Patrick & Cookie Monster

I received a big surprise from a long time no see friend when I attended Baby-G's birthday party last Sunday. Even thought SP did not make it to the party, she sincerely get Mummy-J to pass my kids' birthday presents to me !

A huge Patrick for baby XJ and a huge Cookie Monster for YX. Both materials are very soft and nice to cuddle.

Once YX heard of the word monster, he quickly ran to take his Giant Ultraman to fight with Cookie Monster. hahaha.......

Baby loves her new Patrick. Immediately after we unwrap her giant Patrick, I quickly washed her dirty Patrick. She has no problem sleeping throughout the night time too.

Thank you SP for the presents. It is very thoughtful of you to sent the presents to my kids even we were world apart. haha..... Hope will be able to meet up again, soon.

The Pirates & Pinkie Pie

Both my kids were very lucky. Even before they celebrated their Birthday (it is not even their birthday month), they already received presents ! I'm blessed too :D

I have a few person to thank. So I've decided that each Birthday presents deserve a post by itself. So, here is the first one....

Thank you smallkucing.

She is so thoughtful to sent my kids a gift each.

Blue for boy and pink for girl

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YX's story book - The pirates. My boy loves it very much because there are lots of monsters-Look-a-like in it. And he loves that telescope too !

XJ's story book - The Pinkie Pie. My girl was so happy when she saw the pinkie's hair. She kept on saying 'mei mei' (beautiful) while stroking the hair.

Look at that shiny pinky hair. So soft to touch.

Even YX does not know how to read yet, he loves to see the pictures in the book and he can really glued to it.

Thank you again Mamarazzi for the presents.

On top of that, a BIG THANK YOU to you for supporting my blog :D

Our 1st overseas trip

I'm in a super duper good mood today because at this moment (when this post was published) I'm already on the way to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with my parents and YX. This is my 1st overseas trip after being a mother and is YX's 1st overseas trip too.

However, I'm feeling a bit guilty for not bringing baby XJ along but it will be a hassle if to bring her along too. *confused* Baby, mama promised to bring you for a trip when you are older a bit, ok? Hopefully I can keep this promise when she is ready to travel. hehe. Please be a good girl and sleep well at night and don't look for me at this period of time. *pray pray*.....

We booked everything via the travel agent because dad doesn't want to run up and down like a headless chicken and wasting our precious time in a foreign land. Actually, dad prefers everything to be 'bao' by the travel agent so he doesn't need to worry what to eat, where to go or how to go and so on. Hope everything will turn out fine and leave a memorable holidays for us.

See ya....:D

Baby-G's Birthday Party

Picture 'stolen' from Baby-G's blog. Mummy-J, hope you don't mind ;D

Last Sunday, we attended Mummy-J's baby girl's (Baby-G) 1st Birthday Party.

I was extremely excited because got to meet up with 2 of my long time no see school mates. Glad to know that both of them are doing great and have became a mother. Too bad, 2 other friends who were working in another countries were unable to attend.

The Luncheon was very well organised and I know Mummy-J and her hubby had worked so hard to make this party a success. From looking for a caterer, selecting Birthday cakes to decorating the hall, everything were nicely done. They even bought some black cardboard and pasted baby-G's photos from newborn till 1 years old on the wall.

I'm not a good blogger because I did not take any photos :( I was too busy eating and at the same time feeding YX while hubby handle baby XJ.

But I was very happy because I got to carry the Birthday girl. She is not afraid of strangers at all ! An easy baby for the parents. When I first arrived and requested to see baby-G, Mummy-J got to search the whole hall for her baby as she does not know who baby-sits her. haha..... It is a private function (all relatives and close friends) so Mummy-J does not have to worry.

Half way through the party, the poor Birthday girl fell asleep. Way past her afternoon nap. Baby XJ was also very sleepy and she slept in the car on our way back home.

Present for Baby-G. YX made a hand-print Birthday card with a little of my help. The dark greens belong to YX's hands while the light greens are baby XJ's hands.

Thank you Mummy-J for inviting us over and hope we could meet up again soon ;D

Your baby-G is very very cute. Love her soft hair and tofu-like complexion.

Colorful

I was very happy when I found these from the local bookstore. I've been planning to get them for YX for a long time already since his one and only black color marker pen had dried up.

