The importance of FOOD

After Rosabelle recovered from her 39.8 degrees high fever (upper respiratory tract infection) upon coming back from our Zhengzhou trip last month, we were thankful that she recovered in time to make the trip back to Singapore. However, there was that nagging thought of the anemia problem hanging over our heads, so when we received yet another anemia report at the KKH check-up on the first day in Singapore, my mum embarked on a mission to make sure Rosabelle had good foods and meats/spinach at every meal. She also very nicely prepared nice foods and fish soup for me to keep up the quality of my milk, heh.

But alas, it could be due to the few hectic days, the inadequate rest from the plane trips, or simply the fact that she had not fully recovered from the previous bout of fever, our dear Rosabelle fell ill again from 10 September, when she woke up with eye goo (signs of 'poo juak' - being heaty - as my mum says, and she still believes the chicken soup I had the day before caused it), and I felt she was slightly feverish. She was already on medication from the first day in Singapore, for her nagging runny nose and cough.

We then started her on fever medication and still went ahead to Vivo City for a shopping trip (canned the Sentosa leg) and my father's birthday celebration dinner at Dragon Gate restaurant at Harbourfront. I bought loads of stuff for her, like English storybooks, shoes, peripherals like cookie cutters. stroller hooks, and soup oil filters etc at Daiso (the SGD$2 store at Vivo City). Despite having a low-grade fever, she was in relatively high spirits the whole day.

However, the next day, her fever still persisted, and I guess the last straw was when my silly father thought he was doing Rosabelle a 'favor' by bringing her down to 'enjoy the aircon at the basement carpark' in her holey singlet and shorts, successfully making her alternate between extreme temperatures in her thin clothing, and she came back even more feverish (can die!). This high temperature ding-donging went on for a few days till about 13 September, with her fever going up a few hours after medication and reaching a high of 39.4 degrees. I was very tempted to go to KKH to get her adequately checked, but my brother-in-law advised that such viral fevers are normal.

In between, we had to give her two doses of suppository, and did two times of upper-body cold towel on her. She of course cried at the latter, and once even cried herself to sleep when she was so tired. She was a very good girl throughout, not struggling, and even playing with the toys set out in front of her to distract her, putting items into the pouch when I asked her to. My mum even resorted to the old grandmother's practice of boiling an egg and putting it inside a handkerchief before rubbing Rosabelle's chest and back with it (supposed to dissipate the fever, though our poor girl cried and had reddish skin after...)
The few days were just rest days for her, and my mum made soupy foods for her, and I did not dare to bring her out in case she again caught a cold. She had her naps in the well-ventilated bouncy nets, strapped in for fear of her clambering out. At night, she would sleep next to me on the big bed, and she had a habit of snuggling up to me for me to pat her, heh!

However, I guess she must have felt frustrated staying at home, especially when we were going out so much the few days prior, so we took her out on the second day to my sister's place to play with the kids during dinner (we shifted back to my mum's at SimsVille on the fourth day). She had fun and enjoyed herself in spite of her fever.

I only brought her out again the next day, and only for a quick walk downstairs to catch some fresh air. I caught her looking morose, or perhaps deep in thought as she stared out the living room window, probably pining to go outside, heh. Her last trip out was to Parkway Parade on 15 September, after she got much better, since I had a dental check-up due there in the morning. According to my sister, she enjoyed the Malay music playing at the supermarket so much she raised her arms up in the air and jived whilst sitting in the trolley, haha!

After her fever subsided, she had reddish spots (not raised) on her front and back torso, leading my mum to believe that she might have a outbreak of German measles, not contagious/dangerous/itchy but highly dangerous for unvaccinated pregnant women, so thank goodness we did not get to meet up with my ex-colleague Pauline, who is expecting right now. We were not sure about the diagnosis, but it's better safe than never, and according to Wayne who read it in a book, babies under the age of one will catch such high fevers, and develop such a rash after the fever subsides before fully recovering.

