Unplanned Coloring Competition – 04 July 09

It was unplanned event. After Jeriel’s music class on Saturday, we decided to go to 1U bring the kids for a walk and also to get some grocery.

We walked around and usually Jeriel would love to see toys. His favorite was Ben 10, Transformer and Lego.

We went to FOS and found a cute set of tshirts+shorts selling 2 sets for RM25 (each was RM15). We got a Transformer design for Jeriel. Jeriel chose Tinkerbell for Ariel.

Jeriel said it was too early for dinner then we happened to pass where Mitsubishi Electric was having promotion. One of the corner, there were free Sand Art section. Mummy found a chair and sat there feeding Ariel. Ariel took her nap in the stroller while Jeriel happily do up to 3 Sand Art. He wanted to do more if we didn’t stop him.

While we were at the Sand Art section, one of the staff came and asked anyone want to join coloring contest. As long as the kid was 6 years and below, anyone could join. The coloring pencils and crayons were provided. Everyone would get a gift. Jeriel wanted to join. His kindy teacher had been telling us his coloring was good and it was hard for us to believe knowing him being impatient.

So at first, he tried with crayons but the crayons were too big and hard for him to manage. The coloring was horrible like this…

Half way of the competition, PaPa went and asked for a new coloring sheet and this time Jeriel used coloring pencils. Time was running short. Jeriel being impatient, just simply color until some went out of line and leaving some white space. PaPa and Mummy tried to remind him but at last we just gave up. After coloring, while waiting for result, Jeriel went to continue his Sand Art. Ariel slept throughout the coloring competition even though it was very noisy.

Last minute during the announcement of the result, the organizer decided to split the age group into 5 years below and 6 years above. After finishing the announcement for the Consolation Age Group 5 years below, then we found that Jeriel’s name was not mentioned at all. Next moment, we found Jeriel got 1st Prize.

Even though it was not a big event with total, there were only about 13-15 kids (from both age groups), it was a good experience and exposure for Jeriel.

PaPa and Mummy couldn’t imagine how Jeriel got 1st Prize seeing the final output of his coloring. Maybe due to not many kids join?

What did he win?

All participants got a bag of goodies as below (with one pink highlighter missing because Jeriel used already):

Inside Jeriel’s bag, he got additional stationary set…


Then we went for our late dinner and off we went home after buying a container of ice-cream.

Music Class hunting for Jeriel

Mummy went for Music Class hunting. This would be a long term expensive affair if Jeriel decided to go further.

Mummy was from Yamaha…yup, Mummy grew up in Yamaha back in north completing Electone (Organ) from Level 13 till Grade 6. Mummy even joined the Northern Region Electone Competition when Mummy was 11 years old but it was the 1st and last because KongKong didn’t like the idea Mummy skipping school lessons for the practice. Being not born talented in music was a lot of hard work. Mummy enjoyed doing performances both individual and group.

Besides that Mummy took ABRSM Theory from Grade 1-5 (with 4 Distinctions – Mummy also not sure how Mummy made it but it was great hard work).

Mummy didn’t manage to complete the rest because Mummy had to go to Ipoh to further study in polytechnic.

YiYee and SamYee gave up Piano even before they went for Grade 8. SamYee was in JMC course earlier. SamYee then continued playing in the church till now without completing all the ABRSM exams.

Aiks…..Mummy supposed to share about Jeriel’s not Mummy’s….side track…

Back on track…

Mummy went to ask Yamaha about the fees structure etc... because Mummy knew what to expect from the whole course. Everything in Yamaha was very systematic and organized, being such a big and reputable organization. However, weekend classes were full and weekdays nights were the only ones available. Weekdays would be impossible for us because PaPa and Mummy working time were uncertain. JMC course needed one of the parents to be in the class all the time.

Then, SamYee introduced Mummy to her church member who was a singer in the church. She had a music school running program like Musikgarten and for higher level would be ANZCA from Australia plus many other music programmes and other products. She had 3 kids with the eldest one from JMC but the other 2 on non-JMC. Unlike Yamaha, this was a small centre.

