simplelife

Shifted

2007-05-12T15:36:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone,

Its confirmed, I have shifted my blog to: http://motherlyjournal.wordpress.com

Do drop by there! See you guys, yeah!

Thanks for visiting me here though! :)

Delivery Story (Part 2)

2007-04-27T14:51:00.000+08:00

I am a breastfeeding mother. In my previous post, I mentioned that my baby was brought to me quite late as I was expecting my baby to be sent to me after the necessary checks. I have wanted to bond with my baby as soon as possible. But it took them ages to send my baby to me. But what can I expect when I am in a Government Hospital unlike other mothers who deliver in private hospital who gets to bond wioth their baby right after delivery.

Back to breastfeeding, when I was handed my baby, instantly I put him into feeding position and started my breastfeeding journey. But baby has other opinion. He rather sleep than start to learn sucking milk! I had to try and try to wake this tiny baby (only 2.75kg) to try to stimulate my breast to produce milk! Even some nurse who passes by try to wake my baby and get him to suck! But this cool baby don't even want to wake up. No choice, so I have to try again later.

When I was sent (by an ambulance) to the ward to rest, my hubby met my parent who coincidently was at the hospital as my mother was due for a checkup. So, my mom and dad were there to see their grandchid on his birth day! I guess it must be a happy day for them as they and I did not guessed that I will deliver so early. And we were having dinner yesterday together and there was no symptoms of delivery at all!

Sleeping at night was difficult as I am too worried about my baby: too cold, any mosquito bite, light not dim enough, needs milk and etc. So, i sleep with my spectacles on (its the same with my firstborn). I will check on my baby very often and at the slightest movement. I guess all these are mother instict on how protective we are towards our baby.

Although how much I dot on my newborn, I also missed my elder son who is at home. i wondered how he coped without me on his side especially during sleep time. He is very close to me and loves me so much. I just can't wait to see him when I get home.

Hubby comes during the visitng hours bringing home made food (prepared by my mother-in-law). I am so lucky to have him visiting me and bringing me food.

After a round of check by doctor that both of us are well, we are allowed to be discharged. How happy it is for us. I just can't wait to go home and show my elder son of his new brother. :)

Delivery Story (Part 1)

2007-04-26T14:15:00.000+08:00

In this post, I will share my experience on the day my baby was born. Each mother has their own story to tell and here is mine.

It was August 28, 2006 and it was still 3 weeks early to my due date.At around 1am, I have started to have mild contractions and could not sleep. I manage to catnap in between contractions while in sitting position. At around 3am plus, the contractions began stronger but bearable and I really could not sleep now. When I go to the washroom, I notice that my panty liner was stained with blood. Now I really suspected something is not right.

I showered and washed my hair at 6am. Trimmed my nails and move my bowel. Then I took a cup of hot Milo to beat my hunger pang. Then I called my gynae, Dr Menon at 7am to see what I should do. He suggested I should go straight to hospital or see him at 10am at his clinic. I told hubby (who was still sleeping) that we should go to General Hospital and we were in our car at 8.30am. We reached there at about 9am and a check by a nurse there that I am already 4cm dilated.

Quickly all procedures of admission is processed and I am wheeled into labour room. A matron and a trainee nurse came in and told me that they will assist me in the delivery. A fetal monitor is then strapped onto my belly for monitoring. Not long later, a Chinese Dr Foo came in and checked on me and told me I am 5cm dilated. I asked him how long do I have to wait before I can deliver and he said normally it will 1 hour for 1cm dilation. At that time, it was approximately 10am. After the doctor went out, my contractions began stronger and nearer. The trainee nurse quickly informs another matron of my condition. When the matron saw me, she knows that I am really in labour and helped me. In 3 pushes, my baby was born naturally to this world. The time was 10.53am. I was glad. Later, the matron guided the trainee nurse to stitch me up.
It took them 1 ½ hours to stitch me back. After stitching, they left me waiting until 1.45pm when they brought my baby to me. At 3pm, they brought me to a ward to rest.

Hiatus

2007-04-23T17:19:00.000+08:00

Boy, was it long since I last posted. Sorry about that................

Well, it was all due to my delivery of my new baby. It took away all of my time and energy. I did not have anymore luxury of logging on to the Internet.

Now, my baby is almost 8months! Imagine how time flies!! How old I have become. From now onwards, I vow to try to get some luxury time to log on to the net and get back my life!

Will post my delivery story next time, yeah!

Till then, take care!

An update on my son

2006-08-24T10:45:00.000+08:00

He is now 23 months old. His size is not too fat and not too thin either. He weighs less than 10.5kg and stands approximately 80cm plus. His does not have much hair and we kept it short most of the time.

Sometimes he wants to be independent but sometimes he likes to rely on me. He likes to be independent when it comes to food. He likes to feed himself most of the time. I like this type of independence. Whenever he sees somebody is eating, he will likely go into the kitchen and get himself a small plate and fork or spoon hoping to share the food with you. But I do not like this type of independence. To me, it is greedy. But this is one bad habit kids in my MIL’s house practice. I could not stop him as he sees others do it everyday.

He is also potty trained during the day which he is able to tell if he wants ‘she she’ (pee) or ‘mmm mmm’ (poo). Even nowadays when I bring him out to shopping, he will be diaperless. But during his night sleep, he still need a diaper as sometimes he peed but sometimes he does not. I planned to train him in this coming months if possible.

He is able to put on his pants on his own but he likes to rely on me to help him. I should have insist he put on himself but each time he will make funny faces when he is asked to put it on himself.

His vocabulary is expanding each day. But his sentences only consist of 2-3 words. He is not a chatty kind of guy just like daddy, so probably it is the reason why he is slow in this area. He talks mostly mandarin and English as everyone except me converse in mandarin while I speaks English to him. When we go back to my dad’s house, they will talk to him in Cantonese instead. Hopefully he will be multilingual.

He likes watching TV very much. His eyes are glued to the TV most of the time. Even when I am dressing him after a bath or change him into his pajamas, his eyes are fixed to the TV.

He likes to see animals and insects such as dogs, cats, birds, lizards, butterfly, worms and etc. He is very affectionate to them too. But he is shy and timid too as he does not dare to touch them nor go near to them. He likes to see from a far.

He likes to be carried around especially by me. He always says: love mommy, love daddy and love baby. He would always lavish me with hugs and kisses too. ZM, mommy love you too!

Haze

2006-08-23T11:34:00.000+08:00

These days, the sky looks gloomy. Sometimes, i thought it was going to rain, but it never did. Tall buildings sometimes dissapear or look so blur.

My sister-in-law advised us that don't bring our children to the park due to haze. She says let them stay indoor would be better. Better be safe than sorry. I bet clinics are reporting higher cases of asthma and breathing problem kids. Since now it is also the school holiday, i bet many kids tend to go to their nearby playground and park for some good fun. Unfortunately this is not a good activity for this holiday.

I wonder why we Malaysians always have haze problem. Everyone should do their part in not practising open burning. Plantation owners should not take the easy way out to burn those crops. It is worse when the weather is hot and humid and the wind bring on those dirty air. All these leads to global warming and affects our lovely earth. Why no body cares?

Since all of us are sharing the earth and most of us have young offspring, i think we all should have some responsibility in keeping our earth healthy.

Moon cake festival

2006-08-21T12:05:00.000+08:00

Moon cake festival will fall on early October this year. But if you frequent shopping complexes, you can see various restaurant and bakeries have started to set up promotional booths selling moon cakes few weeks back.

I remember when I was small, moon cakes are very cheap and they don’t come in many varieties to choose from. But nowadays, the price of just one piece of moon cake could cost you RM10.00 for those special types and new flavour! The normal ones like red bean paste will cost you at least RM5.00. Isn’t that expensive? Some who prefers the double yolk will have to pay double the price which is approximately RM10.00! Well, at least for comfort, we know that these companies are coming up with new ideas to sell these moon cake with adding more varieties. Now, you can easily find flovours such as chocolate, tiramisu, strawberries, yam, pineapple, berries, cheese and many more. The prices of these new flavours do not come cheap!

I like to eat moon cake although sometimes I find it too sweet. My mom knows how to make jelly moon cake which is quite different from the normal conventional type. This year again, I will not be able to celebrate the moon cake festival as I will be under confinement (did not celebrate 2 years ago as I was also under confinement). Too bad…… how I wish I can eat as much as I can as usually my MIL will prepare a feast during that day. And after dinner, family members will gather and eat moon cakes, fruits and some snacks on our porch. Children will get to play with lanterns and adults will help to light up some candles.

Since moon cakes are sold abundantly now, I think I will grab some and stuff myself now before I deliver. At least it will satisfy my disappointment latter and my baby in my tummy can taste it too! Happy Moon Cake Festival to everyone! :)

Approaches parent made when it comes to a sick child

2006-08-18T10:34:00.000+08:00

Whenever my son is sick, I would tend to bring him to see a doctor immediately. The reason? Definitely to cure his ailment and also not to spread to other children at home. I thought this is the reaction each parents will take when they face this problem. But recently I found out that other parents have different approaches than what I practice.

