Fried onion.. and garlic

Here are pictures of oats porridge I prepared for her. Looks like abc porridge right? It has carrots, spinach, fish and fried onions and of course rolled oats.



I love fried onions and can't resist to put one or two ring into it. I would have gobbled the whole bowl of the fried onion if given the chance.

And since I love garlic too, I have also fed her few times with tiny bit of raw garlic. I would have thought that she would reject them. But she opened her mouth asking for more. So, I put a tiny pinch of chopped garlic into her porridge now when there's vege. Sounds yucky? But I tried them myself and they are yummy. Well, babies have clean palate right? So, let them get used to the taste... Or, maybe it's in her genes to liking garlic and fried onion.

A short bliss of moments

Nowadays, she is able to self-entertain herself. Giving us some breather. It is of course I don't mean that she's burdensome. She's a gift. Just that there are times we missed those us-me-time. I hope that it will be like picture below and not giving me a heart attack by climbing up the stairs! I went up to the room for a short while to text my hubby and to answer nature's call. When I went down.. OH MY, she's already 4 steps up! Thank God that she didn't fall. My bad for leaving her alone unsupervised. I can't imagine what would've happened. Maybe we should get a 2nd safety gate (we had one in her room). Well, we will definitely be more vigilant since she is much more mobile than we thought of. She really amazes us at times.

Oooh, here's a good article about instilling reading to children:
http://www.superparents.com.my/reading-competencies-in-children/

It melts our hearts when...

...she kisses us first thing in the morning.

And that's what happened 2 days ago. Not sure if she was still in the daze as she went back to sleep after kissing both of us. She sure knows how to capture our hearts.

Or...









Seeing her smiles in her sleep. Life must have been good to dream good smiley dreams, right?

1, 2 or 3?

How many hair whorls do you think she has?

Don't mess with me!

Look at the way she stares!

A new attempt in the kitchen

I rarely cook as I mentioned in my earlier post and not to mention baking and ice cream making! Even my mom was hesitant to try my new attempt. Came across this blog, and tried the Berrylicious Yogurt Ice Cream. I can't resist to announce my first attempt making ice-cream as the author of the blog has really good recipes for new beginners like me. Good things must be shared, right? 

How was it? Well, my bro says it's not bad but I didn't pureed smooth enough. My mom, forgot to ask for her comment since she knew the reason I made it. You see, my mom came to take care of my child when my hubby is away, my bro came to bring my mom to his place and my hubby is returning on the same night. There are more people around with more mouths to try than just my hubby just in case it didn't turn out well. Wrong choice for the first time though as I don't take yogurt. So, I didn't try it. And my hubby?? Definitely not encouraging at all? But did it stop me from trying? I don't think so as I want to brush up skills for my child(ren). I need to learn right from somewhere right? Ok, next!

30 minutes

Babies sure have a lot of perseverance. At least mine do. We have not really been discipline enough to let her sit in her car seat all the time. My hubby is normally the chauffeur and we, baby and I will sit at the back. I would usually plonk her to the car seat, BUT when she cries, I will carry her. And it will be up down up down. Reason, not to distract my dear hubby when he drives. Well, it is entirely the adults' fault for not being determined enough to let her sit through in all journey. And so, when I put her to the seat half way through the journey home today, it is very much expected for her to cry. And boy, she can really CRY! With tears and out of breath and all.. Heartbreaking but we know we need to make a stand for her safety. I wonder if there are any other parents who do the same as we do.. Feeling rather bad now. Bleh.

A week without hubby

I wouldn't be any easier if not for my mom who agreed to come down to look after our darling. I prefer such arrangement than the usual arrangement. And since my mom can make it, why not seize the opportunity! Thank God for my mom and a friend who stays few houses away.

Well, I of course would bring her to our room and to sleep with us. And I asked my mom to sleep with us too. For safety reason and also for comfort. Our room is the only room that has air-conditioner. Darling seems to be oblivious to the disappearance of her daddy after a few nights. Maybe it has been me who put her to sleep, accompany her until she dozes off. And so, when my hubby came back few days ago... She stared and stared at him! She pushed him away after a while!! Ouch! I feel for my hubby. So heartbreaking! What a short memory babies have! Darling, do you know that daddy was so sad when you pushed him away?

