Mummy's update - HFMD

3 weeks back, Rye Li had Hands, Foot, Mouth disease (HFMD). There was a girl at Aunty Ng's (daycare), who is also her classmate at kindy had it first over the weekend and we were warned by Aunty to watch out signs on Rye Li.

On Wednesday itself, we noticed one red dot on her left thumb (the one that she sucks on) and didn't think anything of it. The next day, that night itself, she complaint of pain in her mouth and when we looked inside her mouth, we noticed some white spots already and knew that she also had it. So the next day, both her and her mei-mei, stayed at home with their paternal grandparents who were both down from Penang.

Both hubby and I expected her to whine and moan about her condition since this girl cannot stand pain (compared to her mei-mei who had this in July). But surprisingly, as much as she complaint it was painful to eat and drink, she would eat and that's mainly due to us threatening her that if she doesn't eat, she will have to go to the hospital and that she will need drips. This worked since she is so terrified of needles. I guess it's easier when they're older enough to understand to reasoning.

So she skipped school for several days and I wanted to send her back to both school and daycare the following Wednesday or Thursday (since she has recovered by then) when on Monday night itself, Haye Li also had it (poor Haye Li, had it the second time within 3 months!). So the remaining days of that week, they were put up at their maternal grandparents' since Ah Kong and Ah Por had to go back to Penang. Rye Li had so much fun there and she was really happy especially since she gets to eat ice cream everyday!

The other highlight of her being sick is that finally, she can now miss school officially because she is sick. Usually her friends, skipped school when they were sick and she would compare herself to them especially her classmates who also go to the daycare as they would hang out at the daycare. She had tried numerous times with me when she was coughing or had the flu as to why she cannot just stay at Aunty Ng's like her friends when they were sick. I've always managed to reason with her till now. So, she's really happy that she got to miss school! LOL!

As for her thumb-sucking, the little dot on her thumb became a big blister as she was sucking on it in the first few days she had HFMD. So I told her not to as it would hurt. I didn't really expect her to listen to me as she can be one stubborn girl and also old habits are tough to get rid off. But she has not sucked her thumb since then till now! The first few nights I knew it was tough on her as she could not fall asleep without her thumb so I told her to think of happy things to dream off, etc. She was still touching the fabric of her little bolster's cover, another habit of hers while sucking thumb and she used both hands this time round.

I was praising her after over a week of not sucking her thumb and told her that if she manages not to suck her thumb at all till her birthday year end, on top of what I will get her for her birthday present, she will also get to chose another BIG present. So we shall just see if she manages this or not! :D

Mummy's entry - Thumb sucking

It’s been a while that I posted on this topic and no, Rye Li has yet to kick the habit. I’ve given up the fact that I would try to stop it for her and just pray that she will not suck her thumb when she’s in her teens or worst, to adulthood. :)

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to post up the photos of her thumb sucking moments when we went to US for our holiday in 2007 as I found them hilarious but never got around to it. So why now? Well, there are still funny moments as well that I caught her sucking her thumb and I want to keep these for memories’ sake. I know she will kill me one day for posting these up but I will tell her then that these are memories worth keeping as she’s too cute sucking her thumb (still is and I know as she grows older, she won’t look cute anymore sucking her thumb!).

I’ll let you all see for yourselves on how cute she is….

The above were taken in the plane on our way there, she got this habit while sucking her left thumb, her right hand has to feel something. Initially, it started with her bolster's casing or her pillows at home and also the bedsheet. And then it went to her baby sling. From this trip, I got to know she can also hold on to anything that soothes her. The following pictures will explain this.

The above were taken in Las Vegas. On the way there in the car journey, since she had nothing to hold on to while sucking her thumb, she used the cloth of her pants. In the hotel room, she used the bed covers as well.

The above shows us that she was desperate enough to even hold on to our clothes.

LOL!...she also used the furniture's material

The above left picture was of her holding on to her aunt's leather bag - a sign that she may be into leathers later?!! :D The upper right was when we were lining up for our boat ride in San Francisco, she was holding on the stroller's material. And the lower right was really funny, we were at Targets (I think) to buy chocolates and all, and this girl got herself a bag of tootsie rolls just so she could have her 'fix'! She was really getting desperate with this one! LOL!

The above were taken in the restaurant (all 3 different ones). I would be able to understand if it was the table cloth but I could not understand why the papers as well?!!! Rye Li, Rye Li! You're too cute and full of surprises!

The above with papa and the one on the left is with her beloved sling. When I was pregnant with Haye Li, I've stopped using the sling on her and kept it away. Luckily, she never asked for it and when I brought it out again once Haye Li was out, she seems to have forgotten what it meant to her. Phew!

I've not seen her sucking her thumb that much with different 'materials' (not in KL anyway) and I was assuming due to all the changes from the holiday, she stucked to one thing that gives her the most comfort and that was her thumb!

All the above were taken when she was 1 year and 10 months old. Now, fast forward to over 2 and a half years later, she still sucks her thumb although she's back to her bolsters, pillow cases and bedsheets. And so this was what I thought...

Last November when we were up at Camerons, I found her doing this...

Halfway playing, she must have somehow felt the curtain's material and then her natural instincts came on board. I found too funny and had to take a picture.

And below is the latest one from last weekend. I was getting her ready for bed and made her lie down so I can put on her diapers (yes, still on diapers at nights!), she somehow felt the mattress cover (the mattress was laid against the wall) and she automatically did this.

My Rye Li, my Rye Li, what do I do with you....you really entertain us at home! Funny la you! ;)

Not just pillows or my baby sling

Last night, Mummy was changing my bed sheet and my pillow cases and chucked the old ones on the floor. I happened to tumble across them on the floor and picked one and started sucking my thumb. And then I noticed the other pillow case and picked that one up too. And I was caught red handed by the camera…

A lot like Linus

Picture taken from www.snoopy.com

Thanks to Mummy of 2 Angels, she highlighted to Mummy that I reminded her of Linus, a character from the comics, Snoopy when she saw my pictures of me sucking my thumb while holding on to my security blankie (sling). Mummy found this picture of Linus from the net and saw some resemblance of it to me.

Mummy hopes that I will give up this habit before I ever go to school unlike Linus. But don’t you think he looks really cute like that?! You can read more about his character here.

I'm not just attached to my sling. I'm also attached to anything that my fingers can hold on to, like Mummy's pillow or Papa's bolster, their quilt covers and at times, their clothes too (if I managed to hold on to some of its cloth).