I know of one parent that would bring her kid to see a doctor. That’s good, right? But the funny thing is that after visiting the doctor and gets the necessary medicine, she does not feed her child the medicine! My question is why in the world would you visit the doctor and later don’t feed your child the medicine? Then, when the ailment does not go away after a few days, she sees the doctor again. And again, the medicine is not taken. Later, if the ailment still persists, she change doctor and again the medicine is not taken! doctor is the point? After such action and her child is not cured, she will resort to give her child some traditional medicine. I really do not understand what is the rational behind such action.

There is another couple who strongly believe in organic food. They mostly try to consume more organic food including vegetables, rice, fruits and daily supplements. Whenever their child is sick, they will not go to see a doctor. Their reason? Human body will build a defense system and fight the disease on its own and should not rely on medicine to cure. So, whenever their child is sick, they will not bring their child to see a doctor and let it be. The parent will then give some organic supplements to the child to fend off their child’s problem. Is this approach right? If it is, why do so many people is taking up medicine course? Do you know, sometimes a simple cough and cold could spread to other children that are playing with the child? I think this couple is very selfish.

Why on earth these parents practice such methods? Aren’t doctors trained to help sick people? They are the professional in this area right? I do not know about these parents. But when it comes to my child, I would want the best for them. That is why I find a good doctor and trust her when she prescribes medicine for my child. What do you think?

Numbers…..numbers, 123

2006-08-16T10:29:00.000+08:00

Recently I have started to introduce numbers to my son. Whenever we go up the stairs, I count the steps; when we have few objects such as toys in our hand, I count to him; during bath time, I count how many bubbles we have and so on…… At first, when he hears me count, he does not reply nor have any reaction. Lately, he knows the number 2 as he has 2 bubbles on both his hands and I taught him he is 2 years old.

These few days, I have heard him mumbling something new that I have not heard before. I tried to listen more carefully as I need to understand what he said. The more I listen, the clearer it becomes! He has started to count! He can count up to 10 although all the numbers are not in sequence. Sometimes he counts the even numbers and sometimes he counts from one but skips a few numbers in between.

I think besides me that introduce these numbers, it was also partly due to the CDs that he watch during the day. He watches a lot of CDs during the day as he has nothing to do and MIL is occupied. I realized he is a TV addict as he likes to watch TV a lot. Surprisingly he likes adult movies rather than children CDs. That is why, after dinner, I usually bring him up to our room to avoid the TV and try to spend more quality time with him.

Back to numbers, I have also bought him books on numbers but he has yet to find the correlation between written numbers and spoken numbers. I point to him this is number 1 or 2 or 3 but he has no interest. But if I were to count to him from 1 to 10, he likes to follow me. I think it is just a matter of time he will learn all these and how to truly count.

I will cherish my son more

2006-08-15T10:56:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, we brought our son to see his doctor as he has been coughing for the past one week and it has gotten from bad to worse. As usual, we have to wait for at least 1 hour as there are many patients. Daddy helped to supervise my son while I read magazine to pass time.

Then it was my son’s turn to go into the doctor’s room. This time round, luckily he did not cry as he used to cry each time the doctor check his chest and body. But his face was sulking away as if he does not like what the doctor is doing to him. After completing her check, she asked hubby to play with my son on the bed while she chat with me a while as there are not many patients left outside. She asked where I will be delivering and hopes that I will breastfeed my next child which I definitely will. She is one strong factor that makes me determine to breastfeed my son in the first place. Without her, I don’t think I could manage to breastfeed my son for 17 months.

Then I told her that my son is very attached to me. I was hoping that I could get some advice on how to deal with my son. She told me that this is very normal as he was a breastfed baby and the bonding that we share kept us close together. At this time, it really snapped me in my brain why I was asking such a stupid question! I should cherish this relationship instead of complaining! When my son gets older, I am sure he will not want to be seen snuggling up to his mommy always!. I think I should appreciate my son more and enjoy his closeness with me. I promise myself that I will give him more hugs and kisses and time to him. I think I complained because there are so many people around me that think this attitude of my son is bad. He clings on to me although my MIL spends more time with him than me during the day. Many people were wondering why he behaves this way and blames negatively on breastfeeding but they did not know that this is a very special bond that is positive instead of negative.

Now, from today onwards, I will have a daily mantra of ‘cherish your son’ in my head to remind me that my son is growing up fast. If I don’t cherish these moments, he will slowly drift apart from me and I will regret it for the rest of my life.

Birthday Celebration

2006-08-14T15:39:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was a day to remember for my son. My MIL has decided to celebrate his Chinese birthday earlier by a few days as it also coincides on a Sunday whereby everyone is at home. Although it is just a small affair with only our family members were present, it made the birthday boy a happy one.

The Sunday started as usual where the whole family goes for breakfast. After breakfast, all went home and relax. Later, my son takes his usual afternoon nap while the rest of the family goes out shopping for his birthday present. Hubby then goes out to Taman Megah in PJ just to buy a Chocolate Cake from La Manila and got a bucket of KFC before heading home. My son woke up as his father comes home as if he knew his daddy is bringing back goodies for him. Moreover, the rest of the family members are also back from their shopping spree.

When he woke up, I told him that today it is his birthday and he will be getting lots of surprises and gets to blow up candles on a big birthday cake. I can see his eyes are sparkling with excitement unlike his usual daze look after waking up. Quickly MIL gave him a new shirt and pants to put on. Then, everyone started to help out to prepare the celebration: put out the table, bring out the cake and KFC, snap pictures of the cake and children, presents came from everyone (MIL, SILs, nephews ,nieces and of course daddy and mommy). Balloons are blown up and party hats are distributed among the kids to liven the atmosphere and birthday song is sung to the birthday boy while everyone is clapping their hand. The birthday boy is sure a happy boy!

After the song, candles are blown and cake cutting ceremony takes center stage. The birthday boy had the honour to do the cutting and I think he felt proud and a sense of achievement of getting to cut the cake. His face was beaming with proudness. Then all the kids (3 of them) got to eat their KFC drumstick which is their favourite during such occasion while adults also indulge in their KFC too. After the chicken meal, paper plates area distributed to enjoy the cake. Mmmm………. Yum, yum, the cake was good. Birthday boy was enjoying the cake by helping himself to the cake.

After having a satisfying meal, its time for presents! His ‘che-che’ (SIL’s daughter) was the one who took charge of ripping off the presents on behalf of the birthday boy. Although his mother disapproves, she happily tore away the wrappers as if it is her birthday. Among the birthday presents are 2 toy cars, a book, a ABC and 123 puzzle, Mega Blocks and Thomas and Friends train set. The kids then started to play with the new toys as soon it is out of the box.

That’s how the whole party is and it ended with adults cleaning up while the kids have fun with the toys. How nice it is to be a child. They can have all the fun and no worries. Birthdays are celebrated by so many people with presents and food. Now, how I wish I can be a child again…….. :)

Last trimester of pregnancy

2006-08-12T11:02:00.000+08:00

As I am now in my 8th month of my pregnancy, my movements have been slower and slower. My tummy is so big and bulging that I had to always cover it with my hands when my son come running to me. If not, sure he will hit my tummy first with me shouting Ouch!

Sleeping is a problem to me. At night, I could not sleep comfortably. One, it’s because of the pregnancy thingy when my tummy is so big, it is so difficult to fall asleep. Whenever I sleep, I find that my stomach juice likes to come up to my mouth and I just feel nausea. So, I had to sit up quickly. Sleeping too long on my left side (as advised by many people), will leave me so achy all over. So, sometimes I turn to my right and sleep on my back. But I feel so guilty so I have to quickly switch back to sleeping on my left. The weather nowadays is also so hot and warm that makes me sweat whenever I sleep. I have already turned on the air-con and fan to cool the room but I still sweat.

Secondly, my son always calls me when he sleeps. I don’t know if he is dreaming but he always say ‘mommy lai, lai (mommy come, come) in his sleep. If I ignore him, he will even cry louder. So I had to go to his bed lie down besides him. He will then touches and smell me without opening his eyes. If he is confirms it’s me that is beside him, then he will go back to sleep, but if finds out that it is his dad, he will wail as loud as possible to get me to sleep with him. He does this a few times a night.

My hospital beg is 80% ready with few more items that I have yet to buy. By this weekend, I think I can complete packing and but it into my hubby’s car. Better pack early than late as I am a very careless person.

Doctor’s visit has been more frequent with a consultation once every 2 weeks. So far, doctor said everything should be going smoothly and a normal delivery can be anticipated. I hope everything will go fine.

Last indulgence before delivery

2006-08-10T10:27:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I had a facial which I think will be the last before I deliver. How nice it felt when you get to pamper yourself once in a while especially during pregnancy when hormones run haywire. But sometimes it is so uncomfortable to lay motionless for 3 hours while having the facial. Nonetheless, I still like to go for facials during pregnancy.

