to-do-list

Note to self: Gotta catch up with some friends before we move back at the end of the year.

Here's a to-do-list: 

1) Kassel

2) Berlin

3) Dresden

4) Munich

5) Hockenheim

6) London

7) Billingshausen

and if we really have a weekend free, perhaps Brussels? 

Arrrgh, it's been raining all day... grey grey grey! So depressing... :(

labour day

it's a bank holiday in America, which means school's closed for today. 

I woke up feeling all miserable. The weather wasn't really the culprit, though dark clouds loomed and it started to pour even before the kids and I made it out of the house for our date with Bryan's classmate Daria and her mom. 

Well, it's the 1st of September and it means we need to start getting things ready for the move back. 

We need to terminate contracts with the phone service providers, utilities, my gym membership, our apartment etc... Movers are coming in at the end of this week to survey our place and make estimates. Basically, they aren't nice thoughts. It means my SAHM-dom will end soon, and returning to work force is imminent! 

I don't remember anticipating to move to Frankfurt with great enthusiasm. Perhaps I was too busy to even think about the move then. I was more worried that Kristin would arrive later than the EDD of Aug 25th. Then the movers came and loaded our boxes into the container by the end of September. And before I was even fully lucid between my delivery/confinement/caring for newborn/movers/packing , my husband left for Frankfurt. The kids, grandparents and I joined him six weeks later. 

I have no idea how time slipped by between Nov 15th 2005 and now. The time has come for us to pack again. Lots of things to think about now... a heavy heart... sigh!

inspiring clowns...

The reason why Kristin remains all composed despite the deep scratch on her nose is...






we've been entertaining her with tongue twisters and songs from this book.

in sickness or in health...

Here we go again. It's the time of the year when people - young and old alike - get their natural dose of detox. I'm waiting for my turn.

Yes, we were travelling over the Easter weekend. We had loads of fun. But what I didn't mention was Bryan threw out just moments before we took off. And while we were out trudging on snow, he had loose stool every day! Still that didn't deter him from sledding down the slopes. I bet adrenaline was the best remedy. He came out of this stomach flu bug as quickly as it got to him.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Kristin. Definitely not for a girl who's barely at the 3rd percentile of the weight of her age and whose palate is difficult to please - that's an understatement.

This is day 3 of her exhibiting symptoms of stomach flu. She's still not eating/drinking much. After the lesson from last year where she lost 10% of her body weight (10% was alot for Kristin when her total body weight was only nearly 10kg), we swiftly brought her to a paediatrician. Well, the doctor said, the vomitting would continue and the diarrhea would come. And if she didn't want food, then just let her be. Give her some glucose water and camoumile tea. Great! Now I can officially let my daughter starve. And boy, did she do well yesterday! She only had about 400 ml of glucose water, some water while she downed her medicine, and 10 pieces of plain pasta, 10 ml of very diluted milk for the whole day! See, I can count with just one hand what she ate or drank! Kristin's certainly happy that her Mommy wasn't buzzing around her, telling her to eat/drink.

I'm praying that the virus in Kristin will starve to death sooner than her not eating/drinking well. I'm looking forward to a better appetite when she rides out this bout of vomitting/loose stool. And for sure, I'll be doing less laundry then!



Kristin was so feeble and tired that she just threw herself over the couch and slept! No kidding!

is she tired...

We walked around in the Carl Schurz Siedlung - where the school is located - today. I really like this area. There are hardly any cars around, mainly stationary only - thanks to the rigid security measures. All cars entering the compound must be registered with the consulate and only residents to the area are permitted to enter. But since Bryan attends the school there, our particulars have been scrutinised and we've been issued passes to enter the Siedlung.

So I always get Kristin to walk around, with only one aim: To expend her energy. Besides, it's healthy to let her run a little and work her lungs to get in more fresh air. But she walked a whole lot today... all the way from school to the playground and lots more on the playground itself and then 1/4 way back to school. Well, the rest of the journey was OUCH for my shoulders and back. By the time I left the school, it was 5 minutes to 11 am. Almost two hours after I've dropped Bryan off for school.

