Scoop bib and toy surgery

The green scoop bib is one of the most used items where mealtimes are concerned. It has now got a crack in the middle, but it's usage has not diminished any.

Kien always knows if it is time to eat when the bib comes out. He will also quite often not let us take the bib off until he is really finished - even when he is dilly-dallying around without any indication of ever wanting another mouthful of food. The exception being when he is at Dad's shop. It is a constant snack fest every time we are there - and the boy likes balls of white rice, fresh from the pot.

That's bà ngoại giving him a ball of rice.

Kien has his own toy that my family bought him, and it is kept at the shop. It is an egg carton containing eggs that fit together with different shapes and colours. They also rattle.

He sat and played with ông ngoại for ages yesterday.

Kien is so full of energy, so good thing there is a large space at the shop for him to run around - and he really does zoom around there. Yesterday he fell pretty hard when he ran so fast and tripped over himself. But he was all better in no time after I scooped him up and gave him a big cuddle.

Speaking of cuddles our little boy knows how to ask for them. He actually says "cuddle" with his arms stretched out for you. He also loves his "di-dor" (dinosaur) which Jef had to do surgery on the other day to get rid of the chime since Kien would cry when the tail is accidentally pulled and the music box starts to play.

Why, tonsils - why tonsils?

What a week it has been! My little boy has been so out of sorts; waking up in the middle of the night screaming inconsolably, refusing to eat hardly anything all day, vomiting during the night, and all around being an absolute grizzly bear. His fever broke on Sunday, but overnight he hardly slept from midnight onwards and by the morning he was screaming so much we took him to Starship hospital.

He has inflamed tonsils oozing pus, and the scan showed nodes in his stomach confirming he is fighting an infection. It is viral, so no antibiotics required. We just have to wait for his little body to rid itself of the infection.

We have a follow up appointment with the paediatric clinic next Friday, and they will no doubt refer us to a hospital dietician to help us manage his weight. Meanwhile I can say he is getting better, and going back to daycare has been really good for him. He just loves being around other kids! His appetite has slowly been returning, and he has not woken up screaming in the middle of the night for the last couple of nights - and no more vomiting. Phew!

Last night Kien ate a lot of dinner (mince and rice), and blueberries for dessert. Jef came home from work to find his child had turned into a zombie look-a-like.

Linda, our German friend organises a lantern walk every year to mark St Martin's day (which in Europe is in November). It is a German tradition where children and parents build lanterns and walk them at night. So last Saturday early evening we joined a crowd of lantern bearers in Greenhithe.

Had to stop to pat the dog.
Swings are great in the daylight or the moonlight!

I'm happy to report that tonight Kien is pretty much back to normal; there were no dramas whatsoever. He ate heaps of dinner, and had loads of fun in the bath. He was delightful pre-bedtime and when it was finally bedtime I took him into his room, but him in his sleep sacks, gave him his dinosaur to cuddle and said "good night", turned out the light and walked out. Not a peep from him since, yay!

Good times

I had to take a day off work today to tend to a sick and extremely indecisive child. He could not make up his mind what he wanted for the entire day, and kept screaming, yelling, and pointing in all directions. He'd be adamant he wanted something in particular, but as soon as he got it he'd throw it away and scream.

I gave him 3 naps today - that hasn't happened in a very long time. His last one was at 15:45 and he slept through until 17:45. He was then hungry since he has hardly eaten anything for 3 days, so Jef went and picked up Teriyaki chicken with noodles and a side of Karaage chicken from Renkon in Ponsonby. While I was chopping up his Teriyaki chicken dinner (which he always eats) he got a few shreds of Karaage chicken. When I went to feed him his dinner he refused it and only wanted Karaage chicken. Unfortunately there was none left - oh boy did we hear about it! While Jef hurried back up the road to get some more Kien stomped around the lounge screaming. 10 minutes later Jef was back (Kien still screaming) and he was promptly in the highchair ready to eat. 2 shreds later the kid decides to eat the cold noodles he spat out into his catcher bib, and didn't want the Karaage chicken!

