The Kasuri, The Baby, And I

So much for the gempak title. Actually I just received the travelling pslings from a MBW mama, and being a ring sling, this was my first time ever using a sling to babywear. I received 2, the kasuri, and shijira.

Thanks to Norley for leaving the kasuri threaded. Me, the eager-beaver mama got to try it on immediately. And yeah, I shall earn some brownie points later in threading the shijira later.

Firstly I love the material, for a noob, it makes me feel comfortable and confident that my baby is in the right hands (sling). And surprisingly, Sanju seems more calm in the RS than he does in the SSC. In the SSC he tends to turn his head behind to see whats happening, while in the kasuri he is almost in his hand-carry position, so this dude was as comfy as ever!

And the most convenient aspect of the kasuri RS is that I put him on at home, wore him to the car (hubby drove) and got down easily at the mall. And I could take Sanju out of the RS for a few moments, and let the RS around me, felt like a sash LOL! Of course for a first timer I was adjusting and kept checking on his butt placement, but hubby told me I looked pretty expert with the RS.

Overall, great experience... if I get the chance, I would love to get on psling for myself.. but this 10 month kiddo might not last long in the RS.. but I love the elegant feeling it gave me. Thanks zana, for the chance to try this!

Here is a pic before we left home... planned for a movie, but there was nothing nice.. I guess the shijira will have the chance to make it for a movie, oh yea, it will also be Sanju's debut at the cineplex.

Perfect Sunday Brunch and Dinner

What makes the perfect meal on a lazy Sunday? For the lazy brunch, my hungry-half likes to indulge in Pandamaran Bak Kut Teh, served with lots and lots of fried onion and raw garlic. Who cares if we have bad breath afterwards, it is after all, a lazy Sunday.


And the pigging (literally) out does not stop there. My favourite casual and lazy dinner is at Kampungku Food Center, where they serve the best ikan bakar, pork sausage and Uncle Bob fried chicken (beats KFC any day!). And oh, the food center kinda holds some very fond memories of our early dating days... awwww... No wonder they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... Make sure you choose the right place to eat!

Why Cloth Diaper?

As new and seasoned moms who are very much comfortable with traditional nappies and disposables, you might wonder, why even cloth diaper? Isn't it:

1. Costly
2. Require high maintenance
   
3. Difficult to manage the poo, and
   
4. Difficult to travel?

With so much of complications on cloth diapering (coupled with a baby and home to care for), who wants extra trouble?

Well, that is exactly what I thought about cloth diapers when I was doing my baby care research during my pregnancy. RM50 for a cloth diaper? I can get 2 dozens or more traditional nappies with that money... and plenty of disposables too... and I did.

So I achieved my cost requirement, for lampins with minimal maintenance - for the first 1 month, that is! My daily routine was washing and drying and folding lampins. Disposables were for night use, but it was difficult getting all the lampins done at times so I resorted to disposables for most of the evening and night use. With this, I went on washing/drying and buying disposables one after another. And we all know disposables are not cheap, a pack of RM40 (hypermarket price) can only go for 2 weeks, shorter if you travel in between. I needed a liberation, I was not prepared to do laundry for the rest of my FTWM life. Therefore, I switched, and man, that was the best decision I ever made for my baby!

From my experience, after converting, if I were to recommend, why CD?

1. Cost - lets look at the bigger picture here, your baby is going to be in diapers for minimum of 2 years of age. Imagine buying RM100 worth of disposables every month, that is RM2400 for the 2 years, and they all go down in the dumps creating landfill. If you invest in 20 CD (enough to rotate for 2 days), you will be spending RM800 on average. Plus, the reduced load of laundry contributes to lesser power and water consumption, and also baby detergent.
2. Maintenance for CDs is fairly simple. Use detergent with no enzyme & bleaching properties, wash them together with normal baby clothes (ensure CD is rinsed after every use) in the washing machine, and voila, you are done!
3. Managing the poo is easy-peasy with modern day diaper liners... just toss them into the bin. Also, once your baby is on solids, the poo is much easier to wash off the CD, try it to believe it. Honestly, I find it harder to manage poo on a lampin instead.
4. Travelling again, is easy-peasy, with a wet bag handy, you can bring your CDs with you anywhere you go. There are various CD systems to suit your travelling needs, eg All-in-2, you can re-use the shells by only changing the soakers.
   
