Switching formulas

When Hayley was 3+, I wanted to change her formula. She was on Enfagrow A+ and because of all the big hoo hah going around the market with all the added sugar in formula milk, I was going around trying to find something suitable and healthier for her. I also hated the fact that Enfagrow A+ always increase their price and I hate being one of their victims.

My sister and her friend recommenced Lactogen. They said it was cheap and good and their kids have better appetite and healthier looking output (hehe) after consuming the milk. I bought a small pack, it was really cheap if compared to Enfagrow A+ and so I gave it to Hayley. She said it wasn't nice and she didn't like it. I persisted, told her it was for big girls like her and she can no longer drink the baby's milk meant for her little brother (yes Zac is also on Enfagrow A+). I persisted for over 3 months and when she started refusing her milk in the afternoon and couldn't finish her milk in the morning and night, I got worried. I even resorted to adding some milo into her milk calling it 'her specials' to give her the colour and taste and even that she didn't like it.

I even tried Mamil Gold which she rejected.

I finally decided to switch her back to Enfagrow A+. To my surprise, she didn't like it anymore. Left with no choice I decided to give Anmum Essential a try. It is the only brand in the industry that claimed they have 'no added sugar' in their formula. I have always wanted to give this brand a try (cause no added sugar ma) but because they have not been in the industry long (well, at least not as long as the other brands), I didn't have the confidence in their product and the name 'ANMUM' didn't sound like a formula for kids. I probably have more faith in their Anmum Materna for expecting mothers than their Anmum Essential for kids. If they change the name to Ankid Essential maybe I would have tried it sooner.. haha

Anyway, I finally bought it and gave it to her. And guess what, she liked it! She said it was nice and since then she is back to taking her usual amount of milk a day. I am now a happy mum again! Very soon, I am going to switch Zac to the same formula :).

It is cheaper than what I used to buy and it is healthier (no added sugar ma) so why not? hehehe

Great way to drink Dom

If you dislike drinking Dom like me but don't know what to do with all the Dom that you would have probably received as gifts after having a baby or two etc, don't fret. Try my suggestion below and I can assure you that you will finish your Dom in no time :)

This method was introduced to me by aunty Foong my confinement lady and I used to have it every alternate night during my confinement.

Mix half a bowl of Dom with slightly more than half a bowl of water and put it in the slow cooker for 4 hours. It is that simple. You can also add a hard boiled egg (peel the skin and put it in) into the mixture and let everything boil together. The egg will taste very smooth and soft. Aunty Foong said it is very healthy and beneficial to the body too.

I love it, not sure about you. Try it out and let me know what you think :)

Traditional chinese medicine

Because of the marathon in the last 2 months and because I am sick and tired of feeding the kids antibiotics, cough and cold syrup and paracetamol, I have started to look to the east. Now that they are well, I want to boost their health with some traditional chinese medicine so they won't fall sick so easily and won't need to rely on western medicine so much. Most importantly the chinese medicine will not make them lethargic, tired, have cold hands and feet and most importantly there is almost no risk to allergies (not suitable for babies with G6PD though). My sister recommended me a chinese doctor in Klang, her kids are regulars there.

The doctor prescribed some herbs for Zac and Hayley. The herbs are blended into powdery form so it would be easy to feed (just dilute in water). I also got some prescription for papa and me, ours are in the form of herbs, roots and leaves. The medicine is very bitter, very tough to get Hayley to consume them but Zac seems to be able to tolerate it much better. And because Zac is not even 1, I reduced the quantity. The doctor prescribed 1 tea spoon of powder but instead I only gave him half.

The goodies for papa and me

Apart from traditional chinese medicine, I am also giving them:

1. Cordyceps
These little worms cost me a bomb. My next door neighbour and the salesman at EYS said they are very good for lungs and should be taken after a bad cough/during a bad cough to heal the damaged lungs. Cordyceps enhances immunity, therefore building resistance against coughs and colds. It reduces phlegm, strengthens the lungs and fortifies the kidneys. It is also very good for health. Another friend also said it is recommended to improve appetite. It sounds like the perfect solution for my kid's cough and cold and Hayley's poor appetite. I boil it with birds nest and rock sugar (1 piece of birds nest with 3 Cordyceps) and will give the kids once every 2 or 3 weeks. Hayley will get half a bowl and Zac just a few small sips. The chinese doctor is against me giving Zac Cordyceps (she said not to give when they are too young) but I think it is ok to give in small controlled quantity. Plus I am only giving once every 2 or 3 weeks.

