tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12816021387703828492024-02-22T08:46:27.634-08:00Play + Learn = Fun, Fun, Fun!zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-23657307393439470872012-05-29T01:48:00.000-07:002012-05-29T01:48:09.518-07:00How to potty train your child – the FUN & stress-free way!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIN1KSob_UUXnBuTPcBO4hW9ix_xr1zc7BMTk20SWEYHYBG3d50Mhefz3Qr5U0LMg7KSXCTHYWrFqHA0SnDoaeOkkaHgjbZ1Lqv9qc2v4q-Ap3FDk2MYkJfzmOu4o_1bCn2MfXHFlKp1ap/s1600/potty-training-b-425ds041309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIN1KSob_UUXnBuTPcBO4hW9ix_xr1zc7BMTk20SWEYHYBG3d50Mhefz3Qr5U0LMg7KSXCTHYWrFqHA0SnDoaeOkkaHgjbZ1Lqv9qc2v4q-Ap3FDk2MYkJfzmOu4o_1bCn2MfXHFlKp1ap/s320/potty-training-b-425ds041309.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My daughter just turned 4 in March, and I think it’s time to
really get down to business and potty train her for real. I have tried training
her before shortly after her 2<sup>nd</sup> & 3<sup>rd</sup> birthdays, but
both attempts failed miserably. She just could not get it. It completely
stressed her out; she would wail and whine and scream while squatting/sitting
on the potty I bought for her, crying her heart out “I can’t pee, mama”,
“There’s nothing coming out”, “Why is this taking so long?” and many other
heart wrenching pleas that I can’t remember. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There are plenty of books and plenty of articles out there
saying how you can potty train your child in one day, one week or whatever. I
read a lot of those articles on parenting and children websites saying that
your child should be potty trained by 18 months old or 2 years old the latest,
or your child could be behind on her development milestone. What I think is –
if there’s no major physical limitation e.g. the child still can’t walk by the
age of 3 – you can forget all those psychological bullshit. You are the mother
of the child; you should know what’s best for your child and work around that
principle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So that’s what I thought. If she’s not ready, then she’s not
ready. There’s no use pushing her until she screams her head off, both of us getting
all stressed and achieving nothing in the end. I do have friends and relatives
that comment that she’s too old to be wearing diapers anymore and how their
child/grandchild/niece/nephew was potty trained before the age of 3. (This
seems to be the gold standard. Any later that this means your child is a
slacker.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So I’m gonna do this my way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Also, I’ve found out that the No 1, ultimate, essential tool
in potty training. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZH9UMHxVTFh28jSwMqR5B7bSN8boYSi8J0BGYZb_ZBjWi6Mvp_TBF3qk914DlhWckDK4CXDTqK6dSn-YZOrZ2Ok-fHwoVfXvZ6pM48MBrigGDGReGDejNO-rrlLyQWioh2fB9pWqZQLxv/s1600/20120505_143315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZH9UMHxVTFh28jSwMqR5B7bSN8boYSi8J0BGYZb_ZBjWi6Mvp_TBF3qk914DlhWckDK4CXDTqK6dSn-YZOrZ2Ok-fHwoVfXvZ6pM48MBrigGDGReGDejNO-rrlLyQWioh2fB9pWqZQLxv/s320/20120505_143315.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a very state-of-the-art potty, but very cute nonetheless.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A state-of-the-art potty trainer? It helps, but it’s not
necessary. When your child is good and ready, she won’t even need a potty
anymore. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The answer is: Patience.
Lots and lots of patience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The process of potty training my daughter took about 1 ½ months,
which is quite long compared to the “normal” toilet training as recommended by
the parenting experts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">However, after the first two failed attempts at potty
training, I abandoned all the knowledge I’ve gained from the parenting
websites, magazines and books and asked my mother and my mother-in-law for
tips. Both of them said the same thing; start by taking the child to the toilet
every few hours. Okay, very logical. In fact I have tried this before,
resulting in the heart wrenching screams.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How to push her to
succeed without pushing<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What I need is to do is motivate her without putting too
much stress and pressure on her. It has to be fun, visual and seem to be a like
game. And it can’t be chocolates, sweets or ice cream, all her favourite
things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The obvious solution is: Stickers. Kids LOVE stickers. And not just ordinary
stickers. Special, squishy and glittery stickers, awarded only upon successful
potty usage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At first I bought a roll of colourful, smiley-face stickers
that has motivation phrases on them, such as ‘Good Job!’, ‘Well Done!’ and
‘You’re a Star!’ on them. But they all look pretty much the same, and after a
while, doesn’t seem so special anymore. So I bought other stickers in random
shapes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I searched for free potty training charts in the internet
and printed 2 copies, one for my daughter and one for her younger brother. I
didn’t want him to feel left out, so I let him play along too. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then I thought of another visual motivational goal – a photo
of my kids actually on the potty. So I printed out 2 copies of a child on the
potty and superimposed their head shots on the child’s body. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNmXbcEWEjxoJ5S4DZmAHp30i880hD56F-ENzZpHJJam9AGUaSmLUNxa8Sl8peOCw5NQbFPkn386rZx8N6jTSaD8nCicdpk70Ccb5WutOIykEVbdFceja8qzQ390FmuTgFVlmkd3rxjuo/s1600/20120325_090724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNmXbcEWEjxoJ5S4DZmAHp30i880hD56F-ENzZpHJJam9AGUaSmLUNxa8Sl8peOCw5NQbFPkn386rZx8N6jTSaD8nCicdpk70Ccb5WutOIykEVbdFceja8qzQ390FmuTgFVlmkd3rxjuo/s320/20120325_090724.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The early days - my son wasn't actually potty training, but I had to give him some stickers too to avoid any hard feelings. :)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I also bought a packet of pull-up pants diapers for my
daughter to get used to wearing. I pasted the two charts on the wall in their
play room with the superimposed head shots above each chart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Purpose? (Get her toilet trained.) Check.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Motivation? (The special stickers) Check.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Visual goal? (The
chart & the super-imposed photo) Check.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then I explained to my daughter how it works. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">How it works<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the beginning, she will start wearing the pull-up pants.
Every time she wants to pee, she needs to tell me or the maid that she needs to
go, so either of us can help her take off her pants and sit her down on her
potty. I also reminded my maid to ask her every two to three hours whether she
wants to go to the toilet. Then I showed my daughter the ‘special’ stickers,
telling her that I will keep them for her, so every time she succeeded using
the potty, I’ll give her a sticker and she could paste it on her chart. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To
start the engines running, I gave her a first sticker for ‘free’. (I had to
give one to my son too, because he was there listening. He’ll throw a fit if he
sees his sister getting a sticker and he doesn’t.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You should have seen how their little faces light up when
they see the stickers! I didn’t have to wait long for results; she told me the
next day that she succeeded going to the toilet. She was literally skipping and
smiling to let me know she did it. Going to the toilet became such a fun thing
to do! I praised her repeatedly for her achievements, with kisses, hugs and high-fives. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At first, success came only once a day, then it increased to twice a day, and
three times a day, and about 2 weeks later, her diaper stayed dry all day. So I
decided that it was the ripe time to start losing the diaper. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Progress 1 –
Losing the diaper<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All carpets were rolled up and stashed away, just in case of
any potty accidents. I put on a diaper on my daughter only when she took her
afternoon nap. It went pretty well except for 2 accidents, both happened at
home, when she was too engrossed playing and she totally forgot to go to the
toilet. It’s really hard to stay calm when such accidents happened, especially
when you just get home from work, all grumpy and tired, or when you’ve just
finished cleaning up the house, as one friend told me. Remember that no 1 tool?
Patience, patience – and if you feel like screaming at the top of your lungs –
more patience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Progress 2 –
Losing the diaper while travelling<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When my daughter stayed dry at home and was accident free,
the next step was to not wear diapers when travelling outside the house. I kept
asking her every hour if she needed to pee, and she kept saying no in a really
confident way. She also had to learn to make do with any toilet available,
whether we were in shopping malls or a relative’s house. At first she felt a
little icky of shopping malls’ toilets which were, admittedly, less-than-spotlessly-clean,
but after a few times, she didn’t just care anymore. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u>Progress 2 – Losing the diaper during afternoon naps & moving on
to the “big” job<o:p></o:p></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Her bladder control is getting better, as I began to notice
that she did not pee at all during her afternoon naps. So I decided to try not
diapering her while she napped. I’m happy to report that no accidents occurred
other than the first two I mentioned previously. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even better, she has even
started to poop in the toilet. Previously whenever she wants to poop, she would
ask to put on her diaper pants and poop in it. So whenever she did successfully
poop in the toilet, I would give her extra stickers. I’d say this is a great
achievement for my daughter, since she used to have bouts of constipation that
left her traumatic to even sit on the toilet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHs1jJ1tmEXbFulhSD1eg_vg8bv9kLV9dbWPxGk8Lw8_A-TeQ8BNEG-Bw_0y0SWT1GE1lKsYGvRrTfFwNUaOIWDnIeSJmxvYOyeDy0BG9fPsfd4mwxDfBptprHdIMWAybJ11qrL4_41bj2/s1600/20120408_103913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHs1jJ1tmEXbFulhSD1eg_vg8bv9kLV9dbWPxGk8Lw8_A-TeQ8BNEG-Bw_0y0SWT1GE1lKsYGvRrTfFwNUaOIWDnIeSJmxvYOyeDy0BG9fPsfd4mwxDfBptprHdIMWAybJ11qrL4_41bj2/s320/20120408_103913.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many stickers that the chart can't fit them all! I didn't show my son's chart as there wasn't much change, anyway. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All in all – a learning
experience<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My daughter still wears her night diaper and I haven’t
started on the night toilet training yet, which would be another challenge. But
it was such a fun and relaxing method, I didn’t mind the slowness of progress
at all. Rather than setting my standards on my daughter i.e. you must be toilet
trained in 3 days, I let her set her own learning pace, even at 4 years of age.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was an educational journey, for both my daughter and me. Of
course she learned how to go to the toilet on her own and all that, but the
most important lesson here is independence. She also learned that to get the
reward, she needs to earn it. She learns to appreciate the reward, because she
has achieved it on her own. The chart is a visual proof which shows her achievements
and encourages her to improve, without putting on any pressure. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I feel that I got to know my daughter’s personality better
during this process. Her emotions are quite volatile, in the sense that when
she’s happy, she chatters endlessly and sings all day long. But at a moment’s
notice, that could flip right into a screaming fest of emotional outbursts. I’ve
learned when to back off and chill when it’s not working and accept the fact
that my daughter will not be able to toilet train in 3 days, and that doesn’t make
her, or myself, a failure. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Breathe, stay calm and try again another day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you’re getting all stressed up & hot and bothered at
how your child just can’t get the hang of using the potty just yet, relax and
take heart. I promise you she won’t go to college in diapers.</span></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-58023205019801101602012-04-24T21:44:00.000-07:002012-04-24T21:44:04.510-07:00How puzzling is that? – How puzzles can rock your child’s world<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqmRja7TGSsgq-sQrx5tQl4rcXMOCwembcJ2n6LbPEiXKmlUh6wYKVSMNFF8rdN3nAN2TsZpKNrq_DPHAVJv4PbT6qxs4AU7cA9rmazp_fFBW1B1ySzmXDS3CR9uuflljXfhd4j0dg-rbp/s1600/wooden-number-board+puzzle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqmRja7TGSsgq-sQrx5tQl4rcXMOCwembcJ2n6LbPEiXKmlUh6wYKVSMNFF8rdN3nAN2TsZpKNrq_DPHAVJv4PbT6qxs4AU7cA9rmazp_fFBW1B1ySzmXDS3CR9uuflljXfhd4j0dg-rbp/s320/wooden-number-board+puzzle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alphabet wooden puzzle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I’ve never taken a liking or interest for puzzles or chess,
or any thinking games. No one has ever told me that I should, or showed to me
that puzzles are fun, or has educational benefits, or can make a person
smarter. From what I can see, puzzles are anything but fun. How can arranging
things to make a picture seem fun? (That alone should show you how I suck at organizing
and arranging stuff. Yikes.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But that all changed when I became a parent myself. You know
how a mom always wants the best for her child? I thought “I can’t let my child
become a dumb-ass like me!” or somewhere along those lines. I knew that play is
a child’s work, so I started researching on smart and educational play. I mean,
why let them merely play, when they can play and learn and become smarter
individuals at the same time? You know, kill ten birds at one time. Moms are
nothing but time-saving, efficient multi-taskers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I started exposing my kids to puzzles from they were about a
year old. I bought 2-3 pieces large puzzles of animal pictures for my daughter
to assemble. At first she doesn’t know how to match the head of the animals and
their bodies. I’d have to show her which is the cat’s head and its body, the
fish’s head and its body, and so on. But after several attempts, she seemed to
catch on. She would try and match the heads and bodies and see if they fit.
Then when it doesn’t, she takes another piece and tries to fit it, until she
finds a perfect match. It’s amazing to see a child that young being able to
match something correctly. These all happened before I started researching on
the benefits of puzzles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Physical benefits </b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IJYik9kdSEne0IpzCJnxe_bMt011jSZuzgp54Rj37olSC0UBwqUg3tJVbsRjFrllCKCKblMOzvtGqbfLHb-krkemYd4QyrBYW7LpCW9oLOoAojFOj7YTX6wl-22eBl63JpG-T-geiFK8/s1600/circus+puzzle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IJYik9kdSEne0IpzCJnxe_bMt011jSZuzgp54Rj37olSC0UBwqUg3tJVbsRjFrllCKCKblMOzvtGqbfLHb-krkemYd4QyrBYW7LpCW9oLOoAojFOj7YTX6wl-22eBl63JpG-T-geiFK8/s320/circus+puzzle.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Young children are learning and developing fine motor
skills, meaning the ability to make small or fine, controlled movements.
Puzzles are a fun way to improve their motor skills i.e. the ability to pinch,
pick up and grasp small items which are important for writing later on. You
know how babies and young toddlers are always picking up small items on the
floor such as buttons, coins, dust particles and leftover foods? Yeah, that’s
gross motor skills in action. Puzzles are a much cleaner and safer way to
learn, don’t you think?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Another physical benefit apparent in playing with puzzles is
the hand eye coordination, which involves the coordinated vision and hand
movement to execute a task. We as adults may not think twice when picking up
something or writing with a pen, but a young child has to learn to do this.
When assembling a puzzle, the child places each piece in the puzzle and
manipulating it to see if it fits. This trial and error process is also
enhancing the hand eye coordination. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk14Sxi9A01EtPm_bP6tl53F0NFYbWCg10aWY7C8WPCXwrDmr91ObGxKlS3Qgfz3AZDiUN49vMNixPhNwOBsy2xXVGRmOC42c3h3FNdG_4Kr5Glm9YU3TfPnqkakkM5PEV9qVl8xTc2QPe/s1600/mcm+mcm+047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk14Sxi9A01EtPm_bP6tl53F0NFYbWCg10aWY7C8WPCXwrDmr91ObGxKlS3Qgfz3AZDiUN49vMNixPhNwOBsy2xXVGRmOC42c3h3FNdG_4Kr5Glm9YU3TfPnqkakkM5PEV9qVl8xTc2QPe/s320/mcm+mcm+047.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Intellectual benefits</b><o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Puzzles are a way of stimulating the thinking side of a
child’s brain, focusing on problem solving and reasoning skills such as process
and logical thinking. As your child tries to fit and match the puzzles, they
realize that there several ways to attack a problem and experiment with ways
that works best for him. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Puzzles also improve a child’s cognitive skills, i.e.
learning to understand how the small puzzle pieces fit together to form a
complete puzzle set. Depending on the puzzle theme, they’re also learning specific
subjects such as alphabets, numbers, animals and colours, among many others.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoV25hHk1Np96p5JbF4kabtqr4zWuZfigQQI-zchVmOHHyrTqC5r-p95t3YsVFuKDxp9G32fgJC2SHoO5z7lAdqXu1qTtonufW65fI_uo74DLobKM_uQ07FF2moT02SAIHbOlDZROA6XA/s1600/mcm+mcm+048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyoV25hHk1Np96p5JbF4kabtqr4zWuZfigQQI-zchVmOHHyrTqC5r-p95t3YsVFuKDxp9G32fgJC2SHoO5z7lAdqXu1qTtonufW65fI_uo74DLobKM_uQ07FF2moT02SAIHbOlDZROA6XA/s320/mcm+mcm+048.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My daughter arranging puzzles on her own.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Emotional and social benefits</b></span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You know how it feels to accomplish something? How
satisfying that feels? Children feel that too. You can see how absorbed and
determined they are, trying to fit them together until they match. And when
they finally finish the puzzle, they clap and cheer to acknowledge that sense
of achievement. The accomplishment and the praise by the audience (adoring
parents, of course) increase self confidence. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Puzzles are the one of the best family or social games
around, just like card and board games such as Monopoly and Uno. Fitting a
puzzle requires cooperation and thinking as a group, which is also a great
bonding tool. As parents guide their children on matching the puzzle pieces,
they could also encourage them to try again when the child gets it wrong,
encourage them not to give up and think around the problem, teach them how to
handle frustration. Quality time with your kids, and learning so many things at
the same time. That certainly beats your child hogging your Ipad playing Angry
Birds for hours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">So
keeping in mind all these benefits, it’s about time that you start buying some
puzzles for your kids, don’t you think? ;)</span></div>
</span>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-29216357458810423332012-04-18T23:13:00.000-07:002012-04-18T23:13:48.978-07:00Alphabet Match Up activity for kids<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I originally found this at <a href="http://michellesjournalcorner.blogspot.com/2009/03/alphabet-match-up-literacy-activity.html">Muffin Tin Mom</a> website, and I think
it’s quite simple to make, using cheap stationeries, so I decided to give it a
try. I did it from scratch in about an hour or so, while the kids were taking
their afternoon nap. I already bought the materials beforehand for quite a
while now, but I never had the time to do it (or possibly, too lazy to think about
it. Hah!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, laying out the materials.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7K-wY5P_aPS4ZQxKwck_l4a5qb8yv2qc8wBRmxvkLziPpWVNLmozLEfiHQC92sZW1qPgA5SPaZYGH5YlhjozZWWe6a6SN8oiJbMdhNfpz95t9bLWjmmLpx8B-n4L4W77iTZ5Fj4NP4xw/s1600/20120207_163857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha7K-wY5P_aPS4ZQxKwck_l4a5qb8yv2qc8wBRmxvkLziPpWVNLmozLEfiHQC92sZW1qPgA5SPaZYGH5YlhjozZWWe6a6SN8oiJbMdhNfpz95t9bLWjmmLpx8B-n4L4W77iTZ5Fj4NP4xw/s320/20120207_163857.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A large cardboard in any colour you prefer. I chose orange
to make it nice and bright.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQQjMLOL1Ljw7eRZ8gLDT2_eb1WEmfmGC-F3i3nhDLdVKfiAhN8RQF0BnNlSuSdB1XdCq0OGdbI8ZlFSAV4SOGmzwaX0mT9ukJNSlErIsijGPdUCPnwsNkZqTR71DIE1wlC7tURnCijMU/s1600/20120207_163957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgQQjMLOL1Ljw7eRZ8gLDT2_eb1WEmfmGC-F3i3nhDLdVKfiAhN8RQF0BnNlSuSdB1XdCq0OGdbI8ZlFSAV4SOGmzwaX0mT9ukJNSlErIsijGPdUCPnwsNkZqTR71DIE1wlC7tURnCijMU/s320/20120207_163957.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A stack of paper. You can use normal A4 paper if you like
(or if you’re more cheapskate than me), or buy some nice cardstock like I did. You
can even cut up some boxes and then paste the alphabet card on it, to make a
sturdier card.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtBV9pREnem_tnfYhe1mHaxjaen7ZHNikAWCbQA9_wOwOT3jiwvukvAZCAxauJygKWFFcV13n6UyDW77Z4LhKWh-vs_2BNJzB_bG9BibuG-gDj5h9AlwP2wE4YIkPKVaA1RGnyFn6IFWB/s1600/20120207_164159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUtBV9pREnem_tnfYhe1mHaxjaen7ZHNikAWCbQA9_wOwOT3jiwvukvAZCAxauJygKWFFcV13n6UyDW77Z4LhKWh-vs_2BNJzB_bG9BibuG-gDj5h9AlwP2wE4YIkPKVaA1RGnyFn6IFWB/s320/20120207_164159.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A strip of Velcro, scissors and coloured pens, if you’d like
to colour and decorate the cards. I didn’t have time to do any decorating as my
kids woke up just as I finished.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwh6i3-qhyphenhyphenFfOgRBxXq6L_l5QmOveYvXLD5M8o3YiLDQUn2yyEwO24pwdehOO-zxb_bDodGUAVetwj1oAxpFNiwEUVaoZTo67eBVewVIdsTzBzULBRXrNrALHvx2fAO2_Bdq3VFudI7Ly/s1600/abc+stickers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmwh6i3-qhyphenhyphenFfOgRBxXq6L_l5QmOveYvXLD5M8o3YiLDQUn2yyEwO24pwdehOO-zxb_bDodGUAVetwj1oAxpFNiwEUVaoZTo67eBVewVIdsTzBzULBRXrNrALHvx2fAO2_Bdq3VFudI7Ly/s1600/abc+stickers.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I forgot to take photos of my own stickers. Hmmph.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">2 sets of alphabet stickers. You can just print out 2 sets
of alphabet flashcards from the internet, or buy some, if you like. It would
save more time, as you won’t need to cut up the paper or paste stickers. Up to
you, really. My kids love stickers, so I decided to buy some.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Ok, let’s start!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9m6EdYehvH5m3TC50HvsnUhJKD1nP6tVcmgCcBl8cptRy-65uTYiFm4XlZfMGL3ciK8R1TzUcqeZ73ljC-UFdI_dYyhRthwFA_T13hhg7xh2yIOXpH3pMfACHE_4pBvhD4uyNR6Kl_4L/s1600/page+alphabet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL9m6EdYehvH5m3TC50HvsnUhJKD1nP6tVcmgCcBl8cptRy-65uTYiFm4XlZfMGL3ciK8R1TzUcqeZ73ljC-UFdI_dYyhRthwFA_T13hhg7xh2yIOXpH3pMfACHE_4pBvhD4uyNR6Kl_4L/s320/page+alphabet.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is the fast and easy way to cut up the paper. (I’m
racing against time here, remember?) Fold the paper in two and cut it up. Then
fold the long strip of paper into four and cut them up. One sheet of paper can
produce 8 little cards, just about the size of a flashcard. You don’t want it
to be too big, it’ll take up too much space on the cardboard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As there are 26 alphabets, you’ll need 52 little cards in total.
