Cheeks To Cheeks

On the day of Christmas eve,
I lost the chance to get to know you.
I so wanted to hold you dearly,
touch that little arm of yours,
stroke your little fuzzy haired head.
Mummy loved you so much,
yearned for you,
cried for you.
Only time can heal my heart, body and soul.
I love you my sweet babe.
Rest well and now go frolick with the angels,
who will forever protect you.

By this time next week, I will be enjoying a nice cuppa iced teh tarik. I can’t wait for this week to be over and it hasn’t been a pleasant one. Things went down the hill over the weekend and we’re recovering from it. These are the events that had happened over the week:

1) I woke up middle of the night finding Cass with a slight fever of 99.9 degree F. Luckily it subsided after one dose of Motrin.

2) Belle ate something bad and had the worse food poisoning in her life. She puked 3 times and had constant diarrhea. It was so bad that whenever she had to let out gas, poop came with it. We had to bring her in to the hospital (there are no private single clinics in Shanghai) the following morning. Luckily we didn’t go to the famous Pediatric/Children’s Hospital. Instead, we went to a General Hospital (which her daddy used to go to as a child) and visited the Pediatric department. Poor baby had to had IV inserted on her hand. The doctor said her electrolytes are imbalanced and if she doesn’t get the IV solution in, she would continue to puke whenever she eats or drinks. Poor girl gave a fight and all of us (both me and father-in-law and 3 nurses) had to pin her down just so the nurse could insert the IV needle into her. She had 2 bags of solution and it lasted almost 3 hours. Thankfully she felt a lot better at the end of the “treatment” and we were able to meet up with some relatives for lunch. She refused to go home to rest and we had no choice but to bring her along. She ran a slight fever when she came home but Motrin did the trick. She had to drink 2 doses of yucky medicine to stop her diarrhea. The girl went through the phobia of eating for few days but she is getting better now.

3) Just as Belle got better, Cass came down with fever again. This time it was about 100.9 degree F. Thank goodness I have Motrin with me and her fever subsided after one dose of it. As you can see why the title of this post is “Sleepless in Shanghai continues.”

4) Then the worse part happened, all three of us, my Father-in-law, Mother-in-law and I ate something bad and had food poisoning. MIL puked numerous times and had to take Belle’s anti-vomit med. I had a few runs of diarrhea and had to make myself puke once ‘cos my tummy was feeling uneasy the entire day. FIL puked once and had fever. He is still running a slight fever now. Luckily for me, my diarrhea lasted only for 2 days and I’m feeling back to my normal self. MIL is feeling better but doesn’t have much appetite.

So, now you can see why I want this week to be over with. With relatives flying in from Hong Kong and Australia, we can’t afford to be sick. We will just have to toughen up ourselves and hopefully by next week we can relax and enjoy the rest of the vacation. My in-laws have been a great help and they really deserve a child-free vacation. Hopefully with us in K.L. they get to relax a bit before they leave for U.S.

I will not be blogging till I get to K.L. So, I’ll see some of y’all soon! Adios!

Nong ho! We’re here in beautiful Shanghai.

The girls are still adjusting to the time zone and needless to say, I haven’t been sleeping well. So far, these are the food we’ve accomplished to consume: Cai bao (Steamed veggie bun), Dan bing (Savory egg crepe), Fan tuan (Savory rice balls), Shen jian bao (Pan-fried buns),  Da jai xie (Da jai crabs), and a lot of Shanghaiese style condiments and side dishes. Next on our list is McD. No, we are not missing our American food but McD has this lunch deal that is too good to give up. They are promoting their combo meal at the price of 15 yuan. That’s like USD 2!!!  This deal is only valid for lunch hrs. I’m sure Belle will enjoy her McD meal very much.