We've so far had this once and since then Hayley's appetite improved tremendously. She's less picky and more willing to try out new stuff and she's eating much faster and in bigger quantity too. I don't know if it's mere coincidence or if it's really the results of Cordyceps. Don't really care :-)
2. Pearl powder
I usually keep stock a few of these at home and use when necessary. I was introduced to pearl powder by the babysitter and also my sister. My family members are very prone to throat infection (meaning our body gets heaty very easily which leads to throat infection and then fever) so we usually take pearl powder to reduce the heat as and when we feel it coming. Apart from cleaning excess heat, pearl powder is also used to calm the nerves and improves eyesight and complexion. Everytime I noticed the kid's lips turning red or their body feeling a bit warm, I will give them some of these powder, I usually mix into their milk. Haylet gets a bottle and Zac half a bottle. In the past I used to just get them from normal chinese medicine shop but Alice made me realise that I could be feeding my kids some unknown powder if I am buying it from unreliable sources. Since then I get them from EYS. I didn't know EYS actually sell them until recently. 6 bottles costs RM108 and member gets 5% discount and because of promotion, they are giving an additional 5%.
3. Bo Ying Compound
I was introduced to Bo Ying Compound by Leona. Again this is from EYS. I went to EYS to enquire and the salesman told me it is a good product to give to kids to maintain their health. Bo Ying Compound alleviates fever and cold, eliminates phlegm, calms nerves, removes wind in the body, increases blood circulation, promotes health, detoxification and anti-inflammation. It can be given everyday but I prefer to give just once a week. Hayley can take 1 bottle and Zac half a bottle. I don't usually give it to the kids weekly but will give from time to time. Although I know chinese medicine will do no harm but I still prefer to give in moderation and as and when necessary.4. Manuka honey
I haven't got this yet but this is something I would like to get next. They have it at EYS and also at GNC. EYS is a bit pricier than GNC. Manuka honey is also a good supplement to boost overall health and some of my friends told me their kids does not cough as much after consuming Manuka honey. It is also a valuable aid for the healing of burns, infected wounds and ulcers, and assists in treating dyspepsia, stomach ulcers and other digestive disorders. It can help relieve skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis and acne. Manuka Honey also soothes sore throats and helps to speed up recovery from colds and flu. Manuka honey is to be given daily, 1 teaspoon once a day. Unfortunately, it is not suitable for Zac as he is still under 1 year old.

Honestly, a combination of all the above do cost me a bomb but if it will help my kids get stronger naturally and fall sick less often (hence saving on medical bills and trips to clinics), I think it is all worth it. I don't mind cutting up some of my personal expenses (not that I spend a lot) to cater for these.

I'll see if a combination of the above actually works better than multivitamins, vitamin C, fish oil and yogurts which I use to give to Hayley on a daily basis. Despite her taking these supplements religiously, I didn't really see an overall improvement in her health. Plus these supplements are not cheap too. Some even said multivitamins are actually very heaty and if the kids does not consume enough water, they will end up getting sick!

Feeding time nightmare is over, I hope

I wrote a couple of weeks ago, here, that I was having a hard time feeding my fussy little 2 year old. I am happy to say that I think it is over, at least for now, or until she gets bored of this arrangement and start misbehaving again at the dining table.

How did we solve it? Soup + rice combo. It worked like magic. I simply gave her some rice with soup and cut up all the veges or carrots or meat or whatever we cooked that day and mixed it all up in the soup for her. She will finish it by herself and will lick the bowl clean. It normally takes less than 20 mins, sometimes as fast as 10 mins.

Hopefully this will stay on for a while until we figure out how else to spice up her meals. Alice suggested bento-ing. With my limited cooking and creativity skill, I really dare not think about being that adventurous but hopefully will have the determination to give it a try one day.

So, for now, I just need to worry about the weekly soup list so that she will have different soup everyday and enjoy the different nutritions.

Feeding time nightmare

My 2 year old is currently at a phase where feeding becomes a nightmare. I am not sure if this is part of the package of 'Terrible Twos'. She wasn't like that when she was younger.

