Camera shy 可恩

Adri has always been shy of the camera, ever since she was a lil babe. Ask to take a pic for and with her and she'll almost instantaneous start zooming and bouncing around, making an originally simple task impossible!

But on this particular day, she requested for some pics outside Carl's Junior (NEX)! Mummy, of course, was delighted to be snapping away before she changed her mind! :D All I managed were a few pics with my Hp (thanks to Blogger, an iPhone App, I can now upload the pics n blog with the touch of my finger!) but it was nonetheless, a feat! :D

Happy.
Check out Adri's attempt to pose!

疼爱妹妹的大姐

Like any other pair of sisters, the girls do all sorts of things together; they play together...and they fight!

Though younger and far more petite in comparison, Ashlynn has proved herself to be a little feisty girl. Defeat is not a word in her dictionary; she goes all out to win her sister. And very often, to her, to win is equated to a certain amount of 'violence'. God knows where she learnt that from but Ashlynn, without fail, scratches Adri n pulls Adri's hair daily. Her scratches often left marks on Adri n her pulls literally uproots a couple of Adri's hair each time, leaving poor Adri whiny n grouchy because mummy n daddy have reminded (and dictated) that she should nvr do anything likewise to her sister in return but instead, inform us of her sister's misdeeds.

It will be hence be a wonder should there be a day where the girls don't fight. Haven't had that kind of day for months, ever since Ashlynn toddled. They r constantly on the move, running n jumping ard the house.

Extremely rare and endearing it was then, to see Adri being so patient with her lil sis. It was Such a rare and precious moment that I just had to have them captured!

Here, Adri asked for ribena in a cup n when Ashlynn toddled over and asked for some, Adri fed Ashlynn most of it!
Mummy was impressed that Adri could handle the adult (table?) spoon so well and that she was so loving, patiently sharing and feeding her lil' sis, offering her most of her favourite drink and leaving very little for herself. Despite being 'bullied' by her lil sis daily, this 大姐 was still loving n giving.

Now, isn't this an example of unconditional love?
What a lesson for mummy! :)

Mummy is happy to hv learnt about life from the very lives she has 'given'. :)

~The Dad. The Girls~

This is one of my favourite pic.
It never fails to bring warmth to my heart. :)

To watch them interact is BLISS.

Kudos, Daddy Mart, for the exclusive bond u have forged with the girls!
Thank you for being a father who has ALWAYS been present, both physically and emotionally. :D

My 18-mth-old Ashlynn.

Unlike Adri, Ashlynn LOVES to eat!
Mum often uses "敢吃不敢大" (uttered in hokkien) to describe Ashlynn! One definitely cant tell how much of an Oscar (垃圾桶) Ashlynn can be from her petite build! :D

My pretty one munching on biscuits. Mummy's way of keeping her still for a while. :)

Sisters Dressed Alike!

It's so difficult to take a pic of the girls together cos they r constantly on the move! This is one of the better shots!

~ Stomach Flu ~

Monday night - Mum threw up.

Tuesday night - Ashlynn threw up.

Yesterday night - Adri threw up + Mart had diarrhoea (he visited the loo 6x!).

The dreadful stomach flu virus has managed to hit four in a row and out of the four, Ashlynn's episode was the most worrisome. Not that Adri was any less important between my two precious but simply because Adri appeared a lot stronger than mei mei; she continued bouncing around the house after her mega throw-up and she's more than able to articulate any discomfort. Ashlynn, on the contrary, required our constant monitoring and deciphering/decoding of her body language and facial expression.

How's Ashlynn?
Thank God, Ashlynn has fully recovered. Yesterday morning was the last she threw up and her diarrhoea has ceased too. She looks pink (and cheeky; perfectly able to throw some missy tantrums) and her appetite has picked up.

Adri?
Adri is doing fine too. Other than looking a little lethargic and less energetic than usual, she's still into her usual play-play-play-eat-play-sleep-play-play-play routine. She is strong. Adri usual recovers pretty fast from illnesses. Mart and I are blessed. Somehow, we always have the assurance and confidence that Adri will recover faster than expected.
Power of the antibodies in mummy's good milk? =D

Well, night is approaching.
I certainly hope that, by God's grace, Mummy will remain strong and not be "conquered" by the stomach flu virus.
.

What a Birthday!

Ashlynn turned one yesterday. We had her uncles, aunties, cousins and grandparents over for a cosy birthday celebration on Saturday and hence there was no plan for another celebration yesterday. Mart bought a cake and other than the traditional, must-have birthday cake + birthday song, the day remained quite like any other normal weekday.

The day turned out quite predictable and routine until...

"Dear! Ashlynn threw up!" I heard Mart yell.
The next thing I knew, a portion of the quilt and mattress was covered with white slimy, gooey substance that reeked the whole master room of an acrid stench.
What greeted me was secondary. I was more concerned about how Ashlynn was.
Ashlynn whined a little and continued rolling on the bed shortly after (as per her routine before she snoozes each day).
Given that Ashlynn was not our first kid, Mart and I were a lot more calm and collected as compared to the first time Adri fell sick (well, she tumbled off the bed at 5 months).
Ashlynn seemed ok so Mart and I busied ourselves with the mess...

Before we were quite done with the cleaning up, we heard what we thought was another "waterfall".
Splat! Another patch of stinky gooey substance added to the mess on the bed. Ashlynn had thrown up at a corner of the mattress. There were some remnants on the parquet flooring too.
This time round, Ashlynn obviously felt terribly for she was crying with all her might.
Mart quickly comforted and soothed our lil one while I tried to clean up the mess.

After some minutes, Mart beamed and reported that Ashlynn had fallen fast asleep in her crib.
Thank God! Wait no further, we got down to cleaning up.
Just as we were about to be done, we heard Ashlynn's shrill cry again. A quick check on her and we found out she had, once again, thrown up.
Gosh! For the 3rd time within the hour!
Her screaming and wailing probably caused further refluxes and two other bouts of puking ensued shortly, leaving Mart and I little time to react.

We decided it was time to take her to the hospital.
Some quick calls were made and Mart took Ashlynn to Mt Alvernia while I stayed home with Adri. While I had very much wanted to be with Ashlynn, I could not risk leaving Adri home alone. The recent newsreport of the 6-year-old boy who fell to his death in his attempt to look for his parents who had left him home alone when he woke up from his nap still sends a shudder.

Mart returned from Mt A after some 1.5 hour. Doctor diagnosed that Ashlynn could have caught the stomach flu virus. I thought Ashlynn might have caught the virus from Mum who had similar sypmtoms the night before.

Doc instructed that we were supposed to observe Ashlynn, give her lots of fluids to ensure that she did not get dehydrated. We would have to send her in should her eyes turn yellow and should she look sunken.

Ashlynn slept through the night and all remained well till she threw up again this morning. *Sheer heartache*
Other than trying my best to comfort and soothe her, there was little this mummy could do to alleviate the discomfort.
Ashlynn seemed to have grown skinnier just after a few bouts (totalling 7 as of this morning) of puking. Is the weight loss psychological?

Ashlynn's first birthday has been an eventful one.
Like any other ordinary day aside, the viral attack certainly didnt help to make her day any more special (positively).
This reminded me of her actual birth day - 19 April 2010, the day she arrived blue and bruised. =(