There are so much to do and we have so much free time on our hand. We will be here for about 3 weeks–the longest trip so far (at Shanghai). I’m Facebook-less from now till we arrive at K.L. So, those of you who has written to me on my FB, I will not be able to reply. Quite a lot of sites have been banned in China. Therefore, I really can’t do too much net surfing. I guess I’ll just have to stuff myself silly with the local food to pass time.

Zai wei! (Goodbye!)

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is over and we didn’t go shopping in the malls on Black Friday. Instead, we went to Costco. Yes, we’re quite boring. Anyway, we need to get some last minute shopping done for the relatives (who handed us a list of shopping items). While walking along the aisle Belle said the funniest thing and I just have to jot it down before I forget.

Belle: Mommy, we need to get some scream from the pumpkin pie.
Mom: Scream?
Belle: Yes, we need scream on the pumpkin pie then it (will) taste nice.
Mom: Oooooooh. Daddy, you hear that? You need to get some “scream” for the pumpkin pie.
Dad: Oh, I have plenty of “scream” from Belle. Belle, can I get some “scream” from you?
Belle: No. You have to buy the scream.
Mom & Dad: *laugh*

**In case you don’t get what it means. Belle was talking about whipped cream.

Dear Belle,

Mommy and Daddy are so excited that your fourth birthday is finally here. You wanted to be four so bad and Mommy had to make a count-down calendar for you just to stop you from asking us the, “When will my birthday be?” question. Every night you would cross out the day and count the remaining days till your birthday. It was a great way for Mommy to sneak in mathematics without you being bored with it. You aren’t exactly a numbers fan but you’re doing so well with it as the week progresses. We are super proud of you!

You woke up with a fever (again) this morning around 5am and Mommy had to wake you up for your meds. It isn’t a great way to start your birthday but Mommy will try to make your day interesting today. Maybe we can choose that humongous Princess balloon you’ve been asking for (for the past 5-6 months). Mommy is very proud of your patience and I will live up to my promise.

Daddy and I talked about this day in the year 2005, how you came into our world and ROCK us hard! Well, my baby, I’m elated about you then and I’m still elated about you now. Everyday spent with you made Mommy and Daddy better people (except on those days when you decide to be rotten bad).

Happy 4th Birthday, my little one!

Love,

Mommy

Just a little conversation I had with Belle five minutes ago…

Belle: Hey Mommy, what’s this?

It’s a cloth flower badge.

Mom: Oh, it’s a flower. Isn’t it nice?
Belle: Mommy, we need stippy tape.
Mom: Huh? Stippy tape? Ooooh!
Mom: Yes, we need sticky tape to tape it on you.

Halloween photos will be postponed till both mother and daughter are feeling better. Both of us probably caught the flu bug from preschool last Friday. I’m coughing madly and Belle has been running a high fever of 102F, and coughing and having runny nose. I will be bringing her in to the clinic today at 1.30pm. Hopefully, it is just a mild case of flu. Daddy is getting paranoid as there were a few death cases from H1N1 flu in the East Bay. I guess both of us will be wearing the mask when we get into the clinic.

My body is aching as we speak. So, I’m gonna pen off here and get my rest.

Continuation from Part 1 and Part 2.

The weather was getting warmer and it was close to lunch time. We rested a bit and had the girls drink from the juice boxes.

Waiting for our hay ride.

The hayride was in a truck and yes, we got to sit on bales of hay.

We rode under a trellis of variety gourds. I don’t mind having something like this at home.

Pumpkins can only be grown in a certain plot for 3 years. After the 3rd year, that plot of land needs to be rotated with a different crop. This is definitely no Farm Town or Farmville.

Sunflower Field. There were at least 2 types of sunflowers grown in that farm.

Then we came upon the most gorgeous field filled with Mums. The photos do not do its justice. If we could just get out of that hayride and snap photos at a lower level, it would be much better.

The hayride was bumpy and this is the only clear shot we have.

Cassie taking in the view.

Sun worshipers.