Now she will eat her lunch/dinner in a slow motion manner. Sometimes she won't even chew and lunch/dinner can lasts up till 1 hour or more or until I gave up, whichever comes first. I thought she was bored with porridge for lunch so sometimes we cooked her fried rice, sometimes noodles but still with the same results. We tried putting her in front of the TV, letting her watch her favourite programme while I feed her (I will not let her walkabout) and it's still the same. I also tried switching off the TV, remove all the toys and put her on the high chair so she can concentrate and again she's eating in the same manner. Chew 2x and stop, chew again when I threathen her with a rotan and then stops. Papa claimed that we're both getting high blood pressure because of this, me stresses during lunch and he stresses during dinner - we take turns :-)

Dinner is just the same. She'll take so long that her food would turn cold and I'm worried it'll be bad for her little tummy if she's consuming cold food. Please please tell me this is just another one of those ordinary phase that a 2 year old would display. Although she struggled with rice/noodles, she does like soup and can drink half a bowl really quickly.

If this is not part of an ordinary phase, I might really need to look into changing her eating plans, maybe starve her a little longer before lunch and dinner or maybe feed her rice with soup. Will she get enough nutrients with just rice and soup?

And oh, just to put this to note, she picked up a small piece of spinach the other day from her rice and said 'yucks'. Sigh.... and she also picked up a grain of brown rice (we're currently mixing white and brown rice) and said she didn't like it. Double sigh....

Colourful lunch

Will you eat these?

Purple sweet potato with chinese spinach and chicken porridge

Pumpkin with Japanese spinach and pork porridge

These are some of the many porridge I prepared for Hayley for lunch on weekends. Occassionally I would like to prepare porridge in different colours just to see if she would eat them. Thankfully I have no problems with her so far and she will eat whatever porridge in whatever colour I prepared for her. Once I even cook porridge using red spinach and the porridge came out red and it looks really scary (even to me) but she ate it with no complains :-)

Apart from the above, my other regular ingredients are:

• carrot
• potato
• broccoli
• cherry tomato
• fish
• dried oysters or scallops (for flavouring)
• small pak choy or whatever green leafy vegetable I can find in the fridge
• peas

I am getting bored of using the above. Any other good and healthy suggestions?

Junk food

Just a quick post on the 'junk food' (ie food that I won't give her myself) my daughter knows at her current age:

- kopi (whenever she see her papa drinking from a cup, she will say kopi)
- bena (she meant ribena)
- Donald (that's McDonald)
- i klim (ice cream)
- kokolat (chocolate and she normally refer them to chocolate biscuits or chocolate wafer)

Some of the other things she she doesn't know how to say yet but have tasted are: Mamee, muruku (she had it at 8 months) and I am sure there are more which I do not know yet. I discovered she had them at the babysitter's because I could smell them from her mouth when I pick her up in the evening.

When I confront my babysitter, she said this 'you have to let them taste all sorts of things and in different textures so they won't reject it later, but I only give her a little bit la'.

What else can I do or say to stop all this?

Hayley's popo's 58th birthday

Hayley's popo turned 58 on 20th October. We celebrated popo's birthday on 16th October at Tony Romas. This was my 3rd visit to Tony Romas in 2 months, don't ask me why ~ lol ~

Well, we (my sisters and I) chose Tony Romas for various reasons. Firstly, we wanted popo to have a different dining experience. Popo is very old fashioned (she doesnt look old fashioned but thinks old fashionedly) and likes only chinese food in those typical chinese 'tai chau' restaurants. To her, those are good food. Western restaurants only means steaks and beef!

Secondly, my sister, one of them, have not been to Tony Romas before and she too would like to try it. She fancies Chili's.

Anyway, we dragged popo to Tony Romas in Mid Valley and assured her that she can still find fish and chips in Tony Romas :-). She will only order fish and chips each time we go to a western place. Popo brought her elder sister along. Yi Ma as we fondly calls her, was more than welcomed. She was like part of the family. She cooked and took care of popo when we were all busy.

