Children

A good friend of mine delivered her 3rd child this week. (Congratulations, btw!)

Then my sister sent me a link to a blog post on having a 3rd child.

And of course my MIL incessantly asks if I'm pregnant yet, "going for the boy?". That and any random stranger who sees me with my 2 girls.

That set me thinking about 'the 3rd child'.

I think in theory it would be nice to have another, but could I please skip the pregnancy, delivery and the first year?

Madison and Annika are at an age where they can function quite well together and are fairly independant.

That and sleeping quite well almost every night.

Apart from the monthly round of illnesses life is quite good with a preschooler and a toddler. We can go out as a family for meals now, and as long as I have no real expectations of actually sitting still and sipping wine we generally have a good time.

I guess this is all part of the cycle of change? Contemplation phase?

This month we are on our second round of URTIs already. There's also the evanescent HFMD that's also going around in school. It started off with a snotty nose, some weird rash and now it's a cough. I'm running out of ideas as to how to treat these stubborn paediatric coughs.

Annika has also progressed to being dropped off at school now. And it sounds like she's coping alright! I still get Warni to pick her up earlier than the rest of the kids and we're still at twice a week. I think as she gets used to school she might be able to go three times? Everyday? I don't know why I second guess myself so much this time round. With Madison I had a plan for everything. I knew exactly how often she was to go to school, what other activities to try. Now I am just plain UNSURE. And lazier.

Madison 'joked' with me just the other day!

I asked her why she didn't have water play for the day, and she told me that her teacher said she was coughing so she couldn't participate, and that her teacher messaged me to tell me that!

Then she laughed and said, "just joking!"

I couldn't believe it! And I actually believed her. Oh no... I'm getting old. Becoming a parent. I remember telling these 'jokes' to my parents.

I guess while I miss the babyness of my kids, every age is better and they do become more enjoyable as they get older.

So.. to 3rd child or not?

Planning parties

February is coming to an end and I STILL haven't planned Madison's 4th yet!

In fact, I'm feeling rather lazy and part of me would rather just not deal with the hassle of a party.

But Madison is really excited about it and she already told me she wants to invite 16 friends!

16! Where on earth would we find them!

Initially I toyed with the idea of Fidgets, an indoor playground thingy with a function room/host. But that was taken by my neighbour after I told her about it. And her daughter's birthday is exactly 1 week before Madison's. But in any case, indoor playgrounds+kids= GERMS...

So I guess, pool party/ satay/ ?? at home?

As for Annika.. she's really growing up fast! And she's so smart!

Yesterday she wanted me to unwrap a lollipop for her and I was struggling with the plastic wrap. She watched me intently, then looked and me and said "scissors?". Very clearly. She's 18 months! I didn't think an 18 month old could suggest solutions?

Annika seems to enjoy her playgroup too. This morning as we were about to leave to send Madison to school she promptly brought her schoolbag along. And when you ask her when she goes to school she knows it's "Tuesday and Friday"! And what did her teacher tell her? "Don't push kor kor! (older brother)"

My SGH day went fairly smoothly too. I was fortunate to be rostered to a consultant that I had worked for 2 weeks prior so she was somewhat comfortable with me. For some strange reason I've ONLY worked in orthopaedic theatres ever since I started! This week was no different, except that it was A CRAZY list. The surgeons were fast though, so we did manage to finish at 5pm.

I do notice that after I leave the hospital I feel really flushed and then I get really tired and sleepy afterward. Probably breathing in the anaesthetic gases? I can't remember what it was like previously.

The only blip to this weekend was that for some reason Chris and I seemed to be at loggerheads recently.

First when we were giving the kids dinner. He was trying to make Madison eat her vegetables and she was like gagging, tearing and just absolutely miserable. So I just told him not to mix all her food up and not to force her to eat the stuff. Then he got worked up and insisted she ate it. After 5 minutes of sobbing and screaming, I finally dealt with it by asking her to feed herself. And she did.

Then again when Annika started crying after she went to bed. The first time she went back down after crying for 5 minutes. The second time occured close to midnight, so I got up and asked him if he thought she was cold. ( she always kicks the covers off ). She must have heard me and started to cry harder. And so he blames me for making her cry!

Guess everything can't be perfect.

Week 3 SGH.. and life goes on

Last Friday was the 3rd week of work at SGH.

Surprisingly things went quite well!

Of course I had been rostered to a different theatre from the previous week, so it took me a while to orientate myself.

I proceeded with the usual machine check.. and OMG.. it wasn't even possible to do a manual check! Thank goodness I can READ and sort of follow instructions off a ventilator!

I had a nice but quiet consultant for the day, and she liked to send me off for breaks so that she could also do the same.. but I kind of wanted to stay in the theatre. I guess when you don't have to do this everyday you get the feeling of missing stuff being 'on break'. Besides there was hardly anyone I knew to 'have a break' with. The orthopaedic surgeon was pretty cool too, played funky music during the entire 9 hours we were there.

But, at the end of the day, I was really happy to go home, and go back to my simple life! Missed the kids so much!

When I got home, the 2 girls were playing happily, no one was missing anyone, and life went on as per normal. Friday night Chris' friend from Malaysia was down visiting, so we took him and the girls out to the Botanic Gardens to feed fish and have dinner.