(Did you have to count how many letters are there? Heh.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Here’s the fun part – pasting the stickers on the cards. Go ahead,
it’ll bring out the child in you, I promise! And you’ll understand why kids
love stickers so much.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0v8Aaix6wIZxVpiNLxOBv5r3iE0cpZZu6N-Pt196Sd3kA-hWcnHEd6mo0n7Gn9D_BtkNMVBIJFNAzZVo_avlklXCRO8aA5T1vvMOLKrzg0hsPSr3UWEpJXiC2v8eZHXWyzwY6YUvz0Fvk/s1600/20120207_163746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0v8Aaix6wIZxVpiNLxOBv5r3iE0cpZZu6N-Pt196Sd3kA-hWcnHEd6mo0n7Gn9D_BtkNMVBIJFNAzZVo_avlklXCRO8aA5T1vvMOLKrzg0hsPSr3UWEpJXiC2v8eZHXWyzwY6YUvz0Fvk/s320/20120207_163746.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have no idea why this picture came out vertical like this. Can someone tell me how to fix this?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Before you start sticking the Velcro on the cards and on the
cardboard, I think it’s better to arrange the cards on the cardboard first,
just to be sure of the placing. Good thing I did, I couldn’t fit all the
letters on one surface, so I had to continue on the back. As you can see from
the Muffin Tin Mom, her cardboard is bigger so it could fit all the letters. Or
maybe my arrangement is a little off, I don’t know. It’s okay, we’re not trying
to be too precise, it’s an activity for kids anyway. Unless you or your kids
have OCD.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtAqsXZEPO6qrjFn4tX42_RBvJ1qH8cCVXqWbt2vygI2Ir-13DGC0waM1FfjgffAy_AtOfpqaxbfk2SE4o4brkhRlLLgpq_dNfVgKb37S-Yqb7Clr7LnYv8fIY4bdGqEIjduzAutD2OLO/s1600/20120207_165624.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtAqsXZEPO6qrjFn4tX42_RBvJ1qH8cCVXqWbt2vygI2Ir-13DGC0waM1FfjgffAy_AtOfpqaxbfk2SE4o4brkhRlLLgpq_dNfVgKb37S-Yqb7Clr7LnYv8fIY4bdGqEIjduzAutD2OLO/s320/20120207_165624.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then cut up the Velcro strip into small pieces. For people
who have never used Velcro before, (like yours truly) you might wonder why
there are two strips. One strip is the hairy one and the other is the rough
one. They only stick on each other i.e. if you try to stick the hairy piece
onto another hairy piece, it won’t stick. So you need to stick the rough ones
on the large cardboard and the hairy ones on the back of each little card.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Okay, go ahead and stick them all. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFipRR_rsAGZu1Mm32hyphenhyphenYUmCBzXDZoBhtJPhu_Sp8aRKm1I10LBZ1VwRH8IVfKg51B4n4UCW9x4ODwRx6ZIFNIyfTs8QOFRIeYE5uCEEsLkec4gaDjD2sjeiBA-Qk6htXS_HVPpP3MNHAx/s1600/20120207_170638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFipRR_rsAGZu1Mm32hyphenhyphenYUmCBzXDZoBhtJPhu_Sp8aRKm1I10LBZ1VwRH8IVfKg51B4n4UCW9x4ODwRx6ZIFNIyfTs8QOFRIeYE5uCEEsLkec4gaDjD2sjeiBA-Qk6htXS_HVPpP3MNHAx/s320/20120207_170638.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Like I said, I had to continue on the back.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Unlike the Muffin Tin Mom, I forgot to make the small open
box the put in the second set of cards. Oh well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">All done! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That wasn’t too hard, was it? ;)</span></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-89962473241613685872012-03-13T01:55:00.000-07:002012-03-13T01:58:02.545-07:00<div style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
Personally, I've never read any of his books. Only today that I realized that The Grinch and Horton the Elephant are characters from his books. I guess with the launch of the new movie 'The Lorax' (what the hell is that??) and his recent birthday, March 2, that I begin to get the "Seuss" awareness.</div>
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But I'd like to share this image I found here with his famous quotes, which are really fun to say. They're like tongue twisters!</div>
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And check out his official website,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.seussville.com/">Seussville</a>. It's like a fantasy playland, where everything's waving and playing merrily.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="color: black; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfwwtvlvY6ScQriJn2GiLVu0tIKtqhU4rLRCUQRivJI7qu21SDkktOZbK_RERJcQYw8p3_o_dgNJGOIcrHHIFnpBX9LHdURGaNsTMtONe4GhtuCPlxlzu8x9Nd2MXJjzme7Hk2VHHUN5F/s1600/dr+seuss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvfwwtvlvY6ScQriJn2GiLVu0tIKtqhU4rLRCUQRivJI7qu21SDkktOZbK_RERJcQYw8p3_o_dgNJGOIcrHHIFnpBX9LHdURGaNsTMtONe4GhtuCPlxlzu8x9Nd2MXJjzme7Hk2VHHUN5F/s640/dr+seuss.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Source: <a href="http://www.mamiverse.com/30-dr-seuss-quotes-to-live-by-4920/">www.mamiverse.com</a></i></span></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-28358449361780117432011-12-19T00:59:00.000-08:002011-12-19T00:59:47.952-08:00Pneumonia again; and stitches in the head<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-size: small;">My daughter came down with
pneumonia again in November and was admitted to the hospital for 4 days. She had had pneumonia for 4 times now since
she was born, and she’s only 3 ½ years old. Poor thing. I’ve never been
admitted to a hospital in my life until I gave birth to her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It started innocently enough; she
developed a mild cough, so did her little brother. But as her brother recovers,
hers got worse to the point that she started wheezing. The night before she was
admitted, she couldn’t sleep (neither could I) because she had trouble
breathing and she was already burning up in a fever. Both my husband and I are well versed in
pneumonia attacks - as she’s had it 3 times <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2009/07/pneumonia-and-bronchitis-in-babies.html">previously</a> – we were pretty sure
she’ll have to be admitted. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgyWwZEz0SB6nurfQdthZi-ab2n0kJAlqJVO0e3seq03zsIR_NgZ_efp8aFCiVTIdEQqsrgHoczqiWUK5w-X4Py_T-Ex0xQWja_9q_pDAd7XByo1XmfzVunSwJmL7WG-D5tPXZPtAnLZK/s1600/aliah+kt+hosp4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgyWwZEz0SB6nurfQdthZi-ab2n0kJAlqJVO0e3seq03zsIR_NgZ_efp8aFCiVTIdEQqsrgHoczqiWUK5w-X4Py_T-Ex0xQWja_9q_pDAd7XByo1XmfzVunSwJmL7WG-D5tPXZPtAnLZK/s320/aliah+kt+hosp4.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aliah getting the nebulizer treatment in the emergency room</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So when the doctor confirmed that
she needed to be admitted, no one was surprised – except maybe my daughter
herself. Luckily we left her brother at day care before coming to the hospital.
This time was a little more complicated than before; all previous pneumonia
attacks happened before her brother was born, meaning she was still the only
child. Now we had to think of who could take care of her brother, as I couldn’t
watch both a sick child and monitor a healthy child. My husband could not take
additional leave days; his job was pretty crazy at the moment. Lucky for us,
his parents had just retired a few months ago, so they volunteered to care for
the little guy. But as my son is still breastfeeding at night, so my husband
would have to pick him up after he leaves work at night. So all four of us
camped out at the hospital for 3 nights; me and my daughter on the bed, and my
husband and my son on a small, travel mattress on the floor. The first night we
had to stay in a four-bedded children’s ward as all single bed wards were full. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My husband left for work around
6.30am, so I have to bath both kids, dress them and feed them breakfast while
waiting for my in-laws to pick up my son for the day. Not an easy feat when one
of them is a healthy child. Luckily all the other beds were empty (all of them
got transferred to other wards during the previous night) so we had the ward to
ourselves. He managed to spill orange juice, spill a container of cornflakes on
the bed and on the floor, pressed the nurse button several times (I had to
apologize embarrassingly to the nurse) and almost tipped over the IV drip stand;
all in the stretch of a couple of hours. At the same time, I had to coax my
daughter to take her oral medication and her nebulizer treatment, which she had
to take every 4-5 hours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We got to transfer to a single
bedded ward on the second day, around 8pm. So the remaining 2 nights we slept
more fitfully, as we got an extra bed; the travel mattress was left in the bag.
On the third day, a fruit basket with a Smurfette arrived for my daughter; my
office sends fruit baskets to all employees that got hospitalized. The cheerful
faces were like a ray of sunshine in a rainstorm; both kids were tearing up the
plastic covering like crazy. I was smiling to watch them whooping in delight,
until my son started playing soccer using the persimmon as a ball. Lucky the
persimmon didn’t crush into pulp under his little feet. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs09WVovbbLLcgCyn-UIxwGHjc1vVbH82E2p0i11NORnpO-vnxo6NZg8muqrxqULkUWFdJFF87rsVM8nPZoJtpHanHD_eMQsU1BUHcmfKjM6xNSvwLD4uBsYiWHq0offbrRZDSbbQOaBOZ/s1600/aliah+kt+hosp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs09WVovbbLLcgCyn-UIxwGHjc1vVbH82E2p0i11NORnpO-vnxo6NZg8muqrxqULkUWFdJFF87rsVM8nPZoJtpHanHD_eMQsU1BUHcmfKjM6xNSvwLD4uBsYiWHq0offbrRZDSbbQOaBOZ/s320/aliah+kt+hosp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">so happy!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">All in all, I think kids and
hospital just can’t go together, especially when the kid had to be strapped to
an IV drip. The bed was pretty confining and TV got boring after a while; I had
to let her watch the Disney Channel to keep her occupied, which kept playing
Mr. Bean cartoons again and again. Whenever the IV drip was taken off, she
begged to go to the playground at the children’s ward entrance or the small
shop downstairs. I spent some money buying magazines, small toys and various
biscuits for her, to keep us both from going insane. At first she doesn’t mind
the nebulizer treatments, but later she started acting up and refused to take
it. I had to make it an entertainment for her; sometimes I carried her and we
danced around the bed where the IV line permitted; sometimes I took a few turns
at the nebulizer myself, to be ‘fair’ to her. What a mom wouldn’t do to get her
child healthy again. So on the fourth day when the doctor proclaimed that my
daughter is good to go home, we left as soon as possible, hoping not to come
back to the hospital until next year, at least.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My hopes were short-lived.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">It was almost 3 weeks after my
daughter left the hospital. I was doing a full medical checkup at that same
hospital. My employer covers a full medical checkup for all employees once in
every three years, and this was my first time. I was waiting for the ultrasound
when my maid called. She was new and had just worked with us 2 days after my
daughter left the hospital; she doesn’t understand our language very well, so
there were some communication problems in the beginning, but she was getting
better. She told me that she was washing up my daughter (she just pooped) when
my son came running into the bathroom, slipped and fell down, hitting the back
of his head on the door ledge. I didn’t hear my son crying, so I didn’t worry
too much about it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I immediately called my husband,
asking him to get home and check on our son. He was at a car workshop, luckily nearby
our home. My son seemed perfectly fine despite cutting his head open; he was
already playing with his sister as usual, he wasn’t even crying anymore. My husband
took one look, called me and said “I think he’ll need stitches.” I was like “What???”
I thought it was like a graze when you fall down on your knees. Since I was
already at the hospital, my husband packed up the kids, hailed a taxi (our car
was left at the workshop) and came to the hospital to meet me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I had to cut short my medical
checkup and postpone to a later date, and went to the emergency room to meet
them. It was already noon, so naturally the kids were getting a little cranky
for their naps. I was a little freaked out to see my boy’s little head cut like
that. The blood was just oozing slightly out of the cut, without any spills. He
doesn’t seem to be aware of the pain too much; he remembered the pain when somebody
touched his head, or when he lied down on my lap to nurse. Even when the doctor
first looked at him, he said “He doesn’t seem to be in any pain at all.” But he
did cry when the doctor cleaned his wound and bandaged his head. We had to wait
for the general surgeon for about an hour, to come to stitch him up. While waiting,
he jumped around on the sofas, ate some chocolate biscuits and pulled off the head
bandage three times. A nurse commented to me, “Weren’t you here a few weeks ago…”
I was like, “Yeah yeah, that was my daughter getting pneumonia, now my son cut
his head.” </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnw37g9d7ANhxEmgQSofW3PnrYQeCMAOVgmO4XXxiE_tT0sBq7uZYu4qrZMrvYQphOVXTqgOM_fThCWfjcitu9TQwR9XyN_VvqvS2wjXUPDgdwxoVYFyETKI_7SD3SLbpzECJMa7K1plH/s1600/aliff+kena+jahit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnw37g9d7ANhxEmgQSofW3PnrYQeCMAOVgmO4XXxiE_tT0sBq7uZYu4qrZMrvYQphOVXTqgOM_fThCWfjcitu9TQwR9XyN_VvqvS2wjXUPDgdwxoVYFyETKI_7SD3SLbpzECJMa7K1plH/s320/aliff+kena+jahit1.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aliff in his head bandage</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Then the surgeon arrived, looked
at his wound, and asked us whether we would prefer for our son to take the
general anesthesia or the local anesthesia. To take general anesthesia, he
would have to be admitted, not eat anything for 6 hours and stay at the
hospital at least for one night. I had had enough of hospital wards, so we
decided to take the local anesthesia. I didn’t have the heart to watch my son’s
head being stitched up, so my husband stayed with him during the procedure. My daughter
was already asleep in the stroller outside in the waiting room, so I stayed
with her. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But that didn’t stop me from
hearing my son’s cries, which was pretty distressing for me, imagining what he
was going through. I braved myself enough to peek through the door, and I saw
him lying face down on the table, my husband soothing him while holding him
down with a nurse, the doctor on his left side, stitching away. My son was
whining and crying a little, definitely uncomfortable. I was glad that my
husband stayed with him; this was totally different than holding down my
daughter while she was being pricked in the hand for an IV line. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Half an hour passed and my
husband came out, holding the little boy in his arms. He immediately reached
out for me, crying. It was the combination of discomfort, pain, weariness,
disorientation and the after effect of the local anesthesia. He doesn’t want to
be put down on his feet, but when he does stand on his own feet, he seemed to
sway a little on the spot. I tried showing him my phone to distract him but
then he took my husband’s phone and matched them, saying “same.. same..” Truth
be told, it was rather funny. After getting his meds, we hailed a taxi and
scrambled back home. I breastfed my son, and he was asleep within 10 minutes. </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkV7TReNKiRPzlXG0iS10itAowrKgc-9F8hf-w8V6Ynuku-mWFFE_OwbA_rR6owsawKPQ-l8sT6kVRIRN9NseRUjgN1qHJ8Tfu4d8-l11FKRd3q_0inesSkzNt9ad8tZPcNatbNgtOstt/s1600/20111214_222825.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkV7TReNKiRPzlXG0iS10itAowrKgc-9F8hf-w8V6Ynuku-mWFFE_OwbA_rR6owsawKPQ-l8sT6kVRIRN9NseRUjgN1qHJ8Tfu4d8-l11FKRd3q_0inesSkzNt9ad8tZPcNatbNgtOstt/s320/20111214_222825.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sleeping on his tummy, like I said.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">For the first 3 days, he was
still feeling the pain, so he remembered to sleep on his tummy or on his side
at night. He was even scared to lie down to nurse or to put on his diapers, so
we had to hold his head or put a small bolster pillow underneath his neck to
support him. On the 4<sup>th</sup> day he could already lie down with his head
supported with a soft pillow. Now he’s already forgotten the pain and could put
his head down like normal. Every time he jumps on the sofa or on the bed, we’ll
remind him that he might fall down and hurt his head again. He’ll remember the
pain for 5 seconds, touch his head and continue jumping. Ahh, the blissful
ignorance of childhood. </span></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-72441635699143632132011-11-23T23:32:00.001-08:002011-11-23T23:54:43.245-08:00The 2-year mark – Success is Sweet<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqf8j7tKXPpWiEnBAldmq_XoXhCJ-yxhYLBy99UDV8_dhm3E9vBb5AVYCJiPRKdpCdHPiBQjybJh2WplrAapL2gwf6xVo6smLdwj867ezYmeL3sT2VSydyLgsSRPDiiHPy4x3SGN1Wq1Q/s1600/mcm+mcm+204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFqf8j7tKXPpWiEnBAldmq_XoXhCJ-yxhYLBy99UDV8_dhm3E9vBb5AVYCJiPRKdpCdHPiBQjybJh2WplrAapL2gwf6xVo6smLdwj867ezYmeL3sT2VSydyLgsSRPDiiHPy4x3SGN1Wq1Q/s400/mcm+mcm+204.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's my little boy. He's reading A Time to Kill - John Grisham.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">My little boy turned 2 years old a few weeks
ago. With that, it’s finally official – I have successfully achieved my goal to
breastfeed him exclusively for 2 years. And let me tell you; success is sweet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>It was
difficult, at least in the beginning. Breastfeeding did not come naturally to
me, like it is for some lucky moms. It was hard, painful work – in the literal
sense of word. I was diagnosed with breast abscess when my son was barely two
months old, and I had incision and drainage (I&D) done, which means my
breast was cut about 4 inches long to drain out the pus, and was not stitched
up, but patched with <span> </span>dressing to let the
incision heal from inside out (whatever that means). </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>Oh,
there were a couple other obstacles as well, such as the fridge breaking down,
so I had to throw out 50 bags of frozen milk, and the doctor advising me to
take medication to stop my milk flow as to let my incision heal. Nothing serious,
nothing death-defying. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>But you
know what? What doesn’t kill you, can only make you stronger. The hardships I went
through made the success even sweeter. You can only appreciate your success
properly when you know how hard it was to get there. After all, you can’t make
a rainbow without any rain, right? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU24fIj-LwRJYlE4hrdK-aoMA8_8KZrVjpnU-JpaNaAYWWewYK2w28ZevGe4w36E4jq4p3DY2nKGb67J0fPwxkhkd3jgWpUFV7DxSfXrLNoTX8nKYJyc16wnVHPW1ouzXEKuTI90I-Qudh/s1600/Nan-d4-1bfing-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU24fIj-LwRJYlE4hrdK-aoMA8_8KZrVjpnU-JpaNaAYWWewYK2w28ZevGe4w36E4jq4p3DY2nKGb67J0fPwxkhkd3jgWpUFV7DxSfXrLNoTX8nKYJyc16wnVHPW1ouzXEKuTI90I-Qudh/s320/Nan-d4-1bfing-2.jpg" width="297" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>In a
way, breastfeeding an older infant i.e. more than 1 year old is more satisfying
and rewarding. By this time, the bond between the mom and the baby would have
been cemented that your baby wants to be with you all the time and mom became
the ultimate comfort, which can be very flattering to the point of annoyance.
