Why do kids engage in food battles with their parents!!
Annika is now stressing me out majorly with her stubborn refusal to eat properly.
She was born a good sized 3.5kg, but by 1 year old managed to be lighter than her sister by over 1 kg!!
I remember food battles with Madison as well, but somehow they were not AS BAD.
Elizabeth, on the other hand seems to eat really well! She can down an entire bottle of milk, then go on to eat her full meal immediately afterwards! Amazing. And the irony? Geok doesn't particularly like to cook. While I would go on dreaming up various meal for my 2 and they would then proceed to p*** me off by making the meal seem like poison.
This morning Annika wouldn't eat her breakfast. Then I had to rush Madison with hers because today is a school day. Between the 2 of them I nearly lost it. Eventually I took Annika out of her high chair because she.just.wouldn't. eat. And I GAVE UP.
On the bright side though, last night was the first night in a week that Annika finally slept through. Maybe it was the antihistamine I gave her before bed but WHATEVER! I feel so much better with the sleep.
Of course I know as a doctor that kids eat when they are hungry, but somehow when it's YOUR OWN refusing food and looking somewhat skinny it makes me panic. Like it makes me a lousy parent who couldn't stay home and make my child healthier/eat better. Seriously, my heart actually twinges when I look at Annika and remember what Madison looked like at the same age.
I hope this is just a stage and she will eventually eat better, but there are some kids that never go on to be great eaters. My fear is of course her growth, that it will be stunted by the relative lack of nutrition, but WHAT CAN WE DO! I'm not very patient with this kind of thing.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Visitors from Down Under
This was supposed to be our fun weekend.
Our good friend, A, from med school was enroute to the Maldives with his partner so we were meeting them for dinner.
OF COURSE one of the kids had to make sure they had SOMETHING just so we could be super tired.
Friday night we took the couple to Prive for dinner. Unfortunately we weren't aware that our friend's partner suffers from severe vertigo/motion sickness and we JUST had to take them on a rushed drive winding through Friday night traffic ALL THE WAY to Keppel Island for a "romantic double date" dinner. Just enough to make the poor gal sick the WHOLE TIME. Otherwise we had a great meal, great conversation and a good time.(the rest of us)
Saturday went rather well. Chris was supposed to "operate" on some animals for his research project but fortunately(for me) they died on Friday so he was free(hooray!!). That gave him the ENTIRE morning with the kids because I had work.
Speaking of which... argh... had a run in with a patient this weekend. She had a known complication which I had warned her about, but I guess she became anxious and defensive about it. Which of course made me MAD...
Madison had her tennis lesson, which according to Chris went pretty well. He took the 2 girls swimming afterwards and apparently Madison can swim a short distance without floats!! Hooray.. the first step towards water safety!!
We met the couple again for dinner, and this time we WALKED to get dinner. Turned out pretty well! Satay and prata at Makansutra by the bay, then dessert at Marina bay Sands. The night skyline at the Marina Bay is really pretty! The new additions to the area have perked the place up.
Saturday night was TERRIBLE. Thank goodness we let Madison sleep over with my mom. Annika went to sleep ok, but within 30 minutes was up crying. At first we let her "CIO"then she must have walked to the door and shut herself in. I felt really bad so I went in and she was trying to put herself back to sleep but she seemed to be really uncomfortable. Eventually I turned the lights back on and OMG.
She was covered in hives! WTH??! Insects? I felt so guilty and bad for even trying to let her cry it out. The poor girl was suffering.. .screaming and trying to scratch..
Eventually I managed to settle her with antihistamines and topical steroids... and she wound up in our bed because SHE WOULD NOT SLEEP.
She had some more hives today and was really miserable. And had no appetite. I really don't know what it's due to. The MMR vaccine? The flu shot?
Turns out Elizabeth and Madison had some hives too, but much less. ?flu shot? some viral thing?
Argh.. I'm hoping this thing blows over soon... does this count towards November's illness? Am I done for this month?
Our good friend, A, from med school was enroute to the Maldives with his partner so we were meeting them for dinner.
OF COURSE one of the kids had to make sure they had SOMETHING just so we could be super tired.
Friday night we took the couple to Prive for dinner. Unfortunately we weren't aware that our friend's partner suffers from severe vertigo/motion sickness and we JUST had to take them on a rushed drive winding through Friday night traffic ALL THE WAY to Keppel Island for a "romantic double date" dinner. Just enough to make the poor gal sick the WHOLE TIME. Otherwise we had a great meal, great conversation and a good time.(the rest of us)
Saturday went rather well. Chris was supposed to "operate" on some animals for his research project but fortunately(for me) they died on Friday so he was free(hooray!!). That gave him the ENTIRE morning with the kids because I had work.
