BF

A few months back, BF would still mean BoyFriend to me.
Now, BF has totally got a new meaning ... Breast Feeding that is
& together with bring a new string of abbreviation

try BMI?
don't worry, it still stands for Body Mass Index
well, now Breast Milk Index seemed to mean more to me =p

Before I proceed, allow me to say thank you very much to all who have supported me throughout my breastfeeding experience especially my love ones & my group of close friends who not only supported me emotionally(by borrowing me their ears and shoulder) but also financially. I'm able to invest in a good breast pump with their help (sponsoring). Also friends & colleagues who share their knowledge, books & magazines with me in their quest to help me conquer my problems.

there are a few personal experience which I would like to share (although everyone's experience is unique to mother & baby) ... hopefully these may give you a little idea what to expect when it comes (not like me...blur blur)

1. there will be well meaning & experienced senior members of family / relatives / friends who advises you to supplement with formula milk. Their reasons range from 'afraid baby not full enough','breast milk is not thick enough to make baby full','you got no enough milk', 'your milk is too dilute'. Although they all mean well, perhaps they may not realise that every ounz of formula milk is the 'killer' of breast milk supply.

2. then there will be 'doctor' who instead of giving encouragement to breastfeed, advise a mother to supplement / give formula milk to her baby. Doctor gave a more 'doctorish' reason ... you've have no idea how much your baby has drank, he's not having enough...not full enough... which is why he's not sleeping well / colicky. (did I mentioned I try very hard to listen to this 'doctor' but failed miserably). Not all doctors are pro-breastfeed... some never even advised / mentioned about breastfeeding even after the baby is bornt. Instead the doctor's clinic are distributing free formula milk powder. It's good to know that lactation consultant is a better person to go to than doctors in general.

3. then there will also be the 'confinement lady' who naturally prefer 'formula milk' as they are able to adjust the feeding time as compared to 'breast milk' feeding time as and when demanded. This is crucial to them as they need to cook for the mother & help with household works...which is best done while baby is asleep (after feeding time is adjusted) every 2-3 hours. Pacifier is a 'must' for them which may cause nipple confusion ... creating more problems to mother who is trying to establish milk supply. Most confinement lady may not have fully breastfeed their baby thus they may think it's a norm that every baby drink formula milk ... it's really up to us to insist of breastfeeding. What I did was sharing with her all the chinese pregnancy and parenting magazines to give her understanding. I've also got to know that there's another group of confinement lady who are very pro-breastfeeding all for the wrong reason... they feed the mother with lots n lots of alcohol ... the baby will be very 'easy to care' ... sleeping most of the time even when the loud noises are unbearable.

4. then there are milk powder companies who on the surface seemed very supportive of your breastfeeding effort but turn around offering you their products (which is so good & sooo good). I've been getting phone calls from major baby formula milk brands ... they are providing very good follow ups (hopefully until you start your baby on formula milk).

5. then there are companies / employers who indirectly thwart our breastfeeding effort ... due to lack of support in term of facilities. I've known many who gave up breastfeeding upon the end of maternity leave (2 mths) due to reasons as such. It's short sighted of the organisation not to 'see' the long term benefit of breastfeeding .... children with better immune system translate into lesser leave taken by employees. Perhaps there's another reason employers are not providing ... when you need to feed formula milk, you need more money, you'll work harder to earn more money (this one I made up myself)

6. then there's myself to blame ... of course, there were things that I wished I may have done differently such as not being 'so eager to please' everyone who offered advices, not being confident enough with myself & my ability, not being insistent enough when I should be .... and the list goes on. I'm not still not good enough now but I learnt through my experience. I really do hope that my persistence 'a.k.a stubborness' was not a worthless effort.

the journey is really not easy and may not be getting easier ... I had a rocky start ... had my fair share of problems ... and now as we got 'steadier', I've new emerging problems ... my baby refuses to take anything from bottle but I need to go back to work. (i'm working on it now...anyone with any solutions? )

ps. going back to office, I'm going to 'advocate' for a breastfeeding / breast pumping room at each building via suggestion to HR. Well, of course I'll rope in the support of mums and mums-to-be (that included singles who have intention of having babies). I'll need all the support I can get. At least I hope many many more will get to benefit from this.

children & parents

Virgo child

Common sense & attention to detail are two of your Virgo child strongest characteristics, even from a young age. You might find your little one organising her toys or saving her pocket money to buy some longed-for item, while other children spend their cash on whim.

