Lookin' up, lookin' down

**EDITED**

Praveen and Mel saw a circular rainbow during their trip in Bangkok, and in Wat Pho (Reclining Buddha Temple) no less! How amazing. I did a search and found out that the phenomenon is usually seen from above (ie from an aeroplane looking down). I also found another dazzling image of a full-circle rainbow here. (they explained this phenomenon is actually called a Sun Dog)

Look, cglow also saw an amazing phenomenon of a "double rainbow" in Melbourne.

Closer to (my) home, our air space is now a busy rehearsel ground (sky) for the Red Bull Air Race. Countdown : 3 more days.



The Air Race takes place across 9 countries in the span of 8 months. "The London Air race will take place on the River Thames against the backdrop of The O2 (previously called the Millennium Dome) in the East of the capital. The London Air Race is a ticketed event." The hubs, me and Shean Wenn will most likely be going for the Air Race this weekend - we have been invited by a close friend to watch it from the balcony of his apartment (the views from there looks straight onto the O2). Exciting!

Will post photos if we do watch it. :)

Right now, I have to tolerate with the noise polution, every 20 minutes or so, I hear some planes flying above us (our apartment). Shean Wenn will point outside when she hears them - she knows what is a plane eventhough she cannot see it from the apartment.

--- Today ---

Gymboree class : We actually arrived very late to the class due to some delays in the DLR services (The Motor Show in ExCel is to be blamed). We walked into the class with 15 minutes left to spare.



After Gymboree class : I took her to the square nearby for some fresh air. It was lunch time and the square is littered with office workers having their lunches. What a perfect way to have lunch : Water features, tree-lined walkways with benches for one to sit and have your quiet lunch.

(Looking down at some fallen leaves)

Viral Fever Updates

Her fever has subsided, and she's gotten better in the past 2 days!

All smiles!

Thanks for all your comments and well wishes.

Coincidentally, she got better when her daddy flew back - you see, her dad brings her immense joy!!

On Saturday, we thought of bringing her out for some fresh air. It was a warm day with temperature reaching as high as 26c. I dressed her lightly in this top (which is a dress here) - look at how cute she looks in it although it does look abit big on her. :-D

("Let's go, daddy!")

We decided to check out a local park and farm - as the name suggests, it's supposed to be both a park, and a farm with animals for petting (such as chickens and ducks) and riding (horses). When we reached there, our first impressions were that this place was rather unkempt. We walked along a path where flora thrived and without proper maintenance.

My "horror" was when we saw a herd of sheep grazing infront of us, UNSHEPHERD and they were just left roaming freely. Surely, this is not real? (Hey, I have not come into contact with any real sheep before this, wearing their wool not counted) We decided to carry SW instead of letting her sit on her stroller. We walked on... suddenly, the herd of sheep decidedly to RUN, towards our direction (not surprising as they seem like they were heading this way when they were happily grazing). My body froze, my mind was racing "OMG, what if they attack us??". When they were nearing us, SW pointed to them and say "Baaah baaah" (sound that sheep make). Hehe. I was quite pleasantly surprised because all my hardwork teaching her and reading to her has paid off. She knows her animals! And she was not even afraid of them.

What are SW and daddy looking at?

Horses in the equestrian

We decided that we had enough of this place. Not gonna try looking for the petting farm so we left and went to the park next to this park and farm.

Here, Shean Wenn really enjoyed herself running about in the vast fields.

Please wear your hat, SW. It's too hot and sunny.

Dress - from Kym
Hat & Crocs - from grandparents Wong

Anyway, I learnt something from this trip : that there is no venomous snake in England (Those native to England are Grass Snakes and Smooth snakes). How did this piece of information came about? That's another story for another day. ;)

13th Month Update : Viral Fever

(My sweet darling!)

STATS
Weight : 9.25kg
Height : Approx 73cm
(25th percentile - British Standard)

Just a day shy of her turning 13 Months Old (23 Jul), she woke up at 4am with fever. Her body was very warm to my touch and I took her temperature immediately - 38.5c. I woke up, gave her some water to drink which she took willingly. I fed her some paracetamol and put a cold towel on her forehead to cool her down. I did that for a good half hour and she went to bed with quite abit of fuss.

