Ariel is 6 months old

Mummy cannot not believe that time flies and Mummy’s girl is already 6 months old.

Her weight is ????. Haven’t gone for her 6 months vaccination yet which is due today.

She is a very active little girl now turning left and right, back to tummy and tummy to back. She will roll a few times till she roll off from the mattress which we put on the floor. She loves to grasps and throws things.

She is very focus in the things which attract her like as if she understands and thinking very hard. We are not sure whether it is for real or just acting.

She doesn’t like to be left alone except when she sleeps.

She still on fully breastmilk and breastfeeding her has been the happiest moment to Mummy seeing her enjoying herself. Her hands will be waving and pulling anything she can pull including Mummy’s hair during breastfeeding time.

Solid?
Hmm..So far she has taken 1 teaspoon of Avocado on 26Dec08 and 2 teaspoons of Millet porridge on 10Jan09.

Last night, PaPa and Mummy carried Jeriel’s booster seat to be attached on KongKong and PohPoh’s apartment. Now the booster seat belongs to Ariel. Weekday, the booster seat will be in KongKong and PohPoh’s apartment so that PohPoh can feed Ariel. Weekend and holidays, it will be back to our apartment. We also plan to bring booster seat out when we go out for a meal like how we train Jeriel the last time. Ariel enjoys seeing us when we are eating. She will open her mouth and make some noise as if she is sucking some food in her mouth.

For a start, PohPoh will feed Ariel a few teaspoons of Millet Porridge once a day. Then slowly increase the amount and frequency. Mummy is already busy reading because the last time Mummy started solid on Jeriel was in 2004.

Jeriel new kindy

A lot people who read this post would be wondering why this Mummy keep changing Jeriel’s kindy. This would be his 3rd kindy.

• Jeriel in his new Kindy
• Jeriel (almost) back to school (Part 2)
• Jeriel (almost) back to school
• Jeriel refused to go to kindergarten
  

Besides having some problem with the 1st kindy, at the same time also KongKong and PohPoh decided to take care of him so it would be quite a distance to travel because that kindy was nearer to nanny’s house.

Now what happen with 2nd kindy?

First was the distance because staying in Malaysia, it would be so unpredictable when there would be traffic jam even within the same region/postcode. In a few instances, both Jeriel and Mummy were late for kindy and work. Everyone in the home had to wake up earlier and earlier just to beat the unpredictable jam. When Ariel arrived, making Mummy’s morning routine even hectic that Mummy didn’t have chance to follow Jeriel to kindy like it used to be. Usually, Mummy would follow Jeriel to kindy then KongKong would send Mummy to work because KongKong needed Mummy’s car in order to fetch Jeriel from kindy later. Then, when we had Ariel, KongKong would fetch and send Mummy to work after sending Jeriel to kindy.

So? We decided to move Jeriel to a nearby kindy which would be much smaller than his previous kindy.

How was it so far?

One the first day, Jeriel came back and told PohPoh that he couldn’t adjust himself but then no turning back. Then after that he was ok because he met new friends but he forgotten the name.

Every morning, Jeriel would sit on the dining table and drink him milk with PaPa who at the same time drink his coffee. Last time, every morning it was like crazy rushing out from the apartment.

The kindy time was also 20 minutes later than the previous kindy. With less jam and later time, morning was not so hectic like last time.

Parents were also given ½ year kindy plan like what is the month theme, when the kindy is having activities like factory visit etc. This was something new to Mummy because for the last kindy, Mummy would only be informed on the activities between 1-2 weeks (or sometimes a few days) before the actual event date.

