I don’t know how long it has been, but it must have been at least 16 months I last since had an almost 1.5 hours nap.
Yes - a nap.
On a weekend.
On a Sunday afternoon.
During one of the rare times when Spud napped for more than an hour. In her own bed.
I just crashed on the couch right after we put her in bed. It was bliss.
I almost did not want to wake up from my slumber when Spud woke up from hers – and she usually spends another good hour being cranky and grumpy when she wakes up from her nap.
I had another 5-minuter snooze as Silver Bullet go pick her up from her bed with Spud, all ready to be cranky in her usual fashion. But for me, it was a nap that was long-coming. It felt so good.
I wish we have more such predictable Sunday nap times. It feels so peaceful when Spud goes down for her afternoon nap. But of course, that is just wishful thinking!
(OK.You can argue that Silver Bullet and I can always take turn to nap, but honestly, given that I am the one who usually needs more nap, it almost seems unfair to dump Spud on to Silver Bullet. Besides, as much as Spud tires us, I really do want to spend more time with her given weekends are the only time we have exclusively with her for some quality family time. Hence if she does not rest, it is hard for us too, as well)
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Saturday night scare
Like any other nights, Spud goes down for the day by 6.30pm. Like any other normal nights, Spud goes down without a fight with the usual bedtime routine we have for her. And like any other nights, she will usually have her own downtime of rolling around in bed and talking to herself or her toys before she drifts off to slumber. Most nights, she would sleep through till about 6.30 am the next day.
But last Saturday night was like no other ordinary night we have experienced.
At about 9.25 pm, just as I was about to head to bed, I saw the blue light of the baby monitor flickered, and this was followed by quite a cry. Usually when that happens, we will normally just let her cry for a few minutes before we checking on her; for the chances of her falling back to sleep is high. But that night, her cry turned into inconsolable wail, and after more than 5 minutes, it became a howler of a wail!
I quickly went to check on her, and we found her curled up at the corner of the bed in massive tears. As I turn on the lights, I saw some trails of red stain splattered across the bed. Silver Bullet then asked me what she had for dinner (she had pasta), but it did not seem like Spud had puked out her tomato-based pasta. I was trying to make sense of things, and it took me a while to register that the stain on her bed was actually trails of blood! Not something we would expect…and right there and then, the realisation hit that cripes! Spud cannot be puking blood in her sleep, can she? And why would she puke blood?!
As I picked her up and trying to calm her down, I saw that the top half of her shirt was covered with blood. And as I tried to get the shirt off her (she was completely inconsolable!), I noticed that the blood was trickling from her mouth.
Between the blood-stained bed sheet, wet bloody t-shirt and a wailing baby, there were 2 parents trying to make sense of what had happened, and at the same time, trying to calm down and clean up a possibly frightened toddler.
For a good 10 minutes, nothing we could do was able to calm her down. She did not want to drink, she did not want to be cleaned, she refused to allow any one of us go anywhere near her mouth and she did not want to have anything to do with everything. I started to wonder if we should get to the hospital...but quickly dismissed the thought.
Amidst her violent struggles and mega crying session, we finally managed to clean her up with a wet muslin square which Silver Bullet had fished out, changed her bed sheet and put a clean t-shirt and slapped on a fresh diaper on her. At that point, we were still not sure where the blood was coming from, but it had stopped then. It was a relief that we could not find any traces of blood oozing out of her from anywhere.
Still fighting me with all her might as I was carrying her, I just decided to just put her back into her bed. She did not like it one bit, crying angrily, started clinging on me and refusing to let go. For a split moment, I was afraid that she was not going to go back to sleep at all. The possibility of keeping us awake the entire night seemed so certain!
But frantic as I was, I was surprising rather collected. Instead, I just gave her a kiss and put her back into bed, and we immediately said good night and left her room. Not even 9 seconds later, Spud calmed down and literally stopped crying. Despite stirring a little bit, she fell asleep within 10-15 minutes. (Pheww!)
