The worse is finally over

Baby A2 had fever for 4 days and finally, the temperature was starting to get lower. Since my last post, we had sleepless nights over the weekend. Baby A2 had spots all over him. They were big and nasty and there was more spots than what toddler A1 had. Normally, fever was expected for 48 hours. But on monday, my poor baby was still running a fever and I took child sick leave to stay with him. We went to the doctor and she confirmed that it was a rare case. I think she meant serious too. When we consulted her on last wed, there was only a spot. Now, it was full blown.

She prescribed antibiotics among other medication for baby A2. He had to take them for 8 days. We were not even sure if we could still stick to our flight plans. We could fly only if his fever had subsided and no new spots appear. To be on the safe side, we would consult the doctor again on friday before taking the final decision if we fly the next day. It would be very obvious that my baby had chicken poxs though the spots were starting to dry up since yesterday.

My poor baby. He was in great agony over the weekend and it broke my heart. He won't want to stay in his bed or his bouncer. We had to take turns to carry him 24hours. It did not help to lower his temperature since we were passing our body heat to him. This little bundle of 6 months had suffered too much. I pray that he would be spare of pain for a long time to come. Teething not included.

Grounded

We are suppose to be on the plane heading to Singapore at this moment. However, baby A2 is having chicken poxs. All thanks to his brother who passed it to him. This is about the 5th day so it is still contagious. We postpone our trip by a week.
Seb and I are so looking forward to our vacation. But life with kids is full of surprises. So we just have to be patient for another week.
Toddler A1 is healing well. He have lots of spots all over his body but they are drying up slowly.
Baby A2 is starting to have lots of small spots on his head and body. We put mittens on him so that he would not scratch himself but he is not too happy about it.
We will have another few sleepless nights before heading to Singapore and hopefully get some rest since granny is more than happy to take care of the babies.
Counting down the week. . . . .

Ox tail soup

I first tried ox tail soup in Australia. My neighbour made this soup the malaysian style and it was delicious. He gave me the recipe and I did it a few times in Singapore. Only my dad and I appreciated it.

Since married and living in France, I had never do ox tail soup. Seb does not eat meat and it takes hours to stew the soup. But recently, I started to notice those ox tail in market and super market. As winter was coming to an end, I decided to make a small portion of ox tail soup. It would not be appropriate for summer.

I added in ginger, carrots, potatoes and califlowers. Just cook until the meat was tender. It was just as good as in my memories. Toddler A1 tried it and finished his lunch. Next winter, I will try to make this soup more often. By then, I won't be eating this dish alone and I hope my 2 boys will like it.

PS: This soup was made 2 weeks ago before toddler A1 got chicken pox. I won't dare to feed him this "heaty" soup while he had chicken pox.

Chicken pox

Sigh. Just 2 weeks before we head for Singapore and toddler A1 is down with chicken pox. I noticed a red dot on his tummy on friday and on saturday, during his music class, I noticed more dots on his neck. After his music class, we went to the doctor and confirmed that he had chicken pox. He would recover in 2 weeks time. But then, most likely baby A2 would have get it from his brother.
If baby A2 does get chicken pox before our departure, he would not be able to fly. We would have to wait until the spots dry up. So in either case, I have to go to the doctor the day before our departure. I need a certificat saying that toddler A1 is fit to travel. If baby A2 is sick, I would need a certificat saying that he cannot fly. This will allow us to change our flight dates free of charge.

That aside, toddler A1 is sleeping really badly these few days.His chicken pox is strong and there are marks all over him. He wakes up crying and scratching. My poor boy. Seb and I are like zombie now. Amazing that toddler A1 is still so active during the day.

So we won't know if we can fly next week until the last min as the incubation period of chicken pox is between 10 to 15 days. Still, we look on the bright side. It is better for him to suffer now than when he will be older.

Fresh peas

I'm always buying the same kind of vegetables. During winter, it started to be boring. So before leaving for the fresh market on Sunday, I asked Seb for some ideas. He mentioned green peas, french beans and mushrooms. What new ideas. Usually I just opened a can of green peas. I had never bought fresh ones.

I was glad to find all the above vegetables he mentioned at the market.


After his lunch, Toddler A1 was happily helping me to remove the peas from the pods. It occupied him for a good half hour while I finished my lunch.
For dinner, we had fresh peas and mushroom for dinner. The peas tasted much better than frozen or canned ones.

Tulips at home

I received a bunch of tulips from my upstairs neighbour as I invited her over for brunch on sat. We often crossed each other and she would ask about the kids. She had never seen baby A2. Due to her busy schedule, we finally managed to settle on a date. I also invited Nadia, my next door neighbour and M. Jules from the last floor. It was a good gathering.

I was not a fan of tulips as I thought they won't last long in a vase. But surprisingly, they looked good and were still standing straight after 2 days. I'm happy to have them at home and might buy a bunch the next time I chanced upon such fresh ones.

Life's routine

Can't believe that it is already March. For the past two months, we had settled into a nice routine. Each morning, toddler A1 wakes up at 5am. It is his bio clock and we can do nothing about it. Either he manages to doze off or Seb would give him his milk bottle. With luck, toddler A1 would fall asleep until around 6.30am. By then, baby A2 would wake up for his milk feed. I would start to prepare for work and leave the house by 7.15am. I start work at 8am.

Seb would take care of the 2 boys until Ai Yi comes at 9am. She is usually early which means Seb zooms off on his scooter and reaches office by 9.15am. Ai Yi takes good care of the 2 boys and we can tell as toddler A1 would rush to the corridor to greet her when she presses on the inter-phone. Baby A2 breaks into a smile when he sees her.

At 6pm, I would be home and Ai Yi updates me about the happening of the day. She notes down everything too but in chinese so it is really just meant for me. I would update Seb when he comes home. During the day, Ai Yi prepares the meals for toddler A1, plays with them, change them, bath them, do their laundry, educate them. She cleans up after toddler A1's mess. If she has extra time, she could vacum or even mop the floor. We always return to a neat home. But after she leaves, within 15 mins, toddler A1 would be messing up the living room or his playroom again.

Seb comes home after 7pm. I would cook diner for us with toddler A1 standing on a stool "helping" out. I invited him once and am now stuck with this routine. Now, he would rush to the hall and push the stool to the kitchen when I start cooking. Baby A2 would be in his bouncer watching us patiently. He loves to watch his brother. Once diner is prepared, we would stay in the living room and entertain ourselves silly with music, books or the laptop until Seb returns.

On the days when I am not working, I would bring the kids to the park if it is sunny. With Ai Yi, toddler A1 has a routine. But with me, it just does not work. He does not want to nap with me around. Once he dozed off on his high chair while having his afternoon snack. He was too tired to resist. We were talking to my mum on skype and she witnessed it direct. Just way too funny.

By 8.30pm, toddler A1 has his evening milk feed (he loves milk and milk products) and Seb would put him to bed. We would relax a little until the last milk feed for baby A2 between 9.30pm to 10.30pm. Then lights out!

There are evenings when Lukas would be at our place or toddler A1 at his place for some play time togather. We would miss our neighbour very much when he moves in 3 months time.

Many people wonder how we cope without family help around and with 2 young kids. We survive. I admit that having a good nanny is a luxury as we can have peace of mind at work.