After joining the kindy, we found that the kindy offered enrich classes which was not available in the previous kindy. This caught Mummy a surprise because being a small kindy and Mummy didn’t expect such classes were being offered. Mummy was aware that there were many kindies which offered a lot of enrich classes. Some even offer music, drama etc. The extra enrich classes which were available for us to enroll would be

• Art & Craft
• English Grammar & Reading
• Mandarin (Odonata)
• Malay Reading
  

Each type of enrich class would be 2x a week with 1 hour for each session. Lunch would be provided and students would only need to stay back after kindy for the classes. We decided to enroll Jeriel for the Mandarin class. We needed to pay RM65 per month which included lunch for 2x a week class. The classes would start in Feb09 and we would see how it goes. If everything is ok (Mummy is keeping Mummy’s fingers cross), then Mummy would not have to enroll Jeriel to BxxBxx classes which Mummy had been postponing due to besides the fees which was about RM3xx per month but we had to send Jeriel for classes 5x a week where each session would be 2 hours. We didn’t want to burden Jeriel at the young age. Mummy tried to ask if we could cut the lessons to less than 5x a week but according to the centre, it would be impossible. So, it was just a coincidence that this kindy offered this program.

Mummy didn’t expect much from this new kindy because it is a small kindy unlike Jeriel’s previous 2 kindies which were big and famous. Jeriel first 2 kindies were using Fungates system but this new kindy would be total different system.

Everything is still too early to comment on the new kindy but so far now Jeriel is still ok with the kindy.

However the best thing which Mummy noticed was seeing Jeriel and PaPa sitting together on the dining table and having drink together in the morning. Since PaPa had been home late most of the night due to work and study, the morning time spent was indeed very precious for Jeriel especially who was very close to PaPa since baby. Since PaPa was busy with work and study, Jeriel missed his PaPa a lot and demanded a lot of attention from his PaPa.

Pregnancy weight

The increase in weight during pregnancy is inevitable. Some people will increase a lot and some very minimum. However it is not advisable to go a diet during pregnancy. Eating balance and healthy diet is the better option during pregnancy. After giving birth, some people can easily get back to their original weight without even using any weight loss pills or exercise.

Cameron Highlands on New Year 2009

PaPa had no annual leave and worked almost the whole year except Sundays and some major public holidays included Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Puasa, Deepavali, Christmas, New Year, Hari Wilayah and Labour Day. PaPa was also working even on Hari Raya Haji.

However, we managed to bring Jeriel and Ariel a one-day trip to Cameron Highlands on 1 Jan 2009. KongKong, PohPoh, Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong also joined us. We almost had to cancel the trip when Ariel was sick but the on 31Dec08 night, Ariel had no fever, we decided to carry on and also we didn’t want to disappoint Jeriel who were looking forward on this trip which was his only holiday for such a long kindy holiday. Even though it was only a day trip but Jeriel was very excited.

We left home in 2 cars about 6.46am to Cameron Highlands. We went up via Tapah and down via Simpang Pulai.

Our first stop was the Bee Farm. PaPa bought a bottle of honey because Jeriel loved honey.

Next stop was the Boh Plantation. We wanted to bring Jeriel to see the factory but sadly the factory was closed. So, we had tea and Jeriel enjoyed himself by drinking Raspberry Strawberry Tea with Apple Pie.

Then we went to one of the market and bought some vegetables and corn. It was a very interesting walk for all of us.

Jeriel wanted to pick strawberry, so we went for strawberry picking as a family.

Everyone was so hungry and we went to the Water Crest Farm for Steamboat. We also drank herbal drink made from water crest, red dates and ‘Loh Hon Kor’. After lunch, we walked in the water crest farm and Jeriel almost wanted to walk in between the water crest plants without knowing that it was full of water. Then we bought 1kg of fresh water crest. The owner said it was an organic water crest.

It was raining heavily we PaPa and Sam Yee Cheong drove down. KongKong suggested that we go to Ipoh for Ipoh Chicken Rice as dinner. Even though it was raining so heavily, we managed to reach Ipoh quite early. PohPoh went a boutique to get some clothes, the same boutique which she loved to go whenever she went to Ipoh. Sam Yee and Mummy didn’t find any clothes we like, maybe not our taste.

Before dinner, we went to visit PaPa and Mummy’s Poly Christian Fellowship lecturer family in Ipoh. Yes, PaPa and Mummy met in Ipoh. We were studying in Ungku Omar Polytechnic. We had a short but great time. Roselin was happy carrying Ariel.

