11/09/2009

All's well that ends well


Good morning Asher!
Originally uploaded by karmakeda
The swelling in Asher's mouth has gone down, and decreased our distress. The tooth fairy was a success, although we haven't played the game yet and Asher's fever vanished and both the boys are now a picture of health. I'm a bit worried about the sign at Asher's Kindy that said there had been a confirmed case of measles at the the centre because baby K isn't due for his Measles, Mumps Rubella vaccine until he's 12 moths old. I would just *hate* him to get sick again, particularly while we are away on holiday.

Speaking of the holiday - I am getting really excited. Sanjay and I both need some time out from the daily grind, even if we will still be doing the very much full-time job of parenting a preschooler and an infant. I'm collecting fun stuff for Asher to do on the plane - I found a nice sticker book today and I'm considering a maths workbook that, embarrassingly enough, I think he would really love. It deals with shape recognition and sequencing and is designed for 3-6 year olds and I think he would really dig both the subject matter and the workbook format. The only reason I didn't buy it was because I felt like it was a step on the path to Kumon* and tutoring for the under 6s and that whole over-scheduling thing that freaks me out so much. I suspect I'm overthinking the whole thing and I should have just shelled out the damn $7.95 or whatever.

Planning for the trip is pretty much complete - we are staying with my brother then going with E and B and baby Madi to Club Med. I never thought I was a resorty type of person, particularly the insulated world of Club Med, but I'm really looking forward to a visit to the land of the all-included resort. We are going there to switch off for a bit, not to get ourselves any 'kulcha' - I'll let you know how it all goes when I get back.

By way of a quick developmental update about both kids:

Asher: is on the path to reading by recognising more sight words (maybe about 10?), can concentrate for longer periods of time, is really good at pushing our buttons. Sanjay is slightly concerned about his 'drawing and colouring' so I'm going to look for some activities for him that use pencil skills.

Kiran: is smiling, chuckling and burbling like a lovely little magpie. He gazes at us and tracks us really well within his field of vision. He wakes us between once and three times a night and usually still feeds and goes back to sleep. He's generally a lovely cheerful little chap and a delight to have around.


* I know nothing about Kumon except that the idea of tutoring for Kindy kids freaks me out. I might check out their website now so I can bash them mercilessly or immediately enrol Asher to help him get into a selective high school (people apparently do this!).

06/09/2009

I've always wanted to be a fairy!

Tooth Fairy duties have been completed. The tooth has been removed to a secure location, the gift is in place on the top of Asher's bed and gold glitter and shiny gold sequin stars have been left at the gift site and also on the door handle to the balcony (a little hand lotion on the fingers worked a treat). I am WAY more excited about this than he is.

The fairy chose the Very Hungry Catterpillar game because she knows I love board games and card games and I really want Asher to eventually love them too. I'm going to encourage him to bring it with us when we go away and perhaps we can learn to play it with E and B, who enjoy those kinds of games as well.

It's a pity that the poor little guy had a high fever this evening. We dosed him up with Panadol (again) and we're hoping for the best. If its his first ear infection we want to catch it ASAP so it doesn't cause a drama our flight to Singapore. It's far more likely to be a chest infection - he sounds pretty disgusting when he coughs.

05/09/2009

When too much drama isn't enough.....

My poor baby lost one of his front teeth today! He went scooting with Sanj after our morning trip to the local cafe and Sanjay was at him to scoot rather than walk with the scooter. He was apparently going down a fairly gentle hill and braking really well when he took a tumble. His tooth came out, cleanly, there is a big gruesome gash on the inside of his top lip, a small graze on his forehead and the top lip is swollen, bruised and very slightly grazed. Sanjay called me straight away, before there was any clear idea of the damage (well, he'd picked up the surprisingly clean tooth from the pavement so he had *some* idea) and I was really glad that they were still with my family - my mother went into 'nurse mode' and calmed both Sanjay and I down considerably when she worked out that there was little likelihood of permanent damage. I'm really really glad the kid was wearing his helmet (or, as Asher calls it, his 'helment')

The bleeding had stopped by the time they got home (they were less than 10 minutes walk away). We gave him Panadol and got him to rinse his mouth with salty water a fair bit. This afternoon we called a family friend who happens to be a paediatric dentist. Apparently we did the right things - don't put baby teeth back in because it doesn't help, it can cause damage and there is a risk of infection. Check the gum for debris and if the tooth has been pushed up at all look for signs of broken bone in the top jaw (a line or ridge in the gum or something 'wrong' with the kids smile). Don't brush the area with toothpaste while it's tender just wipe the surrounding teeth with a cotton bud dipped in salty water. Then all you need to do is wait til the kid grows his or her adult teeth which happens, on average, at six-and-a-half. Meanwhile you have to look at you little one and their gappy face every single day and think about what you could have done to avoid the accident. At this stage poor Sanjay is beating himself up bigtime ('I knew he didn't sleep well last night and when he's tired he gets clumsy') and I am wondering if we should see a dentist before we go to Singapore (not sure why, just feels like we should get an official 'all clear').

It never rains but it pours, so the saying goes, and I've had enough of illness and injury around my kids!

02/09/2009

Ooops

That whole post-every-day-for-a-week thing didn't work out too well yet, did it? Truth is I completely forgot about it until yesterday and yesterday I was busy with the normal routines AND making a birthday cake for Michael. Witness:
Unfortunately the photo really doesn't do justice to how cute young Michael is or how incredibly pink the icing on the cake was. It does show up my messy living room quite nicely though. I used Megan's 'Never Fail Chocolate Cake' recipe but before I read the 'method' I was already creaming the butter and sugar so I made it the same way one would make a traditional cake (cream butter and sugar, add eggs and beat, add alternate bits of dry ingredients and liquid). I also added a dash of booze (in this case Marsala) in the water. It worked really well but wasn't as good as the first time I tasted it when Megan made it.

The other news I have is that we are going to Singapore! We booked tickets last Friday and will be travelling with friends E and B and their ~6 month old daughter baby M. Obviously the boys need passports and because mine has expired I need one too. I am getting mine in my married name which means I had to complete the whole application rather than just getting a renewal, which was expensive and a hassle. I sent the applications in last Friday and although the photos are pretty horrible (Asher's makes him look SO SAD) the passports should be back in time for travel on the 19th. We are working out accommodation arrangements and I've started freaking out out packing for two adults, a preschooler and an infant. If anyone has any good websites for travel with kids (more than just 'take it slow and remember to take something to amuse them on the plane') or suggestions of what infants wear in tropical climates or what to amuse active preschoolers with on long flights (besides phenergan!) I'd much appreciate it.