1. Popo cutting her Chocolate Indulgence from Secret Recipe
2. Hayley and Cadence helping her with the 'many' candles
3. Everyone was busy eating while I was busy snapping away
4. My lil missy who was ill on that day, flu and fever
5. Popo and Yi Ma (Hayley calls her Yi Poh)
6. Popo's cake with the candles lit up

As for popo's birthday present, we didn't know what to get her and finally decided on a nice pair of walking shoes and we decided on Crocs. Penny influenced this more or less. Read her post here and I am sure you will get a pair of Crocs too after reading it :-).

This model was all sold out but in the end we managed to find 2 last pairs left (only size 4 and in khakis left) in Sunway Pyramid. It cost us RM169. Khakis wasn't our preferred colour but we didn't have a choice this time so we bought it.

Popo have never owned a pair of shoes that cost above RM100 (yes she was the stingy type) and will normally complain or grumble that we spend money like pouring out water. This time, she didn't say a word. We hope she will like it and we hope the shoes will keep her feet comfortable all day long. If she like it, we don't mind getting her a spare pair!

Happy Birthday again to Hayley's PoPo!!!

In case you wondered what she ordered, you guessed it right 'FISH AND CHIPS' it is! hahahaha

Now I know why..

From babycentre:

" It will be a year or two before your toddler leaves most of his tantrums behind. Until then, expect to deal with outbursts of anger and frustration on a regular basis. You can cut down on the frequency of tantrums by making sure your child gets enough sleep and eats well during the day. It's probably unrealistic to expect your energetic toddler to sit still for three square meals a day, so try giving your child a variety of foods throughout the day. Remember, a hungry, sleep-deprived toddler is a meltdown waiting to happen."

Phew... Am I glad to hear this. I guess I am not the only one experiencing the nightmare of feeding a little toddler as mentioned in my previous blog. Although I know every child is different, I am somewhat relieved that this is considered normal for most child her age (although I don't recall seeing my sister's kids behaving like that).

I guess I need to try to feed her smaller meals more frequently from tomorrow and see how it goes. Good luck to me!

My little monster a picky eater?

My little girl who used to eat whatever she was fed with very quickly is not behaving the same anymore. Of late, she likes to take her own sweet time with her food (except her favourites such as cheese, cornflakes, grapes which she will finish in 5 mins). A bowl of porridge that will usually take her 15 mins or less to finish is now taking 30 mins or more! And mummy is losing her patience.

For some weird reasons she will show keen interest in the food during the 1st few spoons and thereafter she will keep the food in her mouth. I have to constantly remind her to chew and swallow and have to demonstrate until my jaws got tired. Why is she behaving like this? Is this normal? or is she bored with the same usual stuff that I have been feeding her?


Apart from eating so slowly, she's also rejecting green leafy vegetables. Since I started giving her rice with meat and veges, she will spit out the vege or use her fingers to remove them from her mouth. I have so far only given her steam spinach and she dislike it. I have also given her cabbage with no luck. I have tried hiding the veges under the meat or in between the rice but she still figured it out. Luckily she's not making a fuss when I put the veges in her porridge (maybe not yet). How else can I get her to eat green leafy veges?

Lately, I also found her picky when it comes to fruits. When she was younger she enjoyed all sorts of fruits given to her. Now she will react differently towards different fruits. Her current favourites are grapes (her all time favourite), dragon fruit and orange. Fruits such as papaya, mango, strawberry, apple and banana will only be taken when she feels like it. If she doesnt feel like it, she will take a bite and then run away from me.

I also fed her avocadoes with yogurt as she dislike the avocado on its own. I've been giving her this combination for months and lately she's been trying to suck the yogurt from the spoon without eating the avocado. Isn't she cheeky? She's doing the same when she wants the soup without the rice. I wonder where she learnt all these from and although it does look cute and cheeky, it is driving me up the wall!

Muruku v Hayley

To my shocking horror, when I picked up Hayley from the babysitter yesterday evening, she was holding on to a piece of muruku, biting and sucking it! My God! A 14 month old eating muruku!

I was so shocked I didn't know what to say or how to react. I have told the babysitter many times not to introduce junk food or anything unhealthy to Hayley, especially not at such tender age. I wouldn't mind introducing them when she was 18 months or better still 24 months but definitely not at 14 months!

And what about choking? Muruku is pretty hard and with only 4 incisors teeth, no way she can chew that piece of thing. I am so so so upset. I have said what I needed to say, I have instructed enough but yet she still prefers to do things her way. And her argument is that we need to introduce varieties to toddlers else they will be picky eater and she said whenever she gave her food, she will watch her eat and make sure she doesn't choke. Harlo, have you not heard of ACCIDENTS?! sigh..

