Merry Go Round

Having a baby/toddler will definitely bring out the kid in you. When was the last time you went on a merry go round? When you're an adult, you won't be going on a merry go round just because, right? Unless you're in Genting Highlands or a funfair lah but not an open merry go round in a shopping mall. So when you have a kid/toddler/baby, this is the perfect opportunity to go on one. Don't tell me you don't get excited when you see a merry go round. Come on, admit it. I won't tell! 

Last Sunday I was in Sunway Pyramid and on the lower ground floor there was a mini funfair of some sort. I am not sure if it is permanent or temporary but I got all excited upon seeing a huge ferris wheel, rides and merry go round that I just have to take Babycakes on it. Hubby was not with us as he went to see his client so he dropped us at Pyramid and the both of us went on the merry go round. There were a few other rides but Babycakes was too small to go on it. I was excited to take her on the merry go round and she was excited too! Her expression is priceless. I just had to record it on video but at the same time I had to hold on to her to make sure she doesn't slip off and fall. That would be tragic. Check out her video below. 

online shopping basics

I am not so much of a shopaholic but I am an avid online shopper. I love browsing online shops and I've made quite a lot of purchases online.I especially love buying stuffs for Babycakes online. I can't help it that the clothes for baby girls are too damn cute. The prices vary so I try to shop diligently. I do buy clothes for me online too but sometimes I don't trust the sizing guide that much. It's unfortunate that my body is out of proportion so I can't really rely on the sizing. If i buy, it's a gamble, really. 

Anyway, some online shop owners are very friendly and efficient while some are just plain annoying and not to mention cocky. 

First example:

On FB. When people ask the price for an item, is it so hard for them to just reply it in the comment box? If they do, others will see it too so there's no need for 10 people asking for the same thing. Some would reply in the comment box with the price but most will reply "I pm u ye" or "Please pm for best price" or "Please LIKE our page and send us a message for the price" or  "sorry I can't pm you because you are not in my list/you haven't LIKED our page yet". Gosh I find this annoying. I may be interested in one item in your shop but that doesn't mean I LIKE your page. And are you that hardworking and efficient to reply the pms one by one?

Second example:

Also on FB. People ask, "How much is this?" They would reply by providing a link to their website. Aiyoh is it so hard to reply RMxx. And why not go the extra length and say "RMxx not inclusive of postage. Postage is RMxx."

Third example:

I left a comment in the comment box for an item on the website. I receive no reply to the comment. I sent an email asking about the item. I asked a few questions in detail. "Is this still available? How much is it? Which year is this product? Is it brand new or preloved? If it's preloved, how long has it been used? Are the functions still functioning? Are there any items/parts missing? Do you have a picture of the item?" Yes, I believe if you are really interested in an item, you might as well ask everything you want to know. I don't want to be exchanging emails and asking questions one at a time. If you are the seller, by right you should answer all my questions. You should not answer only one out of 10 questions. Example of an email reply: "Masih ada. Yes, preloved" And that was it. The rest of the questions remain unanswered. If I am in a good mood and still very much interested in the item, I would ask again. If I still get a nonchalant reply, you know what, thank you bye bye. If you are not interested in replying my email and answering my questions, I take it that you are not interested in selling so I shall take my business elsewhere. It's your loss.

Fourth example:

This is for the buyers. Some sellers on FB clearly put the details of the products in the picture i.e. the price, the sizes available, the sizes that are sold out, the price per piece, whether it includes head band or not, whether the price is for a set, price for postage, whether it includes postage or not, how to order etc. Basically everything is provided for. All you need to do is either comment that the thing is cute or comment to reserve or follow the instructions on how to order, if you wish to order. Some people would still ask "How much?" or "Saiz xx ada tak?" when the description clearly states the sizes available. Duhhhh!!

weekend project part 28

Last Saturday was a gloomy and cloudy day. The sun was shy to come out. I wish I could pull my blanket over my head and sleep in. Too bad it was only a wishful thinking. Having a baby will no longer give you the luxury of sleeping in on weekends. Babycakes decided to wake up before 9am. Great. Tak bagi Mummy chance langsung! Sigh. I had to drag myself out of bed because she was busy picking my nose, pinching my cheeks, poking my eyes, slapping my face, slapping my body, peeling my pants. -_- Hubby had work on most Saturdays now (pfft) so I was left alone with Babycakes at home. I gave her breakfast and let her play her toys in front. I then went to the kitchen and made Cheesy Popovers for breakfast. I found the recipe in The Sun newspaper on Friday I think. I copied the recipe and it was so easy. Here is the recipe:

CHEESY POPOVERS

Ingredients:

1 cup flour - It didn't say what flour so I simply used all-purpose flour I had in the kitchen

2 eggs

1 cup milk- I used UHT milk

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp sausages- The recipe calls for ham but I only have sausages so I cut them into tiny pieces

Cheddar cheese according to liking- The recipe calls for grated cheddar cheese (I can't remember the exact amount) but I only have the sliced cheddar cheese so that will do

1 onion- The recipe calls for spring onion

Pepper to taste

Method:

Beat eggs, milk and melted butter in a bowl. Add the flour, sausages, onion, salt and pepper to taste and mix accordingly. In the meantime, preheat oven at 220 degrees celcius and put a muffin pan in the oven to heat it. Take the muffin pan out, brush lightly with some butter and pour in the batter about 3/4 full. The recipe says to mix the cheese with the batter but instead I just shred them into tiny pieces and put in the muffin pan. Bake for about 15 minutes until they are golden brown. Take out and serve.

The recipe yielded 18 pieces of cheesy popovers. According to the article that came with the recipe, the name popover came about because the batter 'pops over' when baked. The author was curious with the name and he/she actually searched on Wikipedia. My muffin pan was not hollow so they are a bit flat. The taste is yummy with the bits of sausage and cheese. Of course you can vary the recipe and add stuffs to your liking e.g. chopped peppers/capsicum, mushroom, chicken pieces etc. Maybe if I use self-raising flour or add a teeny bit of baking powder, the popover will rise more. I shall experiment again. If you don't have an oven or a muffin pan, I guess you could try making them as pancakes as the batter is really the same.

A bit hangus coz I had to keep my eyes on Babycakes who was playing in front and also keep her away from the kitchen. We seriously need to get the safety gate to install at the kitchen entrance.

After baking, I gave Babycakes a bath and I made myself a nice mug of Nescafe and I sat down to eat my cheesy popovers. Guess who's sharing with me?

 

 

 Babycakes loved it!

no longer exclusive

At 1 year 9 days, Babycakes had her first taste of formula milk, brand Enfagrow A+. It was a Sunday so I thought I might as well let her try and see if she's ok with it.  She had her 1 year appointment with the pediatrician on Friday and her pedi was surprised to see that she barely gained any weight since the last visit. Well, she did lose a lot of weight when she was sick. I asked the pedi about formula and he said any formula will do. He then gave us 2 packets of Pediasure to sample.  So last night, Babycakes had a bottle of Pediasure. I told hubby that we needed to buy formula coz her milk stash is almost gone so hubby went on and bought Dugro, without even consulting me. GRRRR. I haven't even surveyed for the milk and I want to choose the best. I want to take the time to go through the various brands of milk that were available but mr. smart guy went on and simply bought Dugro. We haven't tried it yet but I hope Babycakes will like it and I hope it will not have any adverse effect on her.

So with a heavy heart I hereby declare that Babycakes is no longer exclusively on breastmilk. I still nurse her at night and still pump (although not much) so at least all is not lost.

dentist appointment

When was the last time you met your dentist? When was the last time you went to a dental clinic? Wait, do you even have a dentist to begin with? 

As for me, I can't remember when was the last time I met my dentist and I have no idea when was the last time I went to a dental clinic either. And oh, I don't even have my own dentist! It's that bad, I know. Aren't we all supposed to see the dentist every 6 months or so? Heh, definitely not me. Unless and until I have some tooth problem, then only I will make a trip to the dental clinic. Alhamdulillah I am blessed with a good set of teeth but of course they are stained with coffee and all. I take good care of my oral hygiene but one day, just a day before Merdeka, I made a trip to the dental clinic, after so many years. 

