So much for that theory!! Last night was another bad one! Anyone got any ideas?
The school assembly this morning was run by Kaylia's class .... the performance by all the children was great and Kaylia played her part well - she loves the dancing! I won't put the little video files and photos on this site but if anyone would like to see some, email me so I can send it to you.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Thursday 3rd June 2010
Another little milestone tonight. We forgot to give Kaylia her afternoon dose of Risperdal yesterday ..... and she slept through the night! We're now testing the theory that the Risperdal interacts with the Melatonin to reduce its effect. So tonight is the second night of Melatonin alone - if she again sleeps through the night, it will add more weight to the theory.
Tomorrow at school, Kaylia will take part in her class play at assembly ... in one part she will be a clock(!) and then she will change to being a princess for the second part. (Of course, we think the role as princess is very appropriate!)
Another improvement with Kaylia is that she has now decided that walking is good! For a long time, she has flatly refused to walk any where .... it had to be 'CAR'! Now she is walking ... and even leading the dog!
Tomorrow at school, Kaylia will take part in her class play at assembly ... in one part she will be a clock(!) and then she will change to being a princess for the second part. (Of course, we think the role as princess is very appropriate!)
Another improvement with Kaylia is that she has now decided that walking is good! For a long time, she has flatly refused to walk any where .... it had to be 'CAR'! Now she is walking ... and even leading the dog!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Tuesday 1st June 2010
Thanks to the people emailing .... it's great to know that you're out there supprting us!
Today Kaylia is still in 'high anxiety mode' .... school reports that she was stimmy and when she came home we had a hard job calming her down so she could start therapy. She gets very determined that she is going to go in the car .... and at 6 years old, she is quite sure that she can make us do whatever she wants!
Last night was another bad one ... she woke at 3 am and was then awake for the rest of the night. This time, she didn't go back to sleep at all! Tonight we tried increasing the 'sleepy drug' and we'll see if it can keep her asleep through the night.
Until we can improve her sleeping, we will have difficulty controlling the anxiety and 'stimmy-ness' ... so this is an important task.
Today Kaylia is still in 'high anxiety mode' .... school reports that she was stimmy and when she came home we had a hard job calming her down so she could start therapy. She gets very determined that she is going to go in the car .... and at 6 years old, she is quite sure that she can make us do whatever she wants!
Last night was another bad one ... she woke at 3 am and was then awake for the rest of the night. This time, she didn't go back to sleep at all! Tonight we tried increasing the 'sleepy drug' and we'll see if it can keep her asleep through the night.
Until we can improve her sleeping, we will have difficulty controlling the anxiety and 'stimmy-ness' ... so this is an important task.
Pre #1 Newsletter - Bali
How did Team Kaylee begin? The idea occurred during our last holiday in Bali .... the story follows ....
26/12/09 Saturday
Boxing Day. Up at 6am to head to the airport by 7:20. Farewell to Dani – hopefully we will see her again.
Check-in – we have the booked seats - Yay. The whole boarding process went well and K was clearly relishing getting on the plane. The first 2 hours of the flight went well with Kaylia absorbed in the DVD player … but then the battery went flat! …. And hell began. Then followed an hour of constant crying and struggling. She seemed to be in pain and didn’t respond to any of our usual tricks. Both Naomi & I were at our limits. Fortunately Kaylia recovered as the plane descended and the episode was just a bad memory by the time we were in the terminal. VIP service was great again …. Whisked past the customs and out the door to the car.
The drive to Ubud was pure Bali again and we could feel the strains falling away. We found Tegal Sari and after a quick check-in, it was off to the delightful pool. Kaylia is such a good swimmer now – no concerns about her! After tea, we both had a very good massage (Suriya).
27/12/09 Sunday
The night was disturbed again … Kaylia woke at 4am and cried till 6am. We then slept till 8am then breakfast and off to the pool. Kaylia is ‘collecting’ the pool noodles ….and the other guests! Walked up the road to a bakery for lunch and then shopping at the Circle-K. Back to the pool while N went for a pedicure. Tea while waiting. Wi-fi is free in the dining room so I use the iPod to send emails. Nomi took a long time getting her pedicure (Rp 40 000) and missed Ian and Kaylee having tea. Ian was booked in to have his massage in the bale so Nomi had to gulp her dinner down ASAP. Kaylee was a a bugger refusing to settle so that when Nomi was having a massage in the room, Kaylee was bouncing off the walls. Suryah (the lovely masseuse) tried to entice Kaylee into helping her massage Mummy but Kaylee took umbrage at having all that sticky gooey stuff on her hands. She eventually fell asleep after collecting all the pillows in the room, stacking them into a huge pile with her head on top of them all.
