Weaning Off.

I wanted to write this entry about 5 months ago, but procrastination happened LOLZZ.

Anywaayyyy, I received a comment (Not that I get many of those! So kesian hahaha T_T) requesting me to do an entry on how I weaned off my toddler. Since I have no one chasing me to deliver urgent jobs today, I guess I can kick procrastination in the butt and do that entry. So here goes!

The weaning off process was actually surprisingly easy. My initial plan was to introduce formula to him 6 months prior to his 2nd birthday, slowly wean off along the months, and completely wean off by the time he turns two.

I introduced Dumex Dugro to the son in January 2011, but a month earlier I gave him Mamil Gold since I had some samples with me. Getting him to take bottled milk was no problem at all (Though he did have a nursing strike before), since he always take my EBM whenever I leave him with my MIL or my mother's maid.

In the first stage, I gave him formula once a day, usually after he had his morning bath. About a few weeks later, he only breastfeed in the morning when he wakes up and at night before he goes to bed. So daytime feeding only consists of solid food and formula milk. Eventually, my supply started to drop as I didn't direct feed as frequent anymore. Tried to express milk but one hour of effort resulted in only one ounce of milk.

The next thing I know, he was happily taking his formula milk and did not show even the slightest bit of interest when I tried to get him to breastfeed. With him being content with it and with my milk supply was so close to drying up, it's safe to say that the both of us have reached some sort of an agreement and understanding that it was time to end our beautiful breastfeeding journey. (So sad now can cry!)

The feeling was bittersweet. I miss our special bonding sessions, but also relieved at the same time because being a boob-juice machine is definitely not an easy task. But given the chance, I would do it all over again! :)

Thank You, Steve.

On a normal day, my routine goes something like this:

Wake up. Check the son. Check Twitter. Breakfast. Check Twitter. Shower. Check Twitter. Play with the son. Check Twitter... Well, you get the picture.

But on the 5th of October 2011, I got up, and to my horror, our internet connection was busted. To add to my not so pleasant morning, I had a deadline to fulfill. Having the Client texting me every 30 minutes certainly did not help me to keep my cool. So I was running around like a headless chicken trying to feed and bath a 2 year old toddler, feed and bath myself, get my work done, get out of the house and deliver it to my Client by hand. My point is, I did not have time to check my Twitter timeline.

By the time I checked, I was having lunch with the Client and it was about 2pm. And there it was. A timeline flooded with the news of Steve Jobs's passing. I thought it was a hoax.

Me: "WHAT!?!! STEVE JOBS IS DEAD?!!!"

Client: "Yeah, you didn't know? It's all over Facebook"

Shocked. Speechless.

Some people think they are so funny, when actually they're just distasteful.
 

Thank you for everything, Steve. You have done wonders to the technology world. I honestly cannot imagine how Apple is going to be without you around. RIP.

Dalam Kulit Kacang

Hello, blogsphere! Wow, my last update was *checking archive..* in July! A lot has happened this year. In a nutshell:

1. My 26 months old toddler officially weaned off at 21 months. Wanted to do a post on this, but, yeah... (okay, takde alasan). I have to say I miss being a boob-juice machine! :( 

2. Dumped my Nokia and jumped on the smartphone bandwagon. Tapi bukan Blackberry ye. Sebab bak kata pepatah: Once you go Mac, you'll never go back! Buahaha.

3. Husband and I has bought ourselves our first ever property! Weeee!!

4. I got pregnant. Okay, I joke. No, I'm not pregnant. I'm not. Stop asking!

5. Not only I went to my third Incubus concert, I even get to speak to the front-man himself! Via the phone, but still. I SPOKE TO BRANDON-FRIGGIN-BOYD. Can I pengsan please? Many thanks to a close friend who made it happen! I was smiling like a fool for a whole month. Yes, my husband is one understanding person.

6. Gave myself a project for our new home. Found this DIY tutorial on Pinterest. That's right. Do-It-Yourself! I painted each and every pattern on the wall myself. Sampai demam. Husband tolong kasi kata-kata semangat sahaja ye, sekian terima kasih. Nak buat jugak? Then head on to Nannygoat.