So which one should we go for?
PaPa and Mummy discussed. The fees for both were almost the same. Our aim for Jeriel was not to be trained as professional unless he was found to be talented mmmm…. We wanted him to learn music and have fun and fun and fun. Exam and certification was not the important thing. SamYee had no certification but she played in church and she enjoyed it. PaPa also didn’t really have any certification in guitar but he enjoyed playing guitar and learnt by himself.

At last we decided to enroll him to SamYee’s friend’s centre under the course 'Encore On Keys' - Junior Series because Mummy was from Yamaha background and Mummy would love to try something new. We hoped Jeriel would find this class interesting even though it would not be in a big school but a small centre.

Last Saturday 04July09, Jeriel attended his 1st lesson (it will be a 2 years program like JMC). In total, there were 5 kids around his age. Parents were only required to join in the last 15 minutes of the class during recap so that we as parents would know what they learnt for that day. Jeriel said it was fun. For time being, he would practise once in a while in SamYee's apartment.

PaPa and Mummy are hunting for a reasonable price either a keyboard or piano. Any recommendation?

Jeriel’s update….

How about KorKor? How is he progressing?

Character
Jeriel generally when he is good, he is a great ‘angel’ to our heart. However, when he is not in the right mood, Mummy will be screaming up to the ceiling like mad lady.

The two main things which disturb Mummy were:

1. Is he forgetful?
We need to keep reminding him on things because if not he will get over active and almost like forget about himself.

2. Is he ignoring?
We need to keep calling him a few times until it gets louder and angrier to get him reply even a simple question.

Food
We had no problem with Jeriel in food and he knew which proper food was and which junk food was. We never deprived him from chocolates and ice-cream. We would eat together especially ice-cream after everyone had the proper meal. We never had problem getting him to eat vegetables and fruits. We hoped he will be a good example to Ariel.

Kindy
We actually moved him to a nearer kindy early this year because of… read here for detail…

Initially we only enrolled him for Chinese class. Then one day he came back that he wanted English and next Art & Craft. At the end, he stayed back from Mon-Fri in the kindy till 130pm except Mon (Art & Craft) would be 2pm. It did cost us some money but then the classes were still reasonable because lunch was provided and also we saved money on transportation if we were to send him to these extra classes outside the kindy.

We told Jeriel that all these classes were not free so he would need to make sure he fully utilized the lessons to learn and have fun too. We wanted him to value the money and nothing was free. Jeriel knew that PaPa and Mummy would try our best to give him as long as he had interest in learning.

However, some thing we had to let it go and we were very sorry that we were unable to give you all that you wanted.

Language
Jeriel would mix his conversation with Mandarin and Malay – ‘rojak’. Even PaPa and Mummy started to slowly picking up Mandarin from Jeriel. Even though it was not a perfect sentence by Jeriel, it was a great achievement for Jeriel who knew zero Mandarin and Malay early of this year and able to make simple sentences.

PaPa and Mummy used to converse in Malay when we needed to discuss something which we didn’t want Jeriel to know. How about now? We ended up talking in dialect which sounded funny because PaPa couldn’t converse in Hokkien well even though he understood. As for Mummy, Mummy’s Cantonese was and is terrible, PaPa always said ‘hard to hear’ in Chinese. Mummy would speak in Hokkien and PaPa would either reply in Hokkien or Cantonese. Sometimes when we forget and started to speak in Malay, Jeriel would reply to our conversation and asked us what that word meant? Oppsss….

Reading
His Chinese reading was much better than English. Surprise? PohPoh was having a hard time to get him do his English reading. We hoped he will pick up English reading soon so that he would be able to read by himself and read for Ariel before bedtime.

Swimming
Yes, this was long overdue. He had been requesting for almost 1 year. Then PohPoh found a swimming instructor in the apartment which charged reasonable fees. Jeriel had another 4 more lessons to go to complete a total of 12 lessons which consisted of breathing, floating and Freestyle. After this, if Jeriel wanted to learn extra styles, then we would need to pay for additional lessons. We would see how it goes first.

Mummy asked about Ariel, wow, it was soo pricey because it would be one-to-one with Mummy. The price was 2x more. We decided to only enroll Ariel later when she reached the minimum age to join the group lessons like the one we enrolled Jeriel.

Music
Another of Jeriel request which was long overdue for more than 1 year. Music could be an expensive affair. Then we decided we would let him join music after he completed his swimming lesson…. Will share on Music Class hunting in next post….