28/12/09 Monday
Kaylee woke up once tonight but settled back to sleep fairly quickly. The lady next door moved out this morning. I hope it wasn’t because of us ? We ate breakfast on the balcony again this morning. Kaylee knocked off the jam and toast and polished off the banana juice. Her appetite is returning! After a swim in the pool, we went by car up to Penelokan to look at the Volcano. Our driver took us up the back way so we had good views over the lake and volcano. There were heaps of people sight-seeing today. Our restaurant was full by the time we sat down. We went to the same one we usually go to, the one that has great views. Kaylee hoed into the mie goring and watermelon, while I & N did the buffet. Ian was heard to remark that while the food didn’t look all that fabulous, it tasted good. When we got back to the hotel, Kaylee all but ran to the toilet. Fortunately for our driver and the car, she lasted until we got home. Nomi then went off and bought up big on clothes for Kaylee (dress,2 shorts and a skirt = Rp320 000). Her attempt at poisoning her husband with Balinese Kopi failed. He couldn’t drink the stuff as it was too strong. She will have to be more creative next time ?
29/12/09 Tuesday
A good night! K slept right through without disturbance. After a good breakfast, we headed for the pool. It was much cooler after a night of rain & thunder. After swimming, we went for a car trip to Gianyar to find Hardy’s. K found the noise levels in Hardy’s to be too high so we aborted after a few minutes and went back to Tegal Sari. Then it was down to the bakery for lunch and shopping. Rest time after that and then N&K for a swim while I went walking. Arrived home to a distressed K who had had other children in ‘her’ pool. How dare they? More rest & DVD time followed by tea at Abian and down the road to find an icecream. K very upset by the road noise. (Need to work on that!)
Massages & bed
Ti da di da, ti da di da, n-o-o-o-o
Observations:
Noise no good
New routes no good
Car trips good
30/12/09 Wednesday
A good night again!! Much debate about the possible cause of the pain attacks. After our usual breakfast and swim, we tried to go for a drive …and found that yesterday’s noisy car experience had taken away Kaylee’s desire for car rides! After some strong persuasion, she found her enjoyment again and hopefully she will keep the enjoyment.
Drive was to the north – rice terraces, white herons, ducks. By the time we got back from the drive, a storm was threatening. Naomi went up to Ubud centre and walked back through pouring rain. It was an afternoon of lounging round. Kaylia seems to enjoy time in the room most of all – a little space all her own.
After dinner, the usual for Kaylee “double b and chips”, she came with us for a walk quite happily. Albeit she did insist that we go out the front of the hotel, not out the side entrance. We bought magnums and sat outside the circle K watching the traffic go past. Kaylee seemed quite content. While we sat there two men came up to us, one to sell bone carving to us for US$1 and another to sell a wood carving of a Harley Davidson bike for US$10. Having driven through the villages where they specialize in this work, it was a little sad, especially for the bone carver, as people don’t want this kind of stuff anymore.
N has decided to keep a record of T/trums and melt-downs for Kaylee to see how we fare over the holiday. N was wondering this afternoon whether we should be taking Kaylee on holidays and exposing her to this sort of environmental stress. However there are times where she seems to really enjoy herself and N & I really would like to be able to take her on trips abroad with us.
Amended Observations:
Some noise no good (e.g. motorcycle engine revving)
New routes no good (have to stick with known paths)
Car trips maybe good, maybe bad (car trips OK for now)
T/trums & Meltdowns
Stroppy in bed, medication given, stroppy waiting for breakfast to arrive (fine after breakfast) HUNGER
Didn’t want to go in car (said “no” a number of times, sang “Elmo song”, wrapped her legs around N while being carried to car). Very clingy in car . However settled within 5 mins of getting in car (requests for lollies & big smiles) ANXIETY
Stroppy while N was away shopping. Given lunch time dose of panadol, then fine.
PAIN??
Afternoon swim, got upset within in 5 mins. Happy to come back to room, although cried along the way. It was raining and unusual weather but no one in pool
ANXIETY/PAIN ???
Leading up to tea time, asking for biscuits & drinks. Got stroppy, lots of crying and carrying on. Scoffed her dinner and was fine afterwards HUNGER
31/12/09 Thursday (New Years Eve)
Not so good night last night. Kaylee woke up around 4am with pain. She took about an hour or so to calm, by which stage she was wide awake. She then just wanted to play and muck around. N in the meantime was exhausted, teary and all round cheesed off. N tried to sleep but gave up in the end. Breakfast on the balcony as usual.
We went swimming as per our routine. It seems as if the first swim of the day is always incident free and very pleasant for all of us. We came back to the room and got ready to go for another of our random drives. Apart from saying “no” in the room (to the announcement that we were going driving) and “no” again as we got in the car, Kaylee was quite amiable about the drive. She did however protest when our driver wanted to let us out to have a look at the Campuan River (at a particular hotel). Given the level of her vehemence, we aborted the visit. The rest of the trip went without incident. Ian stopped at a bridge, got out and took some photos of the river and surrounding jungle. Kaylee was happy to stop at the bakery on the way back to the hotel to get her supply of dough-nuts (one with chocolate, one without).