After the facial, I went for shopping spree for my newborn. There are still some small necessary items that I have yet to buy. So, it was another ‘feel good’ activity that I enjoy if I have things to buy. Alone and with ample time, I like to browse around for the best bargain to my liking. I was also able to pick some clothes for my son. Shopping is an activity that I like to do it alone. I do not know about others, but shopping with someone else makes me uncomfortable as I do not like to others to wait for me. I rather take my own time choosing what I like without having the guilt of thinking some people are bored of waiting for me. My hubby is the type that does not mind accompanying me for shopping. But it is me that do not encourage him to shop with me unless my son tags along. Before having my son, I used to shop alone and spare him the agony. If I do not have anything to buy, I don’t usually go window shopping nowadays, I think is so tiring and a waste of time. I would rather stay at home and play with my son.

I think most mothers would agree that having facial and shopping are stress relievers and are activities that everyone enjoy not only for pregnant mothers. Once the baby is born, there are so many other things to do before considering facial and shopping and most of the time, we have to get someone to look after the baby while we indulge in pampering our self. Don’t you agree?

Discrimination

2006-08-07T15:53:00.000+08:00

It is very heart warming to see kids that are unknown to each other play together. I remember once when we were on a trip to Pulau Pangkor few months back, my son was in such situation. We brought him to the beach side to have some water fun and brought along his water toys (spade, bucket, shovel, etc….). After playing for a while, he got bored and walks away and found 3 Malay siblings playing together. My son did not say a word and played along with them. The siblings also did not utter a word and accepted my son to play along with them. All of them just share the toys and since the siblings are older, my son mostly watches and hand over toys to them.

Sometimes when we bring our son to playground during the evenings, you can see the same situation. Kids play together and share the equipments easily make friends. Although they do not talk to each other, but their action shows that they accept new friends without discriminating their race or their age.

But when kids grow up into adulthood, we can see so much discrimination. Some people discriminate the poor, people from another race, disable people and many more. This is a sad fact. I hope I can raise my child to grow up and not to discriminate people. Each individual should be respected and treat with dignity without being discriminated. Then only this world would be a better place to live.

Money Lessons

2006-08-03T11:13:00.000+08:00

Recently we have decided that our son is old enough to be taught money lessons. We wanted our son to be prudent in spending and will not waste money unnecessarily. We notice kids nowadays always pester their parents in buying them toys or things that they want without thinking how hard their parents worked for it. We do not want our kids later to take things for granted.

So, we have converted an old plastic ice cream box into a simple coin box. We use adhesive tape to tape the opening of the box and cut a small rectangular hole for the coin to be inserted. Since daddy does not like to keep coins in his wallet, he always has loose coins at the end of the day. So, we just give him these loose coins and request him to save it in his coin box. His coin box is kept in the drawer under our bed. Each time when we ask him to get his coin box, he will go to the drawer and take out the coin box and insert all those coins that we give him.

Whenever we go out, I will try to explain to him that each item that we need, we need to buy them and not simply take it. We also teach him that when we reach the toll plaza, we need to pay money in order to use the road. We also teach him that when we go to a shopping complex, we need to get a parking ticket before parking our car. When we collect our car, we need to pay the parking ticket with money at the parking machine.

Hopefully when he grows older, he will be able to grasp the concept of money and do not behave like a spoilt brat. Money does not come easy and daddy is working hard for a living. We do not live a luxury life; hence, we think that by starting money lesson early will benefit him.

Haircut

2006-08-02T16:02:00.000+08:00

My son has very little hair. His hair does not grow very long and fast. He’s got ‘girl’s hair’ as his hair is not thick and pointy but instead soft. SO, he seldom goes to barber to cut his hair. Normally my mother-in-law (MIL) would bring him to the barber (a Chinese old man) to get his haircut which started when he was 1 month old. Until now, his visits to his barber does not exceeds 5 times! This shows how slow his hair grows!

My MIL likes his boys to have near clean shaven hair which is the almost botak (bald) look. She does not like those hair style which leaves a tail where else the rest of the hair is short. She has expressed this since before my son was born. I am not particular about hair style, so I let it be and just follow what she says.

But my son does not like it. Each time he has to go for a haircut, he would cry. I don’t know the reason why he cried. So, one day, my hubby and I have decided to bring my son to the barber to have his haircut to comfort him. I thought that with me around, he would be more comfortable. But even when he sees the shop and not even step into the shop, he shook his head to disapprove of us going inside. Hubby had to hold on to him while the barber cut my son’s hair. He was crying throughout the whole cutting process. Even with a candy given by the barber could not stop him from crying! It was so sad and I still do not know why he cried. Probably he is scared of the barber or he is scared of the shaver and scissors.

Then, this time round, he needs another cut. My hubby suggested that he too, cut his hair there together with my son. What a good idea! So, prior to going to the barber, I had told him that he will have his hair cut. Firstly he shook his head. Then, I told him that the barber will cut his daddy’s hair first then only cut his. He said ok. So after dinner the other day, we bundled him into our car and visit the barber. As usual, when he saw the barber shop, he shook his head. I ignore him and brought him inside. There, the barber started to work on his daddy’s hair. My son sat hugging me tight next to daddy. His eyes kept looking at his daddy while I try to explain and coax him to have his hair cut like daddy. He kept shaking his head. When daddy is done, I pass him to daddy. My son started to protest. The barber quickly gave him a candy to console him. He quiets down. We begin cheering him by saying how fast and clever he is by not crying. He actually did not cry throughout the whole process but we can see that he is fighting hard holding back his tears. He looked so brave doing so. The process was fast and soon it was over. We cheered him and applaud him and boy, does he look glad it was all over!

We went home and everyone was surprised that he did not cry. I think the next time its best to get daddy to trim his hair together with my son. This trick works!

Boaster Seat

2006-08-01T16:39:00.000+08:00

At last, we bought a boaster seat for my son! We bought it last weekend at The First Few Years store at The Curve, the shop that I mentioned before in my previous entry. Luckily it was still there. The shop was having their sale and their infant car seats and boaster seats are at offered at 20-50% discount.

We eyed a specific seat from Britax which was retailed at RM499.00 before discount. So, after the 50% discount, we got it at RM249.50. So far, this is the cheapest boaster seat that can recline its chair, separate into 2 parts later when the child is older, remove the cushion cover for washing and can withstand a child’s weight up to 36kg (approximately 11 years old).

Now the seat is still nicely wrapped up in the manufacturing box as hubby is yet to dismantle the current seat is still in his car. I intend to start using this new seat for my son so he can get accustoms to he. Even before we buy this new boaster seat, I have told him that the current seat is for our new baby and we will get him a new seat. He seems to understand what I told him as whenever he gets into our car and sees the current seat; he pointed to the seat and said ‘baby’ meaning that the seat is for our baby.

Buffet Dinner at Eastin Hotel PJ

2006-08-01T11:03:00.000+08:00

I had another chance to savour another buffet dinner in a hotel again. This time it is at Eastin Hotel in PJ. It was my sister-in-law’s idea, so she booked a table for all of us (8 adults and 3 toddlers) at 6.30pm on Sunday night. When we reached there, many patrons were already ahead of us eager to tuck into their dinner.

The spread of food is definitely more than what we had in Nikko Hotel. As I was still not feeling that well after the food poisoning on Saturday, I did not take in much. In fact, I think I tried only 20% of their food. What I liked best was the mushroom soup whereby it is very thick and full with mushroom instead of those watery and no mushroom that you get when you eat at normal restaurant or fast food chain. As my son’s appetite is still not good, he also did not take in much. So, most of the time, both of us went out for a stroll while waiting for the rest to finish their meal.

All seats were fully taken up and there are few more tables were set up outside the dining area as there is just no more space to squeeze in. That shows how popular buffet dinner is to Malaysian be it to serve as a gathering or a celebration of birthday or just a date. Malaysian just like to eat, especially me. I would not turn down an offer to eat, unless I am sick! Hehehehe…….

Sick Again

2006-07-31T10:54:00.000+08:00

No, not my son, but myself! After I blog the below entry, I was not feeling well. It must have been the noodle breakfast that I took. At first it was a slight discomfort in my tummy and I took it lightly and went to The Mall (Planete Enfant)with hubby to check out the booster seat for my son. But later it turned nasty and I vomited in the washroom. We went straight home after that as I could no longer walk. I tried to sleep and had some porridge for lunch hoping it would subside, but too bad it was not so simple.

After a nap, I vomited again and this time I am not waiting any longer. Got hubby to drive me to clinic to see a doctor. It was raining that afternoon and moreover the clinic is full of patients. I had to wait for 1 hour before I got to see the doctor. What a long and agony wait. At last the doctor gave me Maxilon and ORS which are the only safe medication that I can take. We then quickly go home and I went straight to bed to get some rest. Hubby was very considerate and distracted my son from disturbing me. He was also able to tuck my son to sleep that night!

