Early celebration

I have always love the month of August!! Why? Because it is the month of my birth. Last night, hubby treated me to an early birthday dinner. My birthday is in 2 two weeks time but hubby is worry that baby may come out earlier. Lol! Well, I guess I am a time bomb, don't know when the time is up, right? I don't mind celebrating it earlier anyway! And ouch! It means I am adding 1 more year to my age soon. Nah, never mind, I am still young. People said I don't look my age of 32. *laugh* I am going to have a wonderful birthday gift this year. You know what??

A Virgo baby. Yes. That is the best birthday gift I ever have. My baby would be a Virgo baby, just like the mummy and paternal grandmum. I went for my check-up today and doctor said the baby is weighing 2.9kg now. Head is down, so that is why I have some discomfort and pain on the lower part. Doctor also issued an admission letter just in case I am due early as few of her September-due patients have unexpected early delivery few days ago. Alright, all I need to do now is waiting for the baby when he is ready to come out to this world. *smile*

Let check out what we had for my birthday dinner. We gone for Western cuisine; once a while we are bored with rice. Lol!



Hubby was having his usual dish, duck breast ala orange. The duck meat was succulent and tasty.



And of course, he has alfredo too. Duck breast was too little for a big guy like him. Lol!



As for me, after thinking and scanning the menu few times, I settled for oven roasted cajun chicken with linguine. The chicken was very nice and tender.

Brushing up!

I wonder how long this would last, but am I proud of her for initiating it in first place. Yes, I am talking about my daughter who for the past 2 nights has been asking me to brush her teeth before bedtime.

Usually I brush her teeth early in the morning when she wakes up and once in the evening during bath time. Then at night, she would usually takes 2 milk feedings (usually one is around 7 something and one is exactly before she goes to bed). So for the past 2 nights after finishes her milk, she requested me to brush her teeth. And of course, I obliged to her request!

Few weeks ago, her school organized a dental care and the students are taught of how to brush teeth. When I asked her how she supposed to brush her teeth, she told me “round and round and round, mummy” with her hand gesture. Well, when I let her handle the tooth brush herself, she just move it a bit on her front teeth and the other teeth were left untouched. I guess I better do the brushing job for her for time being, till she is capable enough to handle it herself.

Throw away those pacifiers

AS promised, I will share some tips from Michelle Kennedy’s books. First sharing would be on pacifier. I believe most babies cannot do without those sucking rubbers. Pacifier is really a wonderful thing. Most experts agreed that pacifiers are a great tool to satisfy an infant’s need to suck. They are comforting at bedtime and can quiet a baby during a car ride or trip to the shops.


But what happens when the infant turns into a toddler and sucking on pacifier is becoming a habit?? When is enough, enough?

I remember my little gal loved to suck on pacifier even when she is not feeding or hungry. Initially I planned not to give her pacifier as I understand that pacifier-sucking babies do not have a nice set of baby teeth. True or not?? Luckily my little gal’s teeth turned out nice, no big gap in between the front teeth. Lol! Okay, she was a crying baby and to stop her, my confinement lady gave her pacifier. So, every time she cried, the lady would pop the pacifier into her mouth to calm her down. That was how little gal grew fond of her pacifier.

She needed her pacifier during bedtime, and once she dozed off, I will have to pull it out from her mouth. It has becoming a habit, and I found it irritating when she threw it after satisfying her needs to suck. So one night I took the opportunity after she threw her pacifier away. I told her that I couldn’t find her pacifier so she has to do without it from that night onward. She did not cry for it but it took her quite a while to fall asleep. It took her many nights to finally realize that her pacifier was no longer there. She was around 1 year old that time.

Instead, she opted for finger sucking and comfort in her toy. It was hard to stop her from sucking her fingers as the fingers are there and cannot be thrown away. But she did stop sucking her fingers now. Solution? Little gal used to love putting on nail vanish. When ever she saw her aunt put on nail vanish, she will request her to coat her fingers and toes nails. So I told her that should she suck her fingers, her nail varnish would not last and nails would not be pretty. A girl is always a girl, being beautiful is part of a girl’s nature! *wink* So, she tries not to suck on them and it really works!!

Alright, back to the pacifier sucking, following are some easy tips I gathered from Michelle Kennedy’s Letting Go series. Try them out if you have one pacifier-sucking child that you want to wean him or her off…..

Don’t introduce one (3 months – 1 year old)
Don’t introduce her to pacifier in first place if you concern your infant will become addicted. Offer your fingers instead. Periodically, let your infant suck on your finger (make sure it is clean in first place) even during nap-nursing time if he doesn’t want to be fed.

Pull the plug become it becomes a habit (1 – 4 years old)
Pacifiers are for the comfort of babies, not the convenience of parents. To insert the plug and leave the baby in her seat every time he cries is unhealthy reliance on an artificial comforter. Parent should always be at the other end of a comforting tool. The breast or finger has the built-in advantage of making sure you don’t fall into the habit of just plugging up the source of the cries as a mechanical gesture. If you find yourself automatically reaching for the pacifier instead of your baby when your little one cries, pull the plug become it becomes a habit!