Speaking of which... argh... had a run in with a patient this weekend. She had a known complication which I had warned her about, but I guess she became anxious and defensive about it. Which of course made me MAD...
Madison had her tennis lesson, which according to Chris went pretty well. He took the 2 girls swimming afterwards and apparently Madison can swim a short distance without floats!! Hooray.. the first step towards water safety!!
We met the couple again for dinner, and this time we WALKED to get dinner. Turned out pretty well! Satay and prata at Makansutra by the bay, then dessert at Marina bay Sands. The night skyline at the Marina Bay is really pretty! The new additions to the area have perked the place up.
Saturday night was TERRIBLE. Thank goodness we let Madison sleep over with my mom. Annika went to sleep ok, but within 30 minutes was up crying. At first we let her "CIO"then she must have walked to the door and shut herself in. I felt really bad so I went in and she was trying to put herself back to sleep but she seemed to be really uncomfortable. Eventually I turned the lights back on and OMG.
She was covered in hives! WTH??! Insects? I felt so guilty and bad for even trying to let her cry it out. The poor girl was suffering.. .screaming and trying to scratch..
Eventually I managed to settle her with antihistamines and topical steroids... and she wound up in our bed because SHE WOULD NOT SLEEP.
She had some more hives today and was really miserable. And had no appetite. I really don't know what it's due to. The MMR vaccine? The flu shot?
Turns out Elizabeth and Madison had some hives too, but much less. ?flu shot? some viral thing?
Argh.. I'm hoping this thing blows over soon... does this count towards November's illness? Am I done for this month?
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Flu Shots, sleeping badly
After the last BAD round of illnesses, I am still waiting for this month's round. An average of 12 illnesses per year for pre-schoolers .. makes it roughly one per month.
And of course to start it off, one of Madison's classmates came down with INFLUENZA. As in the REAL stuff, confirmed with an oropharyngeal swab. ARGH! 4 days of 40 degree fevers, coughing and refusing to eat or drink. She was admitted to hospital. Her mother ALSO came down with the same thing. Horrendous.
Of course my germ phobia and panic set in. I cursed myself for not giving the kids the flu shot already. Of course it had to be Saturday night that I hear about this so I had to patiently wait till Monday to order the vaccines in.
Now I feel a little bit better that the shots have been given to EVERYONE at home. Quite amazing that the family alone required 15 vaccines!
As for the sleeping badly.. it's now Annika's turn to do it!
Now that she's sleeping on the single mattress on the floor, I think she's discovered she can actually LEAVE the room whenever she wants and come get me. In the middle of the night.
She was sleeping quite well through the night for awhile, but since she had the MMR I don't know why her sleep is so disrupted. She goes down quite well, then around 11 or midnight she starts getting distressed. She was crying on and off from 10Pm to 11Pm last night, then settled till 1am. At which point she got up from bed and came to get me. I took her back to bed and she went to sleep pretty quickly. Then at 4am she walked over AGAIN! This time she kept asking to feed but I didn't let her. Figured I didn't want her to get into the habit of night feeds again. She complained for awhile. It was so funny. When she whined, Madison would wake momentarily and say :'What! What! " or "ok, ok" and then fall right back asleep. IF it weren't for the fact that it was 4 am it would be hilarious.
Anyway, eventually she did go back to sleep, at which point Madison woke up! Of course the day started.
Maybe it's the injection? Pain? Hunger? Teething?
I just tell myself, she'll get there one day. One day the 2 of them will finally sleep past 7am.
And of course to start it off, one of Madison's classmates came down with INFLUENZA. As in the REAL stuff, confirmed with an oropharyngeal swab. ARGH! 4 days of 40 degree fevers, coughing and refusing to eat or drink. She was admitted to hospital. Her mother ALSO came down with the same thing. Horrendous.
Of course my germ phobia and panic set in. I cursed myself for not giving the kids the flu shot already. Of course it had to be Saturday night that I hear about this so I had to patiently wait till Monday to order the vaccines in.
Now I feel a little bit better that the shots have been given to EVERYONE at home. Quite amazing that the family alone required 15 vaccines!
As for the sleeping badly.. it's now Annika's turn to do it!