I was feeling much better the next morning except that I am weak as I did not take much food yesterday. My son was so glad to see me again in the morning. This is the second time in 3 months that I had food poisoning. I hope it will not disturb my baby that I am carrying. I will be more careful next time.

Sick

2006-07-29T10:51:00.000+08:00

My son was down with fever and a bout of vomiting since Wednesday midnight. It started with a slight fever before going to bed and get worsen during midnight. He also vomited during midnight when he was sleeping. We quickly brought him to his pediatrician the next morning. According to his doctor, there are many children who is having the same problem currently. It seems like a bug is spreading.

My son was in no mood these few days. He does not have any appetite at all and did not eat and drink much. He also had loose stools. He clings on to me like a koala bear. I could not do anything at all except carrying him along where I go. Whenever I let him go, he would wail like no body’s business. No chance at all to log on to the net and update my blog.

Today as I blog this, he has gotten better. His fever has subsided but his appetite is still not good. He still have loose stools but I think he has improved a lot. At least he can smile and play compared to few days ago, he was like a zombie with no smile and sulk and cry a lot. I hope he quickly recover as no mother can stand looking at her son sick.

What does those that are close to me want from me

2006-07-26T10:30:00.000+08:00

I am inspired by a mommy blogger to write this topic. To me, it is a good reminder to myself of what others that are close to me want from me.

My Hubby
- More relax time
He wants me to play more with my son so that he can relax in front of the tv or read the newspaper
- Less nagging
I should nag less and talk more politely instead of like an old grandmother talking. I know sometimes when I remind of certain things that he had forgotten to do or did wrongly, my intonation is not that cheerful and all men don’t like it.
- Me to be happier and more positive in life
I am a negative person and like to keep thing to myself. My mind is full of negative thoughts that sometimes make me an unhappy person. I should think of the bright side more often and make my life happier so that he can be happy too. He said when I am not happy, he isn’t either.

My Son
- More cuddles, hugs and kisses
He likes to be lavished with cuddles, hugs and kisses. He is the affection type of people who love to give and receive cuddles, hugs and kisses. Frankly speaking, I love to lavish him with these gestures.
- Carry him
He like me to carry him all the time. Luckily I am still able to carry him although I am pregnant, or else, he will scream his lungs out if I am not able to carry him.
- Play with him
He likes to play with me and want me to play with him more often. I should pay more attention to him now before my baby arrives. By then, my attention would have to be divided to two adorable kids.
- Sleep with him
He needs me to accompany him to sleep on his bed and does not want his dad to do it. I should not be unhappy with this as later, I am sure he does not want to let his friend know that he sleeps with his mother. In the middle of the night when he finds me on my own bed, he will climb up the bed and snuggle up to me.

My Parents
- Visit them more often and bring my son along
After having my son, my visiting days and hours have lessened. I should go home more often even though for a short period. They like to see and play with my son and they like to pamper him too. So, I should make it a point to bring my son more often to visit his grandparents.
- Be more independent
My dad always tells me to be more independent and don’t just rely on hubby too much. To him, a woman who relies too much on her husband will suffer if anything happens. I have yet to master this and will try my best.

My Parent In-laws
- Be more lenient to my child
To them, I am too strict on my child but I have my own ways to bring up my child.

Now, after writing these down, I think I should put these words into action. I hope I can do it!

Shopping

2006-07-24T12:33:00.000+08:00

The Malaysian Mega Sales is back! Many departmental stores and retail outlets are having the great sale starting 22 July up to September’06 to entice consumers like you and me to spend money!!

Frankly speaking, since I am expecting another child, there are some essential items that I must buy. First on my list is a booster chair for my son. Since he is currently using a baby car seat, but I think he will outgrow it sooner or later and the seat would be passed down to my baby. Although he does not really like using the baby car seat, but I think it is important for small children to be properly strapped while in a car. But it is seldom that I see parents in Malaysia that emphasis the important of buckling up a child when they outgrow their infant car seat. Many of them just ignore the safety of their child and let them sit behind the driver without buckling up or with a booster seat.

I understand, the price is so expensive when it comes to these equipments. So, parents might be hesitant to buy and rather drive more carefully when on the road. But accidents do happen, right? Sometimes when we drive, we are careful, but do other drivers are as careful are we are? We don’t know. So, I think I rather be safe than sorry, or else, I might regret it for the rest of my life.

So, Saturday and Sunday, we went shopping for a booster seat. With the Mega Sales, I was hopping that these seats will be offered at a good bargain. But to my dismay, the most that they can offer is 20% off the retail price! Some good and sturdy seat that we saw was way beyond our budget. And with just a 20% discount, we still don’t think we can afford it. But we saw one shop in The Curve was having 50% discount on these seats! I think we will go back to the shop and get the seat. I hope they still have them when we go there again maybe this weekend as the salesgirl said it is while stocks last. :)

Buffet Dinner

2006-07-20T10:50:00.000+08:00

Yesterday night, my hubby and I went out for a buffet dinner at Hotel Nikko Kuala Lumpur. They are currently running a Malacca Food Promotion and with Citibank Berhad credit card, you will get a 50% discount off your bill.This time, we have decided not to bring my son along as normally with him along, we must eat in a hurry and do not enjoy our meals. It is also can be considered as a treat to enjoy before we get all over again the hectic life of caring for a new baby in 2 months time.

We arrived at the hotel at 7pm and I started to tuck into their starter while hubby went straight to the main menu as he does not fancy starters. The food was good and with a variety of spread. Of course, not everything is Malaccan food as you can still find sushi and fruit fondue on the tables. The service is good and fast. They also had a performance from the hotel staff on Malacca traditional dance while all diners are comfortable tucking in their food.

Both of us agreed that we had a pleasant dinner without having to rush and trying to catch hold of our active toddler. It is such a rare occasion that we decided not to bring him along as usually we include every activity we plan with him. I do treasure these moments together with hubby as we both like to eat and now with kids to take care of, we would hove lesser chance of dating again. But nevertheless, life as a family is another joyous blessing that I received.

Pregnant women gets better treatment

2006-07-19T11:10:00.000+08:00

I notice that some people tend to treat pregnant women nicer and better. We get better treatment even from our own hubby! Hubby will be extra nice and gentle compared to when we are not pregnant.

I have personally experience these encounters. Whenever I get on a commuter when its pack with people, there are some kind souls who would offer their sit to me. There was this once, I was offered a sit by a teenager who was traveling with her younger siblings. After she offered her sit to me, her sister asked her why she offered her sit and she politely told her that I am pregnant with a baby and I need the sit more than her. I was so touch that at least there are some teenagers still have some good moral values instilled in them. When it the train stopped at my station, they too wanted to get down. Again, the teenager saw I was getting ready to go down and let me get down first. I can only say thank you to her for her kind gestures. Deep down in my heart, I hope that we have more of these people around so that this world will be a better place to live.

There was this once when I wanted to get my lunch from an Indian Restaurant. I wanted their mix rice as their food was good. After selecting different types of dishes to go with my rice, I need to get their staff to calculate how much I need to pay. Then the staff asked me: ‘cukup kah, makan untuk dua orang!’ then I told him its enough for me. He then proceed to give me 4 pieces of papadam to accompany with my rice. How nice of him. Normally you would only get one or 2 pieces of papadam, but today, I got 4! How happy I am!

Wherever I go, people will sometimes come up to me and asked about my tummy. Mothers will share their pregnancy stories and others will ask what the gender of my baby is. Some will take a guess what is the gender by looking at my tummy and outlook. Many will offer some advise what should I take and should not take during pregnancy. When I go to my regular places, staff that knows me will definitely stop what they are working and chat with me.

Hubby will be willingly do anything that I asked him to without much complain. If I were to request for some certain food, he will definitely get it for me. But luckily for me (and him), I do not have special cravings that I need to bother my hubby to get it for me. Mostly he is more concern if I were to go out alone or with my son without him. But most of the time, he is confident enough to let me go out on my own. I know one friend whose husband is so protective of her, that he chauffeurs her wherever she goes and follows her everywhere. Probably it’s because she is pretty.

My pregnancy will end in 2 months time. I will sure miss these kind gestures of Malaysian. After pregnancy, then everything will go back to normal. Facing those ‘rude Malaysian’ and not so nice people who shove each other when trying to get on public transport. I sincerely hope everyone will be nice and polite all the time so that everyone will live happily always.

Playgound

2006-07-18T10:45:00.000+08:00

Yesterday evening, hubby wanted to look for a client in a nearby housing estate. There is a park (it was a used mining land) with places for jogging, lotus ponds and a playground for kids. So, my son and I have decided to tag along so that while hubby looks for his client, both of us can spend some time in the playground.

