Chitter Chatter

Verity is becoming quite a talkative girl. She loves to call out to us and blabber.

She started out at 8 months by addressing us. Not surprising, her first words were 哥哥, since she adores Cavan. even though we always refer to Cavan as kor kor. Her fav call-out was "Catch 哥哥", as it was her fav game. She scored many points with us as her next few words were "Ah ma", "papa", "mama" and not forgetting "mum mum" since she was such a foodie.

But it was funny how she progressed to call Clem from "Papa" to "Ah pa". Whenever Clem appears, she would shriek "Ah Pa!" in a loud shrill voice. So hokkien! My mum said no one taught her to say that as they would also say papa or daddy.

I supposed she took the cue from how she addresses "ah ma" (grandma) and "ah gong" (grandpa which she pronounces as "ah gerng"). Even for Nancy, in tagalog, aunt is addressed as "Tita" but Verity would call her "Ah Ta". Maybe pre-fixing an "Ah" is a form of endearment for her.

It was funnier, cos she would blabber in her normal voice but if she were to say anything with "Ah", she would go falsetto and shriek the names in such loud shrill voice.

So ah-soh!

Family Soccer Time!

A Gift from Cavan

This is the first time Cavan has specially gone and got something for me.

We attended a wedding dinner and on our way out, my brother-in-law got his girlfriend a flower. I'm not sure Cavan saw it but he later exclaimed very loudly, "I want to get a flower for Mommy!"

With this, he skipped and looked around for flower baskets or bouquets but could find none. He asked my father-in-law to help him look for flowers.

When he returned, he was holding a beautiful red rose gleefully.

"For you, Mommy. From Daddy," he said.

"Wow, not bad huh? Helping you score brownie points." I nudged Clem.

I accepted the rose with delight. Cavan was so sweet! He really behaved like a charming gentleman!

My heart totally melted.

June School Hols- Extended

Cavan had an extended school holiday, even though we would not have wanted it to happen.

No, not that we didn't enjoy the school hols. In fact, we enjoyed the time with Cavan as we took leave to spend more time with him and bring him out. Beside the week at Bintan, we also went to the Science Centre, went bowling, watched Kung Fu Panda, had late night suppers and the swimming pool/ water playground.

The last outing to the pool really did it in. Three days later, we discovered spots and blisters on Cavan's palms, soles and buttocks. HFMD! Immediately, we brought him to see the doc. It was suspected that he caught it at the pool and Doc went rattling about some inconsiderate parents who brought their kids (with HFMD) to the pool.

Cavan had no tell-tale signs. HFMD symptoms included tiredness, lack of appetite, fever. He had no fever, no discomfort, lived everyday happily and actively. And he still ate A LOT. We thanked God that Cavan's case was not serious. He also wasn't fussy at all despite the blisters.

So to Cavan, it was a bonus- hols extended. Dad and Mom took childsick leave for a week and spent more time with him. Although this time, we had to stay home but Cavan was sooooo happy!

We spent time building stuff with lego, sang and danced with Hi-Five, went on journeys with Little Einsteins, kicked ball around the house, cycled around the house, had a DIY pizza party, played catching with Verity.

Ah, Verity. We were very worried that the gal would be infected cos she went to the pool too. And according to the doc, baby pools usually have less chlorine so there are more germs (as chlorine has a disinfecting function). But the doc advised that I continued to breastfeed Verity. The antibodies in breastmilk would guard her against the infection.

Thank God, Verity was not infected at all. We had wanted to separate the kids by putting Verity at my parents' place. But it would be troublesome to shuttle to and fro to breastfeed her. So all stayed at home. But Cavan and Verity must not stay close.

That was the most difficult thing that Cavan had to go through. Not the blisters, not the discomfort, not the ulcers. But not being to go near Verity and touch her.
During their play, Cavan sometimes forgot and we had to remind him. We felt terrible that we had to ask him to stay away from Verity in the midst of their exhilarating interaction. He sensibly told us that "I must wait until my hands have no more spots, then I can touch Verity." So he played peek-a-boo and surprise games with Verity from a distance.

So when he was certified by the doc and got clearance, the first thing he wanted to do was to hug and cuddle Verity. Verity was delighted!

Kor-kor, it is good to have you well again! Now we can kiss and cuddle and play closely together! No more from a distance!