PonyTales

Zoe attends the Sunday School (more like a playgroup) for children of our church. Two weeks ago, the teachers in Sunday school organised a picnic session at a nearby park for the children. It was fun and here are some of the pics taken during the picnic.

Prayer to say grace for the food - Amen!

The big tree as my shelter

Can I have another sandwich?

Thirsty…

Hey! wait for me!

Where’s everybody!?

Chase me if you can…

Let’s see what we have here…

Can I have another fawer, Mr. Clown?
(at a friend son’s 1st Birthday party, they hired a clown to entertain the kids, brilliant!)

Zoe has been watching Baby Einstein for quite some time, if I remember correctly, since she is about 7 - 8 mths old…Baby Einstein can bore an adult out of their skull!!! …but it can make a baby sit quietly watching for 1 solid hour…amazing!

Nowadays, she watch Barney too (her America’s most fames idol!). Thou one part of me worries that its too much TV for her at her tender age, I cannot deny that some of her communication skill improved from watching these children TV programs.

The followings are words and things she learned in random:

• Saying "Hi!" and "Bye!" to people, even strangers…while waving her hand
• Muak! while kissing her palm - another accompanying gesture from her when saying goodbye. Especially to her babysitter and Daddy…
• Dog…bow! bow!
• Cat
• Faa-wer - Flower, she points and tell me flower
• Bus - she repeats after me when I point and said "Bus!" while sending her to the babysitter
• Aa-dee - Andy the Ants - a story book given to her by Auntie MY and Uncle SL
• Car
• Teee - Dirty…that she learned from me cause she likes digging the rubbish bin
• Eee-yerr - I read that kids learned to say "No!" at around her age….but my Zoe is saying, "eee-yer" at me very often
• Oh uh! - as if something drop and someone said "Oh uh!"….she like to purposely drop something and say "Oh Uh!"
• Oh More! - means No More! while twisting her palm
• Mai! - means "dont want" in Hokkien - this I suspect is her 2nd word and built into her at birth….hahaha…I wonder where she pick that up?
• Daddy - very fluent
• PaPa - very fluent
• Mama - when she likes it
• Maa Meeee - when in distress
• Pao-pao - she wants to be carried or when she is carrying her teddy bear
• Mum mum - when she is eating with us
• Nen nen - asking for her milk
• Penn - means Open

Instructions she understands from me:

• Sit down
• Wear shoe - I have to wear for her, she just sit and wait
• Oi Oi - sleep
• Let’s go
• Pom Pom - take bath
• Watch Barney - she goes to the TV
• Take - she take the thing I point to her
• Put down - she put down the things she is holding
• Nose, eyes, mouth, ears - she point at her own nose, eyes, mouth or ears…but sometimes she point wrongly and laugh
• No! Cannot! Arrrrggg! - negative words she understand from me and she will stop when I said those…
• Eat rice
• Lie down
• Change change - changing her diaper
• Sayang who and who - she will gently sayang others

She only respond to her name "Zoe" and not her Chinese name…must make it a point to use her Chinese name more, afterall thats her real name. Sigh…its even difficult for me to change that myself now…

I need a little pampering again and I have been thinking to go for facial to my regular beautician for more than a year - still I have not been able to schedule an appointment time with her….sigh….BIG sighhhhhhh….

So, feeling a little worn out, tired, no mood and have been suffering migrain for the past 2 days, I found myself walking around in The Curve aimlessly (alone!) one fine afternoon.  Out of the blue, my eyes got fixed at these strategically located signboard from Urban Retreat and decided to follow it right till I pass MPH and it is located just next to it. I thought for a while and my mind came up with this excuse that a little pampering is God sent especially if you are Mommy (or Daddy) to a feisty 1+ toddler!

After looking at their competitive pricing, and the products they used - its a point of no return for me. I walk in and was greeted by their gracious front desk staff. I opted for an aromatherapy massage and she quickly offered me a better deal, RM109 for 1.5 hours of pure bliss instead of the standard 1 hour. Since its my first time there, I bite the bullet, took the deal given and have no regrets later.