At that moment in time, I wish I was a SAHM so I can look after my little girl by myself. Feed her with only the healthiest stuff.

Don't get me wrong, the babysitter is a great person and she loves Hayley to bits and Hayley is very attached to her. I feel safe when sending Hayley to her in the morning and that assurance is very important to me. Although I do not agree to some of her old fashion babysitting culture, I have to admit that she's doing a good job overall. I guess it will be hard to find someone perfect so I will just have to close one eye on this and continue to nicely tell her not to feed my baby with junk food and hopefully one day she will come to her senses!

The big 13

Hayley turning 13 month old in 5 days. Every month or week you will notice changes. For some unknown reason she's turning into a whiner. Next Sat my whiner will be getting her chicken pox jab. I hope Dr Wong is not working on that day.. haha.

Last week my little one developed viral fever. She has fever for 3 days (comes and goes) and the temperature ranges from 37.5 - 38.8. Even with a fever she still plays and eat like normal so we weren't that concerned. But on the 3rd day I noticed some spots (pink rashes like spots) on her body, arms and legs. Just a couple of spots here and there and my kiasuism kicked in. What if she's got dengue, what if she's got measles, what if she's got chicken pox. We brought her to the doctor on the 3rd night. That time she didn't have any fever. Thankfully doctor said it was just a mild viral fever. If the fever didn't return there is nothing to worry about. The doctor did warn that the rashes might get worst but it will eventually subside. After the visit, the fever didn't return and the rashes didn't get worst. They were gone the following day and that costs mummy RM52 :-).

The doctor asked if anyone was sick at home. And guess who, who else but yours truly. Everytime I get sick, she would get sick too and I am getting sick very often since having Hayley. Sigh...

Apart from the viral fever, she's developing and growing and it's amazing to see all the changes in her. Although we are tired and frustrated at times, we found strength to face the day with a smile (unlike going to work, haha). That must be the power of parenthood!

Here are some of her highlights and lowlights:

Vocab
She can say a couple of simple words - mum mum (food), gai gai (go out), nen nen (milk), papa, mama, mummy, ball, ish (fish), por por (grandma), up etc. Occasionally she will impress us with a couple of new words but they are very rare. Not even sure if she knows what she is talking about :-)

We did teach her a couple of other things such as fan, clock, mattress, toes, fingers, ears, fish, belly button, toys, books, ball, baloon, caterpillar, hand, leg, chair etc and she would often point to them correctly when we ask her to. If she's not pointing she will look into the direction where that item is. On bad days, she will not respond to us or worst she will appear confused and point to the fan when we say mattress :-(

Attitude
Recently she's becoming a whiner. She developed a habit of clinging on to her water bottle and if she wanted to drink and could not remove the cover, she will whine. If she wants the teddy bear's head (coin box) removed from the body, she would point to it and whine. If she wants food she will point to the food and whine. We have on all occasions tell her to say our name and point to the item if she wants it and don't whine but its not working. So all we do the whole day is cover and uncover her water bottle, cover and uncover the teddy's head. What a tiring job!

I read on many websites that we need to train our little one to be independent to eat on her own. We need to prepare finger foods into small pieces/cubes and let her pick it up and eat on her own. I tried doing that to Hayley a couple of times and she will stuff everything into her mouth until she chokes. If she's not doing that, she will play with the plate and toss everything onto the floor. How can I teach her to eat properly?

Development
My little one is quite entertaining. A couple of times the papa and me pretended to be asleep and we made the snoring sound. To our surprise she picked that up! Whenever we ask her to sleep, she will rest her head on the mattress or floor (wherever she is) and then pretend to sleep and snore!

She also like to dance. Whenever she hears music that she likes, she will use her tongue to make the kluk sounds (repeatedly) while swaying her butt from left to right. Entertaining eh?! :-)

She's still at her cruising mode and prefers to crawl than walk. She did attempt to walk a couple of steps unassisted but these attempts are rare. Sometimes when I put her in a skirt and she finds it hard to crawl (the skirt would go under her knees) she will then crawl on four (with her butt raised high).. hehe. She is often standing up on her own too.

