Few Favourite Things – May 2015

These cotton pants… because they’re so comfy!

These rye crispbread… which goes so well with cream cheese, cheedar & slice of tomatoes!

This electrical lunch box of mine… because fresh cooked rice is so much better than the heated ones from the microwave, its oh-so-healthy.

Our weekend walk…. rain or shine.

& of course, this new pose of drinking milk….

Why I love (this) Friday.

… because I had a super satisfying breakfast even if it’s just 2 hard boiled egg &  2 slices of thin bread.
… because I had came to accept that potty training does not happen overnight. Right now I’ll just be happy to wipe his arse every night when he poop in his sleep.
… because it will be another friday before I take another step further for my career advancement.
… because it will be  2 more fridays before I present my thesis to the panel. I’m almost there…
… because I’m just grateful that I’m healthy & I have a beautiful family, couldn’t ask for more.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

 

An Evening at the Park.

Last weekend, we went to Taman Jaya park (again). This time round, we get to steal some time and go for some run, as our folks were with us to look at the little one. At first, I thought that running seems pretty easy since we’re used to long walks. But 2 minutes into  the run, I was panting so heavily, my hearts feels like it were to explode, my legs turn jelly & I was heavily grasping for air! I then laughed at myself for being so ‘char siew’ (weak), as my husband fondly described me.

So proud of Ju-Hann for being such a sport! He loves every bit of our little outdoor adventure. Hopefully this can toughen up his tofu leg! By the end of the trip, we were all drenched (with sweats), but it felt so good!

This is where I grasp for air & still insist to take a wefie.

Look at my little todd…. he wants to join the crowd of auntie doing line dancing.

‘Yeye’ & Ju-Hann. Such a touching moment here…

The grandparents enjoyed it very much!

 

 

The Poop Story.

*Gross alert, read at your own risk*

So, as I mention, Ju-Hann had been getting the hang of letting us know when he wants to do a pee. So far so good. Now, prior to our great mission on potty training him, he will let us know when he ‘poo poo’. Most of the time, he will tell us that he wants to ‘poo poo’, but the poop will only come out half an hour later. So whenever he said he’s gonna poo, we’ll just ignore it until much later when he does it. Now that we had managed to ‘pee trained’ him (during the day), he somewhat don’t do his poo anymore in the daytime. We suspect that he’s fully aware that he’s not on diaper anymore, therefore he just keep it in only to release it when he’s sleeping or taking his nap. For the past 7 days, hubbs & I had been waking him up to change his diaper every night/midnight/wee hours in the morning, even though he had already poop during his afternoon nap! I kid you not, the amount of poop coming out from his tiny stomach is appalling! It frustrates me not just having to wake him up in his deep sleeps to change his diaper, the numbers of diaper that I save during the day time equate to the new ones I have to change for him at midnight.

Sigh… parenting. Well, at least I know he’s got good bowels and not withholding his poop which results in constipation like other kids. 

{Made him home-made berry smoothie, he spilled half of it while engrossed in watching Baymax. 😦 }

My daily Health Regime

Had been doing this for the past few weeks and it truly made me a happier person.

1. 10 mins work out each day.
2. A cup of lemon water in the mornings.
3. 2L of water.
4. Have my vitamins daily.
5. Have at least 1 portion of fruits a day.
6. Increase intake of oatmeal.
7. Make cereals & muesli my go to snacks.

Learning.

Ju-Hann will be starting pre-school real soon, & I’m sooooo excited! I can foresee that we’ll be doing lots of christmas craft, colouring, dancing, educational field trips and of course the joy of learning everything and anything! My husband always think that I enjoyed it more than the little one, and that I’d always over-hype things. He’s right, I do get overjoy & over excited over little things, that’s just me. I’m glad I sign Ju-Hann up for the Gymboree class, as he’s now really grasping the concept of communication and taking instructions from the teacher. I’d like to share some pics during the pre-school open day months ago. I fall in love with the space as soon as  step in, & I know my little guy would have so much fun – learning.

Handwash basin at kiddie’s height.

Yes, all moms wants their kids to be little as long as possible.

First thing he went into the room, he reach for the reading corner! I’m a proud mama!

These children wc are so darn cute!

Ohh… he like the stove too. I always told hubbie that it ain’t a bad thing if he aspire to be a chef, since his mom is not good at cooking. 🙂

He did not forget to have some fun ride too..

