Rey's chicken poxes have completely cleared after 2 weeks of quarantine.
Actually, our pediatrician told us that most likely Rey did not need a full 2-week quarantine; he may have had a so-called "modified" type of chicken pox, a far milder version than the standard one.
But exactly after Rey's quarantine, Rio started to have spots...just one on his right upper arm, and 3 spots on his back as shown here.
The pediatrician does not think the ones on his back are chicken pox, though the one on his upper arm may be so.
Since Rio had a vaccine within 3-day of his exposure, the pediatrician concluded that he may be having a very much milder version of "modified" chicken pox. Only maybe (meaning, it could well not be chiken pox, altogether).
So Rio was advised to stay at home for a few days, only till his spots subside so that the doctor can issue a letter of consent to clear his case. Just for a peace of mind for the parents of his schoolmates. ;-)
I just wished Rio had the condition before Rey completed his 2-week quarantine...*sigh*
Rio is now only one-month shy of his 2nd Birthday.
But his command of language (especially that of English) is far more advanced than that of Rey at that age.
I guess being the second-born, as well as the fact that he started going to a nursery school one year earlier than his elder brother, contribute greatly to his advantage.
Around this age, Rey only managed to utter random words, such as "No", "Shire" (because he was a huge fan of "Lord of the Rings" at the age of 2), and "Kope" (don't ask me what he actually meant with that word).
But today, Rio made a huge leap from a simple world of "random word" to a complex domain of "structured sentence", when he uttered;
"What Is It!?"
while watching out of the window of a taxi on his way to his school this morning.
That was the very first structured sentence my tiny Rio uttered in his life.
Hooray! I'm so glad that I've managed to capture that memorable moment.
This is when I really feel glad about having been blogging, as it can in a way crystalize the moment to cherish.
But his command of language (especially that of English) is far more advanced than that of Rey at that age.
I guess being the second-born, as well as the fact that he started going to a nursery school one year earlier than his elder brother, contribute greatly to his advantage.
Around this age, Rey only managed to utter random words, such as "No", "Shire" (because he was a huge fan of "Lord of the Rings" at the age of 2), and "Kope" (don't ask me what he actually meant with that word).
But today, Rio made a huge leap from a simple world of "random word" to a complex domain of "structured sentence", when he uttered;
"What Is It!?"
while watching out of the window of a taxi on his way to his school this morning.
That was the very first structured sentence my tiny Rio uttered in his life.
Hooray! I'm so glad that I've managed to capture that memorable moment.
This is when I really feel glad about having been blogging, as it can in a way crystalize the moment to cherish.
Rey loves drawing more than anything. We got him Mala easel from IKEA around the end of 2006, since then, he has been drawing all sorts of things with all sorts of drawing materials; colouring pencils, pastels, crayons, water colours, and markers, etc. You name it.
I think most kids LIKE drawing, if they don't LOVE it.
Honestly, I have not met a kid who HATE drawing.
Often, they just keep drawing all sorts of things using so many pieces of papers, after a while, we just stop paying attention, or stop tracking them. Then, we end up with so many sheets of drawing and craftworks, not knowing which belongs to what age, and/or sometimes even to which kid (if you have multiple numbers of kids who love to draw...like me!).
Now, I really really regret of not labeling or categorizing them one by one, with the name of the artist and the date of drawing/crafting for future reference. Sometimes, chores of everyday life can be so overwhelming, you tend to neglect somethings that are not pressing, thinking that "I will do it later, when I have time", then too often, you completely forget about it altogether!
So here is a short list of easy and simple things you can do to keep the record of your kids' artworks, and ways to make them even more memorable. ;-)
- First, take snap photos of your kid while she/he is doing the artwork, preferably with a digital camera (even cameraphone will do!). This way, you can have digital & visual record of your kid's artworks, including vital information such as the date, place, and the way your kid looked like then. ;-)) You can just *snap!* and go about doing things you are busy with. It takes only a few seconds, if you are using a cameraphone.
- Upload the digital photos to any photo-sharing site like Flickr as often as possible; this way, your digital record will be safe even if you lost everything to a disaster like a fire or flood. You may lose the actual drawing and crafts and everything else, but the memory remains intact.
- In the modern world of Internet and online tools, you can basically do anything with the digital images of your kid's artwork; you can use them on your blog (if you have one), create an online timeline at circaVie and/or digital scrapbooks.
- You can also convert them into a really big artwork for that big blank (ahem, crayon-scrawled) wall of your living room, or kid's room. http://homokaasu.org/rasterbator/ You can print them out on your own computer, and put them all together! This can be a fun project with really amazing results - pictures up to 20 meters in size, both color or B/W. This can be done almost as cheap as free, and if you are tired of the current image, you can change it anytime at almost no extra cost! ;-))
I'm sure there are many many more things we can do with our kids' artworks.
I will update this list, once I gather more ideas and nifty hacks to share.
Any ideas and/or comments from you are of course welcomed! ;-)
"I have only 2 spots on my tummy!"