Colorful marker pens

YX writes ........

And draws...... This is a monster (according to him)

This is a goat gazing on grasses. His goat must had starved for days....so thin ! haha

Shark dreaming to eat small fish.

A cock. While drawing this, YX make the sound cock-A-Doo-A-Doo...... and hence he drew that 3 lines in front of the cock's beak.

On top of that, YX uses those pens to make his candles. I told him that both mei mei and his Birthday are approaching and he arranged the 'candles' . 4 for him and 2 for mei mei.

And he uses them to fight ! boy...oh boy.....the blue represent Blue Ultraman and the red is obviously Red ultraman.

Eating healthy

Never did I imagine I will be eating brown rice for health sake. No, I'm not ill in anyway but just wanted to start a healthy living. :D

Many said that brown rice have more benefits comparing to the normal white rice. The taste is quite acceptable but I find it a little bit too hard. Hubby thinks they are quite hard to stomach and requested me to mix with some white rice. The ratio - brown rice 70% : white rice 30% .

100% pure brown rice. Before cooking, I soaked for at least 30 minutes so they are easier to cook. After soaking, I transfer everything into the rice cooker and cook just like normal rice.

This is brown + white rice. Hubby said this is better. For me, both are fine.

Since I'm now cooking our own rice in the office's pantry, MIL suggested us to pack the leftover dishes from the previous night dinner for our next day lunch. We have no problem with that at all. In fact, this whole week (Mon till now), we have been eating home-cooked food.

The other night, MIL cooked braised pork + beancurd sheets + black fungus. She purposely cooked extra for us to bring to the office. Wow....our favorites !!! Delicious !!! In between, there are other dishes. Normally, it will be 1 meat, 1 or 2 types of vege.

p/s: SP, eventually now I packed my lunch from home just like Mummy-J. hehehe....just like what you said the other day.

Take a break.........

On Monday, after MIL fetched YX back from school she was told by the teacher that the kindie will be closed until Friday (20/8) due to 6 of the students were down with HFMD. Once I reached home, I quickly checked on YX and asked him if he felt unwell or any pain in the mouth. Glad to hear a negative replied.

Since the kindie was closed, YX followed me to the office everyday and I was unable to blog hop. Hope to catch up with you all soon.

Oh ! By the way, MIL did BATHE YX once he came back from school that day :D

Girls' shoes

Many elders believed that when a baby has not celebrated his / her 1st Birthday, they are not allowed to wear shoes. I'm not too sure of the reasons, however my MIL does not have this taboo and I actually bought 2 pairs of baby shoes for YX when I was only about 6 months pregnant. Those baby shoes are so lovely and cute. I just can't resist myself from buying. And yes, YX got to wear his 1st pair of shoes when he was only about 4 months old !

When came Baby XJ, I turned to Online shopping more because I found that Online shopping are actually very convenience and reliable. She too, wore her 1st shoes at about 4 months old ! I was glad that I choose to shop online for Baby XJ because I actually had to spent more time in choosing a suitable pair for her. There are so many type of designs for girls' shoes and I always can't make up my mind because everything seems to be so pretty to me. If I were to shop at our local shopping center, I don't think hubby will have the patience to wait for me.

However, by doing Online shopping we can only see from the picture from the website but we can't test or touch the items. Whenever I confirmed on my selection, the next headache will be the size. I doesn't want to end up paying for something which Baby XJ can't fit. So how do I solve this problem ? Well, the below video will give you the answer.

By using this method, I will be able to shop at ease. I won't have to worry that Baby XJ can't fit into the shoes I bought, be it too BIG or too small. I found that this video help me a lot in finding the correct shoe sizes. And buying something suitable for my own kids will bring out the satisfaction in me.

Precious toys

The doting grandfather knows that YX loves Ultraman. Hence, he bought a few for him to play.

2 Giant size and 2 mini size. The purple black color is bought by hubby from Tesco for only RM2.90. It is YX's monster. He told us, must have a monster for the Ultraman to fight ! *faint*

These Giant size have sound when the button was pressed. One of them can say FIRE ! FIRE ! then follows by the machine gun liked sound 'tooott tooottt piew piew' and they can be VERY NOISY at times (when we are tired and not in the mood). Baby XJ was also influenced by YX and love to play with this 'boy-type' toys.