Were we overloading him? We tried to minimize but all was requested by Jeriel... How can we as parents say 'No' to him? If only we could afford to provide him all the things he wanted to learn since was and is open to learning, if only.....if only.....

Happy Papa’s Day 2009

PaPa, sorry one day late to wish you here…

Jeriel with the help of PohPoh made 2 apple shape balloons. Jeriel wrote on the balloons and even helped to write on behalf of Ariel

PaPa, Mummy was very sorry that no gift for you on PaPa’s Day.

Mummy would always be blessed for having you as loving partner, friend, hubby and PaPa to the kids. You would do anything for us especially with the kids even though your time was limited due to work and study. They kids enjoyed having you as their PaPa who would love, play, comfort, hug, bath etc.with them. All these were priceless to us that cannot be measured by money and things. We treasured every moment together and even though as simple as spending time in our small apartment. There was nothing more we could do but to wish you….

PaPa, Happy PaPa’s Day and we love you a lot….

coin dealer

Economy is bad and a lot people are affected. Everything drops and worth less especially in stock market and property. Those who invested during bullish time now are affected during this downturn. Those effected people who have extra cash will not face cash flow problem by just having to patiently wait for the price to increase. How about those who need the cash and cannot release all their investment due to low price? For those who has surplus of cash will take this as an opportunity to do investment since the price is low, hoping to make money when the economy back to bullish. At this time cash is essential and even coin dealer said that coins are worth more than stock market.

Ariel is 11 months old

In one month time, she would be 1 year old. Oh…how time flies…

Her weight is 9 kg (as of today 20June09).

Solid Food
This is also a major issue for Mummy. She is a lite bite girl as if doing food sampling. She will take only 1-3 mouths/bites on a food then she will stop and shake her head away by closing her mouth tightly. So, we have no choice but to feed her in small portion but often.

Anyone has similar experience; please share your experience and tips…

Mobility
Now she will hold on something and slowly walk. Besides that, she will grasp anything in front of her. When she stand with one hand holding the dining table leg, the other hand will be doing sweeping on the dining tables hoping to get something dropping from the table to the floor. Then she will happily release from holding the table leg and sit on the floor to explore what she has managed to get.

Laugh and giggle
She has many ways of laughing and giggling. She laughs and giggles easily especially when she sees her KorKor.

Sleeping pattern
As she grows bigger, she is like an ‘owl’, sleeping quite late. Mummy is trying to train her to sleep early like she used to last time. It will take some time and Mummy needs to be patient.

Character
She is fiercer as compared to her KorKor. She knows who she can bully especially her KorKor and PaPa. She can be fierce but also extremely ‘manja’ especially to her PaPa.

Once she is home, she will want us to carry and entertain her. However, when Mummy is alone, Mummy has no choice but to let her cry while doing some housework. She will crawl and cry until Mummy carries her, she will sob and sob showing her pitiful face.

Sometimes she will make fake cry (no tears) when she wants something her way (determine and stubborn) and we will refuse to give in. After a few fake cry, she will just give up and find other thing to entertain herself.

However, everyone loves her a lot especially her KorKor who adores her a lot.

Father’s Day and Pay Cut

This Sunday 21 June 2009 will be Father’s Day. Hmmm, what shall Mummy get for PaPa? We usually do not exchange gifts on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or even on our Anniversary. We usually go for a simple meal together with the kids. Mummy will check out and see if there is an anything interesting, useful and reasonable price thing in Circuit City for PaPa. If not, then maybe just save the money since economy is quite bad and Mummy’s company is planning to implement pay cut soon. Mummy has to plan on family expenditure cut too.

Back to nature -- Travel and Learn

In overseas, it is common for people to travel using rv especially a long distance.

What is rv?
RV stands for ‘recreational vehicle’. It is a motorized wheeled vehicle or mobile home used for camping or other recreational activities.

It is a great way to explore the journey with kids. Family can just take a slow drive enjoying the scenery, spending time with each other, learning as travel and many others. However the best thing is parents will not need to worry about kids’ daily routine because we are bringing home while traveling. The facilities in other countries for rv traveling are well equipped with many rv parks available.

