Breast Feeding

When I was pregnant with Caitlin, I decided to try breast feeding after failing miserably 6 years ago. Ryan relied on milk powder since Day 1. This time around, I'm more determined, better informed and well prepared or so I thought.

I remember wanting to give up after 2~3 weeks of trying. I remember being miserable and stressed because it was so difficult, time consuming and I'm tired of the whole process, especially when you don't get much result. My sister who is breastfeeding Joseph and friends urged me to be continue but still it was tough and I was despair. I was about to quit and then hubby came to the rescue. I still remember his words. Good things are never easy and he will support me.

Thereafter, I shift my focus on Caitlin. Of course I want the best for her. No doubt that breast feeding is cumbersome, especially when I'm back to work but I should at least try before quitting. So I persisted. I drink more water since I read somewhere that this helps, I did more research and I talked to friends for guidance and support.

Since then, my breast milk has increased and I was ecstatic when I managed to express 125ml (slightly over 4 ounces) this morning. Success has been slow and I still cannot produce enough for Caitlin. She's currently on a mixture of breast milk and formula. I'm happy that I did not give up and I'm looking for ways to help increase the flows. Also I'm enjoying another benefit of breast feeding ~ weight control for mummy as I try to get back to shape.

Ryan: 6th Birthday

We had an early birthday celebration for Ryan. Since he's all over Pokemon, it's not a surprise that he wanted a "Pikachu" cake. I could not believe my boy is already 6.

"Happy Birthday Ryan. Papa and mummy will always love you"

Fire

We were informed that a fire broke out on Saturday night (20 Sept 2008) and burnt down the entire row of shop houses including that of my uncle's. We were all devastated. Hubby drove all of us back to Teluk Intan the following morning. We wanted to be there to give uncle and family morale support.

The shop was first rented by my grandfather, a fruit wholesaler, more than 50 years ago. When grandpa retired, my uncle took over. Initially, uncle sold and repaired bicycles. Thereafter, he gave up and turned it into an electrical shop, specialising in TV repairs. It remain as that until, well, today.

I have many, many fond memories at that place since I spent a good part of my childhood there. Due to its strategic location, the shops were always full of people with all sorts of activities going round ~ and I, a curious child, was fascinated. I was allowed to roam freely as folks there knew each other well and they always looked out for me. My favourite shops, apart from Grandpa's of course, were a sundry shop selling biscuits, candies and other goodies in large through glass jars and a coffee shop where I can buy delicious steam kaya pau, porridge and assam laksa ......yummy, yummy.

I'm sad seeing the place burnt down. No sure what's going to happen next.

Ryan's Meals

Since I'm at home, Ryan will come back from his kindi at 4.00pm. Nowadays, he have been asking for "real" food for teatime instead of biscuits and there were times when he complained that he's hungry. I always wonder what he eats for breakfast and lunch at kindi.

Anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to cook him something special and to introduce him to a wider variety and healthier food. Given a choice, food for him means nasi lemak for breakfast and chicken rice for all other meals.

I'm not a good cook and I don't cook often but for my sunny boy, I will make the effort. He's been having nice teabreaks and soups for dinner. I noticed that his appetide has improved and if you make the food colourful and interesting, chances are he will eat them without me having to issue threats. I'm glad and the challenge now is to ensure that he eats healthly and have well-balance meals.

Garden: Over Fertilised

My poor garden have been neglected for the longest time ever. Thanks goodness Auntie Jo is around to water my plants, otherwise, they would have all dried up by now.

Since I'm feeling much better and with some free time on hand, I decided to do something. I had to do something ~ this is a sign that I'm getting back to my good ole' self.

So I tidied it up a bit, rearranged a few pots here and there and finally, fertilised them. I couldn't recall the last time I did that so it must have been eon ago.

I was in a hurry and had given myself an hour to complete everything, just nice before Caitlin's next feed. All went well and I was happy. Four hours later, as I was bringing in the laundry, I noticed dark patches all over the grass. A close inspection revealed that the dark patches are grass which have turned brown as a result of over fertilise. I stared at it in horror.

What have I done? I thought I had organic fertiliser. I checked the intructions and realised that not only I did not spread the fertiliser evenly, I did not water enough and no, it's not organic and yes, over fertilisation will cause the grass to "burnt" and die. Damn....and all I wanted to do was to make the grass healthier.

I spent the next hour watering (flooding) the grass with the hope to salvage whatever I can. Keeping my fingers crossed and this should be a lesson for me.

Mid Autumn Festival

Auntie Hiong gave Ryan Ultraman lantern for this year's Mid Autumn festival and he had a fun time celebrating and playing lanterns with all his cousins. As much as I tired, I could not get him to eat any moon cake. He's just not interested. Well....nevermind, there's always next year.

Cake

My sister-in-law, Wai Mun made a special cake for Caitlin to celebrate her being 1-month old. Cake is delicious and I'm thinking of getting the recipe from her.

Very difficult to lose weight when there's good food around !!

Ryan and Papa

While I'm on my maternity leave, we engaged Auntie Looi to take Ryan to and back from his kindi. She drives a green van and Ryan knows Auntie Looi as she fetches children from his kindi (include Ryan) to the kindi's daycare centre.

As we are Auntie Looi's first stop, she would arrive at our place at 7.30am. Myself or Aunt Jo would have to make sure that Ryan wakes up by 7.00am latest, take bath, eat breakfast (which is a glass of milk), wear shoes, get school bag and sit in front of the house and wait for Auntie Looi. So far, so good. He has been doing the waiting and not Auntie Looi.

