Xuan the Rider

Sometimes I think the progress that babies make is amazing.
Xuan is certainly taking his own sweet time learning to walk..
and with his beefy body mass, it is really a struggle for us to heave him everywhere..

However, he certainly mastered riding.. and climbing up and down the stairs!
He knows how to get up and down the bike, ride it at neck-breaking speed sometimes, and even turn corners sharply. All these before he even knows how to walk!

And recently I was told by our helper that he loves to ride down a gentle slope near our house..
When I saw him in action 2 days ago.. I dunno to laugh or to be worried..
He was gleefully riding down the short gentle slope, and laughing when he was sliding down the slope on his little car..

I am thinking...

I need to up Xuan's accident coverage..
prudence is currently not his friend.

And it seems like we probably have a reckless hell-raiser in the family now..

Here is a video of him riding mildly in house... :)

너를 사랑해 "i love you"

After all the recent happening.. I have lately really liked this Korean song on the website..
Almost like one of those songs people use a lot for weddings, but the sentiments are really quite fitting with events of love... Here is what it means

너를 사랑해 "i love you"
Singer: Han Dong Joon 한동준

achimi onun soriye munduk chameso ggaeyo
Sounds of the morning woke me up from my dream abruptly
nae pumane chamdun noyege
You, who slumbered in my arms…
woohh wooh woohh
norul saranghae
I love you

nae-ga him-gyo-ul ttae-mada nonun hangsang nae-gyote
You’re always by my side when I’m tired
ttasuhage o-kkael kamssamyo
Keeping me in company, caring for me…
woohh wooh woohh
norul saranghae
I love you

yongwonhi uriyege sodulpun ibyorun opso
We will never part in pain
ttae-ronun sulpume nunmuldo hulli-ji-man
Although we shed sorrowful tears sometimes
onjena nowa hamkke sae-ha-yan kkumul kkumyonso
No matter when, please dream with me immaculate dreams
hanuri urirul kalla nuhulttae kkaji
Until death do us part…
woohh wooh woohh
norul saranghae
I love you

nae-ga him-gyo-ul ttae-mada nonun hangsang nae-gyote
You’re always by my side when I’m tired
ttasuhage o-kkael kamssamyo
Keeping me in company, caring for me…
woohh wooh woohh
norul saranghae
I love you

yongwonhi uriyege sodulpun ibyorun opso
We will never part in pain
ttae-ronun sulpume nunmuldo hulli-ji-man
Although we shed sorrowful tears sometimes
onjena nowa hamkke sae-ha-yan kkumul kkumyonso
No matter when, please dream with me immaculate dreams
hanuri urirul kalla nuhulttae kkaji
Until death do us part…
woohh wooh woohh
norul saranghae
I love you

Cheekily happy again!!

Many heartfelt thanks to all who have thought about and worried about Xuan.
After his KK adventure for 2 days, Xuan was back home finally on Saturday.

He cried when he came home..
I think he really enjoyed his KK adventure ..
When the fever was receding, and when we bought him a Get well balloon from Elmo.. he really enjoyed the attention he was getting from us..

He had his favourite toys, new balloon which he wanted, watched all the TV he wanted.. drank all the juicies and ribena and barley he wanted.. and with papa and mummy spending sole attention on him.. he must really feel like a pampered king.

Some photos of him.. you can see his transformation.. on the second day.. his cheeky dimple is back and when he had enough energy to demand for a balloon and be cheekily demanding.. we know he is en route to recovery...

I just hope and pray this is the last time he has a fit.. although the doc did cautioned that there is likelihood of having it again the next time he has fever.. so the team in the hospital really helped to prepare us so we will know how to cope the next time it happened.. I am hoping this is really the last of it..

it is too scary to even contemplate..

Meanwhile, En is a real sweetheart.
Knowing that he may fight with Xuan over the Elmo balloon, i told him when we returned that Xn Xn is sick and the balllon belongs to Xuan, and asked En not to fight with Xuan over it..
When Xuan woke up from his nap, En kept taking the balloon and pushing it at Xuan Xuan..

Welll.. so much for my vow not to be too attached to my kids..
but what a roller-coaster ride they can give you..

Here are some pics.. Dun Xuan look really cute and handsome in hospital pyjamas?
He is always handsome in my eyes, even when he is sick...

Hospital Entry..

Yes, I am blogging from the KK hospital.. thanks to the nation-wide wireless network initiative from my ex-company..

Remember how we spent X'mas eve of 2006 in KK hospital McDonald's room?
Well, now we are in Xuan Xuan's ward - yeh.. his own ward.. well - i must say i am very impressed with KK's premium ward, it is really thoughtfully designed with all amenities in..
Well.. i think for those who can afford it, the individual ward is a haven for the parents as well.. I can't imagine how the parents can doze or nap with 5 other ill and cranky babies and worried stricken parents.. hence, i feel that realistically, the choice of the individual ward is driven more to meet the parents' needs for peace of mind than babies..

And in times like this, i am grateful that i pay for the kids' H&S insurance premiums. that also gave me peace of mind. In times like this, the last thing I want to be worried abt is the bills. To me, insurance is like buying toto for the bad thing to happen.. when things are going well, we keep thinking the cost of insurance is an opportunity cost.. but in a single incident when the bad thing happen, the relief one feels more than compensate the amount paid. The best advise I was given when I was delivering my baby was from luke, who asked me to sign up for a H&S for babies asap. I think that is one of the most invaluable advise given from a parent to another..

And now to the real story..
Xuan gave me the fright of my life today..
I was in the midst of a workshop with clients, respondents and even clients all the way from Korea..
and I received a call from Hubby who gave a weird description of what happened to Xuan..
I can't remember what he said but I got the message, he is sending Xuan to A & E now cuz just now his eyes were rolling upwards and foaming at the mouth..

