Weekend at the Fairmont

Enjoying the paper on the God-only-knows-how-many threadcount sheets.

Jordy recovered from his fever just in time to enjoy a weekend at the Fairmont. Poor D was down with a scratchy throat but had a good time anyway. What we missed out in terms of swimming in the lovely hotel pool we more than made up for in terms of eating! Argh. Have to go back to a more disciplined me come Monday.

The cot provided by the hotel was a big hit with Jordy, think it's something to do with the higher thread count cot sheets. And the cute Mickey Mouse toy and complimentary Kodomo baby bath and shower set was a hit with me!

King of the cot!

We spent most of our time hanging out in the room - we even brought Jordy's favourite toy of the moment, his walker. Which he proceeded to explore every crevice of the room with, and then, not content to merely walk within the four walls of our room, he proceeded to the great wide yonder.

It was like scenes from a dream unfolding - never-ending corridors, all plush and cool, perfect for our fledging walker to speed on. I asked D if it might be a bit like a bad dream, but he said, nah, it's more like a really good one for Jordy!

He started at the lift lobby, admiring himself in the mirror:

Ooooh. Shiny...

Then realised that the corridors just went on and on:

Woo hoo!

And on:

Whee!

It was like witnessing Odysseus returning home after the Trojan War. Or should that be Jordysseus?

After what seemed like a long time walking, Jordy decided to stop for a nice view with his dad.

Jordysseus pauses to take in the view of his kingdom (I'm tempted to make a bad pun on Ithaca, like, Itaka - Takashimaya, get it? Haw, haw, Sorry I know I have sealed my geekhood with this comment).

In all, a lovely, dare I say, restful weekend! Our Mr J loved the cot and slept right though, even through the booming National Day fireworks (he woke briefly at 10pm but I shan't complain)! Amazing.

And in the morning, we all got up around 6ish (rather Jordy got up and played then threw his sheep out of the cot and yelled for us), watched the sun come up over the city, had breakfast at McDonald's (EVIL. eeeeevil) and then went for a lovely walk by the waterfront. Returned just in time for Jordy's morning nap. Dad had a read of The Children's Book and a little snooze, and Mum carried on her rediscovery of the sublime splendour that is The Sandman (I'm doing my annual re-reading of all 75 issues you see).

All the previous times we've done our Fairmont weekends (thanks mum for your annual Christmas and Birthday presents!), it's just been as a quiet twosome, always going out for lovely meals, strolls, some shopping, endless trips to Cedele, a massage or two thrown in, lazing by the pool. I kinda wondered how it would all be with our new permanent flatmate thrown in, and I must say, he adapted rather well (maybe a bit too well!) to resort living. Can see us having a bit of a blast in years to come!

Halyey Westenra does Yue Liang Dai Biao Wo De Xin at World Games 2009

I just love this performance. NZ's own Hayley Westenra truly has an ethereal voice.

Oh, and thanks for everyone's concern! Jordy is now almost back to normal. After his fever abated yesterday morning, he developed a light rash. We went to the doctor for the third night in a row, and he advised us that it was quite common, and the rash was nothing to be concerned about. True enough, by this morning, the rash has all bt cleared up. Jordy is also back to 80% of his normal appetite (still rejecting golden kiwifruit but pretty much finished lunch and dinner) and we're spending the weekend at a luxurious room at the Fairmont Singapore! Fluffy hotel bedlinen here we come!

Fever in the Morning, Fever When You Hold Me Tight

Poor Jordy has been down with a fever since yesterday afternoon. It all started in the weekend, when he seemed rather listless while his mama and gong gong were babysitting him while D and I went to watch Harry Potter (excellent by the way!). He then refused most of his dinner (MOST unlike him) but still slept through till morning.

On Monday, we went to Polliwogs in the afternoon with Sandy and Olive, and Jordy was definitely not himself. Something was bothering him, he was drooling a fair bit, and just unable to settle down and play happily. Poor thing. He slept well that night though.

Tuesday, we had our usual playground date with Pearly and Dylan, Jordy was a little cranky, though he had fun zooming his cars around the jungle gym. He settled well in his afternoon nap, and when he awoke, greeted me with a monkey grin. When I picked him up from the cot, he felt like a little hot lump of coal. Took his temperature and it was 38.6! Freaked out a bit, as he's never had such a high temperature before. Decided to monitor his temperature and it climbed steadily.