Bath time was a drama as well. He did not want his socks off! I put his socks back on so he would get into the bath. In the bath he tugged at his wet socks, so I took them off - that wasn't the right thing to do and he yelled until I gave him back his socks. He then proceeded to try putting on the socks by himself, and cried because he couldn't. So I helped him get his socks back on, and once again as soon as they were on he wanted them off. I took them off and he wanted them on, and then he didn't want to be in the bath anymore. So I got him out, and his socks were soaking the mat (which he didn't like), and I got Jef to put some new socks on him, but he only wanted the wet ones he was wearing.

It has been rough, I'm drained, it's only Friday night, and it's my overnight shift with Kien. Last night Jef had it pretty rough too, with Kien vomiting at midnight and us having to change him and all his bedding. I went back to bed and Jef was up every 2 hours thereafter, with a before 6am start too. Kien, I beg of you to please take it easy on your mama tonight!

So anyway, I need to balance out this post and show that we have also had some good times along the way.

Like playing soccer on the lawn on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, for instance...

...playing with giant sticks on the carpark stairs...

...Autumn leaves swept by the wind into the backdoor area of our apartment, making it a perfect bed for playing in...

Yes, that is a giant bruise on his forehead from not paying attention on the stairs while playing with the giant stick.

...bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles - we can say it if we can provide it...

...cute as anything puppy shoes and socks on the way to Granddad's...

...a smile with Granddad for the camera...

...Kien being the center of attention, again...

...someone else to play "Row, row, row your boat" with...

...kissing cousins...

...patting a conveniently located dog sitting right next door to The Lumsden...

...smiling eyes and giggles behind a hand...

...a content pose...

...and afternoon tea with family.

I need to draw some long breaths, and dig a litte deeper to ride through this difficult phase, because no doubt, soon enough we will be back to happiness and sunshine all day round.

Bubble troubles and scavenging

It's just been one of those weeks; you know the type - where nothing much gets done at home and you're just in survival mode from lack of sleep and a child teetering between giddy happiness and tearful unsettledness. Perhaps it was the 15 month jabs on Tuesday afternoon (yes, we were late by 2 months), or maybe it's another teething episode. Whatever the cause, it is exhausting.

To make matters worse Kien is loving saying "bubbles". Don't get me wrong it is wonderful he says it all the time, but it's a double edged sword; he wants bubbles all the time too. We would give him as many bubbles as he desires, however the issue is with the solution for making bubbles. Where does one buy good commercial bubble solution?

Jef used up all the solution we had in one go with the bubble dog. So we've been experimenting with bubble solutions.

We went to The Warehouse and purchased a giant bottle of solution - it was pretty useless for the bubble dog and the gun. But Jef got some good experiments in with blowing bigger bubbles.

...and to measure the bubbles' success they were timed. This is serious!

Kien woke up multiple times overnight, and in the morning I couldn't handle being cooped up with him being demanding and restless. Luckily a break in the weather meant an excursion to Cornwall park.

Kien is a little scavenger. He loves to find things to pick up.

Or picks things...

...which ended up in his mouth eventually.

I can't believe we came across some healthy patches of beautiful Narcissus, and Kien picked them!

I tried to stop him, but that made him even more delighted to get them, and eat them.

Puddles are pointed out as "wet" by him, then he plays in it.

His grubby face shows how much of that "wet" landed on him.

We wandered close to the paddock where the cows were grazing.

He sat down right next to this fabulous web that glistened in the sunlight.

We are currently teaching Kien the sounds different animals make. We've so far been able to get him to bark, meow, quack, chirp - and now he moos too. He wasn't alone in the mooing, because this little Korean girl walked over to us, and both kids pointed in the direction of the cows and mooed.

Tomorrow is a public holiday, yay! We will be heading over to Dad's place in the afternoon for a steamboat session, yum!