I put down the phone and tried to think what I am going to do..
And I called home.. the fact that my maid was crying and can't seem to say what happen to Xuan made me more worried..

I calmly rounded up what I was doing, mentally thinking what options I have and what choices I am going to make, and then announced to my colleague and my boss that I am going to the hospital.. you may think it is a really logical choice, but I was in the middle of a client facing workshop.. the timing could not be badder..

I was freaking up inside, but exteriorly I was calm.. if you know what I mean, it is like a layer of ice or something insulated me - the inner core of me, that turmoil and that pain - from the outer facade of me.. the seemingly untouched and unshaken side of me..

I called for a cab.. I called the usual ultra cool Pediatrician to make sure she is in and check out which hospitals she can visit and work in, to gather the consideration set of hospitals for alternative admissions.. and the i got on the cab in the pouring rain..

And i was still calm, till the jam at orchard road en route made that little insidious chip into that layer of insulation. I started tearing in the cab.. fear? pain? loss? i dunno what the tears are for..

But before we reached KK, I was calm again.. i remembered to ask for a cab receipt, i remembered the red door reserved for emergency cases.. and I went in..

Xuan was not having any fit when I saw him.. and i picked him up and asked him why he has to give mummy such a bad scare.. it was an immense relief. to see his lethargically meddling self.
However, he still needs to be admitted as he needs to be monitored, after the fit, and also the fact that the high fever had not gone away..

and so that is how I ended up here, in KK, with Xuan Xuan sound asleep and me typing away..
and hubby in a chair some space away doodling on his Dopod..

What Xuan had was Febrile Fit.. a new term that i just learnt today.. in addition to all the other discoveries i made about myself, and my relationships..

En and Xuan has been sick recently.. with En taking the lead - must be some viral at school again.. and xuan was just coughing and with slight fever.. Xuan has always been the tougher baby when it comes to combating illnesses thus far .. shorter period of illness and recovering fast..

Well. i suppose this is what it means when they say, When the Great falls, They fall Greatly..
It is really a wake up call..
We always kinda associate Xuan with robust-ness, toughness, joy, cheekiness.. but his vulnerable side totally incapacitated me..

Not that I won't feel the same with En.. but the surprise element that Xuan fell so sick so suddenly just knocked the guts outta me.

I was tearing as I was changing the cold towels on his neck to him to bring his fever down.. I had wiped down En the countless times he had fever, and even during the first time En had really high fever, I do not remember feeling so fearful..

So fearful that a little fever will do my little baby in..

你灼热的小手 滚汤着我的手
我湿皱的手掌 抚摸着你脸夹
你体受的不适
我都明了
我心中的寒惜
你懂吗?

My fearless little fighter-meddler-monster is now quietly sleeping in bed..
The latest temperature check reveals that his temperature has come down to 37.5...
i am keeping fingers crossed..

My little precious one.. get well soon!
I like to see the huge appetite and the hearty giggles and laughs...

updates.. virus virus go away!

Have not been blogging for a long time, cuz I am too stretched and swarmed..

1. the kids have been sick for like 3 weeks.

Both of them, fever, cough, running nose, the full works.. En had it worst, so bad that he finally gave in to antibiotics this feb. We alwas advocate letting his body fight the germs and never sought out antibiotics unless it is the last option available.

So when his fever came back again and with fevour along with the bad nose, the doc recommended antibiotics..

Xuan was slightly better, he only has wrecking cugh in the middle of the night.. my heart wrenches when his coughing fits starts…

So it has been a distracting month..

2. hubby been busy working..

Morning, day, night, weekends, NJ has been working..
En always ask where is papa..
And he also knows must dial “999 to catch bad man, bad man is naughty”..
Stability only returned recently…

3. I have been hectic socialising with ppl coming to our place, catch up etc etc…

And planning for the future.. and stuff... so too tired to do anything else..

But the kids' development has been amazing..!!

Xuan xuan is amazng though.. he has not walked, but he is riding his bike, within 1 day he knows how to ride backwards and forwards! And he know how to turn corner to navigate.. and he climbs up and down the bike by himself.

He is one cool chap..

I started calling home now to chat with En En regularly, it is very enjoyable. He will tell me what he eats, and what he does, and i feel more in touch with him.

He is also exercising his mind more.. when I ask him why he keeps crying 1 night because he started wailing and cried the netire trip hme when I did not follow him home, and only Papa went with him, he says he is sad. I thought he was sad because I was not around.. he thought for a ong while, and said “I am sad becoss…. Papa is angry at me”.. and I was like.. “Wat!” I suspect husband must have said some stern wprds at him and he translated that to mean hubby was mad at him..

On another occasion, he wanted to bring 3 books out for dinner. I told him to bring only 1.
He continued to take 2, and I thought he did not understand me, turned out he asked Papa to take 2, and En takes only 1 as per what I requested.
I have to grant that to him, he is quite resourceful sometimes..

Howrver, when I went with him to his N1 outing to watch the musical "the little red hen", the teachers were telling me how clumsy he was last year, that he will fall and spill things or bump into things or people etc but this year, he is managing better.. all the other kids in his class seem so smart! And I ve to chide myself not to be a kiasu mum. And that I can't compare.. but it took some rationsaliation instead..

But he feeds himself very well in school and so long as he has fun, I try not to be too worried..

I am very happy to be with them, it is a joy to see them play and learn and well, fight..
the fights are bad, and I am putting all the theories into use..
they dun always work, esp. when Xuan is so young, so even when I ask En to use words to say and not use his hands to show what he wants, Xuan does not get it.. so i have to time out them sometimes so that they are both doing different things!!

days like this, and work like this, i wish I am a stay at home mum!!!!