After lunch, N went shopping for two hours. She caught the hotel car into town, stropped at the markets. Her first mission was to find Kaylee decongestant syrup. The driver, Ketut (from the morning) had told her the words to use “Atta Batu”. Atta means medicine, batu means cold. She found some in a minimart, plus some strepsils to boot. Then she bought up big on Baby Einstein and Barney DVDs for Kaylee (plus one for I&N to watch once Kaylee went to bed). Then, she headed off to Animale (which she had seen that morning from the car as we drove by). She spent quite modestly (given that it had been a year since the last time she stepped into Animale) and came home plotting what she would do in the Animale Factory Outlet in Seminyak. She also bought some shoes for Kaylee and a bead necklace for K to have as a dingle-dangle. N walked all the way home down the Monkey Forrest Road. Ian estimated that she must have walked 4km. On the way home she found a little shop with a mosaic gecko in it (same shop where she bought the beads). She intends to go back tomorrow and buy it!
After swimming, Kaylee crashed big time. She missed the thunderstorm and rains. That will teach her for waking at 4am in the morning!
T/trums & Meltdowns
Awake at 4am in the morning. Think it was her ear again
After N went shopping, a little stroppy. Ian tried to get her to lie down.
While swimming, started crying half way through N’s countdown. When we got back to room she was crying/grizzling. Had a hot bath, then fell asleep grizzling on bed while N held hands over her ears.
Note, despite incidents today…we are either better managing her hunger and pain or she is getting better so it is less of a deal.
1/1/10 Friday
What a night!! Kaylia had slept from 3:30pm in the afternoon and so by 8:30pm when she woke, she was ready to party!! …. And it was New Year’s Eve! Selemat Tahun Baru! From sunset, the area was full of the sound of exploding fireworks and at midnight, the tempo when right up the scale with fireworks, drumming, loud music and loud motorbikes! It continued till about 1am and Kaylia was beside herself as we tried to calm her and get her to a point where she could sleep.
At 4am she awoke and “….GO! ….. LEAVE!” She was very sure but settled again when it was clear we weren’t going anywhere. (Jodi will be pleased with the language use!)
The morning is cool & clear and bodes well for the day. This is our last day in Tegal Sari and tomorrow morning we go to ‘Scape in Sanur.
We gave Kaylee the local medicine yesterday and N suspects it may be a little top heavy with the pseudoepherine. Kaylee hasn’t been interested in food quite as much and definitely bounced off the walls. Good for party tricks last night with Suriya (high fives, “hi’s” and full on eye gaze).
After breakfast, we tried to give a dose of the new medicine and K wasn’t having it! After much fruitless persuasion, we gave up and used the ol’ faithful Nurofen. Then to the pool …. Aborted when Kaylee became upset with constipation. Back to the room for a bath. Quiet time & lunch. Kaylee has no appetite. N off on her gecko quest! She’s trying a place near the Monkey Forest.
Afternoon tea at the bakery – ages waiting for K to finish her Sprite
2/1/10 Saturday
After an endless battle trying to get Kaylia to eat anything at all for breakfast, we finally gave up, packed up and checked out. The trip to Sanur was good but when we got there, we (Ian and the driver) couldn’t find our hotel! After 4 or 5 drives up & down the main drag of Sanur, we found ‘Scape just near where we first looked! It is nowhere near the location shown on the website and its hidden away behind a restaurant – no vehicle access and just the smallest little sign!! It is very close to the Bumi Ayu where we stayed in December 2005 and across the road from the Gazebo where I stayed in September 1996. The ‘Scape is a set of 10 self-contained apartments set in 2 lines at right angles to the road with a 25 metre lap pool between them. Each apartment has door access straight onto the pool. The whole place is only 3 years old and is still in very good condition.
Walking distance to Hardy’s.
Tea for the first night was pizza (hoping that K would eat some) and it was not good!
3/1/10 Sunday
Another good night. N discovered that if K blows her nose, it can remove the ear discomfort …. Maybe she has found the trick!
Breakfast cooked at home. Then N out shopping 9 – 11 while K had “time out” with dingle-dangles and Ian read. Swim then lunch. After lunch Ian went into Kuta for a shopping trip – no tripods to be found, no shoes that N wanted. Back to Sanur (via a stretch of the original Kuta – Sanur road) Found a massage person for our nightly massages. At the booth across the road from Scape, Ian bought a really neat “Diesel” brand bag at a pleasing price.
Arrived home to find that the power is to be off from 6:30pm to 10pm – this is really bad as we can’t go out with Kaylee and it means sitting home with no fans or a/cond … or even lights! At least at the Tegal Sari, they had a big generator so that we could be cool even if it was noisy.