How Mummy wish this will be available here in Malaysia. Then Jeriel can do camping. Mummy believes that going back to nature will expand the learning of the kids in many ways rather than just confine in the brick walls.

Holiday in ‘Kampung’

‘Kampung’ means village in Malay language.

We were there from Friday 05June09 till Sunday 07June09. We left about noon from home and arrived back home late evening on Sunday. It was a short maybe when we planned for a longer journey, we might considered getting travel medical insurance.

We got opportunity to follow our polytechnic lecturer, Aunty Rose back to her hometown last weekend. It had been many years that we still keep in touch with her and her hubby, Uncle Singh. PaPa and Mummy knew them when their elder 2 kids were young and before the younger two was born.

It was a coincidence that our lecturer’s SIL (who stayed in the house with lecturer’s mother) was Miche. So, it was 2-in-1 trip.

We wanted Jeriel to experience life in the ‘kampung’ and he really enjoyed it. To make the story short, let Mummy list out what he did …:

• He played water balloon and water gun.
• He tried to get rambutans from the tree using a rack.
• He ate fresh durian …yup there were a few durian trees around the house and once the durian dropped; usually it would be opened up fresh to be consumed.
• He ate nice and fresh ‘Nyonya Chang’ made by Aunty Rose’s mummy. Yummy…
• He slept 2 nites in the tent we borrowed from Aunty Liz with PaPa.
• He helped Uncle Singh to bake Pizza using Aunty Miche’s new oven. Photos here…
• He helped to decorate 1 mini cupcakes baked by Aunty Miche.
• He saw a monkey climbing and plucking coconut. Jeriel was even given a coconut.
• Too many and Mummy hoped that Mummy didn’t miss out anything…
  

All the time Jeriel was spending himself outside running outside sooo freely. PaPa and Mummy got to change his clothes a few times until we ran out of clothes. Thanks to Aunty Miche who passed us some spare clothes for Jeriel. Jeriel would come in wet from top to toe, totally drenched as if he just came back from a swim.

Last minute, some of Aunty Rose’s brothers from outstation decided to come back for a weekend. The whole house was noisy like CNY. Imagine Aunty Rose had total of 11 siblings (8 brothers and 3 sisters). During that weekend, a total of 6 families stayed in that house including our family. This was just part of the family, not the whole family. It was a great experience. This reminded Mummy about Mummy’s maternal family side because PohPoh had 10 siblings and during CNY usually it would be a very busy, happy and noisy atmosphere.

Mummy had a great time chit chatting with Miche and saw all the 4 kids… Miche also baked cupcakes for the kids and for birthday too. Some of the photos on Miche’s cupcakes/cakes…here and here…

We came back with some food including 2 durians (yes the whole car smelt of durian) and 4 ‘Nyonya Chang’.

On Monday 08Jun09 night, within less than 30 minutes, Jeriel, PaPa and Mummy finished up eating both durians at one goal. Yummy….

Thanks for having us there…it was fun fun….

The Baby Bliss

The Baby Bliss ---the ‘new kid on the block’ joining the online business. Everyone likes to shop online now especially like Mummy who hardly got time to shop. Online shopping is indeed a great way to hunt and shop for things. Being a mum, Mummy has never got bored to hunt and see anything related to our babies/kids.

When the kids are growing so fast, Mummy always loves dress up both Jeriel and Ariel up, so hunting for a good bargain is always Mummy’s priority. Kids’ clothes can be more expensive than adults.

The interesting part is there is a section on 2nd Hand Items (Wanted/For Sale).

The official launch is today 08June09 and do check out The Baby Bliss because…..

“To celebrate our website launching, we have a total of 30 x RM10 vouchers up for grabs. All you need to do is subscribe to our mailing list and every lucky 8th person will walk away with a RM10 voucher, it is just that simple!”

If you are free, please to drop by the showroom in Atria, Damansara Jaya….

Part 3: How Mummy breastfeed in public?

This was a trial and error of dressing up to feed Ariel in public.

