of adenoids and tonsils

December of last year, after a quick bout with a throat infection, we were advised by the little girl's pedia at Wellcare to consult an ENT of theirs regarding her nasal and throat airways. The ENT gave the little girl a peep through the nose (which was uncomfortable enough to make her cry) and throat. The verdict was her adenoids and tonsils were enlarged (apparently common for kids her age) and that they both had to be removed. Generally, we had noticed she had trouble breathing particularly during the evening sleep. The procedure would clear her airways and give her a better way of life.

Surgical removal was done with general anesthesia, with a procedure time of about 30m-1hr and recovery time was about two to three weeks. At that time, we decided to not rush into it... it was general anesthesia after all. We spent time researching and understanding the whole thing and how to be prepared for the procedure particularly the recovery period. We also took her for a second opinion - same message.

We took advantage of the long term break after term 2. So, thursday morning of April 1 - day after the last of the term, she was admitted into Muscat Private. They were prelim checkups and meetings in the days leading up to that day but all went well and she was cleared for the procedure. She went into the theater with her mom (just until she fell asleep). I saw the ENT surgeon after about an hour and he said everything went very well and she was recovering nicely. He brought me to her and showed me - she was sleeping and breathing through her nose quite calmly, as opposed to her usual thru the mouth - that there was a the big difference. She woke up in the post-op room with me beside her, still quite groggy from the anesthesia and pain killers. Came back to room after a short while and from time to time she would wake, visibly irritated by the feeling of her throat but otherwise doing ok.

She was cleared and we were home in the evening that very same day. She's on a strict soft diet... and for anyone who knows our little girl, that's no small thing. Even though it was a very very difficult time for her, she was a definite trooper. We prepared her on what to expect after the surgery, so she knew and I guess that helped because she kept herself in good spirits and was very obedient (more so than usual). It was hard on us seeing her like that - struggling because she really (really really) wanted to eat and she was sooo hungry and in pain. A single gulp of water that went down the wrong would make her cry in pain.

Things got better after the first week and she wanted to be more adventurous with her food but kept things slow going even though her doctor cleared her already. All in all the whole experience for her went very well. What she had suffered through for a few weeks was well worth it. A better way of life.

Rainforest Video

The Rainforest

Year 2 had another musical play for the end of Term 2. Their theme? The Rain forest.

It was a beautiful sequence of songs and magical storytelling. The children obviously had a blast most of all when they all modeled their personally decorated Save the Rain Forest shirts. The performances and costumes were nicely done. It's good to see the children put in their best work especially in group productions like these. Parents get to see the results first hand and its good all around fun. All wrapped around a conservation theme, the kids responded to the challenge very well. Great job kids!

On our 5th

Time flew. This is us - five years and three big tummies after. We decided on safe celebrations on familiar ground. So back up to Barr Al Jissah, Shangri-la for a weekend. We had a treat on our very first day - early that morning, turtles eggs hatched. Our arrival synched up with a scheduled release of the turtles. The little girl couldn't get enough of them.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of buffets, sunrises and sunsets. Another amazing Shang weekend.

Swimming Gala 2010 Video

Swimming Gala

Another Gala at BSM. Not much change from last year. Still, the kids enjoyed. A whole lot of cheering from parents and enthusiastic kids spelled the difference. Viv finished first on one of her legs and the 2nd one was pretty close. She does her best and she's always happy - that's all we could ask for.

Sports Day '10

It was exactly the same as last years'. Down to the games and the program. Diff was this year - the little girl's batch was now the older ones of KS1 - no longer the bulinggits. Even though older, it was still nonetheless so much fun for them. Significant improvements here and there ...longer leaps, better form, quicker, faster... just better all around.

Looking forward to next year - when they get back to being bulinggits - the little ones....in KS2.

New year... New decade

It is always extra special for us to celebrate the new year. We celebrate it in our house just like same as back home in Manila, stayed home together as a family, put lots of food on the table for prosperity and a basket of round fruits for wealth.

