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Can you make a guess who these babies are?
These photos were taken on Day 1 & 2 by the peeps from Peter Pan photography.
Edited: Poll will be closed end of this week (26th Feb) and results will be announced. 
Re-edited (26th Feb): Poll is now closed. Majority of you guessed it correctly. The correct answer is: A) Aqeil B) Mika’il C) Misha D) Anaqi. Thank you to those who voted.
Thanks to my sister, Menot, Misha is now showing interest in Bollywood songs and dance moves. Here’s a video of her dancing to Kajre Re with Aishwarya Rai.
Everybody I know seems to be falling sick for the last couple of weeks. The number of times my family and I had visited the clinic in just one week alone is probably more than the number of times I get to see my parents this whole month! (Okay, slightly exaggerating here.)
Last Thursday (22.04.2010) I left work early because P had called me up in the evening to let me know Misha and Mika were having a (high) temperature. The night before they both, along with Anaqi, have been coughing very badly and their noses were runny. So, we brought them to their pediatrician @ Tampines1 that night. It’s the only Children Clinic nearby that opens after 6.30pm and accepts my company medical card.
Just as we step through the door we saw a familiar face. Liza was there too! And no, she wasn’t there for a check-up by the PD (she was at the RM section waiting for her queue number to be called).
After waiting for a fair bit at the waiting area, Anaqi’s name was called for diagnosis. He alone was prescribed with Salbutamol (wheeze), Zyrtec (runny nose), Prospan (cough) and Paracetamol (fever). Mika was called next and was prescribed the same medication as Anaqi, with Dexchlorpheniramine replacing Zyrtec, and an additional antibiotic for his yellowish mucus. Finally, it was Misha’s turn and she was prescribed the same medication as Mika, plus Vitamin supplements, Kids’ Wash/Cleanser and Moisturizer for her dry skin.
In the end, it looked as though we’d gone on a medicine-shopping frenzy!
Kids’ medicine to bring home.
The next day (23.04.2010) an hour after we had sent Mika to his childcare center in the morning, his teacher called me up to inform that his temperature shot up to 38.5°, and I was asked to fetch him home immediately. P volunteered to fetch him after I conveyed the message over the phone.
That night, all three had their temperature yo-yo-ing throughout. I had to stay awake to sponge and monitor them.
On Saturday, their temperature subsided and there were no fever. I figured I could then bring them out in the evening, either to Parkway or Vivo City or Marina. That I did. We went to catch the fireworks display at the The Helix bridge opening in Marina.
Pretty fireworks on display
Fast forward to Monday night (26.04.2010) all those bad germs must have gotten onto me. I was feeling feverish. It didn’t help that my packed dinner (or supper rather) almost turned bad. The morning after, I felt phlegm accumulating in my throat and made me wheeze pretty bad. On the way to work in my car, I was wheezing so bad that I demanded P to drop me off at RMG clinic at Ogilvy Centre.
There, I had an asthma attack. The moment I stepped in to doctor’s room, before I get a chance to be seated, the doctor knew I was having trouble breathing! Then, I was instructed to go on a nebulizer treatment.
That’s me inhaling Salbutamol gas.
This must have been my Karma for arguing with Mom on Chocolates = Cough equation earlier that morning. Padan muka aku!
After the treatment, I felt lightheaded and was quivering despite being relieved that I was wheezing no more (at least for that morning). I was given a two-day medical leave.
That same night, as if things could not have gotten any worse, Anaqi was seen to have spots all over his body – more prominently around his mouth. Initially we suspected it could be due to medicine allergy so I proposed to bring him to see the PD again that night. To my surprise, the doctor confirmed it was a case of HFMD plus viral rash!
Spots on his foot.
Spots on his mouth.
“This normally takes about 7 to 10 days to fully recover. Please make sure his kakak and abang (brother and sister) don’t get near him”, the PD advised.
So there we go – today, on my second day of sick leave – I’ve to attend to a cranky Anaqi, get grocery to cook for us, cook, attend to Anaqi, send Misha to school, fetch Misha from school, attend to Anaqi, fetch Mika from school, finally eat, and then attend to Anaqi again. Faint, can?
I hope everyone gets better soon, otherwise plans set for this weekend (a BBQ & Baby J’s birthday party) have to be given a miss.
It has been a month since Misha transferred to her new kindergarten. She’s no longer in full daycare at LV @ Pasir Ris. Her last day there was on Friday, 26th Feb 2010. She’s now at Muhammadiyah Kindergarten (MK) @ Kembangan with effect from 1st March.
I took a week off from work just to observe how she fared during the first week. Verdict: Not quite as smooth-sailing as what I’d expected. But I’m certain in due time, she’ll blend in just fine.