Kaylia slept for a lot of the afternoon while N went out shopping some more. We wnt to the front restaurant for tea and then massages till bed time. While the power was off it was quite uncomfortable and after massage time we just sat till the power came back on. It was about 11:30 before it was cool enough to sleep – a late night for K (but OK considering the long afternoon sleep)
4/1/10 Monday
K woke at 4am and again at about 6 when we gave up and she watched DVDs till 8.N had a messy start to the morning, lots of tears and talking through her issues with I. The holiday has had a number of challenges for I & N to work through and resilience was wearing a little thin today. It’s hard work having to care for Kaylee around the clock. The only time out we have is when we give each other a break. It would have been nice for us to have had sometime together by ourselves. Kaylee however, has been having a wonderful time and has really liked the almost full time access to N.
After breakfast it was time for a finance meeting before N headed off to brave the wild shops. (K & I into the pool till lunch time.)
The afternoon was a blank – probably pool time.
Massages were good again – we both agree that although Surya in Ubud was good, Ketut here is even better. She really knows how to find “the spots”.
5/1/10 Tuesday
After a good night, we slept in till 9am and arose for breakfast and the pool. By 11:30, Ian was fidgety and went over the road to buy a smaller matching Diesel bag – bagus.
After lunch, Ian went off for a haircut – a #2! Then we went to Galleria for donuts. Not just any donuts, some really good ones! Kaylee enjoyed the trip and the yummy donuts but was pretty clear afterwards that there would be no shopping permitted. Galleria taught us that K needs to stay at home if any shopping is planned or we put some work into the preparation and making sure that we have good quality air conditioning. We got home and K had another ‘attack’ which lasted quite a while. She got too hot on the way back from shopping and her ears started hurting.. While going down stairs, the door handle came off and Ian fell down some stairs, narrowly escaping a fall through a glass door.
N went off after things had calmed down and bought some sunglasses and DVDs.
6/1/10 Wednesday
K needed medicine at 4am again and then was kicking & crying again till about 5 – calm after that. Ian & Kaylee in the pool from 8:30 to 11 while N went shopping again.
After lunch, Ian tried to be interested in something – buying, walking, anything – but it didn’t work. Sat at the front restaurant for a milkshake. All in all, it was not a good day. Kaylee refused to go out and refused a car ride. Meltdown in the afternoon and refused to eat tea. Took herself off to bed by 5pm
This is the first holiday where we have come close to aborting and catching an early plane home.
Evening massages
7/1/10 Thursday
What a night! Kaylee had slept through the first hour of massage, then woke for the second. When N came to bed at 9:30, K then started kicking & screaming and kept it up till 12:30. N resorted to making K sit on the floor if she was not quiet. After 20 seconds of quiet, she could return to bed. This was repeated till she eventually tired and slept. She slept through to 6am and woke happy.
N took the morning shift today while Ian went over to the APVC property in Nusa Dua to check out where we will be staying in August. This an awesome property and very up-market. K will love the pools. All rooms are adjacent and stacked – so there is little chance that we will not disturb neighbors. But we have warned APVC so they can do the best possible. The drive was combined with a search for Nike + for the iPod. The search started at Carrefor where we found no iPods at all. Stopped for lunch at the food hall …. The best nasi goring yet! Then went to Remo in Denpasar. Remo is an amazing place – 4 floors of small stalls (3m x 3m) all selling phones, PCs, bits, printers ….. anything electronic! There were several stalls with iPods … but no Nike add ons.
Ian was away from 10am till 1:30 and returned to find the Naomi had had a bad time with Kaylia. Kaylee had three melt-downs, two big ones, and a little wobbly in between. It would be fair to say that Mummy had a melt down too and does not do well with screaming Kaylee and lack of sleep in combination.
Still out of the ashes of psych-mummy was borne the concept of Team Kaylee! Godd will always follow bad.
After Ian’s return we went for a drive (K calming therapy) till 3pm. On return to the S’cape, Kaylia then returned to her tantrumming ways. Ian handled this by harm prevention and allowing her to work it out.
Naomi brought home home-made mie goring – packets of noodles and a chicken – plus icecream!
Massages and bed.
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
Has to be near a pool
Has to have separated quiet place so the neighbors aren’t disturbed.
Our future Bali experiences depend on Kaylee’s health (ear) issues. This is hard to tell 6 months in advance. This last 2 weeks would have been just as bad at home …. but it means that the Bali time has not been enjoyable.
TEAM “K” - we need to be a real team in supporting each other through the tough times. N & I have low resilience at present and the girls need to be made to feel part of Team K so that their strength can help N & I to cope.
8/1/10 Friday
A great night! Painstop at 6pm meant that Kaylia slept through the night and was up happy at 6:30. A warm bath followed by breakfast and a swim. The swim was in the middle of a tropical downpour! I had to cover my eyes to see anything. Fortunately, being in the water meant not getting wet (??!!).
Program – last minute shopping this morning, massages & packing this afternoon, out to the airport at 7:30.
Customs & check-in then Garuda lounge till boarding time.