(23 Jul afternoon)

In the morning, I called up the GP (General Practitioner) and one of them spoke to me and asked me to come in should the fever not come down. At 430pm, I brought her along to see him (Dr Bat aka Dr Quack as he is the only one on duty) - he says it is most likely a viral fever but to continue monitoring her. And if the fever still remains high, to visit him on Fri morning. Her temperature fluctuated the next 2 days, usually getting worse in the evenings and night. During the day, it actually came down to normal (36.5c to 37.3c). Nights, night time is the worst. When her temperature soars, she will become very clingy and whiny - the consolation, I tell myself is that at least she is displaying her discomfort so I can tell she isn't feeling too well. The past 2 nights, I have been waking up every 2 or 3 hours to take her temperature (she will wake up anyway), and I will also feed her with either Ibuprofen or Paracetamol (with Diphenhydramine - an antihistamine) to stabilise her temperature.

To cool down her temperature, I did the following :
> Alternate between Ibuprofen and Paracetamol (with Diphenhydramine) every 5 or 6 hours according to the respective dosage. (taking into account her body weight)
> Gave her showers 3 or 4 times a day. Luckily she likes it!
> Dress her lightly (or even without a top, as it was very warm yesterday).
> Put wet towel on her forehead.

(Cooling down her body temperature)

(Today, not as hot as yesterday, so she wears a light dress)

This morning, her temperature went up to 39.3c (HIGH) and I again gave her Ibuprofen. I called the surgery again and went in to see a GP (this time I got who i wanted, I really like this GP) eventhough by then her temperature went back to normal (36.5c). The GP checked Shean Wenn and found that she had bad throat infection and that may be the cause of her fever, but she thinks it could be viral as well. Since it is a Friday, she precribed us an anti-biotic and told me to monitor her for the next 24 hours before giving it to her. If the fever subsided and does not peak up, I do not need to give her the anti-biotics anyway.

I noticed in the afternoon that she had some minor pink spots on her body. My friends Michelle and Mrs Chip-Pea told me it could be just viral rashes, or the Roseola (both common in children). Anyway, the spots did not persist for long, by evening it has subsided quite abit.

We will still continue to monitor her. At least now that the hubs is back (he flies off for business during the weekdays and comes back during weekends, for the past FOUR WEEKS), he can help me with the night duties. Although of course, we pray she gets better soon.

For me, the worse is the erratic meal time - I woke up this morning with minor gastric pain. And of course, my internet time has also been cut back to 20% from the usual. :(

Milestone : Self- Feeding

At 12 months, I can definitely see that my baby has a STRONG character. It's not a bad trait to have, although it can baffle me at the same time : "Where did she learn how to do that?".

Take mealtimes for instance : I strap her in her highchair, put on her bib and proceed to try to feed her a spoonful of her lunch. She shakes her head in determination (and refuses to open her mouth): No no no, mummy! No! (That is what I interpret her to be telling me). What this means : "I want to feed myself!" So, I let her hold her spoon, fiddle with her lunch/dinner. Then only will she be willing to let me feed her. The result of me letting her let have a go is a huge mess : food lands up everywhere - floor, on her seat, her clothes, her toes, ME! I don't mind, I believe she needs to learn to master this skill and I do not subscribe to suppressing her (wanting to explore, to learn new experiences) just for MY CONVENIENCE!

(Trying to feed herself - Job well done this time!)

Then of course, are the times where she really DEMANDS things to be done her way. How do I react to her tantrums? I try to contain my anger, I try not to shout at her to stop doing that. But sometimes, I err. I hope she is not picking it up from me :P Anyway, I am still trying to figure this out. They say these little ones are a mirror of what we are to them.

On a lighter note, some of her "demands" are reasonable : Like this morning, she demanded (pointing and taking down her crocs and passed them to me, while uttering "UHH UHH UHH", which i presume was "wear them for me??"). I obliged. She happily wore them around the house like it's her second skin. After a bit, she decides she doesn't want to wear them and sat down and peeled off the strap and... THROW THEM on the spot. I am still trying to work out how to teach her to put things back where they belong. Currently, she does help me out during the evenings when I ask her to help me put things away, but only if I tell her to.

"The crocs Grandpa bought for me!"

Happy birthday, Grandma Lim!

This is a little belated (it's supposed to be for 20th July), but here's wishing my mom a very special and happy birthday!

Shean Wenn and Grandma when SW was 6 months old, with the other ladies in my life - my own beloved grandma (partially hidden behind my sister) and my sister Peng

Postcards from Scandinavia

Shean Wenn's grandparents, was on a 12-day tour around the Scandinavian Countries. Here are postcards for her from Denmark, Sweden and Norway.



Both of them, these jetsetters grandparents, booked their tour from Australia many months ago. Infact, they have been planning to tour these countries for as long as 3 years but only got to do this now.

