Craving for sushi

I've been longing for sushi for months already and I finally went to Sushi King in Low Yat Plaza today for lunch.

Everything on the conveyor belt looked so yummy & tempting but I still restrained myself from taking the sake sushi (raw salmon), which is also one of my favourite dish..... Well luckily there were still a lot more varieties to choose from to satisfy my craving and I ended up finished 8 plates of sushi by myself while hubby was having the set meal Unadon Double.

Well so what would I crave for next? Stay tuned... :D (no no definitely not dim sum :P)

UKM Hospital

Just went to UKM Hospital this afternoon for registration. We reached there around 11.45am and after an hour only my name was called. Well, it's "faster" than I've thought anyway coz the actual antenatal check up process would take at least 2 - 3 hours. I can't really recall what was the procedure but I know that 90% of the time were actually "waiting" time: waiting to be called, to be weighed, waiting to do ultrasound, waiting to see the doctor & waiting to pay. Well I'm just sharing & not complaining at all coz I knew this is how government hospital differs from the private ones.

But the good thing is I can still continue to visit the private clinic I used to go, and only have the antenatal check at UKM when necessary. My 1st check up at UKM is scheduled on 30th May where I'll be 34 weeks pregnant by then, I will update again the results after that.

By the way, other than the long waiting check up time at UKM, the service I received during my labour time were satisfying indeed. :)

30th week update

Just went to my antenatal check up on Friday evening with hubby and got my blood test report too. According to the report, I'm slightly low in red blood cells & haemoglobin, but doctor assure that it's nothing too serious so I don't need to worry about it.

My baby is doing fine and is about 1.5kg in weight by now. Once again, doctor said that I'm having a baby girl, he did say the same thing during my check up at 22nd & 26th week so I'm keeping my finger crossed..... :)

My weight is 63kg now, which means I've put on a total of 11kg to date; tummy is measuring at 93cm, not looking too big as most people told me but I'm getting lazier & more tired nowadays.

My new blog is done

Finally I'm done with my new blog, much faster than I have thought. :)

The current blog is renamed to "Mummy Yiau, Dillon & Baby" while the other one will be using the name "Under The SUN".

Although I can move the posts to my new blog but I can't find the way to move the comments together as well. Since I don't want to lose these readers' comments, I still retain a copy of some posts here even though they have been moved to the new blog.

Well it does look more organised to me now. :)

Another blog

Some of you might have noticed that I have 2 different blogs now under my name. One being "Mummy Yiau, Dillon & Baby" and the other is "Under The SUN".

Well it's all because I realised that my current blog is quite messy with all the topics related to Dillon, baby, pregnancy, parenting & the other ke-poh topics. So I've decided to dedicate one of the blog solely to my kids and the other for all general topics. Guess it will look more organised this way.

This long weekend will be the transition period for my blogs and if you happen to drop by & can't locate any of my previous posts & comments, please bear with me and don't think that I've gone missing in the air.... :D

Books Fairs

If you’re twiddling your thumbs wondering what you should do to spend the long weekend, here are two book events that might be of interest.

KL International Books Fair 2007


Times The Bookshop will also be having a stock clearance alongside Guardian's Mega Stock Clearance.

Details are as follows:
Date: 26th April - 2nd May
Time: 10am - 8pm
Contact: 014-227 3635
Venue: 2nd Floor, Dataran Hamodal, Block A, (behind Colgate), Jln Bersatu 13/4, Seksyen 13, 46200, PJ. (below is the map)

The secrets inside woman

Came across this interesting site dedicated in Chinese, which provide comprehensive advices on O & G topics.

The secrets inside woman

Besides the experts' Q &A, you can also find useful tools like fertility calendar, conceiving chart and so on, besides being informative, I find this site is interesting & fun too.

Slow connection

Since hubby has gone for badminton session tonight, I was thinking to write a few post & also to visit a few blogs which I don't have the time to drop by this afternoon. (coz if hubby is around, he will be occupying the working desk.)

But I was so disappointed as the connection is very slow, it took me quite a while to load a page or to leave comment on other' blogs..... (maybe coz hubby is running other project on the pc at the same time)

Baby is kicking me hard too while I'm writing....... and oops, it's now time to read to Dillon and prepare him to sleep already, guess I'll put a stop here for today.......

No more Dim Sum

I just had Dim Sum lunch @ Eastin Hotel yesterday when my clients dropped by and to be frank I'm not a big fan of Dim Sum but since the clients suggested it, I'll just have to give in.

Then today, we are having a department lunch to bid farewell to one of the member & also to celebrate one's birthday, again my boss suggested Dim Sum @ China Treasures (gosh....) & do I have the say? Of course not since it's not my last day or birthday & not me paying either.......end up I had Dim Sum 2 days in a row.

In fact I just had 1 piece of each variety only, plus a tiny bowl of fried rice & a few cups of chinese tea today and still my stomach was feeling so uneasy after the lunch, and I don't even have the appetite to take my dinner...... it's really not a pleasant feeling. :(

Ok, no more Dim Sum for me in the next 2 months at least!!

Craving for tuna

Last week, I’ve had tuna sandwiches as breakfast for 3 days and on Saturday, I decided to buy a canned tuna mayonnaise & make my own sandwiches for this week. Then today I suddenly recalled that I’ve seen/heard somewhere that tuna is not that safe for pregnant woman to consume?