Kaylee and Ian met N at the restaurant (by coincidence). N had ordered some breakfast munchies on the hunch that they would go down well with Kaylee. Kaylee wolfed down her toast and jam, b and watermelon juice, then promptly licked the plate for salt. She then went back to the room to scoff half a pack of Pringles. You can’t tell me that she isn’t an easier and happier child after a good night’s sleep and a full belly.
Later: The day was good and we ‘prepped’ Kaylia well for the flight … she slept most of the way but after landing in Perth, we were in the passport queue and a crying baby upset her …. then a huge anxiety attack set in. From that point she tried really hard to control her behavior but it was all too much for her. Fortunately, the customs staff were observant and well prepared - they whipped us out of the line and through the checks. Just as well as we were all frazzled by then.
Our limo (booked 3 weeks before as we knew how impossible it would be to get a taxi) was waiting and we were soon home.
26/12/09 Saturday
Boxing Day. Up at 6am to head to the airport by 7:20. Farewell to Dani – hopefully we will see her again.
Check-in – we have the booked seats - Yay. The whole boarding process went well and K was clearly relishing getting on the plane. The first 2 hours of the flight went well with Kaylia absorbed in the DVD player … but then the battery went flat! …. And hell began. Then followed an hour of constant crying and struggling. She seemed to be in pain and didn’t respond to any of our usual tricks. Both Naomi & I were at our limits. Fortunately Kaylia recovered as the plane descended and the episode was just a bad memory by the time we were in the terminal. VIP service was great again …. Whisked past the customs and out the door to the car.
The drive to Ubud was pure Bali again and we could feel the strains falling away. We found Tegal Sari and after a quick check-in, it was off to the delightful pool. Kaylia is such a good swimmer now – no concerns about her! After tea, we both had a very good massage (Suriya).
27/12/09 Sunday
The night was disturbed again … Kaylia woke at 4am and cried till 6am. We then slept till 8am then breakfast and off to the pool. Kaylia is ‘collecting’ the pool noodles ….and the other guests! Walked up the road to a bakery for lunch and then shopping at the Circle-K. Back to the pool while N went for a pedicure. Tea while waiting. Wi-fi is free in the dining room so I use the iPod to send emails. Nomi took a long time getting her pedicure (Rp 40 000) and missed Ian and Kaylee having tea. Ian was booked in to have his massage in the bale so Nomi had to gulp her dinner down ASAP. Kaylee was a a bugger refusing to settle so that when Nomi was having a massage in the room, Kaylee was bouncing off the walls. Suryah (the lovely masseuse) tried to entice Kaylee into helping her massage Mummy but Kaylee took umbrage at having all that sticky gooey stuff on her hands. She eventually fell asleep after collecting all the pillows in the room, stacking them into a huge pile with her head on top of them all.
28/12/09 Monday
Kaylee woke up once tonight but settled back to sleep fairly quickly. The lady next door moved out this morning. I hope it wasn’t because of us ? We ate breakfast on the balcony again this morning. Kaylee knocked off the jam and toast and polished off the banana juice. Her appetite is returning! After a swim in the pool, we went by car up to Penelokan to look at the Volcano. Our driver took us up the back way so we had good views over the lake and volcano. There were heaps of people sight-seeing today. Our restaurant was full by the time we sat down. We went to the same one we usually go to, the one that has great views. Kaylee hoed into the mie goring and watermelon, while I & N did the buffet. Ian was heard to remark that while the food didn’t look all that fabulous, it tasted good. When we got back to the hotel, Kaylee all but ran to the toilet. Fortunately for our driver and the car, she lasted until we got home. Nomi then went off and bought up big on clothes for Kaylee (dress,2 shorts and a skirt = Rp320 000). Her attempt at poisoning her husband with Balinese Kopi failed. He couldn’t drink the stuff as it was too strong. She will have to be more creative next time ?
29/12/09 Tuesday
A good night! K slept right through without disturbance. After a good breakfast, we headed for the pool. It was much cooler after a night of rain & thunder. After swimming, we went for a car trip to Gianyar to find Hardy’s. K found the noise levels in Hardy’s to be too high so we aborted after a few minutes and went back to Tegal Sari. Then it was down to the bakery for lunch and shopping. Rest time after that and then N&K for a swim while I went walking. Arrived home to a distressed K who had had other children in ‘her’ pool. How dare they? More rest & DVD time followed by tea at Abian and down the road to find an icecream. K very upset by the road noise. (Need to work on that!)
Massages & bed
Ti da di da, ti da di da, n-o-o-o-o
Observations:
Noise no good
New routes no good
Car trips good
30/12/09 Wednesday
A good night again!! Much debate about the possible cause of the pain attacks. After our usual breakfast and swim, we tried to go for a drive …and found that yesterday’s noisy car experience had taken away Kaylee’s desire for car rides! After some strong persuasion, she found her enjoyment again and hopefully she will keep the enjoyment.