I also heard her grinding her teeth and checked during bath time - her two upper teeth were coming out, and when we came back to Beijing, the nanny told me to look closely, Rosabelle's four upper teeth were coming out at the same time. Gosh, that must explain the high fever and the crankiness... (These few days, whenever she starts wailing for no reason, I will use a Combi Xylitol wet wipe - meant especially for cleaning teeth with - to gently massage her upper gums, and she will go quiet and enjoy the comfort.)

Whatever the cause of her fever, I'm really glad that it's over, and must work doubly hard to have her gain back all the energy and weight she could have lost, poor thing!

Mainly it's through her foods... and in Singapore, we borrowed an Ikea high chair from my brother-in-law's place for her meal times.

Most of the times, she will sit obediently in the chair and finish her meal, of course getting distracted by all the on-goings around her and wanting to hold/play with things whilst eating. This trip to Singapore, she tried so many new foods/fruits - mee sua, chee cheong fun, mee tai mak, tang hoon, Honey Stars cereal, cheese, unsalted butter, waffles, yogurt, cake, garlic, long beans, yam, lotus root, corn, threadfin, Australian green pear, guava, longan, plum, soya bean curd+milk, ginkgo nut, and yellow bean. Phew!

She enjoys cheese and bread/butter alot, and my mum decided to give her more variety for breakfast than just steamed egg everyday, so she had soya bean curd+milk at times too. Now back in Beijing, I am also working with the nanny to vary the styles of egg given, and the types of breakfast given, so that Rosabelle will not get sick of steamed egg.

I must admit it was tiring at times for me as I would have to feed her for up to an hour before eating my own meal (multiply that by 3 meals a day!), and at times it was a test of patience as she would turn her head away to look at other things than focus on eating. We had to resort to sitting her with Simon and Marianne on the floor at the coffee table during the last few days and even chase her around with food, yikes! Thank goodness my sister's domestic help, Riza, was around to help with some of the feeding, and my sis and mum were on hand to help with bath/changing times, as well as having my Dad, brother-in-law, and the kids playing with her.

Another bad habit she picked up in Singapore was to have me feed her using my hands. Maybe she did not like her usual metal spoon because she was teething, but she would open her mouth if I used my hand, and only opened her mouth wide enough for soups. We are now feeding her soups using a large soup spoon as I realize that it does not drip as easily as a teaspoon, and I could add small bits of foods in it for her to 'drink' in, and she can drink more from it.

Thank goodness the nanny has now weaned her off the bad habits of eating from our hands and needing to sit elsewhere other than her high chair during meal times.

However, Rosabelle has also picked up good habits - I gave her bigger pieces to chew on when feeding, and she had learnt to chew better. I also kept her hands occupied with finger foods like bread/waffle pieces, and these days back home, she being addicted to bread, will always point at our breakfast loaf, leaving us with no choice but to give her a few pieces. She can very accurately pick up the pieces and put them into her mouth now. She is also very sweet, learning to even take the food and reach out to us to try and feed us, clapping for herself at times when she successfully feeds herself/us.

Some of the days in Singapore, we went out for our meals, so it was the first time that I exposed Rosabelle to eating 'outside'/'restaurant' food. There was once when I brought milk cereal and banana and she took only two spoonfuls before deciding she wanted the food on our table instead...grrr. And so she had about three restuarant meals during our stay there, each time I will ask for a bowl of hot water and 'wash' the food in it to clear it of as much oil and seasoning as possible before cutting it up and feeding it to her. My sister still travels with a pair of food scissors for her kids, so that came in handy, but it was a messy affair for me to wade my fingers into the bowl to dish out the pieces to hand-feed her. Ewww. Rosabelle must have enjoyed the extra tasty food, from the food seasoning, not my fingers. (I wanted to also get a similar pair of scissors back in Beijing for such days, but guess what, at Carrefour today, the lady told me the government has banned the sale of all knives, scissors etc till after the upcoming National Day holidays, in wake of the recent attacks by Xinjiang folks in Beijing - GULP.)