To clear my doubt, I quickly went to the web & search for relevant information & advices and most of them claimed that pregnant woman should have avoided tuna, esp. canned ones because of uncertainties about the risk of mercury contamination to developing fetuses.

Oh my god, apart from what I had last week, this week alone I’ve finished up one whole can of tuna over the past 3 days!!! I don’t know how bad this is going to affect my baby, a little? Or not at all? Sigh*** I started to feel guilty about it if it does cause any harm…… I just hope everything is fine.

Some useful sites

Here are a few websites which I found provides quite useful information & advices on a wide range of topics.

Ask Dr. Sears
Covers topic on pregnancy, breastfeeding, sleep & discipline issues, kids nutrition, health/illness etc.

Pediatrics
Medical advices, experts’ Q&A, Information and advice on dealing with common parenting issues and problems, including nutrition, growth, development, sibling rivalry, potty training, managing behavior problems and temper tantrums etc.

Young Nutrition
nutrition advice, experts’ opinions & recipes

The fact about ME (Dillon)

This is my very 1st tag, from Ethan's mummy, so happy that there are people who wants to know more about little me. Ok, I'll try to answer everything without being much influenced by my mummy .... :)

Layer One: On The Outside
Name : Dillon Yiau Ming Hong (yeah I heard yau ming is a basketball star!)
Birth Date : 6th Dec 2005
Current status : The "golden" child in the family (ranking will drop soon after July) :-(
Eye Colour : Black
Hair Colour : Naturally dark brown like mummy
Righty or Lefty : I use both hands wor

Layer Two: On The Inside
Your Heritage : Hakka & Cantonese mix
Your Fears : No kai kai or mum mum
Your Weakness : Kai kai & mum mum
Your Perfect Pizza : Been to Pizza Hut & Shakey's but haven't tried one b4

Layer Three : Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Your Thoughts First thing when I wake up : Where is mummy?
Your Bedtime : 11-11.30pm, depending on my mood also
Your Most Missed Memory : Resting in mummy's cradle while she breastfeed me

Layer Four : Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : Only tried coke b4
McDonald’s or Burger King : Only had McD fries b4 so McD loh
Single or Group Dates : What dates? I like kua chi & asam boi
Adidas or Nike : Can eat one ar? Nike sounds more yummy ....
Tea or Nestea : Teh o ais limau kurang manis
Chocolate or Vanilla : Both
Cappuccino or Coffee : Don't fancy both

Layer Five : Do You..
Smoke : No! I'm a good boy, but I like to play with gong gong's cigarette, hehe
Curse : When I throw tantrum only so can be forgiven hor?
Take a shower : Twice a day
Have a crush : Mak kai?? (in Hakka)
Think you’ve been in love: With mummy & baba
Go to school : Not yet
Want to get married : Maybe but it's too soon to say now
Believe in yourself : Most of the time will listen to mummy loh
Think you’re a health freak : Me? Hahaha :P

Layer Six : In The Past Month
Drank alcohol : No! Told you I'm a good boy
Gone to the mall : Yes with mummy & baba to buy stuff for my meimei/didi
Been on stage : Climb up the table & dance on it in front of mummy, consider on stage or not?
Eaten sushi : at Genki sushi bar KLCC
Dyed your hair : No I hate to go to barber

Layer Seven : Have You Ever..
Played A Stripping Game : I was stripped everyday b4 shower, at least twice sometimes more...
Changed Who You Were To Fit In : I changed into nicer clothes if I'm going out kai kai.

Layer Eight : Age
You’re Hoping To Be Married : I don't even know if I want to get married leh

Layer Nine : In a Girl
Best Eye Colour : Dark brown like mummy
Best Hair Colour : Natural like mummy
Short Hair or Long Hair : Long like mummy
(Mummy is the 1st woman I met & knew so that's my ideal, hehe)

Layer Ten : What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago : Mum mum my snacks
1 Hour Ago : Watching nursery rhymes vcd
1 Month Ago : Went to clinic with mummy & baba & saw my meimei/didi swimming in mummy's tummy.
1 Year Ago: Mummy said I started on solid mum mum

Layer Eleven : Finish The Sentence
I Love : my chuk chuk, mum mum, kai kai, sleep sleep, mummy, baba
I Feel : happy when I have my snacks
I Hate : baba smoking (mummy asked to say this)
I Hide : under the chair & mummy couldn't find me, haha it was fun!
I Need : to find a way to open the fridge then I can take my snacks anytime I want, hehe.

Layer Twelve : Tag five people...
Next time can? Mummy is lazy & have to work now.

Dillon's menu

This is a write-up following my previous post on soups, in answer to mommy to chumsy's questions.

Normally Dillon would have the rice with soup, and the soup ingredients (eg carrots, potatoes, peas, peanuts, meat from the pork bones or chicken carcass etc). On days where we don't have soup, we'll prepare one of the following:

1. Braised potatoes (with/without meat) in gravy
2. Steam egg or meat with vege/mushroom in gravy
3. Steam fish in gravy
3. Boil bayam or bo choy soup with egg/minced meat

I'm not worry about his vegetables intake, because during lunch, when he is having noodles soup, we'll definitely add in vegetables, eggs/meat. By the way, he only eat eggs on alternate days.

Dillon loves fruits as well, and he will have it after lunch & dinner, on days where we run out of fruits, he'll have yogurt instead.

Chinese soups

Since Dillon is fully on rice for dinner now, we have to prepare soup at least 3 times a week, or more. Well in most cases my maid will be the one making the soup actually, I'm just preparing the ingredients. The soups that Dillon would normally have includes Herbal soup (assorted), Old Cucumber soup, Winter Melon soup, ABC soup, Lotus Root soup, Peas soup & White Radish soup.