(Again?? You just fed like, 10 minutes ago!) But believe me, this phase will
pass. The time will come when you’ll be the one chasing your kid around,
calling out “Hey (put your child’s name here), you want mommy’s milk now?” while
he’s busy playing ball or building a bricks castle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>The convenience
is nice. When travelling, I just need to bring bottles and formula for my older
daughter, no milk bottles needed for my son, therefore less space taken up in
diaper bags and less time washing up bottles. When he wants milk, I just sit
down somewhere comfortable, keep us properly discreet and there we go. I have
breastfed in zoos – on the tram and during animal shows, during corporate family
days, in the middle of the living room surrounded by relatives during festive
seasons, even in the middle of a futsal tournament, soaking wet and sweating
profusely. I should have asked my husband to take a photo of us that time, but my
face was all red and puffy, it would be too embarrassing even for me to look at
it. Heh. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCNUrCg5fokT-fvhf8vHqAZKC5JfIUQ9lv69ZleDMGOOnccI3x1LYH75sks05WPf0dYzz43a9n4Sc-jyx918ZRnI8VPpqnynLSubEH-Vo0isP6UDGSRZorqE4ZEG0Yjf8Pzf3oQ-raBth/s1600/nursing-a-toddler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUCNUrCg5fokT-fvhf8vHqAZKC5JfIUQ9lv69ZleDMGOOnccI3x1LYH75sks05WPf0dYzz43a9n4Sc-jyx918ZRnI8VPpqnynLSubEH-Vo0isP6UDGSRZorqE4ZEG0Yjf8Pzf3oQ-raBth/s320/nursing-a-toddler.jpg" width="320" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>I’ve
stopped pumping at work now, and supplementing with some fresh milk, as he
still won’t take formula. He doesn’t drink too much milk, but I’m not too worried
as he’s a big eater for such a little guy – you’ll be surprised how much food
can go into that tiny body – he gets his calcium dose from other sources such
as cheese and broccoli, his favourite vegetable. But as soon as I get home, he’ll
run after me, asking to be picked up, and wants his milk immediately, hands
patting my breasts. Sometimes I had to let dinner start without me. I keep
asking my boy to stop for a while, and we’ll continue ‘milk’ right after I eat.
But he’ll mumble and shake his head, and put up his little hand, telling me to
wait. Huh.<span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span>People are
telling me to stop, now that my son is already 2 years old. He’s getting
bigger, taller and heavier for me to hold on my lap. As he feeds, his legs
dangled around and his hands would sometimes rub my nose, play with my hair
strands, and pat my chin. Sometimes he smiles as I tickle him, showing his
little dimple. And I realized how much I love breastfeeding him, and how much I
treasure this bonding time with him, and I just can’t bring myself to wean him
off, at least not yet. Despite the many times he wakes up at night to feed, and
despite the clinginess that I have to sometimes cook while holding him in my
other arm, I really LOVE breastfeeding. Needless to say, I’m hooked. And I’ll
stay hooked until the day he pushes me away and grows up. Sob. </span></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-53371421629701581322011-06-16T20:26:00.000-07:002011-06-17T04:12:04.951-07:00BENEFITS OF A PLAYGROUPI’ve been sending my 3 year old daughter, Aliah to a nearby playgroup, <a href="http://alimkidsplaygroup.blogspot.com/">ALIMKids</a>, for about 6 months now. The playgroup is held on Saturday mornings, perfect for working parents like me. Despite the belief that playgroups are for stay-at-home parents to be able to get together with other parents with their children in tow, my ultimate reason of sending my daughter to a playgroup is for her to socialize with other kids her age. As she stays at home with her little brother and my maid all week long, I thought it would be good for her social skills, besides the fun things she could do and learn at the playgroup.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal">As my kids age gap are quite close (their birthdays are 20 months apart), the sibling rivalry is pretty intense i.e. a lot of fighting and bickering and pushing, and of course, bawling. The playgroup actually teaches my daughter to share things, take turns at doing something and learn some manners and the appropriate behavior with her friends. In turn, she teaches her little brother how to share. It’s really funny to see them ‘sharing’ a toy; they weren’t even playing, they just keep passing the toy back and forth to each other!</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal">As a working parent, I have to admit, it’s difficult to find time to do activities with your kids by yourself. Just imagining myself sitting with them, painting and scribbling, gives me a headache. Because they definitely won’t sit down quietly; they’ll bicker over the crayons or paints, or even worse, run around the house and mess up the walls, sofas and the tv! A child may not be allowed to use scissors or make messes at home, but painting, scribbling, cutting, gluing and messes are definitely encouraged at playgroups.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Activities like these are best supervised by parents, but knowing the busy moms nowadays, who would have the time to play all day when you have cleaning and cooking and laundry to do? At playgroups, the playtime is somewhat structured; you sing first, then do some crafts, then you put away the crafts and do some physical play, then finally a group reading. When it’s time for the next activity, the children would clean up to get ready for the next task. For example, when a child wants to keep on colouring, she sees her friends cleaning up and gathering around the teacher to read a book, she quickly cleans up too, not wanting to be left behind. It’s like the children are automatically conscious of their peers, making them want to blend in, do the same things together, conform to each other and work as a team. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal">It’s kinda funny, but I myself look forward to these Saturday playgroups, which means exclusive bonding time spent with my daughter. This exclusive time is pretty scarce, as both my kids are endlessly fighting for my attention (sounds flattering, I know. But believe me, it’s a lot of headache.). It’s nice to be able to focus on her alone, see her play and sing and scribble. This one hour is also like a break for me from things, stuff, tasks – to do at home. </p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal">Here are some of the activities they do at the playgroup, which are mostly group reading, craft play, alphabets, singing and some physical play.</p><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" class="MsoNormal">Group reading</p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir5hztWX2-FzarV8cu6N4-_6f8Q-mS_jf81OT35y7jWLUrqr4dcIXrLtJh3tfctaUTVMZt3uTpn9o21d0YHBB7R0zeNnGAVx4CTzmsa9ApYgbz574CCI0WZlDxhUkc7f0FGz9eHNUOmiaI/s1600/mcm+mcm+195.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir5hztWX2-FzarV8cu6N4-_6f8Q-mS_jf81OT35y7jWLUrqr4dcIXrLtJh3tfctaUTVMZt3uTpn9o21d0YHBB7R0zeNnGAVx4CTzmsa9ApYgbz574CCI0WZlDxhUkc7f0FGz9eHNUOmiaI/s320/mcm+mcm+195.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619101191668647106" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMsvtI-O-koA4vIEOu4ZyEqbJ4RXfmQsQdJbKOtdc9F3OuQQbbyQtjUcu0B9S3OA1xMfEcvEt2C27LUfpMr3_XGpg35Hi-v2Wd6q5ScNvr0UUdLoetG6t2zr-07qCVbZ0T060IN6KBCcqc/s1600/mcm+mcm+094.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMsvtI-O-koA4vIEOu4ZyEqbJ4RXfmQsQdJbKOtdc9F3OuQQbbyQtjUcu0B9S3OA1xMfEcvEt2C27LUfpMr3_XGpg35Hi-v2Wd6q5ScNvr0UUdLoetG6t2zr-07qCVbZ0T060IN6KBCcqc/s320/mcm+mcm+094.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619099979574748322" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" class="MsoNormal">Singing and dancing with body movements</p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tCIK_QO6FoeFlO3O0QONLDk1hKCggi8SzGATyKWD6T_4dyxPVDtcy9kAMz7IYI3nHY8DbAXok5OWYrC0QvuA2u8MroEtYZJ9JDo1_Q86bKZvHIU97JgzYTEiQiYx9cpkoc-LK9XDW4kw/s1600/mcm+mcm+191.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_tCIK_QO6FoeFlO3O0QONLDk1hKCggi8SzGATyKWD6T_4dyxPVDtcy9kAMz7IYI3nHY8DbAXok5OWYrC0QvuA2u8MroEtYZJ9JDo1_Q86bKZvHIU97JgzYTEiQiYx9cpkoc-LK9XDW4kw/s320/mcm+mcm+191.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619101655452054482" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Messy crafts such as finger painting</span><br /></p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIt45XwPMCThiXCKPpwsgQxCCSLcDax_JLUAQodLfTOP7uFgTtNXJzoohpngvdLmHa6h-P6RmYOPycWNHGjxYv3JvDEYdjfMaNbetSESC2N173UfxXjB477zUPfd_mLxbHtbjj7RGPlsn/s1600/mcm+mcm+111.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIt45XwPMCThiXCKPpwsgQxCCSLcDax_JLUAQodLfTOP7uFgTtNXJzoohpngvdLmHa6h-P6RmYOPycWNHGjxYv3JvDEYdjfMaNbetSESC2N173UfxXjB477zUPfd_mLxbHtbjj7RGPlsn/s320/mcm+mcm+111.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619103365367325474" border="0" /></a></p><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RLDczhyphenhyphen9hWeiD6T9UfHUwOboXI_nMBgj0nQGbTSixyF_3E_kHGcVx5XCeA1MY3QRejimJLGl6hYbgaf9WMtF4WGeb9jWXBRBg8hnnCZiRg9PPyrMZGrsLUouNmLw8y3SUJ3pIDQY9Vxc/s1600/mcm+mcm+121.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RLDczhyphenhyphen9hWeiD6T9UfHUwOboXI_nMBgj0nQGbTSixyF_3E_kHGcVx5XCeA1MY3QRejimJLGl6hYbgaf9WMtF4WGeb9jWXBRBg8hnnCZiRg9PPyrMZGrsLUouNmLw8y3SUJ3pIDQY9Vxc/s320/mcm+mcm+121.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619104130721165202" border="0" /></a></p> <p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Playhouse</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhe_j5vSNwNJ2f_JQHP5a4zRVoV8r6eLSGhyphenhyphengER1FH0sTG73Il6Vv_LEHNToquV5YvKpsgLQfNuwAwb_AwKo0bpSA1QLlahX_3J86nl16CkKyoHA_zQo_wXgGZJXOgiQQndyUiYybV5yb/s1600/mcm+mcm+172.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZhe_j5vSNwNJ2f_JQHP5a4zRVoV8r6eLSGhyphenhyphengER1FH0sTG73Il6Vv_LEHNToquV5YvKpsgLQfNuwAwb_AwKo0bpSA1QLlahX_3J86nl16CkKyoHA_zQo_wXgGZJXOgiQQndyUiYybV5yb/s320/mcm+mcm+172.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619104545090371602" border="0" /></a></p> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="text-align: justify; font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BHlH0ixJXn4" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="425"></iframe><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Even birthday celebrations</span></p><p face="georgia" style="text-align: left; " class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZvDznkZTWmEw_XkyzJpx1hx4clXaVSvlZbBbzwTEeRHWWE3yMz49g2sXSgqylvLQv1sKt9ai-ejqWFvlXCR-AkonHcD36v_YNhBR8M0qdD0GeySPl4BCtCIt6KEgGh8iNENaMtcEIJKd/s1600/mcm+mcm+130.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvZvDznkZTWmEw_XkyzJpx1hx4clXaVSvlZbBbzwTEeRHWWE3yMz49g2sXSgqylvLQv1sKt9ai-ejqWFvlXCR-AkonHcD36v_YNhBR8M0qdD0GeySPl4BCtCIt6KEgGh8iNENaMtcEIJKd/s320/mcm+mcm+130.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619105527442147682" border="0" /></a></p> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Making music </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6ZW-kEDQLKFJDux9lVKIwgC1WTmpFPr4AhgKpxdjcq-isScXa3qCOIjTzqKJmaSXAJivFXvp53sGUS5ucUAcJ2XYOhe2TblkFy48br5K4HG6lCP7Zw-GMMgYBKfSoW_zkloeqKpU6Kqg/s1600/lg+lg+kids+108.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn6ZW-kEDQLKFJDux9lVKIwgC1WTmpFPr4AhgKpxdjcq-isScXa3qCOIjTzqKJmaSXAJivFXvp53sGUS5ucUAcJ2XYOhe2TblkFy48br5K4HG6lCP7Zw-GMMgYBKfSoW_zkloeqKpU6Kqg/s320/lg+lg+kids+108.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619108088804054866" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);" class="MsoNormal">Lots and lots of colouring</p><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCiD0Ut97Pvpnv0Fs0kzte5gwFMFt1SDmGgl0dCLuviqwYSyxp2d9FDjrKhFdNmjm-ihfn-nAtjKJvdGZcIx4mbAv5UkN7WVPrNJIdGQUtqXLtD783IuOhRaT7cEbryetF0r9_XjtHiRTy/s1600/coloring.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCiD0Ut97Pvpnv0Fs0kzte5gwFMFt1SDmGgl0dCLuviqwYSyxp2d9FDjrKhFdNmjm-ihfn-nAtjKJvdGZcIx4mbAv5UkN7WVPrNJIdGQUtqXLtD783IuOhRaT7cEbryetF0r9_XjtHiRTy/s320/coloring.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619107596625921362" border="0" /></a></p> <div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style=" text-align: justify;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Ribbon play</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEyw9bMMqNuJSpaABAIDmPQRTmF-xOIgQ4-85_IMAkwdBLHGJfk9X-x0cb8cLRm1GDfWfy9zI-JP3IF4icQ8JzMddOlRvbJqLXdEm01DsXILFvmAEr2pPk3fGwykokPoyjd1fVWaZeDBf/s1600/ribbons.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZEyw9bMMqNuJSpaABAIDmPQRTmF-xOIgQ4-85_IMAkwdBLHGJfk9X-x0cb8cLRm1GDfWfy9zI-JP3IF4icQ8JzMddOlRvbJqLXdEm01DsXILFvmAEr2pPk3fGwykokPoyjd1fVWaZeDBf/s320/ribbons.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619109115611714802" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify; color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">A special activity done by ALIMKids – Parachute play</p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1oXgmRWNKZld4EutSsGOwjPQUT2Qwnrgl3KGOpG1udux7CxWV5psVnJKAG4-7R7Q9cBsyP8hVA-DKFhhyphenhyphenx_zgMFw7qJ-PWUqCairrx9At7llaaa0upW5_Q7GejnrqVVgx1RXwC8U6jel/s1600/parachute.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1oXgmRWNKZld4EutSsGOwjPQUT2Qwnrgl3KGOpG1udux7CxWV5psVnJKAG4-7R7Q9cBsyP8hVA-DKFhhyphenhyphenx_zgMFw7qJ-PWUqCairrx9At7llaaa0upW5_Q7GejnrqVVgx1RXwC8U6jel/s320/parachute.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619109861371072594" border="0" /></a></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">The truth is, I’ve never seen a parachute play before encountering this playgroup. So I feel that it’s worth a brief explanation in itself.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><h2 style=" text-align: justify; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:georgia;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Benefits of Parachute Play</span></h2><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><ul style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Encourages cooperation, teamwork and creates a group awareness</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Non-competitive - Differing abilities and even differing ages are non-issue. It focuses on playing, not winning</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Refines perceptual skills - Reinforces turn-taking/ sharing</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Develops a sense of rhythm - Requires following directions</li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Promotes social interaction - Enhances language development </li><li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Delightful imaginative play – encouraging role play such as pirates, princess or treasure hunter</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Sources:</span><br /></p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><a href="http://www.childcarelounge.com/activity/parachute-play.php">www.squidoo.com,</a></span></p><p face="georgia" style=" text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style:italic"><a href="http://www.childcarelounge.com/activity/parachute-play.php"> www.childcarelounge.com</a> </span></p><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><p style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify;" class="MsoNormal">Finally, graduation!<br /></p><h2 style="font-family: georgia; text-align: justify; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yyatmjg6LR-FxiScev2l5QIOhiovN0PhxELQ5ZCVnw3NeG9oag_iJCasxjLTlqjC3WfmImrsshJRLGeWdckHxab3jygHXYIqIR2T-iXhQewGQvEVClXP0duw28T3uqfo5Pj2s3Seu0MN/s1600/lg+lg+kids+xx+271.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9yyatmjg6LR-FxiScev2l5QIOhiovN0PhxELQ5ZCVnw3NeG9oag_iJCasxjLTlqjC3WfmImrsshJRLGeWdckHxab3jygHXYIqIR2T-iXhQewGQvEVClXP0duw28T3uqfo5Pj2s3Seu0MN/s320/lg+lg+kids+xx+271.jpg" 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Grid 3 Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="70" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Dark List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="71" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="72" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful List Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="73" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="19" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="21" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Emphasis"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="31" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Subtle Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="32" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Intense Reference"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="33" semihidden="false" unhidewhenused="false" qformat="true" name="Book Title"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="37" name="Bibliography"> <w:lsdexception locked="false" priority="39" qformat="true" name="TOC Heading"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal">I highly recommend enrolling your kids to a playgroup like this. It’s a fun and great social environment plus informal learning for your child. It’s also a great bonding experience for you and your child. What’s not to love?<br /></p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-36901699104596918142011-02-09T00:51:00.000-08:002011-02-09T01:19:23.073-08:00Water Babies - Toddler update<div align="justify">When teaching your toddler to swim, the 3 most basic things to teach would be:</div><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote><ul><li><div align="justify">Blowing bubbles</div></li><li><div align="justify">Going underwater</div></li><li><div align="justify">Floating</div></li></ul><p align="justify"><strong><u>Blowing bubbles</u></strong></p><div align="justify">When you teach your child to blow bubbles, you’re actually teaching him to blow out the breath while underwater, which is the proper form while actually swimming. People who have never joined a real swimming lesson would say, swim a breaststroke, while holding the breath while being underwater and blow out the breath when the head breaks the water surface (like myself, before I joined a swimming class. See, even a clueless adult can get this wrong). It’s actually the reverse; you take a deep breath, dip your head into the water and blow out your breath in bubbles while underwater. </div><br /><div align="justify">Firstly, teach your toddler to blow soap bubbles, which is great fun!</div><br /><div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571610829937367138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 272px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlt9v3P4r_PYW4QIP0DO_V2n17TEnP5RouzmOgMc4QIJXuyB8zNGdJDYyq7Re0jiDwYBrDqZGlKxfJ1jJp93cpiQswhtBC6Hn114zhIjv7LelvEVxpvJ532rGvf8PMhgPxW8Z7lZMJ3WPj/s320/child_blowing_bubbles.jpg" border="0" /><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><strong>Photo courtesy of </strong></span></em><a href="http://www.earthhopenetwork.net/"><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><strong>www.earthhopenetwork.net</strong></span></em></a></div><br /><div align="justify">Once he’s got the hang of it, you can try and get his face close to the water and blow something across the water, say a boat or a rubber duckie. When he’s comfortable enough, you can show him to blow bubbles underwater. You can demonstrate by taking a deep breath, put the lower half of your face into the water and blow out bubbles. </div><br /><div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571610990470575650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 252px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 252px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmfxxeulDB8VWtSwh282QxT7Xzn7SlGEaEQDaL5InscLsVJiSZF7cNq7CgMZuMG1FZeLbesTHWWmmiHP7eiGt2oacZLtJ6sBPTI55Qkzd2U-NyO6vzQ7T-3HPxOEHqwX1x62q27PIcbPcC/s320/child_blowing_bubbles_in_water.jpg" border="0" /><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;">Photo courtesy of </span></em></strong><a href="http://www.iswimemler.com/"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;">www.iswimemler.com</span></em></strong></a></div><br /><div align="justify">These gradual steps ease the fear and pressure off your child, while increasing his confidence with water. Most children love to play with water, by getting your head underwater is whole different story. </div><br /><div align="justify"><strong><u>Going underwater</u></strong></div><strong><u></u></strong><br /><div align="justify">There are basically 2 ways to go underwater, by holding your breath or by blowing out your breath (duh). In my opinion, blowing out is easier for a child than holding the breath. Some kids simply do not understand how to hold the breath! It’s better if you can make a game out of it, say holding your breath and blow out three candles at once. Or using the earlier example, hold your breath and blow a rubber duckie as far as you can across the pool.</div><br /><div align="justify">Once he can do this, then you can teach him to hold the breath, while you pour water over his face. Another way is to hold the breath before you pour the water, and blowing out when you actually pour the water. When he masters this, then you can proceed to telling him to hold his breath, and gently dipping him in the water. </div><br /><div align="justify">Holding the breath is one of the most basic skills needed when one learns to swim. If you have ever enrolled yourself in a swimming lesson or you’ve tried swimming on your own, the first thing you do to swim is hold your breath, head underwater, arms up and straight in front of your head and kick your legs. Teaching your toddler to hold his breath is a preparation for this, sparing him the unfortunate swallowing or inhaling water through the nose or mouth, which can be very painful and traumatic. It could even scare your child off from trying to hold his breath again.