Ewan turns Two: A Twist of Fate

Hey newly-minted Big Brother,

Today marks your second week as a brother to Faye and WooHoo! It's your second birthday! *party poppers, confetti, whistles and all* Mummy had your birthday party planned since March and was very excited to execute a memorable birthday for us. 

Daddy always said, "The best kind of birthday celebration is to have an intimate party with the people you spend the most time with". 

So the attendance to your birthday consisted none other than your little friends in school whom you play, cry and laugh with everyday. At the Parent and Teacher Meeting on 17th May, your teachers had nothing but praises for you. It was a little unbelievable that they complimented you to the sky because your grandparents had been giving us feedback of your behaviour when you were with them and they came back quite differently. Daddy sounded your teachers out. If you had been unkind and unloving to your friends, if you pushed them or refused to share. But they concurred that there was absolutely nothing negative to say about you. They couldn't think of anything at all to complain about you Ewan. We were WOWed.

TEACHERS: 

"Ewan is the light of the class, the handsome little prince that everybody loves. He will wipe the tears from the faces of his crying friends and give them assuring hugs. The playground and outdoor activities never cease to be filled with his contagious laughters. Ewan is so well-liked that when he doesn't come to school, his friends will always ask 'where is Ewan?'"  

OTHER PARENTS:

"Oh May! Ewan is such a darling! I dropped Hannah off in school today and Ewan came to the door to greet us. Always smiling and always sweet."

"Hi Ewan's Mummy! Ewan had created such an impact on Kiaus that he must speak about Ewan several times before bedtime. Every Night!"

"Hello Ewan's Daddy. Ewan is an amazing child! Not only does my son look forward to see Ewan in the morning, I look forward to seeing him too! He brightens everybody's morning."

"Oh is that your son? He is Always smiling and Always happy! It's so nice to see him in school."

PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS:

"HaiYOoooooo! Ewan is SO naughty! He used to share with his cousins but now he says No to them. He doesn't listen anymore and is a handful to care for - throwing things, pushing his cousins and refusing to listen. Very Naughty!"

MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS:

"Ewan is getting naughty but very bright. He is hardly 2 years old but speaking in strings of sentences and most amazingly, he listens to our conversations and seems to know what we are talking about! He is learning and growing very fast. A mischievous one. An intelligent one."

These feedbacks are like our 2-year report card that pretty much summed up the kind of parents we had been to you. I think we deserve a little pat on the back. You are both naughty and nice, the popular kid on the block, the entertainer of the party and sometimes the son to a pair of exasperated parents.

I had an ideal scenario painted for your school's celebration and was very much looking forward to it!

30th of May 2014 is the last day of Term 2. Your school is throwing a Fairy Tale party and children were requested to come to school in costumes. I planned your birthday around the fairy tale theme. I sourced for an English dragon birthday cake, a knight in shining armour costume, fairy tale goody bags of dragons and unicorns that have your friends' names on it, purple and silver balloons for each one of them to bring home to and amazing photographs to keep after the party was over. You will take half day off from school today to prepare for a smaller party with your grandparents and cousins at home. The children will be squealing away, the adults will be giving you hugs and we could take a full family portrait with your cake, balloons and presents. Faye and you will both wear a match-matchy t-shirt from Milk on the Rocks. The photographs will all turn out so adorable!

Because we are all sick, your birthday party had to be cancelled. 

Mummy and Faye have been home for 11 days now. These 11 days had been a very trying period for everybody. While you were gone at 公公's house, to recuperate from your bad bout of bronchiolitis, mummy was going through an emotional roller-coaster. I missed you so much and was guilty for sending you away. At some FaceTime sessions, you cried so hard when you saw me and said, "I don't want mummy!" Oh boy that hurts. I haven't spent time with you since I was hospitalised in April. Yet, I couldn't be a mummy to you now that I am home. I did not appreciate the situation we were put into. If only everybody were healthy, our family would have bonded differently with Faye's arrival. It was too heartbreaking for me to take but we had to make sure you were healthy again before coming home. All in all, you had been sick for a month and given four rounds of antibiotics to ensure your phlegmy lungs do not worsen into pneumonia.

As if you being sick wasn't enough, Faye is now down with a cough and flu. Our 2-weeker is too young to take any medicine but only to depend on mummy's breastmilk to help her recover. She sneezes several times a day and when she coughed, she sounded like a puppy trying to cough up a fur ball from her throat. I cannot afford to fall ill but I had. I might have caught Faye's cold and am now down with sore throat and phlegm. My trusted YL essential oils are our best friend now. Daddy did not have the time to marinate you while I was away. Now, the whole family is being marinated under mummy's care.

Hasn't this pregnancy and labour been more than challenging enough for us? Daddy is crumbling from a very tired body. He had held the fort for far too long and he finally fell terribly ill on Monday. He came home from work shivering, fingers turned numbed and nails were blue. His fever hit a high of 40 degree celcius and no matter how much medicine he ate, his fever could not break. He fell so sick, he quarantined himself from Faye and mummy lest we fell ill too. It wasn't until yesterday that we found out daddy had contracted HFMD!

What are the odds? HFMD... I dread the day you contract your first HFMD but daddy came home with it instead. The family doctor was pleased that you were safe from it. Otherwise, you would have been hospitalised on top of your bronchiolitis. 

We are all so tired. So worried. All beaten. When will we stand strong again?

But I know, no matter how down things are at home, you will still have a swell birthday. Spending time with your favourite people matters more to you than cakes, balloons and party poppers.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ewan!

Love, Mummy

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Goody Bags from Etsy
La Pink Moon
https://www.etsy.com/shop/LaPinkMoon

Balloons and Buntings from GiveFun
http://www.givefun.com.sg

Birthday Cake from Jenny Gwee
9221 8198

Read Ewan's other Birthday Celebrations:
- First Birthday, 2013
- Third Birthday, 2015
- Fourth Birthday, 2016
- Fifth Birthday, 2016

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