When we arrive at the playground, there are many families there enjoying the evening. Some kids brought along their ball and some brought their bicycle. The rest just play with the at the play area. My son was very excited when he saw a cat nearby. He goes up to the cat and kept saying ‘cat come!’ wanting to play with the cat. I urge him to stroke the cat but he was too afraid to do so and kept asking the cat to come. Later, he saw a dog passed by and again, he said ‘dog come, come!’ but the dog was even more shy than my son and ran away when my son run towards it.

The equipment at the play area is clean and looks new. My son enjoyed himself very much going up and down the slides, swing and others. There is this girl who is around 10 years old who is also playing at the play area while her dad is jogging nearby. She was near my son up in the playhouse and wanted to hold my son’s hand to urge him to play along. But my son was too shy and did not want to follow her and allow her to take his hand to guide him. I think my son need more exposure with playing with other kids. Sometimes, he will initiate to play with others but sometimes he is just plain reluctant. He is a very shy boy and by exposing him to more people his age would help him to be more confident (I hope). I will try to bring him more to public places to let him socialize more.

I rather bring my son to such places like this park rather than shopping malls. Many parents nowadays rather bring their kids to shopping mall as it is all air-conditioned and piped with soothing music. But I don’t really think this is a good activity for kids. Kids need exercise and sweat it out in open air more than confining them in dirty air in a confined mall. But sometimes I am also guilty, as the weather is just so hot and humid that makes every normal human being wanted to be in a shopping mall. :)

Train Trip

2006-07-17T10:31:00.000+08:00

I have introduced my son to various mode of transport and vehicle since he was small. Now, he can identify car, bus, bicycle, motorbike, truck, garbage truck, train, aeroplane, helicopter, boat and etc. Whenever we go out, he can always point out these vehicles. He can even identify and recognize his daddy and the rest of the family’s car.

Yesterday, I wanted to go back to my mom’s house. Normally hubby would drive me there. But today, I have wanted to travel on Komuter to my mom’s house. Luckily there is a station near my house and a station new my mom’s house. Since he always sees train from afar, I think he would have loved this trip.

When he woke up in the morning, I told him of my plan. He got very excited and looked forward for the trip. All I need to do is just to convince my hubby to let me travel while I am heavily pregnant and have to care for my active toddler while trying to find a seat myself on a crowded train whom mostly made up of young people wanted to go to Mid Valley Mega Mall. After much persuasion, he let me go and made me promise if I could not manage it, I should get out at any station and call him.

Soon after our breakfast, I quickly pack some snack and milk to distract my son in the train. Then, once done, hubby drove us to the station. There, I introduce my son to the ticket counter and bought a one way ticket to Kajang. It cost me RM3.70. Then, we waited for about 5 minutes before the train arrived at the station. In the train, there was hardly a seat left as there are my people. Luckily there is young Malay guy who is kind enough to offer his seat to us.

My son was very quiet and observes his surrounding while I explain to him what was going on and what is happening. Well, to some people, there is not much of an excitement, but to a young toddler, it was a new experience as all along, he was used to traveling in cars only. He did not make a fuss nor asked for drinks or snack throughout the journey. As the journey was quite long (40minutes), he got a bit bored too towards the end of the journey.

At last, the train stopped at Kajang station. We got down and he said bye-bye to the train and I promised that I will bring him to another train trip next time. On the overall, it was a breeze and he likes it very much. My dad came and pick us up and we went back to my mom’s home.

Dating

2006-07-14T10:54:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my hubby and I went to watch the movie ‘Superman Returns’. I guess this will be the last movie I can watch in cinema before my baby arrives. I wonder when will be the next movie I can watch as I think by having two kids is sure a handful unless bringing them along for a movie! But my kids are too small to enter a cinema and they will not stay throughout the movie.

We went to Cathay Cineplex in Mutiara Damansara as it was new and we have yet to experience the atmosphere there. There are four ticket counters in operations but service is kind of slow. Each ticket caused us RM10. I wanted to try their popcorn, so I bought the regular combo which consists of a Regular Popcorn together with a bottle of mineral water, and I add another bottle of mineral water. This cost me RM8.90, which is the same price as the large combo of one Large Popcorn plus 2 bottles of mineral water. Personally speaking, I still prefer the popcorn by GSC as it tastes better.

Frankly speaking, the seats in the cinema hall are small compared to TGV and GSC. As usual, the movie did not start in time although there were no advertisements. The air-condition is just nice, not too humid nor too cold. There are still many seats empty as I guess most of the people had watch this movie and I do notice that most of the patrons came as families with kids.

On the overall, I do enjoy the movie and I do hope that I won’t need to wait too long for my next movie in cinema. :)

Vocabulary

2006-07-13T10:39:00.000+08:00

Out of curiosity, I started to grab a pen that day to start counting my son’s vocabulary or in other words, what he has spoken. The reason why I did this is because I think my son is slow in his speech. I can my nephew who is the same age as my son always so chatty with lots of words coming from her mouth. And she can make a very long sentences but my son could not.

So, there I am sitting on my desk and start to write down all words that I have heard before. Wau! To my surprise, I have counted up to more than 100 individual words! All these words are in English and I have yet to include those in Mandarin! I did not know that he knew that many words! Hmmm….. now I am a bit relieve, at least my son is not that slow I guess. Recently he has manage to combine 2 words such as ‘mummy sleep’, ‘daddy eat’ and ‘boy boy hold’.

Probably before this counting, I was a bit paranoid about my son’s development. But I know each child has its own schedule of development. I just could not help it but sometimes I do compare my son with other kids to see how my son fares. I am not putting a high expectation on him as I know it is not good. I was a stress kid myself, so I understand how my son would feel if I were to push him hard. I do not want him to be as stressful as I was when I was a child. I just hope that he can enjoy his childhood let him be whatever he wants.

Durians

2006-07-11T12:40:00.000+08:00

Yippee!!!! Durians are in season now! I like to eat durians and I don’t mind eating any types of durians as long as it is durians. I understand some people just like to eat certain variety of durians. I think I have inherited this liking from my mother who inherited from her mother as well! Now, I have passed down this trait to my son, it seems!

These few days, my house has this new scent, durian scent! My father in-law has bought durians after work. Once he is back, he will feast it first with my mother in-law and my son. They will crouch in the kitchen together and feast before anybody else and dinner. My son will be swallowing his saliva waiting for his grandfather to pry open the durian. Then he will shout ‘hold, hold’ wanting a portion of the big flesh fruit. Normally my mother in-law would feed him instead as it is too dangerous for him to eat a portion by himself.

I have restrained myself from eating durians for the last few days. The reason? I feel very hot and sweaty all the time and if I were to consume durians, I am afraid I could not sleep at night! But yesterday night, the durian was tempting to eat them! There they were, lying in the kitchen floor and kept staring at me! At last, I succumb to my temptation! I told myself that I will just take 1 portion and I will head for a shower. But to my dismay, I took 4 portions before I went for my shower! How weak I am!! But I am satisfied. Burp….. I am now real satisfied……….. hmmmm……. Boy, was it devilish or what….. :)

Pregnancy update

2006-07-10T11:36:00.000+08:00

I am currently in my 31st week of pregnancy. Time really flies. In 2 months time, I will be able to carry my bundle of joy. Sometimes, I do think that 9 months is a very long period but as I go along, it’s not that bad at all.

As my belly is getting bigger and bigger, it is getting more difficult to sleep, trim my toe nail, and bend down. I am also getting clumsier but so far I have not trip down before (touch wood). The urge to visit the washroom is getting more frequent as in once in each hour at times especially at night.

My appetite is good now. I eat a lot during the day until night which includes supper as well. That is why my weight has increase to 10kg from my pre-pregnancy weight. I really hope that I can slim down after pregnancy as I really hate to look into the mirror now. I can see cellulite is building up like no body’s business and I really don’t like it.

I feel very hot throughout the day and really look forward to ice cold drinks or ice-cream treats. I know I should not take too much of these, but it’s so unavoidable. I will have a hair cut next month so that I will not have such long hair during my confinement period.

I can feel baby’s kicks the most is at night, just like my first pregnancy. Baby is very active during night and when I wanted to snooze. If I were to wake up for a trip to washroom, I can feel baby’s kick. An owl, I guess. I hope when baby come into this world, the sleeping pattern will change. Or else, I will have no chance to sleep at all!

I think I will miss being pregnant but I think I want to carry my baby on my hands which feels better.

Cheeky Boy

2006-07-07T11:08:00.000+08:00

My son will only turn 2 years this September. Recently I notice something funny with him. He has started to show his “boyish” behavior to his cousin sister who is at the same age as him. He likes to tease her and make her irritated (just like any boys will do to a girl).

There is this one morning when just woke up. Normally he would greet whomever he sees. So, he saw his cousin sister and called out che che (sister in English). So, his cousin sister comes to him and sits besides us. My son who was standing, keep looking at her for no reason. This cousin sister of him does not like to be looked at and make and irritated noise as if she is saying ‘I do not like to be looked at!’ My son keeps looking with bigger eyes and even sits down in front of her and kept looking as if she was an alien! I told my son not to look like that as it is so rude, and guess what, he smile cheekily at me and continue to stare at her cousin sister! This freaks her out and she runs to her grandmother and complain! I find it so funny and wonder why does he do such an act?