Your little virgo isn't likely to be impulsive. Instead, she'll measure the pros & cons of a situation & then make a decision on what to do. Virgo children have high standards & are naturally cautious, so they can seem picky & shy. This is simply because they prefer to stand back & think about a situation rather than throwing themselves into it.

Your virgo child is a natural helper. She likes order & genuinely wants to help out & do good things for your family & later the world. This is a quality that you should try to encourage & praise her for.

As parents of a virgo, you'll need to calm your child's expectation of perfection with the message that sometimes, good enough is just that. Build up her confidence as much as you can, as your child is likely to be self-critical and overly modest.

Help your little virgo relax & enjoy the simple pleasures in life by getting outside and enjoying nature together. A long walk or a family bike ride is an easy way to do this.
Bedtime routines, balanced meals & regular fun days will be important for your virgo child, who tend to be a bit of a worrier. Anything that encourages relaxation will help your child stay calm & centred.


Gemini & Cancer parents

You two are quite differentin your approaches to parenting. One of you comes from the head and the other from the heart, so between you all areas are covered! The Gemini parentis the more logical and talkative. You prefer intellectual to emotion, and you'll be the one to help your children with their homework as well as many of the fun project they want to try. You like new things & a variety of activities, & will provide these for your children to their delight.

The cancer parent is a nurturing force to be reckoned with! You will introduce your children to the traditions and rituals of your youth, & will incorporate them into your family life. You're sensitive and emotional, so your chidren will be able to pour their hearts out to your sympathetic ear.

gemini parent,virgo child
running on nervous energy

You & your virgo child share an intellectual outlook, & you both run on nervous energy, but beyond that you're really pretty different. You've always been curious, spontaneous & sociable, but your little virgo is much more reserved. She's quiet & observant, especially when there are lots of people around. In fact, your naturally high energy could cause your child to hold back even more, as commotion & impulsive behaviour make her nervous.

Your little one thrives on orfer & routine, neither of which is your strong point. Your sytle is to make a plan & then change it halfway through, which is likely to drive your little virgo mad! For her sake, try to stick to a set of routine for school & meals, & establish a regular bedtime. You can still encourage her to relax & be flexible in other ways.

Cancer parent, virgo child

A solid emotional bond

A born worrier, your virgo child can be a bit reserved or highly strung from an early age. It's a good thing she has such a warmly nurturing, supportive parent as you! You're sensitive to her feelings & concerns, & you go out of your wat to provide her with plenty of emotional support.

Under your tender guidance, your little virgo can learn to feel more secure in the world, but take care not to compund her fear with your own. As the parent, your job includes putting on a show of confidence, even when that's the last thing you're feeling inside. In fact, you can learn a lot from your child in that area. She's somewhat more grounded & practical by nature than you are, so she can teach you by example about setting your emotions aside when it's time to get something accomplished.

I stumbled upon this at http://www.babycentre.co.uk/horoscopes when I was searching for baby care stuff. Suprisingly, these above paragraph seems to be ringing truth especially the part on parents...it's good to know what to expect although I don't believe in everything they say =)

ps. click above link if you're curious to find out about what parent / child you'll be like or have been like =) ENJOY!

1st online purchase

I've not really brought anything online (yes,despite living in this age)
this would be my 1st purchase online ... paiseh ^^!