The ingredients I used (for serving size of 4 adults):

Herbal soup
1 pre-packed herbal soup ingredients (assorted, ranges from RM5 - 8, can get from market or chinese medical hall)
1 chicken carcass (add some chicken feet if you like, I normally would :D)

Old Cucumber soup
1 no. of old cucumber
Pork stock bones (about RM5)
Some dried oysters, red dates & kei zhi

Winter Melon soup
1/4 no. of Winter melon (depending on how big it is, normally quarter is enough)
Pork stock bones
Some dried scallops, red dates & kei zhi

ABC soup
2 no. of carrots, potatoes, tomatoes & big onions
1 chicken carcass (add chicken feet if you like)
Sometimes I will add a bit of "jar choy", or crushed white pepper but it's optional

Lotus Root soup
Lotus root (my mum said choose the "fat, round & short" ones wor)
Fan got (really don't know what is this called in English)
Pork stock bones
Some peanuts, red dates & kei zhi

Peas soup
8 - 10 no. of pod peas, remove the pod (the pod is light red & white & the peas is white colour, don't know what is the exact name of this pea, but can use to make porridge too, real sweet) - will get the pix & update
1 chicken carcass
Some red dates & kei zhi

White Radish soup
2 no. of white radish
Some dried oysters/cuttlefish, red dates & kei zhi
Some crushed white pepper (coz white radish is "leong"/cold food)

Shopping list for new baby

Well there isn't much to buy for my new baby to be frank, except for the necessities & some toiletries. Most of Dillon's items are still good as new and I'm sure he won't mind passing them to his meimei/didi :)

Here is what I have in my list:
1. New pigeon peristaltic teats (x3)
2. Enfalac A+ 900g (1 tin)
3. PetPet Diapers S48 (1 pack)
4. Pacifier maybe?? (for standby, really wish don't have to use it....)
5. Guinness stout for bath (10 cans)

Hope there isn't anything that I missed out.......

About my pregnancy

So fast I'm in my 29th week of pregnancy already, just another 73 days to go before my EDD on 7/7/07 (same as huisia :D)

I have a better appetite this time compare to last pregnancy, maybe it's because I'm carrying low and thus have more space in my stomach? I've already put on 11kgs to date and I guess I have to control my diet a bit coz I don't want to go beyond the benchmark of 15kgs in the end.

In my last 2 routine check ups, doctor said I'm having a baby girl and I really hope what he says is accurate. I'll be going for my check up again this Friday and I'll ask him again if he confirm it's a girl for me........

Ready or Not?

When can my baby eat shellfish? When will my baby understand "no"? When do a kid knows what a lie is? Ever have questions like these raise in your head? I had and will still have more to come I'm sure.

Plucked this from babycenter newsletter as well. It is a comprehensive guide on kids development covering the following aspects:

Behavior & discipline Development Food & drink Health & safety Home & indoor activities Out & about activities Sleep

I do find the info pretty useful & it has clear some of my doubts along the way. Hope others will enjoy reading it too.

Milestone chart (birth to age 3)

What you can expect from birth to age 3?

Here is a milestone chart I plucked from babycenter newsletter and I found it is interesting to read about what would kids normally achieve at a different age, which I'm sure we parents would like to find out as well. However each chart is meant as a guide, not as a source of concern or worry. Have fun reading it.

Milestone Chart

What does he dislike?

Dillon is very "wai sek" (aka DBKL :P) and probably is because he was introduced to many variety of food since started on solid., or maybe it's a genetic thing....ahem ahem... (not me not me!)

Basically whatever food or drinks we gave him, he would take it & would want more, snacks like raisins, kacang, kua chi & even pickle fruits & asam boi (he likes sourish-spicy stuff) are among them, but of course I only give these sparingly.

It really makes me wonder if there is really something that he won't eat??? and finally I have identify 2 things that he dislikes recently:
1. Ice-cream
2. Coffee or anything of similar taste

I can understand that he doesn't like coffee because of the bitterness but I am surprise that he dislikes ice-cream, which apparently is one of the most popular snacks that kids would love.

Dillon's meal schedule

I started Dillon on cereal when he was about 6 months plus, along with fruits & some vegetables puree (all homemade). Basically I'll pre-prepare or tell my maid the night before on what to feed Dillon while I'm at work, & I also kept a record of his food intake at that time.

To ensure a variety of taste & nutrients, I normally give different kind of food to Dillon for lunch & dinner.

Here is a typical menu for him while he was 6 - 10 months old.
Breakfast: Milk & baby rice crackers/biscuits
Lunch: Cereal or Mashed Potato
Dinner: Porridge

He will have fruits/yogurt (either one) after his lunch & dinner. In between meals there will be milk, cheese, biscuits as snacks.

After 10 months, he suddenly refuse to take cereal & mashed potato & prefers "hard" texture food, so I've replaced his lunch with noodles soup (pan mee, loh see fun, egg noodles, kuayteow or meesua).

He was introduced to rice at 14 months old & here is the typical menu:
Breakfast: Milk & biscuits or bread
Lunch: Noodles soup (varieties as stated above) with chicken/meat/egg & vegetables
Dinner: Porridge or Rice

He still have fruits/yogurt after each meal, and milk & snacks in between meals.