This morning, I saw another incident. His cousin sister just came out from her bath while my son was outside playing. When he saw his cousin sister, he quickly put on her shoes and purposely walks in front of her. Of course, this cousin sister was so mad, she runs off naked trying to grab her shoes back. Granny was shouting to get this cousin to put on her clothes first before running off. My son was smart, he runs away quickly without being ‘caught’ red-handed and change to his own shoes.

Where on earth does he know how to tease girls? Are these traits of boys? Wow, they do develop fast! I can’t imagine later in life where he will keep making his ‘che che’ mad everyday and poor granny had to be the mediator! Hahaha…… but currently I can’t help it but laugh with amusement :) .

Bonding

2006-07-06T16:17:00.000+08:00

The television in the living room is turn on the whole day and my son’s eyes are often glued to the set. So, every night after dinner, I would ask him if he would like to retreat to our bedroom for our bonding time and he would gladly agree. In our bedroom, there are lots of toys and books that we have bought for him. But he does not like sitting down and listen to me reading to him.

So, sometimes we just lay on the bed doing nothing structured. On the bed, I sometimes tickle him, cuddle him give him lots of hugs and kisses and he returns them too. I will also talk to him to cajole him to speak more to me. He likes this kind of bonding too as he likes to play with me. Sometimes my hubby will join us as sometimes he needs to work or just unwind in front of the television.

Sometimes I get a book for him and he will just flip a few pages and get other toys to play. He has this book with many buttons which will sing songs and funny sounds. He like this book the best. At times he just likes to play with his train set which he can assemble the railway tracks himself. Or I would set up my hubby’s notebook and let him play with some online games of ABC’s and Animal Sounds. If not, he will get the simple puzzle set and dissemble and assemble.

Once a blue moon, I will take out photo albums and show him himself when he was a baby. He does not recognize himself at all and when I ask him who was it, he said “baby”. But he does recognize all his family members by calling their names.

I like such sessions as we get to bond and get closer. I hope I can still bond with him later when my new baby arrives. I am afraid I will neglect him as I need to tend to my new baby. But nevertheless, I will try my best to bond with everyone including my hubby so that we stay closely together as a family.

Happy family

2006-07-05T15:38:00.000+08:00

I can proudly say that I have a happy family. I am blessed with a good husband, a cute toddler who likes to give me hugs and kisses and currently being pregnant again. My husband is neither the romantic type nor occasionally spring surprises on me, but he works hard for a living and does not have any bad habits. He is the quite type and likes to stay at home except for some drinks with friends. He does not gamble or smokes either. He likes to play with my son and likes to buy gifts for him. He willingly washes all my breast pump and baby bottles when I was still breastfeeding my son. He does not mind to be my driver whenever I wish to go anywhere as I do not drive. He gives me all the freedom that I need and supports me in all way.

As for my son, he is the cutest toddler I ever see with big eyes and a smile that could melt your heart. His world consist of “Mommy” only as he always prefer me to anybody else when eat, sleep, change diaper, sitting arrangement and others. He has a good heart too, as he shows empathy to babies and animals. He likes to kiss my tummy and put some toys on my tummy to show affection to his new sibling. Although he has his naughty side and stubborn, but which kid is not, right? One thing for sure is he is a shy kid. He is timid in front of adult strangers but quicker to join the crowd if the crowd is kids. His speech department is slow but I understand boys are slower in this area than girls. Everyday I would converse and talk to him so that he can build up his vocabulary. He understands what I say, but he just does not talk much, just like his dad. Nowadays, I have heard him say at least a new word and I am happy with him.

So far I am in my seventh month of my pregnancy. I can say it is a smooth pregnancy although with some morning sickness in the beginning. But I am lucky as I do not have other complications that could disturb the progress of pregnancy. My gynae said this baby will weigh heavier than my previous one. As long as my baby is healthy, I am happy. I am looking forward for the birth of this bundle of joy so that this family will be much merrier. One thing in common for my son, baby and I is that the three of us share the same birthday month. My hubby is so happy as he said that he will only buy one birthday cake for us to share.

I could not ask for more as this family is happy and I am satisfied. Although we are not rich, but we can do with what we have. I hope we can stay happy and satisfied until as long as possible. I wish everyone out there happiness and healthy.

Porridge

2006-07-04T09:46:00.000+08:00

Since my son’s boycott of porridge, he never wanted to touch porridge again. When I ask him if he wants any porridge, he will shake his head or just say no. Sometimes, when we bring him out for a typical Chinese Restaurant for tim sum as breakfast, a bowl of porridge will turn him off. He never really tasted non home cooked porridge as my mother in-law said that home cooked porridge is healthier but a bit bland. If he takes non home cooked porridge, he might not like the bland home cooked porridge anymore. Nevertheless, whenever I see porridge, I would always ask him if he wants some.

I think the reason why he rejects porridge is he got bored of the same thing daily. It was my mother in-law’s idea of giving porridge to toddlers for breakfast. My niece who is being taken cared by my mother in-law is still taking porridge for breakfast. I wonder how long he would boycott porridge as everyday now I have to prepare different types of breakfast for him. I think it would take quite a long time for him to accept porridge again, probably few years. In the mean time, I will happily try to find new types of breakfast to serve to him.

Marche Malaysia

2006-07-03T10:58:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, my son took his nap later than usual as mother in-law brought him out for lunch before hand. So, as expected, he woke up late too. As I was quite bored and long for something different for dinner, I ask hubby if he wants to try something new since our son could stay up later than usual tonight. He said ok and I started to crack my head for suggestions.

Hubby suggested Hotel Nikko buffet dinner since Citibank card member has 50% discount but when we called them, they said they are currently running the International Type of buffet. Hubby wanted to try their Vietnamese Buffet but apparently the promotion has ended. Then he suggested trying Marche at The Curve, since we have never tried it.

So, I quickly bath my son and pack his essential items. Then off we go to The Curve. When we are there, there is already a huge crowd in front of us wanted to go in. As we got our “passport”, we were shown to our table. I first took a bowl of mushroom. It was good! My son loves it! Then I ordered a Chicken Pizza and it was huge! Then hubby ordered Plain Rosti as he dislike Salmon (they have 2 variety- plain or with salmon) and Cheese Sausage. He also ordered Ice –Kacong which comes in a big bowl. Later, I ordered a Tomato and Mushroom Crepe with my son like it too. I wanted to try their Lamb Shank but my mother in-law said pregnant ladies should not take lamb (don’t ask me why, I don’t know). Too bad, it look nice though. Currently they are running a Seafood Promotion and I wanted to try their seafood. But hubby does not like mussels so out go the idea.

But after trying these few food, we felt full. We could not take anymore as their portion is kind of big. If we come in a group, I think we can try more food. Probably I will come back again later with more people to try other types of food. In total our bill comes to RM78.00. Pretty expensive, I can say. Ouch, it could be a while before coming again!

Good year to have babies

2006-07-01T11:29:00.000+08:00

It seems that this year is a good year to get pregnant and have babies. Everywhere I go, I can see pregnant ladies. No wonder that I have heard stories from relatives and friends that so many mothers wanted to give birth but was rejected in government hospital due to lack of beds!! My own sister in-law just told me that when she delivered her baby last week. Luckily she waited for a while after she gave birth and a bed was been emptied by a mother. While she was there, she also saw many pregnant mothers being wheel in and out of hospital. This is sure scary. What if it happens to me when I want to deliver? I pray hard now that this will not happen to me.

Having many babies born on the same year also not only create problems for hospitals but also for the babies later in their schooling years. Favourable schools will see a huge number of registrants of new students and have to reject many that are late to register. So, parents have to register their children early.

Among the many ethnics in Malaysia, I think Chinese are more particular in selecting which year they want the children to be born in. They favour children that are born in the Year of Dragon which is the best animal among the 12 animals. So, that is why there is a surge in numbers of babies born in that year. But some other animal signs are also popular and there are also certain years that are not suitable to have babies. Chinese are also very careful about money. They plan very carefully when to have babies as nowadays they do not fancy having many children of their own. They rather have less children but provide the best for them.

Reading Habit

2006-06-30T12:06:00.000+08:00

My son has a very short attention span. I have always wanted him to love reading (like I do) since a very young age. But each time I bring out a book for him, he will not concentrate for long. The most is 1 minute. All he does is to flip the book for few pages and he is done. He will gladly put the book back to the proper place and if he is still interested to flip books again, he will grab another book. He seldom sits down and listens to the story that I tell him. The books that I bought for him are from various shapes and colours from hard cover to soft cover, paper type to clothes type, With music emitting from book to none, with buttons to press to none and etc…….

I really envy some parents with kids that love to read. Their kids are seen to be so engrossed in their story land in most bookstores that I went. I would love to see my son react that way. Each time I bring my son to a bookstore, all he does is run around the shop and touch anything that fancy him.