Never expect myself to spend this much purchasing stuffs online ... stuffs that I don't get to touch / feel/ try before buying. (for a fussy buyer like me!)
spent almost RM1000 in total (a big sum for a 1st timer imho & I DO NOT EVEN DARE TO SPEND THAT AMOUNT OFFLINE ... I've must have been CRAZY)
It has cross my mind that what happened if I've transfered the money to the specific account and don't receive my goods / receive my goods not in acceptable condition, but I guess there's too much thing to worry about if I were to start worrying.
(Oh, did I mentioned I kept looking out of the door every minute waiting for some delivery guy to appear =p )

It was a very pleasant online shopping & buying experience though =D
thanks to the very efficient & prompt service as well as good customer service rendered.

this experience has sparked 2 things in me :

1st : it has tempted me to spend more money online ... purchasing stuff that are so easily available (at fingertips) without the hassle of going to the mall physically. I can do research and search for the best deals online.
After that 1st experience, I've been very tempted to purchase clothes & handbags online (& have them delivered to my doorstep ... since now I'm less mobile)
really a bad case of 'belum cuba belum tau, sudah cuba tiap tiap hari mau' .... LOL
.... I'm obsessed to the point where I need to keep myself sane by reminding myself that those 'cash' are better off used somewhere else.

2nd : it has opened my eyes towards a new avenue ... another stream of income. I was telling myself ... if I were to be a full time mother / housewife, this could be 'IT' ... establishing & managing an online store presence. Wait... I don't really need to be a full time mother / housewife to do 'THAT'.

RM1000 for such a lesson (an experience) ... worth it?

love makes it all worthwhile

my life (yes, 24 hour of my everyday) revolve around him now ...

there were many things we've been through and many things coming ...

but LOVE MAKES IT ALL WORTHWHILE

pay it forward

Most of the time, when I encountered difficulties or obstacles in life (read : having troubles) I'm fortunate to have people to help me out (in cantonese, we call them guai yan).

I've always feel very grateful ... that things turn out better for me that I make it a point to pay it forward (especially when I'm indebted to the 'guai yan's and don't know what else I can do to repay their kindness)

Take for instance, earlier this year when I was very prone to fainting especially during peak hours rush in the morning, many good samaritan (most are total strangers) have helped me before.

Among them, there's one that really had me wonder 'is there still such kind people around?' especially in urban area where people are more selfish for self protection (this i don't blame anyone)

This 'guai yan' is a guy who caught hold of me just as I faint in time after alighting the LRT at bandaraya station. The next thing I knew was I was asked by 2 female LRT officers whether I'm alright. They brought me to the rest room of the LRT station allow me to recover laying on a row of chairs.

A colleague from the opposite direction LRT who saw me fainted came over to help. I was told when I woke up later that the guy who helped me earlier had actually left the station, came back with a bottle of 1.5L mineral water and 2 roti cream (thinking I may have skipped my breakfast).

He left before I recover that I didn't managed to remember his face or thank him for his kindness.

Later I found out the price tag showed KK supermart - some convenience store like 7-11, i don't think there's any KK supermart near the bandaraya station, so either this good samaritan has walked very far to buy the water n roti or he had sacrificed his breakfast.

As I felt better, 3 colleagues of mine brought me to the nearest panel clinic.
Again, they were late for some meetings due to helping me. They even contacted ah dear to come fetch me.

I've started to feel that I'm surrounded by good and kind people almost all the time ... and I realised by paying it forward, it will make this world a so much more better place ... for us as well as our children.

Oh .... the story ended beautifully .... because one morning around 3 months down the road, while I was waiting for LRT in the morning, a girl whose face is as pale as tissue paper dashed out of the crowded LRT. I forego the LRT and decided that the girl need help. I know how exactly it feel like fainting. True enough, she almost fainted when I hold her arms and lead her to the bench. Asked her to take deep breath and went to call for help when she recover a little. I even had the gut to ask another person to look after her while I went to the ticketing counter for help.
I even spoke to her mum when the girl passed her handphone to me (talking about being a busybody).
Oh .... I did not go and buy the mineral water and roti for her.

for every kindness that we received, if we pay it forward ... the compounding effect will be even greater =) the world will be a wonderful place =D

blessings

realised I've not wrote for about 26 days (4 days short to a month)
realised that I've so many things to write, to share that I literally have at least 1 post for a day ... yet I've not have time to put everything in writing (plus I don't know where to begin .... it's a long long journey)
realised that in these 26 days .... I've received so so much blessings
realised that there will be more more 26 days to come ... and there will be more more blessings I'll receive.