The mini size one can't make any sound but YX love to play with these 2 the most. Why? Because there is a monster to fight! And he is very fair for he said only the same size can fight together. Oh...and he prefers the RED one because he said the BLUE one always lose ! Really? I have no idea on this. Haha.....so kiasu.

And the last picture proves how much he LOVES Ultraman.

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Play until he 'killed' the Ultraman. Head also came out ! LOL !

Oh boy !

I'm for sure YX's laziness to take bathe has now turned into a BAD HABIT ! This has been going on for almost 3 weeks or more !

Nevermind. No use to force. Moreover, MIL had gave up and told us that there is no way YX is willing to listen to her about this bathing issue. Everyone closed 1 eye. And so did I. Just got to learn to accept when something is beyond our control.

Then, one day as we returned from the office, I just can't stop laughing at this boy.

He must have gone to the toilet to ease himself and have no idea how to put them on correctly. Perhaps, he is in a hurry to watch tv or play toys ? But he was embarrassed when I wanted to take his photo. He ran around the house refused for me to snap a decent one not until he stood at the doorway looking at something. Unnoticed, I quickly click !

Boy, oh boy !

Homemade ice cream cake

When I read about this homemade ice-cream cake from My Little Sprouts!, I was so happy because I just can't believe that there is such a simple recipe exist in this world ~

The original recipe is from My Little Space and I quickly 'fly' over to her blog to get more information. I was even happier when I came to know that the ingredient required and methods to make this cake are quite simple. Well, at least I understand them! haha

I amended the ingredient a little bit. Instead of the original Tiger biscuits, I used Digestive because I happen to have this biscuits in my drawer. And Digestive biscuits really make a good base ! And instead of butter, I used margarine.

For the ice-cream, I used this. Don't go WOW yet. I have this too in my freezer and hence, I used it to make my 1st trial cake. This is also my 1st time buying such an expensive ice-cream because a few months back, the Hypermarket had a promotion for this brand. RM50 for 2 pints. A tad too sweet for me. Still prefer the cheaper type actually.

I melted the ice-cream and beat till creamy ~ errr.....not too sure how does 'creamy' looks like so I just beat till a lot of bubble appeared. I stopped because my hand are tired. ^_^ and I thought, hmmm....should be done.

I poured the melted, beaten ice-cream into this Tupperware and freeze it. For the top, I used Vanilla flavor (the other pint of ice-cream I had in the freezer).


The next day...........taadaa...........my ice-cream cake is done! Look at the faint black line on top of the biscuits based. That's the cookies n' cream sinked at the bottom and they make a nice outline.

The taste ? YUMMY ! It just bring out a very special taste when eating the ice-cream with the cookies based. Most importantly, hubby said it was nice ! ^_^

I did not add any fruits in between because this was only for trial. I bet with some fruits like kiwi / mango / grapes will make it taste unique.

Next, am going to make this cake again for YX & XJ's birthday (sharing) since both B'day falls on the same month with 5 days apart. Just a plan only. Let's see if I got the confidence to get this done or not !

While exchanging some e-mails with Mummy-J, I was even thrilled when she gave me some great ideas. She suggested to top the ice-cream with jelly. Or the jelly cubes can also be added in between of the ice-cream. For the pan, she suggested to buy those small & round disposable aluminium casing and I can turn my ice-cream cake into cupcakes-style ! I can't wait to go for shopping now !

Note : For the recipe, please visit My Little Space.

My carelessness caused me $$$

Sigh! Not a good heading but a good story on FRIDAY the 13th. Anyway, this was a past dated post. It happened 2 weeks ago.

I was asked to collect a piece of cheque from a customer. I 'hate' to go over to this customer's office because the premises is gated. Everytime, I will have to pray and hope the gate is open so I can drive straight in. The gate I'm referring to is like those railway gate which dropped down from the top to the bottom. Some call it barred gate? I'm not too sure of the name. Normally it is red with white stripes on it.

example of the gate I'm referring to. Googled for the image.

I can just park my car at the open space provided and walk all the way into the office. I don't mind walking. But the main problem is, there were 3 BLACK DOGS ! I'm afraid of dogs, what more BLACK color type. They looked fierce.

