31 May 2010
Trunki
Look what Bua gave me... (N moves at hypersonic speed, this was the only photo of 6 that she wasn't a blur of excitement).
28 May 2010
Likes and dislikes
Exhausted by pavement pounding, a short post tonight.
Likes: Brushing her teeth up to three times a day. I stress by herself. Eating the toothpaste, by herself.
Dislikes: Not being able to hold on to and play with everyone's toothbrushes
Likes: Anything Gymbaroo related. Has master the art of sitting on a ball, kicking a ball, and the latest addition,
(haven't managed to get a picture of her doing this)
Dislikes: Occasional day care. Last week when we entered she was all shy like until she saw a phone, bolted and then whimpered when she realised we had gone. This week, started crying as soon as she saw the teacher and the next morning when she thought she had to go again.
Likes: Jumping. Obsessed. Especially on her bed.
Dislikes: Daddy telling her to stop jumping on her bed because its 830pm and to get into her pouch.
Likes: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, especially when he eats one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream, one slice of swiss cheese, one piece of salami... and when he isn't a little caterpillar anymore, he's a BIG FAT caterpillar.
Dislikes: Giving the phone back.
Likes: feeding daddy his dinner with a shamash (chamach, meaning spoon in hindi)
Likes: Brushing her teeth up to three times a day. I stress by herself. Eating the toothpaste, by herself.
Dislikes: Not being able to hold on to and play with everyone's toothbrushes
Likes: Anything Gymbaroo related. Has master the art of sitting on a ball, kicking a ball, and the latest addition,
(haven't managed to get a picture of her doing this)Dislikes: Occasional day care. Last week when we entered she was all shy like until she saw a phone, bolted and then whimpered when she realised we had gone. This week, started crying as soon as she saw the teacher and the next morning when she thought she had to go again.Likes: Jumping. Obsessed. Especially on her bed.
Dislikes: Daddy telling her to stop jumping on her bed because its 830pm and to get into her pouch.
Likes: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, especially when he eats one piece of chocolate cake, one ice cream, one slice of swiss cheese, one piece of salami... and when he isn't a little caterpillar anymore, he's a BIG FAT caterpillar.
Dislikes: Giving the phone back.
Likes: feeding daddy his dinner with a shamash (chamach, meaning spoon in hindi)
09 May 2010
Kids are amazing
After the fall; it's been tough. Naina has been bedbound, at times not able to move her right arm, clutching at her neck and always unhappy. Friday, lying down all day. Saturday, lying down, all day. Sunday, lying down, most of the day.
We gave up on baths yesterday as she screamed her way through it. Feeding was whilst lying down (dangerous) and drinking water was out of a soup spoon. Maximum doses of Panadol and Nurofen didn't seem to be making a dent in the pain.
With no tangible signs of progress, we began to despair that she might be this way for a few more days. Depressing. She had started to wriggle and use both hands freely yesterday, but any attempts at sitting upright were met with tears and screams. The words broken clavicle, broken clavicle kept ringing and ringing in my ears and a month of rehabilitation. This continued into today; but we raised her head a little bit on three pillows to get some sense of progress.
She's been normal in every sense apart from being on her back - screaming, kicking, reading, laughing, sleeping, chatting, although it's unsettling having a very big part of life changed from mobile and uncontrollable to bed-ridden and listless.
Deepti had a series of mother's day master strokes today. First she applied a cream to warm up the area and that seemed to go ok. As parents, we were probably neglectful in this sense for the next part. When all else fails, bribery. So out came the lemonade and some small drinking cups, left strategic distances from her supine poses. At 3pm, she made efforts to reach it and with coaxing she sort of started lifting her head and then with my support, sitting up without clutching and drinking. By 3:30pm, it was sitting unsupported, but not anything more. In fact, standing was surprisingly unsteady. More bribery, my (new) glasses and food on the coffee table. By 3:45pm standing alone and starting to walk around gingerly.
Deepti and I both felt like crying; within 3 minutes of the first unsteady walk without pain, N was in the pram and out the door and I was blogging about it. Life less ordinary.
We gave up on baths yesterday as she screamed her way through it. Feeding was whilst lying down (dangerous) and drinking water was out of a soup spoon. Maximum doses of Panadol and Nurofen didn't seem to be making a dent in the pain.
With no tangible signs of progress, we began to despair that she might be this way for a few more days. Depressing. She had started to wriggle and use both hands freely yesterday, but any attempts at sitting upright were met with tears and screams. The words broken clavicle, broken clavicle kept ringing and ringing in my ears and a month of rehabilitation. This continued into today; but we raised her head a little bit on three pillows to get some sense of progress.
She's been normal in every sense apart from being on her back - screaming, kicking, reading, laughing, sleeping, chatting, although it's unsettling having a very big part of life changed from mobile and uncontrollable to bed-ridden and listless.
Deepti had a series of mother's day master strokes today. First she applied a cream to warm up the area and that seemed to go ok. As parents, we were probably neglectful in this sense for the next part. When all else fails, bribery. So out came the lemonade and some small drinking cups, left strategic distances from her supine poses. At 3pm, she made efforts to reach it and with coaxing she sort of started lifting her head and then with my support, sitting up without clutching and drinking. By 3:30pm, it was sitting unsupported, but not anything more. In fact, standing was surprisingly unsteady. More bribery, my (new) glasses and food on the coffee table. By 3:45pm standing alone and starting to walk around gingerly.