</div><br /><div align="justify"><strong><u>Floating</u></strong></div><strong><u></u></strong><br /><div align="justify">A basic back float can be a life saver if a child accidentally falls into a pool or a lake. The key to floating on your back is to relax. Fear and panic will definitely bring him down into the water. This is why teaching a baby to float is much easier, because babies are more relaxed and feels comfortable in water, due to their previous water-like surroundings in the mother’s womb. </div><br /><div align="justify">To ease this fear, you could help your child to float by laying him gently on his back in the pool, with his head resting on your shoulder, one of your hands on his back in the water and your other hand on his chest to make him feel more secure. When he’s confident enough in this position, you could move your hand from his chest and support the back of his head. When he’s relaxed enough, gently let go of your hands.</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Okay, time to take a picture!<br /></div><br /><div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571612323512102322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjugUeVVviz9Wt20ESgvQkJUiK9ETRiYpQEA0aAg8z6z4o_CNBSmRiYAmHQnZsEuXtzHziPtqhEmufnLjpXvSf25bz4qJ63IMkBI0Uc-_uqm4D1C-5MjclZhBqwC-D8iEI6_BBbe9JWuxEh/s320/IMAG0281.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><br /><p align="justify">“Going down to the pool” has become a weekly activity for my kids. Both of them had not started swimming yet, but they certainly enjoy just being in the pool, splashing each other and play ball. My daughter, while wearing arm floats, has started floating on her back, which she practically learned on her own. I was watching my boy when my husband, who was taking photos from the side, called out. I turned around and saw her floating on her own. She has yet to learn to go without the float, though.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571613150626044834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ3PnXqiPadXlxQ4k3O991R2rjEuG-j_SlVSa0QyWYFxlS75xcrmcTS982ztCvnqTLHGfUNoZGaZmrxx3J92pKH9NZ0-r1VLwyFfySVhf6AwDgm6mUkDC3s8hyWDMA5_CenM-IAzOPCQKJ/s320/IMAG0269.jpg" border="0" />And there's my little boy. </p><p>Just for fun, watch these videos of my kids in the pool. Sorry about the video quality, it was taken from my 2 MP old camera phone. And please excuse yours truly yelling in the background. A mom just gets too excited sometimes. Heh. </p><p><br /><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/j9Xv1Cidzp4" frameborder="0" width="480" height="390" type="text/html"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZskwaDVwvGg" frameborder="0" width="480" height="390" type="text/html"></iframe></p><p>References:</p><p><a href="http://www.suite101.com/">www.suite101.com</a>, <a href="http://www.swimming-techniques-learn.com/">www.swimming-techniques-learn.com</a></p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-4361658569092368842011-01-27T00:19:00.000-08:002011-01-27T00:40:41.809-08:00Tips on how to boost your breastmilk - my breastfeeding journey<div><div><div align="justify">Before I had my own child, I often thought that breastfeeding is something that comes naturally and easily as breathing. Well, now I know that it is natural, but it is definitely not easy! I thought that the milk would always be there like a water pipe; the baby wants milk, just turn on the faucet, it’ll come out. The baby doesn’t want milk, turn it off and it’s gone. Just like magic. How naïve of me! </div><div align="justify"><br />My baby boy has turned 14 months old and he’s a fully breastfed baby, despite my contracting <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account.html">breast abscess</a> when he was just 1 month old. I’ve a lot of friends and relatives, even strangers, asking me, “How are you able to produce so much milk?” FYI, I don’t actually get 12 oz at each pumping session. I used to be able to pump about 6 to 8 oz of milk every session, 6 times a day, before my baby turned 6 months old. That means the total milk I produced for the day would be about 36 oz, give or take (this doesn’t include night feedings). </div><br /><div align="justify">I guess it’s kind of a no-brainer when I tell you, that the best way to boost your breastmilk is by increasing the number of times you pump or breastfeed. The best time to do this is during your maternity leave days when your baby is still young. </div><br /><div align="justify">I’m telling you this because I’ve learned it the hard way – during my breastfeeding my eldest daughter. She was 14 months old when I decided to wean her off altogether as I was already pregnant with our son. My first breastfeeding journey with my daughter was far from easy. I had started mixing her feedings with formula right from the start. It was a combination of not having enough knowledge plus the influences of the more experienced group – our mothers. My mother, specifically. I had cracked and bleeding nipples right from the start; latch on seemed so difficult! </div><br /><div align="justify">Breastfeeding was so traumatic that I did not even dare to try breastfeed while lying down at night. I figured that I couldn’t even relax in broad daylight, let alone in the dark at night. So for night feeds, I would get up and prepare formula milk in a bottle for my daughter, only pumping in the morning when I wake up. Nevertheless, my breastmilk dwindled quickly as none were coming out at night for at least 7 or 8 hours. </div><br /><div align="justify">But I wouldn’t give up entirely. I keep on working on latch on during daytime. When I returned to work after my maternity leave ended, I was pumping 3 to 4 times a day, getting only 2 or 3 oz each time. At times I felt like a total failure, not being able to breastfeed my firstborn child properly. Then sometime during the fourth month, I decided to wing it and give night feeds a go. One night, when my daughter started to cry, I pulled her close while lying on my side and nursed her, just focusing on keeping both of us comfortable. She seemed okay, nursing until she nods off to sleep. From that time onwards, I never woke up to prepare formula again (until I weaned her off, of course).</div><br /><div align="justify">So when my son was born, I don’t have too much trouble with breastfeeding him. Because the first time with my daughter seemed like torture, at least at first, the second time I breezed through it smoothly. I nursed him for the first time about an hour after the birth, and I had him roomed in with me at the hospital after he was born. The lactation counselor even called me the “expert” breastfeeding mom when I told her that I breastfed my firstborn until she turned a year plus. Yeah, right. She didn’t know how hard it was for me to become that “expert” mom! </div><br /><div align="justify">But then, this “expert” mom contracted breast abscess. Not very expert of her, huh? The <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account.html">breast abscess</a> itself was a tremendously emotional and physically painful, long story. I’ve already poured my heart and soul on this subject; you could read all about it <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account.html">here</a>. </div><br /><div align="justify">Like I mentioned before, the single thing you absolutely must do to boost your breast milk is to pump or breastfeed more frequently during your maternity leave. This is the most ideal time, as you have, hopefully, more time to waste on pumping and more time to spend bonding while breastfeeding. The focus at the time would be for you to recover, take care of yourself and the baby, so nobody expects you to do much else. </div><br /><div align="justify">You need to offer the baby your breast at least every two hours, or every time your baby gives out hunger cues such as crying, turning her head towards you to search for your nipple or any type of restlessness. Don’t limit the suckling time; it’s her food after all! How would you like it if someone takes away your plate while you were eating? Wait until she lets go, or until she’s sound asleep, then break off the latch gently by inserting your little finger into the corner of her mouth. If she normally takes a long time suckling and falling asleep at your breast, lie down, relax, close your eyes and take a nap (you deserve it!). </div><br /><div align="justify">If you’re too agitated to sleep, or you want to watch a favourite movie or tv show, (moms are nothing if not multi-taskers) first of all, make yourself comfortable. I used to prep myself on a comfortable sofa with lots of pillows with a laptop in front of me so I can surf the Net while nursing. My trick was I nursed my baby using the football hold so I have my hands free to do other things. The football hold was my favourite position in those early days, because it was the easiest latch method for my baby. If I want to watch tv, I would settle myself and the baby in an armchair, with lots of pillows and the remote. </div><br /><div align="justify">Right after nursing, pump until no more milk comes out. This is what stimulates your breast to produce more milk. Think of this metaphor; imagine you’re at a restaurant eating dinner, and you drink half of your glass of orange juice. The waiter will come and fill up your half empty (or half full, whichever you prefer) glass, right? If you finished the whole glass off, the waiter would fill up the whole glass. The point is, you need to finish off the whole glass, so you can get the waiter to refill up more. So the faster you finish up your glass of orange juice, the faster the waiter refills it for you (this waiter is a very efficient worker). </div><br /><div align="justify">This is exactly what you’re trying to get your body to do; you need to empty your breasts completely and faster so they can ‘refill’ it back quickly. To summarize this </div><div align="justify"><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566778159596215186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 415px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 69px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMDRoCJ26i9fCaaYWFDYcR_785GCt3gGaV_FP8d25DoGmWbSQ48_S_jFZXow68F1oJ-cpsIAybO7uW-WNuoIT75v4cx7nmhYjPWH9-PNSM2UblbuDs0CTuB-N_G-Hw07VYMvhdAgncD3gA/s320/milk+production.gif" border="0" /></div><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">Source: </span></em></strong><a href="http://www.kellymom.com/"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">www.kellymom.com</span></em></strong></a><br /><br /><div align="justify">Here’s the rationale - During the early weeks of the baby’s life, your breasts will usually produce more milk than the baby’s needs. This is the time of engorgement, breast fullness and leaking breasts as they are adjusting their milk production according to your baby’s (or babies, if you have twins or more) actual needs. This is the best time to set the high bar for your milk production. Pump or breastfeed until your breasts are completely empty every 2 hours for the first 2 to 3 months of your baby’s life, and you’ll never have to worry about your milk supply. </div><div align="justify"><br /> </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566779239901871298" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoQFIUN8oR5kCRs9y3EQNrPlG4pVJXyTdwddBiNDmcWfXkbbO0Tdjw4YnZzGlBBxzIwLcxlx-0K4lRLL7JqqIGxPHAAwXiLrOBZ5gPF6fBmUtpLetLQHRiLSmvBEreTUfF7gSAOI02Oi7/s320/bkt+tinggi+117.jpg" border="0" /><br />Around the 3rd month, your breasts will have regulated their milk production up to the 6th month, and there’ll be another slight dip in your milk output as your baby starts eating solid food.<br /><br /><div align="justify">If you read about my <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account.html">breast abscess experience</a>, you’ll know that my affected breast was producing about 1 oz due to the leak the incision made. You’ll also find out that my mom’s fridge broke down, destroying about 50 bags of my frozen milk stash. It was definitely not an easy time for me. </div><br /><div align="justify">There are also proven research that shows milk volume or quantity is normally higher in the morning, and the quantity lessens as the day progresses. So it is imperative that you empty your breasts the first thing in the morning. What I do is, I would breastfeed my baby right before I wake up. Then after taking a shower and getting dressed for work, I would pump another 10 to 15 minutes, right before leaving for work. I won’t get much milk as one breast would be almost empty, but the purpose here is to empty both breasts. </div><br /><div align="justify">When you get to my stage, (my baby is 14 months old now) you’ll be heartbroken to dump 2 to 3 bottles of breastmilk everyday, as you are still producing more than your baby’s needs. I’m used to this, so I no longer get heartbroken. My baby is currently a reverse cycler; he drinks just one bottle of milk during the day and nurses like crazy when I get home from work. </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566779751467291906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhck5ph1yXDyVoNNcMiFM1_BNckNegI0uLCK6sDLCalVZLFWfGuSks2DNZ6D35kCTlU3iWWdgP2xJZHaShQ1vcqp6NUby4PHLFd5D99VqanRRF6KC3tIlC-lSSn6ba5dl6eOnpr6RR2k-8x/s320/IMAG0679.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">Even though he’s a little small for his age, but he’s eating well and he’s very active, so I’m not too worried (He’s even began to play ball with daddy, a soccer star in the making. I hope). A few weeks back, I threw out about 50 bags of frozen milk, some dating back to 5 months ago. I can actually get by without taking out the frozen stash, but it’s always comforting to know that backup milk is there if and when I need it. </div><br /><div align="justify">So there it is, the proven method to boost your breastmilk. Pump often in the early days, and you’ll reap the benefits later. So don’t be lazy, get out that pump and get moving! </div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">Reference: </span></em></strong><a href="http://www.kellymom.com/"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">www.kellymom.com</span></em></strong></a></div></div></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-44930793145625252002010-11-24T00:41:00.000-08:002010-11-24T00:46:05.127-08:00Giveaway time!<div align="justify">I mentioned in my last post that there would be a giveaway for all readers. </div><div align="justify"><br />I’m giving away an e-book entitled Alphabet of Birds. All you have to do is link up with me at the bottom of this post, and I’ll email you a copy. It’s just a token of appreciation for you guys out there!</div><div align="justify"><br />This fully illustrated e-book teaches multiple things in a mere 18 pages.</div><br /><div align="justify">It teaches the alphabet. It teaches association of each letter to a specific species of bird. The best part is the rhyming description of the bird, which makes it more fun to recite and easier to remember. </div><br /><div align="justify">I used to take Arabic language lessons when I was younger, where remembering the grammar was certainly a mouthful for 9 year-old kid. So the teacher made a rhyming song for it, making it easier for us to remember. During exams, you could hear a low buzzing of voices gently singing the song while answering questions. </div><br /><div align="justify">Here’s a sampling of the Alphabet of Birds.<br /></div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543034041643345938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 252px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2GwLOzIIHXDHiljN79ZxqvTapvsXgKuCM1upsmT4EK6tPYVRFZwyXalh-Y10d6Tl_ni9y9k0aPBQpUQH92_eaogxMrw-PvyAhpzF1qDeWqALylkGhPG4iaeF5Nm7jBfm8_q8slf17W1Vk/s320/swallow.gif" border="0" /> <div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5543034111298458882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRxSlCsOJ0CYtw3HoniAO3T26uM180B-_eK4e7DFGI06YSm_P1SW9bkSS15W4sTNyZVLIlqQBeMiYbPkx0DqPeHvc3rm2iBUSCB_EBSRDyv6nc8FK1pmoMmdE3sxhY41l6sB-NLKufV4w/s320/yellow+bird.gif" border="0" /></div><div align="justify">I didn’t know half of the birds in here myself! (Ermm does that mean I’m a bad mom? I hope not.)</div><br /><div align="justify">Have fun reading and singing and learning! </div><br /><br /><script src="http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=25036"></script>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-33433219477873350552010-11-22T01:07:00.000-08:002010-11-22T17:35:01.067-08:00The 1-Year Mark - Breastfeeding beyond the First Year<div align="justify">My baby boy has just turned one year old on November 6. This means, that I have been fully breastfeeding him for a whole year, yeay! Despite my breast abscess, I did it, double yeay!!<br />Read about my breast abscess challenges <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account.html">here</a>, <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account_26.html">here</a> and <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2010/08/breast-abscess-my-own-true-account_9817.html">here</a>. </div><br /><div align="justify">My breast milk was not as abundant as before, but still more than enough for my little boy’s needs. In addition to the breast abscess, I also survived a sudden two-week nursing strike when he just 6 months old. It was heart-wrenching to see your baby refusing and yelling at your breast, and when you pop in a bottle, he began to suck like there’s no tomorrow. But that’s another story for another day. </div><br /><div align="justify">Here’s a sneak peek of Aliff’s first birthday party.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542299183233083554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 192px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGhLJobHYTWTxoBV8QJy5TOWnxrF_ir96OttMB433KbHqi1Swb6g2jKSUbc3ciW2x3hJdwJxeb4cQtOpnI36hH08txZuR60FmLPiH6WkSiZEhGhdfjsLXOlAeYdn1T9DYNE3KspAn-qn8r/s320/IMAG0294.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542299571020406946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 192px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL2lqgAkBgDHAsm0Z0mBlVQ8T2Ru4dQo24nmOlo-xYww3G4HBvF87YubRmwXi0_INXOI994QqbfOhOLAD7PRh2rmJwSOVXyBBXmwjirLfHp10YwlEdUo4bHRGELf07cnaQcUcyG2afrmY/s320/IMAG0297.jpg" border="0" /><br />That’s Thomas the Tank Engine on top of a 2.5 kg of chocolate moist cake, from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Howzats-Creation/357330595952">Howzat’s Creation</a>. Simply ravishing!<br /><br />Here’s the birthday boy, accompanied by his lovely mom (ahem).<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542299966571869138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFtSsmm7lYnlhk14SP8B24WJW-CH-uBTBp3FIFwPm-0EA8g0nK7nIGPpSN8Y_DL_piVYI-Twc9_ypgo22avDnjjmKk_PuydrTbKwmBZGlf78BZO8ny3IYUncd1KrL9CSBQ9-i-vPsr8xR/s320/IMAG0307.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542299790367272162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 192px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLEoB3oTw4vGRdN7zgdGrGL34w3d2HXuCxNtKSsUsLbUl43ZQgdpiaAu-GO5SQp0caY7Bg1Tn31b5feO9UIktECTi3KdinGQYEx1nJ0pvkWyHIm44ioiXbrVoRFpjHrjKDSh808TIkskQ/s320/IMAG0314.jpg" border="0" /><br />Ermmm… I’m digressing here. </div><br /><div align="justify">So, one more year of breastfeeding and pumping to go. More or less. I was thinking to stop pumping when he turns two and just breastfeeding through the nights and weekends only. But then again, one year is a long time, so we’ll see how it goes. </div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">I found this video of breastfeeding moms, which I think is very sweet. It shows of how moms nursing anytime, anywhere, from the Eiffel tower, to the beach, to the Brooklyn bridge, even on top of a mountain! I wish my breastfeeding adventures were as exotic, but I prefer to be a little discreet when nursing. To me, nursing my baby is a private affair so I don’t show it off. Plus, I’m terrified that some skin might show! No way Jose! </div><br /><div align="justify"><br /><iframe class="youtube-player" title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2KU_k6UkrAI" frameborder="0" width="480" height="390" type="text/html"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">This is the only photo of me breastfeeding in a somewhat public place. I was in the car, on the charter ferry in Penang, Malaysia. Our car windows are tinted darker, so the image clarity isn’t too good. But if you strain your eyes just a little bit, you can see me nursing my boy in the passenger seat. </div><div align="justify"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5542300401610265378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXpQNTPi4o8nGSgFaKN0R_g-k4U8nEjOc_Q4HCfP6OZZEU-L2GR91izq3QM-r_lCxRmtzFSxgYSBge9iMgJWqFB3_TTiysPD50aOVAQIUxY94L-ousWfSfBsoYNzJHUEw0IrS2X7-Lhs7/s320/IMAG0205.jpg" border="0" />How about you? Come and share your breastfeeding experiences, and link up here. There’ll be an exciting giveaway for everyone who links up, something fun to do with your child. I’ll tell more about this giveaway in my next post, but I’ll give just one clue: Alphabets!<br /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?owner=zil_aziz&postid=22Nov2010" type="text/javascript"></script>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-23722169388614573402010-10-07T23:23:00.000-07:002010-10-08T03:11:59.659-07:00Tips for breastpumping moms<div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4JU2WD6Y-xD1yt6f9vhzzycXRkRYoGSPpqMjn_o00mgl2EnbssE-kUGW7iDIn8jCR9FFb4Mzzfg-ma04yyyYw4TKkiSvZM9bPVuj0Y2l5Q86Qhcyz7cUIzRCq5C0tTMBat75Pd87K8N2/s1600/DSCN6284.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525558097373901058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif4JU2WD6Y-xD1yt6f9vhzzycXRkRYoGSPpqMjn_o00mgl2EnbssE-kUGW7iDIn8jCR9FFb4Mzzfg-ma04yyyYw4TKkiSvZM9bPVuj0Y2l5Q86Qhcyz7cUIzRCq5C0tTMBat75Pd87K8N2/s320/DSCN6284.