She’s used to having to wake up early in the morning (as early as 7am) and as part of her childcare routine, nap time has always been between 1pm to 3pm. She’s accustomed to this, hence when she started her new school in the afternoon shift, she became very sleepy when lessons were conducted. That led her to being cranky and cried herself to sleep. Yes, during lessons. :-\
Nowadays, according to my helper who sends and fetches Misha to/from school, she doesn’t show any resistance at all. The moment she steps into her school compound, she socializes with her new friends almost immediately, just before assembly starts.
Misha during assembly on her first day…
I’m amazed at how these young children can even memorize their Surah very well at their age. One boy, I think from Nursery class, can even recite Surah Al-Iqra without any assistance. Misha, of course, has lots to catch up on. When she just started, the only verse that she can recite well was her Basmallah.
Recently, she showed that she can memorize the first three lines of Surah Al-fateha *beams*. (Don’t worry dear, practice makes perfect! And you’ll ace it in no time, insyallah. )
Misha queuing up for her P.E. lessons
Doing warm-ups with her classmates
More photos on my Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157623628238797/
Looks like these kids are being forced to smile here. See how Misha turned from all demure-looking in her class photo last year, to all gangsta-looking in this year’s.
And….can you spot the-one-who-cannot-stand-still? >_<
I’ve discovered that Misha has grown to love acting ever since I enrolled her in a Speech and Drama program in Nursery 1. Last month, Misha participated in a play where she portrayed a little ‘Yellow Fish’, a character from ‘Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale’ by Marcus Pfister Herbert.
The story is about Rainbow Fish and a group of friends living in their shoal happily until a big blue whale comes to live close by which makes them unhappy and hungry.
Even though her lines were short and only a few, I was pretty impressed that she could memorize them and know her cue to speak.
Yellow Fish in action.
It’s been almost a month since the birth of Anaqi, and Misha has been showing nothing but warm affection towards her little brother thus far. Many a times she would ‘help out’ while I change his diaper, or give him his bath, or wake up to feed him in the middle of the night. She will always be by his side, either stroking his head, or shower him with small little kisses.
She is one who would noticeably look for wet tissues whenever excess milk spews out of the baby’s mouth. She would call out to me claiming "the baby is calling you" whenever she hear him cry. She would try to quieten him down by hushing and patting him when I’m busy doing other things and not attending to the little one on time. She would bring to him her favourite books and toys, probably thinking that anything she might want is something her brother might also want.
In all, I’m pretty pleased with her reaction towards Anaqi. Her caring behaviour – the same way as she had cared for her other brother when he was just a baby – to me, is very awe-inspiring indeed.
I wish the same can be said of Mika, but so far he had been quite ignorant to his little brother’s existence. He probably needs a little bit more time for the idea to settle in. We’ll see.
April 30th is officially Misha’s last day at her current day-care centre, so a farewell party was arranged by the centre on its final weekend of its closure (April 25th). The event was a memorable one, especially for us parents and teachers. I doubt the children even understood that it was meant to be the last few days they’ll get to be with their close friends and teachers. I’m sure Misha wouldn’t have understood (yet). To her, it may simply be just a party.
Nonetheless, she did enjoy herself that day. We had great food, some fun games, video presentation of the centre’s memories, and also speeches and thanks from parents. Misha was very excited at seeing her form teacher, who had been away for maternity leave, and badly wanted to cling on to her. I guess her beaming smile showed it all.
Misha with Teacher Izz.
Misha with Teacher Naz and Teacher Fila
Thank you, teachers, for all the things you’ve done in educating, mentoring and caring for Misha all these while.
I was unpacking Misha’s schoolbag on Tuesday night when I receive an unexpected surprise. Tucked between the pages of her communication notebook was a printed letter from her childcare centre. It read, "Change of Operator of Childcare Centre". Reading it had me, to a certain extent, filled with a mixed feeling of emotion – sad, confused, angry – all mingled into one.
A fragment of the letter read, "We regret to inform you that our centre [centre name] will cease to operate with effect 30 April 2009 Thursday. The centre, however, will continue to provide early childhood services under a new childcare operator with effect from 1 May 2009. We wish to iterate that the children are our outmost priority. Our curriculum and programme will continue as normal until the end of April 09."
April? April! That’s like in two months time!
I had spent more than 5 months in 2007 to read up and look around for *the* childcare centre to enrol Misha in, factoring the centre’s credibility and their teachers, its distance from home (somewhere convenient for us to send and fetch her), and of course, cost. Now, it’s back to square one all over again.
When P fetched Misha that same day, he had asked one of her teachers what is to become of them all after the shutdown, to which she replied that some of them will be posted to different centres with the same company. Others may consider other alternatives.
On Friday, 27th Feb, the centre held a briefing session to explain the drive behind its decision to cease operation (according to the operations manager who conducted the briefing, the centre is currently running at a loss), and provide options for us parents. He, whom I thought could have done much much better at answering our questions and doubts, and tackled unhappy parents’ feedback, mentioned that we can either (a) continue to let our children stay under the new childcare operator for a no-fee transfer, (b) transfer our children to their other centres at other location (provided there is vacancy), or (c) enrol our children at different childcare centres altogether.