5. Save the hassle and pressure of rushing to do laundry every morning to meet your diapering needs. Save the hassle of frequently diaper changing and cleaning for baby. Save the hassle of rushing to the supermarket to buy disposables (I've seen fathers at 99Speedmart buying beer & disposables on a Saturday night).

Make your decision today. Hey, I am not selling any products, just sharing my experience, to relief of the headache you might face.

Carrot Pudding with Cinnamon

Remember I posted my Gajar Halwa recipe once. As I suggested, I went ahead to make a 'baby' version of it.

You need:

• 2 carrots (grated)
  
• a pinch of cinnamon powder
• a quarter cup of fresh milk (pasteurised)
• a quarter cup of water
  

Method:

1. Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the milk. Cook on a low flame for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally
3. Add cinnamon powder, cook for 2-3 minutes more.
4. At this point, you can add a little amount of unsalted butter if your baby is ready for it.

Does not take that long, and it gives the whole house a yummy fragrance. The best thing is, if your baby still takes pureed food (like mine), you do not need to blend this one further as the grated carrots are good enough to be eaten, also give some coarser texture for your exploring baby to gum on it. You can serve it on its own, or with cereal. Works great as breakfast or mixed with other fruits for other meals or snack.

Lassi Recipe

Yogurts are usually best kept over 14 days in the fridge, otherwise it would turn too sour, which is ok if you are like me. If you have plenty of yogurt leftover in the fridge and do not know what to do with it, try this lassi drink.

Lassi is a traditional Indian (mostly Punjabi) yogurt drink. They come in salty or sweet taste and these days, its even made the ice blended way with fruity flavours. You can get them at most Indian restaurants, and it doesn't take much to make it on your own.

For 2 servings, you need:

• A cup of yogurt
• 2-4 tbsp of sugar (depends on how sweet you want)
• 2 cups of ice cubes
• 3-4 cardamoms
  

1. Mix all the ingredients into a regular blender, and blend till all ice cubes are crushed
2. You can substitute sugar with salt for a salty type of lassi.
3. Alternatively, reduce the sugar, and add your favourite fruits, eg mango, kiwi

Just made kiwi lassi for the first time over the weekend, and it was refreshing for a hot weekend! Great and healthy drink!

Homemade Yogurt For Baby

Growing up, yogurt has been essential part of my daily diet. Mom always made sure there was sufficient yogurt in the fridge daily as we'd take it with our rice, dhal and vegetables. Recently started planning on including yogurt into Sanju's diet, and since the commercial yogurts are not that pure and fresh, I decided to make my own. But now without the access to fresh cow's milk, I resorted to Dutch Lady's pasteurized fresh milk.

The method is pretty simple.

1. Make sure you have about 1 tablespoon of yogurt (to use as a seed to culture your own) ready in a container you want to make the yogurt in (I prefer stainless steel containers, as it is safer than plastic, easier than glass.
   
2. Boil about 500ml (well it just depends on how much yogurt you want) milk in a pot. Boil till the cream starts expanding till the top of the pot and you can lower the fire and let it boil for 5-7mins more, making sure the cream does not spill all over.
   
3. Once done, turn the fire off, and let it cool (covered) for 5-10mins.
4. Mix the milk into the yogurt container, and stir it with a spoon. Leave it out for about 10 hours. And then store it into the fridge to avoid it turning too sour.
   

Here is the final product of my yogurt I made over the weekend:

You can serve yogurt to baby mixed with fruits, or cooked with pasta. Try it!

My new SnuggBaby - Good Earth Blooms with Maroon Straps

We have now ditched the stroller for good - it was already under-utilised for a while now as my mightier half prefers to carry Sanju whenever we are out shopping, etc. Hate hitting the strollers onto people's behind and steering like we already do on the road. I suggested getting a Soft-structured carrier (SSC) to him, he agreed this could take much load off his back during (my) shopping hours.