They were in London for about 1 week before they went on the tour and little Shean Wenn is very fond of them. Of course she is, they shower her with kisses, hugs, gifts and not to mention alot of FOOD. She now has a habit of "hovering" around our legs during mealtimes (breakfast, lunch, tea break and dinner) and "asking" (she will hit my thighs and then put her hands to her mouth, signing to eat) for food. After you feed her once, she keeps coming back for more - she will turn around, make a circle and head to the other side of your chair and repeat the same. Amusing yet it makes me think of her like a "cat". (Meow!)

The twelve days of absence of her grandparents seemed to pass in a jiffy though. Me and her, alone again (just the two of us)... we have our fair share of fun!

Anyway, where did they go? Both of them totally enjoyed their trip and brought back some souvenirs for Shean Wenn. But first, let's see where have they been?

"Somewhere over the rainbow" (This is Sognefjord, Norway)

(Sognefjord, Norway - BREATHTAKING, isn't it?)

(With Grandpa Wong)

Ahh, she is very glad granddpa and grandma are back! She is seen wearing a skirt (with pants) that they bought from their trip. Grandpa just flew back a few hours ago but grandma is still around. Needless to say, when they were in London, the four of us (both grandparents, me and SW) went out gallavanting - she had so much fun!

Our Sunday out with the family

Last Sunday's lunch, SIL Alicia made reservations at the chic Yauatcha Chinese Restaurant. The occasion : to meet up with her God-mom (and her husband) who were here for a holiday from Australia. We, party of 8 (including Shean Wenn) were seated at a corner near to their, may I say most tantalising, dessert bar.

(The dessert bar)

Squaremeal reviews of the restaurant "With its alluring, sultry nightclub-style decor, Yauatcha remains one of London’s chicest restaurants & is also one of the few to serve dim sum throughout the day."

I was abit disappointed that they didn't offer highchair for babies/kids. I don't know many restaurants in UK that does not offer this. Just shows they are clearly not interested in the "family"segment of customers.

Here, my Shean Wenn had to sit on their sofa chair, with us - with NO restraint.

("This is my cousin Patreeya", Shean Wenn looking adoringly at the photo of her new cousin)

She is obviously very happy here!

After a most hearty lunch, the 3 of us went around to look and choose our desserts

Shanghai Lily

Our 3 desserts, the third is Passionella, only photographed partly on the top right corner.

Kum Quat something

After lunch, we went for a short shopping spree along Regent Street. We got tired after 2 hours and decided to head back to SIL Alicia's pad in the city, just 15 minutes walk away. But because we drove, it took us faster with low traffic.


Shean Wenn resting somewhere near Alicia's place. She is seen holding the keys to the apartment.

Thanks for the great lunch, Alicia!! :D

Internetless

Have been internetless the past 24 hours. I woke up from a two-hour nap yesterday (one of those days where I fell asleep with Shean Wenn while putting her for her afternoon nap), and came to find that my internet connection has dropped. I checked everything: reset the modem, router, my laptop. After troubleshooting, I am convinced it was my service provider’s network issue, surely not my LAN or hardware problem.

I called Virgin Media (my service provider, we are their new customers, btw) – the IT helpdesk insisted that I repeat whatever I had done, AND, to shut off and disconnect the router, and connect my pc to their modem. I told him there is no need to (because it’s just a hassle for me to re-wire everything) – to please check HIS/THEIR network! He insists. Gawd, why must they be so annoying and not just do what I tell them to??! He told me after checking at his pc that he sees no issues with network on their side. Reluctantly I undo everything, moved my laptop over to my modem. After like a million hardwork, he had the cheeks to tell me that he had SPOTTED that it is, afterall, a Virgin Media network issue. Boy, did he get an earful from me for that! He also told me it might take up to 48 hours downtime. I told them it’s VERY UNACCEPTABLE. (I need to check their SLA, it should be 99.x% uptime).

Anyhow, I felt helpless without internet – exactly WHAT DO I DO?? Watch TV? (You see, it’s very rare that I sit down and become a couch potato).

So, this was what I did in the past 24 hours :

• Scrubbed the bath tub

• Filed my letters and bank statements (I seriously don’t do filing often enough).

• Re-arranged the contents in the cupboard in the kitchen

• Washed both toilets / bathroom

• Folded laundry and kept them away

• I was so bored, I even wiped some of Shean Wenn’s toys.

• Did some Qi Gong exercises (I neglected doing them for almost 6 months now)

• Finally changed my wallpaper on the laptop – see it here!

(Click on it to see notes)

Ahh, I felt I did so much housework in the span of 24 hours. And despite all these, I am quite sure when hubs returns from his business trip tomorrow, he will NOT notice any changes, and infact will turn to me and utter his favourite phrase to me : “Why is the house so messy!?!”.