Another ride, Hayride to Butterfly Valley. I think everyone was conned into it. We expected to see butterflies fluttering in the fields but all we saw were fake plastic butterflies attached onto corn stalks. Oh, and there weren’t any hay bales in that ride. By far the most boring ride but we were educated about butterfly life cycle. This ride was the most bumpy ride in the farm. Here is Cass enjoying the bumps:

A view from the back.

Cass was laughing one minute and then there was silence. I looked down and saw this…

While Cass napped in the stroller, Daddy and Belle went on to the mini train ride.

Cass took a cat nap. We then snacked on White Chocolate & Macadamia nut cookies, which I’d baked the day before, and sugar loaded blue icy. We decided to snack first and get our lunch after we’re done with all the rides and attractions. Belle finally got to ride her pony. It was the most pathetic ride and the most expensive too! That ride cost us 5 bucks and they only walked the pony for 1 and a half round.

It was getting hot and we were tired. We zipped through Storybook Path and Bootsie the Bee corn mazes, and didn’t bother to take any photos. By the time we were done, it was 1pm. We’ve enjoyed going through this farm. If we were to go there again, it would just be for the Hayride, Carousel and the Pumpkins. But then again, we might go to a different pumpkin patch next year.

Continuation from this.

After a lot of pumpkin touching and ooh’ing and aah’ing over them, Miss Belle got fidgety. She wanted her pony ride badly.

When you see a whachamacallit face cut-out stand, you just have to take a photo with it.

Introducing Do Re Mi, the pumpkin contest winners:

On our way to our first ride, the Cow Train. In case you’re wondering, why Daddy wasn’t in any of the photos, well, he wasn’t in the mood to be in ‘em.

So, what is a Cow Train? No, we don’t get to sit on real cows.

The main attraction in the farm: The Pumpkin Pyramid. It is said to take over 4000 pumpkins to cover that pyramid.

Check out Belle!

Towards the end of the ride, the driver revved up and both kids loved it. See how happy they are.

This is Belle’s first time riding the Carousel without an adult holding on to her. The Carousel ride was not included in the day pass. We figured Cassie will not oppose to opting out on this ride, so we didn’t get an extra ticket. We did get a chance to take a pic with Belle before the Carousel started.

During the ride…

Dora Sunflower Photo Trail is just a short hay covered trail with some pit-stops where you can take photos with the beloved Dora and friends characters.

Belle loves Dora. Cassie knows who Dora and Boots are from the toilet seats we have at home.

Here’s me teaching Belle how it should be done…

Belle giving it a try. Not bad at all!

Just us being silly…

More photos to come in Part 3. It should be the final portion. Stay tuned!

Last Saturday we went to Uesugi Farms Pumpkin Park. The weather was perfect and the crowd was decent. We woke up early and left our house around 10am and arrived at Morgan Hill a little under 30 mins. If it weren’t for our “faulty” GPS (it had an old map), we could’ve arrived a little earlier. We bought the day passes which consist of all the rides except for three: Caroussel, Pony Ride and some other ride which I’ve forgotten. We had to pay extra for the first 2 rides mentioned. These are the photos taken on that day…

HUGE Pumpkins!

My little poser.

The tough cookie who hardly smiles and this is a rare sight.

Have you ever seen a Blue Pumpkin? No? Well, here they are…

A mini train that circles around the farm.

Miss Cass decided to wave back.

Pumpkin poachers.

This is just partial of the farm. This farm grows not only pumpkins but corns, sunflowers and mums too.

Daddy asked Belle to pick one up.

In case you don’t know what mums are…

Cass amongst the mums and pumpkins.

Jon: Okay, one more shot! (that is after many, many shots, and in the same spot)
Vien: Haiyoh! Hurry up! I can’t feel my legs!

The end result (last shot) below. I have a constipated smile plastered on my face. Belle was as sassy as usual and Cassie couldn’t care less.

Little missy is awake from her beauty nap and demands for attention. More photos to come in Part 2.

Click here for Part 3.