Belated Birthday Post

This post is 3 + months outdated. She celebrated her birthday on Apr 22 at the childminders and Boon kor kor passed me the photos in cd 2 weeks ago. 3 months late but better than never.

I was surprised when I saw the photos. They put in so much effort to celebrate her birthday, I feel ashamed when all I did was bake her a cake. :(

Here's some clips of the moments ....


Preparing for the party, she helps with the balloons ..


bits and pieces of the center :


posing with the Happy Birthday banner she helped put up:


more poses,


She's alone by herself as the other kids have gone to kindie. Amber eagerly waits for them to return ,

and she helped arrange the banner :

then she takes her nap, with Elmo !

a happy Birthday princess, she was ..

set up ready, waiting for kor kor & jie jies to come home from kindie

this snake looks familiar ?

she also help pump some balloons with the foot pump

read a book on sea animals. She learns seals, dolphins, sharks from this book :)

The kids are back !!! and the younger kids (at another center) comes over to join the PARTY !!!

gift pack galore :

the kids having fun

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER !!!

Kids on masquerade :)

This is the cake we made for her...

My little princess was 'Queen' for the day, all eyes on her and all attention on her. No wonder she loves birthdays so much.

I like the following photos very much :

The bigger kids giving her a hug ..

A Happy Birthday Hug !


She's hugging her 'nemesis' . She always annoy and argue with this little boy in her first few weeks joining this new center but now they appear to be best friends... Awww. so sweet..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !! (again) Amber !!!

Smelly Feet ! Cheeky Fart !

Amber has a habit of pulling her big toe over to her nose, which I find so funny. She'll deliberately do it just to make me laugh. I remember when she was a baby, about 8 months old, she love to grab her toes and play with them. Her antics now reminds me of her baby days which I so miss.




I'll tease her 'Yee.. smelly feet !!!'

And she has another quirky habit, if hubs or me carry her in the front seat (I know, slap me for not strapping her to her car seat but we allow her to seat front for very short distance drive), she'll place her feet on the air cond vent for 'cooling effect' like this :



and then,
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places her feet on her cheeks to feel the coldness !




and this time, two feet over to her nose !!!

Cheeky or not ?

Recovering from HFMD

Amber is a lot better now, if not, fully recovered
Her blisters has dried up and I can't see anymore ulcers in her mouth

Back to her usual meals of rice, noodle, porridge and milk but persistent cough still there for almost a month.

I've tried Rhinatoil Promethazine and Woods and can't see any improvements. I'm trying pearl powder, hopefully it works on her.

She's extremely temperamental and tantrumental after HFMD. Annie told me kids are more naughty after recovering from fever or illness and I'm beginning to believe her. Hubs thinks it was the after effect of HFMD, she expects the pampering and giving in to her.

Her bedtime's been stretched to past 11pm. She just don't want to sleep. That makes Mama very tired , falling asleep on and off while putting her to bed and then waking up again to read newspapers or watch Bloomberg. I haven't had time to watch Little Nyonya. Bless my colleague who loaned me the dvds.

Just last night, she complained 'backside itchy' during bedtime, I reached for calamine and accidentally hit her eye when I turned back. She cried and cried. When the episode's over, I put her to bed and went over to study room to surf the net. Then suddenly she wake up crying, wanting Papa and "angry" with me.. She shouted "I don't want you! I beat you! I beat you! You go away ! I want Papa !"

I was shocked, she wants to beat me ? Why? Amber, why ?? You want to beat Mama ?

Mama is too tired to reason with you and Papa came to help.

Papa carried her and whispered to her softly :

Why you don't want Mama ?
If there's no Mama, nobody will brush your teeth
Nobody to wash your bum bum
Nobody to clean your ears
Nobody to wash your hair, blow dry your hair, tie your hair
Nobody to kiss and hug you
Nobody to smell your nggg nggg (poo poo)

and the list goes on....

Then she whispered :

Sorry Mama ! and kissed me..

Haih.. my little girl, why is there so much anger in you ? Mama want to see you HAPPY EVERYDAY ok ??