First few months
Ariel would be fed on demand and often. Aunty Ita and Aunty Anggie presented Mummy with a ringsling as a gift. So, since Ariel would be fed on demand, sometimes it would be hard to find a breastfeeding room and sometimes it would be crowded. Usually, Mummy would find a quiet place in the shopping mall and feed her using the ringsling. At times, if the car was parked nearer, then Mummy would feed in the car at the car park. Mummy even fed Ariel while having dinner in shopping mall too – one hand eating and another hand supporting Ariel’s head in ringsling (both eat/drink together).

Later
Ariel’s feeding gap become much longer and more predictable. Since Ariel grew from tiny baby to a bigger baby, she refused to be breastfed in the ringsling; maybe because it was hot for her especially she had quite a lot of hair. Mummy would breastfeed her before we go out or get a quiet place to feed her because not all the time the breastfeeding room would be available.

Clothing?
Mummy had only a handful nursing t-shirts which either on loan and bought during sales. Mummy only bought 2-4 t-shirts (during sales and each was average about RM20) only because nursing t-shirts could be quite pricey. Then Mummy opted for other solution. After trial and error, Mummy’s favorite would be these 2 items which could be purchased from fabulousmom. Mummy bought during sales. The 2 items were (photos from fabulousmom) :

- Tummy tube cover – cover tummy

- FM Tina Nursing Tank – inner wear and works as bra too… 2-in-1. Also can wear by itself...
Mummy would wear any of the above items with any t-shirts or blouse. As for the FM Tina Nursing Tank, Mummy could wear just by itself especially at home because it is very comfortable and cooling. So, Mummy didn’t need to spend extra money on nursing clothes. Mummy also could feed Ariel anywhere because both would be able to cover Mummy’s tummy while feeding Ariel. Besides that, Ariel’s body also helped to cover Mummy’s tummy too. Mummy also got a few bargain nursing bras from Fabulousmom too.

For your information, the photos were taken from Fabulousmom. Mummy had not managed to get rid of the flabby tummy yet, so none of the above photos were Mummy's. Mummy wished that tummy was Mummy’s. Most of the weight loss pills would not be able to help to get rid of Mummy’s flabby tummy.

Photos? Hmmmm Mummy doesn’t have any photos taken while breastfeeding Ariel because nobody was there to take the photos….

Other related posts on Breastfeeding Experiences.

Part 2d: Update on frozen breastmilks in the Freezer

Since the last post 24April09, the freezer had not been added any extra breastmilk.

Ariel had been taking breastmilk which was freshly pumped the day before (for Mondays would be the ones pumped on previous Friday). Sometimes when insufficient, then Mummy would defreeze some from the freezer. So the freezer space had increased with the reduction of frozen breastmilk packets. Sometimes, Mummy would mix about 2-3 oz of freshly pumped breastmilk into Jeriel’s milk without him realizing. The breastmilk must be pumped and chilled within 3-4 days before Mummy could mix into his milk.

Why? Jeriel could detect the difference in his milk even Mummy put only 1 oz of thawed frozen breastmilk or chilled freshly pumped breastmilk which was more than 4 days old.

Recently, Sam Yee Cheong parents came to visit them; Mummy got to transfer the breastmilk to KongKong and PohPoh’s fridge. It took up almost 50% of their freezer space. Mummy hoped to be able to clear up their freezer once we had space in our freezer.

Managing the breastmilk was like a logistic task for Mummy. Mummy needed to plan and think which to use to minimizing throwing away expired breastmilk. Even with wrinkles appearing also, Mummy still needed to throw away the expired breastmilk. Mummy not only need wrinkle cream for face (especially forehead) but also needed to get the best eye wrinkle cream and get the logistic skill improved in managing the breastmilk.

For record purpose, number of expired frozen breastmilk being thrown away….very very ‘sayang’ but Mummy always comfort myself by remembering the words from super mummy Farrah “Think positive that we are throwing away because we have too much breastmilk for our babies...”