Just started last week, he showed dislikes of porridge and therefore we will only feed him rice for dinner from now on. Normally we'll feed him rice with soup & the soup ingredients (such as ABC soup, old cucumber, herbal soup) or if there is no soup, will cook meat/chicken with vegetables or eggs in some gravy & mix with rice.

Puss without boots - Dillon's playmate

This male cat also belongs to the Malay family who lives opposite my house. He comes to my house everyday without fail and Dillon likes to "talk" to him, touch him & even try to pull its whiskers.

This Puss has become more "daring" lately where he keep wanting to come inside my house. Sometimes he will come through the back door when my maid went out to do the laundry; last few nights, he even attempt to come in through the front gate, although it was fenced, see how Puss did the stunt & enter my house!

Dillon & his best buddy

Who is his best buddy? No doubt it'd be his Pacifier loh. Though I didn't like it, but what to do? My MIL introduced to him even before he was full moon. Until today, she still thinks it's brilliant to have introduced pacifier to Dillon in which it has eased our life whenever he want to sleep wor. Gosh!!! should I be thankful that now he won't sleep without his pacifier? (unless he is extremely tired or when travelling in the car)

After he changed into his sleepwear, he would "ask" for his pacifier....See what happens if I were to take away his pacifier! I wanted to wean him off but don't know where & how to start with. Sigh....shall I just relax & let him grow out of it?

Steamed minced pork with mushroom

This was what I cooked for dinner last night, Dillon was having it with herbal soup & rice and he finished up a bowl (about 4 table spoonful) of rice.

Ingredients:
Pork meat (tender lean meat, "mui yok" in cantonese)
Chinese dried mushroom

Marinade:
Soy Sauce, Pepper, Sesame Oil, Egg White.

Method:
1. Chop the mushroom into small dices
2. Chop the pork meat & then add in mushroom dices.
3. Marinade the mixture with the above seasonings. Add in a bit of the water we used to soak the dried mushroom if you want more gravy for the dish.
4. Put in boiling water & steam for about 15 minutes & it's ready to serve.

Marinade
Done

If you don't like pork, you may substitute with chicken meat. Alternately you may substitute the mushroom with dried cuttle fish or salty fish meat.

Try this appetizing dish when you can't think of what to prepare for dinner.

The fact about ME (layer by layer)

This is the first time I'm being tagged since I started my blog on 6th April, and this is quite a good topic for people to know more about a newbie like me!

Layer One: On The Outside
Name : Karen
Birth Date : 7th June
Current status : Married with 1 son, expecting 2nd baby in July
Eye Colour : Dark brown
Hair Colour : Naturally dark brown
Righty or Lefty : Righty

Layer Two: On The Inside
Your Heritage : Chinese - Cantonese (married to a Hakka though)
Your Fears : Losing anyone in my family
Your Weakness : Short temper & No patience
Your Perfect Pizza : Don't really fancy pizzas

Layer Three : Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Your Thoughts First thing when I wake up : Is is a working day today?
Your Bedtime : 11-11.30pm, depending on my son's bedtime
Your Most Missed Memory : The 1st few months when my hubby was dating me, hehe

Layer Four : Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : Don't fancy soft drinks
McDonald’s or Burger King : BK esp BK Big fish & Mushroom Swiss.....
Single or Group Dates : Group
Adidas or Nike : Nike
Tea or Nestea : Nestea
Chocolate or Vanilla : Both, depending on what food or drink
Cappuccino or Coffee : Don't fancy both, I prefer Latte

Layer Five : Do You..
Smoke : No! I've been trying to get my hubby off the wagon but it doesn't work
Curse : Yes when I'm mad & totally lost control of my temper
Take a shower : Of course, but must be hot shower
Have a crush : Yes, since high school
Think you’ve been in love: Yes & I'm still in it... with hubby, Dillon & baby on the way....
Go to school : Not now
Want to get married : Not again, I already did it
Believe in yourself : Yes no doubt, but will listen to advices before making decision
Think you’re a health freak : 50 - 50

Layer Six : In The Past Month
Drank alcohol : Nope due to pregnancy
Gone to the mall : Yes with hubby & Dillon
Been on stage : Nope
Eaten sushi : Nope but I'm craving for it.....
Dyed your hair : Nope since last year

Layer Seven : Have You Ever..
Played A Stripping Game : Nope
Changed Who You Were To Fit In : Depending on situation

Layer Eight : Age
You’re Hoping To Be Married : by 25 the latest, and I made it

Layer Nine : In a Girl / Guy
Best Eye Colour : Dark brown
Best Hair Colour : Natural, no highlight or dyed hair please....
Short Hair or Long Hair : Short & neat

Layer Ten : What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago : Doing this tag
1 Hour Ago : Doing office work
1 Month Ago : Organising for a parents-kids gathering
1 Year Ago: Basically the same thing loh, working in day & bbsit Dillon at night.

Layer Eleven : Finish The Sentence
I Love : My family & myself
I Feel : Excited to see my 2nd baby in July
I Hate : When I lost control of my temper
I Hide : Nothing from my beloved hubby
I Need : Health & Happiness in my life

Layer Twelve : Tag five people...
Hmm.... not doing it this time as I don't have many blog buddies to tag yet.

Confinement budget

I've finally decided the confinement food menu that I'm gonna order from Peiling and faxed over to them already. In the first 14 days, I'm only ordering 1 meat, 1 vege, 1 soup, 1 brown & 1 white rice (enough for lunch & dinner), plus delivery fees, it cost close to RM700. If the quality of food & service are good, I will then order for another 14 days but might slightly change the combination of menu.