Big Big Mouth

I dug out this photo from my facebook recently. One of my favourite :)

Here, my cheeky little darling attemps to mimic the guy on the leaflet with a BIG BIG MOUTH !!



She was only 2 yrs old at this photo. As cheeky as ever since then :)

Quirky Habits

She has a strange habit of sticking a mini sticker on my watch everyday. I'll tear it off when I reach the office and the following morning, she'll insist on sticking another.

It's like a 'ping onn fu' - 'talisman for peace' to send me off to work.

One day, I forgot to peel it off and was at Pavillion having lunch with a bunch of friends.
They keep looking at my wrist and suddenly one of them came close, squinted and said :

WHAT'S THAT ON YOUR WATCH ?????????




The sticker was so small, they could not figure out what it was unless they look closer.

Oh.. my daughter lor.. she sticks stuff on our watches before we leave for work. *blush*

A Treat

Seeing her so miserable, I gave her a little 'spa' treat.
All I need is a big laundry tub, tepid water and Eubos bath oil to sooth down her blisters on her hand and foot.

After a long session of wailing (she wail coz Mama catch hold of her, forcing down liquid and meds.. *sigh*), she's happy and smiling with this :

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ENJOY !!!!

So nice to see her calm and happy, playing with the bath water and smiling again ... :)

but not for long till the next feed !!

*sigh*

If I could have one wish today, it'll be for her pain to go away.

Oh You Poor Poor Thing !

Today is Day 5 from HFMD diagnosis. Amber has improved tremendously, she's sleeping through the night (phew!!!) and I'll drip in the Oral Aid while she's asleep to lessen the pain.

She refuses any food, drinks, milk and medication on Day 4. Anything to the mouth spells PAIN !! I resorted to feeding her with syringe.

I encourage, explain and coax her. If all fails, then I threathen to send her to hospital. My favourite line is :

Amber, take your medicine
I know it's pain but if you don't take, it's even more painful
Your throat will hurt
Your tongue will drop off
If you don't want Mama to feed you, we've got to send you to hospital, they'll put injection on you !
Last attempt, use 'cane' to threathen.

Crazy or not ? Well, we have to be cruel to be kind. *sigh* I'm really worried for her fluid intake coz if she's dehydrated, she may need to be hospitalized to go on drips.

Poor Poor Amber !

Here's the horrible horribilus ulcer, right at the tip of her tongue and more inside. Aiyer, see also pain, can't imagine what the little one got to go through.



She refused milk, even with straw, everything even nothing hurts her tongue



Agony !!



Then I use syringe to slowly pump in milk, water and medicine, 5ml, 5ml, 5ml, 5ml, 5ml, 5ml, 5ml........... it works, she woke up with a wet and heavy diaper

Amber, can't wait for you to be up and about again. Get well soon my dear....

Unexpected Gift

I got something from Direct Access today. A Thermos snack jar with spoon. I don't know why they sent me the gift and I ain't complaining. I don't care to know. Hahahaha

Freebies are always nice to have. Come, come, send me more....

Chinese Physician

Por Por just called and said she's bringing Amber to see a Chinese physician.
Hopefully Chinese herbs will cool her down and recover from HFMD faster.

pray.. pray.. pray..

and thanking prayers for having Por Por around.

Rock a Bye Baby

Amber was so 'manja' and wants to be carried all the time. Seeing her in pain, we give in.

During the nights she cannot sleep, she wants me to carry and rock her. Her order was :

Amber ai Rock A Bye Baby !

That means she wants to be cradled and rocked. I used to rock her to sleep when she was an infant. My MIL 'pengsan'ed' at the thought of carrying and rocking a 11 kg baby to sleep but that's what we did and baby grows up fast, when she was 2, no more rocking, I could pat her to sleep on my bed.

So, last night, she wants me to sing. I only sing 2 songs : Rock A Bye Baby & Hush Little Baby.

Rock a bye baby, on a tree top
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
Down will come baby, cradle and all

..... and repeat and repeat ... and must 'sayang' her forehead, stroke her cheeks till she falls asleep.