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr-33KaMACALMmckE0nDOz8i_9vgjPK5JOsDgOobe9N_8UpwLtKsxPh2kYxNUCyMDbwHxXwitnWv2-VCXBnHHvgA08mMoCyja2jMbbw9GTJhPbFpsfrh_vklIbYLq02qSzKi437B_t1LIk/s1600/DSCN6306.JPG"></a>I’m a Medela PISA user. I’ve been using this pump for my daughter until I got pregnant with our second child, I stopped pumping, and later weaned her from the breast altogether. With the birth of my son, I brought out my trusted breastpump again and I’ve been using it ever since. To be accurate, I’ve been pumping for a total of 23 months, with a few months break in between. The bag is getting a little too worn. I’m just waiting for the straps to snap clean, so I can buy a new bag. (By the way, I have no idea how it got torn that way. It’s not like I was biting them or something.) </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525557341277061250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNxRCoe4CF6XZA-Ze6kUCrdgaIW6HJtN3jKchQoIE_LgRxFZZLrGDKnWzfgBi1IMPl8gmccdM8kElPRI2ELv3wVUFZYJ-McZ0VhkOQE1iKrzxJbUGqLKJ-P86K5DyGPariNVKRiY_kZk2c/s320/torn.jpg" border="0" /><br />For new moms, I would definitely recommend Medela breastpumps. Whether manual or electric, single or double pump, you take your pick. For me, I chose PISA because I intended to use it for all kids, (at present and possibly future kids)I want a heavy duty pump as I’ll be using it A LOT, and I want the complete set with cooler bag and all. But its best feature is the 2-phase expression which closely mimics how a baby breastfeeds. The Stimulation Phase is fast and light sucking to start the milk flowing followed by the Expression Phase which is slow and stronger sucking to deliver milk faster. </div><div><br />It may be one of the priciest breastpumps in the market, but I think it’s a very worthwhile investment. In my case, I’m already making profits! </div><p>I’m sure most of us have experienced a sudden drop in the suction strength of the pump. Here are some tips told to me of what to look out for and how to care for the parts, given by the customer service gal in Medela office in KL. <br /><br /></p><ul><li>The most common culprit would be defects in the valve head and membranes, like shown the photos below. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525560199815747346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkjep9Q23fP958gEHT8Ilhq-oNrvpmOMUTbLvBHhFT29DOtM43ns1ydi8cZYS0kizgs_ZqBVveP8Z3v936yMXGDAw5SKioEkO4T7IATUd1QrTdtcYl891hB1kIkKNy1xZ8AFCnYlV-wmni/s320/DSCN6303.JPG" border="0" /> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525559989392330978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaib6HqIRdsaZLujaof93cVV5o1VivvgExUe4fd7uCyks90Y0En3epJF96_KkykJo43EyJ9_hjjdWrftgzG0GTFsMvMqHUY_ryr7AQnYtYh1bPx6yc0hQYfJjuR3fZqy0oBdJcDWdGbC_-/s320/DSCN6302.JPG" border="0" />These would need to be replaced with new ones. This happened to me while disassembling the parts to be washed. I must have pulled it off the breastshield too hard or scrubbed on it too hard while washing. </li><li>When you push in the valve head into the breastshield, make sure that it faces outwards or sideways instead of facing you. This could also affect the suction strength. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525560385896828594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFGsco4zmuYkRnmEkLcdFolQEs6nnvV_YEiDORLOqvuU6MMNKsoDH0D_0HCFtHuMlD0F3zcai-CPkQRjP4_4zuBnCl4oB7vXMGshU4udDnGnem29U5yEi42hLpnBhwzb0hC48tSfU5N_Ut/s320/DSCN6306.JPG" border="0" />Don’t push it in too hard or it’ll be difficult to remove and you might break it like I did. </li><li>When you’re keeping the parts, take care not to roll the adapter wire around the adapter especially at the connector right on the adapter base. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525558424679963538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7mwjNeKhjcekLyf_FPUZ5fowB2F9MyRIdNT8nFfbu4gL2hPGDCcWjg7wkbM2MUKzN65LP-HGm5J7uMamsagkeIE3QwoCpQqyywv9CxR8Ii7paoS-3TR1ku2-2xcX9uG3kxPtYRlm46uq5/s320/DSCN6288.JPG" border="0" />My adapter wire was getting all spirally and my pump keeps turning off by itself in the middle of a pumping session, so I had to put something at the adapter base to hold it in place. The adapter is the most expensive part of the breastpump (other than the pump motor, of course) so better not to find a reason to buy a new one.</li><li>When you push in your breast shield into the connector, do not push in too hard or too deep like this. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525559435730508082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB5-RyPeK1PHPNZyPEPdcmihDn75YRe168lv8tOpLJud1Bh9r_B8AJpWsSAOVLEVm18fCDpV-Cg3j6AiKO_eLL2kQ3yxGNxWuBvpo-N6dxP46aKif8DhGO6zJpthfeE58YQD-SEXpNApaY/s320/DSCN6294.JPG" border="0" /> Just push it in gently as long as it sticks together, is good enough, like this. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525559639051800962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGkxJ2sUe9KlOz3eWRYsb08INdivY0jJzeszbbQYXLADa61U7gzuBY8tBLBofAIjmBtUOyxcSMsyzaMa-6iTXQqN41qKsUptkQ-ODy64GcWDRM3hcNOngKHM51kNVUxBzfpAqXnyoZ0PK/s320/DSCN6296.JPG" border="0" />This doesn’t actually affect the suction strength, but it’s not very comfortable for the mom. This is because, when you push it in too deep, your nipple could graze the back of the shield as it is pulled further into the shield. Ouch!</li><li>When you’re pumping at the office, you don’t actually have to wash your parts every single time you pump. Just put all the parts in a cooler pack or use a closed container and put them in the fridge (my office has a fridge, thank God). For long lasting cool ice packs or dry ice, put them in freezer as soon as you get home from work and only take them out in the morning before you leave. The coolness could last about 12 hours. </li><li>Washing is a breeze, I’ve just found out. You don’t even have to sterilize it, as sterilizing could actually tear the soft silicone breastshield. Pour water over them just to clear the milk drops, then put the breastshields, connectors, valve heads and membranes into a container and submerge them in soapy water overnight. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525558752851988034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qhu1wCwEcQgElUu7Wid1FTtnSF44cjeuIxCsrh5dQPsxugLqmi7VuG1YYsNTpBwz1nDINnfozIBqCIUkm_2LtciVbBtaj5vmApt1zrEioa3Q8BboYeqypwoNQ23sGre6ArYyKsS7aHZx/s320/DSCN6290.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525558970409991186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwEuT7tcCZc853flU0Syn_xvN1p-gnEYd3BBwkIYrTtqyXMGt9MSUzDBmBWKFlIXF_vDepFmFsC1VvlY0wfY-AKR3MhFpJxON6iT-6OPTVXLiCVZKeJDIbxcUVte8JMaSLtERNAj6mdWQG/s320/DSCN6291.JPG" border="0" /> Take them out before you go to work in the morning, just wash out the soap, and you’re good to go. </li><li>You should wipe the parts – breastshields, connectors, valve heads and membranes - with a clean towel, or if that’s too much trouble, just let it air dry. For the hard-to-reach parts, use a cotton bud. This is to avoid water droplets from getting sucked into the pump motor through the tubing. If your pump is still within its warranty period, Medela would service the motor for you free of charge. But if your warranty has expired, (warranty is for one year only) this would set you back quite a few bucks.</li></ul><p>That’s all for now. I’ll update you if I get more tips yah! </p><p>Sources:</p><p><a href="http://www.workandpump.com/">www.workandpump.com</a>, <a href="http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/">www.medelabreastfeedingus.com</a>, <a href="http://www.momslittleones.com/">www.momslittleones.com</a></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-28007906540387281402010-10-06T02:26:00.000-07:002010-10-06T02:38:07.983-07:00Travel toys for babies and toddlers<div><div><div><div><div><div>We’re going to Penang this weekend for a family gathering.</div><br /><div></div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524862174109332098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 241px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ775kXcPLeJpbzHYjDjZUEszX3cvKiiXODolPk7pYs7r6kmJJzZSeQC7mPqx5IrHuGrb4YG1pqcC0702sWlP2OWosRQXT88l9QL2lQ4R32zIqOKY6GVkDE8ODdsHOcBfxbxE4iUyMcC2O/s320/Penang-Bridge.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.malaysia-holidays-4u.com/">http://www.malaysia-holidays-4u.com/</a></em></span></p><p>It’s about a 5-hour drive from KL to Penang, so I was thinking of buying a new toy for each of child to engross them in the car, so I can relax a little a bit without having one of them climbing on my back (the baby) and the other cuddling like a baby in my arms (the big sister). </p><p>I was thinking of toys like these for the baby.</p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Lamaze: Jacque The Peacock</span></strong> </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524863454028089218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 296px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKX4qyMJIkMjiky4t-EdBPOn685EMgWkNWKb4hSnG8HFcHuGS7HkW9vYsm1NL2cxATxcPlUyiod5tXvmDuonQwOaJAxMVQyvXLYpd-CiVkQXuaisox5UIs6MyUmQpcSYBu2sdkwagtihQ/s320/jacque.jpg" border="0" /> <p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Taf Toys: Infant Car Toy</span></strong></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524863784360431842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 224px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2w-I18ZE8Yui2NEvfulspQS09JHNWL_vyi56NqBBQgvQlmissqQZLWCgZRV97QbaETC3QAreFXMLB6ebHySZLmAHO8SlaXZ7Lma_DgmIuQ60Zhfpe41JzTcSwUCU3meQXt0piaEZCIfe/s320/T10375_InfantCarToy_Combine.jpg" border="0" /> <p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Taf Toys: Curiosity Cube</span></strong></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524863722519856098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWeAqp64XSNN285EDvZa1TZ_JUNOe-Dbkld6xqXpTM2pmfioGaPc4vdr0fyNwAyElcRj7oIkAVXkHE54OtgpWo3dk_FDmsiJfq9VYssHrPFOrYWV9qlS3gkRwdUL24jwZ7liIifMQrsQz/s320/T10355_CuriosityCube_Combine.jpg" border="0" /> <p>For the big sister.</p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Read & Play: Dress Up Bear Book</span></strong></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524863665908215410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 235px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIRIbLqdZlNfhMTqk4qBod9xHE85kUGChOGSt5dGyXCvo4HEwImD-8g_hnEp3XmfuotbE2ZYOkQYIlI4Pp3L52cOTtgN62csgCZY0giSSxLDM8v86RKpOMG68w8oNSZwwgsggHp-s2qYyb/s320/RP50215_DressUpBear_l.jpg" border="0" /> <p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Baby Einstein: 365 Days of Baby Einstein Book</span></strong></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524863542944991954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 304px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifZ7US8Ovc_36Azi69Frb1CoNfQxRl8gmKnxTyjx5oEGKuXVJaMRXw_m6eqKANWoyt4G21GSHLDcs5bfz3aak1fge5F7TWeVlr2K1ZAOLFdBhl5VK1aBKGGVNTxdNGpWrjWJS9aXKyM50g/s320/BE_365days_l.jpg" border="0" /> <p><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>Baby Einstein: Pretty Poems and Wonderful Words Lift the Flap Book</strong></span></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5524863604360069922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 283px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwi1LWWTpHGkTA2Nh1K3tughm18pDwpwLcS7lq2dzwzDAlw15k_lSAJFwOHdwSY7DzH5OQa_wysv0uTIXyAJSm0nPxS5_0bQ7m8TCbUU2TzhrteOx3AK9QxN82Sps6BHOPCsdxXJaEsVeQ/s320/BE_PrettyPoemsandWonderfulWords_l.jpg" border="0" /> <p>All toys from <a href="http://www.mybbstore.com/">www.mybbstore.com</a>.</p><p>If's money is not a problem, I would have bought all of them. But as it is, I'm not a millionaire mom. </p><p>Any suggestions, anyone?</p></div></div></div></div></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-28054358012252299342010-09-30T02:08:00.000-07:002010-09-30T20:58:40.622-07:00Considering cloth diapers?<div align="justify"><div><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSqcL3MGbK-ewvz-3BVByJvoyA1JvPGVnL6IQRmrtvpS6gT8BKo-4dlSUlKAUBr5FBZoEHbIr-4l2OVM_olITY3uDLei8WtuPRVLgtzx5erzThRwS-lkjbl-eJyiRJQunntnhoVmK2Kto/s1600/cloth-diapers-line.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522631408992656978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 178px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbSqcL3MGbK-ewvz-3BVByJvoyA1JvPGVnL6IQRmrtvpS6gT8BKo-4dlSUlKAUBr5FBZoEHbIr-4l2OVM_olITY3uDLei8WtuPRVLgtzx5erzThRwS-lkjbl-eJyiRJQunntnhoVmK2Kto/s320/cloth-diapers-line.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>Photo courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.swapmamas.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>www.swapmamas.com</em></span></a><br /></div><br /><div>Let’s face it, raising a child is expensive, let alone two, three, four children. I’m sure for most parents, the bulk of spending for children would go to formula and diapers. The next bulk of spending would go to others such as childcare, clothing, toys and food.<br /></div><br /><div>So wouldn’t you like to save some cents anywhere, so you can spend it on yourself? (Or more clothes or toys for your kids, it’s your choice, really.) But like other methods of saving money, there is always a need of some effort on your side. Trying to save on food and meals? Buy groceries and cook at home. Of course, food preparation and the cleaning afterwards is a pain, but it saves more money than eating out. If you’re tired of the endless mountain of laundry i.e. washing, hanging, drying, folding and ironing, you could always send them straight to a laundry shop. Just pay them, and you’re done. But do this every week for the family’s whole dirty laundry including kids’ clothes, you’ll be broke within the month. Summary: convenience costs money. And it isn’t always the best choice. </div><br /><div>So let’s talk about cloth diapers. So what’s good about them?<br /></div><div><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Comfort</span></strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522632458754044898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 206px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 216px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_skAZAyqnKkVq8H8w3jXRMgfUZf_7fiBJlvlA_W1kTM5oLua8JiSZBLH6PuE7M3ftPNwjqdnqPu14ZJytvf-GEmA5as_ecLeUHIeO-Ziw4PuvVahfBIuvAJYes9YmFoJ45ReJy3Y7BJ1y/s320/baby+wear+CD.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>Photo courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.jardinediapers.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>www.jardinediapers.com</em></span></a></div><br /><p>Cloth diapers are made from natural, breathable fabrics, such as velour, bamboo, microfleece and cotton knits. Did you notice that most kids’ clothing is made from cotton? Why? Because it’s the most comfortable, that’s why! Even disposable diapers are trying to imitate this cloth softness by saying in their adverts, “Cotton-like softness”. And while we’re talking about diapers, what kind of underwear do you wear daily? (Please exclude the late night romps where you wear silk and satin.) Cloth undies, not paper or plastic. ‘Nuff said. </p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Wallet friendly</span></strong></p><p>A good investment may need an expensive initial cash outlay, but in the long run, is more economical. Cloth diapers may be used again and again, until it basically tears whereas disposables, as the name suggest, is a single-use item. Below is a cost comparison between a cloth diaper, an average price disposable diaper and an expensive disposable diaper, using the assumption for 1 child per family, going through 6 diaper changes in one day for 3 years, the average age where a child is fully toilet trained. </p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522634040189777362" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 110px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-KmVIz9l3iJn-owVTsWphpNcGrpT6-nLyPLX6jLdp5WlzoAhEZMqYgVSHri9AvKtWOqhQ1wA_KDEYTS-x_0LugUcR6luNwJTJj6RHBJWIg2rMNqHwRVW6G7eX_bdVVDihtWpCn2JTiKq9/s320/pix25.jpg" border="0" /><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Environmental friendly</span></strong><br /><br /><p>Disposable diapers make up the third largest group of waste after newspapers and food & beverage containers, and they take around 200-500 years to decompose. Also, did you notice some small printed instructions at the bottom of the disposable diapers packaging for parents to dump solid waste into the toilet and flush it? I didn’t know it myself, until my first born child was around 7 or 8 months old, informed to me by my mom! (I apologize to you, Mother Earth for my blissful ignorance.) Bearing that in mind, the human poop is thrown into our landfills where it can leach into the groundwater and possibly, spread disease. (Now I’m feeling really guilty. Can you see my face turning red? I could’ve started an epidemic! Oh my God!)</p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Healthier baby</span></strong></p><p>Back in the days when everyone wears cloth diapers, babies hardly ever gets diaper rash. My mom told me that the diaper rash creams don’t even exist. Like I mentioned earlier, cloth is breathable and keeps a baby cooler. Disposables contain chemicals such as sodium polyacrylate to absorb moisture. As cloth diapers do not have these chemicals, they naturally absorb less. This would mean more diaper change, which is more work for us. But this is a good thing, because of this, babies in cloth diapers are cleaner compared to babies in disposables who end up sitting in their pee longer. Good, right?</p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff0000;">Cloth diaper is easier than it used to be</span></strong></p><p>The traditional white cloth “napkin” as my mom used to call them, has to be changed every time the baby pees, as the cloth gets soaking wet. So you can imagine how many cloths does a baby use up every day, around 10 to 20, I guess. </p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522634271183193170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4Aldb36qg4FLzK1ZoNJnLMCMfdZtvy-25ROZ4RZIodsjwGGAGAn8a7YLv_pUFRzobZ6AqDWp8q7bbO9tjalZoYydITYS3UJ0WmpvGR6v6u41KA3-bsV3DHLgFg_4Nm0vyzsQhBYyR53I/s320/traditional+CD.jpg" border="0" /></p><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;">Photo courtesy of </span></em></strong><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;">www.scientificamerican.com</span></em></strong></a><br /><br /><p>But the modern cloth diaper has transformed far much better than its predecessor. In defense of cloth diapers, they are softer, cuter and works just like a disposable. They are very easy to use and to care for. You don’t even have to use a clothes brush. Just pour some baby clothes detergent and some water, rub them together or knead on them like you’re kneading bread dough until it’s clean, rinse it and you’re done! If you’re even lazier, just rinse of all the pee and poop under running water, put them in a laundry net (so that your diapers last longer) and wash them in a washing machine like you wash normal clothes. </p><p>And most of them are one size diaper now – meaning the cloth diaper is adjustable when the baby grows. Some of them use snap buttons, more are using Velcro for ease of use.<br /></p><br /><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522637329390475426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 249px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgOKA0RHRaTIe2DIoXIqiQZoeWFdpb3ZM2NDyrWdPjvB83_1msoiH96jy_ZJwbVL3YMpy1X2wCqOmqgtemAADkj8pFv1UxI4g0Q8rHECu0sC44rxIbJDYREQo2YqYWQcVTLqTPt9Z2zpkr/s320/pix26.jpg" border="0" /><br />You don’t have to abandon disposable diapers totally. You could still use them in situations where you absolutely do not have the time to wash cloth diapers and where water is not readily accessible such as:</p><ul><li>Disaster – floods, earthquakes and such </li><li>Emergency – in case of premature birth, accidents etc </li><li>Hospital stays – especially if the mom is being hospitalized. I don’t think most dads would want to do any diaper washing. (No offense, dads.) </li><li>Vacation or travels – I personally use disposables when travelling because I don’t want to bring dirty diapers around with me, and then needing to wash them when I just got back home, all tired. </li></ul><p>I wish I have a nicely organized collection like this.<br /></p><br /><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522638659666325538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYjWitZ0aXhkcnKcYYDyhi76erGR3fhN3U3QuZnIajkDSEq_0uqtolmdK9byzA1wMLES19ZOyoXgbDv1uIhHeWCoZYvkkkwH_04wQ4bmjD2aVqTD1PT9nSRh-C6z9NmCwH49zCErnV3RSm/s320/CD-collection.jpg" border="0" /><strong><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>Photo courtesy of </em></span></strong><a href="http://www.clothdiapermalaysia.com/"><strong><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3333ff;"><em>www.clothdiapermalaysia.com</em></span></strong></a></p><p>Mine is more like this. <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522639310036411506" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-n2GIRBzQSoEtt6UODooyY5CJIWALE8FPxDSTp2Vyt7iwTguHDTz6EV9vm9c0UHzrT3XXjHIbGCn2uFIQyqJOEpD_6dLboHfWfsfniRmMW0kIx1GAVWw8-8fqWIVEZudX8Rqpg5eNhGj/s320/bkt+tinggi+001.jpg" border="0" /><br />And this.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522639558139392786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdxOLsbgvUXrVuVn4JTtxeHRB2dRlry6iLwHExcaufttaK442CN2PgR43EN5uans5aIyUx8eo0lu94kaurEfRSP9ImC0dB2KisaI5AVP2NRC27y5waucdnKbnCmgbKZ5nQOeWwgmkCBl-/s320/bkt+tinggi+002.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>These are the inserts. A few more were still hanging to dry.