Deepti and I both felt like crying; within 3 minutes of the first unsteady walk without pain, N was in the pram and out the door and I was blogging about it. Life less ordinary.
07 May 2010
The collar bone is connected to the rib cage
Yesterday, upstairs trying to relax, Deepti downstairs watching TV. Naina decides its boring with dada and heads down to Deepti. Negligent parent that I am, I watched her half-way. My second mistake in two weeks. According to Deepti, N got to the last two or three steps before tripping and landing on the floor with her hands held out in front of her. Couldn't actually hear the clavicle fracturing, but we might find out soon.
N was upset. Usually these are short outbursts of tears which last 10 minutes. This time she didn't settle and kept grabbing her neck region. We drove for a while to calm her down and came home again, but she started screaming again. After 30 minutes we decided to see a doctor. At 8pm on a Thursday night. A visit to the ED, sigh.
Unsure of which hospital, we headed to the maternity hospital. N settled in the car; that nervous settle; not sure to go home or keep going. We kept going. Arriving, she was still quiet; I expected to park the car and join them, only for Deepti to say, let's go home. We stayed.
N got attention from a stern looking triage nurse who silently scolded uneducated parent-types like us for not knowing that our daughter didn't have a major head injury or a minor head injury and should have been seen by the GP in the morning. This knowledge is imparted by reading a government website.
Waiting. 45 minutes in a public ED can be educational; a patient informed everyone that AIDS was invented by George Bush's father.
N was seen by a doctor who ordered an X-ray. This was going to be fun. Waiting for the doctor to finish talking to her boss, N emptied her bowels into our last remaining clean nappy. Mental note; keep spare nappy and wipe pack in the car.
So, now N was stripped of her clothes, cold, tired, had recently evacuated her bowels and was wearing hospital panties, there was a very large slightly deadly x-ray emitting machine hanging over her head, her head was resting against a hard metal plate, her clumsy dad was trying to pin down her head with one hand and her arms with the other and her mother had to leave the room because she was 6 month pregnant. I think that captures the scene well!
She got the knack the second time and lay still; the x-ray done N burst into tears again saying No no no no... remarkably resilient this one, there's a lot I can learn.
N's x-ray showed no fractures at the moment. There's no visible damage, but a fracture in someone so small may only be visible in a few days as it heals, but that will be only after five days of pain and decreasing use of her arm. And fractured clavicles can't be repaired surgically and two year olds don't like slings. So N's going to be in pain as she moves her arm for up to two to three weeks and shouldn't lift any heavy items like bricks or pot plants. That's what the government website told me Miss stern faced triage nurse!!
N collapsed asleep in the car and didn't wake till the morning. It was tense at the time; but like the car, it could have been a lot worse. For this we are grateful. Naina spent today lying down (not exactly sure why as her legs were working fine after the fall yesterday) being fed panadol and nurofen and chicken soup and watching Elmo and In The Night Garden. Not a bad lifestyle really.
N was upset. Usually these are short outbursts of tears which last 10 minutes. This time she didn't settle and kept grabbing her neck region. We drove for a while to calm her down and came home again, but she started screaming again. After 30 minutes we decided to see a doctor. At 8pm on a Thursday night. A visit to the ED, sigh.
Unsure of which hospital, we headed to the maternity hospital. N settled in the car; that nervous settle; not sure to go home or keep going. We kept going. Arriving, she was still quiet; I expected to park the car and join them, only for Deepti to say, let's go home. We stayed.
N got attention from a stern looking triage nurse who silently scolded uneducated parent-types like us for not knowing that our daughter didn't have a major head injury or a minor head injury and should have been seen by the GP in the morning. This knowledge is imparted by reading a government website.
Waiting. 45 minutes in a public ED can be educational; a patient informed everyone that AIDS was invented by George Bush's father.
N was seen by a doctor who ordered an X-ray. This was going to be fun. Waiting for the doctor to finish talking to her boss, N emptied her bowels into our last remaining clean nappy. Mental note; keep spare nappy and wipe pack in the car.
So, now N was stripped of her clothes, cold, tired, had recently evacuated her bowels and was wearing hospital panties, there was a very large slightly deadly x-ray emitting machine hanging over her head, her head was resting against a hard metal plate, her clumsy dad was trying to pin down her head with one hand and her arms with the other and her mother had to leave the room because she was 6 month pregnant. I think that captures the scene well!
She got the knack the second time and lay still; the x-ray done N burst into tears again saying No no no no... remarkably resilient this one, there's a lot I can learn.
N's x-ray showed no fractures at the moment. There's no visible damage, but a fracture in someone so small may only be visible in a few days as it heals, but that will be only after five days of pain and decreasing use of her arm. And fractured clavicles can't be repaired surgically and two year olds don't like slings. So N's going to be in pain as she moves her arm for up to two to three weeks and shouldn't lift any heavy items like bricks or pot plants. That's what the government website told me Miss stern faced triage nurse!!