I have dreams to bring my son to public library as soon as he is old enough. I have even checkout some libraries on their entry age for kids. I just can’t wait for the time where I can bring my son to library. You see, when I was small, I remember my dad used to bring us (my sisters and I) to the National Library to borrow books. I would borrow story books and enjoy those times. My dad would gladly drive us without complain whenever we tell him that we had to go to the library. We have to thank him for what he have done for us.

Now, I wonder if my son will have such enthusiasm on reading as me. I hope he does. Any ideas on how to cultivate good reading habit, anyone?

Baby

2006-06-26T10:59:00.000+08:00

My younger sister in-law just gave birth last week to a boy. Congratulations to her! She already have a girl and this baby boy will complete her family just nice.

My in-laws and I visited her yesterday at her home. Along with us were her daughter (which were cared by my mother in-law, elder sister in-law's daughter and my son. At first, when the kids saw the baby, they were afraid to touch him. Later, after a warm up session, the kids were very excited and tried to stroke to baby's hair. I can say the kids are very affectionate lot! Of course they were! They were told that few months back that babies will be joining our family soon!!

Among the three kids, it seems that my son were the most passionate about the baby. He sat beside my sister in-law who is breastfeeding the baby and kept stroking the baby's hair. He likes baby so much. Even before the visit, when I tell him that my baby is in my tummy, he would always kiss my tummy to show his affection for this little baby who is yet to be born. Its so touching to see this. He would also get his toys and put near my tummy for my baby to play. When I tell him that next time he should share his toys and books with his sibling, he instantly nod his head in agreement. I believe he will love his coming baby to bits! I just could not wait until I deliver to see their bonding!

During the visit, the newborn baby reminds me that babies are so small and fragile. I wonder if I still remember how to take care of a newborn. I am a very clumsy person. I do hope that I can handle my baby well. My mother in-law will cook help me while I am in confinement. She will also bath the baby as I dare not do it. I still remember with my son, it took me so long that I first bath my son. It was also because I was force to as my mother in-law will be going away on a holiday! It was sure scary as my son was so fragile and soft. I was so scared that I dare not put so much water in the bathtub.

This time round, I hope to become a better mother with my past experience. And I want to enjoy it too! The last time, I was too nervous and probably did not do a good job. I vow to myself to be better this time.

Doctor's visit

2006-06-23T10:48:00.000+08:00

I am due for my routine pregnancy checkup today. The nurse will normally get a sample of my urine and take my blood pressure and weight. Then only my Gynae will attend to me. He will start by asking how am I doing and proceed to do a scan on my belly. After that, if I have no questions, thats the end of the visit. Normally I have 1 or 2 questions to ask but not many. I know many mothers out there do ask many questions. What do you normally ask?

The consultation fees are not cheap and I think I am not fully utilising it. Probably I am the kiamsiap (stingy in hokkien) type or I was previously an economic graduate in uni the last time that made me think that I am not fully benefiting from the consultation. I just do not know what to ask. Hmmmm...... should start craking my brains to think of questions to ask to benefit myself and baby........

Baby kicks

2006-06-22T11:13:00.000+08:00

I am in my 28weeks now. I have started to notice my baby's kick few weeks back. The feeling is kind of weird. Its so difficult to describe it. But, if you are a mother, you will understand. I always look forward for the kicks. I always wanted to feel its kicks and guess whether the baby is using its hands or legs. Whenever I feel the kicks, I will try to feel my bulging tummy. Sometimes the kicks will stop but sometimes it will continue to kick.

My baby is always wide awake at night when I wanted to sleep. Its the same with my first son who is also active at night. Whenever I toss and turn in bed, my baby will move too. If I wake up at night for my toilet trips, sometimes my baby will move too! My baby will sleep in the mid morning and afternoon where I do not get any kick at all! Hmm...... must be night owl next time. Hehehe......

Weddings

2006-06-21T11:21:00.000+08:00

I notice this year is full of wedding celebrations. I have already attended 2 relatives' wedding celebrations and going to attend to another wedding celebration this weekend. I guess this year is a good year to wed as I heard old folks have said that last year was not a good year to wed, as such many couples have postpone their wedding to this year.

In fact, my own younger sister is getting married end of this year. She is now preparing for her wedding. One of my school mate is also getting married end of this year. My son will be the happiest as he gets to dress smartly and eat lots of food! Well, he likes to eat, just like me but he can't stay up late as he gets sleepy. Previously we have to leave early before the dinner ends as my son will be grumpy and throws tantrums. This time round, we will try to let him nap later than usual and see if he can endure the whole dinner.

Snow Jelly

2006-06-13T12:20:00.000+08:00

Today, I will make myself Snow Jelly (suet kap in cantonese). Many pregnant mothers will either take this Snow Jelly or Birds Nest. It is suppose to be good for the baby and the mother. Don't know how true but just fell like taking it. I took Birds Nest for my first pregnancy but this time around, I would like to take Snow Jelly.

I bought it from my friend whose father opens Chinese Medicine Shop. So, she advised me on how to boil this. She said I should take a very small quantity of the Snow Jelly and soak in water for 4 hours. But I must change the water regularly. According to the instruction from the leaflet, the Snow Jelly will grow 30-40 times the original size. How true it is! Then, after 4 hours of soaking, I may start to boil in crockpot for another 4 hours. She said I can add Red dates and a bit of Rock Sugar for taste. Boy, this is a long process, though.

As of now writing, I am still in the soaking process. Hope it turns out good....... Yummm...yum.....

House Warming

2006-06-12T10:48:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, my hubby, son and I went to my school mate's house warming party. She and her future husband bought it and just finish renovating it. When we arrived, there were already many of their friends there chit-chating, eating, drinking and some watching Astro through a Plasma TV. My son were very shy and stayed closed to me when he sees so many people around and moreover he is not familiar with any of them. Then, my hubby went to get him some food and he starts to enjoy himself. Then its my turn to grab some food that were served and feed my son. Boy, did he enjoyed himself eating all the food! Once done, he has warmed up and starts to play in the small room which has one huge Winnie the Pooh and another huge bear which he did not dare to tough when he first came into the room. There were other children there too in the room and it seems my son was not shy now to play together.

I got to meet with my other school mates which was there too. It seems that everybody has got married and produce offspring(s). Well, I guess that I have to admit that I am old, seeing my son growing up and friends who have change from the day we were still in our blue uniform. I sure hope that in 10 years time, I can still keep in touch with friends that I got to know since schooling. Friendship is so precious. I have to admit that since I got married, I did not make efforts to keep in contact with my friends. So, I have lost contact with many of my friends. I hope that I can make more effort to retain friendship.

060606

2006-06-08T11:04:00.000+08:00

6st of June 2006. My younger sister registered her marriage on this day in Thean Hou Temple in KL. Boy, was it a popular day to get registered! There were more than 240 couples dressed so smartly and beautiful in their best attire for this event. The main hall was full with people and there were definitely not enough chairs for everyone. Many relatives were seen standing outside the hall. Even my son and hubby has no place to sit, so we brought our restless son upstairs to the temple. There, he was more happier as there are not many people were around. We prayed and son was so eager to immitate us and kept saying 'pai pai' (pray pray). The temple staff also told us that there is a tortoise pond nearby and suggested we bring our son to visit. My son enjoyed watching all the tortoise swimming and waddling in the pond. We did asked him to pat the tortoise but he is too timid to do so. After taking a few pictures, we left the pond and go back to the main hall.

We was just in time to witness the signing ceremony whereby couple by couple will be called upon to go up the stage with their witnesses to sign the registration cert. My elder sister was the photographer in-charge that day, so she was also up on the stage to snap photos. After signing the certificate, each couple was given a small cake and 2 mugs as gifts.

Then, its all done and all of us went for an early lunch. We went to Pudu to eat Lum Mee. After lunch, hubby was in-charge to bring my son home for his afternoon nap while I tag my sister to her bridal house to try her bridal gown. She tried many outfit and at last found all that she needs. Then they drop me off at Komuter Station so that I can go home.

What a tiring day. But all of us sure had fun.

Breakfast

2006-06-01T12:25:00.000+08:00

Remember yesterday when I wrote about my son on his eating habbit? Well, today, I prepared him bread as breakfast. First of all, I prepared milk for him and add some Milo powder to make it different. Then, instead of serving it in his usual cup, I pour it onto a normal adult cup and serve it to him with a straw. He saw it as something new and quickly finish the milk.

Next, boil 2 hard boil eggs (to be shared among 2 other kids) and make scrambled eggs. My son was so happy when I told him he is going to have eggs for breakfast. He kept chanting egg...egg... everywhere he goes. When the eggs are done, I add butter, a dash of pepper and very little soy souce and mix togetherin a bowl. Then spread thinly 2 slices of wholemeal bread with butter and then only spread the scrambled egg onto it. Then, add a slice of cheese between the bread and head to the microwave. After a minute, take out the bread and cut the bread into 2 and you will get scrambled egg sandwitch nicely done with melted cheese in it.