As for me, I had the chance to pig out on yummy hawker fare - we wanted to celebrate my birthday early on 13 September, before my brother headed to the airport for his flight, but in wake of Rosabelle's recovering condition, we stayed at home and feasted on Old Airport Road food.

And my dear daughter very heartily clapped for me as everybody else sang me an early birthday song.

And then treated herself to desert as Mummy went to eat her dinner... this is the only photo of Rosabelle with my brother.

She took keen interest in the tray of prunes set out in front of her by screaming and patting them (she actually enjoyed eating guava alot whilst there, pity we don't get this fruit much in Beijing, when it's full of Vitamin C goodness).

She set out to touch each single prune and even throw the whole tray off the table.

She then went further and took a bite of every single one of them, effectively leaving her mark on the fruits, heh!

Back in Beijing, I realised to my utter shock and horror and disbelief and disgust yesterday that the reason for her anemia could likely be due to the fact that our nanny misinterpreted me when I asked her to ensure Rosabelle has enough meats/vegetables. I told her 'at least two tablespoons of meat/fish, and at least six teaspoons of green leafy vegetables per day', and she used to tell me 'oh definitely, she has more than that'. Many a time, when I see the quantity, I would ask her again, and she would reply in the affirmative. Only yesterday, when we fed Rosabelle a slice of pig liver for the first time (supposed to have more iron than chicken liver), and I asked her to give her two slices instead of just one, did I realise that the nanny thought I was referring to the quantity of food when it's RAW!

That means - she thought her two stalks of RAW spinach more than fill up six teaspoons, and her small block of RAW fish more than fill up two tablespoons. My goodness, it effectively means that our dear daughter has been eating about half her required amount for the past few months! No wonder I found her having eye bags at times since 8 months of age, where I really should have trusted my motherly instincts and sent her for a check-up so we could have traced the low nutrition level two months into her weaning stage.

Now, four months has passed since she started solid foods, so I'm praying that there are no side effects of such anemia, or I am going to go into a hissing fit with my nanny! I quickly sat her down and went through the table with her to ensure we are now all on the same page, and I told her I'd rather she made more for Rosabelle, where I can eat the left-overs, than not make enough. I'd also rather she eat more meat/vegetables than a whole bowl of porridge, right? I seriously had to bite my tongue yesterday and stop myself from rolling my eyes - you really cannot assume the intelligence of these Chinese nannies, no matter how good they make themselves out to be.

I can only hope that such 'malnutrition' is the cause of her anemia, and with Rosabelle's increased appetite, and the correct amounts of foods these days, that she spring back to health quickly. Sigh, I can only blame myself for not knowing how to cook, or I would have known that that small block of uncooked chicken/fish is not sufficient quantity when cooked. Sheesh.

Flora, Fauna, & Flyer

First of my numerous, upcoming posts of our homecoming to Singapore... We left for the airport on Tuesday night, 2 September, to catch the red-eye flight on Singapore Airlines. The nanny had wanted to send us off, but as I probably delegated too much for her to do before she went on her home leave back home to Dongbei, she decided to make use of the time to do as much cleaning as possible so she could leave earlier the next morning to buy things back home, heh.

Wayne took a wrong turn at the airport and had to let us off first before making a detour to the car park, so it was a training of how I was going to cope with Rosabelle and our luggage alone. I pushed her in the stroller as I pulled the trolley suitcase, and managed to check us in successfully all by myself, with a very cooperative daughter to boot.