The session starts with a simple floral foot bath at the corridor of the massage room. Massage room is adequately sized, dimly lit and overall comfy. The foot bath at the corridor somehow gave me a feeling of being pampered at home - very familiar and relaxing. The therapist is a middle age Thai lady who is very soft spoken, petit but strong, in terms of her massage…hahaha. Her massage skill is good because it is quite similar to those gentle wave strokes that I experienced back in Phuket. Phuket housed some of the best spa in the world along with very skillful therapists. The disposable hair cap given is also a good touch to keep my long hair neat. Massage is done on a PVC mattress but wrapped with large towels and batik, so its quite comfy with a small pillow given to support the head. Pillow is also wrapped with towel. The 1.5 hour long massage really felt just nice to take all the stress away from my weary body, as opposed to the normal 1 hr massage, which I usually felt that they finish too fast. The aroma oil used is also very very soothing lavendar with a hint of wood smell, which is just nice and not too girly - just the way I like it! I was not asked to choose the oil (unlike normal practise) but since they are using Harnn products, I would not want to question more. I have personally seen Harnn products when I was in Bangkok and it is truly one of the more up market spa products from Thailand.

Hubby could smell "the Rat" once I got home and he was wondering who has sneak out to the spa (who else rite!). When he finally heard from me, he was rather not pleased and turn into a whiny little boy who has just missed a treat! So, with that…we will have no choice but be back for more in the near future….hehehe…

(**Pictures are taken from Urban Retreat website)

Time pass really fast for me nowadays as I have lots to do, both at home and in office. I haven’t been writing much about Zoe, not as much as I wanted…sigh. She has really grown a lot these days - I would say she is no longer a baby, although strangers still like to refer to her as a baby. One friend commented that she still have a baby face. Sometimes, I tend to think really hard how the time had passed, months after months… but she is still very much my baby girl - no matter what trick is up her sleeve now

These are some of the things I observed she likes to do nowadays:

• Singing and dancing to Barney’s DVDs. She loves Barney and would run from the kitchen/room and glued to the TV instantly if she hears the Barney music starts playing. Her singing sometimes sounds more like shouting on top of her lung. When she dance, she will turn her body around with arms held up high or swing her body from side to side. She looks like she enjoyed the music a lot.
• When I sing the nursery rhymes that she recognises, she will show the gestures those kids do in Barney shows - Barney is really very influencial to little kids.
• She likes "Ring around a Rosie" too, she will hold my hands go round and round and when I say, "we all fall down!", she falls down immediately…sometimes too fast before I finish the sentence. She can do this non-stop till I have to surrender cause I am feeling giddy but she is still grinning from ear to ear. Where she got all those energy!!?
• She rides on her trike, push car and this rocking thingy we got for her from Ikea very independently now. She will even sometimes stand on her trike like a Mat Rempit - I still think this action is too much for a girl!!
• She seek for our attention more nowadays, calling us to witness her actions or the treasures she found at home - her calling usually sounds like "Chee! Cheee!"….she means see! see!. If we don’t budge, she will call till the cow comes home.
• She is starting to spoon feed herself - still a messy affair but can control the spoon better and put the spoon into her mouth, not elsewhere.
• If anything finishes (especially her Barney shows), she will hold her arms up, palm slightly open and wrist turning and tell us "Oh More!"…means No More!
• She understand if we are going out and will race to the door, try to grab her sandals and try to put them on - thou she do not know how. Sometimes, she try to wear Daddy’s shoes or sandals.  When I tell her to wear her sandals, she will sit down and wait for me to wear for her.
• She is very good at imitating us nowadays. Daddy just showed her the ultraman arms cross stance the other day and when I picked her up from Nanny the next day - she showed me the ultraman sign - this causes the whole of Nanny’s household to burst out laughing as if I am the monster…hahaha
• She is very talkative - mostly gibberish and can talk for a longer time. She likes to do that when Daddy and I are having a conversation - like she is taking part in the conversation as well.
• She likes small animals like rabbits, fish and tortoise. She is not afraid to touch them or feed them.
• She can play the shape sorter now, identifying the shape and the hole it can put through, but sometimes she still get a little confused.
• When she want me to place something for her, like her shape sorter. She will hold my palm, open it and put the shape unto my palm and point at the shaper sorter. Maybe she knows that I could not understand her language.
• She can get really whiny and demanding sometimes, especially when she wanted something we don’t want her to touch. Reasoning with her can be an uphill task.
• She knows she cannot play with the electrical socket, but she likes to test my patience. She will purposely touch the socket while looking at me and smiling cheekily. When I tell her not to, she will still stay put till I walk to her, and she will squeal in delight and run away…
• Erm…she can be considered quite good in sharing her food, when she is eating something and we said, "Ahh..?" with mouth open. She will shove the food into our mouth directly. Sometimes, it can be half eaten biscuits or fruits full of her saliva…eww!
• We let her walk by herself more nowadays, but the journey can be quite a long one, even to the car park or lift, as she stops and admire at everything that she fancies…
• She waves her hand and say a very soft "Hi!" when she likes it and she waves her hand to say, "Bye!" when she is leaving and sometimes, she sends a blowing kiss on her palm with a loud "Muak!". This usually melts the heart of the auntie next door and she gets a treat of chocolate biscuit or some home cooked stuff from this auntie quite often.

