It's amusing and heartening to see Yudhi's passion for all things Hotwheels! Of late he has taken to "improvising" with different Hotwheel sets and coming up with weird (but definitely feasibly) scenarios. He has also take to watching videos of little boys - like himself - posted on http://www.hotwheels.com as part of some contest. THe boys keep repeating the tag line - Hotwheels. Beat That!! Since Yudhi has been watching it, he has taken to emulating the tagline too...but only Shizu and I burst out laughing when we realized that actually he misunderstood the words and had been saying "Beat Dad!" Now suddenly that doesn't sound so funny to me! Ha Ha.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Two scary days at thomson medical centre
It was a harrowing experience for both wife and me when Yudhi got salmonella (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmonella) infection. The poor kid had to suffer so much too and besides that everyone suffered in the house. First we took him to the local GP who gave him a painkiller through an injection and some paracetamol. The problem is that Yudhi just refuses to take medicine…any medicine. It becomes an uphill task to administer even the smallest, “tastiest” of a dose. It’s like taming a wild horse. Someone needs to pin his legs, and then arms, open his mouth wide some prevent him from closing it shut and then pour the contents through a syringe. Even then, he manages to gargle most of the medicine out. So you can imagine how tough and tiring it can be. Anyway, we have learnt the hard way to use suppositories instead. Yudhi’s doctor – Dr Terence Tan from Kinder Clinic in Mount Alvernia is really one of the finest pediatrician I have come across. He was the one who suggested using suppositories and we are ever thankful to him for that.
Anyway, so when the fever didn’t come down, vomiting and diarrhea continued, and the poor boy started crouching, grimacing in what was probably unbearable spasmic stomach ache, we didn’t wait any longer and brought him to the hospital – Thomson Medical Centre. The kind Malay doctor there advised us that as our previous GP, he too was not a specialist and only a family doctor. After some preliminary checks he advised us to contact Dr Tan and admit Yudhi for proper treatment. There was just no bed available at all – neither at Mt Alvernia nor at Thomson Medical Centre…so while we waited for Dr Tan, the doc gave Yudhi another pain killer. Dr Tan arrived within 10 minutes and started the checked Yudhi. Most likely, its salmonella, he informed us and mentioned that since the tests can take some time for the confirmation, he would start the treatment right away. He put Yudhi on an IV drip and administered the antibiotics…in no time and without as much as a cringe from my brave little soldier. Shizu and I were by his bedside throughout the day and we decided to take turns as Dr Tan said he would probably keep Yudhi in the hospital for a few days. Shizu volunteered to stay the night with Yudhi while I would go home and sleep with Siddhu. In the evening, Shizu went home to pick up some stuff and she brought Siddhu along for a visit. Siddhu was a bit alarmed at Yudhi lying in the bed with the drip but he too was brave and asked, “Yudhi, you okay?” a few times. We didn’t let Siddhu stay at the hospital for long and Anil (Bisht), who was visiting Yudhi, dropped us home.
Next day, was uneventful except for the fact that towards the evening Yudhi started experiencing terrible pain in his wrist because of the IV drip. Corinna (Cox) came down to visit Yudhi and brought some books and colouring stuff for him and that kept him occupied for some time. And when Dr Tan came for checking up on Yudhi, and as he saw the rather swollen vein, he told me that he would discharge Yudhi but we must ensure that he takes the antibiotic for five days. Well, we came home and somehow the antibiotic was administered and Yudhi went to school exactly seven days after he was admitted. And we just folded our hands and thanks the gods for our precious little one’s recovery!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
lantern festival sep 2008
Mama bought two tickets for Yudhi and Siddhu to attend lantern festival organised by the local community center...two years ago too we had walked along Race Course Road with about 50-odd children and parents holding lanterns, observing the Chinese festival. This year we were late but didn't really miss much action...there were two goodie bags with paper lanterns, lollipops, and a dark brown mooncake. We witnessed some western classical music played by a young chinese girl while the boys played with their friends. As the boys couldn't wait to walk with the lanterns, we started on our own...and by the time we returned, all of the boys friends had gone...later Yudhi cried no end because he was expecting to win the "Grand Prize" at the lucky draw. What an anticlimax! But they had fun too...
Monday, August 25, 2008
yudhi's first medal
he was blindfolded, made to stand in a row (I was group three he informed me later) and then they started walking. he was fast, despite the fact that he couldnt see a thing. and he walked straight. i was budy with siddhu and a bit far off so i couldn't really see clearly. shizu was closer, armed with the videocam to record our wonder boy's first sports participation at the DPS annual sports day. it's a pity that the battery conked off just then...but shizu managed to capture some footage of yudhi runing his first race...err...walk. he was first...DPS was good enough to give him a medal, along with all his classmates just to encourage the little ones...and that was good!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, January 31, 2008
i can poo in the potty...
Let me be honest, it was my idea to start potty training for senior – that’s Yudhi our 4-year-old for you. The wife said, to give her credit, said again and again that there was no need to rush him in and he would learn when the time was right. But being a father and being from India, where potty training used to start even before little children learn to walk, I always had a quirk inside me that he must start, and that he must start now.
