Wind O Wind, go away!

I am about to blog about this Ointment for baby.... right it is from Indonesia and it does really help my baby.

Recently my baby has been feelilng cranky and moody and refusing to drink her formular milk and also having a bit constipation. So I have decided to try this Ointment reconmended by my Masseur. I have some doubts about it before as I feel if she got use to the Ointment and I do not want her to have a habbit of massaging before her sleep... occasional is ok but not everytime or even everyday.

After I realise she may be have some wind in her stomach and after she drinks her milk she vomits / spits out some of her milk out..... then I think it's time I try the ointment.

Now after bath, I apply some on her stomach/ buttocks / feet.... she did actually release lots of wind from her body. Then she manage to pass motion often which leads to a happy baby!

SO this ointment is indeed useful. I rarely use it only when I realise she has wind in her stomach!

Wonderful surprise!

Today I had a wondeful Christmas Present from my little baby girl. To both me and hubby she starts to laugh out loud, giggle and smile while I hold her and Daddy play with her. In fact she continues to laugh with excitement for about 15 minutes or so non stop! WOW.... it's a fantastic milestone for her. Today is the first time she had so much fun with us. I guess daddy has to be home often to play with her.... which is rare as it is Christmas today!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all! :)

Mediterranean Mutton Stew

This is a Mediterranean influence dish. This is the first time that I am cooking a mediterranean dish and it turns out to be so good that my hubby who doesn't really like mutton ate all of it. LOL, in fact I try to mask all the mutton smell so that my hubby will not know it is mutton! Indeed he thought it was beef! Then again, we all love this dish and I will make it again no doubt!

Well, If you like to try here are the ingredients:

• Some Fresh Rosemary
• Fresh Coriander (chopped)
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp clove (ground)
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 500g Mutton
• 50g Dried Apricot
• 100g Raisins
• 1 Carrots
• Juice of 2 Oranges
• 2 Tbsp Red wine vinegar
• 2 cups Beef/Lamb stock
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves Garlic (smashed)
• 2 Tbsp Oil
• Iceberg Lettuce leaves (for deco)

1. Soak the dried apricots and raisins in the orange juice for about 2 hours.
2. Brown the mutton with a bit of oil and add in the rosemary in a heavy base pan. Remove set aside.
3. In a Casserole, fry the onion and garlic with the rest of the oil till slightly brown.
4. Add in flour and all the spice, stir well then add in the mutton and stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Add in the Carrots and the apricots, raisins and orange juice. Stir for a while then Pour in the stock and vinegar.
6. Simmer about half an hour.... viola!

Hope you enjoy your meal. Merry Xmas!

Love Bites

When I visit Paris, I have bought a silicon mould. So this is the first time I am using it and I am happy that the results turn out to be fantastic. The silicon mould is so easy to use and above all you do not need to coat an extra layer of butter/ or lay a baking sheet on before put it in the oven.

Above here is the picture of what I have made. These are the mini "Love Bites" that I made... well it is actually butter cake and strawberry jelly. WHat do you think lovely isn't it?

Happy Winter Solstice Festival. (冬至)DongZhi

Every year around this time (冬至)DongZhi, there will be a small gathering at home whereby everyone gather to make small balls of glutinuous rice "汤圆"-"Tang Yuan". This actually symbolizes happy reunion in the family. So the night before everyone will gather to make these tiny balls normally in various colours such as White, Red/Pink, Yellow, Green which you can buy the paste from the market. I have never encounter blues ones... but there are special ones with blue, brown and purple as it's kinda mix with fruit so I guess it's special order.

Say the picture above shows the "汤圆" that I took this morning. It's made by my grandma (the mickey mouse).... Yum!

The Vege Soup Mix

I have been cookin this soup over the weekend. It's really yummy and for those who loves Veg, here's a soup which is full of legumes.

Ingredients:

• 2 Onions (Chopped)
• 1 Capsicum (diced)
• 1 pack Button mushrooms (sliced)
• 2 sticks celery (finely chop)
• 3 Potatoes (diced)
• 2 Carrots (sliced)
• 1 pack Soup mix (soak overnight/blanched)
• 3 litres Chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Oil

1. First use a heavy base pot and add in the oil.
2. Put in the Onion and brown it.
3. Now add in the capsicum, mushrooms, and celery. Stir for 5 minutes.
4. Add in the potatoes, carrots, and soup mix. Stir till even.
5. Pour in the Chicken stock and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Done!

See it's easy cheesy! Do try it. Ohh... I make my own chicken stock so it's yummy, but if you want it quick just buy those cubes and add in water.