So by hooked or by crooked I need to drive in so I can avoid the dogs. I was delighted when I noticed the barred gate was slightly slanted (with one side higher than the other). I was too confidence that my car can pass through that small gap and thus, step on the accelerator.

* BANG * That's the prize I got from entering with poor judgement. SIGH !

The roof of my car was 'decorated' and I need to repaint the whole roof and that cost me RM280 !

Not only that. The radio antenna which was attached at the back of the car roof was broken and I have yet to find a replacement for that. Wonder how much will that cost me.

I was lucky hubby did not get angry over this matter. My in-laws did not even nagged at me.

Come to think of it, it is more of my stupidity that cost me an expensive lesson. I guess, I need to pray harder next time when I'm asked to visit this customer !

Going to be 2

My 'lady boss' will be turning 2 in 12 September. Exactly 1 month time ! She is growing too fast and I really missed her baby time. Love to cuddle her in my arm and love to hear her cooing. Awwww.......



Weight : 11 kg

Height : unknown (refused to be measured)



1) Loves to eat wantan noodle but not the wantan.

2) Loves fried chicken very much. Normally, I only give her the chicken meat and keep the skin for myself (save the best for myself... haha)

3) Feeding time is a battle for me as she can't sit still and actively moving around the house. I've let her tried self-feeding and that does not work either. But when we dine outside, somehow, she will bahave herself, self-feeding. Funny ~

4) Very 'manja'. When get scolding from us, she will cry so pityful while mumbling 'Ah ma'. And the doting grandmother will comes to her rescue.

5) Loves to flip book....and in a very unlady like manner ;D



6) Can speak more clearly in short sentences.

7) Very vain. Everytime after her bathe, she will said "chuan mei mei, kai kai" (wear pretty pretty, go kai kai).

8) Have no mercy for ant. Whenever she saw one, she will shout out loud "ANT" and stomped on it / or press with her finger. Not afraid or feel 'geli' at all.

9) Loves to play with ball. She throw, she kick.

10) Is 100% diaperless in the day time, even during outing / shopping. However, she still required to wear diaper during night bedtime but will stay dry sometimes. Hence, I can recycle her diaper.

Now, we will have to start planning for her up coming birthday, to be celebrated together with YX. :D

Addiction

After I had this guava + preserved lemon skin at my cousin's house, I was addicted to it. This is actually my 3rd time doing it.

Scrape off the skin of the guava till clean. Took out the seeds and cut the guava as thinly as possible. Cut the preserved lemon skin as small as possible for better taste. The above lemon skin looked a little bit dark because it is an old stock from the drawer. I find it not that tasty anymore if compare to the fresher one which look whitish.

Once done, mix the guava and the preserved lemon skin together and keep in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Let the preserved lemon skin sip into the guava flesh.

This is the bottom view. Eat them while they are still cold for better taste. Yummy !

Have you tried this before? Or you have other guava recipe to share?

Fedora Hats

Whenever I watched English movies, I always admired those rich women wearing beautiful hats with gorgeous dress. They matched so perfectly. Then, I came to know actually those hats are known as Fedora Hats. It is name after a talented actress who acted as Princess Fedora in 1882 stage play.

Talking about stage play, this reminded me of my student training years with a resorts in Desaru Island, Johor. It was only a 4 months sting there and my friend and I were so lucky to be chosen to act in the stage play for some company's annual family days. It was such a huge events that were so proud to be part of it.

When we were told about this stage play, the first thing came into my mind was I will have a chance to wear the Fedora Hats for women. However, it was another group of people who had that chance while my friend and I was being assigned to act in a local Malay show. Disappointed, I only stand behind the stage to admire that group of people. How I wish one of the day, I will have a chance to wear the Fedora Hats.

Going to be 4 .......

The ever mischevious but caring little boy of mine !

My little boss will be turning 4 in 7 September.