Now, we both don’t actually know what happened, but we suspected that she may have just clumsily knocked herself on the bars of her bed as she moved about, and somehow hit her lips with her teeth at the same time. Given how much blood the lips and gums can draw, it was hardly surprising.
In any case, that was about the best explanation we can come up with...
While I slept like crap throughout the night, worrying and checking on her a couple of times, Spud slept through till Sunday morning, waking up at 7.30 am and was full of life. There still was a little bit of diluted blood stain on the bed and on her clothes the next day, but it seemed like she has already forgotten what happened the night before.
For me, it was a little bit of an unwelcome scare – as I am sure it must have been for Spud as well! It made me realised how important it is to keep your nerves and composure while having to deal with unexpected shit like that. It also made me realised that having a muslin anywhere handy in the house is a definite must!
Ahhh! The joy of parenting - does not really have to be one that gives you a heart attack, me-thinks.
But last Saturday night was like no other ordinary night we have experienced.
At about 9.25 pm, just as I was about to head to bed, I saw the blue light of the baby monitor flickered, and this was followed by quite a cry. Usually when that happens, we will normally just let her cry for a few minutes before we checking on her; for the chances of her falling back to sleep is high. But that night, her cry turned into inconsolable wail, and after more than 5 minutes, it became a howler of a wail!
I quickly went to check on her, and we found her curled up at the corner of the bed in massive tears. As I turn on the lights, I saw some trails of red stain splattered across the bed. Silver Bullet then asked me what she had for dinner (she had pasta), but it did not seem like Spud had puked out her tomato-based pasta. I was trying to make sense of things, and it took me a while to register that the stain on her bed was actually trails of blood! Not something we would expect…and right there and then, the realisation hit that cripes! Spud cannot be puking blood in her sleep, can she? And why would she puke blood?!
As I picked her up and trying to calm her down, I saw that the top half of her shirt was covered with blood. And as I tried to get the shirt off her (she was completely inconsolable!), I noticed that the blood was trickling from her mouth.
Between the blood-stained bed sheet, wet bloody t-shirt and a wailing baby, there were 2 parents trying to make sense of what had happened, and at the same time, trying to calm down and clean up a possibly frightened toddler.
For a good 10 minutes, nothing we could do was able to calm her down. She did not want to drink, she did not want to be cleaned, she refused to allow any one of us go anywhere near her mouth and she did not want to have anything to do with everything. I started to wonder if we should get to the hospital...but quickly dismissed the thought.
Amidst her violent struggles and mega crying session, we finally managed to clean her up with a wet muslin square which Silver Bullet had fished out, changed her bed sheet and put a clean t-shirt and slapped on a fresh diaper on her. At that point, we were still not sure where the blood was coming from, but it had stopped then. It was a relief that we could not find any traces of blood oozing out of her from anywhere.
Still fighting me with all her might as I was carrying her, I just decided to just put her back into her bed. She did not like it one bit, crying angrily, started clinging on me and refusing to let go. For a split moment, I was afraid that she was not going to go back to sleep at all. The possibility of keeping us awake the entire night seemed so certain!
But frantic as I was, I was surprising rather collected. Instead, I just gave her a kiss and put her back into bed, and we immediately said good night and left her room. Not even 9 seconds later, Spud calmed down and literally stopped crying. Despite stirring a little bit, she fell asleep within 10-15 minutes. (Pheww!)
Now, we both don’t actually know what happened, but we suspected that she may have just clumsily knocked herself on the bars of her bed as she moved about, and somehow hit her lips with her teeth at the same time. Given how much blood the lips and gums can draw, it was hardly surprising.
In any case, that was about the best explanation we can come up with...
While I slept like crap throughout the night, worrying and checking on her a couple of times, Spud slept through till Sunday morning, waking up at 7.30 am and was full of life. There still was a little bit of diluted blood stain on the bed and on her clothes the next day, but it seemed like she has already forgotten what happened the night before.