How can you teach something to a newbie? Well, you can teach them traditionally, where you speak to them, tell them, and they understand and follow you. So I did that. The wife bought a “potty” book that explained the “business” in children’s terms and contexts. The wife bought a colourful plastic potty which “magically” played music when potty or “peepee” dropped inside. The wife also bought a “baby” toilet seat which could be fitted on top of an adult toilet seat to accommodate the tiny backside of senior (and hopefully junior when the time comes).
I tried the teaching method and nothing worked. Yudhi could recite the rhyming words from the potty book without rhyming the meaning behind. He would become stressed and I would leave him and his pottying in diaper habits alone for a while.
Then I tried the “see and copy” methodology. Not that he had not see the wife or me on the potty before, but I made it an emphasis now to let it be known that each sitting was the best time of my day. I could read, I could finish sudoku puzzles, I could draw, I could write poetry and such. So much was the extent of my role play that I started enjoying my potty time even more than I was hoping my son would. But all this role play also never had any impact…on the other hand, one day, Yudhi told me in no uncertain terms that he would only potty on the potty when he was 16-years-old. I realized that I had been stressing the poor boy too much and decided to leave him alone till he was ready to do his business the way we wanted him to.
Yudhi in the "hot" seat
Two weeks later, one night just before bed time, he jumped up…”I want nappy, nappy…quick, poo-poo is coming,” I asked him, “You want to try the big potty?” Whatever the thought in his head, whatever the reason that made him say yes, I wouldn’t know (but hope that all my role-playing or teaching may have made some impact after all) but just that one yes from his side was all he needed to be potty trained.
Luckily all the props were already there. He lowered his pajamas, and underwear, placed his Winnie-the-pooh! toilet seat on top of the normal seat, and plonked himself on it. He looked at me with a half-unsure plead to leave him alone. And as I left the bathroom, I heard sounds of success plopping down in the waters and my mouth lifted upwards in a smile and my chest swelled with an unknown pride when I dashed to the bedroom to inform the wife.
How can you teach something to a newbie? Well, you can teach them traditionally, where you speak to them, tell them, and they understand and follow you. So I did that. The wife bought a “potty” book that explained the “business” in children’s terms and contexts. The wife bought a colourful plastic potty which “magically” played music when potty or “peepee” dropped inside. The wife also bought a “baby” toilet seat which could be fitted on top of an adult toilet seat to accommodate the tiny backside of senior (and hopefully junior when the time comes).
I tried the teaching method and nothing worked. Yudhi could recite the rhyming words from the potty book without rhyming the meaning behind. He would become stressed and I would leave him and his pottying in diaper habits alone for a while.
Then I tried the “see and copy” methodology. Not that he had not see the wife or me on the potty before, but I made it an emphasis now to let it be known that each sitting was the best time of my day. I could read, I could finish sudoku puzzles, I could draw, I could write poetry and such. So much was the extent of my role play that I started enjoying my potty time even more than I was hoping my son would. But all this role play also never had any impact…on the other hand, one day, Yudhi told me in no uncertain terms that he would only potty on the potty when he was 16-years-old. I realized that I had been stressing the poor boy too much and decided to leave him alone till he was ready to do his business the way we wanted him to.
Yudhi in the "hot" seat
Two weeks later, one night just before bed time, he jumped up…”I want nappy, nappy…quick, poo-poo is coming,” I asked him, “You want to try the big potty?” Whatever the thought in his head, whatever the reason that made him say yes, I wouldn’t know (but hope that all my role-playing or teaching may have made some impact after all) but just that one yes from his side was all he needed to be potty trained.
Luckily all the props were already there. He lowered his pajamas, and underwear, placed his Winnie-the-pooh! toilet seat on top of the normal seat, and plonked himself on it. He looked at me with a half-unsure plead to leave him alone. And as I left the bathroom, I heard sounds of success plopping down in the waters and my mouth lifted upwards in a smile and my chest swelled with an unknown pride when I dashed to the bedroom to inform the wife.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
happy birthday, siddhu!
birthday boy!
Today Siddhu turned two. Oh what a whirlwind two years were these! I remember when Shizu was still pregnant and we came back from India…and the first bed that Siddhu slept in Vas’ flat in Yishun Street 81…anyway, today he was far apart from the fat-covered, bluish tiny baby we first saw on 20 January 2006. and aren’t we glad?
He was dressed in the same Fabindia kurta-chudidaar Shizu bought for Yudhi a few years ago. And Siddhu looked like an angel. As usual we went to the Singapore zoo. Thanks to Anil, we had reservations to use the KFC birthday area. The small group of friends included Miho, Reiko & Ma-chan, Joanne, Jyoti & Advik, Anil & Hoon, Yudhi & Siddhu, Shizu & me and Anusha.
make a wish, boy!
Shizu was busy in the kitchen since early morning and the end result was a fabulous luncheon spread. The cake was adorned with a Barney photo Siddhu’s favourite (even though he didn’t even had a single bite of it) and we all had a generally good time till it started drizzling and we all somehow managed to return safe and dry.
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