Its very engaging being with her now as she can reason better but yet, still show her babyness as and when she wants. She wants to play with me more nowadays and its nice and tiring at the same time. Sometimes, eventhou tired, I hope I can freeze time and have her just the way she is now…small, cuddly and cute!

It was sun, sea and sand again for the family over last weekend at the Legends Water Chalet, Port Dickson. We headed to Melaka first in the morning to to have lunch in Jonker street and followed by my long awaited Mille Crepe, as reviewed by Ann.

Zoe ordering from menu, Nyonya asam laksa and Mille Crepe (we took the original and rum raisin flavour). The Mille Crepe is RM8.50 per slice and really yummy, just melts in the mouth. Feels like layers and layers of crepe with fresh cream in between.

We arrived at Legends Water Chalet close to 5pm. We have initially booked the deluxe water chalet, which is a 2 storey chalet and we only manage to get the upper unit as it is thru a friend’s timeshare membership. I was quite pleased when the reception upgraded our rooms to the premium water chalet at no cost as their deluxe has been fully occupied. Who says the "late birds never gets their worms!"…hahaha!

Premium water chalet comes with glass floor at the room and toilet. Zoe had the most fun playing at the glass floor. She was quite amazed with the floor and was initally afraid to step on it. After she see me and Daddy standing on top of the glass, she knows its ok and spend most of her time lying or staring at the glass and sort of telling us what she saw at the sea. When the tides are low, we could actually see crabs and some small fishes swimming around - its quite amazing!

The toilet is huge (biggest I have ever seen) and it is situated right after the entrance - apparently its design in such a way so that you could wash up after playing at the sand before you enter the room. It has an open air shower area and a big bath tub, which Zoe had fun continuing her swimming session there

We spent the first day walking around the resort and just enjoy the sea breeze. It was very windy and refreshing and thank God the weather was good and did not rain, thou the clouds looks like its gonna rain heavy. Zoe had lots of fun running around and looking out to the sea, occasionally she will throw some biscuit crumbs to the sea, telling me she is feeding the fish…hahaha

Second day after breakfast, we head to the beach for some serious sand castle building project. As you can see, Zoe had other ideas in mind and started flooding the sand. She loves watching the water seep into the sand. We manage to make some sand crabs, boats and star fish using the moulds but was also later drown by Zoe…hahaha. Zoe loves the pool too and was having a good time as there were other kids there. I had quite a hard time trying to get her out of the pool later when its time to be back for a bath.

We manage to go to the PD ostrich farm as well. I think that the entrance fee is quite steep at RM8 per adult and RM6 per kid. We did not have to pay for Zoe’s ticket as she is only 14 months. Zoe loves the rabbits and did not show any fear at all, she started touching and feeding the rabbits by herself. She don’t really like the ostrich, crocodile and iguana thou - maybe reptilian and Big Bird don’t really appeal to her!