She loves it so much, she'll cuddle up in my arms and fall sleep..
:) sweet memories of my baby

This was the first song she learnt to sing at 15 months.

Yesterday night, I twisted the lyrics to :

Rock a bye Amber, on Mama's arms
When the fan blows, Amber will sleep
When the fan stops, Amber will cry
And down will come Amber, bolster and all..

and I went on and on and on, i fell asleep cradling her and fell to my side of the bed, then she screams

AMBER AI ROCK A BYE BABY !!!!

ok.. and again i sing, like a tape recorder again and again....... *sigh*...

Then I changed to another favourite lullaby of mine :

Hush, little baby, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring.

And if that diamond ring turns to brass,
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass.

And if that looking glass gets broke,
Mama's gonna buy you a billy goat.

And if that billy goat won't pull,
Mama's gonna buy you a cart and bull.

And if that cart and bull turn over,
Mama's gonna buy you a dog named Rover.

And if that dog named Rover won't bark.
Mama's gonna buy you a horse and cart.

And if that horse and cart fall down,
You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town

Gosh ! She only fell asleep at 4.30am... I'm so sleepy now, so no mood to work !!

God ! Please help me pull through this day and make Amber sleep soundly tonight !

So Pain ! So Pain !

Those were her cries, late at night.

The HFM caught up with her and started with ong BIG ulcer on the tip of her tongue. As big as a red bean, and not the small ones like mung bean size but as big as those Japanese adzuki read beans. I can't see what's inside her mouth, she refuse to cooperate but it's the tongue that hurts most. She kept crying 'So Pain!' 'My tongue PAIN' !! throughout the night.

Her fever hovering around 38 - 38.6 celcius, is under control with Progesic.

She refused any mouth wash and Oral Aid. **sigh**
Her breath smells rotten !

Her hands started blistering yesterday, I applied calamine and Dettol antiseptic creamto reduce the itchiness.

For the past 2 days, she's been waking up in pain and crying, throwing tantrums, cannot this, cannot that, don't want this, don't want thats.

Hubs and me can't do much to help but join her in her misery while both of us are trying so hard to squeeze in some sleep.

I have training to attend and most of the time I'm uncooperative and away in la la land. I'm so darn sleepy.. Y'day she was wailing from 1.30am - 4.30am.

Luckily, Por Por, her previous nanny, can help us for a few days and she spoils Amber rotten. Amber is very cooperative and listens to Por Por, takes medicine diligently, takes porridge and milk on time but bugs Por Por till no end. She refuses Kakak and wants Por Por to take her to toilet, to bath her, to feed her and to 'everything' her. When Kong Kong came home y'day evening, Amber only wants Kong Kong to carry her and sat on his lap while watching Little Nyonya. Although Amber stopped going to Por Por's since last December, she's still very attached to them. They sayang her very much and my girl is still very attached to Por Por's family.

After this ordeal is over, I must thank Por Por for taking you in these few days. Maybe a nice dinner ?

Poor Amber, if only I had a magic wand and zap the ulcers over to me, then you don't need to suffer, my little baby..

Her Health & Hygiene

The paeds was checking Amber's records today.

Our last visit was 14 Aug 08. My girl has fared very well the past one year. We've kept her healthy and clean and the childminder did a good job too, if not for the HFMD. Month and month again, I kept reminding myself she has not fallen sick enough to visit the paeds and keeping my fingers and toes crossed.

When she was 15-28 months, she needed to see the paed nearly every month !

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At 39 months :

Height : 103cm
Weight : 15.5kg

Then she asked doctor to check her ears.

Ears : Very clean. Doc commented on her extremely clean ear canals coz Mama is one crazy ear cleaning freak and Amber cooperates so willingly.
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Believe it or not, both of us enjoys ear cleaning time. She'll bring me a torchlight and lie on the bed, head on the side while I dig for gold. Sometimes fruitful, sometimes nothing. We bond together cleaning her ears. She'll go 'yay' when I call to clean her ears. Many a times, she'll giggle and laugh when the cottonbuds tickle her ear canal, then I'll smack her bum and shout 'Don't Move!!" , then we'll both laugh out loud.

