Photo

Had a quick look at my Picasa photo album just now and saw this photo of my two girls.

Photo taken when Erin was just below 2 months old.

Not too long ago but both girls have grown so much!  Gotta really treasure these precious growing up moments  :)

An Awesome Princess Birthday Party!

This is a very backdated post. About 2 months ago, Elyssa was invited to a princess-themed birthday party of her ballet classmate.

I got to know the parents of the birthday girl through hubby. I still remember discussing names for our future baby girls when we were pregnant. So lovely that 4 years on, the girls attend the same ballet class every week  :-)

Some party photos -

Activity #1 - Decorating their water tumbler and food container with stickers.

 Activity #2 - Dressing themselves up with fairy items

 Some shots of the food table

 Activity #3 -  Tea Time for the Fairy Princesses!

Not surprisingly, Elyssa was still happily eating away when the rest of the fairies were done. ;)

Fairy Princess Elyssa enjoying her strawberry

   

Activity #4 -Musical Chairs

For round 3, hubby helped out by removing a chair. Coincidentally, that was the round that Elyssa couldn't find a chair to sit. First, she went to sit on the chair that her daddy removed (at the side) but when we all said no, she kept asking "Why daddy remove the chair????  Then I have no place to sit" and then BAWLED!!  Adoi!

Even up to a week later, she still blamed her daddy. I tried to explain the concept of musical chairs to her but she refused to listen. (she thinks everyone should get a chair!)

Activity #5 - Angry Bird Game

Such a cool game! Each kid got 3 chances to throw the Angry Bird soft toy to see how many Pig Boxes they can topple. I don't mind playing this too ;)

What a great princess party, eh?  All the Planning and Execution were done by the parents themselves, with no party planners. 

Elyssa really enjoyed herself (err..except the musical chairs part) especially  dressing up.

And I was thinking to myself "thank goodness her birthday is just over". He he... no way I can plan a party like this!  

ALLERGY ATTACK

I planned to write about Erin’s one year old update after the Birthday Celebration (which was held one day before her birthday) post, but something else came up -

My poor baby had a BAD ALLERGY ATTACK on her first birthday!!!

*sigh*.  I am still traumatised.   :(

 Lengthy Recap of what happened: 

On Sunday, we spent almost 5 hours at Houz Depot, looking for things for our new house.  We did stop for a short tea break at OldTown kopitiam though.

After the shopping trip, baby Erin fell asleep in the car.  She was still sleeping when we reached home so I transferred her to the spring cot where she continued sleeping.  

She woke up crying around 6+pm and kept scratching her head.  I just thought she didn’t get enough sleep.  Made her a bottle of milk then we got ready to go out again for dinner.

In the car, she kept on crying and fussing.  She refused her milk, refused my attempts to breastfeed her (unusual!) , refused her baby crackers and even started throwing her body forwards and backwards while just crying away.   My initial thought was that she was too  tired/hungry/sleepy to drink her milk and then probably made herself too distressed with all the crying.  But after a while, I started to get worried when she just won’t stop crying. We even stopped by the roadside for a while to let her calm down (which she did) but then she started crying again when she got into the car.  

We quickly changed our original destination and chose to just stop by at the nearest coffee shop for dinner.  Hubby ordered food while I carried her around. (she stopped crying when we arrived).

I brought her to a nearby fruit shop and got the shock of my life when I saw under the fluorescent light that her entire face was red and blotchy! Her body had red spots too.   I went back to the shop and showed hubby and we rushed out with the uneaten food and drinks on the table. (and with Elyssa asking why she can’t eat her yong tau foo!)

We were in a panicky mode by then. The red marks seemed to be getting more and more. Frantically drove past four closed clinics (it was a Sunday night) and were contemplating going to the emergency ward of the nearest hospital.  In the end, we drove to a 24 hour clinic near our house.  During the drive, I managed to breastfeed her and she nearly feel asleep. “Nearly” cos I prodded her once in a while as I was  a  paranoid that she may lose consciousness!  When we reached the clinic, there were many people waiting  but I requested to see the doctor immediately.  The nurse allowed us to go straight to the treatment room.