<br /></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522640268208954242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoch9QJogSNl1AEVM04a3UVvN0UaIm7iQH3yB_Iujo3NHqf9XLJIe25DQQ2Ozx5KNmMU2_Gyax9tnHLKX_BZnPHBumEXTfQYlXpSf2gEae-dryPCFGN5hS3m02TEjXf6uJLtnvbECjrQ0/s320/bkt+tinggi+005.jpg" border="0" /><br />I’ve been using them daily for about 8 months now for both my children, so they were yellowing a little bit. They need a good stripping, and they’ll look as good as new. </div><br /><div>I forgot to take photos of my kids wearing cloth diapers. I just have one of my boy wearing it. He was playing with Daddy. </div><br /><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5522640545082848818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWs1VGdl8NSY5_1973puJEdrABJCa0MaZ1-lFa20gYLJiIc0zDZuX_v0XBM9smyn9MZf1lmfFK7W_mQndOrhtpJ4rE0f5OqDXdWdp_EQBch12GhDWK0QxB2sa-BLivpv-mTZjsOTfEfxtX/s320/bkt+tinggi+021.jpg" border="0" /></div><br /><div>Please excuse the mess at the back. It was a lazy Saturday morning, so cleaning up comes much later. </div><br /><div>I bought mine from a good friend from her blog <a href="http://simpledimplestore.blogspot.com/">http://simpledimplestore.blogspot.com/</a>. A very good deal indeed. I needed about 30 diapers to go round for 2 kids, so I was just looking for average priced ones. There were a lot more cuter designs at a slightly higher price, go and have a look! </div><br /><div>All in all, the cloth diapers have saved me a whole lot of money. As I use disposables only when we go out and travelling, usually on weekends, I buy them about a large pack for each my daughter and my son every 4 or 5 months. But I still use disposables for night use, as I can’t wake up every 2 or 3 hours to check on wet cloth diapers. I’m already lacking sleep. Do that, and I won’t be able to wake up in the morning. Or I can wake up, but I’ll be cranky as hell. And nobody likes a cranky mom.</div><div> </div><div>Sources:</div><div><a href="http://www.diapernet.org/">www.diapernet.org</a></div><div><a href="http://www.zany-zebra.com/">www.zany-zebra.com</a></div><div><a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/">www.wisegeek.com</a></div><br /></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-84177114267458405352010-09-23T22:53:00.000-07:002010-09-24T01:40:26.963-07:00SnapIt Giveaways!Great news! For the first time, I’m doing a giveaway for all readers! How to get it? Easy-peasy!<br /><br />You just need to download the trial version of SnapIt <a href="http://www.digeus.com/products/snapit/snapit_screen_capture_3_5.html">here</a>, try the software and write a review in your blog, forum, Facebook or Twitter. You’ll be entitled for a free license worth $17.99!<br /><br />After you’ve posted a review, leave a link to your post underneath my post here. Be sure to have your email somewhere visible so I can contact you for a license of your own.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520360508799778738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 201px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSYpK3ESq-rSO3ntvj2RFkKGCCxue1vnD8teC-Dq2wIY6yAHqg0ScS24o_LKg6pyjp3FAXdpYar5iBLZ13JpalCpA-G8HYZUSpptD94Q7dGVg7xyVxFG9yFcPWgwZ85VSmzqXjuVP_v4q/s320/pix16.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5520360512944719970" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 206px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQCXpv58AEKqm0bntUlS60R4sm58ggSAShvw9Cgef7AoAmSIfKpjlKhURzdFcq0SDlllDWIpiOVkNxMVYJdfoFEssbeHx0k6pgMKCN3YT4lXAt0PbOtXvOR6USh6wYS2CeRHrVZmg_chjM/s320/pix18.jpg" border="0" /> Piece of cake! So whatcha you’re waiting for?<br /><br />P/S: That's from an animation on MS Excel saying thank you millions of times.. Thanks for reading! :)<br /><br /><script src="http://www.blenza.com/linkies/autolink.php?owner=zil_aziz&postid=24Sep2010" type="text/javascript"></script>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-71892795182813123672010-09-22T22:00:00.000-07:002010-09-22T22:59:28.913-07:00Pretty snapshots – just SnapIt!<div align="justify"><div><div><div><div>I’m currently thinking of decorating/organizing my kids’ bedroom. Technically, they don’t sleep there, but all their stuff i.e. clothes, toys, diapers and everything else is in this room. Right now, all their toys are dumped in one basket that I bought in Ikea. </div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519974837650268642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ejfuNNc3nMK75PBf9IqJ6K8OHt9tEc8DPxCoipytOPlNRGui_oxNrwafeFMiV_j4V5YxPq3StHTCm4lfu7zYYTj4KcMPrhyRc88jgGv4uz8TAfMTE6urHSyknym86P0eefV0bhcyDVqa/s320/DSCN4419.JPG" border="0" /><br />Oh, that was more than a year ago. Currently, the basket is threatening to burst at the seams from endless number of toys, knick and knacks, plastic spoons, broken trains and alphabets, even my husband’s old hand phone case that you can clip on the belt. I think my maid just dumps everything that the kids play with into the basket, deeming them as ‘toys’. </div><br /><div>I would love to have a play room like this. (Note the “I”, not “I’m sure the kids would love this”. We moms do tend to go overboard.) </div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519975290746386546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 254px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLk80cMPJkZyCm6BCffIQTqb6zGGfKY69gX3qfCL2NueOv5cVgbXYMfrqkPiJ8nb71xez4ZIFkL42h_rfAoMClIobV9AnOUpEKudqx-80xCioRM1mhJJT60UuTOI8Odn41vy11DDCR_10x/s320/pix1.jpg" border="0" />Or this.<br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519975430479476402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 274px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoYQqX47AmMU4NfSjXakyp6Rib1H7-ui3GiDnqeJZzzLGH-gmVEWOaLDsiAKtpfdPv3Tmzg8GIqU6ofhQUxOY3MjS3BmLYOEHgp9tdqR9l804zkECPW6m5zyYnXafsQSzGbb4KX2MDeqb/s320/pix8.jpg" border="0" />And I would love to organize my overflowing bookshelf from this. </div><div>(Please excuse the baby, she doesn't know how she got herself up there.)</div><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519975041255104242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4NrqbEU7ly-VzM7AexRT3IVo93f0h8Mspst3GoDdeMaqk4ip9BdJExrldo55GF0JNlPGc06K_dsgpAuuBnbby0pYSTruU4isjUXpUvWaZ4Z-H6rJb_IQ5lox6vriTuOcmMXK7FjC0xfZL/s320/DSCN4423.JPG" border="0" />To this.<br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519975680357907762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 211px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6QCAMbW1WG_AF-70zVYT7-sPWoitVKfo-O5r0YljlUSs93wuC43CVF93NuPZwcM0CV5WX0kGSJmdfSWs1nclxpJNS3N4T5oBVY9TdIzMpkBPP9dzKjc6fcdZOu6c_Z8zjLNR1c7eESOBf/s320/pix3.jpg" border="0" />All room inspiration photos from<br /><div><br /></div><a href="http://www.realsimple.com/"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519975831889675106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 123px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEFp7QAnCaFUKbWeULB_5NjjJrx-ZRSEJOmFJjdZzlhr-vl5TKnfTDNhfz8NFQ3HTAlj_BFyKomRAENb_7gblfmUbn_cKK6_HNtfW1GCRjrS7z022aPV88FeZnnHgvcyXxuXcSarRWnht/s320/pix10.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Oh, you must be wondering how I got those photos nicely clipped. If you look at them carefully, they were snapshot photos. You know, using the Print Screen button on your keyboard and pasting them on a paint file or MS Word. Only I’m using something specialer than that. (I mean more special, of course.) </div><br /><div>A few days ago, I got an email from Digeus, Inc asking me to review this software of theirs, called <a href="http://www.digeus.com/products/snapit/snapit_screen_capture_3_5.html">SnapIt</a>. It’s something similar like using the Print Screen button. But the best thing about it is, unlike the Print screen button where you have to paste it on a paint file on MS Word and save it under a new name, it works like a camera, where you just click, and it saves the photo automatically. All you have to do is change the settings at the Properties menu. Very convenient!<br /></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519975986834407234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 290px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg31_U_En7ooH7fbRuTlmwjGlOqcaUg3l3jRPgssFz8dByTNNGXze54GhM7Uk6MrIEL5MetF4ZBwMThyK_OS3riBTZul7afNmiC-EpFQGgtfDFduqqlKALVZFrQnR5Srl_HKtYCKjDDQVdT/s320/pix11.jpg" border="0" /> You can paste the snapshot in MS Word, Photoshop, or Paint and create a new document or modify it anyway you like. Or, my favourite feature, you can save it as an image file in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG or TIFF formats. Pretty cool, eh? </div><br /><div>I personally find this software very simple, easy to use and highly convenient. Sometimes I find certain parts or photos in a web page that I would like to save, and I would save the whole page. It does get a little tedious to scroll down particularly long web pages that end forever, which is annoying when I need to find it urgently. Now I can just choose which part I want to save, and click! </div><br /><div></div><div>I tried snapping it at a video in YouTube and got a crystal clear snapshot.</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519982442374412754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 231px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7kDN78l6HxwUa4ypBEbsphH6avS1KVnYLRUGFNqFrHBNnLPOrJKcD_r9yq4nsc8QYLl8oCoBW-TnDlWoqzUQeoi0qts36phIJMLdFC7b04VM6oOphzYBfLeNVWzxeOkHcZaEG0WPdzqaA/s320/pix14.jpg" border="0" /> <div></div><div></div><div>Want to know more about <a href="http://www.digeus.com/products/snapit/snapit_screen_capture_3_5.html">SnapIt</a>? Go to its website <a href="http://www.digeus.com/products/snapit/snapit_screen_capture_3_5.html">here</a>.</div></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-43053078612072487412010-08-26T23:09:00.000-07:002010-08-27T01:16:42.686-07:00Breast abscess - my own true account<div align="justify">PART 3 – THE TEST OF FAITH</div><br /><p align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509969771163706514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBY2iW1QhKPn9e1CvTUQYfWnoowMvzoXnoWvZ2UmFQQYfbUE0M6hul2JQLbJEar2DstRWPzln3aaO5-6yELstcXRPYrZb4sRZgadpfkw5y2X7eNH1BuDqw1GsspZgwczMCWM5jI7MpnjVG/s320/choc+milk.jpg" border="0" /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;"><em><strong>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.cartoonstock.com/">http://www.cartoonstock.com/</a></strong></em></span></p><div align="justify">The ultimate test came when I found out my mom’s fridge broke down. My frozen milk stash amounted to around 50 bags at the time. I suddenly discovered that they had all thawed to liquid form. I checked on the fish and chicken, they were also soft and wet. My dad had a repairman to check on the fridge, and indeed the 17-year-old fridge had broken down. I was devastated! Luckily I had some fresh, unfrozen milk that I kept in my mini bar fridge, but like I mentioned earlier, my supply was not that much since I was still leaking milk from the incision. I cried my heart out as I dumped them all in the trash. I was praying hard that my current milk supply would be sufficient for my boy. Nevertheless, my husband bought one small can of baby formula, just in case. Oh, and my parents bought a new fridge immediately so I started the all new journey building up my stock all over again. </div><br /><div align="justify">Another heart breaking discovery – the doctor suggested that I take an injection to stop the milk flow, as my incision seemed unable to heal completely as the leaking milk created blisters in the incision. Furthermore, I had rashes on the area where the plasters met my skin, it became irritated and itchy. I simply couldn’t bring myself to stop and take the injection – my baby was barely two months old. I had been so determined to breastfeed him until he turns two. I was struggling not to drown in self-pity, trying to provide enough food for my baby, take care of my daughter (with lots of help from my parents) and trying to take care of myself. I called up my good friend for moral support and comfort, she even offered her milk stash to me (she was also a breastfeeding mom; thanks so much Ckin, you’re so sweet!) just in case mine was not enough. But above all, I missed my husband, my pillar of strength, the most during this difficult time. He was especially sweet, even though he couldn’t be with me all the time. </div><br /><div align="justify">Miraculously, after a week and two dressing changes and perseverance with the strength of steel on my part, the doctor told me that the incision had closed and the milk had stopped leaking. There was a long scar, of course, but the blisters were gone. I had no idea how and what happened, but it was a tremendous relief. The doctor even said that I can try to breastfeed again, I just need to be a little careful not to strain the incision too much, as the flesh inside would take longer to heal properly. </div><br /><div align="justify">After the last dressing change, I finally took a look at the scar. I never looked at it before, because I was too scared to see a gaping hole in my breast and thought that it might traumatize me some more. There it was, the long, dark line widening in the middle where the drainage was done. Mixed emotions washed over me; a little sad that I now had an ugly scar, but proud of myself that I didn’t give up breastfeeding. Sure, it had been a tough journey but I had survived it. I am proud to say that despite the breast abscess, my baby is 100% exclusively breastfed, until now. (Oh, the baby formula still sits unused in the kitchen. I should give it to someone else.)</div><br /><div align="justify">I did rebuild my milk stash; take a look. </div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509970810315770002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrcxMNqpYZNpwimlyU-TC0HZbubKXea4evuYsVfpSWFZmV0yZ3vsqEXJBhWX1T6eQ84V3ciXsDy874Io3FcKwf3ocNc3vK5uLETnPzWr0iOO6fl-XjZz0vPpQ4uGW343wdyGBREiW0-Abu/s320/bkt+tinggi+119.jpg" border="0" /><br /><p align="justify">My breast milk is so abundant; it would have been enough if my daughter also feeds on my breast milk. After all, she was also a breastfed baby previously. But she seemed to have grasped the concept that breast milk is for her little brother, so she wouldn’t take it. So I’ve had to throw out a LOT of milk. I can actually get by without using the frozen stash because I’m producing way more than my baby consumes. I’m not showing off here; I guess it’s just a reward for my perseverance. I am so grateful, so thankful that I was able to continue breastfeeding my little boy. So I guess the saying is right – what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. </p><p align="justify">To moms out there, if I’ve had breast abscess and still managed to breastfeed, you absolutely CAN do it. Sure, it’s not easy. Pumping, washing a LOT of bottles (I have about 40 bottles for my two kids, most of them for storing breast milk), storing and freezing and labeling milk, sorting the milk by the first-in-first-out basis – it’s a lot of tedious work. And the breastfeeding issues such as engorgement, latch on, painful/cracked/bleeding nipple, nipple preference, sore nipples – they can be solved, if you’re willing to work on it and have a little patience. Breast milk is the best gift you can give to your baby, better than a new stroller, new baby cot, new clothes, new toys. I don’t need to tell you the benefits of breast milk, I’m pretty sure you know already them. And best of all, it’s free! Think how much you can save on baby formula, which in turn you can spend on yourself. Ha. Gotcha there.<br /></p><br /><p align="justify"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509972490417688258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgby-HZ2sveGOVkZuTq3g15NLYyKFLbDd3hTEqyB_kQ9xvcDshAzl4J4Zd6zubkS58Zl_k8WOYelkiUgQC5BGaa4jmUYMiEAXG2KPtIBpo2eSl9UYab-q2SCvrIDCU9mhgUoIedjHIS8pZN/s320/breastfeeding_menu_tshirt.jpg" border="0" /><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">Photo courtesy of </span></em></strong><a href="http://www.zazzle.co.uk/"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">www.zazzle.co.uk</span></em></strong></a> <p align="justify"></p><p align="justify"></p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-14021846356894158422010-08-26T22:58:00.000-07:002010-08-26T23:09:25.176-07:00Breast abscess - my own true account<div align="justify">PART 2 – THE SURGERY & THE AFTER EFFECTS</div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509965693905408466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 299px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 279px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg6rwKwK3mqLoZbQJT8dCI81x1QcY2QCLnPtFHlsDysVI6fTi1tn3q2PYCJYP0Xoj3JZVisTUcxyRfvmDCzLPvImTG8sEZD-kcE4UKkHkGx3vstw_deRjDGV542IC5biq9LIloq43vp5uT/s320/Surgery+1.jpg" border="0" /><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;"><strong>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.spotlighthealth.com/">http://www.spotlighthealth.com/</a></strong></span></em></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify">The surgery turned out to be, nothing to be scared of. I have to admit, I was scared as I changed into the gown especially for surgery, lied down on the metal bed, and was pushed to the operation theatre. I was even more scared when they put me underneath all the lights, right next to metal tables where you can see all the medical equipment, just like in House. Then the surgeon told me to relax, as he put a mask over my face. I don’t even remember getting drowsy. The next thing I know, I woke up on the metal table, but all the lights were gone. I don’t feel any different than before and I wondered, is it over? What am I doing here? Then two nurses came over and began pushing my bed to my room, and I saw my husband sitting there watching tv. </p><div align="justify">The first day after the surgery went by drowsily, as I was still on painkillers. The affected breast was totally wrapped up in bandages which the nurse called dressing, so I could only express milk from my right breast. I was a bit worried because I don’t know how this surgery would affect my milk production, but I know that I still need to express to avoid any more engorgement. I had some milk stash in the freezer and about 10 bottles of unfrozen milk, which I think should be enough to last for my baby until I was discharged. Only the next day a nurse changed the dressing to expose just enough skin and the areola so that I can pump. </div><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify">The surgeon later told me that the incision was 4 inches long and was quite deep because there was a considerable amount of pus. I shuddered to think I have 4-inch scar on my breast. Oh dear.. In the morning I was due to be discharged, the surgeon gave me more painkillers to knock me out so he could change the dressing. I was discharged in the afternoon after being told I was to come in twice weekly for dressing change.<br /></p><div align="justify"><br /></div><p align="justify"></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509966217248676018" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 198px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikZJjB-z8XbHMGbFz_uZNAiGR0w-LPWTTHFmnTcAjk4QJGsmdobc2hOywkWBS87XCNGjo35sO4RVwdqylMxjrTgWYAx_PUZV3xiz-6fSg7Al-KshSfy2kAPIYE8TVxlGLIEcEWRgmU1I2O/s320/AfterSurgery.jpg" border="0" /><em><strong><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">Photo courtesy of </span></strong></em><a href="http://www.spotlighthealth.com/"><em><strong><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;">http://www.spotlighthealth.com/</span></strong></em></a><br /><p align="justify"></p><p align="justify">And so, the emotional rollercoaster began. Like I mentioned before, I wasn’t fully healed from the pain of childbirth and hemorrhage, now I have another painful body part to add to the group. Oh, and did I mention that the incision was not stitched up? That was the purpose of the dressing, to absorb all the milk that leaked out, while letting the incision heal by itself from the outside in. Close to the dressing change day, I already smelled like sour milk. Pumping was a pain in the **s. The bandages were quite wide and it covered almost the whole underside of my breast. So, to pump, I have to press the breast shield harder into the breast tissue (which is partially covered with the bandages) in order not to break suction. And, because of the leaking milk, the most I can pump out of my left breast is about 1 oz, which is downright depressing. </p><p align="justify">In addition to that, I have to be careful not to strain myself and pull at the arm and shoulder muscles, because damn, it hurts. I was too traumatized to try and breastfeed, even from the unaffected right breast, because I was worried that my baby might accidentally knock the bandage with his cute little arms or legs. Even breastfeeding while lying down on my side hurts as it puts pressure on the incision, so I thought I’d just stop breastfeeding for a while and just give him expressed milk in a bottle, hoping to God that he won’t develop nipple preferences for the bottle. </p><p align="justify">This wasn’t as easy as I thought, especially when it came to night feedings. I didn’t want my milk supply to drop, so I’d have to pump in the wee hours of the morning too. I was pumping about 10 times a day at the time, I was thinking of having the breast shields permanently stuck to my nursing bra. (The only bra I can wear is <a href="http://www.fabulousmom.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_27&products_id=774">FabulousMom’s Sarah Sleep Bra</a>, so I bought 4 of them!) Luckily, my husband bought a mini bar fridge to put next to my bed (thanks so much, honey!), so I can easily wake up in the middle of the night and warm up a bottle of milk, instead of going downstairs to the main fridge. So every night before I went to bed, I would prepare at least 3 bottles of milk ready to be warmed up in a jiffy. I would pump before going to bed, wake up to feed him when he cries, then when he’s done and dozed off, I would pump. Instead of breastfeed by demand, I would pump by demand. Same difference, really. I was doing all this on auto-pilot, like a pre-set robot. But robots don’t get tired, whereas I was left exhausted and cranky due to the lack of sleep.