Drive was to the north – rice terraces, white herons, ducks. By the time we got back from the drive, a storm was threatening. Naomi went up to Ubud centre and walked back through pouring rain. It was an afternoon of lounging round. Kaylia seems to enjoy time in the room most of all – a little space all her own.
After dinner, the usual for Kaylee “double b and chips”, she came with us for a walk quite happily. Albeit she did insist that we go out the front of the hotel, not out the side entrance. We bought magnums and sat outside the circle K watching the traffic go past. Kaylee seemed quite content. While we sat there two men came up to us, one to sell bone carving to us for US$1 and another to sell a wood carving of a Harley Davidson bike for US$10. Having driven through the villages where they specialize in this work, it was a little sad, especially for the bone carver, as people don’t want this kind of stuff anymore.
N has decided to keep a record of T/trums and melt-downs for Kaylee to see how we fare over the holiday. N was wondering this afternoon whether we should be taking Kaylee on holidays and exposing her to this sort of environmental stress. However there are times where she seems to really enjoy herself and N & I really would like to be able to take her on trips abroad with us.
Amended Observations:
Some noise no good (e.g. motorcycle engine revving)
New routes no good (have to stick with known paths)
Car trips maybe good, maybe bad (car trips OK for now)
T/trums & Meltdowns
Stroppy in bed, medication given, stroppy waiting for breakfast to arrive (fine after breakfast) HUNGER
Didn’t want to go in car (said “no” a number of times, sang “Elmo song”, wrapped her legs around N while being carried to car). Very clingy in car . However settled within 5 mins of getting in car (requests for lollies & big smiles) ANXIETY
Stroppy while N was away shopping. Given lunch time dose of panadol, then fine.
PAIN??
Afternoon swim, got upset within in 5 mins. Happy to come back to room, although cried along the way. It was raining and unusual weather but no one in pool
ANXIETY/PAIN ???
Leading up to tea time, asking for biscuits & drinks. Got stroppy, lots of crying and carrying on. Scoffed her dinner and was fine afterwards HUNGER
31/12/09 Thursday (New Years Eve)
Not so good night last night. Kaylee woke up around 4am with pain. She took about an hour or so to calm, by which stage she was wide awake. She then just wanted to play and muck around. N in the meantime was exhausted, teary and all round cheesed off. N tried to sleep but gave up in the end. Breakfast on the balcony as usual.
We went swimming as per our routine. It seems as if the first swim of the day is always incident free and very pleasant for all of us. We came back to the room and got ready to go for another of our random drives. Apart from saying “no” in the room (to the announcement that we were going driving) and “no” again as we got in the car, Kaylee was quite amiable about the drive. She did however protest when our driver wanted to let us out to have a look at the Campuan River (at a particular hotel). Given the level of her vehemence, we aborted the visit. The rest of the trip went without incident. Ian stopped at a bridge, got out and took some photos of the river and surrounding jungle. Kaylee was happy to stop at the bakery on the way back to the hotel to get her supply of dough-nuts (one with chocolate, one without).
After lunch, N went shopping for two hours. She caught the hotel car into town, stropped at the markets. Her first mission was to find Kaylee decongestant syrup. The driver, Ketut (from the morning) had told her the words to use “Atta Batu”. Atta means medicine, batu means cold. She found some in a minimart, plus some strepsils to boot. Then she bought up big on Baby Einstein and Barney DVDs for Kaylee (plus one for I&N to watch once Kaylee went to bed). Then, she headed off to Animale (which she had seen that morning from the car as we drove by). She spent quite modestly (given that it had been a year since the last time she stepped into Animale) and came home plotting what she would do in the Animale Factory Outlet in Seminyak. She also bought some shoes for Kaylee and a bead necklace for K to have as a dingle-dangle. N walked all the way home down the Monkey Forrest Road. Ian estimated that she must have walked 4km. On the way home she found a little shop with a mosaic gecko in it (same shop where she bought the beads). She intends to go back tomorrow and buy it!
After swimming, Kaylee crashed big time. She missed the thunderstorm and rains. That will teach her for waking at 4am in the morning!
T/trums & Meltdowns
Awake at 4am in the morning. Think it was her ear again
After N went shopping, a little stroppy. Ian tried to get her to lie down.
While swimming, started crying half way through N’s countdown. When we got back to room she was crying/grizzling. Had a hot bath, then fell asleep grizzling on bed while N held hands over her ears.
Note, despite incidents today…we are either better managing her hunger and pain or she is getting better so it is less of a deal.
1/1/10 Friday
What a night!! Kaylia had slept from 3:30pm in the afternoon and so by 8:30pm when she woke, she was ready to party!! …. And it was New Year’s Eve! Selemat Tahun Baru! From sunset, the area was full of the sound of exploding fireworks and at midnight, the tempo when right up the scale with fireworks, drumming, loud music and loud motorbikes! It continued till about 1am and Kaylia was beside herself as we tried to calm her and get her to a point where she could sleep.