When D came home, we decided to bring him to our neighbourhood GP, and when Jordy was seen by the doc at around 7.30pm, had a temperature of 39.4 degrees! Migoodness, he also showed his err, Samson-ite tendencies by struggling to break free of daddy's arms and not wanting to show the nice doc his tongue. Ah well, we were prescribed Brufen and Paracetamol, told to dress him in cooling clothes, give him regular tepid sponge baths and monitor his temperature.

Today, D worked from home, and Jordy woke up at 6am and took two short naps. In between, he played, but not with his usual verve. And he didn't get the hang of, just sit back and relax and read a book, so into his comfy chair he went and we let him watch THREE (!) Baby Einsteins today. If anything, it enabled him to just sit and rest, and not try beating his timelaps by walking around the house!

In the afternoon, I brought him for a drive and a short walk to return our library books, but by the time I returned home after an hour, his fever had spiked again to 39.4. So off we went to the lovely doc again (who didn't charge us, bless his soul) and were again told to just monitor him, as he still looked "feisty" (doc's word not mine! haha) and was well-hydrated (even though he only ate half his lunch and NONE of his dinner. merely has a few spoonfuls of yogurt and strawberry, and only about a cup of water all day... how?! oh and about 75% of his normal milk intake). If the fever goes past 40 degrees, doc's advice was to send him to KK where they can rule out, amongst other things, bacterial infection.

But doc's guess is that Jordy has a viral fever. More than one friend has warned me to watch out for Roseola, so I'm going to keep checking for any tell-tale rashes. And of course, with H1N1, Hand Foot Mouth, and all kinds of other scary things out there, I'm alternating between chilled out and trying-to-be-calm mum of feverish child, and oh-my-god-I-need-to-google-those-symptoms-first-timer-mum.

ACK! Anyway, tomorrow D needs to be at work so I'll be going solo with a poorly (but strong) baby so wish me luck!

The Ball Pit at Polliwogs and a Declaration

Jordy had his first ever play in the ball pit yesterday. The guy just dove right in and had a blast. Then about five minutes later decided it was a bit too much and wanted to crawl around the huge padded playground at Polliwogs instead!



He also managed to hold his own amongst the older kids who were running around maniacally (aside: oh god, is that what is in store for us?!). He politely side-swiped a much bigger boy who was trying to push him off the slide and only crawled away when he was good and ready. Good on you, Jordy!


Just realised I didn't manage to get pictures of him with the other babies. We met Constance and Isaac there, and a few of her mum and bub friends. Quite lovely to see so many other babies so close in age to Jordy. One thing for sure, on the nature vs nurture debate, I'm veering towards nature. There are some traits in Jordy which I just think are just HIM. He didn't learn this fierce streak of independence from me, he's got a very strong sense of self and is confident when playing. He's not a lap baby (i.e. baby who likes to sit on mum's lap) and prefers to wander off by himself. Actually, he sounds like his dad. Hmm, ok so maybe I don't have the nature vs nurture thing all wrapped up.

Anyway, it's just amazing watching his personality and preferences unfold. We were feeding him lunch at Coffee Bean yesterday and he was jumping up and down in his high chair when we laid out his bread on the high chair table, and proclaiming very excitedly when he saw the yogurt container. I mean, who taught him to do that?! He was so entertaining that an American guy in the table next to us (they were separated by a glass screen) came over after his meal and thanked Jordy for entertaining him all through lunch with his cuteness. He tried to interest Jordy in the glasses on top of his head but Jordy just stared at him and carried on chewing his teething ring.

Ah well, all these experiences this past year have provided much inspiration and fodder for a possible short story or book I think. I've always dreamt but never really had the courage to put pen to paper (or rather, finger to keyboard), but several conversations in the past weeks have given me quite a lot of encouragement and hope. Ah well, I may not be a J. K. Rowling writing Harry Potter from a cafe (and she was a single mom some more!), but I really need to knuckle down and DO SOMETHING.

Anyway, the first step is actually committing this in writing in a public space, i.e. this blog, which is probably only read by like five people (you know who you are!) but it's a start. So be ye the first to know, that I, Camel Mummy to Jordy, intend to finally start work on a draft of something-or-other. May take a few years but hey, to borrow an adage, the longest manuscript begins with a single word.

The Children's Book, by A S Byatt

I'm not sure I'll find a book to top this one for quite some time.

This is, put simply, my favourite book in recent memory - and not just because the cover is sumptuously beautiful!

Byatt's Possession is one of my favourite books of all time, but my attempts at reading her other works have been dismal. So with trepidation, I started on her latest offering The Children's Book. Needn't have feared as, though it was complex and difficult at times, the book was so well-thought out, so meticulously researched and perfectly plotted, that I felt the twin urges of speeding through it to find out what happens to the characters, and poring over every word and detail as the writing was so stunning.

