My Little Ostrich

Hide-and-seek is my new favourite game. I get a real kick out of the thought that people can't find me. however, Mummy keeps accusing me of being an ostrich, because I apparently have the "If I can't see you, then you can't see me" mentality. That's how you get pictures of me in the midst of playing hide-and-seek, like this:

Classic Ostrich Claire

Further example of Great Ostrich Moves

Oops, I've been spotted, heh heh heh!

Not so easy! Lightning Claire in action!

There. You can't see me now, right? RIGHT?

Babies' Prom 2008

Mummy brought me for my first taste of classical music at the Victoria Concert Hall on 5 Dec 2008 - the famous SSO Babies' Prom! Having heard so much about it, she was really looking forward to bringing me there, and only just managed to grab a single seat in the stall area near the stage - prime location!

But perhaps because she had such high hopes, she couldn't help feeling that the actual concert was a bit of a let-down; the highlight of the concert though, was something she hopes I can participate in in future - a few select kids got to go on stage to conduct the entire orchestra! Wow, that looked like so much fun!

Anyway, it was still great that Mummy could take some time off work to spend QT with me... Mummy, please do it more often next year, ok?

Staring in wonder at the orchestra.

Mummy, what are they doing??? Looks fun!

Tutu-less

My last tutu picture

Yes folks, I'm happy (or rather, my silly mummy is happy) to announce that I'm officially off the pacifier!

On the night of 2 Dec 2008, my beloved Tutu, as my pacifier is fondly nicknamed, decided to leave for greener pastures as I have outgrown it. At least, that's what Mummy told me, although I have this sneaking suspicion that she was too lazy to do a thorough search for Tutu, and so settled for option 2 - blame it all on Tutu.

Anyhow, this was not the first time Mummy had tried to wean me off the pacifier with the Tutu-has-run-away story - but it is certainly the first time I decided that, ok, I can do without Tutu for a while, and not kicked up too much of a fuss.

So anyhow, that was the first night. After that, i tried my luck continuously for about a week, but Mummy kept up with the same story, and eventually.... I GAVE UP. Oh yes, I decided that since Tutu was so heartless, I shall not want Tutu anymore. With that, Mummy, who was plagued by secret nightmare images of me with a Tutu stuck in my mouth at the age of 5 or 6, heaved a sigh of relief.

Mummy's only worry is that I somehow replaced Tutu with finger-biting. I told Mummy that if she's good, I will reward her by stopping. hahahahahahaha

Ai Xin Breakfast

One morning, Mummy finally took out that heart-shaped pan she got sooooo long ago in preparation for my weaning... Result: I got heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. *grinz* Wasn't fantastic, but I'm sure Mummy will improve with practice.

Mummy's thoughts: The end of a long journey

This has got to be one of the most painful posts for me to write, though I know many many mummies who would be thankful to be writing this - Claire and I have finally come to the end of a long journey - she has self-weaned from the breast. Sigh. *teardrop*

I had grandiose plans to nurse her till she self-weaned; in a way I succeeded as she did wean off on her own, but part of me still feels like a failure because I still can't believe that any baby would willingly wean off the breast at 22 months old. Here I am, willing to nurse for as long as she wanted, and the silly girl weans herself before she even turns 2! I keep thinking about what else i could have done to provide for her longer, and every time she falls sick i feel guilty (coincidentally, she has been falling sick regularly in the past 2 months).

OK, so amidst the tears and overwhelming sadness, I know there is a lot I should be thankful for:

1. That I was at least successful at full breastfeeding for about 1 year, and supplemented breastfeeding for about 22 months. For that, I have to thank my husband, mother, lactation consultant, understanding bosses, and supportive friends like my big friend SK, who was a great source of inspiration and motivation and started me off on this breastfeeding journey;

2. That my wonderful baby took to the breast from the start and seldom gave me breast rejection problems, and also that after the first month, she stuck to a schedule of nursing once a night, and stopped nursing during the night when she turned 8 months old;

3. That despite the regularity that blocked ducts plagued me, I never had a case of mastitis;

4. Lastly, that the pain of weaning is borne by me and not by Claire, rather than the other way round. I have read the experiences of other mums who had to wean their babies off, and if I had to do that to Claire I think it would really break my heart. As it is, she is happily adjusted and (I like to think!) emotionally-secure.

I shall just try to keep the points above in mind, and hold on to the wonderful memories I have of nursing Claire. Memories like this one:

The first nursing experience - within the first hour of birth. The nurse had to help me hold Claire because my other arm was still on drip due to my condition (excessive bleeding), hahaha.

To all mums out there striving to do full breastfeeding: You can do it! It's a long long journey and frequently painful, especially during the first few months (you won't believe how many tears I shed over the pain of blocked ducts, which I rate as worse than labour pains), but knowing that you were the main source of nutrients for your baby - wow, I just can't describe how good that makes you feel. :)

I'm Up and Running Again

'Allo 'allo? Who's that on the other end???

