she had no appetite. she had a hard time falling asleep, and all she wanted to do is being cuddled. you know, the typical baby problems when they're sick.

while waiting for the fever medicine to work, her fever reached 39ºC and was still going up. and you know those cooling pad that you put on baby's forehead? they don't work at all. the thingy got really hot and didn't do anything. we had to resort to the old fashion way: damp towels on armpits, head and crotch area. she didn't want to drink milk because her nose was stuffed...

hopefully, she gets better today. at least, last night she didn't wake up as often as the night before, which means she gets more rest. she's currently taking her morning nap. ari is catching up sleep. and i am going to knit -- something that i haven't done for months.

hello, i'm back! today was the first time i celebrated Mother's Day as a mother. and, after a long long break, i think it's a good time to start writing on this site again. so i guess, it was rather special.

to make it even more special, aina took her first walking step today. she was in front of the TV, watching Elmo from the Sesame Street. she was standing up, waving her hands here and there following Elmo's move, when all the sudden, she took two steps towards the TV's cabinet, then another two steps, then she finally reach the cabinet. no falling! yay!

(and she's also sick today... a bit of a fever. hopefully, she's feeling better by tomorrow).

happy mother's day, everyone!

koda has been on allergy diet for the past month. right after we came back from our trip to Jakarta, we brought koda to the vet. she's been chewing herself up again. the fur on her muzzle and all of her legs are pretty much gone from being chewed. she has no eyebrow and her eyelid is fur-less and red. at the time, we could see that her belly is all red and spotty. she was itchy all over...

the doctor gave a mites test on her skin, which came back negative. so she said it might be food allergy. that's why for the past month, koda has been on diet. she can only eat the food given by the doctor, and nothing else. no snack, no fruit, nothing. koda was a little sad. she was also on steroid medication and antibiotics for two weeks.

it all seemed well for a while. after three weeks on diet and medication, she stopped chewing and scratching. the fur on her legs and muzzle has started to grow back. it went well... she's probably allergic to some kind of food... or so we thought.

started about five days ago, koda's appetite went bad. she doesn't finish her food. and she scratches herself like a madman (maddog?). the fur that's just started growing on her legs are now gone again. last night, we saw a large scratching wound on her belly... it was her old spay stitch. she scratched it so much that it was swollen and bleeding. and this morning, there is another scratching wound on her armpit.

this is getting worse and worse... she can't even stay still without scratching for more than a minute... poor koda.

so, we took her to the doctor again. it turns out that it wasn't food allergy. it's something else, and we have to figure out what it is or else koda will stay miserable and itchy.

so, currently, the plan is:

• feed her a medicine that targets her skin immune system for the next 7 weeks. it will reduce the itch and hopefully makes koda less miserable. the medicine costs $100 per week.
• seven or nine weeks from now, koda will have to go through a one-time skin testing, which will cost us $250.
• koda will have to be injected by a customized vaccine that is based on her skin test result for the next one and a half year. it will probably cost around $700 to $800 for the whole vaccination period. that does not include the doctor fee per visit.

she's an expensive mongrel... a cute, lovable, expensive mongrel... and we love you very much, koda :)

last year, i drew ari and koda for the valentine's day post. as much as i want to draw them and aina for this year, i didn't have time. but the picture above shows those i cherish... including the plush panda.

happy valentine's day, all :)

she's been trying to climb the stairs. so far, she hasn't been able to lift her body up. the last photo is as far as she can go.

koda and aina seem to get along very well lately. now that aina can crawl here and there, they love to chase each other. it's either koda being chased by aina because the baby wants to grab and pull on the dog's fur... or koda keeps nudging aina's butt while she's crawling, teasing her around until the dog gets slapped on the nose by the baby.

they also share toys... we haven't been able to take pictures of them sharing toys, but it goes like this:

aina chews on her toy while sitting next to koda. then she offers her toy to the dog. the dog licks the toy. aina takes the toy back and put it into her mouth again... the cycle repeats until one of the parents sees it and panics because now it seems to be a moot point to sterilize aina's toys and bottles if she decided to chew on the same toy as the dog.

they also greet each other in the morning. every morning, aina squeals with big smile on her face and claps her hand whenever koda first enters the room. the dog comes in and lick the baby's feet and leg. it's so cute to see them getting along.

now i have to buy a new battery for my phone. so, if you have called or sent me messages, i haven't been able to check it. hopefully, i can buy new battery by today.

and i haven't been online either for the past two days. so, sadly, i missed two days of the thing-a-day... oh well. maybe i'll try to catch up today.

for my thing-a-day: turning an unused flowerpot into an outside side table. while i was at it, i put the lanterns out and made the front porch prettier at night.

i hope making dinner for the family counts as creating a "thing". we only cook during weekends, after the baby sleeps. so, per ari's request, it's mac 'n cheese for two, served with baby corn and asparagus seasoned with garlic, paprika and black pepper.

i've been sick for the past three days, including today. so, between sleeping and taking care of baby, who's also sick, i only ended up making this...

pretty lame for the first day, but hopefully i'll make something better and more interesting as the month goes by.