Set in Edwardian England, the book is a masterful tapestry of the domestic and the epic - somehow managing to convey both the tiniest details of fin de siecle life and the meta forces that swirl around our flock of characters. And what sets The Children's Book apart from most other books I've read in recent years, what puts it in a different stratosphere, is Byatt's ability to galvanise all her analysis, her historical research, her wonderful use of well-known figures of the time into something altogether new. The power of her descriptive writing made me feel like I was right there at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, or in the dark shadows of a German puppet theatre. Of particular delight was her exploration of different fairy tales, how Grimm's Cinderella was the misshapen-twin-in-the-attic to Disney's technicolour offering to the world.

This book has something for everyone. It is also quite possibly, the BEST value-for-money read out there. And I cringe to think we spent the equivalent buying Carlos Ruiz Zafon's The Angel's Game, which as David put it, is Dan Brown in Barcelona.

So. Read it, read it, read it. Certainly some of the best few afternoons and evenings spent in my life :)

Happy 11th Month Birthday, Jordy!

Birthday jaunt in the park. You had fun rolling your car all over the grass!

Dear Jordy,

Happy 11th month birthday! Life is getting more and more exciting in the Turnip household. It's almost like you are going into hyperdrive - and I don't mean just your crawling speed.

I'm talking about all the things you are learning to do! Every day, you'll do something to surprise me and make me clap and cheer you on. Like today, you managed to match the circle piece into your shape sorter more than twenty times! And each time, I'd cheer and clap you'd lean over and plant a kiss on my lips!

I didn't manage to capture you putting the circle block in its proper place 'cos I was too busy clapping! So this is a photo of one of your initial attempts!

So, the latest tricks you've got under your belt this past month include:

* Putting things inside containers, from blocks, to coloured rings, to cars, to soft toys, into all manner of pails, boxes, bowls, drawers etc.

* Your first words: "Mum-mum" for food, and me! and "Car" for cars, trucks, tractors and motorbikes! The last few days, you've been saying "Ca-ow" for your toy cow and sheep! You say "Pla" for plane and helicopter!

* Waving and clapping: Once you started you now don't stop. You favourite thing to clap at is when you are in the high chair and I bring your lunch over to you. I've also seen you clapping at the Baby Einstein puppets. Especially when the Wheels on the Bus comes on!

* Rolling your cars all over the house while crawling: This is one of your signature activities these days. You roll the cars on any surface, from the floor, to the carpets, over sofas, at a 90 degree angle on the fridge, into the bathroom (!), and today all over the grass at Keppel Marina!

* Kisses for everyone: You went from kissing all your animals on your Old MacDonald poster before naptime, to kissing any soft toy, your bath toys (!!),and me and daddy! It's the most wonderful thing in the world to get a Jordy smooch. You may look fierce to those who don't know you, but we know that you really are a softie... A loving, lovable softie :)

* Walking with your walker: I didn't manage to catch you on video when you were at your most boy-racer-ish, but you were hooning around today for a long time! Clever boy!

* And you're becoming a little bit more sophisticated when you dine! For example, I gave you asparagus for the first time today and you could not get enough of it. I had to ration your portion as I read that asparagus can give you a bloated tummy. So didn't want you to be uncomfortable, but boy, you would've finished off the lot if you had your way... And you're now eating grapes as is (I cut them up into quarters)! And little cubes of bread and cheese, and of course, you LOVE Cheerios.

Now Jordy, I know you may find this catalogue of tiny miracles slightly mundane. You're probably thinking, "What's the fuss about, mum? I'm just being me! Stop fluffing about!".

Well, there. You've said it like a little pro. You are being you, and I feel like a million bucks (sometimes, a tired, wrung-out million bucks) being able to witness your coming into your own.

This time next month, you'll be ONE! Agh! ONE!!! One. Whole. Year.

Is there a word for time seeming to fly, but yet grinding down to a halt some days? I'm not sure but that's what it's been like these past months. The days can pass slowly sometimes, but then suddenly, I look at you, like, really look at you, and then I can see how you've changed just from the day before.

It's perplexing and wonderful all in the same heartbeat.

Ok Mr J, at your present trajectory, you might even be reading this blog next year (spot the biased parent!), so I'm going to keep listing these little milestones. If anything, mummy is remembering how to spell and write grammatically. The hundredth reading of your favourite book "Diggers and Dumpers" does take its toll you know!

Love you lots and lots,

Your mum xxoo

Jordy the Magician

We'll let the video speak for itself. This is how he occupies himself these days! Mum and dad are much entertained.