And today, when we brought her to her room, she cried! And we haven't even closed the safety gate. I thought she has short memory. No? She has selected memories! Well, of course we didn't put her in her room. We want her to get familiarize with her room again first before dumping having her sleep in her room. Meanwhile, I will continue to be her bolster, pillow and willingly to be one too.

Best confinement lady ever

I am thankful that I had the best CL after delivering my first child. Not only is she the best babysitter, she's the best CL ever! I've always known that she's one sought after babysitter. The children that she babysat will always come back during school holidays or festivals just to hang out at her place. And the mothers will always have good comments about her. I remember about a mom who mentioned that her second son could not get use to eating at home after she stopped sending him to the babysitter. Reason being, she doesn't eat brown rice or multi grain rice. And, she doesn't boil much soup too. This babysitter is not stingy at all. Generous with whatever nutritious meals she prepared for her own family. And this babysitter invited the parents of the first child she took care for her son's and daughters' weddings. If a person is not good, do you think others would continue to keep in touch?

And when I had her as my CL, she would at least tried her best to do away the Chinese beliefs. Especially ginger in all dishes. I've asked her to reduce the portion for at least 2 weeks as I was still breastfeeding and my darling was having a slight jaundice. She obliged after a few reminders as she was also worried of my health. Got to be patient with old people especially in doing away their beliefs and hence a few reminders.. And, chicken and pork seems to be a must in all meals during confinement. I asked for more vege instead as I prefer vege to meat. And she painstakingly thought of all the different style of cooking. And of all the different dishes, I love the stir-fry kale with ginger wine and lemongrass chicken chop. No pork for me though as I just had too much meat.

And when I am old, I don't mind to be like her. Confinement lady to my daughter and babysitter to my grand-daughter. It's tough and tiring to be one especially when one is old, but it brings back the sweet memories and bond of a mother-daughter. Thanks Mom!

Bachelorette party

Congratulations to a dear friend of mine who is getting married soon! And it was also the first time I am away alone at night with my girlfriends. ALONE! Well, it's a big deal to me as I have not been out since the birth of my darling. And well done to my hubby too for taking care of my darling whilst I was away. My darling was sound asleep when I was back. Bliss *all smiles*

And back to the topic, what do you normally do in a hens night/bachelorette party? Wine, dine and dance? Follow suit with games.. Laughter and fun at the expense of the bride-to-be? If I can turn back time, I rather have a simple, cosy and tight dinner with a few close friends. Hmmm, come to think of it, I did except for the games that came after. Challenging and pretty dangerous too... Then again, kudos to the organisers and am thankful for these friends. They make time for me, and that matters most. Ok, back to the hens night.It brought back memories and I surely enjoyed the time. Wish it was longer since it's so hard to catch up with everyone. It's a simple hens night where we had simple pot-bless (each bring a portion of food for everyone to share), some wine although I don't drink (forgotten that I was still breastfeeding!) and some questions for the bride-to-be. It will be awesome if we spend a night at her place just to catch up. But, but.. somehow, it's tough now being a mom. I have separation anxiety!

From the way I describe the hens night, it seems boring eh? Well, I just like to look at pictures of other hens night with all the crazy games. If it's my own or those I'm attending, I like it simple and intimate. Do you feel the same too? Or maybe it's just the boring me... Hmmm...

The Value of Time

Read this before and when I was pregnant with my darling, I would say that I am a changed person. I value every seconds even much more now compare to the days when I was young and dangerous carefree. Or maybe, age is catching up. Darn. Anyways, here's the poem.

To realize the value of a sister/brother
ask someone who doesn't have one.
To realize the value of ten years:
ask a newly divorced couple.
To realize the value of four years:
ask a graduate.
To realize the value of one year:
ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of nine months:
ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.
To realize the value of one month:
ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby..
To realize the value of one minute:
ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one-second:
ask a person who has survived an accident.
Time waits for no one.
Treasure every moment you have.

written by.. Author Unknown.

One of her many firsts

Her first time on a swing :) We didn't expect to find a swing for toddler and this swing which looks like a frame of an oversized diaper is consider good. Well, maybe that's the best we can find here.

Imprisonment!

