Yesterday I got a call from Hot Mummee, telling me that Caleb’s fallen again. This time it was because the bouncy hammock spring snapped. Snapped! Can you believe it?

Luckily this happened with Grandma around. Being a manual bouncer, I guess she was bouncing it when it snapped- she was there to react fast enough to break his fall; though only able to catch his body while his head still struck the ground. Her other hand was catching the falling bottom half of the spring and hammock-hook.

But still….

I can only imagine he struck his head probably at the same spot as Friday’s incident. Flustered, that evening Hot Mummee and I took him to the nearby paediatric clinic to have him looked at. Again luckily, the short term signs are that he is okay. Long term signs, however, are still the same as the previous post’s. This Dr however also added: To look out for any bulging on the top of his head.

Babies are born with a soft spot at the top of their heads. Without going into too much detail, this spot is the gap between the skull plates, that will eventually fuse together when the baby reaches 1 year old.

This Dr says to occasionally touch to see if this spot is still sunken in and soft-ish. An otherwise hard and/or bulging spot would mean that there is pressure built up inside the head, which is bad news cos it’s likely to mean internal bleeding.

So my little man has had a pretty tough few days.

To top it all off, Caleb himself has contracted a flu / fever combo. Think he got it over the weekend, ie, after the Friday fall. We don’t think these are related (stress?) but it doesn’t help.

So yesterday was a pretty stressful day for everyone, and for the past few nights, we’ve been having sleepless nights being woken every 30 minutes or so of his coughing (have you ever heard a 5-6 month old cough like an old man?) followed by strong crying due to that discomfort, followed by twists and turns, rolling over and tugging at the much needed mosquito netting that is protecting him from the pests, followed by Daddee or Mummee holding him to rock him back to sleep, followed by the whole cycle again….

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Caleb the heir, Ergonomics, Infant development.

He’s only been able to roll from his back to his front.

Or so we thought.

Last Friday night, at 7pm, we were in a rush to pack our stuff readying for a dinner appointment and the weekend away at my parents’. We left Caleb in the middle of the double bed in our spare bedroom, as usual, surrounding him with pillows to “box” him in. This was done many times before, when we need to change him and while fetching the talcum powder, new diapers, etc.

Caitlin was also “busy”, walking around acting like she was also looking for stuff to pack. In our haste, we left Caleb in the room whilst we walked out to put/fetch more things, in different directions.

I am usually conscious of where people (and most things) are in the apartment at most times. It’s just my secret wish to be like Jason Bourne- to be aware of potential hazards now that we have potentially hazardous-to-self kids. So I knew where Caitlin kinda was, and I also knew Caleb was on the bed.

But I didn’t prepare for nor think about his growing abilities.

Just as I paced outside the bedroom door either with something in my hand or looking for something else, I heard a thud. I already knew what it was- there was no one else in there but Caleb.

As I almost-ran already expecting to find Caleb on the floor, he was already on his back, looking up looking very stunned, and started bawling one of the loudest bawls. I knew the thud was his left hand hitting an empty cardboard box beside the bed. Slowly swiftly I picked him up, knowing the “damage” was his head but checked his left hand first for abrasions / paper cuts. Nothing. Then I gently touched his head and the swelling had started, which quickly later became a ring-bruise.

I can only imagine that he somehow rolled on top of the pillow, and rolled off the edge of the knee-height bed face first, and turned on the way down to land on his back / the back of his head, hitting his hand on the box, ending up the way I found him.

As soon as Caitlin found out, she quickly realised the extent of the accident, and started exclaiming “Why did baby fall down why did baby fall down!?” with each sentence the tears welling in her eyes. I was walking around as I comforted Caleb. Caitlin was following me around making these exclamations, demanding answers to how her little brother got hurt, herself crying quite badly at the end.

Caleb cried for a long time. Even though he was conscious and fidgeting during the cry / from the fright, I was still very scared. Even though it wasn’t a concussion (at least I thought at the time) I had heard of internal damage from such a fall.