I thank God for all the blessings we've received ... precious little

ps. have you ever seen the flower of aloe vera plant? the aloe vera plant in my garden is having flower ... the 1st time in my almost 30 years =D

letter for wishbone

Sometimes we do not know whether to be angry or to laugh at wishbone...
why do I say so?
she seem to have her ways to people's heart ...


either she thinks all letters from SPCA is for her OR
ps. I have no idea how she actually tear open a letter that's in the letter box??? and choose this one from the 2 letters in the letter box??? is it the SPCA smells???


she's doing her bit ... trying to help her buddies in SPCA (by letting them out)



only god knows what's on wishbone's mind I think .... =p

re'living' those moments

During then ..... year 2004 (at aunty andy's home)

During then .... another year .... 2005 (at CY's home)


During then ... another another year .... 2006 (at SY's home)

what about 2007 & 2008 gathering? anyone have the pictures?

If I'm not wrong we did have BBQ + potluck for 2007 & 2008 right?

no matter what, let's make one happen for 2009 eh? ok boh kawan kawan?

up early

It's fun and refreshing to be up early ...
woke up with a stomach pain... went to toilet and couldn't get myself to sleep again.
Read a few chapters of a 'Tony Parsons' book and still couldn't sleep thus decided to station myself at the PC.
Love the calmness and serenity of the morning ...
Love wishbone greeting me with her 'furiously wagging' tail when I opened the glass door.
Love wishbone stay right there at the door step accompanying me (without fail) - lol...she's actually waiting for her 'breakfast' ...

Up early .... it's like you have whole lots of time to yourself ... it's like you have the whole long day for yourself.

Have a happy day everyday .... everyone
(yeah, I know easier said than done .... but but at least give it a try)

'puppet show'

I'm getting a little tired of some 'puppet shows' put up by some so called 'respected' sweepers who treat us like dirt (cheap dirt).
They sweep us under this 'carpet' at one moment and decided we should be swept under another 'carpet' at the next moment.
All they do (or did well) so far was sweeping us around ....
Somehow, I have a feeling that this bunch of dirt will not stay long ... they will follow the wind to a better place ... leaving no dirt to be swept.
Perhaps then the sweepers will realised no matter how well they sweep, they are still sweeping the dirt under the carpets, not into a dustpan.

Honestly, life has got much more to offer than being swept around ... (especially like nobody's business).

the voice of,
a little frustrated tiny speck of dirt

father's side of the stories

=D 1
The new father ran out of the delivery room and announced to the rest of the family who were waiting for the news : "We have twins!"

The familly was so excited they immediately asked : "Who do they look like?"

The father paused, smiled, and said, "Each other'.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=D 2
A man speaks frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only 2 minutes apart!"

"Is this her first child?" the doctor queries.

"NO!!!" the man shpouts.
"This is her husband!"


source : Wyeth Mama 'Beautiful Life Begins' Guide

Different kind of read

I picked up the latest issue of Cleo the other day...
and I found I didn't have the patience nor the passion to finish (or even start reading) it at all.
I forced myself a little to at least read some interesting articles .... but I just couldn't wait to 'get rid of it' just as I started.
Nothing in there really interest me any more (sad to say). Cleo was at some point one of the mag I read diligently.

It makes me wonder ... what is happening?
Is it me or is it the magazine?
I think it ought (it has) to be me... outgrowing the magazine.
My priorities have changed and so do my need & taste in read & knowledge.
Perhaps I'm too old for that 'stage' Cleo is in.

No more Cleo ... Goodbye Cleo ...
Have you ever like reading a certain genre of books / magazines and finding yourself disliking the same genre over time?

Hey, that's my dog

This is our wishbone .... the 'steadiest' dog in the neighbourhood.
just don't ask me how she got up there... she just got up there all by herself.
Sometimes, she'll just sit up there waiting for us to come home.

Fascination box

I went crazy last Friday while shopping with dear at Tesco.