Many parents were obviously not happy (one unhappy parent even mentioned she had already been twice bitten – stating that the previous centre she enrolled her children in with the same company also shut down for the same reasons, and was told that this one will not be shutting down anytime soon). Some were not happy due to the lack of compensation from the company (this I have to agree). Some were not happy because the company couldn’t provide concrete solution to our problems, but instead reiterated *their* problem.
I, for one, was sad for the fact that the children will lose that bond they have built with their peers and teachers over these years. The teachers there have been really great at guiding and teaching our children, and I cannot deny that they have made a positive impact on our children.
The few reasons which made me (and P) upset were that:
- we had just purchased brand new sets of uniforms for Misha a few weeks ago, and they don’t come cheap. If we decide with (a), the uniforms will eventually go to waste (we can always donate them, but that’s a different thing altogether).
- why tell us only now, when the centre’s company have been "studying" the centre’s operations for three years (as what the operations manager claimed). Why the short notice, with lack of compensation? Why not (at least) tell us at the beginning of the year so that we won’t even act on the point above?
- if we choose (a), the monthly feeswill be more expensive (this I came to know not from the current centre, but the new operator through their registration forms and brochure). It is known that the new operators will be renovating the place, and installing air-condition. This again will lead to frequent closure days for renovation works, but ultimately monthly fees will still need to be paid.
- if we choose (a), we have to enrol by 6th March, with a $850 cheque payment deposit, to enjoy $100 rebate on monthly fees. (who the heck can get that kind of money in one week, when we’re only informed just a few days ago?)
- the centre’s company can help to provide transportation for one year if we choose (b), but only if we choose either Pasir Ris, Changi Airport or Changi Business Park (provided there are vacancies). However they cannot even confirm whether transportation can be made free of charge. (the operations manager even asked us whether we would consider (b), if they provide free transportation. If they cannot even confirm, how can we decide? And what more, we have to make a decision before 6th March to apply for the point above).
- what if all parents decided on (b), and move to, let say, Pasir Ris (that being a void deck childcare centre). Is there any guarantee that it will also not going to shut down (as like the fate of other void deck centres)? If we choose Changi Airport or Changi Business Park, monthly fees would be between $1000-$1500 a month before subsidy, and who the heck can afford that? (the operations manager did mentioned that school fees will still remain the same as what we’re paying now though but only for one year).
- if we choose (a) or (c), we would need to study the background and curriculum of these centres, which mean we may need to take additional leave to go to the centre and speak to their principal, and we only have less than 2 months to go. In the case of (a), that would be 1 week.
- we did not buy the fact that the current centre is running at a loss which the company claim it is. If it does, why would the company invest on opening more childcare centres elsewhere, including Cecil which opens last year, and Changi Business Park which just open in January this year?
There are much more to deliberate with so little time. And it doesn’t help that there are many things happening at work to think about (I’m not going to get into those details now). I hope both P and I can arrive at a decision soon.
Having kids in your life is like adding spice to your rendang, or sambal belacan to your ricecurry, or even whip cream to your caffe latte, without which your rendang will be tasteless, your rice curry will be bland, and your caffe latte will fall short of sweet. Kids will never fail to enlighten you despite the number of times they put your patience to a test.
Take Misha for example; I caught her once messing up my dressing table, with my make-up set dismantled, an eye-shadow wand and an eyebrow pencil in one hand and lip gloss in the other.
Misha: "I want to draw on my face. Like mommy. See, mommy, I want that pink colour one (points to pink eye shadow)".
After that she self-served herself to the pink eyeshadow and applied some to her eyelid.
Just some weeks ago, when she had caught me drawing on my eyebrow, she blurted out to me, "Eh Mommy, why you draw on your face? Don’t draw on your face. Dirty!"
I later recalled scolding her when she drew on her hands with an ink marker. I chuckled to myself.
On another occasion, she stroked my huge tummy while I was sitting down. "Look, mommy. Inside got baby! Wait, see mommy’s tummy get bigger and bigger and bigggggggeeeerrrr." she exclaimed with an exaggerated face. I asked her if she would like to see "Baby". "Yes! Later mommy take out the baby, ok?" she said happily.
Misha: (turned to my tummy and asked "Baby") "Baby, you want susu (milk)? Yes? Ok, wait." (turned around to make imaginary milk, and turned back. "Here you go!" (she poked my belly button with her little finger) *lol*
She also understood the idea of having a reading material in her hand and the importance of sitting still while having a haircut. She was also able to follow all the instructions given by the hairdresser, without any interference from me.
Hairdresser: "Girl, close your eyes…"
Misha: (closes eyes obidiently, then said) "…eh, my nose itchy…"
And which mother wouldn’t have smiled when seeing this?
Misha reading a storybook to her younger brother, Mika.
