Doctor and You 网上讲座

I came across this site recently after reading the MomBaby March edition and I must shared with all on this very informative site, especially for the 1st time mums.

It has video clips of interviews with paedtrician & doctors who talk about the common issues and knowledge related to pregnancy and also child care. Basically what you'll wanted to know is there, and they are adding in new clips constantly. Unfortunately, the clips are all in Mandarin so it's only useful to those who can read and understand Mandarin.

Visit www.mombaby.com.my and sign up for free, I hope that you find it helpful too. :)

The siblings

Many people have asked me if Dillon would show jealousy towards his sister Kaith, but so far I can see that both of them get along pretty well. Perhaps because Kaith is still too young to "fight" for things with Dillon (haha), or maybe because their age gap is close (19 months). In fact, Dillon would always share his toys with Kaith, he likes to hug her, kiss her on her forehead, push her along in her walker, and when Kaith cries in the swing, he'll quickly go & swing her back to sleep.

I would give equal attention & be fair to both of them and I hope they would grow up caring & loving each other.

Am I too mean?

Do you/would you let your family members, relatives or friends to bring your kid(s) out when you or your spouse doesn't tag along? How much do you trust them in taking good care of your kid(s) in the public?

I've encountered the following situations recently:
1) One evening when I reached home after work, maid told me that my sister-in-law has brought Dillon out, driving him back to her in-law's place, alone. Knowing that her car doesn't have a child car seat, I was so worried how she manage to drive safely with Dillon around, plus she is pregnant also. Then my husband called & told her to send Dillon back immediately. When she reached home, I can see that Dillon is sitting in the front passenger seat, without seat belt. Of course I was very furious for her foolish act and I asked my hubby to tell her never ever do this again.

2) On another evening, my father-in-law brought Dillon out. I thought he brought him for a walk nearby because that is what he does everyday & I do appreciate that. After about 15 minutes, I saw them both came back, in my father-in-law's motorbike. Then I asked him if he brought Dillon for a ride and he said yes, it was only a short distance to the grocery shop . Well, it is not the matter of distance but to put Dillon in the front basket of the bike, without a helmet, is already a very dangerous act. I wasn't happy about it and I told it to my father-in-law directly. (Later on my maid told me that this is not the 1st time Dillon has gone for a ride, arghh!!)

I don't know what do they think about me, esp. my father-in-law, he might think that I was rude to tell him that and my sister-in-law might think I was too mean but I couldn't care less. As a mother, I have the responsibilities & every right to do so to protect my kids.

Children See, Children Do

Maybe some of you have already seen this, but I just got this clip forwarded from my friend and I thought it has good meaning behind.

Just to share the video here with everyone, esp parents. :)

Children See, Children Do

It is absolutely true when people says you know how the parents are like by looking at their kids.

Parenthood - Funny

Yes, parenthood changes everything. But parenthood also changes with each baby. I got this from a friend who is also expecting her 2nd baby and I just gotta share it with you all, hahaha, I bet you will laugh as you read it through. Have a good laugh... hahaha LOL

Your Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

The Baby's Name
1st baby: You pour over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites.
2nd baby: Someone has to name his or her kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.
3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points.

Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress--a whimper, a frown--you pick up the baby. 2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Sleeping
1st baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first six - eight weeks
2nd baby: Sleeps in your bedroom for the first two weeks
3rd baby: Goes right from the hospital nursery into their own room

Baby Book
1st baby: You religiously make entries every day, carefully noting the number of spit-ups and bowel movements for the first year
2nd baby: You enter a few facts each week but stop after 6 months
3rd baby: You buy the book but enter the child's name, birth weight, and length on the first page

Diapering
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers every hour, whether they need it or not. 2nd baby: You change their diaper every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour. 2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times. 2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing a coin
1st child: When first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: When 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: When 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!

Astro kids programs

Yeah I sure know Astro is very common to Malaysian families, too common until when you look up at a typical apartment block, you can see 3 out of 5 units have this Astro Wok (satellite dish) installed.

I myself did not install Astro at home because no one actually watches TV programs. My hubby & I mostly watch drama series or movies in DVD when we have time. I was once tempted to install Astro for Dillon to watch the educational or cartoon programs but when I think over it again, maybe it's not the time yet, plus now the subscription fee is going to increase.... Currently Dillon is enjoying his VCD & DVD shows.

Just wondering how many of you have Astro at home for your kids to watch? Are the kids programs really good & interesting for them? Or you would rather buy the VCD or DVD for them instead of letting them becoming Astro TV addicts?

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

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

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.

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. :)

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.

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!