For me, it was a little bit of an unwelcome scare – as I am sure it must have been for Spud as well! It made me realised how important it is to keep your nerves and composure while having to deal with unexpected shit like that. It also made me realised that having a muslin anywhere handy in the house is a definite must!
Ahhh! The joy of parenting - does not really have to be one that gives you a heart attack, me-thinks.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Flooding Update 0.0
While some parts are still affected by the flood (one of my colleagues is still not able to go back to her home in Rangsit), the inner Bangkok did not even see a trickle of flood water in its soi.
It is looking like the flooding situation within Bangkok has finally started to subside, along with the news updates on flooding that has occurred in some parts of Bangkok.
The good news is that the supply of bottled water and dried food and other essentials have mostly made it back to the shelves of the supermarkets. Still plenty of imported bottled water versus the locally produced ones, but at least there are stocks!
However, the few things I now noticed missing from the shelves of several supermarkets are dish washing liquid and cleaning agents like Windex, floor and toilet cleaners; which according to my observation, they have been off the shelves for more than 3 weeks already.
In a way, it makes sense as people are starting to clean up their homes. But for god sakes, please bloody stock up on those things soon – or I’ll have to start using disposables (not good for the environment!) just because I cannot do my dishes!
Talk about myopic – did anyone ever see that coming? I certainly did not think that even cleaning agents can get out of stock. How much volume of that shit do people use? They can’t be using dish washing liquid to wash the floor can they?
The other bad news is that the crazy traffic jam is back.
Thailand oh! Thailand. Our lives can’t get more exciting than this.
It is looking like the flooding situation within Bangkok has finally started to subside, along with the news updates on flooding that has occurred in some parts of Bangkok.
The good news is that the supply of bottled water and dried food and other essentials have mostly made it back to the shelves of the supermarkets. Still plenty of imported bottled water versus the locally produced ones, but at least there are stocks!
However, the few things I now noticed missing from the shelves of several supermarkets are dish washing liquid and cleaning agents like Windex, floor and toilet cleaners; which according to my observation, they have been off the shelves for more than 3 weeks already.
In a way, it makes sense as people are starting to clean up their homes. But for god sakes, please bloody stock up on those things soon – or I’ll have to start using disposables (not good for the environment!) just because I cannot do my dishes!
Talk about myopic – did anyone ever see that coming? I certainly did not think that even cleaning agents can get out of stock. How much volume of that shit do people use? They can’t be using dish washing liquid to wash the floor can they?
The other bad news is that the crazy traffic jam is back.
Thailand oh! Thailand. Our lives can’t get more exciting than this.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Wiggle Town
One of the things that I find lacking in Bangkok is the availability of some sort of a dedicated play-center for babies and younger toddlers. By this I mean some sort of a center that also caters to working parents who are able to take their kids to such places only on the weekends, and made available to the, not only on weekdays, but for the whole day on Saturday and Sunday. Something that does not cost an arm and a leg.
So, when we stumbled upon Wiggle Town a while back, we were actually quite disappointed that it is located all the way in Pattaya –a 2 hour drive away. Hence, when we went to Pattaya not too long ago with Silver Bullet’s parents, we were only too happy to check it out.
The concept is pretty cool. It is not a nursery, but rather a house converted into a play area targeted at children from newborn to 5 years old. They have modern indoor and outdoor play areas, designed for active play whilst encouraging interaction with other children. As the website puts it, it is the only dedicated play center where children can lay safely while Mom, Dad or Carers can relax.
I especially like the fact that they are open 7 days a week, from 10 am to 5pm, with not so hefty charges.
All in all, the place did not disappoint us. We were there quite early and it was quiet, with only one other older kid around. It was a cosy setting.
Given that it was also an opportunity for the grandparents to spend some time with Spud, we left Spud in their care for a few hours while we went about town to do some errands.
Spud apparently went crazy. She was happy to be let loose and thoroughly enjoyed playing with the pool of balls as well as bouncing up and down the trampoline. We were there for only a few hours, but I highly recommend it if you have little tots when you are in Pattaya.