Based on my estimation, this whole confinement food catering will cost me around RM1500 for 28 days and on top of that, I'll still need to buy some herbs like Dong Guai, Dong Chung Chou, Pao Sum etc & Kampung Chicken & liquor to make double- boiled herbal soup from 14th day onwards. Not forgetting also the Red Dates, Dong Sum & Kei Zhi to prepare the daily herbal tea to drink.

Well if I can work within a budget of 2 - 2.5k, it is still cheaper than getting a confinement lady isn't it? In my last confinement where my aunty was helping me day care, I've also spent nearly 2k on just buying the raw food, herbs & wine so to me I still think DIY it this time can save me a bomb.

Switching to new formula milk

Heard from one of my MJ forum members the MJ representatives did say that Sustagen is good for immune system as it has 3-biotic added (good for developing children) whereas Enfagrow A+ is mainly for brain development.

I got some Sustagen Vanilla sample for Dillon to try and he seems like it. So what I do now is to give him Sustagen Vanilla during the morning and afternoon feed; and feed him Enfagrow A+ at night before he sleeps. I was told that in such way, because during day time, he needs more energy and a strong immune system to fight bacteria and viruses whereas at night, his brain would stimulate more while he is sleeping.

Furthermore, Sustagen (RM47.30 for 1.8kg) cost lesser than Enfagrow A+ (RM67.20 for 1.8kg) so I can save a little bit as well.

Dillon's new words

Basically Dillon can't speak properly yet and most of the time he will be just babbling in his own language.

Before this he only can call "mama" & "baba" but lately when a friend of mine visit us & we ask Dillon to call him "goh goh" (elder brother), surprisingly he manage to pronounce it correctly for the very 1st time. It's funny because we don't have any "goh goh" at home and wonder where he picked up the word.

Just within few days after that, he manage to call "gong gong" (grandpa) & "po po" (grandma) and can even say "xie xie" (thank you). But his favourite word is still "goh goh" and I have been telling him that he is not going to have an elder brother in any way but he himself will be a 'goh goh" very soon, haha, don't think he can understand me yet. :)

Reading

These 2 are Dillon's favourite book. On the left is "Good Night Moon" where I read to him before sleep; on the right is "My Peekaboo" fun book where he likes to flip the pages & "read" by himself. Another one that he is pointing at is the ABC book which is also the first book I bought for him.

Normally when I reach home after work, I will bring him to the room and that is when he will "read" the books.

I myself loves reading very much and I have been reading to him, or with him since he was few months old. I hope Dillon could pick up this habit from me as well. :)

Dillon (9 months old) was reading his soft book beside Mummy who was reading a novel.

Baby Tooth Chart

How many teeth have your baby had by now? Have you been keeping track or do you plan to do so? I've been doing it since Dillon's first tooth erupted when he was 9 months old, now he had all his incisors and the lower & upper cuspid teeth has just erupted.

Anyway, here is the Baby Tooth Chart where I use to keep track, you can print it out & record accordingly, stick it on the wall or keep in your baby's diary. The ages listed in the list also serve as a guideline as to when to expect the teeth to erupt.

Dillon's shoes

I bought the 1st pair of soft shoes for Dillon when he was 9 months old and the shoes size was 2. It only took him a month to outgrown it and then I have to buy him two more pairs in size 3, one sporty & one formal design. 2 months later, he started to take his 1st step outdoor and not long after that, I think about a month plus, the shoes couldn't fit him anymore.

That was around Chinese New Year and I bought him 2 pairs of new shoes in size 4, one sandals in dark blue and one in red with a cute "beep" sound whenever he takes a step. I've also bought a pair of cheap slippers for his daily wear to the park & for nearby walk. Now at his 16th month, he has already outgrown size 4. There are currently 5 pairs of shoes lying in my drawer.

Luckily I never buy a lot & also expensive shoes for Dillon, as I always spend thrift in shopping for kid's clothing & accessories, otherwise it would have been such a waste that most of the shoes are still good as new.

His 2 pairs of new shoes in size 5, the brown one is a gift from friend.

Sleeping in cot

My son was sleeping with me on the same bed when he is new born because it's easier for me to breastfeed him during night time. After his full moon, he begin to sleep in his cot next to my bed and he normally sleep through the night without milk feed. Later when he was able to stand up in his cot at about 8 months old, he started to be "naugthy" where he would get up in the middle of night (some nights will sleep through) and wanted to come over to my bed & sleep in between me & hubby, otherwise he would make noise!

This has continued for a few months, until I'm pregnant & finding it difficult to bend & carry him from his cot to transfer to my bed, so I remove one side of the cot gate and attach the cot to my bed so that he is literally like sleeping next to me, but just on a different bed. Now if he wakes up in the middle of night, he will just crawl to me & want me to hug him to sleep, and I'll just "roll" him back to his cot bed when he fell asleep; at least I don't need to wake up & carry him.

However a small accident happened last Saturday night. Dillon was sleeping in his cot bed as usual and perhaps he rolled & kicked too much in his sleep that night & the cot has moved apart from my bed, he then fell on floor & crying out loud. Luckily he wasn't hurt but hubby has quickly removed the cot castors and now it is safe as the cot won't move easily unless we push it.

What is safe during pregnancy & what not?

Is it safe to colour my hair during pregnancy? Can we eat sushi or take wine/coffee when we are pregnant? Is it safe to fly? Is it safe to have sex?