Food was good in PD too and very reasonable, we had seafood dinner at Wing Li seafood restaurant (at Teluk Kemang), seaview seafood restaurant (at Lukut) and the famous Lukut’s Lucky King giant pau. Overall, PD is really a nice short getaway for city folks like us - away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Alphabets pasta cooked with milk, carrots and broccoli

Since Zoe started solid, I have found good use of my kitchen. Before she was born, our cooking condiments, gas tank and even dish washer can last a year and still more than half available even after a year. Yeah, I wasn’t really into cooking when there were just the 2 of us. Eating out was much more nicer, cleaner (no mess in kitchen) and conveniently easier for us.

When Zoe was about to start solid feeding at 5 months, I knew then I have to feed her well, no matter how lazy I am. I started doing lots of research online, at the book store and asking some experience mothers on how to prepare meals for babies? how much to eat? what to eat?

The information was overwhelming and I foresee busy weekends preparing meals. It was then that I decided I will prepare Zoe’s food daily, thou the Nanny already said she is going to do it without extra charges. When I relate this to some other working moms like me, it sounded silly to them. But I have made up my mind. I want Zoe to eat healthy food and food she recognise is prepared by me. I don’t think that is a really silly thing to do…I think it will made a difference in the years to come…

The initial stage of feeding Zoe is challenging (puking after feed, the distorted face when the food/taste is new) but with my Nanny’s help, it wasn’t very long till I see her excitement when she see food. I think every babies need time to adapt to solid food. It is also a very rewarding experience to see Zoe enjoying the food I prepared. Now, she tails me to kitchen daily and have this longing eyes looking at me, sometimes uttering a word or two and opening her palm to me as if she is asking me, "What is cooking!? I wanna eat!…" I love these moments! (knowing all the efforts of preparing food daily, woke up 5am to cook and weekends marketing, washing, storing, packing are not wasted). I am still doing the same today, althou Nanny have taken over the cooking but all ingredients still comes from me - washed, cut, packed and just need to be cooked.

Some of the food that Zoe is taking and lovin’ it!

Porridge with:

• Cod fish/deep sea ma yau (also know as sun fung yue) or chicken (these have to be bought weekly at the wet market so its fresh - washed, cut into serving sizes and freeze in individual sealable portion bags. It is better to store all the sealed bags into plastic containers - cleaner and easier to take out.
• Dry scallops and ikan bilis (only given after 1 year old).
• Carrots (washed and chopped), broccoli (washed, soaked and cut), spinach (washed, soaked and take only the leavy part).
• French beans or long beans (washed and cut), corn, sweet peas, holland peas, tomato

Other foods she take:

• Sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkin (washed, cut and steamed before being cooked with other ingredients)
• Apple, pear, banana, papaya, mango, orange (these gotta be cooked and puree when she is 6 months till about 8 months) Previously, one portion is a meal add into rice cereals, now is more like a snack to her and no need to be cooked after 1 year old. When I was working in KLCC, there is this fruit shop nearby the LRT that sells really juicy and yummy fruits. I usually bought the fruits there.
• Oats with milk, cheese (given her Baby Bel, Krafts and Laughing Cows cheese - she loves it!), yogurt (I let her eat on her own, thou messy but she enjoy it a lot!), tofu, egg yolks, baby biscuits (her all time favourite snacks)
• Pasta, spaghetti, rice with soups, bread and toasts.

Before I started cooking for Zoe, I do not experiment with cooking much. I never knew that chicken, corn and carrots rice porridge is really yummy and fragrant without any seasonings! It really open up my imagination a lot to cook nice tasting stuff without seasonings as it is not good to feed baby with salt or seasoning before 1. I think I learned a lot about the basic taste of food and about blending the taste together to get a meal that is yummy (or edible!) - another valuable lesson in the journey of motherhood.

