PERMATAHATI

Alllooo…mulai sekarang silakan klik ke http://duniaqila.blogspot.com jika mau tahu tentang kabar terakhir dari kami ya.

Ceritanya makin seru…..silakan..silakan mampir!

Recently I found out that Aqila is sensitive to Oats. Yup…oats, and other foods containing GLUTEN. How did I find out? At first it never accured to me that Aqila is sensitive (allergic?) to wheat family (gluten). We always associate his eczema and his itch with other foods that he eats, such as soya, corn, unclear ‘vegetable oil’. Until I made Oat Crackers Biscuit for Aqila.

He absolutely loves the crackers. BUt….he had very bad rashes after eating them. Since he didnt eat anything new on that day…I knew he must have had reaction from eating the Oat Crackers. So i stopped giving him oats.

It’s been omre than a week….and Aqila’s skin never feels this smooth! Oh..no….now I got to avoid giving him wheat? Looks like I have to really rotate his diet carefully. THere is a special method/way that most allergist recommend to their patient in planning their diet. It is called Rotation Diet. Basically…food and drinks are divided into several categories. And grouped according to their families. People who follows this diet will follow a 4 day rotation, which mean they will only eat the same food from the same family (example oat) with a 4 day (or more if necessary) intervals. Are you still confused?….click http://www.food-allergy.org/page2.html

Luckily…Aqila’s reaction to wheat family is not severe, but still…have to be rotated. Otherwise…it will be like the Chinese New Year 2007 http://permatahati.blogsome.com/2007/02/18/hari-pertama-tahun-baru-imlek-di-ugd-kkh/ de ja vu again then.

Duh Aqila…my poor baby. Susah nya bikin makanan untukmu…..

Aqila sedang berlatih tidak memakai popok. Bukan ‘potty training’…karena kalau untuk urusan yg satu itu, Aqila sudah bisa memberi tahu bundanya tepat waktu. Kalau masalah pipis…masih bablas blas!

Baru hari pertama…so dont expect too much lah. In total ….i had to mop the floor twice, the second one was the most ‘bocor’! Alamak….kids urine do smell!!!!! The thing is….Aqila seems oblivious of what he has caused… mom wiping the floor every time he pee….the smell…the damage! (he did it on the floor, carpet, bed…everywhere). When will he understand that he has to go to the bathroom to do ‘the business’? 

I read an article once, it said that when the child is ready to be potty trained, the process will be very smooth and fast. But when the child is not ready…it will takes months to train him to understand the concept of using the bathroom. However…if the parents failed to see that their child is ready to be potty trained, when the parents started the training late….it would also take months to succeed! Bener gak nih?

Which stage is Aqila in now ya? Aduh …aduh…. I hope i dont have to mop the floor for months!!!!

I’ll update the blog again on Aqila’s progress….pray for me. Bismillah….

Bukan…bukan…’garing’ di sini bukan berarti ‘bete’….hehe apa pula itu ya. Bosen setengah mati. Tapi garing di sini benar2 artinya garing…kering…kepanggang panas matahari bolong di pantai. Tepatnya pantai Palawan (Palawan Beach) di Sentosa.

Ceritanya seminggu yll ibu2 milis ada acara kopi daratan. Berhubung belum pernah ikut serta…ya bunda agak memaksa angota keluarga lain (ayah dan Aqila) u datang dan bergabung. Berhubung setengah hati…jadi engga jadi engga…kami baru bisa sampai di pantai jam….12 siang! Aduhhhh…panas? Jangan tanya….dibayangkan saja sendiri!