• 04Mar09 0100pm – 6 oz
• 04Mar09 0700pm – 3 oz
• 05Mar09 1210pm – 6 oz & 4.5 oz
• 05Mar09 0540pm – 3.5 oz & 3.75 oz
• 06Mar09 1140am – 6.5 oz & 6.5 oz
• 06Mar09 0715pm – 4 oz & 5 oz
• Total 48.75 oz threw on 03June09

• 02Mar09 1200pm – 6 oz
• 03Mar09 1250pm – 5 oz & 6 oz
• 03Mar09 0700pm – 4 oz & 5.5 oz
• Total 26.5 oz threw on 02June09

• 19Dec08 0140pm – 5 oz
• 19Dec08 0700pm – 5 oz
• 19Dec08 0700pm – 5 oz
• Total 15 oz threw on 19Mar09

• 09Dec08 0745pm – 4.5 oz
• 10Dec08 0715am - 3.5 oz
• 10Dec08 0215pm – 4 oz
• 10Dec08 0700pm – 4 oz & 4 oz
• 12Dec08 0730pm – 5.5 oz
• 15Dec08 0130pm – 6.75 oz
• 15Dec08 0730pm – 4.5 oz & 4.5 oz
• Total 41.25 oz threw on 11Mar09

Total thrown as on 04June09 -- 131.5 oz

Other related posts on Breastfeeding Experiences.

Happy 6th Anniversary....

How did we celebrate our wedding anniversary?

We had a simple dinner on 31May2009, just PaPa, Mummy, Jeriel and Ariel. Jeriel wanted Japanese so we went to Sakae Sushi in Subang Parade for dinner. This was a special one for us because we usually had our meals in hawker centers or food courts. We would go for nicer place to eat during birthdays and anniversary. We ate quite a lot of sushi and other Japanese food. PaPa and Mummy were thinking whether we should get Liporexall to get rid of the extra fats and calories. Jeriel enjoyed himself a lot. Ariel slept in the stroller and woke up towards the end of the meal time. After meal, we had a short walk in Subang Parade then back home.

Giveaway: Pocket Change Cloth Diapers by Miabambina

Sandra from Miabambina is giving away TWO Pocket Change pocket cloth diapers. Valued @RM70 each, the pocket diaper comes with one microfiber insert and one hemp insert each.

Anyone want to win? Check out here for more information...

For 1 ENTRY

• visit MiaBambina and check out the array of cloth diapers, inserts, soakers and other cloth diapering accessories
• choose a favourite item OR an item you’d love to have andc) tell us WHY in the comment box here.

For 3 ENTRIES

• bloggers can post about the giveaway (including your favourite / most wanted item) and leave a link here.
• non-bloggers can share a funny or special cloth diapering experience here (short and sweet one, please!).
  

Mummy not going to miss this ….to gets more CD to try….

Sandra from Miabambina is always my first and best 'sifu' in CD...She was the first to introduce CD to me...'Hey, Sandra, I got addicted with it...' She is always very patient with all the questions Mummy asked.... Mummy first CD collection was Drybees and Bumgenius..until now, these are my two favourites...

Actually there are a few things Mummy would love to have from Miabambina…very hard to make decision…hmmmm….ummmmh….

From Pocket Diapers now Mummy is trying Fitted Diapers..Mummy would love to try Swaddlebees organic velour fitted.

Giveaway : New Rumparooz G2 by TinyTapir – I want…!!

All Cloth Diaper (CD) lovers….the first batch of G2 (2nd Generation) of Rumparooz one size pocket diapers are now stocked in TinyTapir.

Mummy heard a lot of Rumparooz but have not yet to try…

A short Review on Rumparooz G2 diapers -- Rumparooz G2 diapers are much improved to fit a wider range of babies than the previous Rumparooz G1 diapers. It is One Size Reusable Diapers with 4 diaper sizes in ONE diaper. It will fit from birth (6.5 lbs) to potty training (35+ lbs).

Thanks Li from TinyTapir who usually would spoil all the CD’s addict mummies on new CDs..

Hopefully Mummy is lucky to win this CD to try on Ariel…

Time is short….for those interested faster go to TinyTapir blog for more information…

The deadline to enter is 27th May 12 Noon (Malaysia time)

Days with Kids

For two days, Mummy took off to take care of Jeriel and Ariel because PohPoh needed to run some errands. PaPa sent Jeriel to kindy then Mummy would fetch Jeriel back in the noon.

How was it?
It was fun spending time with them and no doubt quite tiring running the whole small apartment with two kids. Mummy would think running the whole apartment and spending time with kids were priceless. Mummy hardly got chance to try out our apartment mini gym especially exercise on the elliptical.