</p><p align="justify">Then there was twice weekly dressing change (which was done painkiller-free), which I totally despised, but totally necessary. So I gritted my teeth and wiped my tears all the way, and butted my head through them all. The doctor would take off the old bandages, clean the incision, poke it here and there, put some ointment on it, cover it up with new bandages and pronounce me good for another week. For the first three weeks, I came out of the doctor’s office with my face tear-streaked, my eyes red and my fists all white because I was clenching them so hard. My husband tried to arrange to come home on every dressing change, but he couldn’t exactly come home twice weekly. So when he couldn’t come with me, he would call me after the doctor visit with words of love and encouragement, which helped a lot. </p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-25407147553679839902010-08-26T22:36:00.000-07:002010-08-26T22:56:40.482-07:00Breast abscess - my own true account<div align="justify">Previously I said that I'm saving this story for another day. So here it is. But be warned: this is a rather long post. I've broken the whole story into 3 parts, so take your time. :)</div><div align="justify"></div><br /><div align="justify">PART 1 – THE DIAGNOSIS</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify">It all started with the all-too-common breast engorgement in the early days after giving birth. Unlike most mothers whose milk “came in” three of four days after birth, my came in right after the birth. This could be due to the reason that I was still breastfeeding my 1-year-old daughter when I discovered I was pregnant for the second time. A few months along the pregnancy, when my daughter was around 14 or 15 months old, I decided to wean her off the breast completely because I was too tired to cope with the night feedings and the pumping. </div><br /><div align="justify">The first 3 days at the hospital right after the birth of our son, the feedings were going on fine. Maybe because I’d just stop breastfeeding several months before, so I did not have too much problems breastfeeding my son. He seems to be latching on fine, too, that the lactation counselors gave high praises to me as the “expert” breastfeeding mom, though I wouldn’t say that I’m an expert. I had my share of problems too, only it got much better with experience later on. </div><div align="justify"><br />I spent my confinement days at my parent’s house in Johor Bahru, which is 4 hours away from home. My husband would come and visit us on weekends. I don’t remember exactly when the engorgement started, it was probably the second week after the birth. I had the usual symptoms such as tender lumps, warmth and throbbing, the tightening of the skin, making it hard for my baby to latch on. Also, I came down with fever so many times, I lost count of the number. I tried nursing my baby often, which was challenging because sometimes he just could not latch on! This would usually end up with a) my baby screaming right in front of my nipple, or b) my baby screaming right in front of my nipple and me sweating profusely and almost in tears. Sometimes I just gave up, passed him to my mom and warmed up a bottle of expressed milk. </div><div align="justify"><br />The engorgement did not disappear. I tried using cabbage leaves. I expressed more times. I tried both hot and cold compresses. I tried hand expression, breast compression and massage. Then one day, I was getting dressed, when I felt a hard lump on the underside of my left breast, which was painful when I pressed my fingers on it and felt warm. I told my mom about it. She told me that she had a lump too, when she was younger. Her gynae told her that it was not cancerous and had it removed in a minor operation. But she said that hers felt nothing like mine; it was small, hard and not painful at all. I was getting worried. I called my husband and he urged me to see a doctor immediately. I didn’t go immediately, but kept on trying to relieve the engorgement by myself. I told myself to wait until the next week.</div><div align="justify"><br />The next week came and I was still in pain, and keep coming in and out of fevers. Finally I couldn’t ignore it any longer, so my parents took me to a clinic. She asked me to lie down and take off my bra. She took a look at it and said “oh, this looks like breast abscess.” She said the lump was red and swelling, which explained the warmth. She gave me antibiotics and asked me to come back in three days time if the pain had not subsided, in which case she would need to refer me to a surgeon.</div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">This is how an abscess looks. (That's not me, by the way.)</div><br /><div align="justify"></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5509963232161291650" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 208px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ014K29dDIx5CP35iWWoaHx2xIPMODmTjZF_25Ms483q7F9XnXcaJahWHktPqVU1Kp3M4Cfihk0r0EQM3hq3XvHACwxTfAMIoQHrtD4FwPINxlLr8uHDhbJjZTvAW63wn5_QuFQzJWeYs/s320/b+abscess.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div align="justify"><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;"><strong>Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.moondragon.org/">www.moondragon.org</a></strong></span></em></div><div align="justify"><strong><em><span style="font-size:78%;color:#3366ff;"></span></em></strong> </div><div align="justify">Okay, right about then, I was freaked out! I never had any surgery in my life and have been admitted to hospital wards only for childbirth, so you can imagine how I was feeling at the time. After the three days was up, I surrendered to the fact that I had to go and have my breast cut open. The doctor referred me to a surgeon at a specialist hospital. The doctor was an Indian-Muslim gentleman, about my dad’s age and gently told me to admit myself to the hospital ward the next day. He scheduled the surgery which he called incision and drainage for the day after tomorrow, 10 am. I called my husband telling him about the surgery and he promised to come home so he could be with me before the surgery starts. </div><div align="justify"><br />My mom would have to look after both my kids during the nights I was at the hospital. My mom was not exactly young at 64, and I felt a little guilty that she would have to care for a 20-month old girl and a 1-month old baby boy, knowing that my dad was not much of a help in the middle of the night. My little girl still wakes up at night occasionally in addition to the baby’s night feedings. I told my husband to stay at home so he could take care of my daughter, leaving my mom to care for my son only. But my mom told him to stay at the hospital with me. And I can’t pretend that I wasn’t grateful that my husband was keeping me company at the hospital. It is unbelievably depressing to be lying down in a hospital bed after a surgery all alone. </div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-86869190127488543232010-08-18T01:23:00.000-07:002010-08-18T02:46:30.239-07:00Apples of my eyeHey there! <div><div><br />It’s been a year since my last post. With a toddler and a baby under my belt, I’ve been pretty busy at home & and work. A LOT of things have happened, but I won’t reveal everything in one post because that would make this post extremely, painfully, undeniably long, that people would get an eye strain just trying to get through it. </div><div align="justify"><br />So, first things first. Here’s the new addition to the family.<br /></div><div align="justify"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506674542089262306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxr9g-6OWJeqVyrCFNkpQFI5tNkc137bpE0dbuAntjR78RpjWt3XyaDQoL4HXt8-f-oXynfVNbcN6kjC6Bfwd4tRHfIRHOPUGJNn9-ontUO6dLa9ZlMyUNXk_ITp1n00HcT60n5gSLC7uZ/s320/my+lovely+024.jpg" border="0" />This is Aliff at 1 ½ months old. For those of you who can’t tell, he’s a bouncing baby boy. He’s in a pink cot with a pink pillow beside him because those belonged to his sister, Aliah. I bought the blue pillow underneath his head later on to show that he’s a boy, haha. I am so proud to say that he is exclusively breastfed (he’s 9 months old now) despite me contracting breast abscess a month after giving birth. </div><div align="justify"><br />So my maternity leave was extended because I had a minor operation called incision and drainage to get rid of abscess and was given another month for hospitalization leave. On the bright side, I got to stay home longer with my baby. On the downside, I was in excruciating, multiple pains; I wasn’t fully healed from the pain of childbirth when I contracted the abscess, and I was still experiencing hemorrhage. I was physically exhausted, and I’ve gone through childbirth only twice. Oh well.<br /><br />In spite of the incision and drainage, the major drop in my milk supply, the breakdown of my mom’s fridge (I already had about 50 bags of frozen milk stash for stock. I had to throw them all out, and start all over again.), which in turn, broke my heart, the excruciating pain of trying to pump from the affected breast and only getting 1 oz, the extremely painful dressing changes twice a week when the doctor cleaned the wound (without painkillers!), the tears that flow, I managed to continue pumping. And when the wound healed, I was able to breastfeed again. But that is another story for another day. </div><div align="justify"><br />Fast forward to 9 months later, here’s the little boy. </div><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506678873644479218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0y5K3o_VfjXh4Qtb71V8-9Q0jTKuB6lePTENL0RljCbdJ0bD7lx2_oN7ll5NRxrXu27A1A0hxKfub6V_IzFUzVlPt4qlpomB8bV1PeJe1W6REH21G6zXyXoeAexSu9rVkicDzxqqZhpl/s320/bkt+tinggi+045.jpg" border="0" /><br /></p><p></p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506679163816895554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Xv9mF6KeaEPoAwxBZgLh4FMksOzxFy5QgnYXoxNbxHkuJ1Je9dTnl1JX7Y_heWQTyXJCZh70NxfZvVg2Hv1KtLKN8VZWhVwJkvVlPPS0lh0ftvhRoKaISTx-8Q8LXSDBS-H9UV-GmlX0/s320/bkt+tinggi+049.jpg" border="0" />And here they are together, sister and brother. Sitting peacefully on the couch. At the moment. Wearing the new Busha leggings I bought them. Hehe. </div><div><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506682630444390786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDwTQ_IuT-4XnZpPrmPOfBCL1ml9Z5PiawxgJlxID2yr4XyL5CpchGdpwVGNRiuOtAWPuCWZZJOvwfzkjAhT0sQByTUGSI_mSpgveT8om0iYz1flPWuRsXPkdmh5LhSfjqJbpbufvWdegW/s320/bkt+tinggi+030.jpg" border="0" /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506682970490856354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4KTiYD-cmXR5P9bZ6Aj-E-rcTxFsILg3vtYrImTFKvihTCvwJRFvsTWTKcibs078PSUD1i-X9zfyA8IyJu0v71qIkEIa9Pp-2mLbj796B_7DxVjRNF9fscC4GuslpfFlB52rQIvveY5Tt/s320/bkt+tinggi+032.jpg" border="0" />Aliah was baffled that I wanted to take photos of her bum! Who can resist such cute bums? Hehe.<br /><div align="justify"><br />I’ll keep it short and sweet today. Brainstorming for ideas here. </div></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-49428533557589259712009-08-05T20:15:00.000-07:002009-08-05T20:58:18.816-07:00Let's go vacationing!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_VWJ35R8DzyVB8kuWNCyWikjLr_XX2Eq-cY92fKGXrpc0Fr9olyssd5_excvhrIi2kP5D5lAw7PRnOXX5ExR9t2EBoIMQLPe_ZooYmQiGqAWTJWdZxpjq4wR4pZHk3PNiRBb5q8Q-mTV/s1600-h/baby+at+beach.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366685057757666786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK_VWJ35R8DzyVB8kuWNCyWikjLr_XX2Eq-cY92fKGXrpc0Fr9olyssd5_excvhrIi2kP5D5lAw7PRnOXX5ExR9t2EBoIMQLPe_ZooYmQiGqAWTJWdZxpjq4wR4pZHk3PNiRBb5q8Q-mTV/s320/baby+at+beach.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><em> Courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.holidaybabykw.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.holidaybabykw.com</em></span></a><br /><br />Our little family will be going to Langkawi by flight on a 3 days and 2 nights trip, together with my in-laws. Aliah is quite used to car travel, but this will be her first time boarding an airplane, so I am somewhat apprehensive. So I’m writing this to serve as a checklist on my own.<br /><br /><strong>Things to put in her diaper bag</strong><br /><ul><li>3 or 4 spare diapers</li><li>a waterproof changing surface – it’s included in the bag, anyway</li><li>at least 2 pairs of clean clothes. Aliah perspires a lot. And she might decide to do a poop job. </li><li>Wet wipes</li><li>formula dispenser filled with formula (obviously) enough for 3 or 4 feedings. So if the family decides to go shopping right after we check into the hotel, I won’t have to dig into the bag to fill in the dispenser.</li><li>at least 2 clean bottles, just in case she wants a feed en route</li><li>1 ready to drink formula, just in case she wants a feed immediately</li><li>1 full bottle of warm water – she loves water, by the way</li><li>A thermos flask. I’m not sure whether we’re allowed to bring liquids through the security gates, but if not, I’ll just throw out the water then.</li><li>A bib</li><li>Her travel fork & spoon </li><li>Several plastic bags for diaper changes or soiled clothes. I love this <a href="http://www.mybbstore.com/webshaper/store/viewProd.asp?pkProductItem=316">Diaper Duck Travel Buddy</a> sold at <a href="http://www.mybbstore.com/">www.mybbstore.com</a>, if you don’t mind spending RM30 on disposable plastic bags. It’s so cute! But I’ll just stick to the free plastic bags for now. </li><li>Some snacks – biscuits, sandwiches or maybe some fruit</li><li>A toy or two. As she loves to scribble and I prefer not to worry about missing pencils, I bought a small <a href="http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=900000&e=storeproduct&pid=34119">Fisher-Price Doodle Pro</a> that comes with a clip. And maybe I’ll bring her favourite <a href="http://funplaynlearn.blogspot.com/2009/05/count-and-play.html">Count and Play</a> book. </li></ul><p><strong>Things to put in her own suitcase</strong></p><p>Aliah is currently undergoing treatments to cure her newly contracted asthma. So I’m gonna have to bring all her medications, along with some other stuff such as</p><ul><li>A thermometer</li><li>Baby paracetemol</li><li>One of her cold/cough meds, just in case</li><li>Diaper rash ointment. She rarely gets diaper rash, but it’s better to be prepared.</li></ul><p>All the other stuff is regular things such as</p><ul><li>Enough change of day clothes and night clothes. She still vomits every once in a while especially at night, so it never hurt s to bring extra clothes.</li><li>Her toiletries, compact size – baby head-to-toe wash, baby powder, toothbrush, her hairbrush and little scrunchie (her hair are so long, they’re getting into her eyes) </li><li>Socks and Vicks vapor rub, for night use. It eases her night coughing. </li><li>One or two of her favourite pillows</li><li>Her blanket, even though she hates it. She usually kicks it off madly when I cover her up.</li><li>Her formula and extra bottles</li><li>Bottle brush for bottle washing</li><li>Antibacterial hand gel</li><li>More diapers and wet wipes</li><li>Shoes and her newly bought sunglasses. I just can’t resist, they’re so cute! </li><li>Her ever useful stroller</li><li>Don’t forget the camera! </li></ul><p>Have I forgotten anything important here? Hope not. Please let me know it I did.<br />So I think we’re ready for this vacation. Langkawi, here we come! </p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-82835453046745034852009-07-16T01:31:00.001-07:002009-07-16T01:41:58.407-07:00Pneumonia and Bronchitis in babies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH_5eEWU9v8ZTpVNRovcXjVImwrRq8OernSigKaEeyhk2v9y9Iy9jQswHgHF4wPkMvBXVRoWo_NElogIhFyt_GxpTzgaQZDqepn2djHG6d1HMDauvkGzzK9vBzac7yooG3t-IseEFBILG/s1600-h/sick-baby.jpg"><span style="font-size:78%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358972950454164530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 198px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 250px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLH_5eEWU9v8ZTpVNRovcXjVImwrRq8OernSigKaEeyhk2v9y9Iy9jQswHgHF4wPkMvBXVRoWo_NElogIhFyt_GxpTzgaQZDqepn2djHG6d1HMDauvkGzzK9vBzac7yooG3t-IseEFBILG/s320/sick-baby.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:78%;"> <em>Courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.earaymundo.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.earaymundo.com</em></span></a><br /><br />I’ve had a number of sleepless nights for almost two weeks now. It’s because my daughter has been coughing vigorously in her sleep and vomits out milk that she just drank hours ago. (A few days ago, it was rice with fish and some vegetables and bean sprouts. She must have swallowed them whole.) As I’m a rather light sleeper, I’d usually wake up when she starts to cough that kind of deep, belly cough filled with phlegm and mucus, just in case she vomits. Usually I get up from bed and out of the room to get a spare plastic basin for her to vomit in. Or just in the nick of time, like last night, I stopped in the middle of my prayers and put my hand in front of her mouth to catch her vomit, so minimal amount of vomit spills onto her cot. This has happened several times, in bed, in the car or pretty much anytime I noticed her coughing. Yesterday and this morning, I arrived at the office with my hand smelling of vomit.<br /><br />When this kind coughing spells hit, I would of course, consequently sleep less smoothly. I noticed that my daughter is quite sensitive to certain kind of foods i.e. cold food like puddings cold drinks, oily food like fried fish crackers, even some types of tropical fruit. Her coughing would start that very night after she consumed such foods. Incidentally, she’s quite prone to catch colds and coughs infection, because she goes to a nursery where there are a lot of kids. (This is one very well-known disadvantage of sending your child to a children day-care centre.) It’s unlikely that a day-care centre with two or three caregivers to monitor very strict cleanliness of ten to fifteen toddlers at the same time. And it’s quite certain, that when one kid gets sick, others would get catch the virus pretty quickly.<br /><br /><strong>The diagnosis</strong><br /><br />My daughter was diagnosed with pneumonia once, when she was around 10 months old and had to be hospitalized for three days. (The doctor asked to stay for another two days, but we politely declined. We promised to give her medicine and all that.) How the pediatrician diagnosed her was pretty much by the text book; he watched how she breathed and listened to her lungs with a stethoscope for her breathing patterns sounds and any abnormality. He mentioned that she breathed more rapidly to take in more oxygen because of the mucus in her lungs. And because babies do not know how to spit out the phlegm, she simply swallows them back into her lungs, causing an infection. After looking at my daughter’s chest x-rays, he confirmed it pneumonia and asked us to register her into the hospital ward.<br /><br /><strong>The symptoms</strong><br /><strong></strong><br />It all started with the coughing and high fever, which are the main symptoms of pneumonia. She was certainly coughing hard until she usually vomits, and her temperature went up to 41 degree Celsius. Her breathing was quickened, she refuses to drink her milk, sometimes drinking only once a day and she was very weak, she keeps lying down and slept by herself. (If you knew how very hyperactive she is, then you’ll know that this is VERY rare.)<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxAPA6rSQoF-Smbj7rpJN7QyHZyDFPXiwwTbQxFM1a7wX17rUStsHA_IlqYsOSK0S5cjzlWRs-J5v0YbhRv5-uyLeuxeUL5QFwbmvLNlJmPSdZrv2Y1_3TFfyr9kcxGHNAl1LEdWyra8_/s1600-h/sickbaby1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358973393169688306" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 250px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 275px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxAPA6rSQoF-Smbj7rpJN7QyHZyDFPXiwwTbQxFM1a7wX17rUStsHA_IlqYsOSK0S5cjzlWRs-J5v0YbhRv5-uyLeuxeUL5QFwbmvLNlJmPSdZrv2Y1_3TFfyr9kcxGHNAl1LEdWyra8_/s320/sickbaby1.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong>Difference between pneumonia and bronchitis</strong><br /><p>Bronchitis is an infection of the bronchial tubes. Pneumonia is an infection of the lungs. Bronchitis is a less severe form of pneumonia, but it will develop into pneumonia if left unchecked. Both illnesses have common symptoms and are caused by either these two reasons; bacteria or virus. </p><p><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.thingamababy.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.thingamababy.com</em></span></a></p><p><strong>Treatment</strong></p><p>If it is caused by virus, the main treatment would be lots of rest and consuming plenty of liquids, to fight dehydration from the rapid breathing and fever. You can try a cool mist humidifier in the room to combat the dryness in the air that’s causing her to cough. (FYI, air-conditioning is very drying, not only to the skin, but also to the throat.)</p><p>If it is caused by bacteria like what my daughter had, she was given antibiotics and other medications though a needle in her hand, which is more effective than consuming them orally. She was also give some nasal medication to dry up her runny nose and at times, fitted with an oxygen mask to help ease her breathing. And of course, lots of fluid and rest is essential to any sick child. </p><p><strong>Prevention </strong></p>Some ways of upping her chances to stay healthy are:<br /><ul><li>Keep her vaccinations up to date as this helps to ward off many illnesses that can lead to pneumonia and bronchitis, such as measles. In Malaysia, taking up chicken pox and pneumococcal vaccines is not part of the normal routine vaccination schedules, but my daughter’s pediatrician did recommend it. It’s more expensive, by the way. </li><li>Practicing good hygiene is important too. Frequent hand-washing prevent the spreading of germs and bacteria. But as you probably know, it’s impossible to keep watch on your child every second of the day. Sharing cups, plates and utensils spreads germs easily too, so that’s why kids at day care centres get sick more easily. My point is, try to be clean as humanely possible, but please not to the extent of contracting obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).