I started watching him for signs of nausea. I had heard this was what to look out for. After quickly speaking to Dr Pixie, she sternly corrected me that nausea would already be too late. Instead, we should watch to see if he behaves out of the ordinary: If he’s too noisy, too quiet, too fidgety, too calm; anything that’s not his usual behaviour.

That’s what we did in the following hours. And somewhat gladly, he behaved predictably, albeit slightly teary from the presumably sore bump.

For peace of mind, we visited Dr Pixie the following morning. He was his usual self- responding to my tongue-clucking, looking around at his surroundings wherever he went. Since it was already over 12 hours since the fall, and going by his body language, Dr Pixie gave her assurance that he’s fine.

Dr Pixie then followed up with a call. Since he had hit the back of his head where the brain processes visual signals, asked that we do an eye test on Caleb, by alternately covering his eyes and getting him to track a movement (eg, moving the finger).

He was able to.

Did I feel like shit? Yes.

Did I “fail” in ensuring safety for my kids, even a simple one like this? Yes.

Could I have acted differently? Yes. I could have called Hot Mummee, and Dr Pixie a lot earlier, to learn what to look out for.

We were lucky. Very lucky.

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Caleb the heir, Dr Pixie says, Ergonomics, Infant development.

So anyway, I was queueing to renew my Jusco loyalty rewards card. Picked up a copy of their newsletter Jusco Pearl, flipped through and saw an article with the above title. Okay, I thought, let’s see what I can learn.

It’s not a bad article. And like most of what I read these days, it’s all quite common sense when you read it, but would not have consciously thought of it or doing any of what’s written, without reading it.

In the 2-page spread article, amongst the points of protection from (emotional) dangers, words of comfort, etc; the second last point for fathers to note was titled “Paint a vision of my future.” In a nutshell, it advocates instilling a can-do / encouraging attitude in one’s daughter, that a “consistent expression of uncertainty about his daugther’s future can potentially damage his daughter’s self image“. The what-not-to-do example offered was this:

A father might tell his daughter “Don’t worry about doing well in math, it might be too difficult for you.” Not only will the daughter very likely associate math with inadequacy, but all her other classes will suffer as well. A father who resolves to cast a positive vision for his daughter’s future and affirms her with words of hope and promise for their daughters will help her reach her fullest potential.

Caitlin has a laptop-shaped alphabet toy present from a previous birthday party. Each time the store room door is opened, she can see it and pleads to play with it. Our response has been “It’s not for you yet, you don’t know all your ABCs yet, wait till you know all your ABCs first!”

Are we making the exact same mistake with her??

Photo taken while shopping at the KL Twin Towers

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Caitlin the heiress.

After a few comments, we ended up with the idea to safeguard ourselves from the kids when they are grown: To have some insurance to protect us (blackmail?) from them….

So here’s mine, posted on the www for the whole world to see:

So, Caitlin, there are more where these came from! So you better behave until you turn 25… or maybe 30…. Let me get back to you on this.

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Caitlin the heiress, Food & feeding, Photo opp.

(...)
Read the rest of Becoming a Dad the SECOND time: Was it what you expected? (1,131 words)

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Caleb the heir, Parenting musing, Prequels.

Before we left for Sydney late last year, I had already taken her shopping, just to see the decorations around the shopping centres. I had wanted to get her something small, just because it’s Christmas; so I settled for this. Then while we were finally in Sydney about a week before Christmas itself, I couldn’t help myself but to also be caught in the spirit of shopping (!) and took her downtown to the city centre, and got her something else bigger!

Still, coming from an Asian country and not practising the whole Christmas thingy, Caitlin doesn’t know who or what a Santa Claus is, and all the excitement surrounding this jolly figure; other than a scary old man with white beard in a red suit. Also, I was after all the one playing Santa both times!

So I turned to the internet for some suggestions for introducing this character, and came across these interesting sites. Interesting in that these websites actually offer services to pander to children’s whims and fancies surrounding St Nick!

You see, it’s one thing to write Santa a letter, it’s another to actually receive pesonalised letters from Santa himself! This site actually provides the service of using His Jolliness’ stationary to send your child a message, presumably from Santa himself!