Other than feed poor feeding and diet, she's cooperative in her own hygiene.

She goes to the toilet on her own.
If she pees, she wipes, flush and wash her hands
If she poos, she'll call for help, she'll ask me to peg my nose coz it's smelly ..

She willingly lets me brush her teeth.
I think she's too young to brush her own

She's learning to bath on her own for the fun of it.
Yesterday I screamed the house down. I turn my back to fetch her clothes, she used a sponge and Cosway cream cleanser to clean herself. I left it at the bathtub as a reminder to ask maid to scrub stains.

She's obsessed with washing her hands.
Not so good at times. Too much washing dries her hands especially behind the wrist and eczema starts flaring thereafter

37 months, still a long way to go before I can trust her to manage herself, but I'm not complaining, just loving every moment of it.

Oh No ! She Has It !

First it was Ya Ya, the 2 yr old

She does not attend kindie.

But Ya Ya's sis, 5yr old goes to kindie that was closed for 3 days last wk due to HFM.
Since the 5 yr old did not come down with HFM, the childminder thought it was safe to let the kids play

The house was disinfected with Dettol, mattresses out in the sun and anything washable will be washed thoroughly.

But we were so wrong..

Over the weekend, Sharon got it, she's also 2.
Today, Amber complained 'mouth pain' and refused milk. I checked her mouth, nothing.

Doesn't sound good

I've made arrangements for her at her previous nanny. She's been very kind to us and took in Amber willingly. She only wants me to confirm the # of days I need her assistance and she'll cancel her mahjong plans..

At her place this morning, Amber came down with mild fever. I took her to the paeds.
CONFIRM !!! Mouth ulcers. At least 10 of them waiting to pop like pop corns !

Can't say much about the hand and foot but it really doesn't look good.

Keeping my fingers and toes crossed she recovers soon.
I'm planning to catch the tail end of Singapore Sales !!!! :(

A Day At The Office

Dear Amber,

You had a whale of a time at office on Friday. You hijacked our stationeries. You thought the puncher was like your bento punchers and you wanted to punch our bank statements. You used my highlighter as lipstick, you attempted making up your face with whatever markers and paint I have. Your playdoh was untouched.

Mama brought you to the bank. We walked past construction sites, you were unfazed with the big and huge construction site next to Mama's office. The 'abangs' smiled at you and you smiled back. We walked down the very long escalator at the LRT station, you were fascinated and kept looking back while Mama kept screaming at you to watch your steps. We stopped by Dunkin Donuts and the kakaks gave you a munchkin sample even tho' they knew Mama would not pay for 22 munchkins ! You kept thanking them endlessly and they gave you another munchkin.

Then came lunch time, we took you to Cheras for lunch and did some errands at Papa's other office. You said hello to all the pretty jie jie's there and they gave you presents. Then we went to the best chicken rice in Cheras, you wanted milk and don't want rice. You created a scene at the shop and I think they will remember you as the little girl who shouted "DON'T WANT!!!!" when her Mama fed her rice. You did not only shout but threw a big tantrum, everyone looked at you.

Ok, then Papa wanted to go back to office and Mama were to send you home for a nap. You were bright as a lark and Mama knew you would not nap. Then we decided to bring you back to the office over the afternoon since Mama had so much to do. You jumped with joy !

We went for coffee and ordered soya bean for you. You spilled it all over yourself and started dancing in the banking hall. Your t-shirt speaks for itself : "Little But Loud".

Then at the office, you continued with your antics. Touching everything and cannot leave Mama's computer alone. Since you did not have lunch (only milk), Mama made some Nestum cereal and played youtube's Michael Jackson's Thriller to keep you occupied. Thriller very scary you know but you insist on Thriller , 5 times again and again and you wanted it LOUD LOUD !! Mama's colleagues thinks Mama is mad, getting thrilled over THRILLER.

Then, since you like to be carried and play baby, Mama rocked you to sleep singing Hush Little Baby. After few minutes, you dozed off .. FINALLY !!!!!!!!!!