Hubby is not part of the morning drama as he leaves for work at 6.45am. What's the drama, you asked? Well....it's the continuous chatting of "Ryan, hurry up...Auntie Looi gonna be here soon" as he stares blanky at anything and everything. Once a while, when hubby is on leave, he would relieve us of that morning duty.

This is one such occassion and I could not resist taking this photo of them together.

Fat Caterpillar

We found the culprit who have been happily eating my potted plants. He's so fat .... the leaves must be yummy.

Caitlin's Full Moon Celebration

We celebrated Caitlin's Full Moon on 6.9.2008. It's basically a Chinese tradition to mark a baby's reaching 1 month after birth. Red hard-boiled eggs, ang koo, glutinous rice and pickle ginger are a must for the occasion.

That morning, me, the confinement lady and Aunt Jo made the red eggs. The caterer delivered the "goodies" at 8 am. Hubby and myself went around distributing "packages" to a few relatives before stopping at MIL's place to pick up more food for the gathering at 1 pm. I've also ordered little cupcakes decorated with a pair of boots and they are so cute and lovely.

It was busy day for us but we are happy to share this joyous day with family members. Caitlin wore her first dress on that day, a gift from Le Ching, my cousin. Come to think of it, Caitlin received a lot of new cloths from friends and family member. Maybe it's the most appropriate gift for a baby-girl-with-a-6 year- old-brother but I think they knew I was going to recycle all Ryan's old cloths and they came to the her rescue. Anyway, she'll have plenty of dresses once I go shopping. I maybe a tomboy (younger days) but Caitlin maybe the opposite, who knows.

Another thing worth mentioning is that me and Caitlin had flower bath a day before the full moon celebration. Not sure what it signifies, only know that it's suppose to good for us. According to my confinement lady, that would also marks the end of our confinement. Yes, yes .....freedom for us.

The funny thing is that I don't remember doing this when I had Ryan. Well, never mind. I just follow and make everyone happy.

Book: The Collected Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer

Managed to finish this book. Since these are short stories, the plot are much simpler but still entertaining....after all it's a Jeffrey Archer. I'm a fan.

Overall I would rate is a 7.5/10.

Ryan, Star Student for July 2008

Ryan was made Star Student for July 2008 and he was thrilled. He came back shouting, I'm a Star Student, yeah, yeah, yeah. He has a photo as proof.

This year, Ryan is experiencing a lot of changes; going to a new kindergarten and day care centre, having to pick up mandarin, going for mandarin tuition on weekends and having a personal mandarin home tutor twice ~ thrice a week, getting a new baby sister and finally, he will be starting 3 weeks of introduction to Primary 1 this coming November. A lot of adjustments, part and parcel of growing up, I guess.

So far, he has been a good boy (no major complaints from me) and have been able to cope well in school EXCEPT that he still daydream, A LOT. His chinese language have been improving, although he does not really speak mandarin, no yet. Ms Lim, his personal tutor is quite happy with him and she is working hard to ensure that boy will not be "totally lost" when he starts Primary 1. Having a personal tutor is no doubt costly and adds a dent to our finances but looking at his situation, we think it's the best arangement for him and we intend to give him all our support. The benefits should outweigh the cost and we are happy with Ms Lim.

Ryan is growing up fast and lately, I have not been spending much FUN time with him. Most of the time, we will be doing revision, kindi work etc. Will have to do something about it before I go back to work.

End of My Confinement Bliss

We will be celebrating Caitlin's full moon this Saturday (6 September 2008) with a small gathering for immediate family members. My confinement lady (Auntie Yoke) will also be leaving this Saturday after spending 28 days with us and I can tell you that she will be missed.

Auntie Yoke is a 52-year old lady with 2 grown up kids and she has started offering confinement services for the past 1.5 years. Although considered to be new, she takes good care of Caitlin (+ Ryan) and me (+ Hubby) and have a good relationship with Aunt Jo. Since Day 1, she has been cooking and cooking and cooking and at the same, I have been eating and eating and eating. Whatever she dishes up, I will finish it.
I think I have easily consumed about 20 "kampung" chickens, 10 kgs of pork, over 20 kgs of ginger, 1 bottle of Yomeishu, I bottle of VSOP, 4 bottles of sesame oil, 5 bottles of rice wines, loads of dates and other herbs.

And that's only what I can recall...

So as you can see, I have definitely overate and have not manage to shed any weight but to gain more. Sigh

Back to my confinement food. Well, there are loads of ginger in every dish and ginger is not only used in cooking but also one of the ingredients in my bathing water; yes, during this period, the confinement lady boils special herbs water for me to take bath (see picture).

She also boils dates for me everyday since I can only drink dates water and no other liquid!! But it's ok as I like it.

With Auntie Yoke leaving us soon, I will definitely miss all the food she prepares and the pampering. It has been a good confinement for me and now it's time for me to face reality and to shed some weight.

One Year of Blogging

I started blogging in August 2007 and it has been a year (in fact, slightly more than a year by the time I post this entry). When I started, I wasn't sure how long I would maintain the blog and how I would feel towards blogging.

Well, now I am proud to say that, I enjoy myself tremendously and will continue to find time (and effort) to continue blogging for many, many years to come (fingers crossed!). I also enjoyed reading other people's blogs and be totally amazed and inspired by them. These people are so creative and fun, making me wish that I have their looks, skills and talents.

Blogging has indeed opened a whole new world for me and I'm now an addict!!!

Mail Delivery for Ms Caitlin Kho

We were pleasantly surprise to receive a package for Caitlin from the Mr Postman a few days ago. It's from Auntie Adila who is currently residing in Longmont, Colorado, USA with her family.

What's the content? A lovely dress with flower embroideries. Girl stuffs are so cute and adorable and I have not even gone shopping !!.
Thanks Adila for the gift and we will see you when you are in town.