Here's a parting shot of Daddy with Rosabelle before we made our way through the departure gates. Luckily I could push her in the stroller all the way to the boarding gate (but had to deal with her vehement protests when I tried to put her back in after taking her out for the stroller to be out through the scanners at security clearance).
It being an SQ flight, there weren't any delays, and we even surprisingly landed close to an hour early in Singapore. Throughout the flight (it wasn't a full flight), Rosabelle refused to let me lay her down into the bassinet, so I had to carry her to sleep. She must have been so excited by the whole experience that she only fell asleep at 1:30 am, but not before screaming at the passenger two seats away from us to wake the poor lady up, only to grin cheekily at her. Luckily the nice lady has an 11-month-old daughter and was nice and patient through it all. Rosabelle also kept sticking her head by the aisle to scream down whoever was willing to play with her. She kept up her cheery moods till it was sleeping time, but woke up often for feeds. She even slept through as I ate my breakfast with my single left hand...

As for me, I was holding my bladder until I really couldn't control it anymore, and had to carry her into the washroom, haha! When the doors locked and the lights came on, she also woke up, saw herself in the mirror, and smiled. Heh, thank goodness she did not wake up grouchy, which was just as well, as we were due to land in awhile, as my dear sis and brother-in-law picked us up from the airport. It was nice to be home, but Rosabelle seemed quite wary of them, and when we reached my sis' place in Kembangan, she refused to have me out of her sight, crying violently if anybody else touched/carried her. The lack of sleep through the night, coupled with the stressful situation of a new environment, must have tired her out so much that she slept well into the late morning.

On our very first day in Singapore, we were due for her appointment at KKH (this is her in the car seat), and after we did the routine checks with her usual paediatrician, he also ordered a blood test in view of her purported anemia from the last check-up done in Beijing.Unfortunately, the tests showed the same results, poor Rosabelle is anemic as a result of lack of iron, which all of us find very strange as she has been eating well, and we've been giving her the right foods in the right amounts. Iron supplements/drops would cause constipation, and we're now just beefing up iron via her diet (loads of spinach and meats, with increased liver and dates), before we do another test back in Beijing to see if she really needs the drops. After she turns one year of age, we will need to do another test to rule out thalessemia, which should be highly unlikely given that Wayne and I are not anemic. Sigh... poor Rosie.

So... on the the uplifting highlights of our stay in Singapore. I actually cried slightly when I saw my brother for the first time at the restaurant on 6 September for lunch. It must have been a rush of emotions of not having seen him in a long while, of having Rosabelle finally getting to meet her uncle, and the fact that this was finally a family reunion in a long while. Gee.

We managed to catch a few attractions like the Botanical Gardens and the Singapore Flyer whilst there (we had planned to go to Sentosa and the Zoo as well, but our poor girl had another bout of fever again, so we had to give her adequate rest).

We went to the Botanical Gardens on 8 September with my brother and his friend, Boa, in tow, and luckily met with a cloudy day so that it wasn't too hot (but I almost always forget how uncomfortably humid Singapore is till I am home, and having to carry a sticky, literally, Rosabelle, is no laughing matter when I am plastered in sticky perpiration myself...ewww!). Rosabelle fell asleep 10 minutes into the journey, so we stayed outside whilst the rest of them visited the Orchid Garden (where Simon dropped one side of his Crocs into the bushes and wailed as Uncle Boa came to the rescue and managed to find it back for him).After the journey, they all came out to the souvenir centre for a rest as I was feeding Rosabelle some raisin bread. As my sister carried her to play tag with Simon and Marianne, she (Rosie, not my sis) was grinning and chuckling happily away. My sis said it was not funny to have to carry Rosabelle and run, as it was thoroughly exhausting...The kids are always game for a shot with their dear 'Rosie'.Though Simon is a little over-eager at times with his cheek-crushing kiss to her...We probably only covered like 5% of the whole park, but Singaporeans are indeed fortunate to have such a nice park (free of charge at that!) to enjoy the sun and Mother Nature in.I'm not sure when we'll have such shots again as it'd be a long while before we can get my brother and us all together in the same place at the same time...sigh! I especially love this shot - the triangular composition of the subjects, each adult carrying a kid, and the glee on Simon's face... And it marked Rosabelle's first proper outing in sunny Singapore. The next day, on 9 September, we brought her on board the Singapore Flyer (which was under 'maintenance' for a malfunction towards the end of last year, and unfortunately, Wayne did not get to sit in it). My sis, Simon, and Marianne had been on board quite a few times, so they were nice enough to accompany us again on the 30-minute ride. As it was a week day, we had the whole capsule to ourselves. Rosabelle wasn't very keen on looking outside to enjoy the scenery, being more focused on the seats, the floor, and the equipment around her.It wasn't very long before she decided she wanted to sit on the floor and chew on the Flyer brochure and audio handset...