At 4am she awoke and “….GO! ….. LEAVE!” She was very sure but settled again when it was clear we weren’t going anywhere. (Jodi will be pleased with the language use!)
The morning is cool & clear and bodes well for the day. This is our last day in Tegal Sari and tomorrow morning we go to ‘Scape in Sanur.
We gave Kaylee the local medicine yesterday and N suspects it may be a little top heavy with the pseudoepherine. Kaylee hasn’t been interested in food quite as much and definitely bounced off the walls. Good for party tricks last night with Suriya (high fives, “hi’s” and full on eye gaze).
After breakfast, we tried to give a dose of the new medicine and K wasn’t having it! After much fruitless persuasion, we gave up and used the ol’ faithful Nurofen. Then to the pool …. Aborted when Kaylee became upset with constipation. Back to the room for a bath. Quiet time & lunch. Kaylee has no appetite. N off on her gecko quest! She’s trying a place near the Monkey Forest.
Afternoon tea at the bakery – ages waiting for K to finish her Sprite
2/1/10 Saturday
After an endless battle trying to get Kaylia to eat anything at all for breakfast, we finally gave up, packed up and checked out. The trip to Sanur was good but when we got there, we (Ian and the driver) couldn’t find our hotel! After 4 or 5 drives up & down the main drag of Sanur, we found ‘Scape just near where we first looked! It is nowhere near the location shown on the website and its hidden away behind a restaurant – no vehicle access and just the smallest little sign!! It is very close to the Bumi Ayu where we stayed in December 2005 and across the road from the Gazebo where I stayed in September 1996. The ‘Scape is a set of 10 self-contained apartments set in 2 lines at right angles to the road with a 25 metre lap pool between them. Each apartment has door access straight onto the pool. The whole place is only 3 years old and is still in very good condition.
Walking distance to Hardy’s.
Tea for the first night was pizza (hoping that K would eat some) and it was not good!
3/1/10 Sunday
Another good night. N discovered that if K blows her nose, it can remove the ear discomfort …. Maybe she has found the trick!
Breakfast cooked at home. Then N out shopping 9 – 11 while K had “time out” with dingle-dangles and Ian read. Swim then lunch. After lunch Ian went into Kuta for a shopping trip – no tripods to be found, no shoes that N wanted. Back to Sanur (via a stretch of the original Kuta – Sanur road) Found a massage person for our nightly massages. At the booth across the road from Scape, Ian bought a really neat “Diesel” brand bag at a pleasing price.
Arrived home to find that the power is to be off from 6:30pm to 10pm – this is really bad as we can’t go out with Kaylee and it means sitting home with no fans or a/cond … or even lights! At least at the Tegal Sari, they had a big generator so that we could be cool even if it was noisy.
Kaylia slept for a lot of the afternoon while N went out shopping some more. We wnt to the front restaurant for tea and then massages till bed time. While the power was off it was quite uncomfortable and after massage time we just sat till the power came back on. It was about 11:30 before it was cool enough to sleep – a late night for K (but OK considering the long afternoon sleep)
4/1/10 Monday
K woke at 4am and again at about 6 when we gave up and she watched DVDs till 8.N had a messy start to the morning, lots of tears and talking through her issues with I. The holiday has had a number of challenges for I & N to work through and resilience was wearing a little thin today. It’s hard work having to care for Kaylee around the clock. The only time out we have is when we give each other a break. It would have been nice for us to have had sometime together by ourselves. Kaylee however, has been having a wonderful time and has really liked the almost full time access to N.
After breakfast it was time for a finance meeting before N headed off to brave the wild shops. (K & I into the pool till lunch time.)
The afternoon was a blank – probably pool time.
Massages were good again – we both agree that although Surya in Ubud was good, Ketut here is even better. She really knows how to find “the spots”.
5/1/10 Tuesday
After a good night, we slept in till 9am and arose for breakfast and the pool. By 11:30, Ian was fidgety and went over the road to buy a smaller matching Diesel bag – bagus.
After lunch, Ian went off for a haircut – a #2! Then we went to Galleria for donuts. Not just any donuts, some really good ones! Kaylee enjoyed the trip and the yummy donuts but was pretty clear afterwards that there would be no shopping permitted. Galleria taught us that K needs to stay at home if any shopping is planned or we put some work into the preparation and making sure that we have good quality air conditioning. We got home and K had another ‘attack’ which lasted quite a while. She got too hot on the way back from shopping and her ears started hurting.. While going down stairs, the door handle came off and Ian fell down some stairs, narrowly escaping a fall through a glass door.
N went off after things had calmed down and bought some sunglasses and DVDs.
6/1/10 Wednesday
K needed medicine at 4am again and then was kicking & crying again till about 5 – calm after that. Ian & Kaylee in the pool from 8:30 to 11 while N went shopping again.