My better half contributed significantly choosing the design (that I liked, LOL)... I don't know how but I am kinda good in letting him choose the one that I want...

Hubby: I like the checked design
Me: Err... ok...
Hubby: This one looks nice
Me: Errr.. it has beige straps.. not my kind of thing
Hubby: Which one u prefer?
Me: Good Earth Blooms with the maroon straps
Hubby: Ok, then take it
Me: Aww cool! Good that we chose together!
Hubby: (???) yeah right

Jokes apart... he likes it, and he wears it (voluntarily) most of the time while I get my hands dirty picking vegetables.

Now back to my Snuggbaby... I got it from the online store Snuggbaby and I am totally loving it! Thanks to seller Liza for the excellent job and wonderful after sales support! My experience on the SSC as a first time wearer is totally comfortable and enjoyable knowing that Sanju is safe on my back. I usually wear him when I am doing house chores such as cooking or laundry... but the little busy-body likes to lean sideways to see what I am doing at the front. As for my hubby, he loves carrying Sanju on the SSC while we are out... as expected, no strain on his back, and putting on the SSC is totally hassle free, we even put on/off a few times while shopping for hubby's Diwali clothes. Now, is that cool or what!

You may be wondering, heck all the talk but where is the real thing? Ok, here is a picture of me with Sanju on my back (my dad called this vietnamese-style-carrying).

Happy baby Happy mommy!

Bitten by the Babywearing Bug

Well I won't say it is a bug, but more of an essential item, for me at least. I did kind of hear about babywearing when Sanju was much younger, but I guess I was kind of a slow pick-up there. Somehow it did not occur to me how beneficial and convenient it would be for me to babywear. Babywearing is a practice of carrying or 'wearing' a baby or child in a carrier, that comes in many different types.

Experts say babywearing benefits the baby by promoting better physical development and secure feeling by being close (almost skin to skin) with the wearer. We are often told how swaddling and massaging baby promotes growth and better health, it works the same way here. Remember how babies cry and fuss more often as a newborn? I remember my experience, Sanju constantly needed to be carried otherwise it was difficult to soothe him down. How I wish I had discovered (rather opened my eyes) earlier! And hey, while babywearing, you and baby can bond and communicate better.

Babywearing is so convenient you can provide this security, bonding and closeness while carrying out daily chores, such as cooking and doing the laundry. Whats more, babywearing proves to be a good workout for the wearer (thats you mama!), with the baby weight and chores going the same time, imagine the amount of calories you'd burn!

You'd not believe there are tonnes (ok maybe not tonnes, but the number of BW gears they own do add up to tonnes :P ) of BW mothers in Malaysia, you can find them at the Malaysia Babywears forum. About the babywearing bug that bit me, I shall share the details and picture soon. For now, if you don't BW yet, hop on now!

Confessions of a Shopaholic Mom

Like many, I fully support and practice home cooked baby foods. They are not just healthier (free of preservatives and flavouring), also gives me full control and knowledge over what my little one is consuming in his diet. Also, it makes me feel like (sort of a) super-mom when I do my best juggling my work and his food preps on weekly and daily basis.

However, whenever I am out shopping for groceries (or just shopping for the adrenaline rush) I can't help getting attracted towards those pretty looking packed foods for baby. Whats more, they come with charming little labels seducing me that they are safe and healthy for babies, well at least, for occasional consumption... And I give in to temptation as usual, buy them, and create another stack in the fridge beside the frozen foods. Just today I was about to pick up a few more of those pretty containers when I remembered the current lot that I am already storing. And yeah, Pureen warehouse sales is coming this weekend.. they have pretty heinz stuff too... hmmm...

Lets take a look at my (baby's) stock:


So with all those home cooked foods stacked, when does one get the chance to use the pretty packed stuff? Well, I am hoping it will come in handy during those busy or traveling days. Even then, I am usually quite organized to plan some thing home cooked to insert into his meals.