The one almost similar setting that I know of in Bangkok is currently operating only on weekdays, only very occasionally on a few hours on some weekends. I could only wish they have something similar here in Bangkok in terms of opening hours catering to working parents like us. (Or perhaps, I should just be brave enough to open up such a business here in Bangkok!)
The other place we know of, called the Funarium, caters mainly to bigger kids, with only a small area for infants and toddlers. It is also hideously expensive. (A review for another post!)
Apart from being a little unsure of the strange-looking swing, Spud could never have been happier!
So, when we stumbled upon Wiggle Town a while back, we were actually quite disappointed that it is located all the way in Pattaya –a 2 hour drive away. Hence, when we went to Pattaya not too long ago with Silver Bullet’s parents, we were only too happy to check it out.
The concept is pretty cool. It is not a nursery, but rather a house converted into a play area targeted at children from newborn to 5 years old. They have modern indoor and outdoor play areas, designed for active play whilst encouraging interaction with other children. As the website puts it, it is the only dedicated play center where children can lay safely while Mom, Dad or Carers can relax.
I especially like the fact that they are open 7 days a week, from 10 am to 5pm, with not so hefty charges.
All in all, the place did not disappoint us. We were there quite early and it was quiet, with only one other older kid around. It was a cosy setting.
Given that it was also an opportunity for the grandparents to spend some time with Spud, we left Spud in their care for a few hours while we went about town to do some errands.
Spud apparently went crazy. She was happy to be let loose and thoroughly enjoyed playing with the pool of balls as well as bouncing up and down the trampoline. We were there for only a few hours, but I highly recommend it if you have little tots when you are in Pattaya.
The one almost similar setting that I know of in Bangkok is currently operating only on weekdays, only very occasionally on a few hours on some weekends. I could only wish they have something similar here in Bangkok in terms of opening hours catering to working parents like us. (Or perhaps, I should just be brave enough to open up such a business here in Bangkok!)
The other place we know of, called the Funarium, caters mainly to bigger kids, with only a small area for infants and toddlers. It is also hideously expensive. (A review for another post!)
Apart from being a little unsure of the strange-looking swing, Spud could never have been happier!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Last "food fight"?
We cracked something new recently with Spud following a gentle tip from our Nanny on how to have a relatively peaceful feeding Spud session. And that is by blasting children’s music consisting of “The Wheel on the Bus”, “London Bridge is Falling Down”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider, “If you are happy and you know it..”, as well as the very annoying “ The More We Get Together” Song.
Over and over and over again. Arrgggggh!
For breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Argggggggh!
And then I will have those songs in my head till about mid-day while I am in the office; and just as soon as I was about to forget it, I come home only to hear them all over again.
Argggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
It gets worse in the weekends as we have to play that darn CD during the 3 meal times if and when we are at home.
Apparently, the Nanny has been having some trouble feeding Spud from time to time, and had discovered this in her bags of tricks. Since then, feeding Spud, while still can be challenging at times, has been more of a breeze. We have only started employing the tactic about a week ago, and at the risk of jinxing her now-better eating habits, feeding her with the music on while we sing to her really did wonders to her (actually more of ours!) feeding experience.
While we thought we sort of figured it out last time when it comes to food with Spud, it did not last very long. She soon got bored of the spoon-and-empty-bowl phase, and very soon afterwards, tested our patience by dipping her entire hands into her food bowl whenever she can.
I have, for quite awhile (you should see the halo on my head!) stopped getting frustrated with her, and calmly and steadily just allowed her to play with her liquid food while I watched her. It was a disastrous and messy affair , and funnily enough, both Silver Bullet and I shrugged it off and ended up laughing our guts out. Here are some pictures while she was at it for a good 15 minutes and I could only cringe inside and shudder in utter eeekiness as she smeared all those liquidy stuff all over my hands and some bits of it splattered on my face, hair. (Good thing I was wearing an apron!)
It was a disaster to clean up afterwards. Liquid food was smeared just about every-frickin'-where!