Napping is also longer lately. Last time she naps between 30 - 1 hour 30 mins. Now her naps are often 1 hour 30 mins - 3 hours! She naps twice a day.

Food
She's not into porridge lately. Not sure why. Maybe she just dislike my porridge as I dont hear the aunty complaining. She would eat at the beginning and towards the middle she will start her tantrums and refused to eat. She will sleep on the high chair, turn her face from left to right, spit out the food etc. I tried giving her something different today, I cooked vermicelli and it was the same. Interested in the beginning and then tantrum starts. I am not sure what else to feed her.

I know I am supposed to give her varieties but as I am not a good cook (kitchen is not my territory) I just dont know what else to do. When cooking is needed at home, hubby is the one. But for some reasons, preparing Hayley's food became my responsibility. When I ask my mom or the elderly, they will say porridge is sufficient. Use fish, pork, chicken etc to create various taste. But when I ask some friends, they recommended vermicelli and pasta. I have never cooked in my life and this became stressful! Is there a cook book out there that I can buy and refer?

As for fruits, she eats anything. Papaya, banana, apples, green pears, grapes and recently oranges. I was told to give her avocado and I aim to introduce avocado next week. I hope she will like it cause I don't and I am not going to eat her leftovers :-)

Snacks for her are biscuits, bread, yogurt (Calciyum vanilla) and cheese. I started cheese this week too and she loved it.

As for milk, she's getting Enfagrow A+ Original flavour. She gets 3 feeds a day (7 oz). When I first started her on Enfagrow (2 weeks ago), I started her with the wrong flavour. I bought vanilla by accident :-(. She developed constipation for a couple of days. After having Enfagrow for 2 weeks she's still getting constipation but only about once a week. We're trying to give her lots of water, lots of veges and fruits and hope the constipation would go away.

This coming Thurs and Fri I will be going down to Singapore for work. This is the first time I will be away for 2 days since having Hayley. This also means that papa will need to manage her without any help. He will need to get her ready in the morning and send her to the babysitter (currently that's my job) and pick her up in the evening, feed, bath and get her ready for bed. I hope he can manage it. Deep down, I know he can. :-)

Constipation has begun

My oh my, today is the 2nd day I've changed Hayley's formula from Enfalac A+ to Enfagrow A+ and she started having constipation problems. I have no problems with the switching over though and have to agree with other blogger moms that Enfagrow A+ is much sweeter than Enfalac A+. The moment you open the packet, you can immediately smell the vanilla flavour.

I know that to help her ease the constipation I have to give her more water, more veges and more fruits. I can do that on weekends when she is with me but on weekdays I have to rely on the babysitter and I hope she is doing what I told her to do. Hayley's recent boycott towards water from a bottle is not helping either. She will not drink as much as she used to from a bottle. She will drink when fed with a spoon. It makes the whole process much more tedious but I guess we don't have a choice. I even tried sippy cut but she will just play with the cup.

Today she poo-ed in the evening and the stool was hard. She cried and clung on to me like a koala bear. How long more should I let her try out this formula before changing it to something else? I really don't like to change her formula unless if I really have to and the babysitter is already pestering me to try something else.

Hayley's 1st Birthday

As you would have known, we celebrated Hayley's birthday at a friend's restaurant. We booked 3 tables and prepared a 7 course lunch to cater to our close family and friends. Like all celebrations, there would surely be happy and unhappy moments.

Well, let's talk about the unhappy moments first so that I can end the post with the happy stuff :-). Like all parties that involves food, the most common problem is having friends who accepted the invite and then declined at the very last min - aka 'kite flyers'. 3 close friends did that to us so we were rather upset. Although they have valid and genuine reasons but we still can't help but feel upset but of course we do not blame them. So we ended up with only 7 or 8 people at each table with lots of food to spare. Thankfully we invited all close friends so they don't really mind packing back the leftovers else the food would have gone to waste and we do not condone food wasting!

Apart from the above, it was happy moments all the way :-).

Although with only a few friends and families, it was fun nonetheless. Everyone came on time except my mom who had to work so she arrived 30 mins late and everyone was waiting for her with growling stomach. I have 2 pregnant women at the party (both due in May), 2 moms whose babies are born in 2008 (both younger than Hayley) and another 2 moms whose kids are above 3. So the moms-to-be and the new moms and the veteran mom have lots to share and talk about :-). There were lots of kids and babies there to play with too.

