Worst flu

This flu came suddenly on Monday night. I felt miserable, sick, dizzy, achy with blocked nose, painful throat and lots of coughing. Didn't sleep much on Monday night. In bed whole day Tuesday. (Si took another day off to look after Lara and I) Made it to work on Wednesday (bad idea) but in bed from 7pm before Lara went to bed and felt worse than Tuesday. Felt better on Thursday, except for the cough. However, Si started feeling unwell and had to spend most of Friday in bed. I don't remember being this sick with a flu.

I had a mini cold only in the last week or two, but the cough stayed. I don't know if this flu is part of that cold or a new virus I caught. I am a little worried about other people catching it. Parents-in-law were here on the weekend but they are alright. Lara and I spent some time in a park with a friend and her kids on Monday. I hope they are alright too.

Maybe a course of antibiotics is required to get rid of this lingering cough?

Grateful

I'm grateful that Hubbie took last Tuesday off to look after Lara so I could get to work to finish a piece of urgent work as I promised.
I'm grateful that Hubbie cooked a nice meal for dinner and tidied up the house before I came home that day.
I'm grateful this latest cold we (Lara and I only) have this week is quite mild compared to the previous ones.
I'm grateful that the days are getting warmer and hopefully that translates to less cold.
I'm grateful that parents-in-law have been a great help with many things lately.
I'm grateful we have an excellent real estate agent and it makes things slightly less stressful.
I'm grateful that we are very motivated to keep the house clean and tidy.
I'm grateful thing are moving along reasonably fast.

[1year 7 month]Many new words

Lara almost learns a new word a day. She talks all the time! This happens frequently:
"Mom", "Yes?", "%#$%&^%@%&^". "Mom!" "Yeah?" "%^%&&^*%*#%@". "Mommy", "What is it Lara?", "%$^$%&%^*&^*%^%@". Lara likes to practice all the words she knows in the car too.

Other new words this month: "bed", "nana" (banana) and "head". She says "open" and gives me the thing she wants it open. "Up" when she wants to get up or down. She says "Honey" (parents-in-law's dog) and "Pape"(Zeb). She says "yes" and nods her head. When she heard music playing the other day, she said "das" and danced around. She also likes to hide under the table or a blanket and then reveals herself and says "here she is" (sounds like it anyway). She asked "what's this" (or sounds like it) and pointed to the things she didn't know the name of. She says "a-b-shi" when ABC kids programs are on. And she throws a ball and says "catch...Mom" or "Da-da ...catch". Lara says "no more" with hands held out, palms up (like what I do when I told her no more food, no more tv)

A new game this week is "aipent". Looking at airplanes in the sky and says "bye-bye" to them. Lara says "wa wa ah choo" when she sneezes. She loves to go and get a tissue (loves tissue paper) to wipe her nose (sometimes there's nothing needs wiping) then throws it in the bin. "bin" is a favorite word this month too.


(Lara is busy chopping up vegetables in her chef hat)

Songs Lara recognised:
* Happy birthday (Lara says "hip hip" at the end of the song)
* Head shoulders knees and Toe
* Twinkle twinkle little star (Lara points and touches her index finger to form part of a triangle when we sing "like a diamond in the sky").
* The alphabet song
* Ba Ba black sheep
* Jingle bell

Others:
* Liked to turn around and around until dizzy or fall on the floor.
* Everyone is "Usy" (Upsy Daisy) in "In the night garden".
* Did I mention Lara is addicted to "In the night garden"? We had to read the books (when Grandma first got them) at least 30 times a day!

(Grandma reading "In the night garden" book with Lara.)

* Knows the difference between apple and pear
*Tries to say "orange", but most of the time it's still an "apple" or a "ball"
* Likes to walk around in our shoes
* Had her 18 month chicken pox vaccination. Next vaccination is at 4 years old.