The sight of you sleeping in Mama's arms was so sweet and tender, Papa took a few photos :

Then Mama started getting pins and needles from your weight, I put you down on 2 chairs connected, covered you with a jacket and you slept like a baby.

We left office at 5pm sharp for another appointment at Tesco's. You slept all the way there. While Papa met with clients, you helped Mama with grocery shopping, picking and packing tomatoes, cucumbers and long beans to be weighed.

We only reached home at 10pm and you had a very eventful day with Papa and Mama at the office. If we have no choice, we'll need to bring you over to work.

Next time, I'll teach you filing, you can be Papa's little assistant. :)

HFM on the rise

Today we are stuck. One of the kids at childminder's caught Hand Foot and Mouth and we've been advised to keep our little away until they disinfect the place.

I called Amber's previous babysitter for help. She's ever so nice and ever so willing to have Amber over to play with but today, she has a lunch appointment. So how ? We tagged her along to office, brought her Playdoh and other stuff.

As I'm typing, she's chattering Mama this.. Mama that.. Mama this and that... Bugging us till no end.

Hubs said : Keep quiet ! Cannot talk so much in the office. Papa Mama have to work.

I give her things to keep her busy but nothing keeps her excited for more than 5 minutes, from pencils, papers, punchers, brochures.. arrghhh !!!!! She wants to touch, feel, play everything in my office.

Amber, oh Amber ! Don't be in a hurry to work in an office okay ? Once you get to working life, you are stuck !


Miss Little But LOUD !



She's making cake for me but Playdoh only lasted 5 minutes.

Unwinding At Home

We put the Amber to bed early last night and she fell asleep pretty early, abt 10pm. That means we have more time to do our stuff, catch up on emails, read papers or watch tv.

Hubs wanted to try a new wine we bought couple of months ago. I am really not up to it as I've to wake up early the next day but I promised him 2 glass. I have to be sporting right ? In fact, I knocked out after the first glass, watching Jon & Kate Plus 8. Kinda boring already coz Jon & Kate was already quite cold towards each other.

Anyway, back to our 'nocturnal sins', I made a platter to go with wine :

Matured cheddar, cheese crackers and olives :



2 glasses and a wine. Not exactly a romantic evening, 'lou fu lou chai already ya?' We had wine and the bits and while hubs was clearing his inbox, I curled up watching tv. LOL !!!


On a closer look :

My review : Easy wine, mediocre but balanced level of fruitiness, spiciness and oak aroma. Perfect for a late night craving for wine. No need to breath or decipher the notes !

Marmite Prawns

This is the easiest prawn dish I can come up with. Takes 15 minutes, including cleaning the prawns to dishing out and the cooking time is less than 5 minutes !!


Ingredients :
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600gms prawns . Trim 'whiskers' and part of the head (the sharp section) off prawn.
Marinate in 1 tbsp Shao Hsing Hua Tiao Chiew and dash of pepper
1 large knob (2 inch) Ginger, julienned finely

Sauce
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1 tablespoon Marmite
1 tablespoon dark soya sauce
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
1 tablespoon sugar


Heat work with 3 tablespoon of oil till smoking hot, pour in marinate prawns and ginger together. Stir till prawns turn pink, pour in sauce mixture, stir for another minute

Serve garnished with spring onions.

I usually have my prawns deshelled but the sauce is so yummy, I prefer to keep the shells intact and savour the sauce off prawn first, then peel and dip in sauce again before I eat them. YUMMZZ !!!

I Nearly Burnt The House Down !

Yesterday's headlines on a 22-yr old guy burnt to death in his own home was really shocking. News also mentioned that the deep fryer could be the cause.

I had a near miss last Sunday, thinking back and how it could have been worst made me realise I should not take things for granted, esp appliances with heating element.

It all started with some leftover banana chips (kerepek pisang). My maid didn't want it and I, not wanting to waste food (and also wai-sek) thought of reviving the dead and limp chips. I placed them on my toaster oven, set the temparature to medium and set the timer to 5 minutes (big big mistake ! I always have a bad habit of setting a longer time and then check on the toast manually).

And so the chips were toasting.