Now that she's sleeping on the single mattress on the floor, I think she's discovered she can actually LEAVE the room whenever she wants and come get me. In the middle of the night.
She was sleeping quite well through the night for awhile, but since she had the MMR I don't know why her sleep is so disrupted. She goes down quite well, then around 11 or midnight she starts getting distressed. She was crying on and off from 10Pm to 11Pm last night, then settled till 1am. At which point she got up from bed and came to get me. I took her back to bed and she went to sleep pretty quickly. Then at 4am she walked over AGAIN! This time she kept asking to feed but I didn't let her. Figured I didn't want her to get into the habit of night feeds again. She complained for awhile. It was so funny. When she whined, Madison would wake momentarily and say :'What! What! " or "ok, ok" and then fall right back asleep. IF it weren't for the fact that it was 4 am it would be hilarious.
Anyway, eventually she did go back to sleep, at which point Madison woke up! Of course the day started.
Maybe it's the injection? Pain? Hunger? Teething?
I just tell myself, she'll get there one day. One day the 2 of them will finally sleep past 7am.
Friday, November 11, 2011
MMR, school for Annika
I finally did it..
Annika got her MMR yesterday. She was a champ! Took the shot without protest! Granted, it was her grandfather that gave it to her, with me carrying and distracting her. It was over so quickly no one believed she just had her shot!
Actually the reason why I finally did it was because I had to sign her up for playgroup next year. I'm still not sure if I really want to send her to a drop off class at 18 months but I was a little pressured.
The school is the same one that Elizabeth is currently attending, it's a purely Mandarin based classroom. I looked up their website and was actually interested in their weekly accompanied classes, but when I called them up I was told that it was discontinued.
Then when I enquired about starting playgroup for Annika next year I was told there were only 5 spots left! Crap. It's the only Mandarin based preschool that is logistically good for me. So I panicked ( as usual ) and went down stat to look at the school. It looked ok and I guess E is doing ok in that school so I signed her up. I only want her to go maybe twice a week? to start with, and three times a week at most. BUT.. the teacher/?principal was quite insistent that she should go everyday once she was settled down ( in 1 month!) ... hm... I'm not so sure... and I don't take being pressurised very well...
So we shall see how it goes.. on one hand it's useful for Annika to be exposed to the Mandarin environment, but it goes along with BUGS BUGS BUGS... in the worst case scenario I can go back to good ol' Bibinogs. Bibinogs would actually still be my first choice, if not for the distance. It feels CLEANER. And smells BETTER.
Anyway.. it was a non refundable $100 registration fee and a $320 deposit(supposedly refundable). I booked her to start in February, for Tuesdays and Fridays.
I can't believe my baby is growing up so quickly!
Annika got her MMR yesterday. She was a champ! Took the shot without protest! Granted, it was her grandfather that gave it to her, with me carrying and distracting her. It was over so quickly no one believed she just had her shot!
Actually the reason why I finally did it was because I had to sign her up for playgroup next year. I'm still not sure if I really want to send her to a drop off class at 18 months but I was a little pressured.
The school is the same one that Elizabeth is currently attending, it's a purely Mandarin based classroom. I looked up their website and was actually interested in their weekly accompanied classes, but when I called them up I was told that it was discontinued.
Then when I enquired about starting playgroup for Annika next year I was told there were only 5 spots left! Crap. It's the only Mandarin based preschool that is logistically good for me. So I panicked ( as usual ) and went down stat to look at the school. It looked ok and I guess E is doing ok in that school so I signed her up. I only want her to go maybe twice a week? to start with, and three times a week at most. BUT.. the teacher/?principal was quite insistent that she should go everyday once she was settled down ( in 1 month!) ... hm... I'm not so sure... and I don't take being pressurised very well...
So we shall see how it goes.. on one hand it's useful for Annika to be exposed to the Mandarin environment, but it goes along with BUGS BUGS BUGS... in the worst case scenario I can go back to good ol' Bibinogs. Bibinogs would actually still be my first choice, if not for the distance. It feels CLEANER. And smells BETTER.
Anyway.. it was a non refundable $100 registration fee and a $320 deposit(supposedly refundable). I booked her to start in February, for Tuesdays and Fridays.
I can't believe my baby is growing up so quickly!
Friday, November 4, 2011
Back to normal
I'm really glad that Chris is back from his trip to Taiwan.