7. Finally gotten myself a MacBook Pro, a few days after the legendary Steve Jobs passed away. Now I do my design work with a huge smile on my face. Thank you, PowerBook G4. You have served us well for the past 8 years.

8. I turned 28 recently. And this is important because.. ?

9. I'm sure there are more but these are the ones I can recall at the moment. Dah tua, nak buat macam mana? (Please refer to number 8)

Teraniaya, Dianiaya, Menganiaya.

Image from Deviantart.

They say 'doa orang teraniaya akan dimakbulkan oleh Allah SWT'.

Have you even been ill-treated, to the point where you actually pray for something unpleasant to happen to the oppressor?

I have a story to share.

Aminah (bukan nama sebenar) had two best friends. Their friendship was so great that they've never fought, not even once. Until the day Aminah dumped her no good ex-boyfriend. Oh boy, was he pissed. Then he started making her life a living hell, including turning her two best friends against her.

Aminah was heartbroken. She kept on fighting for their friendship, but her ex kept coming up with new strategies to make sure her plans fail. But alas, those two had turned to the dark side and became minions of the evil ex. (the ex was a real pussy that he needed minions to do his evil deeds. pssh).

On one fine night, Aminah went out to her car to go out for dinner and found that her car was egged (translation: kena tempek dengan telur ayam). She had no other suspects in mind, except those two evil minions. She was angry, she was devastated, and most of all she felt betrayed. (eh, kena telur pun nak sedih sangat ke?)

She got into the car, cried, and through her tears she began praying (wah so dramatic wan), asking God to punish the oppressors. Asking God to show to her if it was really those two who did that to her car, they would get into an accident.

A week later, she got the news that one of the minions got into an accident. Just a minor one, some dents on the car and no one was hurt.

A few weeks later, the other minion got into an accident. It was quite bad, the car was a total loss, but the minion escaped with minor injuries.

And that got Aminah thinking. Was it just a pure coincidence, or did God really answer her prayer?

Jadi pengajarannya disini ialah is to never ever ill-treat anyone. Not even when you think they deserve it. And even if you're victimized, it is best if you don't pray for anything bad to happen to the oppressors. Let God punish them in His own way.

P/S: Yes, this is a true story.

Happy Terrible Two!

This post is a month too late, but hey, better late than never, right?

Our little boy is not so little anymore. He just turned terrible two! I know I've said this so many times (and also every other mothers on this planet), but he is growing up TOO fast! Can I cry now please?

Had very little sleep for 2 weeks because I'm a gila kuasa mother that I wanted to DIY everything myself. Well, except for the cake and every other food lah, because I don't think my guests would be pleased if they get poisoned by my cooking.

M2U VS Maybank2U Scam.

Sometime last week I received an email from Maybank2u asking me to update my account via online. But the funny part is it was emailed to my blog's email, which I certainly did not use for my online banking purposes. I was confused for a few seconds (I'm kinda slow like that) before telling myself this could be a scam. But don't worry, I did not click the link given in the email. On mouse-over, I can see the link does not lead to Maybank2u website. And then I opened my personal email and made a comparison.

This was from m2u (m2u@maybank2u.com.my) informing me about a 3rd party transfer.



And this was from maybank2u.com (alertservices@maybanksecure.net) asking me to update my Maybank account information.



Shall I say, nice try, scumbags?

It Isn't Very Pretty Anymore.

This is so touching. Found at Cafemom.com via Pinterest.

The wordings read:

"A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me.

It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it."

:`)

The L Word.

It's been a while, huh? Yeah, I know! I was ironing some clothes when I suddenly feel the need to rant (Sorry, clothes. I guess you would have to wait).

So I'm a full time housewife and also a freelance graphic designer. I've come across quite a number of potential clients asking me to design their logos. But of course, quotations come first before I get any actual work done. And it baffles me that 99% of them refused to cough up more than RM200 for a logo.

"It's a bit OVER my budget."

"I didn't know a logo can cost THAT MUCH."

And there are some who said,

"Sounds reasonable!"

"I'm so excited!"

And never to be heard from again. Annoyed, I am!

