to no answers from the doctors. Gosh ... its so easy to be a doctor, just send your subject for a variety of tests based on symptoms. I can do that do with a little work on Dr Google. Phhffff.

Lighting Up The Van Dashboard

The dashboard on the Caddy lit up today in a suite of warning icons just as I drove back from the hospital and into the carpark.

There were also some error message that popped up in the center digital panel warning me that there is an issue with the ABS. And because of that the software disabled a variety of other safety feature such as the traction control and tyre gauge. 

Sigh ... its Sunday so there is little I could do. I suspect this is a sensor problem but there is really no way of knowing for sure. The van's still under warranty so hopefully its nothing serious other than a software glitch or sensor issue.

Summoners War: First Quad Speed Roll

Quad speed rolls are a rarity in Summoners War. It's like striking a 4D lottery. Yeah ... I rather win the lottery than win it in a game. But I don't play 4D so that's that.

I rolled a quad speed today, though it was a low roll. A good one would run around 26-28 but landed at 23 which is borderlines on a Hero grade rune instead of Legend. And the other sad thing is that it's on a Destroy rune which is rarely used. Oh well, at least its a quad speed. Hopefully this opens the floodgate or better speed runes for my toons.

The Mysterious Fever

Thankfully it wasn't Covid. And the Dengue results came back negative today. So what is it? The doctors have no clue whatsoever. So besides poking every fingers for blood for guesswork tests, she has only paracetamol, ibuprofen and nightly antibiotics to go on.

At this point it's anyone's guess what is causing the fever. The only thing the doctors can say with a certain degree of certainty (not 100% either) is that 萱萱's body is fighting an infection. But they cannot tell what it is and so they are subjecting her to a battery of tests. Sigh ... our poor little girl girl is so thin from the illness.

We are suspecting it may be Kawazaki disease since the symptoms like prolong fever, predominately young children younger than 5 years old. But again it's all guesswork. As dreadful as it is to have a serious disease, I rather we figure out what is causing the fever. At least once we have a correct diagnosis we can 对阵下药.

Warding 萱萱 At KKH As A Coronavirus Suspect

We sent 萱萱 back to school this week and just after 2 days she started running a high fever of 38 odd. We have been medicating her with alternate doses of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen to keep the fever at bay. But this afternoon it spiked to 39.5 and she started to shiver. We immediately went into crisis mode and packed quickly in anticipation I would ward with her at Thomson.

Fast forward to Thomson, they were not willing to take us in and referred us to KKH instead citing that they lack the test kits for Covid. They practically did nothing other than tell us what we already know, OO's fever is very high and probably needs immediate medical attention. And that costed us close to a hundred dollars which sucked.

So we had to make our own way to KKH. Meimei went with 萱萱 to the A&E while I parked the car.  And the next bloody bullshit of the day happened. Once I parked the car I tried to meet Meimei and 萱萱 but was stopped. They now have a rule that only one parent can accompany a child. What's worst is that because Meimei is now with 萱萱, she has to stay with 萱萱 all the way and we cannot switch with each other. I had my backpack packed for warding but Meimei didn't even have a single thing for staying in.

Because of the high fever, they are treating her as a Coronavirus suspect and warded at the isolation wards. So no visitors, crappy facilities in the room, isolated and cannot come out. Naturally I went home to grab a bag for Meimei and 萱萱. In the meantime, 萱萱 had a drip inserted and fingers poked for blood.

The nurse gave 萱萱 a Lego toy for all the poking and pain. It's cold comfort but at least that's something. Hopefully it's not Coronavirus nor Dengue. But we'll only know in the next couple of days once the tests are back.

Random Kids Talk Episode June 2020

Meimei: “Your don’t play like this! Mama see already scared! “ *puppy eyes
萱萱: “Then you don’t see” *smile
Papa - full laughter

Meimei: Just now I tummy pain.. 弟弟 stare at me then ran out and come back with imaginary plaster for my tummy #blogworthy

萱萱 catches Mama staring at her feet
萱萱: "my toes very cute?"

阳阳 Tackles Penguin Colour Matching Game

Just an excuse to post cute pics of 阳阳 hahaha. Meimei laminated some of the home based learning materials for 阳阳 to play with. He was pretty engrossed in them and looks to be having lots of fun.

Not a bad way to keep him occupied for a short while.

Pizza Making With Mama

Another fun activity for the kids conjured up by Meimei! Cooking has to be one of the more fun stuff to do together with the kids. An easy and fun cooking item is pizza making. The preparation can be done outside of the kitchen; there is no need of a live fire; kids can design their own toppings and lay the ingredients down.

Both kids took turns to help out where they can. 萱萱 was obviously more into it but 阳阳 managed to keep some interest in it too since it is all new to him. The pizzas turned out pretty good. 

Drawing For 弟弟 To Colour

The children were in the study room. As usual I do my own thing while Meimei was in the shower. 萱萱 wanted to draw so I setup her and 阳阳 up at the kids round table and gave them paper and pens. 阳阳 was his usual self mumbling about fire trucks but I ignored him and went to surf net and play my games. 

After a couple of minutes I suddenly hear 阳阳 chirp out "Fire Truck!". Hmmm I recognise the call because its the same one when I draw him one on the paper. But wait ... I'm not drawing it?? So I went over to the table to find out what's happening. Lo and behold 萱萱 had drawn him a bus and a fire truck! *kiss ... this girlgirl is such a darling and truly loves her 弟弟.

Corona Lockdown: Living In A Dream

This is so surreal, like living in another world. Never can I imagine that 萱萱 and 阳阳 would grow up in an environment like this.

We have been on 'lock down' the past month. Not being able to step out of the house is taking a toll on everyone. Although the children don't say it, I don't think it's healthy they are locked at home the whole time. Sadly that's the reality we live in. We can only hope this ends soon.

At this time, we seem to be winning against the virus and the government is going to slowly loosen the lock down next week. But we already lost on the economic front. Our government just announced a 4th package to boost the economy and help save jobs. How much impact it has is yet to be seen. The salary funding will last another month into July. But once that goes, I suspect my job may be on the chopping block.

It's probably a minor setback if we do not have kids. But with 萱萱 and 阳阳, job security is paramount. They deserve food on the table, having every opportunity to go to school to learn, have toys and gadgets to play with, have outings to places to expand their vision and horizon.

So I'm crossing my fingers that I'll survive the cuts that my company is working through right now. I should probably start working on my resume again. It's been quite some time since I last look for a job.

The One Cincalok

This thing is so good I have to blog about it. For the longest time I've been searching for that perfect condiment to go with my seafood on hotpot dinner nights. I've tried numerous difference brands of cincalok and at some point It got so desperate I even tried Thai fish sauce.

But the search is finally over. I've found the one. Funny thing is that this product could very well have been in the market for the longest time. It's just that it never occured to me to look for it in the cold food section where they keep the kimchi, beancurds and other food that need the freezer temperature.

But that's ok, better late than never as they say. And man this cincalok has single-handedly up my enjoyment of seafood hotpot. Even Meimei who never takes my other cincalok sauce was raving about it. That's how good this is.