URTI

I often see these 4 alphabets on the MCs which my company doctor issues.

URTI, scribbled under diagnosis.

It was only recently when I realised that it stands for Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. In English, this translates into the everyday flu. Runny nose, sore throat, cough and the occasional fever that comes with all these symptoms.

Also recently, I learnt that GE stands for Gastroenteritis, which is gastric flu for you and me.

Doctors write so much a day and I suppose they would find it cumbersome to write all these medical terms in full. With their bad handwriting, maybe all we could see are the acronyms.

When I was at the clinic on Monday for URTI, there was such a long queue that my wait was 2 hours. It’s the flu season once again. The doctor I saw dryly said that they have another term for that – Mondaycitis.

Dinner tonight : Fish with Cheddar and Tomatoes

Recipe taken from Dutch Girl Cooking’s wonderful food blog here.

I used Dory fillets and served it with fried par-boiled potatoes.

KJ didn’t like it as much as the previous fish I did. I think he has an issue with the tomatoes.

You may notice when I make dinner, I tend to bake and use cheese a lot. It’s because I am lazy to clean stove-top spatters and KJ will eat anything with cheese. So there you go.

Speedy Baked Rice

KJ was at an event till quite late this evening so we decided to stay in for dinner.

I rushed home after work, picking up some groceries on the way. It took just about half an hour to prep the dish. I started baking the rice once KJ texted me that he was on his way back and dinner was ready by the time he came home. 

I think I may make this for lunch on a work day when there’s leftover rice from dinner the previous night. Sure beats having an MSG attack from the office cafeteria food.

The game is afoot

Don’t you just love the Wimbledon?

Unlike the French Open, the grass is clean and elegant and the players all look like dignified aristocrats wearing white. It is almost like everyone just decided to come out on a fine Sunday morning to sip tea, eat scones and play a casual game of tennis. With prize money. 

I like that the event has turned into a fashion parade even with such a restrictive dress code.

Sharapova looking fierce in her fitted military jacket

Federer looking handsome and suave in his version of the military jacket. It sure beats the sweater he wore last year. I think the RF logo is very very cool.

KJ and I are making a conscious effort to catch all the matches that Federer plays.

Go Go Fed!!

Photos from Wimbledon, the Guardian and NY Daily News

14 months

Remember this girl?

Xy at 3 days old

She has her own car now!

Her legs are not long enough to reach the pedals yet so for now, she is just enjoying the ride while her dad manoeuvres the remote control.

 

She loves cake. Here, dad is sneaking her a bite from the butter cream strawberry cake which we had for Father’s Day.

I bought her a pair of shades but she prefers mine. I think she has a lot more attitude wearing them too.

None of the cool toys we bought for her hold her interest for long. Instead she seems to prefer any random objects she gets her tiny hands on.

 

Like the Cube of Rubik (Have you watched NATM 2 already?) and a clothes hanger

 

Recently we brought her to a colleague’s BBQ where there were many older kids who started playing cards. A friend was very kind to give her a couple of cards the children didn’t need so that Xy felt less left out. It was very sweet of her though there was really no real cause for concern – our toddler was already deliriously happy marching around the function room all night.

Speaking of walking, she loves it so much that it is hard for us to keep up. She’s even started running recently. If we let her loose at a mall, we’d spend more time chasing after her than shopping.

One thing she’s learnt recently : turning our air purifier on and off. 

She loves to backward-leopard-crawl-and-slide-off the side of our bed. During the day, she’d be busy trying to perfect her technique of climbing up and down some steps. I should bring her to a play gym since she enjoys physical activity so much, but I am afraid that KJ and I will die of exhaustion in the process.

Of course, verbally she’s been expressing herself a lot more now. She says 不要 (No) a lot in a feeble attempt to stop us from feeding her, forcing her to sit in her potty and generally anything else you want her to do. And of course she is still pointing and grunting.

14 months and never a dull moment. I am looking forward to more.

Hide/Reveal trick

Here’s the hide/reveal trick in close-ups.

Ready?

 

Hide……

 

and…

Reveal!

 

She does this all the time, even when there is nothing in her hands . Somehow it is more fun to watch that way.

Father’s Day

KJ helps to babysit XY in the morning while I wash up and get dressed for work. Here she is showing him one of her new tricks – the hide and reveal. She hides her night socks behind her back and then reveals them as if they appeared out of thin air. I love how the light casts shadows on KJ’s sleepy smiling face.

I always thought that KJ would be a great dad and in my book, he truly is. He is patient and nurturing and unlike me, he has a way with children, whether it was playing or explaining bizarre things to them. Things like, why is the sky blue? Why are manhole covers round? What is the square root of 23,601,869,641? Well, you get the idea. 

So here’s to wishing my husband and all dads out there a happy father’s day!

Doodles

We bought some crayons for XY a while back.

Most of the time she is happy just holding on to the crayons and dragging them across the piece of paper –sometimes on the floor too – in uneven lines.

We usually plonk her in the middle of a big piece of paper and draw away.

Regular things that show up during these doodling sessions – stars, fish, poor copies of Sesame Street characters.

Clockwise from the bottom : Cookie monster, Elmo, Grover (all by yours truly), another Elmo, a fish and a star (by Papa). Other random lines by Xy. 

I need to work on my drawing skills.

A day in pictures

 

On the way to work on the company shuttle 

Nothing like a bit of Teh C to start the day

My now-very-tidy desk and trusty planner

New sandals that blistered my feet all over and gave me a sprained ankle

Tea-time happiness in the form of an orange choc cupcake

Going home on the cattle cart

Seeing my little girl zip about in her fancy little car

Indulging in a little gossip after the baby sleeps

 

Don’t you just love the de-saturated colors? So retro!

Photos rendered using Polarize on iPhone.

A slow drive home

This morning when I drove KJ’s car to work, I realised that it is running low on petrol. He said it is enough fuel for me to make the trip to and from the office, so off I went.

I usually take the PIE/BKE to work so going on 100km/h is a norm once the car goes onto the expressway. Whenever I get behind the wheel, I always feel a nagging pressure to drive fast. If I don’t, cars behind me start flashing or sticking really close. Add to that mix the torrents of JB motorcycles which zip in and out of lanes like irritating flies buzzing in your face. Driving is so stressful.

This evening as I started the car to go home, the low fuel indicator light came up.

Shucks.

I called KJ who assured me again that, yes, I will be able to make it home with petrol to spare unless there was a horrible jam. Still, I was a little worried so for the whole journey home, I barely drove above 90km/h in an effort to conserve fuel.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and leisurely drives I ever had. Choosing not to go fast just took the pressure away and I found myself cruising comfortably, driving within the speed limit. I reached home feeling totally relaxed and unflustered.

Still, I would prefer to take the train any day. Can tweet and check my FB updates mah.