Doctor confirmed it was an allergy attack. Told us if there was a second attack within 24 hours, we shouldn’t even go to the clinic but to rush her to the nearest hospital. Yikes!  He said her airways were clear and decided against an injection as the dosage would be too high for Erin.  Gave her oral medication instead.  As for the cause of the cause of the allergy attack, he said it could be due to pretty much anything.  In terms of food, the only new thing she ate that day was EGG! During our tea time at OldTown kopitiam, Erin sat next to hubby and he used his spoon (he was eating half boiled eggs) to feed her porridge.  So, EGG is currently the main suspect!!   We told the doctor that she had egg but it was approximately 4 hours before the allergy attack.  He said up to 12 hours still possible.  :(

Anyway, we went to my parents place after the doctor visit. They were shocked seeing poor Erin’s condition!  She has such fair skin so all the red blotches were clearly visible.  But slowly, we could see the medicine taking effect – she was back to her playful self and the red blotches slowly subsided. 

So, that was what happened on Sunday night. Luckily no secondary attack within the next 24 hours.

I am pretty devastated. I’ve seen how allergy affects kids and I know if it’s a serious allergy, it can be a  long, long battle to fight.    :(

I am still hoping that hers is a mild case.  Maybe she’s only allergic to half cooked eggs and not fully cooked eggs.  Maybe it was something she touched in Home Depot. Maybe that was a one-off incident that will never happen again.  Maybe….. Maybe…….  *sigh*, my poor Erin.

Erin's First Birthday Celebration

Baby Erin is now ONE year old!

For her birthday celebration, we had a simple dinner together with our immediate family members last night.

I prepared 2 items - birthday cake and jelly.

Erin's birthday cake - Japanese Strawberry Shortcake

Just like for Elyssa's cake, plenty of drama involved and halfway thru, I was thinking why didn't I just BUY a cake instead of having self-inflicted stress  ;-)

 3-coloured jelly with fruits

 Pretty simple to prepare

I also made Erin's name in jelly for the cake, but forgot to use it. 

Aaargh!

Photos taken at the birthday venue -

Erin being carried by Mah Mah and fanned by Ku Jie

 Princess treatment for the birthday girl!

Can spot hubby in the pool? 

We went earlier to have a quick swim before dinner. Elyssa had a good time swimming with her cousins.  No photos of that since I was in the pool with them.  :)

 Birthday Banner and Balloons

Sponsored by Ku Jie.  TQ! 

 Elyssa with the Balloons

 Some of the food

Poor Sis and SIL got very lost so the food got cold. Blame the GPS!

  

Erin with her two Grandmothers

Mah Mah

 Ah Mah

 Birthday Song and Cake Cutting Time 

 Close Up Shot of the Cake since I slaved for hours over this ;)

Yes, very uneven.  Yes, I was aiming for the "rustic look". He hee.

Will I bake again for the girls? Yes, despite my comment on the first photo.

 Inside Shot (all strawberries already hijacked by kids)

3 layered sponge cake sandwiched with fresh strawberries & cream

 My ever faithful cake supporter!

 With my Birthday Princess

Happy Princess with her Balloons 

My Princesses

There were more engrossed with the balloons  :)

Family Photo

 Happy Birthday my darling Princess!

Elyssa's "Computer"

I was busy looking at my PC yesterday but I could feel Elyssa busying herself right next to me.


He he... I just HAD to stop and take a photo when she said "Mummy, look at my computer!" 

   

Not bad huh?  Pink see-thru computer complete with a mouse at the side!

A Scary Near-Miss

Just had a scary near-miss accident last night:

When we were leaving my parents place last night, I carried baby Erin on one hand and was picking up my handbag with the other, while talking to my mum. Elyssa kept calling for attention and then suddenly pulled my hand / Erin's leg (not really sure).   I screamed when I suddenly lost my grip on Erin and she plunged head down! 

But luckily just a split second before she hit the floor, I managed to grab on to her shirt. Erin cried out in shock but she was luckily unhurt.

Phew. I can still remember the terrible feeling as I felt my baby slip out of my hands. So, so scary!  I dare not image what would have happened if she fell head-first from my standing position.  *horror*

Just so relieved that everything was ok. Told Elyssa to never ever pull my hand like that again.

Just like Mummy.....



Mr Happy T-shirt, Just like Mummy?   Checked.

Stroller, Just like Mummy?   Checked.

Baby in Stroller, Just like Mummy?   Checked.

Yup, Elyssa was very happy that day  :-)



-- photos taken about 2 months ago --