Cheeks to Cheeks

Oh what a week it has been; and it is only Friday!

Cass developed a high fever last Thursday. With all the H1N1 news in the media, one has to take precaution. We monitored her for 24 hours and the fever seemed to subside only after she had taken Tylenol fever med. Once the medication wore off, the fever went up again. The following morning I made a call to her pediatrician office for an appointment and the only time slot open was 5.15pm. I had to take it ‘cos I didn’t want to wait for another day as Urgent Care fee has increased for us. Anyway, it is always better to be seen by her pediatrician.

Thankfully it was not H1N1 (swine flu) but an ear infection. She was prescribed Amoxillin (antibiotic) and little girl felt a lot better after 2nd day of taking the antibiotic. Then came Monday. Daddy called me in the afternoon saying he wasn’t feeling too well and his throat was sore. I told him to come home early and he did. He developed a fever that evening.

On Tuesday we dropped Belle off to school and Cass to my in-laws, and headed to Urgent Care. He could have called our family doctor for an appointment but we just went ahead to the Urgent Care clinic. We were surprised that the front counter did not provide a mask for him after the fact that he had told them he was coughing and had the fever. When the doctor came into the room, he was donned in mask, surgical gloves and surgical gown (I think that’s what it is called). He was shocked that Jon was not given the mask and got him a mask immediately. Anyway, the prognosis is FLU, but he said 99% of flu is Swine Flu and they are not going to do any testing to find out if Jon has the H1N1 virus in him system. I didn’t like the prognosis ‘cos IMO he just could not label every flu as Swine Flu. Hey, for what it’s worth, it could have been Strep throat infection. After all, Jon did have the sore throat. The doctor did not do a swab on his throat and just told us that it is Swine Flu. If Jon wants the Tamiflu vaccine, he could prescribe it for him, but we opted out. We were told that Tamiflu side effect could be nausea or vomitting.

Jon has imposed self quarantine since Tuesday. He is getting a lot better but is still aching from the fever and the cough is still lingering. Both girls have been sleeping with me since Monday. That makes it 4 nights of not getting the needed rest. Just as I thought things could get anymore worse, Belle developed the fever last night. The fever has subsided this morning and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

This morning was quite hectic too ‘cos I had to prepare both girls. Cass had an eye exam with the pediatric opthamologist at 10am. It is one of those stuff that I haven’t really hadn’t gotten the time to jot down on the blog. For months we’ve noticed Cass squinting her right eye and the pupil (of the right eye)tends to swerve extreme right whenever she looks to her upper right. Her pediatrician took a look at it and recommended that we have the ped opthamologist to take a deeper look into this issue. Today is her 2nd visit and she had her eyes dialated. With Jon being quarantine at home, I had to bring my MIL (in case we need someone to distract Cass during the eye exam) along. My FIL met up with us at the clinic as he had a doctor’s appointment an hour before Cassie’s eye appointment. FIL brought Belle to his work while the rest of us did what we were there for.

Dr. Ahn said Cass is a little far sightedness on her left eye but it is common for young kids. It will improve with age. Right now, we will just have to monitor it. If it gets any worse, she might need glasses for correction. As for the screwy pupil, he said she probably has Brown’s Syndrome. It is when the muscle of an eye becomes too stringent and that will lead to inflexibility of eye movement. He thinks it could be her left eye and not the right eye that has it. We’re hoping this will improve through time. As for her squinting problem, it was due to her lower eye lashes curling into her eye. Two options to solve this issue: Pluck those eyelashes that are causing it or Cut away a little of the fold on her lower lid. The 2nd option is quite drastic and he decides not to do that. Again, we are hoping her eyes will grow with age and the fold around her lower lid will “flatten out” a bit. It is quite difficult to describe it in words. Maybe one of these days I’ll take a pic to show the difference.

So, this has been my week. I pray it gets better as the week progresses. I’m so exhausted!

I used to travel a lot for business and have read many reports regarding sanitation rating of airline carriers. Unfortunately, the airplane is the least likely place to pass sanitation test. Germs are found everywhere and the items found to have most germs are the blankets and pillows. Aha! And you think the air carriers are nice enough to provide those for you, least have them changed between each flight. Think twice now.

Whenever I travel with my children, I would bring their pillows along. Luckily, the kiddy pillows are small enough to fit into a backpack. I would never let my kids sleep on the pillows provided by the airline carriers. I bet that was  the headache the creators of JetHeads had gone through before. Otherwise they would not have come up with this ingenious product: Disposable Airline Pillowcases.

JetHeads disposable pillowcases are super soft and comfortable. It is made of non-woven fabric and come in 2 to a pack. Why compromise with yours and your love ones health? When traveling, take JetHeads Disposable Pillowcases with you.  It is super light, fits into any handcarry bag and the best part of it:  Disposable! That way, you are guaranteed with no contact of germs left behind by previous passengers.

It is also 100% Made in USA. At this time and economy, let’s support our local businesses.

~Thank you JetHeads and Parent Reviewers for this opportunity~

It is done in the name of  humour.

(Photos are not to be circulated without permission of the author)

My daughter and I received this book in the mail as promised by the publisher and have only two words for it–LOVE IT!

The author of this book, Paris Morris, started publishing her books at the tender age of ten. That alone has struck me in awe. I could not have written like her when I was at that age. When she writes, you writes in finesse! My little preschooler loves the storyline and laughs at little remarks like, “Apparently this two baby thing is called twins. I have been thinking about names for MY twins. Cinderella? Elmo?” From the way she writes, I can tell that Paris Morris is a witty young lady.

My daughter absolutely loves this book because she could relate to all the events that are mentioned in the book. She would glee in delight about the Fourth of July Fireworks and Halloween Trick-or-Treating. A whole lot of it has to do with her experiences in these events and being in San Francisco Bay Area helps a bit. We share the same hood as Paris Morris–we also live near San Francisco, California. 

My little girl can’t wait to read the rest of the Twins Book series. I highly recommend this as a good read for girls (and boys). As a parent, I find myself loving to read this book to my preschooler. Both of us enjoy cuddling up in the bed and read I’m Having Twins before bedtime. Why not get one (or more) and enjoy this special bonding time with your little one?

How to get this book? Click onto My Friend Paris.

~Thank you New Year Publishing & Parent Reviewers for this opportunity~