Guess what, my son loves it!!!!! He could not put down the bread as I know he could not finish 2 slices of bread with lots of filling and moreover he had milk before hand! At last, he told his daddy that he was full and willingly come down from the high chair with a satisfying smile. Phew...... I am very happy with what I have made for him.

Now, what should I prepare for him for his breakfast tomorow?

Loss of appetite

2006-05-31T16:39:00.000+08:00

Don't know what went wrong. My son's appetite has not been good these few weeks. He has been refusing porridge for breakfast, reduce his milk intake during lunch and sometimes rejecting milk in the night just before his sleep. He also eats less during dinner nowadays.

Today, I cooked mee suah (vermicelli)for him for breakfast for a change. I have followed Lilian's recipe (http://www.mymomsbest.com/daily/?s=mee+suah)and throw in some fishballs. My son finish all that I gave him, but I think he like fishball and egg best as he kept chanting 'ball' for fishball and 'egg'. Phew, one day pass but for tomorrow, I don't know what to cook for him. Any suggestions anyone?

Actually I have tried giving him Oats the other day. But after a couple of spoonful, he said pau pau (tummy is full). I only prepared 2 spoons of oats, a bit of Milo and added raisins before pouring hot water.

Well, he does like bread but he takes bread during his tea time. If I were to give him bread as breakfast, I am afraid he might get bored of bread and reject it.

Hai..... its sure is tough to be a mother. Pening kepala (headache) thinking what to do with this son of mine. :)

Watching too much TV

2006-05-30T11:53:00.000+08:00

The other day during dinner time, my son did something funny out of expectance which I think he got it from the "idiot box". He has already mastered feeding himself during dinner. So, all I need to do is to put rice and vege (cut untill small pieces) into his bowl and let him have his spoon. He will then sit and enjoy his dinner with some spillage. Back to to topic. That day, while eating dinner, he pull my shirt (to get my attention) when I was still enjoying my dinner. He has a piece of vege in his mouth. I thought he does not want the vege and I asked him to put in onto my spoon instead. He shakes his head and make some argh..argh sound and keep pulling me closer to his mouth. Then out out sudden, I think I've got what he wants....... he wants to share the piece of vege with me but I need to eat it from his month! When I did that, he looked pleased and repeat it with a few more pieces of vege. He seems satisfied!! Now, the question is where did he learn it from? Aha...... remember a show from Astro with Eric Tsang and his gang inviting celebraties to play some games?? I think my son must have watch the show or the shows advertising snippets where celebraties were suppose to pass pieces of seaweed by using their mouth only!

Not only that, sometimes when I accompany him to sleep, he will come give me kissess. There was this day when I with him trying to get him to sleep. Instead of closing his eyes, he came close to me and kiss me on my lips a few times!!! I never kiss him on his lips before and nobody does that to him! He must have seen it on TV!!

I know, I must limit his TV shows but I can't do anything. The TV in my house are switch on from morning untill night! Our TV was put to good use as it was switch on from morning untill the night. My inlaws are addicted to TV. Life without TV is a nightmare for them. And I do notice that my son is addicted to TV as well. He can concentrate on TV more than anything else! I know, this is a bad sign. I have bought many books for him but he seems to have no interest at all. What can I do?

Greatest Gift and Values

2006-05-29T11:17:00.000+08:00

Its seems that my son always reward me with his best smiles, plant lots of kisses on my cheek and my growing belly (trying to kiss my baby in my womb) and gives lots of hugs more than any other people that he knew. Not even his daddy can match this much affection that he showered to mommy. I really like his way of showing his appreciation to me. But he does not show that much of affection to other people and he is sure is a very shy kid. Sometimes I wonder when he grows up, will he still show his appreciation as much as he is doing right now. So far, I find this the greatest gift that I mother could receive. Everyday could be Mother's Day when he just like to smile and kiss me. No amount of money in this world can replace such feelings.

I am also trying to instill in him the feeling of empathy. Although he is still very much a small toddler, I still think that kids nowadays lack of such value. I tell him not to hurt animals, gives lots of love to animals, be compassionate to people or animals that suffer and others. I guess he must have learn something from my lectures..... the other day, my thumb was hurt and bleed. I told him not to hold my thumb and tell him mommy was in pain. He quickly blow my thumb and kiss my thumb as if kissing my pain away. How touched, I was at that time. He did also show such affection when he sees me in pain or what-so-ever. I hope that I can continue to educate him such values. Later, I also would like to educate him on money values so that he can understand that money does not grow on trees. I believe financial education should start at an early stage to instill a prudent practise in the future.

Bak Chang (Dumpling Festival)

2006-05-27T10:28:00.000+08:00

Yum....Yum..... Today my mother-in-law is making lots of bak chang (dumplings). Its a Chinese tradition which falls on 5th day of the 5th month (Chinese calender). Normally I can eat one or two (if I am hungry) at one go. Most people will only eat one as it consist of glutinous rice which is very filling if consume too much. You can see many people selling bak chang in markets and night markets during this time. Its quite costly too, depending on the ingredient and size.

Hmm.... start drooling....... go get one yourself, yeah!

Sleep Routine

2006-05-23T16:22:00.000+08:00

Yesterday night, I wanted to take a break from accompanying my son to sleep. So, I casually tell him that tonight daddy will accompany him to sleep. He said 'ok'. How happy i am! So, i when the time comes, daddy and I went to bedroom with my son. Then daddy took his position by sleeping besides my son. Wah...........mummy, mummy, mummy..........................! He protested! He quickly gets up and pushed daddy away. He wants me to sleep besides him. I said 'no' as I need to pick up all his toys since he did not pick it up. He protested and keep shouting. I went out of bedroom and head dowstairs. Not even few seconds later, hubby was heard asking me to come up. There is no way he could get my son to sleep. Once I was in the bedroom, my son came over to me and pull me to his bed and ask me to sleep with him. Hubby then goes out of the room leaving me with my son. Then the noumal routine starts. I sleep besides him and my arm extended to become his pillow. Before long, he is in slumberland. There goes my plan to watch astro.

But the actual reason is that I wanted my son to stop relying and being so attached to me. I wanted him to be attached to hubby more so that later when second baby comes, hubby can take care of him while I attend to baby. Moreover, during delivery, I will be in hospital for at least a night, so I would not like to see my son unable to sleep without me.

Well, I guess i have to continue with this routine of accompanying my son to sleep and see how it goes. Any suggestions anyone?

Too Hot

2006-05-22T15:07:00.000+08:00

Nowadays i feel very hot. Not sure if its the weather or its just one of those pregnancy things. I always have this urge to eat ice creams or indulge in cold drinks. Old folks will sure knock my head if they hear what I say here! Hehehe.....

What is worst is that my son is very attached to me. He always want me to carry him. Imagine in this stuffy weather and I had to carry him where ever I go. But sometimes I love to carry him. I like the feeling when his head rest on my shoulder as if I am everything to him! So peaceful feeling......

But, when he goes to sleep at night, he needs me most. Normally I will put him in his bed with his head on his pillow and his bolster will be by his side. I will then accompany him to sleep beside him. But he will definitely get up from this position and sleep besides me. My hand will act as his pillow and before then only he can sleep peacefully. If I were to remove my hand before he goes into deep sleep, then he will grumble and request that I position back my arm for him. Imagine how hot this is. I forget to mention that the room's fan and air-con are switch on. And yet I can still sweat! Tell me, am I hot!

Visit to Doctor

2006-05-19T15:42:00.000+08:00

Today I went for my usual checkup with my ob-gynae. He said everything was fine and told me the good news that I do not suffer from Placenta Praevia compared to my first pregnancy. How relief I was when i heard his words!!!!! You see, when I was pregnant with my first born, I was diagnosed with Placenta Praevia and I was so sad and depressed. I did not enjoy my pregnancy at all. So, when I got to know that I was pregnant this time, the first question on my mind when I visit my Ob-gynae is whether I will suffer again. Luckily, this time round, I did not have to worry.

Today I also know the gender of my baby. I'm not going to tell you to heat up the suspense. Hehehehe....... make a guess! Hubby called me just after I had my checkup and the first question was to asked what is the gender! Anxious daddy!

Hmmmm...... how to celebrate this good news? Any ideas anybody?

First Time Blogging

2006-05-17T11:59:00.000+08:00

Hello, i have just join the latest fad, ie: blogging. Probably it could be boring to whom ever reading my blog. But hey, i am just begining, yeah! :) I will most probably blog about my son and pregnancy. Pretty typical stuff, huh?

Ok, i've got a big problem. My son, who is now 20mths old is very attached to me. Its a very serious separation enxiety. He wants me to carry him all the time. I can't even go to the washroom, eat, shower or do anything at all! He cries for me and only me. Not even his dad can replace me. He cries all day long as i need to do house chores, go to work and etc...... Help...... anybody can help me??