Saturday was maniacal as well. Clinic was busy busy.. then home to see the girls, then we had lunch with M.Han at his restaurant 53. We were supposed to start at 130pm, but it was closer to 2 when we finally did start. It was worth the wait though. The menu has improved and the food was inspiring. Our 'simple lunch' turned out to be a 6 course degustation meal!

We also got to meet his new love, C, who is an entrepreneur doing internet based restaurant booking systems. She was chatty and friendly, so the 3.5h lunch went by quite fast.

Of course by the time lunch ended it was almost time to go to dinner at NUSS Guild house at Bukit Timah to celebrate Geok's birthday! Again, another 5 course set dinner. With dessert and a birthday cake. Death by chocolate cake.

Sunday was meant to be a nice quiet day, since Warni had the day off. BUT.. as things would have it, our neighbour suggested an afternoon out at the Bird Park....uuhhhh... alright.. Madison was so keen. Even though WE were exhausted from the week.

Turned out... the kids had a really long afternoon nap, followed by bad weather in Jurong ( thank goodness we didn't make it there!). So that turned into an afternoon at the ECP flying kites and playing with sand. Followed by a dip in the pool at the Swimming club and dinner. It was fun! I just wish the club renovations would proceed at a faster pace so that we can start going there regularly again to swim and eat.

So.. another week has passed, and I am happy that this anaesthesia thing happened to me. Happy that I have supportive family that allow me to do this. Happy that the kids coped well with the change. And of course happy that I now know what I want to do with my life! That's for now.. Things do change...

Oh.. the only thing bugging me now is our rental property. IT'S becoming A PITA. The tenant defaulted on rent AGAIN, and when I sent the agent on her, turns out she doesn't want to continue with the lease! Gee, thanks.. just NOT pay instead of nicely telling us that you don't want to continue? So now we've got to start tenant hunting again. I hope we find one soon enough. She wasn't even paying as much as G's unit which is 4 floors down!

Working at SGH, Annika's first day of school

Everything went surprisingly well!

First, me..

I had an enjoyable 2nd session doing anaesthesia at SGH.

I got there early this time, (but STILL forgot something-my stethoscope!). Since the kids spent the night with my parents I didn't have to rush around dropping anyone off in the morning.

I was again sent to the orthopaedic theatre, surprise, surprise, the same theatre that MH was working in for the day! The anaesthetist I was working with for the day was really nice, relaxed and she gave me the chance to intubate. She was amazingly cool about everything, didn't get stressed or tell me off when things went wrong. (not seriously, but like minor inconveniences like when I somehow managed to disable the contraption that dispenses propofol/remifentanil to keep the guy asleep!!) The freaking alarms were going off and I was freaking out... of course the surgeons were all like..'haha, that sounds like a car reverse sensor man!)

It's nice to go back this time, sans stress of sitting and studying for exams, with little expectations of the job. I think retrospectively now, that if I had not sat the exams so early in my career the last time I might still have been doing this job. Of course having done GP work also makes a difference... I have more empathy for patients now and also more confidence in dealing with people. So.. no losses.

As for Annika, she went to 'school' for the first time. So sad that I wasn't the one to take her there.. but

Apparently she had FUN!

I was told, she was running around abit, but could sit and participate in some of the activities.

When snacks were served at 1030am, Warni took the opportunity to give her a meal, and apparently she enjoyed the group eating!

By 1130 or so (as I expected) she started getting tired and Warni took her home...

I hope that the school will allow Warni to stay as long as Annika needs... I'm happy she had fun at school.

School for Annika

I have been rather stressed about sending Annika to school this year.

It was already organised last year, so as Febuary drew closer I kept asking myself if it was the right time to send her to school... for some reason Annika seems like such a baby to me! ( Madison was already attending drop off classes 3 times a week at 18 months! )

So I emailed the principal at Joy Little, just to check that she was indeed supposed to start.

They didn't reply to the email, but a teacher gave me a call instead.

So it's confirmed, she's to start Friday, 3rd Febuary.

Now that I've started this new thing with SGH on Fridays, this means the kids sleep over at Novena Thursday night. My parents willingly volunteered to help with transport to and from school for Madison, so that leaves Warni with Annika.

I feel guilty and a little sad that I'm not going to be accompanying Annika to school for the first 2 weeks, but it's probably better for her that it happens this way. Warni is to stay with her for the first 2 weeks, then depending on how she copes, just to bring her lunch in early subsequently and take her home whenever she got tired. I think she'd be more clingy and fussy if I were there and then tried to leave. Or worse still, dropped her off. It's like the naps. When I put her down she fusses and cries and it just seems so stressful, but when Warni does it all is well.

Yesterday Annika was looking for Warni all afternoon! She actually didn't "want" me and specifically looked for Warni. And cried at night when we were about to go home! Of course I felt a little sad, BUT, again, hindsight is really useful. Madison did something similar at the same age, and of course, it was a phase.

Anyway.. I made sure to spend more time with her this morning. She does spend quite alot of time with Warni, and I'm happy that she is loved and well cared for. Her speech is developing at a phenomenal pace, which is also why she would benefit from a Mandarin playgroup.

When I googled "preschool for 18 month old", I was taken to a Berkeley parents network forum discussion on the topic. Looks like this is a universal concern amongst parents(specifically, MOTHERS). I wonder why fathers don't seem to have the same concerns! Or have this type of discussions on forums!