I've recovered! Evidence of this? Look at me up to mischief again. My newest hobby is making phone calls. Or maybe it's more accurate to say I like to talk on the phone. Or I like to pretend to talk on the phone. I'm quite good at it when no one is on the other line, but unfortunately for some reason I'm unable to carry on a real conversation because I go into shock if someone actually talks to me from the other end. I guess I'm still more at ease in my make-believe world. I even pretend to answer the phone when it rings (I don't pick the phone up though, I just stop whatever it is I'm doing, hold up an imaginary receiver and go 'HA-LLO?' very loudly)

The big question: so was it, or was it not rotavirus? Unfortunately we can't tell without taking the stools test (which we didn't). But thankfully it cleared up very fast; by the 2nd day my fever had cleared and my diarrhoea situation ended about 4-5 days later; by the time a week was up I went back to my solid stools state.

Mummy would like to thank all the aunties who have asked about my health. Let us assure everyone that I am back to my usual self!

Claire is on medical leave :(

Poor me.

Mummy says I should never feel sorry for myself, but oh dear, at the moment I can't help but feel so. I have been kept away from my regular playmates because of my illness, which no one can be sure what it is. And I'm so tired of being changed out of nasty poopy diapers. *sniff sniff* And taking medicine. *sniff sniff sniff*



Ok, rewind back to yesterday, when Mummy asked Granny to take me to see my regular GP, where I get my jabs, because I had been having diarrhoea since a day ago, and yesterday morning I started with mild fever. I was diagnosed as probably having tummy flu (since Mummy also suffered from a bout of tummy flu earlier in the week) or food poisoning.



Carried on with diarrhoea the whole day. Early this morning, I woke Mummy up at 5 plus in the morning. I was quite cheery at the time, but Mummy discovered, to her horror, that I was running a very high fever! Our thermometer chose this particular time to go crazy on us again (Papa swore that he was never going to try new-fangled stuff again) but even without it working accurately, both Mummy and Papa could tell that my fever was quite serious. Mummy grabbed the neurofen from the fridge (and for this we gotta thank Auntie Brenda, who advised us to always have a bottle of neurofen on standby). Papa suggested rushing to KK A&E, but, having heard so many "stories" about it, Mummy didn't want to send me there, especially when I was still quite alert and cheery. She preferred to bring my fever down with the neurofen first, then bring me down to my trusty PD in the morning.



Finally at 10 plus in the morning, I managed to see Dr Terence Tan. Immediately, after he heard my symptoms, he asked if I was vaccinated against rotavirus. My folks' hearts sank. Seeing that I was still so lively, Dr Tan thought it unnecessary to worry too much, but my folks were asked to keep a tight watch on me. We can't be sure if it is rotavirus or just some other viral attack, as my parents, after discussion, decided against testing my stool (because we were told that even if I was diagnosed with rotavirus, there was nothing we can do except to do what we were already doing - control my temperature and stop the diarrhoea). But my folks did go home with a much clearer picture of what was happening in general.

Obstacles I decided to put up for my parents:

1) I hate taking medicine. I hate taking medicine. And did I mention I HATE taking medicine? My granny's finger is all swollen from having to force my mouth open in order that I can be force-fed my medicine. I recoil in horror and tell Mummy "bu yao!" everytime I see the syringe. It really pains Mummy and Papa to see me like this. Thank goodness my new medication prescribed by Dr Tan can be taken relatively infrequently.

2) I like plain water. Dr Tan advised taking isotonic drinks to keep my carbo levels up, because with the amount of diarrhoea I was suffering from, it doesn't take much to deduce that my body is not absorbing much food I've been given. Mummy and Papa's only consolation is that Dr Tan says the diarrhoea should be relatively painless, just that it obviously is not pleasant to live in constantly poopy diapers. Mummy does kind of enjoy seeing the look on my face moments before I poop though. Mixture of horror and pai-seiness. Hahaha. But I digress. Back to isotonic drinks. Wow, before this round of illness, Mummy never knew that I disliked flavoured drinks so much. The flavoured Pedialyte Dr Tan prescribed for me was swiftly rejected. So was glucose water (glucolin). So was the plain Pedialyte that Mummy rushed out to buy (Mummy: I can understand why. BLARGH!!!). In the end, the only isotonic drink I would take is Ah Gu's Pocari Sweat *faint*. But Mummy was thankful we found something that fits at last. Her mind is still filled with horror images of me hooked up to a drip (which is what Dr Tan warns MAY happen).

3) I can tell Mummy that I have tummy ache. She is so proud of me. At last my communication is "getting there".

Update 31/10/2008 AM: Claire's fever is under control!!! And her last poop last night seems to be a bit more solid. Let's hope this continues. Looks like the probiotics did help!