I took the 2 girls and Elizabeth to the airport to pick him up and boy, did they have fun! Madison and Elizabeth sat right at the back of the Stream, Annika and Warni sat in the 2nd row. Of course I did dole out the lollipops to keep them occupied during the 20minute ride. At the airport they went mad running around, it was quite difficult to keep them reined in!
Chris went back to work the next day, but the good thing is that he's now at KKH, so that means a slightly later start! Yeah! He gets to entertain the kids while I'm getting breakfast ready in the morning, and when he leaves Warni gets in. It's getting hard leaving them unsupervised; takes 5 minutes before they start fighting over something.
Madison is thankfully back at school again after last week's protracted home stay from illness. Her school is pretty fun! They've organised a zoo trip on the 15th so I think she's pretty excited about it. They get to go in this huge school bus, see the sights and then have lunch there.
Annika is starting to talk. Her babbles actually make sense now. It's quite strange, to realize that she can understand and respond appropriately. ( of course she could have probably understood a while back but still.. she's a baby!!) I still feel guilty that she gets less one on one time than her sister, but on the upside she does learn quickly just by observing the older one. I'm also not sure when to start her in class. Madison was 15 months when we started her on hourly accompanied Mandarin classes. I'm not really sure if it made a difference or not. She seems to have picked up more Mandarin being at her current bilingual school than at her previous Mandarin only school.
I'm thinking that I might just wait till Annika is closer to 2 then start her directly in a drop off Mandarin speaking playgroup? Although when I ask her if she wants to go to school she actually nods her head.
The clinic has been really quite quiet recently.. sigh.. nothing really new.. There's been the issue of an enbloc being raised for the clinic property... part of me hopes it will go through, then I would have the option of quitting? But I would feel bad towards the few loyal patients that I have. Maybe be part time employed and see my patients by appointment? But I suppose that would defeat the purpose of starting out on my own anyway.. to have time for the kids... it's really quite frustrating. I wish someone could tell me what to do.
One last thing.. Annika is due for her measles/rubella/mumps vaccine. We missed the appointment last month because of the never ending series of illness... but now I have to give it to her myself ( because the silly paeds clinic at KKH is FULLY booked till the end of the year! how silly is that! ). ARGH... she won't get autism from that, right... I know it's not true but still... it's a fear..
I took the 2 girls and Elizabeth to the airport to pick him up and boy, did they have fun! Madison and Elizabeth sat right at the back of the Stream, Annika and Warni sat in the 2nd row. Of course I did dole out the lollipops to keep them occupied during the 20minute ride. At the airport they went mad running around, it was quite difficult to keep them reined in!
Chris went back to work the next day, but the good thing is that he's now at KKH, so that means a slightly later start! Yeah! He gets to entertain the kids while I'm getting breakfast ready in the morning, and when he leaves Warni gets in. It's getting hard leaving them unsupervised; takes 5 minutes before they start fighting over something.
Madison is thankfully back at school again after last week's protracted home stay from illness. Her school is pretty fun! They've organised a zoo trip on the 15th so I think she's pretty excited about it. They get to go in this huge school bus, see the sights and then have lunch there.
Annika is starting to talk. Her babbles actually make sense now. It's quite strange, to realize that she can understand and respond appropriately. ( of course she could have probably understood a while back but still.. she's a baby!!) I still feel guilty that she gets less one on one time than her sister, but on the upside she does learn quickly just by observing the older one. I'm also not sure when to start her in class. Madison was 15 months when we started her on hourly accompanied Mandarin classes. I'm not really sure if it made a difference or not. She seems to have picked up more Mandarin being at her current bilingual school than at her previous Mandarin only school.
I'm thinking that I might just wait till Annika is closer to 2 then start her directly in a drop off Mandarin speaking playgroup? Although when I ask her if she wants to go to school she actually nods her head.
The clinic has been really quite quiet recently.. sigh.. nothing really new.. There's been the issue of an enbloc being raised for the clinic property... part of me hopes it will go through, then I would have the option of quitting? But I would feel bad towards the few loyal patients that I have. Maybe be part time employed and see my patients by appointment? But I suppose that would defeat the purpose of starting out on my own anyway.. to have time for the kids... it's really quite frustrating. I wish someone could tell me what to do.
One last thing.. Annika is due for her measles/rubella/mumps vaccine. We missed the appointment last month because of the never ending series of illness... but now I have to give it to her myself ( because the silly paeds clinic at KKH is FULLY booked till the end of the year! how silly is that! ). ARGH... she won't get autism from that, right... I know it's not true but still... it's a fear..
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