Few days before, Vivian and I went out to buy daddy's presents, my husband was with us but the little girl told him not to enter the store so it's still a surprise. Daughter picked very daring styles and colors of polos, shirts and pants but we ended up getting four presents that hubby could pull off. On the 31st, I was able to cook few dishes for dinner and for media noche. We ate dinner at 8pm as it was 12 midnight back home. We had salad, karekare and crispy pata, then our favorite desserts- blueberry cheesecake, leche flan and fruit salad. As we waited for midnight, Vivian excitedly prepared and fixed the living room for hubby's birthday. She put our gifts next to the balloons and kept asking, "Is it time, already? Is it time"? After what seemed several hours, it was time at last... just in time the 'suman' was done, we were ready to welcome the new decade and hubby's birthday. Vivian and I brought out the cake then started singing happy birthday, not once but twice to capture the moment. After we had our fiesta ham with potato salad, 'suman' with thick cocoa and mango, Hubby opened his gifts and daughter put a surprise card and message in one of the gifts. It was another memorable celebration and the little girl ended it by popping all the balloons.

Happy birthday to my hubby, I hope you liked our celebration for three, hopefully next year it will be for a fantastic four. We love you!

December Fest: more videos

December Fest: Dubai Christmas!

Dubai again??! Yeah but well for this Christmas time, we decided we'd do stuff we haven't done in Dubai yet. First off, we checked into our suite at the Intercontinental, Festival City - much thanks to Priority Club (woot!!). We got through the UAE border quite early and Intercon allowed us early check-in as well. After checking out our room, a quick rest and unpacking our stuff, we drove off to Dubai Mall and had breakfast at Dôme.

Went to Reel Cinemas right after to pickup our movie tickets. We reserved seats online for the movie, 'The Princess and the Frog' - we needed to make sure; the last time we were here last November, we promised the little girl we'd watch the movie exactly on opening day, 24th Dec. The little girl enjoyed the movie - unfortunately, Thess and I both slept through most of the screening. It wasn't the best of Disney productions but at least the little girl appreciated it - so that was enough.

Next on the agenda was a visit in Sega Republic. Vivian had been pining for this for the longest time so we finally gave in. It was then my duty to accompany the little girl on the rides she chose to try out. The first, and as it turns out, and only ride she tried out was a ride called SpinGears. It was a roller-coaster-like ride where the cabs (four in each) spins around on its axis like a gear. It was a wild wild ride. The little girl's verdict on the ride was undecided - she says she didn't like it coz she was freaking out the entire time but I think a part of her loved it too. She spent the rest of her credits on the arcades - golf, bowling, etc.

We tried out a restaurant along The Grove called Uno, Chicago Grill. The food and service was great! We spent a good, long and lazy hour just enjoying the food and the music - a quartet was just around the bend offering Christmas tunes. Drove back the hotel right after. Enjoyed a short fireworks display we saw from our room. By12 mn, we opened gifts all around. Vivian couldn't wait to open her gifts particularly 'Santa's'. She told us her 'gift wish' shortly after the Donkey for Sale saga. Still reeling from our glee from all of that we gave in....oh, I mean we told Santa that she wanted a Hannah Montana PSPTM.

Woke up to a glorious Christmas Day! We set out late in the morning as we took our sweet time getting ready in our suite. Beeline to MoE (Mall of Emirates). We bought movie tickets to Avatar 3D and had Christmas lunch at Butcher Grill. While we waited for our food, we called our families back home to greet them Merry Christmas!! We terribly miss everyone back home. It was good to hear everyone's ok and doing well. Food arrived and we proceeded to clean up our plates - all the while though, the girl kept asking, 'is it time for the movie yet? is it time to go to the cinemas? is it time now??'. So after gorging on all that meat, we donned our 3D glasses and had one of the best rides of our lives - Avatar in 3D was just awesome. After the lengthy film, we swung by Häagen-Dazs for a few scoops...well, several scoops. Back at the hotel, we rested for a bit and decided to spend the rest of our Christmas evening at Ikea. Festival City was a quick walk from the hotel which was a good thing because my girls were both very hungry. Already had a quick dinner there and just roamed the innards of Ikea for the rest of the night.

On our last day, we had one last surprise for the little girl. Previous MoE visits, she would ask to go to Ski Dubai and everytime, we would say we don't have enough time - which was true - you'd really need a good sized morning or afternoon to make the most out of it. So this time, we decided to make a white Christmas, of sorts, out of it. Needless to say, the girl couldn't get enough out of it. The place was massive. The girl braved the bobsled and the tubing and kept wanting for more. The clincher, however, was when we started a snow fight and she started getting cold. (We saw the no-throwing-of-snow sign only on the way out so we apologize for that haha!)

Another enjoyable Christmas! Merry Christmas to our families and friends!!