Weight : 15 kg (kind of underweight ya)
Height : 102 cm

1) Loves nasi lemak and can take a little bit of 'sambal' with it.
2) Very caring towards Baby XJ, but sometimes like to snatch her toy and make baby scream !
3) Teaches baby how to speak certain word. The other day, I overheard YX teaching baby to pronounce butterfly. He goes step by step telling baby to say 1) 'but', 2) 'ter', 3) 'fly'.
4) Still refuse to eat vegetables but he started to eat carrots and pumpkins unnoticed. I will hide these vege under his rice and feed him while he is watching his favourite cartoon shows. He is more into meat (chicken, pork and fish).
5) Deeply, madly in LOVE with Ultraman.
6) Likes to tell me stories, especially about his school. Like what teacher said, what his friend did and who cry because of this and that. His stories are with climax !
7) Willing to share any type of food with baby including his favourite food.
8) Lazy to take bathe and sometimes lazy to brush teeth ! No matter how, I will still force him. Can't turn this laziness into a BAD HABIT !
9) Like to imitate adult's talking. Sometimes, what he said really make us all laugh !
10) Can't sit still while watching tv. One minute sitting, one minute standing and the next minute 1 leg on the floor and another leg on the sofa. *shake head*

Baby languages

Sometimes, I'm wondering if these baby language (below) have became an International baby language, or Asians or are they Malaysian made ?

Eating / Food = mum mum
Bathe = pom pom
Sleep = oink oink (sounds like pig) hehe
Pass urine = shee shee
Pass motion = enggg enggg
Outing = kai kai
Water = kut kut
insects = kar kar (literaly translate as 'bites'?)
dog = wou wou
cat = meow meow

Case 1
I still remember SIL used to teach her son (who was then 3 - 4 y.o) that satay is known as 'emmuak'. I don't know why she choosed this word. Maybe the way we eat this skewer meat
sounds like that? Whenever her son wanted to eat satay, he will say "I want to eat 'emmuak'.
Even up till today (6 y.o) he will refer satay as 'emmuak' althought he already knew the correct word.

Case 2
One of my relative used to refer car as 'M M' to her son. Her son was then still a toddler always said 'M M' when he wanted to play with a car toy or wanted to sit in a car. I don't know what does that mean. Maybe he got a toy car with the brand of 'M'. Her son has all grown up now and is furthering his studies in the local U.

Case 3
Same goes to hubby. He likes to tell the kids soya milk is 'papa's milk milk'. This has been 'saved' into YX's memory and whenever he goes to the pasar malam, he will said "I want to drink 'papa's milk milk'. Why papa's milk milk you must be wondering. Because soya milk is white in colour (looks like milk) and hubby loves soya. Thus, papa's milk milk was created.

Do you have any other baby language to share with me here? Would love to hear from you ^_^

How about me, baby ?

As usual, when I put baby XJ to bed, she will automatically cuddle her Patrick. But last night, she did more than a cuddle. She kissed her Patrick twice and smiled to Patrick. Lying beside her, I said "Baby, kiss mama". She turned and looked at me, then she shook her head and said "NO".

Then I went "Huh! You rather kiss your Patrick and don't wanna kiss mama"?

She smiled at me cheekily and continued to cuddle her Patrick and shifted her butt facing me !

Sob sob sob...... T___T

Follow

This morning baby woke up earlier than usual, so she managed to 'witness' her koko changing into his uniform. Baby said "koko mei mei" (beautiful). So I told her koko is going to school. She nodded her head. Then, she saw me changed and said "mama mei mei". And I told her I'm going to work. She nodded her head again.

Once we were at the door, baby suddenly ran to take her shoes and asked hubby to put on for her while saying "kai kai". Normally, baby will waves bye bye to us but this morning, she wanted to follow us instead. No choice (as time is running out), we left hurriedly while baby (being carried by MIL) still holding to her shoes protesting to go out. So sad to see her like that :(

This reminds me of my childhood time. Whenever my parents wanted to go somewhere, I will immediately put down everything and get ready to follow them. Unlike my brother, he will continues with his things and don't bother at all. Mum will called me (in hokkien) 'ai ter lor' (likes to follow). Even mum wanted to bring something to the neighbour (a few doors away), I will follow. Whenever mum goes to the mini market nearby to buy something, I will follow.

How about you? Are you those "ai ter lor" type when you are a child? Or maybe even now?

Fishing !

Last weekend, we had a fun time with the kids.

We made our own fishing game !

A variety of sea creatures. Some are drew by YX and some I traced from his sand toy mould. The frogs are from here.

Hubby made the fishing rod from the balloon stick.

The happy boy enjoyed his fishing game

And baby join in the fun too !