Ooo Baby!

She's has grown much as you can see. She's exactly 3 months and able to prop up her head well. Will let her sit up often... LOL. Here she poses with her soft toys.

Moo Moo Baby Sling (Part II)

I did promise to show you how I use my Moo Moo Sling... so here it is. Baby is a bit cranky at first when she's in it, but after a while she got use to it and felt comfortable in it. I guess I 'll have to practice to use it often so she can get use to the idea. LOL.

My Lovely Mini Book

Well, I have created a mini book for myself. It is a mini scrapbook that I can bring around anywhere I like in my bag. I have compile some photos of baby and me in this mini book so when I miss my baby I can browse through the pictures in this mini scrapbook. Brilliant right? Also if anyone wants to see what my baby look like this will be perfect and I don't need to bring my baby along. :)
So you see I still wanna go out sometime and not stay home all the time with baby. Too much sticking around with baby is not so good for her and me. If she becomes too clingy then I'll be in trouble. Alrighty... will update my mini book every now and then too as baby grow.

Those sweet little ones

This picture says it all... :)

The Yellow Wine Dish

This is one of the confinement food that I cooked recently. It is delicious and I suggest you use good Yellow wine and good Ginger wine too. It smells so good and trust me you will definately love it.... but no matter how good it is; it is indeed a very heaty dish. So those who cannot take heaty stuff sorry this is not for you to savour.

Ingredients:

1 Kampung chicken (Free range chic) (Cut into pieces)

3 tbsp sesame oil (for frying)

1 bottle (600ml) good yellow wine (taste sweet)

1/3 portion (200ml) good ginger wine

Black wood ear (Shredded)

Ginger

1. Blanch the shredded wood ear, drained & put aside.

2. Stir fry the shredded ginger with sesame oil until fragrant, add in wood ear.

3. Add in chicken pieces (I did discard the chicken skin) & stir fry for a little while, add some water, covered & cook well.

4. When the chicken is cooked, add in yellow wine & ginger wine (the proportion I used is 1 bottle of yellow wine with 1/3 bottle of ginger wine)

5. If you prefer, add in a little bit of hard liquor (eg. brandy) to the dish.

*(Oh, I did add in 2 tablespoons) LOL.

p/s: The yellow wine you can get it at a chinese medicine hall. :)

Hope you all like this recipe.

Common Sense

Ermm.. did I ever blog about this topic "Common Sense"? Well I guess not, if I did, I want to repeat this again. The importance of training the brain to be aware of things around you.

What is Common Sense?

Well, according to Wikipedia: It is a strict construction of the term, consists of what people in common would agree on: that which they "sense" as their common natural understanding. Thus "common sense" (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people allegedly have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have.

Hmmm.. make any sense? To me basically I feel it's the common daily routines or actions or even knowledge that one would apprehend and believe to know; is called common sense. For example like say holding a pencil? Flushing the toilet after usage... etc.

Now what I want to highlight here is.... how does one teach common sense to their children? Does all parents know the importance of common sense? And how do we determine which and what common sense to teach a child?

Then again, it all depends on the parents whether to teach their child common sense or not as well. These days I find parents seldom teaches common sense to their kids as we ourselves are expected to figure it out when we were young. How brilliant is that?

So back again, Basic common sense like how to walk properly or sit properly when studying... how to hold a pencil... how to stand properly... all these are as important as to how to study well in school. So, I guess I have made my point clear here that these minor stuff is actually the most important things that one must teach their kids. Have I make myself clear?

The Precious Gift List

Every now and then, me and my hubby will be wondering and dream of how fast our baby will grow...... and there are so many things we wish to tell her or want her to do or become or even hope that she will know and learn what we have amiss when we were young.

Then there is this lists of things that we wish and want to give her or provide her or teach her; well so I have agreed that we should make a list of things and stuff that we wish her to know and learn before we forget what it is when she grow up later.

And so this Precious Gift List will soon be produced whenever we feel that it is necessary to teach her things later in her life. In this way both me and hubby will understand what are the basic things that we both agree to teach her and when we should execute it. It is a common goal and also help to remind us what we should do then.

I believe this Precious Gift List will be the most precious gift that we will provide to our little angel.

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.

Anne Frank

Baby's Huggy Pouch II

I promise to show you this larger version of huggy pouch... so here it is. As you can view from the picture; this larger version can wrap around baby's whole body across the chest or tummy area. This will give baby a more hugging feeling when she's sleeping. If the materials are made of felt or cashmere then it can double serve as a mini blanket too! As our weather here is so hot, although it is made of cotton, it is a mini blankie for my baby. LOL!