Then we found that one of our junior in poly, A was in Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong Life Group member in church. Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong were the Life Group leaders. They also were A’s wedding coordinator the weekend before, Then, Roselin remembered seeing Sam Yee Cheong went up the stage during wedding to pray. Roselin’s hubby Soba called A. Actually without realizing, A and PaPa came face to face during Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong’s wedding in 2007, when A was singing on the stage and PaPa was sitting in the 1st row. What a small world…..

Dinner time……after dinner, we went back…it was a wet wet day….the whole journey was raining so heavily and PaPa had to drive slowly. We only arrived home almost 11pm.

Everyone was tired but happy…we may go back to Cameron Highlands much later when Ariel is much older….

Join PayingPost...

Mummy has started to blog and then eventually into making money to post. Even though Mummy is not very active due to work and family commitment, Mummy is very grateful with the little money from writing in the blog which get paid to post.

Nowadays it is hard to get opportunities because Mummy does not manage to grasp on time or fast enough. Besides that, Mummy’s blog is without any page rank (PR) and also Mummy is using free hosting blog. All these factors have contributed to less opportunity for Mummy.

With little money which Mummy earns and slowly accumulate like what Malay proverb said “Sedikit-sedikit lama-lama jadi bukit”, Mummy manages to buy quite a number of things which include Jeriel’s transformer, Ariel’s cloth diaper, Mummy’s Ameda Breast pump and PaPa’s digital camera.

While everyone including Mummy is drying up with hardly many opportunities, PayingPost joins into the blog advertising business by giving us more another option to earn some money through paid to review.

The requirements to join PayingPost are quite simple where the blog must have to be original, English and minimum 3 months old. Do take some time to read up the FAQs and also the rules in order to get a clearer understanding before joining PayingPost.

Once the blog is approved, then we just need to include script code into our blog in order to be able to be able to get opportunities to write paid post.

On top of that, you can opt for additional option to include a badge where you can get a job directly from the advertiser using PayingPost Direct.

All approved posts will get paid via PayPal which is a common means of payment by all blog advertising companies.

Mummy tries out and is surprise to find that Mummy’s blog with no Page Rank (PR) and using only the free hosting is also being approved and accepted by PayingPost. Mummy is keeping my finger cross and hope can earn some extra pocket money.

Festival season…eating non stop…

It was as if Christmas 2008 just happened a few days ago and now Chinese New Year 2009 would be just around the corner. Mummy had been eating non stop. On Christmas Eve, we had been eating till midnight for the time to open the presents. Chinese New Year reunion which would be during the eve of Chinese New Year also we would be eating. It would be very hard to get rid of all the flabby fats especially on the stomach. How Mummy wish Mummy could fit into all the office clothes back as soon as possible. Would Apidexin help?

Ariel is 5 months plus old

During her routine vaccination on 26Dec08, Ariel’s weight was 8.5kg. Everyone was too busy with Christmas that we only managed to bring her for her vaccination after 6 days from her actual 5 months old date.

Every time we had our meal, Ariel would look with interest on the food we were eating and she would show her tongue. On 26Dec08, we gave Ariel a teaspoon of mashed Avocado. She loved it and kept showing her tongue. After that we hold one her solid because we planned to wait till she would be 6 months old by 20Jan09. Mummy had been busy reading a book which Mummy got in 2004 titled SuperBabyFood by Ruth Yaron. Mummy had lost touch on starting solid food, so need to read again. This time, Mummy would improvise a bit different that the method Mummy used on Jeriel last time.

Ariel could be an independent baby playing by herself but sometimes she would also get bored and demanded attention by shouting and screaming. Every night, she would make a lot of noise when she wanted to sleep. We just had to put her in the cot, on the music and off the light, we just left her alone and within a short while she would just doze off.

Ariel got the flu and cough from KorKor. We brought her to see Dr on 30Dec08 to check before the clinic close for long holidays. Dr found Ariel’s throat was red but not that bad. So, Ariel didn’t need any antibiotic. She was given only normal flu and cough medication. Then, that night Ariel got mild fever which is about 37 plus degree Celsius that night. Then no fever till 2 Jan 2009, then Ariel got mild fever only during at night till 3 Jan 2009. However, Ariel was still a happy baby and feeding well. The only time she cried the most was during medicine time. We hoped that she would learn to take medicine with no problem like her KorKor. As on 5Jan09, we stopped her medication since she was only having some phlegm which would need time to clear because as baby, she would not know how to spit or blow it out.