I refused to budge from the stationeries section ... despite numerous attempts to persuade and numerous attempts to threaten me ...haha

There were something there that glued me to it. I couldn't bring my feet to leave.

It's something that has kept me fascinated for the almost 30 years in my life.

I insisted on buying that 'fascination box' despite dear has given me another 'fascination box' with more varieties.

Not enough with that 'fascination box' ... on Saturday, I again went berserk searching for the 'book' that allow me to start using what's inside 'fascination box'.

After a few futile attempts at the pasar malam (night market), I went to the chinese book booth at Tesco concourse area - found some but was too pricey.

We proceeded to the book store, dear was helping me search high and low for the wanted 'book' .... it was located at very strategic place - toddlers / kiddies' eye level =D

There were about 8 selections ... I was only allowed to buy 2 (I took 3 anyway...shhh...hehe)

Upon reaching home, bathing, having dinner & watching movie, I embarked the journey of 'fascination' ...

It was really therapeutic and calming.... (I know what you must have been thinking)

This is CHILDISH I know ... but I found it effective in making me HAPPY and CALM my nerves.

total damage : about RM10 - the fascination box cost about RM3.50 and colouring book cost RM2 each... ( i see someone shaking his head...lol)

ps. now I start to wonder whether I'll start fighting with my children for colouring activities? lol

2 jabs in a day..

I've just got back from the 2nd jab for today.
It has been some time since I last got jabbed ...
what more 2 in a day at the buttock (almost same spot) 12 hours apart
I've numb feeling all over my right leg.
I'm going to rest ... I need rest.
people say if there's anyone who's willing to take the pain for us ... it has got to be our parents and our love ones ... it is indeed true.

I'm back on track ...

source : flickr.com/photos/coloursofmalaysia/2227968631/

I'm back on track ...errr. I mean the walking track at Tmn Tasik Permaisuri.
I've just came back from the track.
It has been like a month (that's a total of 4 weeks equivalent to 30 days) I've been absent from my weekly walk at the park.
It feels good to be alive and walking with the companionship of buddies. Thank you buddies.
Also thanks to CY & family whom I always trouble to pick me. Thank you very much CY.
Looking forward to more walks.
They say the 'walking' will make the 'process' easier ... hopefully it does help =D

'no need to read also can' post

It has been some time since I wrote something 'SOLID'
I used to be someone who write about what happened in my life ...
somehow I feel I've changed over time.
I'm now a little more protective of those dear to me in my life or coming into my life.


I'm not too sure as to whether this is for better or for worse ...
sometimes I feel like sharing my ups & downs in my life,
sometimes I'm afraid I spill too much for my own good.


Now that I'm closer to the BIG 30 ... I think I've got a clearer picture of what I want in life.
No doubt I do wander around aimlessly at times but I know what I want most of the time.
I also begin to understand more about unconditional love and responsibilities.
It has been a wonderful journey so far ... I would like to say thank you God for the blessings I received every day.


Yah, most probably you have the feeling "write already equal to didn't write" cause I "say some don't say some"
Perhaps it will be some time before I learn to open up again.

English is a difficult language .... for some

I couldn't stop laughing after reading this ... such is the beauty of language =p

lunchtime is lunchtime

The office phone rings, one of the employees picks up and says: "What kind of an idiot is it that dares to phone me in the middle of my lunch break?!?"

The caller shouts back: "Do you have any idea whom you are talking to...? I am the CEO of this company!"

The employee replies: "Do you have any idea whom YOU are talking to?"

Perplexed the CEO mumbles: "NO!!!"

The employee heaves a sigh of relieve and say: "Thank goodness for that!!" and hangs up.

ps. this is one smartie the company should retain =p


source : from some forwarded email

Saturday night dinner

Asparagus

Macaroni sauce

Lasagne

The Sturday Night Dinner ... thanks to ah dear =)

On Sunday, I failed in my attempt to boil herbal soup for ah dear though ... I added too much salt and ended up with a pot of 'sea water' =p .... there you see, I was & am never good in cooking but I hope I'll be good enough to cook for my children in future =)