We had to place her at/near the windows to let her take in the view of Singapore, her place of birth, her hometown, heh.Of course, it was me carrying her mostly, so not funny... Simon got down to his usual monkeying around when he decided he wanted to take photos around the capsule, and of himself as well. I didn't find the ride very much fun, maybe because I was also more focused on looking after Rosabelle than enjoying the view, but I know I'd need a good reason to pay to get on board again! We then went to the koi pond downstairs, where the kids fed the fishes. And thereafter took photos of all things F1 related as one can get a good view of the track from on board the Flyer. (Singapore's hosting the season at the end of the month, so there is alot of frenzy around this at about this time of the year.)Our last stop was the souvenir place where I succumbed and paid SGD25 for a set of four, super-imposed photos (namecard-sized) of Rosabelle and I 'on' the Flyer. Oh well, we're tourists, aren't we?

Excuse me whilst I age

We're back from Singapore! Well, since Wednesday night, that is... past few days has been a ramble of settling back into routine, unpacking, and having to deal with an even more-than-sticky Rosabelle. She had yet another bout of high fever in Singapore, so we couldn't go to alot of places like the zoo, Sentosa, shopping...and couldn't meet up with a few friends. :(

As I'm still sorting out the many photos, and trying to find me-time for myself to get a well-deserved facial/massage, as well as celebrating my 32nd birthday today (yaaay! thanks to all beloved friends and family who sent/emailed me warm greetings), I'll be slowly but surely posting updates of our great trip back home to Singapore.

Stay tuned!

Some last things before we really get going!

Just a last catch-up post before we go halter-skelter in preparation for tonight's departure. As the Beijing weather's getting cooler by the day, I dressed Rosabelle up in a long-sleeved top and denim pants today. The clothes are meant for 12-month-olds, and they didn't actually hug her tightly, but I figured I'd better start decking her up in these clothes before she outgrows them!

Doesn't she look clean and spiffy? Heh!
Yesterday, she had her first taste of junk food - seaweed snack, the heavily-flavored kinds that even I like to down by the pack. The rest of the kids in the yard love to feast on seaweed, and it's supposed to have health benefits (consumed in moderation, of course), but I never really liked the idea of the amount of salt they put into such stuff. But anyway, guess after her illness, I was more glad than anything that her appetite was back (I even bought fish floss for her, just in case she really lost all appetite - she can at least take some fish floss with watery porridge - don't adults also enjoy such comfort foods when sick?). So, when Fei Fei's mum offered, I let her try 1.5 pieces, and she loved it!

Oh well... bring it on then, why don't you? I guess since we can't ward off all temptation, and she'd increasingly be exposed to, and demand, for such foods, it's better that we adults have some form of control over it, than to totally restrict it and make the 'bite of the forbidden fruit' all the more tempting, huh? (I guess...)

On Monday, my ex-colleague Hendro, came to visit us and Wayne and I brought him out to lunch. When he stepped into our house, Rosabelle was rather afraid of him (maybe it's not every day we get such a tall, fair uncle coming into our home?), and she grew all sticky to me, bawling when I put her down or when Hendro went near her. She only stopped crying when we all left the house, and the nanny told her that 'mummy has brought the uncle away, and he's not coming in', and she waved bye bye, placated. Hmm...stranger anxiety at its worst, I think?