I guess she just needed to get it out of her system as surprisingly enough though, and as far as I can remember, that was our last "food fight" since then. I don’t think it ever happened again after that. For some reason too, these days, Spud starts to show signs of her yukkiness to food stuff and gungon her hands.
We have since found the music trick to be working. Okay, well...at least for now.
Just to confirm, yes, I think I'm still sane.
Over and over and over again. Arrgggggh!
For breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Argggggggh!
And then I will have those songs in my head till about mid-day while I am in the office; and just as soon as I was about to forget it, I come home only to hear them all over again.
Argggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
It gets worse in the weekends as we have to play that darn CD during the 3 meal times if and when we are at home.
Apparently, the Nanny has been having some trouble feeding Spud from time to time, and had discovered this in her bags of tricks. Since then, feeding Spud, while still can be challenging at times, has been more of a breeze. We have only started employing the tactic about a week ago, and at the risk of jinxing her now-better eating habits, feeding her with the music on while we sing to her really did wonders to her (actually more of ours!) feeding experience.
While we thought we sort of figured it out last time when it comes to food with Spud, it did not last very long. She soon got bored of the spoon-and-empty-bowl phase, and very soon afterwards, tested our patience by dipping her entire hands into her food bowl whenever she can.
I have, for quite awhile (you should see the halo on my head!) stopped getting frustrated with her, and calmly and steadily just allowed her to play with her liquid food while I watched her. It was a disastrous and messy affair , and funnily enough, both Silver Bullet and I shrugged it off and ended up laughing our guts out. Here are some pictures while she was at it for a good 15 minutes and I could only cringe inside and shudder in utter eeekiness as she smeared all those liquidy stuff all over my hands and some bits of it splattered on my face, hair. (Good thing I was wearing an apron!)
It was a disaster to clean up afterwards. Liquid food was smeared just about every-frickin'-where!
I guess she just needed to get it out of her system as surprisingly enough though, and as far as I can remember, that was our last "food fight" since then. I don’t think it ever happened again after that. For some reason too, these days, Spud starts to show signs of her yukkiness to food stuff and gungon her hands.
We have since found the music trick to be working. Okay, well...at least for now.
Just to confirm, yes, I think I'm still sane.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Prata lunch date
More than a year on since our last visit, and despite the fact that the website looks horridly outdated - Surprise! Surprise! Cili Padi is still open for business!
Given how close Silver Bullet’s temporary office to mine these days, we do take the opportunity every few days to meet up for lunch, and yesterday, we decided to take a gamble all the way to Silom.
It took us almost hour to get there by BTS, and by the time we got back to our respective offices, 2 hours had passed. In all honestly, I am not sure if the trip is all worth it, but given the cravings I have had for real, authentic pratas these days, it is the only place I can think of that serves something decent. (and definitely glad that they are still in business)
The curry that went with the prata was fortunately pretty good, and we tar-paoed some of those pratas and a piece of murtabak home.
Unfortunately, they ran out of satays, mee goreng as well as the Asam Pedas dish which I did not mind having them to go as well. I guess we’ll have to do that for another time.
The Teh Tarik was still pretty good, and I had some prata leftover with curry this morning for breakfast. Yum!
Very unfortunately, they don’t do any home delivery, and I know this is one place good place to look out for when the craving for Malaysian food strikes.
That makes me a rather cheap date - prata for lunch!
For those curious, the humble restaurant is opened every day, except Friday and is currently located at ITF Building, Ground Floor @ Silom Narathiwat Soi 1, Bangkok.
Given how close Silver Bullet’s temporary office to mine these days, we do take the opportunity every few days to meet up for lunch, and yesterday, we decided to take a gamble all the way to Silom.
It took us almost hour to get there by BTS, and by the time we got back to our respective offices, 2 hours had passed. In all honestly, I am not sure if the trip is all worth it, but given the cravings I have had for real, authentic pratas these days, it is the only place I can think of that serves something decent. (and definitely glad that they are still in business)
The curry that went with the prata was fortunately pretty good, and we tar-paoed some of those pratas and a piece of murtabak home.