I also invited Hayley's babysitter so that she could meet my family. Having aunty there really helped. She helped me feed and watch over Hayley when I had to entertain my friends. The usually friendly Hayley was rather shy on her birthday. She didn't allow anyone to carry her (at least not instantly). She needed time to warm up but thankfully she didn't cry when others insisted on carrying her. As usual, to keep her occupied to her seat, we have to bribe her with food :-).

Hayley tasted cakes for the first time on her birthday (well this is as far as I know as I am not sure if aunty ever fed her with cakes before at her place). We gave her both the cupcakes as well as the jelly cake. We gave her a little bit of each to let her try and she enjoyed them as usual (she'll eat anything and everything - proven from the fact that she ate an ant!). Even though she knew how to blow into the whistle, unfortunately she doesn't know how to blow the candle. She thought they were toys and wanted to reach for them. I had to blow the candles on her behalf and of course cut the cake for her.

Here are some of the special things I prepared for the party (apart from the cake of course):

1. A thank you gift pack for kids (I bought stationery, sticker pictures and M&Ms chocos). I wrapped them up nicely in wrapping papers. I also tailored made the cards with the special cartoon characters that the kids like. Eg Cadence like Barney, Ying Hui likes Winnie the Pooh etc. The gift was given to kids age 3 and above. Unfortunately I did not get anything for babies as I didn't know what to get for them. Sorry friends with babies :-(

2. Twin cupcakes for the adults nicely wrapped in a box which I ordered from Yummies By Audrey. They were specially designed in conjunction with Valentine's Day. If you visit Audrey's blog, you will also see Hayley's cup cakes being posted there :-). As for the thank you card, I did it myself using photo paper and photo printer. I even translated the message into Mandarin (for some of our Mandarin speaking friends) although I don't know how to read them :-). I used the free online translation tools and got some of my colleagues to check.

The party started around 1.30pm and ended around 3.30pm. We wanted to stay longer to chat but we have to respect the restaurant's break time which is from 3 - 6pm. The kids were happy to receive presents. Cadence my 4 year old niece even asked me 'yi yi, how come no present for my little sister?'. I had to explain to her that the presents are not suitable for Caitlin and she nodded her head. What a good little girl she is.

Hayley knocked off immediately in the car on the way back. Nothing I do will wake her up. It was quite funny and rare. She's not really the type who will fall asleep on her own. I guess the air conditioning and the rocking movement of the car really does the trick. Anyhow, it was tiring for her and us as well.

Here are some more photos to share (I am being featured here for the very first time :-)). As I have not received all the photos yet, I will share more in the 2nd post once I have received them:

The birthday girl

With her favourite pose - the pouty lips or ''chu chui' (pigs mouth)

The gorgeous 3kg jelly cake that cost us RM135

The 3 of us

My best bud Jessie and me (look at the bun in her oven :-))

Every successful party would not have been successful without the help and support of friends and families. Therefore, we would like to thank the following from the bottom of our hearts:

1. Andrew & Alexis for buying the 2nd birthday cupcakes and bringing them to us on purpose on Friday night. They were yummy (all the guests said so) and beautiful. Uncle Andrew is like a godfather to Hayley. He's also the Santa Claus as he often brings her gifts :-)

2. Dino (Jessie's hubby) for being my photographer for that day. Dino is now into photography and recently bought a new DSLR camera and the photos he took are beautiful. His first baby will arrive in May and the camera would come in handy to capture those special moments :-). They are expecting a girl with a pointy chin and big round eyes, just like her mom!

3. My sis Ai Nee for helping me collect the cupcakes from Audrey all the way from Mon't Kiara.

4. My eldest sis Alice for the cool Adidas shoe for Hayley.

5. Jodie for giving me discounts for the food, recommending yummy dishes and making sure everything turned out well :-). Everyone said the food was good and I am glad to hear that.

6. All our dear friends (Jane, Ling Yi, Samm, Kin Fei, Samson, PCK, Hock, Bro Chuen, Bro Chuen's wife and son, Dino, Jessie, Jodie, Jadrian and families (my mom, both my sis and tuaso - aka my eldest sis in law) who attended the party and showered Hayley with lots of kisses, hugs, good wishes and angpows!