Hehe, that's my darling looking out to our room from her room. You see, we don't really co-sleep with her except on weekends and nights when I want to catch up on my zzz, rather than walking up and down to her room few times. we can't bear to hear her cry or rather, we have not really practice ferberizing. We will bring her to our room when she wakes up in the dawn for her morning feed. And tonight, as usual in her room, she will crawl up and down, up and down, and maybe bring herself to stand up by pulling the bar of the safety gate and then maybe cry hoping that we will bring her to our room. And, that's her figuring (maybe) how to get outta here! In case you want to know, it takes me at least half an hour to put her to sleep. The easiest is to feed her with milk.. though this is not recommended. Sigh, I got another issue to deal with later. Will think of that later once I figure out how to put her to sleep without much challenge!

Note to darling: Mommy has been your bolster since you are born for the past 9 months, be it in our room or your own. I don't mind to be your bolster until the day you found one to last a lifetime. Love you heaps!

Her diet...

Just want to jot down some of the recipes that I tried on her.. wonder what will she says when she's older. Muahaha!

Oats (1oz) + Baked Salmon (1oz with orange juice, cheese and butter) + Carrot/Sweet Potato puree
Pasta (1 oz, Heinz) + Cheese + Milk
Sweet/White Potato/Carrot/Pumpkin (1 or 2oz) + Spinach/Broccoli/Asparagus/Tofu (1oz) + Fish/Powdered Anchovies + Cheese + Yogurt

Ooh, I put wolfberries to the spinach for added nutrition. And haven't feed her any meat except for pork stock once with oats as I worry her digestion is not fully developed in her small frame. Well, few more weeks and I will try a new recipe. Maybe mushroom and chicken with cheese. And somehow, somewhere will have to fit in egg yolk for the high protein. Shell fish will have to wait until she's 1yo since there's history of allergy in the family tree. And looking at the above, I wonder if she's bored with the food I am feeding her. Doesn't look like there's a lot of varieties. Well, she'll survive!

I'm a chef!

To my girl that is. There is no way any adults would want to try my cooking. Yes, I can't cook except for simple dishes ie garlic stir-fry vege, fried egg, steam tofu, rice and of course, instant noodle. It's hard to find time to hone my cooking skills and expensive to try out just for 2 adults. And when there are family members around, I'll shy away and rather eat out than to cook up few dishes. Hard work!

Ever since my darling is on solids, I practice the western style of pureed food and a mixture of chinese style - porridge. Instead of rice, I use oats. Healthier I feel. Haven't done any in-depth research on the nutrition between oats and rice. Nonetheless here are some of the food I feed my darling. Babies have clean palate and I am more than glad to cook for her. Definitely no complaint! *smiles*

When she's between 6-8mo, it's avocado, apple which took quite some time for her to like it, pear, sweet potatoes puree, Nestle Cerelac rice cereal,  asparagus, broccoli, spinach puree. I also blended baked anchovies to powder form so that  I can mix into any of the puree or rice cereal when she's close to 8mo. I've blended oats for her too so that it's easier for her to swallow.

And now at 9mo, I no longer blend the oats. Since I tried the oats myself, it's pretty easy to swallow. And, she too is ok with it. So there is no need to blend them anymore. I now mash the potatoes, chop the broccoli, flake the fish, maybe still blend the spinach a bit smoother... haven't tried that yet. Oooh, and when our paed asked us to feed her food with high protein ie cheese, full-fat yogurt and fish, we give her cheese as snacks and finger food albeit a messy one. Any particular brand that it's good for baby? I don't take cheese and so, can't comment. I hope my darling will not take after me in terms of food. Else, there'll be lotsa stuff she won't take and this will definitely stress both of us up as she is already below percentile in height, weight and hc. Only comfort is that she's a cheerful baby and has been an easy one.

Well, I can't ask for more when He has been so good to us. Thank God really!

New Hubby!

Yes! You read it right. I have a new hubby now. A virtual one. My hubby is so hooked to the games in FB that we might as well communicate through FB. It may be his cave-in time but...but I am longing for attention. Time spent in the car on our way home does not count please. My love language has changed. Maybe I should list down my needs again and let him read them.. No point having him to guess. Besides, he may not even realized that my love tank is low. And I suspect his too since we have not really been spending quality time together. Hmmph. Still sulking alone.