The Origami Mobile

It's been weeks that I wanted to buy a singing mobile for my baby and attach it to her cot; then again while searching for it... I find it either too expensive or some not to my taste. In the end, I made this myself for my little one. No music though just simple Origami Crane and Box. I have found some old Japanese colour origami rice paper and I bought a red and white wrapping paper to match it. Viola.... here's my hand-made origami mobile! It's lovely right? :)

Baby's Huggy Pouch I

Oh... I have been having back ache due to carrying my baby around till she sleeps. It's a bad habit and I'm trying to get rid of it. SO, I have come to a conclusion that I should make a Huggy Pouch for her. So this is my version of huggy pouch after consulting my mother and grandmother.

I sew this "Rice Huggy Pouch" for my little one to sample. As you can see, she love her favourite pose when she sleeps that is hands up all the time! Whenever there's a loud sound she might be awake and cry out loud so this pouch is useful in another way. And you know what it works pretty well. Phew! Now I don't have to carry her till she sleeps and she's sleeps well as if there's mommy's hand patting her all the time! Fantastic don't you think. This one I made it smaller and I have create another bigger one as well, will show it when it's done!

Herbal Mutton Stew

It's been a while I have not upload a recipe. So now back to it, this is one delicious Herbal Mutton Stew/Soup. You must be wondering what it taste like... well it's kinda like a beef stew but it's using mutton that's all. To my surprise the mutton taste good and not so smelly like some mutton soup.

Right, I cooked this soup for myself only because the rest of my family members feel it's too heaty. I must say it is a heaty kinda stew but if you like you can add in more water to make it slightly diluted so it's not as heaty as it is. Personally, I love heaty stuff and furthermore I'm suppose still taking confinement food so this is good for me to restore my "Qi". LOL.

So here's the recipe if you all wish to try! It's yummy food for me. Hubby did try a bit and says it's good too! Hah!

Ingredients:

• 450g Lean Mutton (cut into large chunks)
• 30g Dried Longan -Herb
• 10 silvers Wai San (Chinese Yam)- Herb
• 2 Tbsp Gei Chi ( Chinese Wolfberries )- Herb
• 1.5 litres Water
• Salt to taste

Just Combine all in a pot/claypot. Simmer for at least 2 hours. Do skim of any fat floating on top.

Easy right... give it a try and let me know! :)

Sexy Women...

Oh I just finish reading The Flirt by Kathleen Tessaro. A remarkable novel, it's a romantic comedy, very inspiring indeed too. I want to quote what the book mention about women's sexiness.

Here's an interesting fact:

What is the most sexy part in a woman?

Guess you will never get the correct answer. LOL

The most raw and potent part of sexiness in a woman is her IMAGINATION.

Don't believe me? Ask any woman you know and they will finally reveal and tell you this; not all woman will admit but it is so very true. If not tell me why woman sometimes find her lover boring and does not understand her all the time.... it is because woman like to imagine while man prefer the visual part... that's why people invent pornography for men and not woman!

Also you can see that woman love to buy things to inspire their imagination and hopefuly wish their counterpart will jump into their vision but then again hell..... the man would just jump in and get straight to the point. Well few men will join into those imagination hah! So that's the different between men and women.

So now you get it! :P

Dreams O Dreams...

Talking about dreams, as I watch my little one grow each day, I do know that she dreams a lot as most of the time she's sleeping. I was wondering what kind of dreams she may be encountering each day.

I sometimes see her smile in her dreams and even laugh out loud till she's shaking... obviously she's having a pleasant dream like maybe she dreams of me playing with her? I wonder....

Then again she has her nightmares too, she will suddenly cry out loud and then continue to sleep after that... I wonder again what kind of bad dream she may be having.... like chasing after her bottle of milk? Hmmm... sometimes she will be sucking in her dreams as I can watch her sucking her way when she's sleeping; must be dreaming of teats I guess.

I am very fascinated by her expressions and moods while she's sleeping.... this may be a tiny episode in her life but quite entertaining to me. It is kind of interesting to guess what she's been dreaming as I feel that she has just arrive in this world and does not even yet recognize her surroundings; yet she already started to feel the abstract world in her dreams how peculiar indeed!

Baby's language development...

So far I have not yet buy any sort of toy for my child. By now she has started learning to listen and observe me whenever I speak to her. She does listen to music as well as I played the CD whenever I can... even when she's sleeping. I think she loves Frank Sinatra's songs. LOL.

She has tried many times to repeat after me when I speak to her, but to no avail she will just make tiny sounds like Oooos and Aaaas. Well it's interesting to see her developing her own language and sounds at this moment. A moment which I will not miss out! :)

Women as the guardians of children possess a great power.