When a woman is pregnant, especially the 1st time mum, many of these questions or doubts will rise in their head. I was once like that as well, and I'm the kind of person that don't really follow all the old wives tales, therefore during my last pregnancy, I have subscribed to a few newsletter and also have been searching for pregnancy information on the web. I found this "Is it safe? During Pregnancy Guide" at babycenter.com is pretty useful & the information provided does make sense to me as well.

It covers topic on food & drinks, fitness, travel, sex, medical and many others, however this only serve as a guide and would varies depending on individual conditions so if you are still in doubt, it's always better to confirm with doctor.

My 2nd pregnancy

This pregnancy is very different from my 1st & I think it's more "challenging". My morning sickness in 1st trimester was more serious, where I had gastric & vomited badly until I can see tinge of blood in my vomiting. Compare to my 1st pregnancy, I was carrying low this time and this has caused me to have spotting whenever I walk too much or have been too active. I was so panic every time I see spotting because I never had this before and I was so worried that I'm gonna lost my baby. This pregnancy was not as enjoyable as the 1st as well because I have to take care of Dillon at the same time. He has became so attached to me and I'm really exhausted and didn't really have too much time to rest.

I'm entering 3rd trimester now, tummy has grew bigger & the pressure to my pelvic area has became greater that whenever I need to get up from a sitting or lying position, even when walking, I can feel the muscle pulling pain. Never really had this when I was carrying high during my 1st pregnancy.

Nonetheless, the real "challenge" will only begins when I have both the newborn & the young toddler under one roof, I would definitely need more stamina & patience to cope with it.

Parents & Kids Gathering - Side Stories

Story #1
Since majority of us, if not all, haven't met each other before so I basically do not recognise any faces prior to the gathering. Therefore whenever I saw parents walking towards our venue with kids, I generally assume that they were here for the gathering. It has actually embarrassed me twice when I opened the door & attend to the parents whom I thought were our members, only to find out that they were to take some brochures and activities schedule of Tumble Tots, they even mistaken me as a staff there. :P

Story #2
Tumble Tots has given each parents a free copy of magazine with car stickers & etc as door gift. I was holding the magazine while pushing Dillon in stroller to the car park. When I reached my car, I casually left the magazine on my car roof, and proceed with putting Dillon in the car seat, fold up the stroller & put in the boot, then put my handbag in the front seat, start the engine & drove off. Yes, I bet you already realised it by now, the magazine! But I only recalled it when I reached home, it must have been "lying" on my car roof and dropped off along my way back. Looks like I can't deny that I've been "a bit" absent-minded lately. :P

Parents & Kids Gathering - Dillon

At the gathering, Dillon too were busy running around, exploring the whole place by himself & watch the other kids play rather than joining them to play, think this what we call the "parallel play" period for him, where he still enjoy playing solo.


Of course he was very keen on the food as well, especially poking the fried chicken with his plastic spoon & fingers (sorry all, I think his fingers were clean, hehe ^_^), playing & messing around instead of eating properly.... whichever way it is, I knew that he has had a great time there for sure.

The gathering was over around 6.50pm and Dillon was so tired that he fell asleep in his car seat in less than 10 minutes after we left the parking. :)

Parents & Kids Gathering - Pictures

Nice array of food & drinks, contributed/homemade by the parents; mine was the fried chicken wings, bought at Jusco, hehe. :P


Mums were busy eating & chatting, mostly on parenting & child care topics.


The kids were having fun with the toys & play equipment, though Dillon enjoy more on running around freely & watch others play.

Parents & Kids Gathering - Actual Day

The gathering was held successfully at Tumble Tots, 1-Utama today. It's supposed to start at 4.00pm but due to the heavy rain & traffic conditions, we only manage to have the full crowd around 4.40pm. (The total turn up was 16 Adults & 14 kids, or 11 families in other words).

Since it's a pot luck, every family has brought some food to the gathering and all I can say is the array of food we had was lovely. We had homemade tuna sandwiches, fried meehoon, hotdogs & nuggets, mini muffins & even homemade raisin bread; of course not forgetting the fried chicken, pizzas, soft drink & yogurt drink. Tumble Tots has also provide us a Smarties party packs & Honeystars, which has definitely grabbed more attention from the kids.

While the mums & dads are busy chatting away, the kids were occupying themselves with the toys & play equipment arranged by Tumble Tots.

I hope everyone has enjoyed themselves during the gathering and would excuse me if there is arrangement that was not up to their expectations. Anyway, I do look forward to the next gathering for parents & kids in the near future.

Parents & Kids Gathering - Preview

Well I've recently lend in my hands ( = being kepoh ) to organize a Parents & Kids Gathering among the Mead Johnson forum members. This is the first gathering we have on our own and frankly speaking, it is not an easy task to organize it; from setting the date & time, to finding the venues, confirming booking and food arrangement and the most important part, to get as many members to participate as possible. Fortunately, every member has been helpful & responsive in giving ideas and taking responsibilities, otherwise this gathering might probably has been called off already.

Anyway, after 4 weeks++ of planning & organizing, everything is set & done by now and we are just waiting for the actual gathering to take place, which is TOMORROW!!! I'm excited to see everyone, which I've been talking to, IM-ing (instant messaging) & exchanging emails with for quite some time. Finally we gotta meet each other and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this gathering would turns out well. :)

Superboy returns.......