Dinner preparation

I cleaned the fridge today and found lots of left-over vegetables!
They looked so colourful chopped up ready to be cooked in a pasta bake tongight.



ps pasta bake was a success with the help of some sauce in a jar.

My Friday

I was going to go into work this Friday, but got a phone call on Thursday afternoon that work was delayed. Suddenly I felt like there was an extra day in the week!

Things are usually a little rushed when I get Lara changed, dressed and breakfasted and myself ready for work in the morning. I'd like to take things slower and not rush Lara on Friday. On this Friday morning, I got Lara to day care just before 9am. I had breakfast and tea when I came home, did my timesheet, soaked Lara's clothes and turned the washing machine on before I left again. I was on a mission. I wanted to get "In the night garden" dvd and buy myself a swimming costume today.

There was great joy in my heart when I arrived at the shops just before 10am. The thought of how happy Lara would be watching this dvd made me very happy too. And by 11.30am I had the dvd, swimming gear and 3 bags of vegetables in hand ready to go home. The day was warm so there was no execuse for me not to go swimming straight away. I hung the clothes out, had a banana, did some tidying around the house then set off to the swimming pool.

I still felt a little achy after 20 laps in the pool. But not having exercised regularly for over 6 months, I don't expect to feel better after half an hour of swimming. For the rest of this Friday, I also went to the bank, the library, made some phone calls and cooked food for Lara before I picked her up at 4.30pm.

I plan to fit in a short swim on Friday whenever I can. I enjoy Fridays - the only day in the week that I don't have to satisfy anyone but ME!!

Grandma's wisdom

Tiny toast bits

For a while, Lara didn't like toast at home as breakfast. It puzzled me - Lara loved toasts in day care. The answer to my question came one day after Grandma looked after Lara when I had some work to do (must be when Lara was on antibiotics). When I got home, Mother-in-law described her and Lara's day to me and how Lara loved toasts with different toppings. I found out that Lara ate more when the toast was cut into very small 1cmx1cm cube. I had been cutting her toast into four like day care did. Anyway, now I cut her toast into tiny bits like Grandma does. Lara has toast most morning and loves it too.

Plastic bib


It was not something I would have bought to be honest, but the amount of food it had saved from being wasted on the floor or on clothes (more work to soak/wash later) is amazing. Works especially well for running food like yoghurt or custard. Because of this bib, I feel more at ease to let Lara eat by herself.


I came back from the kitchen and saw that Lara not only scooped up all the yummy yoghurt caught in the bib, but also found a new use for the bib - a handy spoon holder!

I am glad that there's someone around who I can consult with and shows me ways to try for different things. Thanks Grandma!

Third time lucky

Hubbie was called for jury duty again. This latest notice was received on his birthday at the beginning of this month. Hubbie had managed to get pardoned twice in the last 2 months, but couldn't get excused this time. The trail could last for 8 weeks. They don't care that Hubbie suffers from migraine. They don't care how losing the primary income will affect us unless we are in financial hardship (ie financial irresponsible). If you are chosen, you have to turn up and perform your 'duty'. If you are a doctor, a fireperson or in the legal profession, you don't have to go. But if you work as a computer programmer, then your job is not important enough that you can give it up for the duration required and get paid $100 a day by becoming a juror! I don’t know if $100 a day is over the minimum wage, but that is how much the legal system thinks the jury is worth!

This dark cloud of possible jury duty loomed over our heads for the past month. Added to it we are both sick again after Lara got over another cold last week. This cold is the worst we have this year with non-stop coughing and Hubbie had to lie down in bed for half a day. It was a miserable week in our household.

Husband attended court yesterday. To cut a long story short, after filling in an application to be excused then fighting to get himself back in, two panels of possible jurors were dismissed and Hubbie is a free man!! He is a very happy free man! He will not be called for jury duty in the next 12 months and after that has the same chance as anyone else to be called again.

"I can see clearly now the rain has gone" feels appropriate at the moment.
A very happy video