The whole idea is to “make it on Santa’s Nice List”, and that, by receiving a response from Santa himself, they’d know that being good has paid off! What more, this service also includes a certificate for your child to prove and show off with!

For these “Santa’s workshop stationary”, there are templates you can use for your letter from Santa. I guess, depending on how well your child has behaved, and your budget (!) there are 3 types of packages to choose from; From just an elaborate personalised letter, to one that even includes “a whole box of custom Christmas goodies!”

Finally, they also offer other ways to keep believing in St Nick. Outside of these Santa letters, they also offer tips such as leaving Santa Claus tracks in your house on Christmas Eve, or on Christmas Eve, have your child sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn!

All these, of course, is to bring more joy to your children, by elaborating on their belief in Santa Claus, while they still do!

So, have your kids been good lately?

How about rewarding them with a Santa’s Workshop I-have-been-good certificate!

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under General.

My kind readers shared some ideas to overcome this. This post is one of the suggested topics- Thanks Hissychick for this (whom had also done one)!

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

Using only the first page, pick an image.

Copy and paste your chosen URLs into the Mosaic Maker and make a lovely mosaic to put on your blog or flickr.

The questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

So here’s mine

Here are the links to the respective pics above.

1. John W Low, 2. 3 Types of Pasta, 3. Elevated road, 4. midnight blue, 5. Jessica Alba, 6. ?? Latte Art, 7. at the beach, 8. tiramisu, 9. Toronto Plastic Surgery, 10. Passion, 11. Adam is Mediocre, 12. JLow-is-the-way-to-go

So now you know a little bit more about me!

By the way, FYI for Mac users, I have found a handy jpeg editing tool for use on my blog. Thumbscrew is a drag-drop app that will automatically create a thumbnail of the original pic, resize your original jpegs into desired dimensions, as well as add a border of any size, and give it a tilt, like above.

… And, you gotta love freebies!

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under General, Photo opp.

Write about your conceptions about being a dad BEFORE you become and what happened after you become a dad? How have you changed from being dad of one to a dad of two?

Better go get a coffee first- it’s going to be a long post!

Given I am quite passionate about this, I am going to break it up into two posts of distinct experiences with the two kids.

(...)
Read the rest of Becoming a Dad the first time: Was it what you expected it to be? (1,046 words)

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Caitlin the heiress, Ergonomics, Parenting musing.

Time for some more photos to share!

Okay, truth is I am having a writer’s block!

Yup, those are drool patches, and sorry I missed cropping out my foot from the photo!

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Caleb the heir, Infant development, Photo opp.

This is a little-bit-techie post…

You know I like taking photos of the kids. I also like taking videos of them in action: Those first steps, the changing look(s), them in action in the walker / tricycle / simply playing, their vocab, changing the voice.

I sometimes find myself in a dilemma when various occasions present themselves for such opportunity that I am unable to decide which camera to bring along- the digital cam, which takes far more superior still shots than the built-in stills feature on the videocam; or the videocam, which can take better and longer video footage (is there a plural for dilemma?)

(...)
Read the rest of Don’t just backup your photos! Backup videos too! (876 words)

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Ergonomics, General, Prequels.

You all know how I looooooove feeding Caleb when it’s my turn, during the night / wee hours of the morning; and how I looooooove exacting revenge on his bullying antics to his Daddee!

And you all know how I am resisting comparing my two kids and their respective “achievements”.

But…

(...)
Read the rest of I don’t want to wake up to feed baby anymore! (419 words)

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | 4 comments | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under A father's POV, Caleb the heir, Food & feeding, Infant development, Photo opp.

Had dim sum lunch with my parents and my two brothers and their families, Hot Mummee shouted!

And dinner with my inlaws here:

Afterwards I asked if Hot Mummee wanted to split the lunch’s bill with me- I was surprised she shouted that. She then tells me it’s coming out of our joint savings, and not her own personal wallet!

© Daddee for Daddee Yah!, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us digg
Who's linking ? Technorati BlogPulse Google
Want more on these topics ? Browse the archive of posts filed under Food & feeding, General.