My sister-in-law (hubby's sis) bought this cute superboy costume for lil' Dillon few months back. It's quite cheap as my sis-in-law claimed, the material is not very nice la but it doesn't matter at all because he only wears it for photo shooting anyway. Although my MIL suggested me to bring him to shopping mall with the costume on since it's so cute, I didn't dare to do it as it's a bit too "outstanding" I feel.

Anyway he has already outgrown it now and I'm keeping it to give back to my sis-in-law if she is having a baby boy (she is due in the coming October).

See how Dillon pose as if he is ready to fly like superman.... haha ^_^

DIY Learning for Kids

Learning is so much more fun for our kids nowadays. If you want to get them something to read but not wanting to spend on buying the books, there are many online sources that provides great reading materials for the kids, and even stories or nursery rhymes for parents to read or sing to babies.

Not only reading but some of these websites do have interactive games for the kids to play and they can learn through playing as well, such as Barney & the Sesame Street websites and few others listed on my side bar.

But I think it is also essential that the parents spend time to go through these websites together with the kids, it's such a great bonding moment between the kids & parents. Having said that, I also enjoy the games when I play it myself. :)

My List

Here is another great way to give you lots of back links & raise your PR rating. Read the below information & find out more on how to do it.



Introduction
The purpose of My List is to help all Malaysian bloggers to gain links to their blogs by participating in this list. Blogs covering all topics are welcome to participate in helping our fellow Malaysian bloggers to gain exposure and rankings. Unlike other link exercises, My List is aimed at providing a win win situation for all participants rather than the early birds getting the most benefit. If you are keen to participate, kindly read this page entirely for instructions and guidelines.

Objective
Improving Pagerank and Technorati rank of Malaysian blogs. The objective of improving Pagerank is targetted for July’s PR update while Technorati rank improvement will be ongoing with many experiencing it fully between June and July 2007.

Who can Participate?
-- Malaysian bloggers residing anywhere on mother earth.
-- Non-Malaysians whose blogs feature anything pertaining to Malaysia (example: Malaysian food, Formula 1 in Malaysia and etc).

Dateline for Participation
31st May 2007

Important Guidelines
-- One reminder email will be sent once the final list is updated on this page after the deadline.
-- All participants must then feature a brand new post before 15th of June with the final updated and complete list of participating Malaysian blogs downloadable directly via the email or from this dedicated My List page.
-- All My List Post must be permanent and accessible.

Submitting Your Other Blogs
You may submit as many blogs which is owned by you but each blog entry must contain their own My List post.

How To Participate
1. Download My List in Text format.
2. Make a new post promoting My List and guide your fellow Malaysian readers to this page if they are keen to participate.
3. Copy the entire Text File you downloaded.
4. Paste it at the end of your post.
5. Publish the post and ensure all links are in working order.
6. Submit your contact details and the permanent url of your MyList post by using this contact form or the one located below.
7. Your blog url will then be added to the list.
8. Post a new post of the final My List after receiving an email notification as mentioned in the guidelines above. This is done to ensure everyone will benefit from this even those who participate later or close to the deadline.

Here is the list I downloaded:

My List Participants

[ Wood ] [ Earth ] [ Cheap ] [ Flight ]
COMtech
Ah Ling's blog
http://judychow.blogspot.com/
~WoOLaLA~
vivivava Design
My Mothering Corner
Shoppingmum’s Home Office
My Filling Station
Shopping Mum
All about Beauty
Shoppingmum and Kids
datotalrandommessy.grey
Notes from my heart
Joy Montessori
wahlau's online hut
Cedric’s Asylum
mott’s mutterings
Just My Thoughts
delephant
Incoherent Ramblings
HOT STUFF
Make Money Online with Malaysia Love AGLOCO
MONTESSORIMUM.COM
Funky Cookies
Earn Money Blogging
PabloPabla's Whatever
Make Money with Blogging
Paris Beaverbanks
Free Links Giveaway
Free Blogger Templates
Blogsreview.Net
Making a Living
5xmom
How to be a Better Blogger
My Women Stuff
Hochiak! Delicious Asian Food
Best Recipes
Champagne Tastes on a Beer Budget
Daryl's Discovery Journey
The fluff must go somewhere

MY DIY confinement plan

Since this is already my 2nd baby, I've decided to DIY my confinement due to:
1. My aunt was helping me (day time) in my last confinement but she isn't free this time, and I don't need a full time stay in confinement lady as I'll be breastfeeding & taking care at night time anyway.
2. My maid can help to bath my baby & prepare bath water for me.
3. Since I only need the meal, it'll be more cost saving to just order the food delivery.

I've been asking around for comments & checking out a few caterers that do provide confinement food delivery and then I came down to 2 options, which are SHL & Peiling. SHL was my 1st choice based on some Friend's recommendation but when I call for food tasting, they told me they are fully booked for the month of July, such a disappointment!

So then I went to Peiling for food tasting and found that their flexi-meal package is not too bad also in terms of choice of food & price, so I've decided to order 14 days of meal from them and if the service & quality is good, I will then place order for the following 14 days. The only thing that I'll need to prepare myself would be the daily red dates drinks and the chinese herbal tonic soup from 14th days onwards.

Actually we are lucky that we can have different options nowadays to plan for our confinement, and it can be catered according to our budget.

Baby Bloom in Golden Pig Year

Last week my friend asked me to find her a confinement lady in August and when I called up all my contacts, guess what, all are fully booked from now till October, no joke! Seems like this "Golden Pig" year is really hot as so many people are giving birth, all wanted to have a piggy baby I guess.