Playgroup - Summer break

The Steiner Playgroup that I bring Shean Wenn to every Wednesdays had their last day of session last week. I now have to find alternative to bring her to to vent out her energy, socialise with other kids and also for her to participate in structured group activities.

Anyway, last month on the 19th, the Kindergarten had a Summer Fest (June 20/21st is Summer Solstice).

(With grandma at the kindergarten)

That Thursday was a sunny day! Perfect weather for an outdoor fest. Mother-in-law flew in from Bangkok the night before and she came along for the fest - when we arrived, we saw there were some booths selling mainly secondhand stuff such as clothes, baby toys, books, and some handmade dolls. There was also one booth where they had information on Steiner Education. The babies and kids roam freely in the garden within the compound.

(The lavendars grown here - some were used to make the porpourri in the doll I made for her)

The manager (also the playgroup co-ordinator) made some flower garlands for every kid! Pretty. We spent our time just letting SW "go wild"!

(She actually loves the slides!)

There was also face-painting and balloon-man (man making balloons for kids). We didn't bring SW for face-painting but I queued up patiently amongst the kindy kids who were "demanding" their balloons to be shaped by the sweaty balloon man. Funnily, ALL the kids wanted DOG. One boy asked for a sword and the balloon man made a pink bunny for a girl. Right before my turn, he got a call on his mobile saying that his house got burgled into. Just my LUCK! Hmmmmfft! No balloons for Shean Wenn.

This is her outfit during "normal" outdoor time in the steiner playgroup. I bought this puddle-suit online and chose a "all-in-one" RED one for her. It is very good because during outdoor time, the kids get to play come rain or shine. On good-weather days, they still don the suit as they love playing with water and sand, the suit will protect them with all the mess. Anyway, the puddle-suit arrived after 3 days and I am SO happy with this purchase! It looks lovely on her too.

Sleep tosser

She is a sleep tosser on the bed (tossing, turning, flipping from one side to another, turning 180degrees, everywhere) and I suspect because of this, she cannot seem to soothe herself to sleep if tied down, and is therefore a complete NIGHTMARE when she is out travelling with us in the car. The regulations here state that she must be in a carseat, so lately when she is out with us in the car, and she happens to be in a sleepy mood, she will scream her lungs out (trying to get to sleep but cannot)! ANY attempts to pacify her is met with utter defiance ; those flailng arms pushing away the book/toy/object-of-pacification.

For the first 11 months of her life, I had actually thought "Wow, what a relatively easy baby I have" and have given a few pats on my back myself. Travelling with her was not too bad, yes she did have bouts of crying in the car (once for 2 hours travelling from Northampton back to London) but she was younger and she was probably not comfortable. We got used to having her to behave and co-operate during short and mid-distance car-rides. She can also fall asleep on her own (like most babies do as they love to sit in a car).

Well, the day has come. And I believe the MIL and FIL are quite afraid of her tantrums in the car, the FIL commented "You are such a lovely girl when you are not crying!". They saw the worst of her unfortunately. It also coincided with her turning one, perhaps this is just a run-down to the "Terrible Twos".. and yes, I have read that "Terrible Twos" can start anywhere form 1 year old to 2+. Sigh.

Anyway, I digress : back to her sleeping habit - I don't know; not willing perhaps, when I should be training her to sleep on her own. Her being a sleep-tosser does not help as, if I were to force her to fall asleep on her cot, there is just not enough space for her to maneuvre!

Ahh, space. This is what we lack in our box-like apartment in the beautiful(sarcasm, if you must know), overpriced real-estate in Metropolitan London.

(Ssshhhhh, she finally goes to sleep. With her is her new soft toy, Iggle Piggle - from the "In the Night Garden" children's programme which she loves currently - a soft toy bought by the grandparents. On her left, a smaller doll, is one I made for her during the many Steiner playgroup sessions - it has been filled with luscious sun-dried Lavendars from the nursery's own garden! It looks ugly, I am crap at sewing, yes.)

Anyway, tonight I tried to put her to bed by plonking her in her cot - it took me 2 hours. It was a tug of war - she cries, stands up, calling for me. Me (cowering), sitting down looking at floor, trying to ignore her pleas. She, shouts more. Me, sing, talk - anything to distract her. She got distracted for abit. I tell her to sleep. She lies down, closes her eyes ("PLEASE PLEASE GO TO SLEEP" I prayed in my head), opens them again and climbs back up. *REPEAT CYCLE 30 TIMES*

Dare I try again tomorrow?