Nowadays, I do add a few drops of soya sauce to her porridge. I guess its alright to slowly introduce some salty stuff to her now that she is 14 mths. I can see that she is very delighted with the new taste of her porridge with a little soya sauce. She seems to want more even after a full bowl! Ahhh….the power of soya sauce…hahaha!

I am today more "market-wise!" (new word! hahaha!) What I am trying to say is I am more experienced shopping at the wet market than before. I used to get very lost in the wet market..shame!!
I knew the name to some of the veges I used to eat but have never bother to know its name! I knew that a kilo of deep sea ma yau at RM55 is too expensive (RM45 is about ok). I knew that a kg of cod fish can fetch up to RM70, a slice which is 1 week supply for Zoe is about RM25. I knew that Australian carrots are juicier, bigger and sweater compared to those sold in hypermarket in packets (mainly from China and sometimes from Australia). Generally, the food in wet market are fresher and of a higher quality compared to hypermarket, thou it is slightly more expensive. Being a frequent customer now (every Sat morning), I am beginning to enjoy discounts from the folks in the wet market. This is good as they usually round down the figure I need to pay or gave me some free stuff (extra tomato or vege) or some extra meats at no charge!

Yet another life lesson being a Mom and not that boring as I would have imagined 5 years ago

Today I had a very rare occassion of having lunch alone with my Mom. I drove alone to her coffeeshop to meet her, my Dad was not in the coffee shop. Mom said he got Valentine’s hangover….hahaha!!!

It has been "I forgotten how long" of time since I manage to eat lunch with Mom, just the two of us. Especially after Zoe’s arrival. It felt so long ago.

I realised a few things while having lunch with Mom just now:

1. My Mom still fuss over me . When I accidentally drop some rojak sauce unto my hand, she quickly scurried over and handed me a tisssue, without me lifting a finger. But, if Zoe is around, all the fuss goes to her…sigh!
2. My Mom never failed to have something nice to eat that she can offer me, even with a surprise visit like that! She shared the rojak an uncle gave her earlier - seems like at her golden years Mom still able to attract some attention from the opposite sex…kekeke
3. We tend to gossip about our in-laws when we chat, just the 2 of us. Its bitchy but so relieving…aaaahhhh
4. My Mom likes to talk about my Brother and update me on what he has achieved or where he gonna work. We knew very well that my brother is able to take very good care of himself, but yet my Mom must make it a point to let me know his progress. Anyway, its good to know! Maybe she did the same when she is with my Brother - updates about me!
5. I sprained my neck and shoulder yesterday nite and told Mom about it, she never fail to produce something to cure me. This time, a black herbal tablet the size of a paracetamol tablet. She swear that it can cure the pain, but I might bet a little sleepy later.
6. She likes to make me try all the new products (drinks/food) she found or served in her coffeshop. Today it was some herbal lemonade. I am always hesitant but also always ends up gulping down everything the Queen commanded me to eat. Thank God this one taste good!
7. I notice Mom always seems to look the same to me - never aged a day, thou she is 60 this year. She is still fair and lovely to me.
8. My Mom still like to teased me and hubby. Yesterday being Valentine’s day, she asked me whether we spent it cleaning up Zoe’s poo poo, compared to those times when we can go out and have candlelight dinner. She was having a blast yesterday nite with Dad and some friends celebrating Valentine’s. Now I understand what she meant, she has got back her independence of doing the things she like after taking care of Brother and me as a housewife for so many years.
9. My Mom still observed the way I dress. Today being Friday is a dress down day for me in the office. I was only clad in T-shirt, a pair of khakis and sports shoes. She commented why I dress so "cin cai" to office.
10. My Mom always gives me a hug and some food for me to bring along before I leave but nowadays her hugs seems much more precious and touching to me.

We celebrated Mom’s 60th Birthday this year at the coffeeshop, her favourite place for this moment. We had 2 tables of 8 course dinner - cook and ingredients supervised by my Mom. The food is excellent!

Mom’s 60th Birthday Cake - from us!

Mom and Zoe - saying "You listen to me 1st!!"

Thank you Lord for blessing me with a SuperMom - Someone I can always run to for some TLC