They are the moulders of their children's personalities and the arbiters of their development.
- Ann Oakley

What is Beauty?

While browsing through the net I came across an interesting fact about "Women and Beauty". What is the definition of Beauty in women today? I am a fashion designer and of course I will keep on pursuing the dream of perfectness in all women... especially their beauty and body.

What I am proposing here is the facts about beauty.

First of all, all women are beautiful if, they are not lazy about presenting their own image.

Well then again what people perceive as beautiful depends on the eye of the beholder. Like who the woman wants to presents herself to; her hubby? her child? her family? her friends? or the public?

The myth is we must all wear makeup, get a hairdo, get a dress that suits and pair up with shoes and accessories. Oh trust me, we do not do that often, especially when you are on your way to do grocery shopping or pick up your kids at school.

Now what is beauty again?

• First about makeup....... why airbrush off the true face of a woman and erase her true identity, power and history?
• Hairdo..... why bother to colour your hair and done up nicely while you tie it all up whenever you are busy?
• Dress..... why buy an expensive dress and want to remain in a certain shape while one does not keep their health in good condition?
• Shoes..... if you bother to spend money on all the above... why not get a pair of good shoes that lasts and not one that is easily broke and uncomfortable?
• Accessories... if you feel this is not important at all please don't bother to dress up!

If you really want to look good, do it everyday... not only on your wedding day or birthday only. Your identity and image is important, give yourself a chance and not excuse of being busy, no matter who you are dressing for, I always say you dress for yourself and no other person. The last thing we need is people telling us what to do with our body and image.

P/S: Oh do keep in mind that PLEASE dress according to who you are and not what you want! There's a big difference! A ten year old is not suppose to dress like her mother, likewise her mother should not dress like her child!

Pampering myself - Body Massage!

Indeed I need to pamper myself although Baby is my first priority. If I am not strong enough my baby will suffer too. Well, of course I could ask hubby to help massage my neck and shoulder, but then again he's tired too. Ideally a masseur would be best solution; So, once a week I have my masseur come over to give me a full body massage. Talking about over indulgent, I think I deserve it after all the long nights of waking up and carrying baby, I do not feel it's wasting money. Then again, my husband said he too need a massage.... haha see I am not the only one needs pampering after all.

I have tried two different masseur and find them both effective in both ways.

First is Lady Kim - expert in Siamese type of massage for post-natal women.

Second is Lady Aning - expert in Indonesian type of massage for post-natal women too.

Their price varies and they use different ointment and technique as well. The duration is about an hour to an hour and a half. So I obviously can relax during my massaging time while hubby taking care of baby. LOL

Baby's Fullmoon celebration!

Baby's fullmoon celebration was indeed a big deal for both hubby's family and mine. Each has their ideal version of celebrating the ordeal. As for me any kind of celebration are welcome.

First we had a dinner celebration with erm.... 15 tables which is about 150 people. Phew.... it wasn't my kind of celebration but it's ok for me. Then my parents also invite people to dinner in conjuction with my grandma's birthday... and that's another 16 tables which is 160 people; ok it is double happiness for grandma and my family. SO that's like a lot of presents and angpows too.

Then... that's not all. OMG! Some of the far relatives and friends are given "Nasi Kunyit and red eggs". Then last but not least, I have chosen to give out little cuppies which are shown here in the picture below, to my funky friends which are more modern and hip... not the traditional ones la or else they'll screw me and say why no red eggs?!?

Well I love these cuppies and have order some to give away....... so this will be those little memories that my baby will get to see and remember what her HUGE family did for her! LOL :P

Oh My Look!

Baby & Me photo........ well I think it's time to show my face as I look skinnier than before. LOL! Thanks to Baby, I don't have enough sleep all the time and also look tired. I now know why people do not brestfeed because it is very tiring. Ok I am not showing my body because it is still out of shape and all my previous pants and bla..bla.. still cannot fit in me! Ermm.. me cannot fit in them actually! :P

This picture was taken after I took care of baby for one week only by myself. I know baby is 6 weeks old..... only.

Bathing time!

Bathing time for baby.... was really an exciting and interesting moment for me. First I thought yeah my Mother-in-law is helping me so I'm fine. Then few days later I got a sore red eye infection and baby has to be put away for a week. By then when she's back my Mother-in-law got the sore red eye! Gosh.... so I am left with bathing baby on my own. First time my hubby was beside me so I'm ok as he reminded me and help me in some way.