N collapsed asleep in the car and didn't wake till the morning. It was tense at the time; but like the car, it could have been a lot worse. For this we are grateful. Naina spent today lying down (not exactly sure why as her legs were working fine after the fall yesterday) being fed panadol and nurofen and chicken soup and watching Elmo and In The Night Garden. Not a bad lifestyle really.
The good part
The party was great! We all had a blast.
As with any good Indian kids party there was plenty of food: Hakka Chow Mein, Samosas, Veg Manchurian and Rasmalai (caterers). Deepti also prepared: Chaat, tomato chilli chutney, and pulao. Then there was the cake. A lot of food was consumed, but its probably true, half the food, twice the money.
Carnegie Day Centre is a day care during the week and hireable after hours. It's kind of cutesy; kids toilets with a glass door, (advice was given to me by Aadya that I should perhaps use a different toilet), a play pit, lots of oversized toys for small hands, outdoor wash area and securely fenced off. Fantastic recipe for kids to go nuts and parents to remember what pre-parenthood parties were like. Smash away kids.
Deepti informed me that balloons are the must have accessory at a two year old birthday. (Queue sudden moves towards Spotlight). And it was true. The balloons kept the babes amused the whole three hours till they wafted out of sight in the Melbourne gloom (the balloons and the babies I guess).
Naina's growing up. Didn't get shy or cry when everyone was singing happy birthday!
We were so happy with how the afternoon went; I would have melted down after the car accident if it wasn't for the opportunity to meet so many of our friends and their kids and enjoy a few hours. And big thanks to all who came and ate cake and then cleaned up for us! The perfect friends.
As with any good Indian kids party there was plenty of food: Hakka Chow Mein, Samosas, Veg Manchurian and Rasmalai (caterers). Deepti also prepared: Chaat, tomato chilli chutney, and pulao. Then there was the cake. A lot of food was consumed, but its probably true, half the food, twice the money.
Carnegie Day Centre is a day care during the week and hireable after hours. It's kind of cutesy; kids toilets with a glass door, (advice was given to me by Aadya that I should perhaps use a different toilet), a play pit, lots of oversized toys for small hands, outdoor wash area and securely fenced off. Fantastic recipe for kids to go nuts and parents to remember what pre-parenthood parties were like. Smash away kids.
Deepti informed me that balloons are the must have accessory at a two year old birthday. (Queue sudden moves towards Spotlight). And it was true. The balloons kept the babes amused the whole three hours till they wafted out of sight in the Melbourne gloom (the balloons and the babies I guess).
Naina's growing up. Didn't get shy or cry when everyone was singing happy birthday!
Cutting the cake
Balloons
Shh, no one's looking.
N nibbling the samosas.
Shh, no one's looking.N nibbling the samosas.
Harriet in oversized toy car.
Zara calling the shots.
Harriet concentrating.... hard!
Harriet concentrating.... hard!
We were so happy with how the afternoon went; I would have melted down after the car accident if it wasn't for the opportunity to meet so many of our friends and their kids and enjoy a few hours. And big thanks to all who came and ate cake and then cleaned up for us! The perfect friends.
A bad - then good - then bad again two weeks
Life's ups, life's downs. Have to be philosophical. Need to be; the guilty one is the perpendicular pronoun. I.
Birthdays for a two year old are surprisingly complicated. Everything. Hire a hall ($400 bond), meet with caterers, organize gifts for other children, make sure invitations reach the right people. All done and sorted by 6:25pm on Friday 23rd April.
At 6:30pm on Friday 23rd April, returning from work, I miss-judged a turn in the rain and dark on an unfamiliar road and crashed the car into a pole. Two people got out and checked all was ok and called Deepti for me. Chain reaction of calls; nervousness, standing in the pouring rain, dealing with a tow truck driver, and then the indignity of the police showing up and breathalysing on the street.
At 11pm, trying to defrazzle at home, I started to look for the swipe card for the (Saturday afternoon $400 bond) hall. It was of course, securely stored in the glovebox of a securely towed crashed volvo now locked up in a tow-yard in South Melbourne. A door got kicked.
Getting to your two year old's party in a borrowed car with a $400 swipe card, priceless.
Birthdays for a two year old are surprisingly complicated. Everything. Hire a hall ($400 bond), meet with caterers, organize gifts for other children, make sure invitations reach the right people. All done and sorted by 6:25pm on Friday 23rd April.
At 6:30pm on Friday 23rd April, returning from work, I miss-judged a turn in the rain and dark on an unfamiliar road and crashed the car into a pole. Two people got out and checked all was ok and called Deepti for me. Chain reaction of calls; nervousness, standing in the pouring rain, dealing with a tow truck driver, and then the indignity of the police showing up and breathalysing on the street.
At 11pm, trying to defrazzle at home, I started to look for the swipe card for the (Saturday afternoon $400 bond) hall. It was of course, securely stored in the glovebox of a securely towed crashed volvo now locked up in a tow-yard in South Melbourne. A door got kicked.
Getting to your two year old's party in a borrowed car with a $400 swipe card, priceless.
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