Anyway back to my friend, she almost wanted to cry that she can't get one because she is a 1st time mom. Thank god I finally manage to convince my aunt (who is also my previous confinement lady) to help her out, because she has initially planned for a break in August.

As for myself, I've planned to DIY my confinement this time, will share more about it in my next write up, as i gotta go now.

My lil' gangster

These photos were taken during Chinese New Year but I only manage to upload them recently.

One of the pictures were edited by my hubby as he said Dillon's expression is really like a lil' gangster, hahaha.

Planning for lil' one's birthday?

To those who are planning to do something for your precious lil' one's birthday, esp the 1st birthday, you may get some ideas or even place your order of decorative Helium balloons, party packs etc with these shops:

One Joy
Party Shop

More links available on my side bar.

More on HPV

This was plucked from one of the forum post, I thought this would be a useful piece of info to share with all.

http://www.thehpvtest.com/
Here are some fact published there:
1) About 8 out of 10 women will hv HPV by the time they are 50.
2) 7 out of 10 new HPV infections go away on their own, without causing problems, within a year.
3) Women with HPV infection that don't go away are 200-plus times more likely to develop pre-cancerous cervical disease.
4) The pap-smear test misses women with pre-cancerous cells 15-50% of the time.
5) Combining the HPV test with the pap-smear in women age 30 and older increase accuracy to nearly 100%

Cervical Cancer (HPV)

Recently one of my forum member has discovered that she had HPV2, that is Cervical Cancer during her pap-smear check up. She is in her early 40's only and was still trying for another baby. This has definitely hit her but luckily she is still in the early stage, she went through operation & medication and everything is now under control. But she still need to go for check up on regular basis to monitor the conditions.

In last year July, my friend's mum was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer also but it wasn't that lucky in her case. Her mum is in mid-40's and there wasn't any signs all this while and she also didn't go for annual pap-smear check up, later when she realised it's too late as she is already in the 3rd stage, a critical stage.

She went for chemo and medication but then 6 months later, she still can't fight it and passed away just before the Chinese New Year.

I am aware of Cervical Cancer long time ago but it hasn't become so "real" until it happens to the people that I know. I don't know exactly how we could prevent it but the least we woman should do is, go for annual pap-smear check up and HPV test (for those age above 30), don't be lazy. Early detection might save lives, and I hope this post has alarmed some of you in one way or another.

Introducing Dillon

Well, this is him, my first baby boy - Dillon Yiau. He was borned 4 days past my expected due date on 6th December 2005, with a weight of 3.19kg, length 52cm and he has lots of hair. ^_^

He was a breastfed baby for about 8 months and started solid after then. He doesn't really like formula milk but he loves everything else, currently he is taking rice with soup about 3 times a week, not forgetting fruits & other snacks.

Whenever he sees food, he will say "mum mum" non-stop until he gets the food in his mouth and no matter how hard he cried, once we ask "do you want mum mum?" his tears will stop running immediately, hahaha.

His favourite activity is running around the whole house, climbing up & down the sofa & chairs, go to the kitchen & play with pots & pans, pull out the DVDs & VCDs from the rack, pressing the buttons on TV & DVD player etc etc. He also likes to go out for a walk or go to the playground in the evening to play the swing. Sometimes, we would bring him to mamak stall with us and that's probably why he is not afraid of strangers or Indians.

Although it's a great responsibility having a baby, but he has definitely brought so much of joy to me & hubby, & the whole family as well.

There is so much more about Dillon that I could never finish telling so I should continue next time because it's his bed time now. :)

Homemade Play Dough

Have your kids always bug you to buy them the PlayDoh? Now you can homemade it yourselves! Thanks to some forum members who have been so kind to share the "recipes" and I'm now compiling them and share with all here. Maybe you all can try it out this weekend and have fun playing with your kids.

These are the ingredients for making the play dough.

Ingredients
1) 24 Oz of flour (Wheat flour/Tepung gandum)
2) 24 Oz of water
3) 8 Oz of salt
4) 3 teaspoon cream of tartar (can get from supermarket)
5) 1 Chinese glass table spoon of oil
6) Food colouring (optional)

Steps:
1) Mix the food colouring into the water.
2) Mix ALL the ingredients in a cooking pot
3) Stir the ingredients till smooth.
4) Cook under low fire and constantly stir it till harder
5) When cool down, roll it (like making kueh) and get the smooth dough.
6) Done

Here is another recipe that doesn't require cooking.

1 cup cold water
1 cup salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
3 cups flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
food coloring

These dough can be kept in airtight container for 1-2 months and you may keep in the fridge as well. It's so much cheaper than buying the PlayDoh and it is safer for kids to play with (Strictly no eating!!)

Happy Trying!

Learning.....

Wow there are so many features on the blog that I'm yet to discover, I think I would really need some time to figure them out, and learn as I write, hahaha I feel like I'm a student again, feeling young :)

Well, I can still manage to write 2 posts during my work time today, not too bad huh? But of course I'll have to stay back a little bit to finish up my work. Hope to reach home to see my boy before 8pm today.

Blogging for the 1st time

I have seen many people's blog, but never thought I would start writing one too, simply because I don't think I have enough time being a working mum. But then I think again, hey, it could be a good way for me to allocate some personal time to do something I enjoy, apart from the daily work & babysitting routine.

So, here I am, and started writing for the 1st time.

Special thanks to Judy who introduce and guide me to this. :)