Then the next day I was on my own.... alone with baby! I did try my best not to think negatively, so in the end it went well. Not much hassel and baby didn't scream or cry! She just stare at me. LOL...... so I'm doing fine with her. So each and everyday I will slowly try to let her get use to the bath and help her enjoy it as I am planning to teach her swimming later in the months to come.

Brestfeeding Mommy

I have been brestfeeding for more than a month now ; still I feel that I am lack of milk supply. Well, my baby girl latch on well with no problem, so poor mommy is feeling bad that her milk supply has not been established yet.

Personally I think I have not been feeding her often, this is because in a confinement centre this is quite hard to do so and then after that Mommy's been ill and unable to feed her for about a week. I had to express out manually using pump. Hopefully when mommy recover she's able to brestfeed fully. My wish is to brestfeed for at least 6 months. Now I can only keep on pumping to maintain the milk supply.

FullMoon Celebration!

Oooo... My Little Princess is One Month Old!
We celebrate it a few days earlier as it was convenient for everyone.... (11 Oct 2009)

AM:

• Baby Hair cutting ceremony.
  Baby went to pay respects to her ancestors.
  Visit Great Grandmother & some family members

PM:

• Baby's fullmoon Celebration at a local restaurant. 7pm-10pm
  
  

The Rights of a Child

United Nation Declaration of The Rights of the Child

EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT

• To Adequate Nutrition and Medical care
• To free Education
• To Name and Nationality
• To special care; if Handicapped
• To be among the first to receive Relief in Times of Disaster
• To Learn to be a Useful member of Society and to Develop Individual Abilities
• To be brought up in the spirit of Peace and Universal Brotherhood
• To Enjoy these rights, Regardless of Race, Colour, Sex, Religion, National or Social Origin

I never would have known these rights exists till now......

Visitors!

Bedak kid came to visit me & baby with her mother.... of course they bring gifts and oh I have lots of gifts now that I think I can't really use all of it! Then I chat with her mother for quite some time and he was bored. Me and her mother talk about my experiences and how am I going to handle my new baby and some tips to care for her. Lots of ideas and thoughts are shared among us, mothers. I am getting confuse too!

Suddenly, bedak kid was asking me questions like, "Does baby Cher Ru smile or talk often?" Hmm... well I told him,"Baby does not smile a lot but she does when she's dreaming or even when sucking milk! She still does not know how to talk but making some sounds like 'Ooo' & 'Aaa'." Bedak kid ask some more..... "So baby knows I am here to see her?" I say, "Well, she can see shadows only and her sense of smell is stronger.... she knows who her mother is and the rest she will know if you hold her more and talk to her."

After all explanation, Bedak kid went on to chat with her but not touching and disturbing her just talk and baby seems to listen and slightly open and close her eyes. I guess bedak kid's curiosity has been aroused while my baby seems to learn to listen to sounds and sense the existence of people around her, and my guess is she loves attention too!

3 Weeks Old

Little Cher Ru is 3 weeks old. Now she spends more time awake after feeding; she opens her eyes more and shows me more expressions while I photograph her. I think she kinda likes it as she stares at the camera more..... the trick is my camera is red in colour... atracts her I guess!

When that kid looks into your eyes and you know it's yours, you know what it means to be alive. ~ Anonymous

Happy Mooncake Festival!

Our baby First Mooncake Festival celebration..... it's gonna be a Mommy, Daddy & sweet baby party. Well no lantern for her yet... :P

Starting a new life soon!

It's been 20days past since my baby's born. I think I am having a panic attack soon. Well, I'm in a confinement centre now, most of the time I just eat and sleep and feed baby, that's about all. It's good life here in the centre; but as times goes by I am starting to feel panic as I will be on my own very soon. Well, short to say I will be a full-time mommy soon, I guess that's when the real thing starts to hit me!

First of all - I think there's not much help around from parents...

Secondly - I am new to all things.... suddenly feel like an idiot! Hah!

Thirdly - I am practically on my own! Gosh lots of things happening at the same time!

Forth - I think I will go crazy if baby cries out loud!

Although I am most excited in this big project, but I am all nervous as well as I do not know what's coming and I couldn't really prepare much! Ouch, I am stress!

Hopefully all is not that bad and hopefully I can cope........ well. :)

Suddenly, through birthing a daughter, a woman finds herself face to face not only with an infant, a little girl, a woman-to-be, but also with her own unresolved conflicts from the past and her hopes and dreams for the future.... As though experiencing an earthquake, mothers of daughters may find their lives shifted, their deep feelings unearthed, the balance struck in all relationships once again off kilter. ~Elizabeth Debold and Idelisse Malave