Don’t you just want to spend a whole day here…say reading?

 

Potty Training Progress.

So after 2 weeks of attempting to potty train this kiddo, I’m quite happy with his progress thus far. Though he stills wear his diaper when we’re out & about, as well as during night time, hubbs & I are really glad that he knows how to tell us when he needs to ‘pee pee’. Of course, the phrase ‘Ju-Hann, do you wanna pee pee?’ or ‘ Let mommy knows when you want to pee pee okay?’ was converse every 10 minutes in the household.

Although we have a rough start, but when he get the idea of pee pee in the bathroom, my God, it’s glorious! I kid you not, we celebrate every pee session successfully conducted in the bathroom, with much enthusiasm & excitement I must say. The best part of this whole ordeal is that get to save mother earth by using less disposable diapers!

It has been a fun & challenging experience, now I think we need to move on to the poop part. Wish us luck!

{You know what he called this iconic architecture, which Malaysians held pride? – Corn. :P}

Weekly Planned Meal.

The parents are away & since I’ve completed my MA, that gives me some time to plan our weekly meal. Yes, I like to plan my meal, just like anything else. My goal is to eat at home as much as possible.It’s been two weeks and I’m pleased that we’ve only eat out twice and have not touch a single packet of instant noodle. I think my mom & mom in-law would be proud. 🙂 So how do I make dinner when I have a full time job that requires me 1.5 – 2 hour travelling journey? It’s not easy I’d say, but it’s not impossible. Here’s some tips on how I do it.

1. Plan ahead.
   When you know what you’re making for the next day, you’re able to get the produce ready. For ex: defroze chicken and fish from the fridge. It’s simple step but trust me, it cuts down the time a whole lot.
2. Pre-wash/pre-cut Vegetable
   I do that for vegetables that I know I’m gonna use for the next day. To ensure freshness, make sure you keep them in an airtight tupperware.  This will cut down your prep time.
3. Keep it simple
   As I’m really short of time, I will opt to cook meals that will take me no more than 40 mins. (that includes prep, cook, wash the dishes). I finish work at 5:30pm, by the time I pack up & get to the car, it’s already 5:50pm. I reach home at 6:35pm (if I’m lucky) and that gives me less than 40 mins before I have to pick up Ju-Hann from the babysitter. Therefore I always stick to simple meals. Let’s leave the complicated ones for the weekend.
4. Loads of Vegetables
   Raw vegetables like lettuce& cucumber, or steam broccoli & cauliflower make great side dishes, it’s very healthy that way.
5. Kitchen equipment.
   I like to use electrical steamers that allows you to cook several items at the same time: steam rice and vege or eggs. Thermal cooker is good when you’re making stew/soup/porridge.
6. Keep staple ingredients in the pantry
   I make sure ingredients such as ginger, onion, garlic, potato, tomato area always available in the pantry, because it goes with anything.

Finally when I’m really tired or get caught in the jam, we’ll enjoy very simple dinner –  like oatmeal/cereal or sandwich. It’s dinner anyway & you don’t want to go to bed with a full tummy. Plus, I’m blessed that hubbs is not a picky eater.

Happy cooking!

Bedsheets changing conversation.

Many moons ago, when I was changing the bed sheets with the hubs, I lament how I prefers changing pillow case over bolster case,  somehow a conversation strikes between hubbs & I about bedsheets & linens.  It was so random & hilarious that I wrote it down on a post it note, here it goes:

A mattress is like a wife, no matter how expensive they are, it’s worth investing because u spend half of your life sleeping on it.

A husband is like a pillow, having a good pillow is like having a peace of mind, a place where you can rest your head on.

Children are like bolster, they are comfort to have, but when they’re not around, the sleep goes on.

Only hubbs & I can come out with these craps. 😛 Happy Fri-yay everyone!

Parenting is….

…a benovelant cycle. Sometimes at the end of a long day, you get so tired from an outing, and there’s still a pile of clothes & dishes in the sink, and dinner to prepare, you wondered how you’re gonna manage another day like this. But then, as you ponder how to manage the rest of the evening, and suddenly you saw that your toddler brings all his trucks to the kitchen and plays quietly at the corner, just to be close to you while you make dinner, you reminded yourself that you are blessed and life is good again.