All About Your Child

I dare say Keatkeat is a warrior when it comes to battling with sickness. At 1+ year old, he fought hard when he was hospitalized for uncontrollable diarrhea (*Ha! Who can control that anyway).

Then came Bronchitis, Hives, Sinusitis…..

For all the above, he hardly whines. Never cried. Didn’t even threw a tantrum.

… and now the Chickenpox Battle:

He puts on his armor, from head to toe, in and out, he is all geared up for the battlefield

• Positive Thinking: “the more poxS I have, the faster I will get well”
• Expression: *Smile* *Laugh* *Giggle*
• Attire: “I must wear long sleeve and long pants. Then I will not burst my Chicken Pox.”
  

He bursted several poxS already causing it to be painful when we apply the calamine lotion or when we wash his body.

He only whines when his dream is interrupted by the incredible itches, but never when he is awake. If they itch when his eyes are wide open, he controls himself from scratching. Comes over and request for more Calamine Lotion or Prickly Heat Powder. These 2 are his ‘Best Friends’ now, they bring immediate comfort.

Fever comes and go, but he stays focused. Keeping his mood happy by watching cartoon on Playhouse Disney Channel, racing his virtual car on his dad’s handphone or simply play with his beloved family. If it gets too uncomfortable, all he does is lie on his mattress and hug his bolster tightly for some reassurance that he will get well eventually.

When he is really tired from the hours of struggle, he will just lie on his back and in the softest voice “Mommy, I’m really feeling terrible. I think I don’t want to do anything. I just want to lie down”

The next moment, he is asleep. I allow him to decide what he wants to do. ‘Cos only he knows his own body’s needs best. I permit him to sleep even though it was meal time.

That also implies that he doesn’t have his regular nap nor night rest. So as a Mommy, I had to go with the flow: When he sleeps, I’m awake with my Binbin. When he is awake at 3am, I had to be awake too…. isn’t parenting a test of your tolerance level?

The first batch of poxS are drying up.
The second batch are itching.
The last batch are appearing at the most awkward places: beside his anus, under his ‘balls’, inside his ears, on his lip, his tongue, down his throat….the last 3 are the worst areas.

Previously, he couldn’t control but cough, choke or gag a little when he is taking small mouthful of food. But he wrestled, he refused to surrender, slowly, but surely, he finishes his portion of nutrients.

But not for the dinner today….. He screamed in pain and squeezed his mouth in his palm, when he carelessly stuffed the spoon into his mouth too quickly, or slapped the cup too hard on his lips.

First time, he screamed.

Second time, he screamed and held back his tears….

Third time, he wailed…
he couldn’t withstand the pain anymore… he only drank 2 mouthful of soup…. he gave up. Went to his mattress and cried himself to sleep…..

Chicken Pox made my Warrior broke down…. C.P. won the battle…. My Amazing Warrior was defeated this time…. *heart sank*

Other than the obvious ~ more fun, pain and laughing moments with them; I get to sharpen my culinary skills.

People who know me personally are aware that I hardly cook for my family. I know I’m a terrible mommy and wife in this area. I am still learning how to ‘control’ the fire intensity on the stove. My dish is either over-cooked or unfit for consumption. *laugh* But Allan doesn’t mind at all, this is why:~

I’m the ‘theory’ and Allan is usually the ‘practical’. I observe how my MIL cooks whenever I’m with her every Sunday. Its so difficult to learn from old folks, ‘cos they cook with their heart. They don’t use measurements like a teaspoon of salt or a tablespoon of sugar. NAH! None of that. But I still jot down whatever I can based on my estimation from what I see.

So if Allan is not in the mood to cook, we’ll eat out. In fact, to cook is a luxury to us. ‘Cos eating out is relatively cheaper for us. Serious!

But when kids are sick, ‘Something‘ in me comes forward.
I COOK. Without any help. Just Me, the Food and the Kitchen.

Weird??! You can say that again. I’m pretty good at cooking food-for-the-sick. So you can imagine the taste. *LAUGH*

First 4 days we were told by different sources to give Keatkeat ‘Cooling Drinks’ to help his body purge out ‘all’ the pox(s) faster.

So for the first two days, we gave ‘Leng Yong’ and the next 2 days ‘Barley’. There is also another option of Chestnut with SugarCane. I didn’t give that cos’ too much work needed.

Food to abstain from for 14days:

Egg, cucumber, pineapple, ‘outside’-food, pig head meat, pre-prepared minced meat (in case there is pig’s head meat in them), Seafood except certain fishes, meat from a Rooster.

Food specially for Keatkeat:

Lean pork meat. Meat from a Hen. Vegetables. Certain fishes.

For 14days, that’s all he gets to eat. He dislike vegetables, except carrots and potatoes. He is not a big fan of pork too. So it was a test of creativity skills for me. How to get different combinations out of these limited choices. But I’ve survived for 4days and there are still ideas in my head for the next 10days. *wink*

I didn’t take photos of them, cos’ I don’t think they are any good in appearance but they are tasty enough for my Keatkeat.

On day One, he vomited everything he ate when he was half-way through. We wanted to stop him from continuing, but when asked if he wanted to finish the other half in his bowl, he said YES. And he did, without any problem.

His reason? “The food is very nice.”
Do you know I almost cried?

Allan sat beside him throughout all meals. He did not hurry my boy like he used to. So its super good news! Do you understand what I’m trying to get at??!

Remember my post on how worried I am about Keatkeat’s occasional eating disorder? These 2 weeks might just be a great opportunity for Keatkeat to get out of that.

Due to his poor appetite and his sore throat (Chicken Pox popping there too), I have been giving him really small portion. He’ll ask for more when he felt that he needed it.

Hence, he finishes everything without complaining. Not fast though (but who cares about speed anyway; ok, I’m sorry, Allan does). But NOT when his boy is sick. Allan becomes a totally different person. Speed is no longer important to him now. *smile*

Siblings fights are normal. All parents know that. I took this great chance to prevent this. I lied told Binbin that he can’t touch his elder Brother, or he’ll get Chicken Pox too. He saw how uncomfortable Keatkeat had been, how restricted his diet was, how ugly his body looked, so that was the LAST thing my 3year old wanted.

So I’m killing 4 birds with one stone:

1. Spend more quality time with my boys
2. Improve my culinary skills
3. Eliminated the fightings between my boys, and
   
4. We just might SOLVE Keatkeat’s eating disorder once and for all!

Whoo-Hoo!!!! *clap clap clap*