Unfortunately, they ran out of satays, mee goreng as well as the Asam Pedas dish which I did not mind having them to go as well. I guess we’ll have to do that for another time.
The Teh Tarik was still pretty good, and I had some prata leftover with curry this morning for breakfast. Yum!
Very unfortunately, they don’t do any home delivery, and I know this is one place good place to look out for when the craving for Malaysian food strikes.
That makes me a rather cheap date - prata for lunch!
For those curious, the humble restaurant is opened every day, except Friday and is currently located at ITF Building, Ground Floor @ Silom Narathiwat Soi 1, Bangkok.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Toe rings
The typical women’s best friends of bling-blings are not, and have never been “my thing”. In fact, the only bling-bling I own is my engagement ring. Okay, and one more item - a pair of diamond earrings. Both of which, I received from Silver Bullet as a wedding gift.
And, to me those are just about quite enough.
However, if there are 2 things I feel naked without, it would have to be my left earring (for the outer ear rim at top of my ear – also called pinna piercing) and my toe rings; and for as long as I remember I have been wearing them forever since I was 18.
I’m not sure what it is about toe rings, but I happened to fall in love with it at such a young age. I must have seen it somewhere around mostly amongst Indian women, and for some reason, unlike nose rings, I thought it looks rather nice on the feet. At such an age, of course, I was ignorant (and later found out) on the fact that toe rings worn by Indian women is usually to denote that these women are married.
Rarely was I asked why I wear toe-rings, but when I do get asked (mostly from Indians themselves), they are surprised that I would wear such a thing.
I guess to me, when I started out at a tender age of wearing toe-rings, it was nothing more of a fashion statement. To a certain extent, it was also somewhat to fuel the need to be different from the rest and perhaps, even out of rebellion.But above all, I just think that toe-rings are cool. (I still do!)
So anyway, toe rings have been a part of me, and recently I lost one of them. Made me feel pretty bummed as that was the last of the spare toe-rings I had in my junk jewelry collection. Because it is so hard to find toe rings here for me to get a replacement in a jiffy, I was without a toe-ring on one of my foot for almost a month. (Shock! Horror!)
While I tried not to think about it, I was quite disturbed as I don’t think I ever felt so naked.
I finally managed to get a bunch from MBK – and that was after an hour of searching, and right at the eleventh hour just as I gave up and was about to make an exit out of the building.
I made sure I bought a few all at one go, so that if I lose one of them, I can replace them easily and not get caught dead without one on each foot.
I now feel fulfilled again.
Toe rings can be real sexy.
And, to me those are just about quite enough.
However, if there are 2 things I feel naked without, it would have to be my left earring (for the outer ear rim at top of my ear – also called pinna piercing) and my toe rings; and for as long as I remember I have been wearing them forever since I was 18.
 |
| Image from Google. (My feet is such a wreck these days!) |
Rarely was I asked why I wear toe-rings, but when I do get asked (mostly from Indians themselves), they are surprised that I would wear such a thing.
I guess to me, when I started out at a tender age of wearing toe-rings, it was nothing more of a fashion statement. To a certain extent, it was also somewhat to fuel the need to be different from the rest and perhaps, even out of rebellion.But above all, I just think that toe-rings are cool. (I still do!)
So anyway, toe rings have been a part of me, and recently I lost one of them. Made me feel pretty bummed as that was the last of the spare toe-rings I had in my junk jewelry collection. Because it is so hard to find toe rings here for me to get a replacement in a jiffy, I was without a toe-ring on one of my foot for almost a month. (Shock! Horror!)
While I tried not to think about it, I was quite disturbed as I don’t think I ever felt so naked.
I finally managed to get a bunch from MBK – and that was after an hour of searching, and right at the eleventh hour just as I gave up and was about to make an exit out of the building.
I made sure I bought a few all at one go, so that if I lose one of them, I can replace them easily and not get caught dead without one on each foot.
I now feel fulfilled again.
Toe rings can be real sexy.
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