Tapi untungnya Aqila tidak mengeluh…mungkin panas dikalahkan oleh rasa senang bermain pasir di pantai! Sukurlah. BUnda rasanya gatal2….mungkin agak sedikit terbakar kulitnya! hehehe… Maklum kulit priyayi 

Ini foto2nya…

Tadi ada PTC (Parent Teacher Conference) di sekolah Aqila. Isinya biasalah…membicarakan progres anak, kekurangan dan kelebihannya, ini itu. Secara sekesluruhan begini hasil observasi gurunya :

Aqila masih belm bisa konsentrasi lama. Hanya untuk aktifitas tertentu spt naming animals, practical sholat (!! surprise…surprise..) dia bisa enjoy dan konsentrasi penuh, dan menyelesaikan task yg diminta gurunya. Kegiatan yg lain…kadang setengah jalan sudah bosan…lalu dia biasanya nyelonong saja pergi buat cari ‘angin’ …jalan ke ruang kepala sekolah, duduk di depan kepala sekolahnya dan memperhatikan ibu kepala sekolah bekerja! Alamak…..orang tuanya baru tahu, asli! Tck…tck….

Bu guru juga menganjurkan Aqila untuk ikut kelas yg reguler…Monday to Friday, supaya dia bisa lebih terlihat progresnya. Ide yg baik…entah mengapa kita kok klop juga tiba2 ingin Aqila sekolah lebih serius. Lagipula…terus terang sang bunda sudah hampir kalah nih dalam berkegiatan setiap hari dg Aqila. Kadang bingung juga cari kegiatan apa lagi untuk menyalurkan energinya yg berlebih! Padahal bundanya sudah tinggal sisa2 tenaga saja!

Jadi kami memutuskan…mulai bulan Juli ini Aqila akan bersekolah setiap hari. Jam 12-3 siang (karena dia tidak bisa bangun pagi, jadi kami pilih kelas siang u Aqila). Semoga dia senang dan menikmati kegiatan sehari2 yg lebih terarah dan fokus dan bermutu! hehehe…

Nah…nah…ini masih seputar alerginya Aqila.

Berhubung susah sekaliiii…mencari makanan jadi atau bahan makanan yg aman dikonsumsi si Raja kecil ini tanpa menimbulkan alergi, akhir-akhir ini saya mulai melirik produk2 yg berlabel Organik. Produk organik…well katanya…diproduksi tanpa tambahan bahan pengawet, pestisida dan bahan kimia lain yg berbahaya bagi tubuh. Great…karena Aqila super super sensitif dg preservative, MSG dll dll.

Kalau mau mencari bahan makanan organik di Singapura, pergilah ke MARKET PLACE di Vivocity (www.vivocity.com.sg). Wow….lengkap sekali dibandingkan toko2 dan supermarket lain di sini. All kind of pastas, bob’s red mills flours, sauces, jams, biscuits, bake goods…apa saja. Mau cari tepung amaranth, millet, kamut, buckwheat, dark rye? Ada di sini semua!

The down sides, satu…..Vivocity jauuuuuhhhh ….. dari rumah kami!  ;(   Rumah kami di timur laut Singapura, sedangkan Vivocity ada di barat daya mentok. Untung …. ada MRT!

Dua…produk organik cenderung punya harga selangit! Aduuuhhhh…..mesti benar2 berhitung dulu sebelum membeli barang. Andaikata…andaikata

I just knew Aqila has soft spots for cats and dogs. He always giggles and looks very excited and happy everytime we come across to a dog being taken for a walk by its owner. Or …when we see stray cats lazily sun-bathing near our flat, just like this morning.

Of course…the moment Aqila saw the big plump cat, he immediately went to the cat. Saying "meow…here meow".. while patting the cat’s head and back. The cat seemed to enjoy the attention, it purred and wiggled its tail happily.

NOw…we probably spent about 10-15 minutes playing with the cat, before this SCARRY little red bumps started showing on Aqila’s left cheeck! Then…he stated to rub his eyes furiously…while mumbling …."hu..hu…sakit…sakit (pain)"

I said to myself……WHaaaat? An Alergic reaction? To cat’s fur? Oh my God! But he was okay last time when he play with cats at his grandma’s house?(back in Jakarta…so many months ago). There was no time to digest the situation, I had to act fast before the reaction became worse.