Preparing (cooking and freezing) baby foods gives me some kind of high, sometimes I tend to get addicted to storing more and more types of food for him, as long as I have vegetables and fruits in the fridge. In the end, I hardly get chance to use up the yummy packaged stuff that I get him. What would that make me, home-foodie-holic, or store-a-holic? LOL... suggestions please?

Lets hope I stop buying more baby food before I finish off the current stock, or maybe I get a different addiction to keep away!

Tony Roma's Diwali Special

It is not Tony Roma's that is throwing a Diwali special, instead we planned a Diwali special at Tony Roma's. In fact, this was a long pending plan, since last year's Diwali and it was only fair that we make it this time round since we are going to be back in JB for the holidays.

Yeah yeah I know there are a couple of Tony Roma outlets in KL itself, but due to the variety of the menu in the Singapore outlet (read: Pork), hubby and I decided to wait and plan for the ultimate trip to the Suntec City outlet for the full experience. We strategically planned our trip on a weekday to avoid the CIQ hassles and Singapore crowd at Suntec, and yea, we were accompanied by a lamp post - my brother.

It was not difficult to choose what to eat, we just attacked what we went for - Pork Ribs (St Louis Sampler), Baby Back Ribs, and (traditionally) chose a nice starter called the Tony's Sampler to go with it. Even though this was not my first time tasting it, I must say the excitement and the taste felt like a first time, surprised me again with it's tenderness and sauce variety. The usual pork ribs we have at Kampungku Food Center pales in comparison.

Our appetizer, Tony's sampler:

St Louis Sampler:


And once we were done pigging out, we washed it down with the Brownie Sundae, which was just oh-so-heavenly, could we ask more? While the bill arriving later was pretty much throat-cutting, the taste and the ribs were to die for, no issues having our throat cut!


Simply said, it was worth crossing 7 seas (the causeway) to just experience the taste of Tony Roma's world famous ribs! Now we're planning the next trip to Suntec City sooner!

Festive and holiday seasons are here!

While I am still in the Diwali mood, I noticed that since Hari Raya holidays started, the festive and holiday seasons have arrived. Now with Diwali season, and Hari Raya Haji coming up next week, we are going to see plenty more public holidays in December, before welcoming Christmas and the new year!

With all the holiday excitements, do take extra caution to ensure safety while being on the road. Ok so my nonchalant and totally oblivious self has not much technical knowledge nor skills on auto or car maintenance and safety (I refer to each mechanical part as the *functional*-thingy), but it helps to know there are such sites as RepairPal that provides auto maintenance estimates.

During my time I sat for drivers license, we did not have the hands-on module, but at least I do remember steps such as adjusting the seat, checking the review and side mirrors, check engine light, check the indicators and wipers before starting to drive. This prepares us to ensure these functional essentials are working when needed on the road, also helps us to know if there are any specific or potential problems in the car condition.

To get a better idea of your car model's problem reports, Q&A, recalls and feedback, RepairPal provides search options, for example Ford F-150, to access and know about your auto. The auto shop directory page gives an overview and information on the outlets recommended, San Diego auto repair is one such example.

Finally I can enlighten myself with better auto knowledge on the 'thingies' involved, or at least, scrutinize a car model of my choice.

Happy Diwali!

Saw this lovely rangoli in Sunway Pyramid last week.. what better way to greet fellow Hindus a very Happy Diwali! Enjoy the holidays with family and friends and great food!

I WANT SEVENTH GENERATION PRODUCTS!

I am not an eco-friendly product user and I'd like to convert into one. How safe are your baby products? Read here. Heck, most of the products are those that I have been using on my kid, they are mostly the gifts he received after his birth. This article is truly an eye opener, and perhaps it is the right time to change now. This is why I am using this giveaway as a chance to score me some freebies to consider for full future use.

What enticed me towards the Seventh Generation products are the organic and chlorine free properties. The harmful chemicals on most commercial product don't just pose long term harm on the user, but also to the environment when it turns toxic. They are not called 'Seventh Generation' for nothing, the products are truly ahead of its time!

More info on the giveaway here. For more info on Lifestyle Green Solutions products, refer website here.