It started a few days before that when I felt something wrong with one of my molars. So on Thursday 30 August 2012, after court, I made a quick trip to a Klinik Pergigian 1 Malaysia (is that what it's called?) in Sentul. They accept walk-ins on Thursdays so I did not make any appointment. I know I can always go to some private dental clinic but I'm pretty sure it'll cost a bomb so I opted for the Klinik Kerajaan instead. :D

The clinic is located somewhere in Sentul, and it's not really easy to locate but with the help of my gps, I managed to find the clinic.

I wonder how old this clinic is...

The signage.

Up the stairs we go.

The registration counter. The nurses are friendly.

So they don't have the most modern clinic but the service is really good and efficient. Thank God there were not many people that day so I only waited for a few minutes.

The dentist is a young lady dentist, who was really nice. It turned out that my wisdom tooth has chipped! Gosh how the hell did that happen? The dentist suggested to do some scaling. Is it called scaling or filling? I forgot but it's tampal basically so it should be filling, right? She said it's best to extract the tooth, which required surgery and I needed to make an appointment yada3 but the best solution for now is to tampal the gigi. I told her, ok, tampal the gigi it is. I mean, hello, surgery? Extract the tooth? NO WAY! The thought of it makes me cringe. During the process, it was definitely not pleasant at all. I got so ngilu that I clung on to the sides of the chair. I kept telling myself "Childbirth is more painful, childbirth is more painful. If i can go through labour and childbirth, this is nothing!" It didn't really work by the way so I had to endure the ngilu-ness of it all. This is why I HATE going to the dentist!! Before I know it, it was done and the dentist advised me not to eat anything for at least 1/2 hour. And it was almost lunchtime. Tsk. I was told to come in again if the problem persists but for now, so far so good. Heck, it better stay good. I ain't making a second trip to the dentist.

 

The fee? RM3. Awesome. RM1 for registration and RM2 for the tampal. If I had gone to some private dental clinic near my office, I'm sure it would costs more than RM50.

So people, the government has provided such services for us, why not go ahead and make full use of it? ;)

we need an intervention

One can only plan but He decides. I plan to breastfeed Babycakes for as long as I can. When she was born, my short term goal is 6 months and when she turned 6 months, my short term goal is 12months. Now that she's 12 months, my goal is 24 months. I mean, I've survived and succeeded breastfeeding for 12 months, so what's another 12 months, right?

So, Babycakes turned 12 months last week, 27 September 2012. We bought a cake for her teachers at the nursery, we went out to dinner at Chili's BSC and on Sunday 30 September 2012, we had a birthday party for her together with my dad's birthday (which fell on 26 September 2012) and also a belated raya open house. It was pretty huge and the crowd was huge. Alhamdulillah it was a success. I'll blog about it in another post, Insyaallah.

One week before her 1st birthday, Babycakes got really sick. She was fine over the Hari Malaysia long weekend but she got really sick on Tuesday. She was restless, crying non-stop, she had fever, runny nose, she threw up milk, she had diarrhea, she lost her appetite, she was coughing and this went on several days and then she got a thrush/yeast infection in her mouth. It was a very tiring and trying week for us what with the lack of sleep and all. I had a full trial that week so we had no choice but to send her to the nursery. However hubby picked her up early. Due to the stress and lack of sleep, my supply dropped tremendously. Well, i would like to believe it was associated to that coz I am still eating as usual and drinking as usual. I did not change my diet at all but the drop was very drastic.

Alhamdulillah Babycakes recovered a few days before her birthday, albeit not fully. She is now back to her old bubbly chirpy noisy cute little self.

Whenever I pump now, I no longer get the amount I needed. I can barely make 3oz per session. Yes, it is THAT drastic. Her stash is slowly but surely diminishing. I almost bought a Shaklee set but gosh they were too expensive! I am still taking Pil ASI and I just started taking pil habbatus sauda. I may need to start supplementing with a formula soon. It is very sad for me to not be able to make anymore milk for Babycakes but I am still trying. I plan to still bf her at night and on weekends but I may have to send formula to her nursery. That way, she will still get the benefits of bm.

And how appropriate is it that I get a free sample of milk from Enfagrow A+ today? Tomorrow is Babycakes' appointment with her paed so I am gonna ask about which milk is best to be introduced to her at this stage. Mums out there, if you are reading, what milk brand would you recommend?