And I was packing up apple crumble I baked for my dear father.

Then I heard a 'BOAP'

hmmm.. strange.. I didn't drop anything.. I continued packing the apple crumble

'BOAP' again ???

turned around and I saw my toaster all black and slight flames inside.

SEI FOR LOR !!!!!!!!!!! What to do ? Instant reaction was to get water (worst choice, would have fuelled the fire more) but I could not find a pail

the drinking cups were too small ..
the kitchen towel was too small ..
how ?

I open the toaster (BIG BIG MISTAKE !!!)..and ... FIRE !!! My toaster was on FIRE !!! Opening the door caused more oxygen to go in the toaster and fuel the fire. Sei for lor !! I quickly slammed in shut and turned everything off. The switch was behind the toaster and I risked my hands getting burnt to turn it off. I cannot imagine if I did not. A short circuit could have damaged and burnt down my kitchen or worst, the whole house !

I stood there panicked, luckily the fire stopped. With no oxygen, no fuel and heating element off, the fire gradually died. I quickly open all windows in the house and turned on all fans. I took a couple of hours to rid the house of 'burnt' smell.

Some pics to remind myself to be more diligent when dealing with cooking appliances :

The burnt toaster :


The charcoal chips. All because I was 'wai sek'. I should have just dumped them away. My maid was sniggering (and boy I was soooo annoyed with her !) at my mistake.


I spent and hour cleaning up the toaster with Cosway's Cream Cleanser. I dismantled the screws, glass panel and whatever I could which I think I could reassemble back. Cleaned each piece by piece and kept reminding myself that situation could turn worst, the kitchen could have caught fire and I could have put my family in danger.

What to do now ? I NEED A FIRE EXTINGUISHER !!!!

An Evening at Taman Tun Park

I've heard of the Taman Tun Park and by chance, Sharon's dad invited us for a jog there. The hubs jog while the mums and kids lepak.

It was a breeze for us to get there, take DUKE , then Penchala Link, we were in less than 30 mins. We walked around the park and the highlight was the little stream running across it. Playing with water is Amber's favourite and she wasn't even keen on the playground then.

Here's my little girl burying her feet in the sand.


and then her hands.. step by step, in less than 5 minutes, she was all wet.


I love to see her happy, while I just relax by the stream and take photos.


Another girl had a set of pails and shovels. Amber 'eyed' them and made friends with the girl to share her toys. Amber's a real socialbird, not afraid or shy of strangers, a trait she inherited from hubs. Sharon was initially afraid of getting in to the water, joined them later. She couldn't resist the fun.


Hubs got us ice cream and here she's mad at me for having her ice cream. GIMME BACK MY ICE CREAM !!! LOL !! I told hubs not to buy mine, I'll share with Amber but she wanted all of it. I was like a greedy Mama fighting with a 3 yr old over ice cream .

Dirty and wet all over.. but what the heck, everyone had fun

Sunset and getting dark, she still don't want to leave.

As long as she's happy, we are happy.

I'm glad to have a found someone living close to us to share weekend activities with. Most of my friend lives across town, getting together with the kids is a chore. Sharon & Amber goes to the same childminder and we look forward to more kiddie activities together.

We left the park with hungry tummies. As we were sweaty and tired, hawker food is a good choice. Sharon's dad took us to Seksyen 17 hawker center. I'm total lost with PJ and anywhere, anyplace is new to me.

I thought prices at PJ is higher than other suburbs but I was surprised, we ordered 2 tong sui for only RM2.80 (very big bowl too !):

Longan with snow fungus and black glutinuos rice desert :


One stall worth the ringgit and calories is this :


Similiar to fried kuey teow but Hakka fried mee use wantan mee instead of kuey teow. Generous portion and laden with 'chee yau char' too !!!!

Since I've burnt some calories sweating it out at the park, I allowed myself something sinful.

My good friend, my ex neighbour, an elderly lady in her 70's told me "Well, we are all entitled to ONE bad food day per week" She's absolutely RIGHT !!!!!!!!

I so look forward to weekends now, with parks and outdoor activities for her :)