To me, Renzo has always been a pretty healthy boy. Sure he has some runny nose and fever once in a while (okay okay... a little more than once in a while *sigh*), but at least he physical growth, in terms of his body mass, undoubtedly puts him under the category of "well-nourished".
But as with all kids, especially those put at childcare centres, visiting the doctor is a pretty frequent thing. It is not as if we adults don't fall sick, let alone these little toddlers who are still developing their immunity system to fight off the legion of bacteria and viruses.
So here we had a little Renzo, suffering from a serious cough for quite a few days and a runny nose worthy of an Olympic medal. But since no fevers developed, Mummy Chan and I agreed that we'd still send him to childcare and that after his breakfast, I'd take him to the doc just one level below the childcare.
The visit was a pretty pleasant experience, firstly it being in a slightly more 'ulu' location, there were only a couple of patients before us. Secondly, the service was pretty top-notch. When it was Renzo's turn to visit the doc, instead of having the nurse calling out Renzo's name like the other clinics, we had the doctor himself opening the door to his office and smilingly calling out for Renzo. After simple diagnosis, the doctor instructed the nurse to prepare the Nebulizer, a device that supposedly administers medication in the form of a mist/smoke to be inhaled.
Initially, I was rather worried that Renzo will reject having to breath with that mask over his nose and mouth, but to my surprise, he didn't even react to it. Maybe it was the novelty of the new 'toy', maybe it was the sleepy side-effect of his breakfast, but either way, he took the medication well. It being a ten-minute (i think) process, he soon grew restless just sitting there in my lap while the whizzing machine does its job inches away. So I had to whip out my trusty Android and entertain Renzo with some flash cards and his favourite game...... Angry Birds. I must add that it was damn funny to hear Renzo talk through the mask, reminds me of my military training on chemical warfare...lol
When the process was completed, the device came to a halt and Renzo was left with a noseful of mucus flowing down to the edges of his tiny lips. The attentive nurses quickly gave him some tissue before proceeding to lead us back to the doctor's office. The doc looked at Renzo for a while before concluding that Renzo is find and that it was probably a mild case of Bronchitis.
While waiting for the nurses to prepare Renzo's medication, Renzo played with some wooden blocks and toys (I presume this clinic has a fair number of little patients considering a childcare is just one level above) and proudly reciting his Alphabets and counting. This came to the attention of one of the nurses who spoke in Hokkien to her colleague, praising Renzo for stronger linguistic abilities compared to her almost-two-year-old grandson. By the time the medicines were ready for collection, Renzo's nose and mouth regions were again flooded with his mucus and required tissue again. The nurse promptly did so and recommended a device meant for clearing toddler noses by means of a simple chamber attached to a long pipe where one end was to be fitted onto the nostril of the little one and the other, a straw from which the adult sucks to vacuum out all the dirt and mucus out.
Before we left the clinic the nurses smiled at Renzo lovingly and reminded me to get the nasal-cleaning apparatus they recommended and specifically mentioned to get it from Pigeon Brand as the others ain't as effective. Looks like Daddy Chan and Mummy Chan will be visiting Kiddy Palace again pretty soon ~
And so in a blink of the eye, our little hero his now 24 months old.
I can only remember so much about my second birthday but I'm pretty sure it was nothing like Renzo's. Back in those days, celebrating the birthday of a two-year-old meant gathering the relatives together, getting a giant cake usually shaped like a number "2" and a short "Happy Birthday" sing-along session. It'll usually end with mummy blowing out the candles in place of birthday kid who is either (a) confused by all the commotion (b) distracted by the sight of a tasty cake. Either way, cake cutting and sharing will start and everyone will have a generous share of a fluffy, creamy cake made deliciously by the local bakery within walking distance. Birthday kid then receives gifts from everyone and busily tears away at the wrappers. What fun it was~
Fast forward to modern day today. The general concept still remains. There is a gathering (but not with relatives), there is a cake (still in a number "2"), there is a confused birthday kid (who does more than just eye on the cake... you'll see that in a moment) and there is that bakery (but we chose Four Leaves Bakery... ^_^ ). Difference now it that instead of receiving, he'll have to give gifts...
Renzo's day started with him all dressed up for his day. During his wait for the bus, he was having a fun time digging out all 11 little gift boxes that we bought from ELM Tree that were very affordable (more on the gifts a few paragraphs later...) and then slowly putting them back into the paper bag.
Before long, the bus was here and we (Aye Aye and myself) were in a mad rush to pack everything back and hastily hopped onto the bus.
As usual, Renzo is pretty well behaved on public transport, occasionally looking out the window and when he sees a bus coming at us from the opposite direction, he'll start saying, "Oh... Double Decker Bus Number XX"... XX being the number of the bus service. Of course he doesn't always get them right (he is just two years of age afterall), but still, credits for the effort for at least recognizing the characters as numbers... ^_^
Upon entering the school compound, our happy little hero skipped to his cousin Cherry, who attends the same school (different class of course as they are grouped by age) and anxiously waiting for her to be the first person to give Renzo his birthday gift (and for records, yes, Cherry beat me to it... Renzo only received his gift after returning home from school... haha).
We went into the classroom and settled him down for his daily breakfast. Normally, all the little kids will be in their school uniform, be it the buttoned white shirt or the more comfortable yellow t-shirt, so of course I was expecting Renzo to be the outstanding one, but much to my surprise, just across him was a pretty little classmate of his who was also in her own attire and had me guessing if she shared the same birthday as Renzo...haha...
After instructing the teacher to pass the gifts (there are 3 different types, Number flashcards, Alphabet flashcards, and Fairies game in a very colorful portable metal box) to those kids who were on half day and unable to attend Renzo's birthday celebration. Fairies game is a card game played like "Snap" where cards are placed out evenly and when 2 of the same is turned over, first player to shout "Snap" wins the cards in the pile, we bought 2 boxes of this for Renzo and Cherry as they both have mastered their Numbers and Alphabets. So Alphabet Flashcards went to Renzo's best friends Haoxiang and Audrey, the rest of the class got Number Flashcards... Then I left and Renzo's adventure continues during the later parts of that afternoon.
Soon afternoon came... The plan was that I'll be the one to collect the cake from Four Leaves and then intercept Mummy Chan at the MRT station and we'll make our way down together, my Dad and Mum will make their way down there themselves via a direct bus. But as Murphy's Law states, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". Mummy Chan couldn't make it in time because work. So I went up to his school with my parents without Mummy Chan.
When I reached the compound, the teacher said that the kids were waiting for the cake and some were already asking where is the cake... haha... these little hungry things... So without further ado, we stepped into class with a not-so-surprise cake in hand. The kids were seated neatly with Renzo and special guest Cherry (special guest because to the other kids, Cherry is the big sister from a senior class) on a separate table.
Before the setting up of the cake was done, Mummy Chan arrived and the celebrations began. Renzo couldn't sit still with the cake just in front of him. At every opportunity, he would reach out and poke at the cream and then stick his little finger into his little mouth to taste the heavenly strawberry shortcake (you'll see it in the video below).
With singing and cake eating. I must say the cake was a nice one a 20cm * 30cm "Duckie Cake" from Four Leaves that proved more than what a class of 10 two-year-olds can finish.
And so we left the school with Renzo, receiving thanks from the cake-stuffed kids and teachers waiting to share their experience with their parents... and waiting for the next birthday celebration in school...=P