Different Canons

At the birthday party we attended last Sunday, we took some photos on our Canon Ixus 80 that I included in the last post.

Today, Fei Fei's mum passed me a thumb drive of photos they'd taken on their Canon 30D - the kind of camera that looks like a bazooka and can blow up an army tank. Ooooh, the quality difference. These are the moments that make me want a more than point-and-shoot camera, but I get back on track once I think about the equipment we'd need to lug around. Erm...nope...I'd rather leave it to the professionals.

I especially like how this last photo of Rosabelle and the pink, wavy balloon is framed, as well as the subdued, warm lighting. Nice... she also got to bring home this balloon at the insistence of Fei Fei's mum, who thinks it matches her bunny suit very aptly. The balloon burst within an hour of us bringing it home (maybe it was the afternoon heat), and the nanny got a shock. Our brave girl just looked puzzled, and luckily the huge 'POOP!' sound did not falter her, heh!

Before we head home...

In about 24 hours, we’ll be on board a plane, homeward bound for Singapore. My brother-in-law and Mum will pick us up at the airport and fetch us to my brother-in-law/sis place first. They have a new maid in training, and the schedule is Thursdays/weekends at Kembangan, so they didn’t want to disrupt the schedule. For Rosabelle’s first two nights in Singapore eversince we last left in March this year, when she was almost 5 months old, she will be at my sister’s. Think she will really enjoy the expanse of space and vastness of the land she can explore whilst crawling/cruising in their big home! More importantly, my family will be around, and she will have Simon Kor Kor and Marianne Jie Jie to play with her.

For the past few days, I’ve been busy with preparing for the trip home – choosing/developing photos of Rosabelle to put into an album/frame up for my family; picking out clothes she has outgrown to be sent home; digging out the old pregnancy books I’d borrowed to be brought back; ensuring I’ve packed adequately for both myself and Rosabelle (they’ve most things at home, and my mum has had to help buy a few stuff here and there, so as to save me bringing home loads); going to the children’s wholesale market yesterday to get some stuff for family and friends (I ended up buying quite a fair bit of cold weather clothing for Rosabelle instead – very cute stuff! We also bought a larger-sized luggage bag for our trip home.); getting copies of her Amcare records for our successfully scheduled KKH appointment; arranging with friends for catch-up sessions; making sure I’ve all the necessary documentation for her denunciation of citizenship paperwork crap, and leaving behind a long list of to-dos for the nanny to clean up the house before and after she goes on her holiday home….

Phew!

But it’s all worth it, as I can’t wait to be home, and have Rosabelle show off her crawling/cruising skills, and especially when of late, she likes to dance a lot, sitting on her butt and rocking as she claps/waves her hands, or sways/rocks when standing. She again impressed us all with her language skills again today, when she told the nanny ‘apple’ when the nanny was preparing the fruit for her. When I asked her to repeat it to me, and to my mum on the phone, she again said ‘apple’ pretty clearly. After my mum put down the phone, she went on to say ‘Popo’, and repeated it a few times to make sure that it was not just a random sound she was making!

I think Rosabelle has picked up on the positive vibes of the impending trip home, and was in a very good mood for the whole of today, teasing us with peekaboos, giving us her toothy grins. Just now, before her bed-time, I gave her a piece of tissue paper to tear – for her to practise her fine motor finger skills. She was happy as a lark, and was so focused on the task at hand that a drop of saliva oozed out of the corner of her mouth, and Wayne was so amused that she seemed to be falling backwards…

She later wanted to put bits of the tissue into her mouth, and was more amused than scared when I raised my voice at her to tell her not to do so.

She even sneakily hid the tissue, and gave her dad cheeky grins as he tried to pry the pieces away from her.

So my dear daughter, keep up your high spirits, as we’re bound for Home Sweet Home.

(My postings will likely go into slow-mo as I won’t bring my laptop along, and be spending more time on activities whilst in Singapore… we’ll be back… with a vengeance…)