Babies are cute when they're not yours

Soiled diapers. Incessant crying. Every two to three hourly feedings. That's my son.

Tantrums throwing. Making demands. Shouting. Biting. Loud crying. Clingy. That's my daughter.

What happens when both of them do all the above at the same time?
I'm missing my single life!

Parenting

Twenty nine and still counting

The day before yesterday was my birthday. Not just any birthday but the last birthday of my twenties. And I didn't even get to blow out candles on a birthday cake or have any cake because I'm in confinement. How pathetic. Maybe someone should get me a ginger cake or something. Nevertheless, I have the most precious gift for my birthday; baby Keagan. And one of my good friends actually brought me some ice blast fags. I know, I know... breast feeding & fagging aren't exactly the right combination but hey, a stick or two won't hurt. Moreover, it was my birthday! 

That'll be me when I touch a century old.

Hello. I'm a mother of two.

I am officially a proud mother of two! A daughter and a son before the age of 30. That was one of my goals in life since I was 10 perhaps? I still remember the essay I wrote in primary school and the big, huge zero I got for it because my ambition is... to be a housewife with 2 kids. 

To the beloved teacher who gave me the big, huge '0' in red,

1. Up till today, I still do not understand why a housewife can't be an ambition.

Ambition (definition by cambridge.org)

A strong wish to be successful, powerful, rich, etc.  

P.s. A housewife can be successful by managing a home well, powerful in her own ways (haven't you heard, behind every successful man is a wise woman?), and rich (why do you think Prada & Chanel are blooming like mushrooms? - thanks to the rich tai-tais. duh.)

2. If you think lowly of a housewife, think again. Do you think everyone has the privilege of being one?

3. Thank you for the time taken to mark my paper. But I wonder did you even read it before giving me a zero? You're supposed to assess a student's creativity, grammar and language proficiency in an essay, not some standard answers of 'I want to be a doctor when I grow up'. Do you know that suppressing a student's creativity is the root to his or her stupidity yet?

x

I'm turning 29 in three days time and I'm glad to have made it this far, in my own definition of success.

Next list: Goals to achieve before I reach 40.

Improving brain health in babies - Blueberries and bananas puree

Since the last round (that was 2 weeks ago) I made apple cinnamon pork puree and sweet potatoes with cherry tomatoes and broccoli puree, I decided to make fruits puree this time. 

I went to my usual neighbourhood fruits store this morning and bought some persimmons, apples, carrots, avocados, blueberries and bananas. I must say it's not cheap to make fruits purchases nowadays. Persimmons are selling for RM1 per fruit and the blueberries are selling at RM9.80 per pack. Apples and the avocados are selling at 6 for RM10 and 3 for RM10 respectively. And they're not even organic.

Since the avocados have yet to ripe, I can only make blueberries & bananas puree. It's one of the most simple baby food recipe around but be ready for a blue baby when it comes to feeding time.

What you need

1 box of blueberries (120g)
5 small ripe bananas
Steamer & blender (I use Avent Combined Steamer & Blender - this product makes my life much easier!)
Containers suitable for freezing

(Makes approximately 15 oz / 150 ml of puree)

Method

1. Wash the blueberries thoroughly. Discard any squishy or moldy ones.
2. Peel the bananas and break them into small pieces.
3. Steam the blueberries and bananas for 5 minutes or until the purple juices start to ooze out from the blueberries.
4. Blend to a puree. If the puree seem to be too thick, stir in water / breast milk / formula milk till the desired consistency is achieved. Alternatively, if the puree is too watery, add in baby cereal or oats to thicken it. You may also choose to blend it a little coarser for older babies and toddlers.
5. Scoop the puree into containers, depending on how much your baby eats per meal. Let it cool before storing into freezer.

Important: Once food is thawed / heated, do not put it back into the freezer. Discard any leftovers.

Food to prevent constipation in babies - Persimmon, apple & carrot puree

Fuyu persimmons



Besides being my birth month, November is a month full of juicy persimmons! And I love persimmons. They are rich in vitamins A and C, contain calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron and have twice as much fiber per 100g than an apple. This recipe makes good combination to prevent constipation in babies. At 17 months, Meagan is very much capable of chewing but she loves pureed food to go with her oats for breakfast so I'm making this just before my delivery to last her at least 2 weeks when stored in the freezer.

What you need
1 small carrot
1 medium sized apple
2 persimmons
Steamer & blender (I use Avent Combined Steamer & Blender - this product makes my life much easier!)
Containers suitable for freezing

(Makes approximately 15 oz / 150 ml of puree)

Method

1. Wash and cut all the fruits into small cubes.
2. Steam the carrots for 5 minutes.
3. Add in the apples and persimmons into the steamer together with the carrots and steam for another 5 minutes.
4. Pour out the juice into a cup. You don't want the puree to be too watery.
5. Blend all the fruits to puree. If the puree seem to be too thick, stir in juice till the desired consistency is achieved. Alternatively, if the puree is too watery, add in baby cereal or oats to thicken it. You may also choose to blend it a little coarser for older babies and toddlers.
6. Scoop the puree into containers, depending on how much your baby eats per meal. Let it cool before storing into freezer.

Important: Once food is thawed / heated, do not put it back into the freezer. Discard any leftovers.

The clock is ticking



Nesting dollies



Tick tock tick tock.

I have less than 56 hours to go before the scheduled cesarean. Suddenly it feels like I'm running out of time. I have so much to do... or rather so much to taste before I'm confined to ginger, ginger and more ginger!

Then these silly questions keep running through my mind.

"What if I don't survive the c-sec?" (It is a major abdominal surgery anyway)

"What will happen to my children if I really don't survive the surgery?"

Thus I started calling Rockwills to write a will and to name legal guardians for my child. Then this morning I went to the bank to open a joint account and transferred every single penny I have under Meagan's name. I packed all insurance policies that I have and passed it to my parents, just in case something happens to me. Yes, I know I'm starting to get paranoid and I need to stop thinking silly.

As for tomorrow, I'm making Meagan's favourite food for freezing, enough to last her 2 weeks while I recuperate and busy with her lil' brother. Plus, I need to spring clean the whole house except that this time it's not for chinese new year. And not forgetting to pack the hospital bag. The experts called it 'nesting' which occurs to most mothers to be but I feel like I'm going bonkers.

x

Nesting Instinct (by parentingweekly.com)

Around the fifth month of pregnancy, the "nesting" instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world.

Nesting brings about some unique and seemingly irrational behaviors in pregnant women and all of them experience it differently. Women have reported throwing away perfectly good sheets and towels because they felt the strong need to have "brand new, clean" sheets and towels in their home. They have also reported doing things like taking apart the knobs on kitchen cupboards, just so they could disinfect the screws attached to the knobs. Women have discussed taking on cleaning their entire house, armed with a toothbrush. There seems to be no end to the lengths a nesting mother will go to prepare for her upcoming arrival.