34, Eczema, Playschool and Birthday Cake

Papa turned 34 yesterday and we took the day off work to spend time with Matty and Elaina (well actually more like to run errands!).

We had to take Matty to the skin doctor yesterday morning after the "outbreak" appearing on parts of his body just doesn't seem to go away completely. The doctor confirmed that he is having eczema (again!) and promptly prescribed him with some cream and a bottle of syrup with apparently stops itches. No intention to give him the syrup unless the itch becomes really bad or if we want to knock him out - the bottle has a bright red label across it saying that it causes drowsiness *evil grin*.

We even enrolled Elaina with a playgroup which starts 6 January 09. Seeing how she enjoys dancing, singing and mingling with other little people she should have a good time in the playgroup... just a matter of how fast she can get adapted to the environment and being left alone. The good thing is that due to age, for the first term she needs to be accompanied. When she turns 2 in March 09, she will proceed on to level 2 which do not require a guardian to be around. Hopefully the first 2 months can help break her in gently.

Surprisingly.... this time round I seem to be less concerned about sending a little being off to school at such a young age. I used to battle with myself (and of course the rest of the family) when we had to send Matty to a playgroup at 18 months old. It felt so cruel to "abandon" a baby to a bunch of strangers.

Strangely... I have had a few people telling me that she is too young for school. And those who didn't think it was a great idea before (for instance my own parents) feeling otherwise now.

Technically... I won't even term it as going to school. More like socialising, having a place to hang around for a couple of hours per week and getting entertained.

Elaina finally understood the meaning of birthdays... or rather the whole candle-blowing and cake-cutting business. For the first time she attempted to blow off the candle after the birthday song ended. It was really cute to see her huffing and puffing with all the might she could gather.