</li><li>Try to maintain the home smoke-free. Ask any person or guests who smokes to do it outside. Studies have shown that children who live around cigarette smoke get sick more frequently and are more susceptible to pneumonia, upper respiratory infections and asthma. What better reason to quit smoking than to have healthy children?</li><li>On a personal note, take notice on any factors that could make your child sick, e.g. how eating oily or cold food can start coughing bouts for my daughter. When family members offer such foods, politely decline. This could prove to be difficult too, as my daughter would want to try to eat anything she sees. So if we don’t her to want to eat, better to hide it in the first place. </li></ul><p>Although prevention is better, I must say it’s rather impossible to totally keep pneumonia out the door. Babies and young toddlers are highly prone to bronchitis and pneumonia as their immune systems are weak and are still developing. And for me, it’s rather unrealistic to keep tabs on every single food that passes through her little hands. Kids are explorers, after all. So just do your best to protect your child. </p><p><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Sources: </em></span><a href="http://www.babycenter.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.babycenter.com</em></span></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>, </em></span><a href="http://www.gurgle.co.uk/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.gurgle.co.uk</em></span></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>, </em></span><a href="http://www.tenderbabycare.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.tenderbabycare.com</em></span></a></p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-73259775421988817982009-07-13T22:04:00.001-07:002009-07-13T22:25:18.223-07:00Food fights<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSf62HAiKWltHAvnLu5Dee6Z8rOBN8udFZ7QAWR3zTiahANPfvrCwABjQT-vtyK4Bmq_qRxIH9RPWN3Z9q6W1iL-ZzF-UkVYBjvVZm79Y7bvqnVyzxNlOf9SMKhmV7uJiurtJmvQULi1t/s1600-h/toddler+eating.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358177524345685330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 213px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPSf62HAiKWltHAvnLu5Dee6Z8rOBN8udFZ7QAWR3zTiahANPfvrCwABjQT-vtyK4Bmq_qRxIH9RPWN3Z9q6W1iL-ZzF-UkVYBjvVZm79Y7bvqnVyzxNlOf9SMKhmV7uJiurtJmvQULi1t/s320/toddler+eating.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><em> Courtesy of </em></span><a href="http://www.veer.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.veer.com</em></span></a><br /><div></div><br /><div>I sometimes dread weekends when I have stay home with my daughter, like the last one when my husband worked all weekend so I was stuck at home alone with her. It’s not like I don’t like spending time with her, I do, really. My only free time would be when she takes her naps in the morning, which is when I’ll cook the day’s lunch cum dinner, and the afternoon nap, which is when I’ll take a shower, perform my prayers, and finally, take a breather and take a nap myself, or watch a movie as I fold the laundry. </div><div><br />As my daughter just despises being alone, it’s quite difficult to do some housework with her tailing me around and wailing for something she wants to put in her mouth but I won’t let her i.e. talcum powder, my J.Lo sample body lotion, pens, wet wipes, pieces of biscuits she ate this morning, coins if we weren’t careful. The thing is, she knew we wouldn’t let her put stuff in her mouth. Sometimes I catch her in the act and quickly she hides behind the laundry basket, as if I couldn’t see her. And when I take it away from her, she’ll yell herself hoarse like I just tortured her, the baddest mom on the planet. Oooh… this daughter of mine is quite a handful, I tell you.<br /></div><br /><div>And that’s not even the main reason why I dread weekends alone with my precious little one. The number one reason is that I simply don’t know what to feed her! No, let me rephrase that. I don’t know WHAT she likes to eat. Every Saturday morning, I’ll flip through the pages of recipe books and magazines that feature food for toddlers and kids to find something that I think she’ll like, but then she’ll eat about three or four spoonfuls, and then pronouncing loudly with a affirmative headshake, “Nanak” which I think means “No thanks, mom, I think I’ve had enough now.” I think I’ve cooked up a pretty decent meal, which in the beginning, she wants to eat so enthusiastically, I would literally hold my breath to see how much she would eat. Not much, it turned out to be. It’s weird how she really likes some food for one day, and then totally hates it the next day. I mean, if you like chicken, you won’t mind eating it often, don’t you?<br /></div><br /><div>Then I start to wonder, is my cooking really THAT bad? My husband and brother find them eatable, so what’s the problem here? Her caregivers at her nursery keeps saying that she eats a lot, drinks a lot of milk, pooping twice, sometimes 3 times a day. Every time I pick her up from her nursery, I could really feel her weight from all that food she ate, her little round tummy protruding her t-shirts comfortably well. Then it hit me; she likes company. She always wants a bite of what we’re eating, be it curry, fish, spicy fried chicken or fruits, and she seems to eat more when we’re eating together. So now I try to feed her whatever we eat, as long as it’s not too spicy and not too oily. But her wacky eating behaviours still drive me crazy sometimes. Especially when she purposely drops her food onto the floor (after I just vacuumed the house) or she puts her tongue out and lets her food drip down her chin. </div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KFQUjlVW0j3KlGQMF-j4nGfbjG1beEZ3Y1OUSUYcTxECYtm7SyjYOzn1g6SJ_S8CKznGH09S2fFA1RPIwliZmsUjCdn7TA6EtlPQb33xrIs9CxR4QLNQaLgyTW7dIs9xo6NOWPJGSs19/s1600-h/messy-baby-fb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5358179619605475122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_KFQUjlVW0j3KlGQMF-j4nGfbjG1beEZ3Y1OUSUYcTxECYtm7SyjYOzn1g6SJ_S8CKznGH09S2fFA1RPIwliZmsUjCdn7TA6EtlPQb33xrIs9CxR4QLNQaLgyTW7dIs9xo6NOWPJGSs19/s200/messy-baby-fb.jpg" border="0" /></a>Then of course, I read up some info about toddler nutrition and fussy eaters from the Master of All Sources of Information, the Internet. To my relief, it seems my daughter’s eating habits are perfectly normal for toddlers around the world. The main thing to do for moms is, to stay calm and relax. Easier said than done. Okay, here’s a summary of main points to remember:</div><p><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Courtesy of <a href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/">www.goodhousekeeping.com</a></em></span></p><ul><li>Refusing foods is actually an important sign of growing up, as it is the first ways of how toddlers assert their independence. So even though it may drive you up the wall, it’s a healthy developmental milestone for your child. </li><li>If your child is old enough, try to involve him in food decisions. Provide him with a healthy range of options of foods. Chances are, he’ll be more likely to eat food that he chose for himself. </li><li>Whenever possible, try to eat together as a family to encourage your child to eat, which is the case with my daughter. She loves company! This is why, I think, she eats more at her nursery. The more, the merrier. </li><li>Prepare some finger foods so your child can eat some food by themselves, such as pieces of fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken or potatoes, crackers with cheese or little sausages. Mix them up in a variety of colours to make the meal interesting like, carrots, peas, fish, potatoes and pieces of papaya on a yellow plate. But be ready to brace yourself if your child flips it over to the floor. </li><li>If they spit out their food or protest, don’t punish or yell, but try to smile and take away their food and wait for the next mealtime. This is a real challenge for me, especially when she purposely throws her food onto the floor. But I’ll try and paste a smile on my face next time. </li><li>Try, try and try again. Just like my daughter’s whims, children’s likes and dislikes change all the time. She might not like it the first time, but she might like them the 15th time. So don’t lose heart too quickly. </li><li>Just like us adults, there some things that children just do not want to eat. I don’t eat seafood, bean sprouts and tofu, despite my husband’s saying they are delicious, so who am I to complain? So give in gracefully, and nobody’s left in tears. </li></ul><p>If all else fails, just take her plate and chow down the food yourself. At least it doesn’t go to waste. </p>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-48665508681052216602009-07-10T04:56:00.000-07:002009-07-10T05:19:20.851-07:00Get toned with baby (It's possible okay!)I came across this website during my first pregnancy, but I really didn't apply it too much with my own daughter, sad to say. So I am giving encouragement to you moms out there to work it out! So at least someone's getting the benefits of from my sharing this.<br /><div><div><div><br /></div><div>These exercises are really no brainers, but can be quite effective if you really stick at it. You don't even need dumbells, just hold your baby instead. I can personally guarantee toned arms from carrying your own baby for hours! So come on moms, lets work out a storm! (or least a little sweat, that's good enough too for starters.)<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TD18ynWLdYQbrOlg9ubSZJrZVtnBXxChmZ_Tr6q7ADoeRlYVDfBtEnRGYxXtTZHdcjHpJ45QKyUDi_iWbXLUCJSmx2nbMFiK-WoAGVju-TAVyDe-Wz9vSbg8GwBdO_fDTqpNBPw-yNod/s1600-h/baby+dancing.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356800924100832578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TD18ynWLdYQbrOlg9ubSZJrZVtnBXxChmZ_Tr6q7ADoeRlYVDfBtEnRGYxXtTZHdcjHpJ45QKyUDi_iWbXLUCJSmx2nbMFiK-WoAGVju-TAVyDe-Wz9vSbg8GwBdO_fDTqpNBPw-yNod/s320/baby+dancing.gif" border="0" /></a>1. Baby Dancing<br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div>Holding your baby in your arms or in a front carrier, sway back and forth or dance the cha-cha. Keep your feet moving to gently raise your heart rate. Continue for 5 minutes, working up to 10. </div><div><br />Strengthens heart, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back and abdominals.</div><div></div><div></div><div>Total time: 15 to 20 minutes</div><div><br />Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div></div><div></div><div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG62SCL7_IHwHk_yjxFoBi1zWjMzGfgh8fzL9qw550DS1MC_PDrmTJkOVWzOZ69niKQfL-16N880FhiKVltiNWGMRQDF1qfX1ifXgD4UnHQUVuMEV2SJb_7F_vArHOkf8SxIUlWc_lmhRy/s1600-h/cradle.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356801297321810658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG62SCL7_IHwHk_yjxFoBi1zWjMzGfgh8fzL9qw550DS1MC_PDrmTJkOVWzOZ69niKQfL-16N880FhiKVltiNWGMRQDF1qfX1ifXgD4UnHQUVuMEV2SJb_7F_vArHOkf8SxIUlWc_lmhRy/s320/cradle.gif" border="0" /></a>2. Cradle Plies</div><div></div><div><br /></div><div>Holding your baby in your arms or in a front carrier, sway back and forth or dance the cha-cha. Keep your feet moving to gently raise your heart rate. Continue for 5 minutes, working up to 10.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Strengthens heart, legs, hips, arms, shoulders, back and abdominals.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Total time: 15 to 20 minutes<br /></div><div>Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.<br /></div></div><div></div><div></div><div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yNWODU9kxRnUHX9wAZrfhEoNyd_oTOe1Bap6acO_nd8h96ATbzoxnyub2pXWOS_JNgsfnFFY_GUY0KqICSs3J7zRbLor0I3I74zwfDEjQarexv4z6z0HqR5QhuSDh1_jrftP6snRHxld/s1600-h/squats.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356801595146328146" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1yNWODU9kxRnUHX9wAZrfhEoNyd_oTOe1Bap6acO_nd8h96ATbzoxnyub2pXWOS_JNgsfnFFY_GUY0KqICSs3J7zRbLor0I3I74zwfDEjQarexv4z6z0HqR5QhuSDh1_jrftP6snRHxld/s320/squats.gif" border="0" /></a>3. Mommy Squats<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Holding your baby to your chest, stand a few inches in front of a couch with your feet hip-width apart and toes pointing straight ahead. With abs drawn in, bend your knees and lower into a semi-squat until your butt is just above the seat cushion [shown]. Return to starting position. Repeat 5 times, building up to 10. </div><div><br />Strengthens legs, hips, glutes, arms and core (abdominal and back muscles).</div><div><br /></div><div>Total time: 15 to 20 minutes<br /></div><div>Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.<br /></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMzM6TrTArMqZvgyd0WHp822MFSj_vaJ2SNEBDh5qN2u9ryHPAFgGAQSOXOAf3GEMvSyJFRQJbRdxxolEODCMkwyKGYkOka6ijWEg1H8nUrh25QAuGK6KG71SeMZSqsu5xhdtsTwLAIg7/s1600-h/bridges.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356801885189655074" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMzM6TrTArMqZvgyd0WHp822MFSj_vaJ2SNEBDh5qN2u9ryHPAFgGAQSOXOAf3GEMvSyJFRQJbRdxxolEODCMkwyKGYkOka6ijWEg1H8nUrh25QAuGK6KG71SeMZSqsu5xhdtsTwLAIg7/s320/bridges.gif" border="0" /></a>4. Baby Bridges<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat, toes pointing straight ahead. Place your baby belly-down on your thighs and hold onto her hips or ankles. Keeping your abs tight, slowly lift your hips off the floor while squeezing your glutes [shown]. Lower your hips to the floor. Repeat 5 times, working up to 10. </div><div><br />Strengthenships, glutes, lower back and core.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Total time: 15 to 20 minutes<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise. </div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNApDmVuavgkpA43KQjoPQbW3lXQ1Ugxg0bZzcYi4NDROvVq466ku4Vz7RMV4NM_QpMJ9HEGdRUpYtpNgiSSP42x3bgxrbeHc_TbQrGJ8MaFerBX1RMERDk0DybDQpqZ5jopVTWNejXzCC/s1600-h/kiss.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356802148317698850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNApDmVuavgkpA43KQjoPQbW3lXQ1Ugxg0bZzcYi4NDROvVq466ku4Vz7RMV4NM_QpMJ9HEGdRUpYtpNgiSSP42x3bgxrbeHc_TbQrGJ8MaFerBX1RMERDk0DybDQpqZ5jopVTWNejXzCC/s320/kiss.gif" border="0" /></a> 5. Kiss the Baby Push-Ups<br /></div><div>On your hands and knees, place your baby on her back, underneath your chest. With your wrists under your shoulders and your head in line with your spine, pull your abs in--your body should form a straight line from head to hips [shown]. Bend your elbows to lower your torso and give your baby a kiss. Push back up to starting position. Repeat 5 times, working up to 15. </div><div><br /></div><div>Strengthens chest, arms, back and abdominals.<br /></div><div>Total time: 15 to 20 minutes<br /></div><div>Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise. </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMKsWe5pl6nioRC5L_C3fEqkSwiFoA7DSB3YnQRqdTPT6y4SyKe6ZpqkS7Na0-HOhcpjlv1MZeVnqsc2gRIrpl2dIaXWHk9uezlrC4r7Mhm1EsIL_pInex6ZOZGyZGVtFkhEb1JZmOsUL/s1600-h/elevator.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356802406891086642" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMKsWe5pl6nioRC5L_C3fEqkSwiFoA7DSB3YnQRqdTPT6y4SyKe6ZpqkS7Na0-HOhcpjlv1MZeVnqsc2gRIrpl2dIaXWHk9uezlrC4r7Mhm1EsIL_pInex6ZOZGyZGVtFkhEb1JZmOsUL/s320/elevator.gif" border="0" /></a>6a. Baby Elevators<br /></div><div>Sit with your knees bent and ankles crossed. Place your baby on your ankles facing you. Maintaining a straight back, gently lift her toward the ceiling, keeping your elbows slightly bent</div><div><br /></div><div>[A](shown). Slowly lower your baby toward your chest and give her a kiss </div><div><br />[B] (next slide). Push her back up into the air. Repeat 5 times, working up to 15. </div><div><br /></div><div>Strengthens chest, back, arms and shoulders.<br /></div><div>Total time: 15 to 20 minutes<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSurkztEbaABZbNn9Xn0Sh2BVELde0JP87uhWkBbW-JHYeg9lTnK1ka2UtVSAlxkh4b-5D7Av3su5QlSnH4BNevDYpFvYRXSSkq1n0ZNjvGmwkXp5OuF2mXL_Kb5t3jCn-GDfU0CRN2r7/s1600-h/elevator+b.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5356803150185358946" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 243px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSurkztEbaABZbNn9Xn0Sh2BVELde0JP87uhWkBbW-JHYeg9lTnK1ka2UtVSAlxkh4b-5D7Av3su5QlSnH4BNevDYpFvYRXSSkq1n0ZNjvGmwkXp5OuF2mXL_Kb5t3jCn-GDfU0CRN2r7/s320/elevator+b.gif" border="0" /></a>6b. Baby Elevators<br /></div><div>Sit with your knees bent and ankles crossed. Place your baby on your ankles facing you. Maintaining a straight back, gently lift her toward the ceiling, keeping your elbows slightly bent [A](shown). Slowly lower your baby toward your chest and give her a kiss.<br /></div><div>Push her back up into the air. Repeat 5 times, working up to 15.<br /></div><div>Strengthens chest, back, arms and shoulders.Total time: 15 to 20 minutes<br /></div><div>Tips: Keep your abs drawn in and your shoulders back and down during each move. Be sure to cradle your baby's head securely, and don't forget to play and talk with her while you exercise.<br /><br />Go visit the website, there's tons of useful info for new and old (or should I say, seasoned, moms.) It's a lot of fun!</div><div></div><div><em><span style="font-size:78%;">Source: </span></em><a href="http://www.fitpregnancy.com/"><em><span style="font-size:78%;">www.fitpregnancy.com</span></em></a></div></div></div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1281602138770382849.post-23576898767144530102009-07-06T02:01:00.000-07:002009-07-06T02:08:16.234-07:00How to cope with two<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qQUnZ8gmkCHHx7adU9v_Gp9h7nuin4TqKCHL4WsVAJj8zBAKISFrzcyIyER_Fiq4Lly0-5LCC9UbE5t5gLmnnzmGbV8boW0FqUET5N45M-zOcvTlTSLXSx4WVqh2ZfP7mW4d3n-bvVIk/s1600-h/blockheads.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5355269822229001890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qQUnZ8gmkCHHx7adU9v_Gp9h7nuin4TqKCHL4WsVAJj8zBAKISFrzcyIyER_Fiq4Lly0-5LCC9UbE5t5gLmnnzmGbV8boW0FqUET5N45M-zOcvTlTSLXSx4WVqh2ZfP7mW4d3n-bvVIk/s320/blockheads.jpg" border="0" /></a><em> <span style="font-size:78%;">Courtesy of </span></em><a href="http://www.autonomoussource.com/"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>www.autonomoussource.com</em></span></a><br /><br />I’m currently 5 and ½ months pregnant, and somewhat apprehensive about the soon-coming of our second baby. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for this gift; God must have known that I could handle this. But I’m not so sure! My last pregnancy was 15 months ago, but it couldn’t have felt more different than the first time around. I am much more tired than before, having to put up with Aliah, who’s pretty much still a baby herself. All the tantrums, the mess, the running here and there, I’m left breathless with an aching back most of the time.<br /><br />My husband surprisingly asked me the other day “Are all babies really this messy? Or is it just our daughter?” after Aliah successfully got herself smeared in rice, fish and crackers. Not to mention the mess within a meter radius around her high chair. No, make that two meters. I was like come on, how can you expect a baby to be clean and tidy all the time, I mean at any time? To babies, mess equals fun! I tried to comfort my husband by saying that in the midst of all the mess, she’s actually learning something. “I don’t care what she’s learning, I just vacuumed the house!” Okay, time to shut up.<br /><br />But really, we’re both up in our wits to the max, how in the world are we going to handle another bundle of mess-making, tantrum-yelling, poop-producing joy? I simply cannot imagine. Oh, I can imagine the state of the house then, but I can’t imagine how I’m going to keep myself from going insane when I’m already at the verge of insanity and tears.<br /><br /><div>Okay, okay, you might think that I’m exaggerating this a little. There are millions of people in the world who have more than one child. But it’s little hard to put yourself in someone else’s shoes when you already feel like you’re at the end of your patience most of the time. I mean, parenting is hard work. Literally. I still go through some not-so-smooth-sleep nights now that Aliah’s 15 months old. So how’s it going to be when the baby arrives, won’t I be able to sleep a wink? (Like I’ve mentioned before, sleep is a luxury to tired and energy-starved moms.) Sometimes I can’t even go to the toilet in peace, with Aliah wailing outside the door. (She usually wails in despair whenever she sees me leaving her.) Again, the nervousness and anxiety pops in. Can I be a good mother to both of them? What if I turn out to favour one of them? I’ve already poured so much love into Aliah, will I be able to love them equally?</div><div></div><div><br />Then I accidentally came across this article on <a href="http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/havinganother/howtocopetoddlerandbaby/">coping with two</a> and <a href="http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/havinganother/helpingsiblingsbond/">helping siblings to bond</a> in Babycentre UK. It talks about how to prepare your toddler for the baby, how to treat them as individuals and not to compare them, how to teach the older sister or brother to help care and love the younger sibling and of course, that sibling rivalry will happen, to a certain degree. It even mentioned that some experts say that sibling rivalry is an opportunity for our children to learn the skills they’ll need in their future relationships. Have a read, it might put some worries at ease for second-time parents. </div><div></div><div><br />As for me, some skepticism still remains. I’ve learned by experience that parenthood is nothing like what’s mentioned in books. But don’t worry too much, it’ll definitely be the greatest adventure you’ll ever have. </div>zil_azizhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01680850474809346482noreply@blogger.com1