And guess what, I was told that 14 February 2010 is also the first day of CNY. So it will be 3 happy occassions for us in 1 day next year. She sure is born on a very special date! HEHE

I love food

I love to eat anything and everything. In one of the earlier post, mummy mentioned that I hate bananas, I don't anymore :-). I love bananas now. I have tasted peaches, pear, red apple, papaya (Hawaii solo only) and bananas (pisang emas) and I love all of them.

This is what I eat every weekend (which may differ slightly from weekday because aunty ie the babysitter didn't really like to follow mummy's routine but I am ok la, not too picky):

7.30/8am - 7oz milk
10.30am - cereal with milk and pureed fruits (pear or apple). Mummy uses 2oz of milk
11.30am - 3oz of milk
1.30pm - porridge with pork, dried scallop, vege (spinach/broccoli), peas and carrot/sweet potato
5.30pm - porridge again
8.30pm - 7oz milk

I get water in between all the meals and biscuits occasionally. At aunty's place, I also get 2 porridge a day but no cereal. Sometimes I get fish porridge and sometimes pork. Aunty doesn't use as much ingredients as mummy, well, what to do...

In total I am taking less than 20oz of milk a day. Should mummy worry (read the extract below)? Probably not since I am a happy and healthy baby with a bulging belly. I will get her to try and increase my milk to 24oz a day. That means for meals for me, happy me :-)

This is extracted from babycentre's website "Once you start adding solids to her diet, her daily intake of formula milk should gradually decrease to about 720ml / 24oz. The Food Standards Agency recommends that once your baby is established on solids, she should be having approximately 600ml / 20oz or one pint of formula milk per day alongside a varied diet until she is a year old."

Hayley hates bananas

Gave Hayley bananas for the first time today and she hates it. She did take a few spoon and after a while she started spitting them out and making the 'wek' (vomit) sound.

She ain't going to ger it her way cause tomorrow I will try again :-)

Am I feeding her right?

Hayley is 6.965 kg at 7 months. She was 3.4kg when born and 6.65kg when she was 6 months old. She only gained about 300 grams in the last month. I was concerned but the ped said it is ok as long as she is eating well, happy and is alert (and she is!).

From birth till 6 months:
Hayley is exclusively on breast milk. At 6 months she was taking 6oz at every feed (3 hours interval) 5 times a day. We religiously feed her at every 3 hours (my baby sitter insist) even if she's not crying or showing any hungry signs and I just followed suit on weekends. She would normally finish all her milk with occasional wastage of about 1oz once in a while. She gets water in between feeds.

After 6 months:
I slowly introduced her to formula (Enfalac A+). Started with replacing the last feed with formula instead of breast milk. No issues so far. She is getting between 6oz - 8oz 5 times a day. Occasionally the baby sitter said she will ask for more (esp in the morning) after finishing the 6oz and she will then make her an additional 2oz formula. I have never experienced that on weekends when I look after her myself.

I also started introducing her to solids. I gave her Heinz First Rice Cereal once a day in the afternoon in between feeds. I also introduced pureed fruits and she tried green pear, apples, peaches and papayas. She get fruits once on weekdays (in the evening) and twice on weekends. I have also asked the baby sitter to give her cereals twice starting from today, maybe once in the afternoon and another in the evening. This I hope will help her to gain more weight. I am also keen to introduce her to vegetables. I know broccoli, carrot, sweet potato and spinach are good for her but when should I start? How do I start? I was told to puree them and mix them into her cereal to make it tastier, is that the right thing to do? and what about meat? When should I start making her chicken or fish porridge?

It is so difficult for a working mom to ensure that our baby gets enough nutritions from her food intake when we're not the one preparing them ourselves. What do other working moms out there do? Does your baby sitter prepare the pureed fruits for your baby or did you prepare it in advance and bring it to her? My baby sitter is a bit 'old schooled' and I am afraid of introducing new stuff to her. Initially she told me to wean Hayley from breast milk after 3 months but I insisted on going and I am happy I did. But after 7 months I am not that particular anymore and am happy to slowly wean her.

And what about jar food? Are they good and reliable? My friend in NY told me she fed her 'jumbo baby' organic jar food and they are as good as self prepared food and her baby is cute and huge.