The mild fever which was less than 38 would probably due to her teething not due to her sickness. We noticed her bottom gum was whitish indicating teeth would be coming soon.

This was the first time Ariel taking medication because she was the strongest in the family even when KorKor and PaPa fell sick. However, we are grateful that it was a mild sickness with no major infections.

Jeriel would as usual just too ‘geram’ with his Princess. He helped us to monitor Ariel for a short while when we need to do something but we would always need to remind him to be careful just in case he got too excited that he may hurt Ariel unintentionally.

Christmas 2008

Well, another extremely very late update on Christmas 2008.

Christmas tree was up in Nov2008 due to Jeriel’s request but it took Mummy some time to update because all the presents were under the tree without wrapping yet. Until last few days before Christmas also Mummy was still busy wrapping presents. Being Mummy of two kids really took a lot of Mummy’s time out that Mummy missed out some of the children’s gifts.

This was the first Christmas for Ariel. As usual, on Christmas Eve, we had dinner in Tai Pak’s apartment. KongKong and PohPoh also joined us for dinner. This time, PaPa cooked Pasta with Olive Oil and for the first time, it was nice pasta. Besides pasta, we had lamb, chicken, vegetables and also cakes. All the food was home cook by MahMah, Tai Pak, Tai Pak Leong and also Grandaunt Pat. The cakes were baked by Sam Sok. We stayed up till midnight to open presents. Just before midnight, PaPa would play guitar while the rest would sing all the Christmas songs. Yes, Ariel took a short nap and was wide awake on the early morning of the Christmas.


On Christmas day, we went to church. After church, we went home and another present opening session in our apartment.

That night, we had another dinner session in Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong’s apartment with KongKong, PohPoh and Yi Yee. PaPa cooked the same Pasta. Yi Yee baked chicken. Sam Yee and Sam Yee Cheong cooked vegetables and made salad. We had jelly as dessert. After that, there was another present opening session again.

Some of our Christmas presents for 2008 were:

Jeriel

• Batman Pajama (PaPa & Mummy)
• White Pants (Ariel MeiMei)
• Lots of Books, Mug & Timberland Pant (KongKong & PohPoh)
• Play Workshop (MahMah & Sam Sok)
• Sleeping bag (Tai Pak & Tai Pak Leong)
• Mothercare Socks (Sam Yee, Sam Yee Cheong & Yi Yee)
• T-shirt and Ben 10 cards (Grandaunt Pat)
  

Ariel

• Shoe (PaPa & Mummy)
• Baby Doll with music (Jeriel KorKor)
• Blouse and Hairclips (KongKong & PohPoh)
• Bathrobe (MahMah)
• HH Cloth Diaper and CD (Tai Pak & Tai Pak Leong)
• Mothercare Leggings (Sam Yee, Sam Yee Cheong & Yi Yee)
• Hair bands (Sam Sok)
• Dress (Grandaunt Pat)
  

PaPa

• Handphone (Sam Yee, Sam Yee Cheong, Yi Yee, Mummy, Jeriel & Ariel)
• Book (KongKong & PohPoh)
• Transformer Optimus Prime (MahMah)
• Twister (Sam Sok)
• Shirt (Grandaunt Pat)
  

Mummy

• Book (KongKong & PohPoh)
• Nursing Tina Tanki from FabulousMom (MahMah)
• Blouse (Sam Yee & Sam Yee Cheong)
• Blouse (Grandaunt Pat)
  

Besides that, the kids had lots of other presents from other Uncles and Aunties which includes books, toys and Ben10 Tumbler. The list would be quite long to list out.

That was how we spent our Christmas 2008. The happiest persons were the kids and it made Mummy heart so happy to see their happy faces.

On behalf of Jeriel and Ariel, Mummy would like to wish a Belated Christmas 2008 and thanks so much for all the wonderful gifts.

We, the whole family would like to also wish a Belated Blessed New Year to all of you and may you have a great 2009.