Then I drove home only to find Kristin already asleep in her car seat. That's not it. We went out again. Basically I went back into our apartment to get the buggy out and I was off to the bank in the city centre. Had to run errands today. Got to get US dollars ready to pay for Bryan's school fee. Then it was back home for lunch for the two of us... and before I even had time to clean up, it was time for me to pick up Bryan...

I'm really the tired one here.

Look, I promise I'll write on those not so good days coz being a SAHM is certainly no holiday job. I gotta be realistic about what I do here.

Here's a clip on Mommy working Kristin out.





Another one with Kristin out at the playground near Bryan's school:





I know, the quality ain't too good. It's just my camera phone.

stomach flu... again

It's the time of the year again. And we didn't learn our lesson well last year. We fell victims to this virus again. Of course, it started with Bryan first. He's already on his way to recovery after a week of plain porridge and very little milk, while Kristin's bout has just started on Saturday officially.

She had a higher temperature than the kor-kor and the fever was persistent and only subsided on Sunday night. But we sent her to the PD this morning coz she was already losing too much fluid. She couldn't contain anything in her stomach at all... either way, top or down, it came out.
Thank God her body is reacting positively to the electrolyte drinks we've been giving her since this noon. Vomitting has gone down from 5 times yesterday to 2 times today, and diarrhea has gone down from 7 times to 3 times. She weighs merely 8.7 kg now - probably way underweight for her age right now. And to begin with, she's a featherweight baby, only 9.5kg... So she's lost like 10% of her weight. She didn't get much of this stomach flu episode last year coz she was still on breastmilk then. If only I was still breastfeeding her now...

She's never been so quiet and still and feeble... she would just sit on her high chair and stare blankly into the air... this is so unlike her usual chatty and bubbly character. Nothing seemed to interest her until Daddy played her favourite Brainy Baby's Music VCD. That started to spark some life into her. Hopefully, the worst is over. And things will get better from now onwards.

the rules...

An incident in school yesterday has made 5 rules out of us!

The class was going for an outside walk. And when the children do their walk, they will hold on to a hoop. They get to choose the hoop they want to hold onto. And one child (Daddy thought it was Ryan) got hold a red hoop first. Bryan saw the red hoop and wrung the hoop out of the child's hands and, of course, this kind of behaviour couldn't be tolerated. So Miss Julie pulled Bryan aside and started talking to him. As expected, he cried before Miss Julie could even talk any sense into him. Recognise this typical snatch-and-go-and-then-cry-when-the-object-is-returned-pattern from any younger child? Yes, he's been observing how meimei gets away with crimes like this and he's doing it in school now. Anyway, cut the long story short, Bryan was made to miss the walk and ended up with a time-out session in the director's office. But the last straw was that he didn't tell us about it at all when he was home. All I could sense from him was that he wanted to go to the playground badly when he got home that afternoon. In the end, Daddy only found out about it when Miss Julie told him the next day.

So when Mommy found out about it, it was punishment and 5 rules henceforth.

The Rules:
1) Always listen to (obey) Daddy and Mommy.
2) We do not fight.
3) We do not snatch.
4) We do not cry for no reason.
5) We share toys and play together.

The rules apply when we're home, outside, anywhere at all times. And in school, he has to listen to his teachers.

We'll see how it goes from here.

By the way, it was Jake and not Ryan. And I'm secretly relieved that the tension between Bryan and Ryan isn't stretched any further than it already is.

stomach flu...

Please pray with us! It all started with Bryan. He's down with stomach flu and now it has been passed around to Mommy and Kristin. And Grandma is beginning to feel unwell. Bryan isn't getting any better either. Poor boy, he's not been eating much. We've got to go back to the paediatrician tomorrow.