Off we went back to our home. I quickly took off his clothes, gave him a quick shower to washed off the cat’s furr that might have trapped in his clothes and body…trying hard to calmed him down (it ws not easy when you yourself was in panic mode). While I gave him a shower, Eyang prepared the Chlormine (antihistamine) syrup. We gave him the syrup while I was dressing him up. By this time…the small red bumps had become a medium sized lumps (around 0.5cm in diameter)…and had spread to his right cheeck and jaw. His eyes had started to show a sign of swelling. It was kinda scarry……

One, two, three….five, seven minute later……he was much better, thanks to the proper treatment and the antihistamine. One more sad fact was learnt and understood today. Aqila IS indeed allergic to cats’ furr. Waa…how do we ever visit Eyang’s place in Jakarta now? She has so soooo many cats. How about dogs’ furr? It is a high possibility that Aqila is also allergic to it.

Oh…no…my poor baby. Aqila adores these little cute creatures so much, it saddened me to know that he cant be near any of these animals now. I wonder whether he will outgrow this allergy?

This is another variation of the alphabet bingo game. This version of the game is played alone, a one player. I’ll write the competition game version for more than two players some other time.

You need:

a set of alphabet cards, a letter per card (you can type and print the letters using your printer, decide whether you want to use capital or small letters and be consistent)

2-4pieces of  A4 paper

a marker to write

a ruler

Here’s how :

1. Fold the A4 paper into two, length-wise. Cut into two

2. Draw 6 boxes (use ruler if you need to) on each paper. The size of the box should be more or less the same as the size of the alphabets cards

3. Write a letter from the alphabets in each box….all different letters

4. Do the same to the rest of the A4 paper…try to write all the letter in the alphabets

The game:

1. Lay the letter cards on the floor or a table, try to have a plain background so your kid can concentrate more on the letters (the pics show a poor example…as we played the game on the bed, the bed sheet gave a messy background) 

2. Give a piece of the paper with boxes and letters to your kid, and together with your kid, go through the letters written in it, try to say them out loud

2. Ask him to find cards from the floor or table with the same letter, and then put the card in the appropriate box.

3. Game is finished when all the letters are covered with correct cards.

Now…here’s another way of learning the alphabets…in a fun way.

You need:

a refridgerator wall…hehehe, or a wide magnetic surface (magnetic white board is great)

a set of ABC alphabets magnet

a piece of paper where you can write the alphabet, try to have similar size as the ABC magnet

THe Game :

NOw, you and yor kids are ready for the FIND THE LETTER GAME!! This can be a competition game, for two players or more!

1. lay the alphabets magnet on the floor, try to have some distance to the magnetic surface so that your kids have to run to and fro

2. Fix the paper with the alphabets written on the magnetic surface

3. Go through with your kids the ABC…doesnt have to be so thorough, this is just a warming up, and a step to get them ready for the game.

4. tell them the aim of the game is to find….a B or a C or a K….any letter you ask them to find from the magnetic letters on the floor, pick up the correct letter and then paste it on the paper…according to the letter.

It is a simple game….but my son really enjoyed doing it!

Next level :

Try…to collect various pictures (picture of fruits, foods n drinks, animals)

Make several sets of alphabets, enough to form words –> name of the fruits etc

Start the game…similar to the one above, but istead of finding the right letter…the kids will try to form a word!

  Kapal Pecah!!!!

Ya…seperti itu keadaan rumah kami jika Aqila sedang ada Play date dengan sepupu2nya.

Anak2 ini….masih harus terus menerus diajarkan untuk merapikan mainan setelah selesai bermain….errr…agak susah, karena mereka tidak pernah selesai bermain!

Highlight acara hari ini adalah aksi Aqila, HArsha dan Prisha berpose di dalam kotak mainan raksasa dari IKEA. Karena semua mainan telah dikeluarkan dari kotanya…jadi, gantian lah. Mereka sekarang yang masuk ke dalam kotak mainan! hehehe