After lunch, Ian tried to be interested in something – buying, walking, anything – but it didn’t work. Sat at the front restaurant for a milkshake. All in all, it was not a good day. Kaylee refused to go out and refused a car ride. Meltdown in the afternoon and refused to eat tea. Took herself off to bed by 5pm
This is the first holiday where we have come close to aborting and catching an early plane home.
Evening massages
7/1/10 Thursday
What a night! Kaylee had slept through the first hour of massage, then woke for the second. When N came to bed at 9:30, K then started kicking & screaming and kept it up till 12:30. N resorted to making K sit on the floor if she was not quiet. After 20 seconds of quiet, she could return to bed. This was repeated till she eventually tired and slept. She slept through to 6am and woke happy.
N took the morning shift today while Ian went over to the APVC property in Nusa Dua to check out where we will be staying in August. This an awesome property and very up-market. K will love the pools. All rooms are adjacent and stacked – so there is little chance that we will not disturb neighbors. But we have warned APVC so they can do the best possible. The drive was combined with a search for Nike + for the iPod. The search started at Carrefor where we found no iPods at all. Stopped for lunch at the food hall …. The best nasi goring yet! Then went to Remo in Denpasar. Remo is an amazing place – 4 floors of small stalls (3m x 3m) all selling phones, PCs, bits, printers ….. anything electronic! There were several stalls with iPods … but no Nike add ons.
Ian was away from 10am till 1:30 and returned to find the Naomi had had a bad time with Kaylia. Kaylee had three melt-downs, two big ones, and a little wobbly in between. It would be fair to say that Mummy had a melt down too and does not do well with screaming Kaylee and lack of sleep in combination.
Still out of the ashes of psych-mummy was borne the concept of Team Kaylee! Godd will always follow bad.
After Ian’s return we went for a drive (K calming therapy) till 3pm. On return to the S’cape, Kaylia then returned to her tantrumming ways. Ian handled this by harm prevention and allowing her to work it out.
Naomi brought home home-made mie goring – packets of noodles and a chicken – plus icecream!
Massages and bed.
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
Has to be near a pool
Has to have separated quiet place so the neighbors aren’t disturbed.
Our future Bali experiences depend on Kaylee’s health (ear) issues. This is hard to tell 6 months in advance. This last 2 weeks would have been just as bad at home …. but it means that the Bali time has not been enjoyable.
TEAM “K” - we need to be a real team in supporting each other through the tough times. N & I have low resilience at present and the girls need to be made to feel part of Team K so that their strength can help N & I to cope.
8/1/10 Friday
A great night! Painstop at 6pm meant that Kaylia slept through the night and was up happy at 6:30. A warm bath followed by breakfast and a swim. The swim was in the middle of a tropical downpour! I had to cover my eyes to see anything. Fortunately, being in the water meant not getting wet (??!!).
Program – last minute shopping this morning, massages & packing this afternoon, out to the airport at 7:30.
Customs & check-in then Garuda lounge till boarding time.
Kaylee and Ian met N at the restaurant (by coincidence). N had ordered some breakfast munchies on the hunch that they would go down well with Kaylee. Kaylee wolfed down her toast and jam, b and watermelon juice, then promptly licked the plate for salt. She then went back to the room to scoff half a pack of Pringles. You can’t tell me that she isn’t an easier and happier child after a good night’s sleep and a full belly.
Later: The day was good and we ‘prepped’ Kaylia well for the flight … she slept most of the way but after landing in Perth, we were in the passport queue and a crying baby upset her …. then a huge anxiety attack set in. From that point she tried really hard to control her behavior but it was all too much for her. Fortunately, the customs staff were observant and well prepared - they whipped us out of the line and through the checks. Just as well as we were all frazzled by then.
Our limo (booked 3 weeks before as we knew how impossible it would be to get a taxi) was waiting and we were soon home.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Monday 31st May 2010
The mystery of medication continues! Why does it work one day and do the opposite the next day!? After the anxiety roller-coaster of Saturday/Sunday, today she has been teetering on the verge ... she is able to calm herself but you can see that it is hard work for her.
Saturday night and Sunday night were both 'bad' nights ... Kaylia wakes up at around 2 am and doesn't sleep again till around 5 am. We have resorted to emergency measures for sleeping - Naomi sleeps downstairs in Kaylia's room and Kaylia sleeps upstairs with Ian ... that way Naomi gets a full night of sleep. (With the combination of study and business, the broken sleep has been taking a severe toll on Naomi and affecting her health.)
Saturday night and Sunday night were both 'bad' nights ... Kaylia wakes up at around 2 am and doesn't sleep again till around 5 am. We have resorted to emergency measures for sleeping - Naomi sleeps downstairs in Kaylia's room and Kaylia sleeps upstairs with Ian ... that way Naomi gets a full night of sleep. (With the combination of study and business, the broken sleep has been taking a severe toll on Naomi and affecting her health.)
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