Make it hard to find (2 – 4 years old)
When she started to look for it, engage your child in a fun activity that she will forgets about her rubber friend. Then arrange for the pacifier to be permanently “lost”, substitute with other tools of comfort, such as cuddly toys

Night time habit (2 – 4 years old)
Once he is deep in dreamland, ease it out of his mouth. If her need something to help him back to sleep when he wakes in the middle of the night, give him cuddly teddy bear or favourite blanket. In time, the stuffed animal should replace the pacifier as your child’s bedtime companion.

Let it wear out (2 – 4 years old)
Some children tend to keep their pacifier even when it started to disintegrate until there was nothing left. They love to hold on to it and reluctant to throw the worn-out one. So, explain slowly to your child that it is dangerous and we have to throw them away. You can ask your child to personally do it himself. Throw the pacifier together.

Limit the sucking times (2 – 4 years old)
This is a good tip for overcoming most habits, and a great way to limit or reduce pacifier use. Tell your child that she can only have her pacifier at certain times of the day. Determine which times of the day she needs it most – bedtime, naptime, in the car- and restrict her to those times. Restricting the times when your child can use the pacifier will help her to realize that she doesn’t need it any longer, without turning you into the bad guy!

Getting back into shape

I admire those mothers that still can maintain their slim figures even after giving birth! For them, everything is the same and their bodies did not alter during and after pregnancy. Sometimes I wonder whether are they pregnant or not! Lol!

Wouldn’t it be nice if a mother’s weight and size can still be maintained like before?? I know it is hard, as some mothers like myself experiencing bigger frame, especially my hip and abdomen part, which are most obvious now.

Some more I am going for C-section, so those parts are even more difficult to slim down after delivery. I hope that I can shred some fat probably from gym or aerobic. In my first pregnancy, I only started exercising after a year, as I couldn’t find times to go anywhere and find suitable centre, except working and taking care of my gal after work. But this time round, I must start my exercise regime earlier, once my gynae gives me green light to do so! *wink*

Dry, hazy and smoky

I don’t remember it has been that hot in this time of the year. Yes, last year there wasn’t much rain and haze was hitting us pretty hard too. Look like the haze is a yearly affair and we cannot avoid it. But I think the condition is even worse this year. The weather is extremely hot till the sun is seen red in colour. Even my little gal commented that the sun is red and moon is yellow in colour. Visibility is poorer too especially when it is at sunset.

Irregardless of the weather, open burning is still visible and everyone is doing it. I still see people burning leaves, grasses or what-so-ever in their gardens. Some more I think the burning is more at such time than normal days. Those inconsiderate burning adds in more smokes to the already-hazy weather. My dark colour car is covered by those ashes and dusts that I don’t really bother to wash now. After I wash, the next minute, it will be coated with those white dusts again. Not to mention my dry laundry is smell of smoke. With the Chinese 7th lunar month end of the month, there would be even more open burning of offerings. Oh dear!! It could worsen the situation if there is no rain.

Is our API still under the "safe" level?? I don’t think our air is under the “safe” level anymore. With the continuous forest fire in Indonesia, I could smell smoke in the air. It is pretty bad. With such weather and condition, it would be rational to stay indoor more than going out. There is no more fresh air to breathe and enjoy!! All I am hoping now is that rain will come and weather will get cooler.

Recently I read in a local newspaper that some Northern and Central districts in Sarawak are been hit badly by drought till people do not have any clean water. People has to resort to bathing and washing in dirty rivers and streams. Now again, this is very sad to know that people is deprived of clean water as the rivers and streams are polluted and not safe to be consumed. El Nino is simply drying up the districts. I also read that soon Kuching will be hit with lack of water supply like the Northern Districts. Must do some water ration, and buy and store mineral water at home!!

Rain, rain, rain! Where have all the rain gone?? I couldn’t imagine what my confinement would be. Staying in the room with a mild temperature, no bath for a week, no hair washing for a month and eating all those hot soups with white and red wine, I wonder how I can stand all those heat and sweat…….

36th week and still counting

I went for my usual check up this morning. Just did the normal check up, i.e. urine (no protein detected), weight (62.5kg)and blood pressure (normal). Doctor also did the normal heart beat checking on baby. Except for the lower abdomen pain I have last week, which doctor assure me it is normal probably due to baby's head moving downward, everything is fine with me.

Doctor will do scanning on baby next Thursday to determine the weight of baby upon delivery. So, now I am on a weekly check-up......

Baby Handbook

We got this helpful baby handbook back in 2006. This useful handbook is written by Dr Tan Poh Tin who is my little gal's pediatrician. As new parents, we are not 100% know what is wrong with our little gal when she developed fever, crying non stop or developed rashes on her body. Thanks to Dr Tan, she introduced us to her handbook which from time to time, I still refer to it for tips.



This book covers from birth, umbilical cord & care, jaundice to feeding older children and feeding medicines and types of vaccines. It basically explains everything on baby from birth in laymen terms and empower you to take care of your baby's health from Day 1.



A great handbook!! I don't remember how much it costs as it was bought 3 years ago. You can buy it from Dr Tan's clinic at Green Heights.