Rey came down with chicken pox on the last Saturday, with 3 red small dots on his belly. So ill-timed, as my mother and aunt are coming over to Singapore on coming Thursday for a week!
Once you are down with chicken pox, for better or worse, you are quarantined for 14-days. No stepping out of the house allowed. No eating out, no school, no playing with friends. None.
Rey was so sad that he could not play with his best friend on that Saturday.
Moreover, he has had no fever or weakness; he feels like as well as any other day, yet big people around him has denied his due right to play with his friends, go to school, or even eat a certain foods. How unfair.
By the 5th day, today, he has developed as few as 10 spots for the entire body.
Most of them are just red spots, with no pus or itchness.
Very lucky boy I would say; especially so when compared to his poor cousin J (actually Rey got his chicken pox most likely from this cousin).
But still, he won't be able to go out till his quarantine is over; by the time, my aunt would also have to go back to Japan. Hopefully, Rey and my aunt will be able to enjoy their time together by playing Nintendo Wii, which she will bring over as a souvenir for Rey! ;-)
What's HOT among parents-wannabes in Japan?That's "Gender Selection" and "On-Demand Pregnancy".
Yup, you heard it correctly.
It's not "Planned Childbirth" or "Planned Delivery"; it's On-Demand "Pregnancy", that is.
According to an obstetrician in Japan, Dr Hara of "Hara Medical Clinic", more than 80% of Japanese couples who visit his clinic for their second child or more will ask for so called "on-demand pregnancy", meaning they already have a desirable date, sometimes even down to the timing of the birth (e.g. "I want my daughter to be 9:30 am in the morning of 21st of September 2008!"), in their minds, even before they conceive a child.
Why? Many of them state fortune-telling as a reason; they believe that a child born on a certain date and time will have better future prospects, or even have a better temperament. ;-) Some others are going for on-demand pregnancy because of their biological clock (e.g."I need to give birth within this year, before turning 35 years old, etc) or academic reason (e.g. "I want to avoid giving birth my child in March, because that will give him/her disadvantage when entering a primary school - since Japanese education system starts from April; kids who were born in March have to enter primary school almost one year earlier than kids who were born in April)
On top of that, many of these parents who go for "on-demand pregnancy" also prefer having "gender selection".
According to Dr Hara, in Japan, the accuracy of gender selection technique in Japan is as high as 95% success rate. And 90% of his clients prefer having girls for they think it's "easier to take care of girls".
The funny thing about Japan is, though the society is pretty open-minded about "gender selection" and "on-demand pregnancy", they still have much resistance about "planned delivery" and "painless childbirth".
Painless childbirth with epidural anesthesis is still rare and only available at a certain privately-operated clinics, which are usually very expensive and in only a certain selected area of Japan. Women are not at the liberty to request for C-section on their own will, unless doctors see it required for serious medical reason.
Japanese society has this ideology that "Childbirth has to be natural; and the mothers-to-be should be able to survive the agony of childbirth no matter what. That's what it takes for them to become a mother". If a mother in labour moans and groans too much (or too loud), doctors and nurses will scold them saying that "You are going to be a mother! How can you become a mother if you can't take this!"
What the he*k. Fathers still claim their fatherhood and make their kids follow their paternal surnames even if they do nothing but ejaculation.
Original Article from: http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/living/style/80274/
My sis-in-law has been telling me to updating my weblog in English for ages.
And I have been telling her "Yes, I will. One day, I will" for ages. Really.
I have been running a Japanese website and weblog titled "sleepydays.net" since 2002.
But until recently, I did not really put much efforts in creating their English version, because it seemed too "tedious".
With the recent adoptation of the latest Movable Type 4 platform for both of my site and blog, however, I finally made up my mind to go forth and really - "REALLY" - start creating their full-body English version for non-Japanese viewers.
So here it is. I'm going to start bloggin' about my life as a working mother of 2 young active boys in Singapore / Japan / and the World at large. I hope you will enjoy your stay on this tiny corner of Blogsphere.
Love & Cupcakes!
XXX
sleepydays
And I have been telling her "Yes, I will. One day, I will" for ages. Really.
I have been running a Japanese website and weblog titled "sleepydays.net" since 2002.
But until recently, I did not really put much efforts in creating their English version, because it seemed too "tedious".
With the recent adoptation of the latest Movable Type 4 platform for both of my site and blog, however, I finally made up my mind to go forth and really - "REALLY" - start creating their full-body English version for non-Japanese viewers.
So here it is. I'm going to start bloggin' about my life as a working mother of 2 young active boys in Singapore / Japan / and the World at large. I hope you will enjoy your stay on this tiny corner of Blogsphere.
Love & Cupcakes!
XXX
sleepydays
P.S. The image above was drawn by my elder son, Rey. Everytime I get upset with him, he will draw a nice picture of me and him together, with a lovely heart mark in-between, to show that he loves me to be happy with him.
How can you go on getting upset with him, with a picture like that in front of you?