People, please don't be so kedekut taik hidung masin. Please consider that the designers behind your logo worked their butts off to get where they are today. Also bear in mind the research they have to do beforehand, the number of options they will present to you and the rounds of amendments they will have to do before being able to finalize it. Itu pun kadang-kadang dah finalize pun, Client mintak buat amendments lagi. So it is all work, not fun and games.

Putting the work-related-rant aside, it is also CRUCIAL to have a good logo for your company. It is an investment. Don't think so? Then I suggest you open MS Paint and design your own logo, FOC.

/endrant



P.S: It's amusing when I find logos similar to each other.

I Have Been..

Very very very lazy to update this blog. I guess that's kind of obvious, right?

Sekian, terima kasih.

Breast Milk Ice Cream, Anyone?

This feels so wrong. What do you think?

-----

Taken from Malaysian Digest.

SHOP TO SELL BREAST MILK ICE CREAM

LONDON, 25 FEBRUARY, 2011: A specialist ice cream parlor plans to serve up breast milk ice cream and says people should think of it as an organic, free-range treat, reported Reuters.

The breast milk concoction is called the "Baby Gaga" and will be available from Friday at the Icecreamists restaurant in London's Covent Garden.

According to Reuters Icecreamists founder Matt O'Connor was confident his take on the "miracle of motherhood" and priced at a hefty 14 pounds (RM69) a serving will go down a treat with the paying public.

The breast milk was provided by mothers who answered an advertisement on online mothers' forum Mumsnet.

Victoria Hiley, 35, from London was one of 15 women who donated milk to the restaurant after seeing the advert.

Hiley works with women who have problems breast-feeding their babies. She said she believes that if adults realized how tasty breast milk actually is, then new mothers would be more willing to breast-feed their own newborns.

"What could be more natural than fresh, free-range mother's milk in an ice cream? And for me it's a recession beater too – what's the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash," Hiley said in a statement.

"I tried the product for the first time today – it's very nice, it really melts in the mouth."

The Baby Gaga recipe blends breast milk with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest, which is then churned into ice cream.

O'Connor said the Baby Gaga was just one of a dozen radical new flavors at the shop.

"Some people will hear about it and go, 'yuck' but actually it's pure, organic, free-range and totally natural," he said.

"I had a Baby Gaga just this morning and I feel great," he added.

Weekend Photos #003

Posting last weekend's photos a day before the new weekend starts. Well, Procrastinator is my middle name.


Subway breakfast meal. Healthier and cheaper than McDonald's!


Didn't want to hear me bebel.


At the clinic while waiting to get his 1st Booster Triple and Polio + Hib jab.


Paid a visit to the newly opened SSTwo Mall. Which is pretty much dead.

They have weekend flea market. Which looked pretty much dead, too. But it is actually a nice mall. I hope more tenants will open up soon.

Currently the best tenant there (well, to me anyway) is none other than Tutti Frutti! They don't have any baby chair at the moment, so I told them that they really should invest in some. They even have a small cosy kids play area, but I totally forgot to take a picture of it because the froyo was demanding for me to eat them.

A lil art time with the boy. Husband and I drew those. Yeah. Okay you can stop laughing now. I just hope the boy will have better drawing skills than his parents when he's older.

Weekend Photos #002

This is what he'll do when we say "Tengok gigi!".



So, Ibu... What do you want to eat??

Black Canyon Restaurant at Centerpoint, Bandar Utama. The food is quite good and prices are reasonable. I personally enjoy the tomyam. Another place that has good tomyam is at Jemari Restaurant in Dataran Glomac Kelana Jaya.

Before: Mengamuk nak iPod. After: Muka puas hati dapat iPod.

Really gotta learn to be more rajin to get the camera out of the bag and snap more photos.

Cobaan.

Budak buas suka mengamuk.

I am currently facing a couple of... challenges with my 20 months old toddler. First of, he's refusing to sleep in his own cot. He was fine before until recently. One minute he is fast asleep on our bed, and as soon as we transfer him to his cot, he wakes up and starts crying. We pick him up, dodoi him, and put him back in the cot. Then he wakes up crying again. Repeat cycle until we give up and let him sleep on our bed. How to have sexy time lah like this?!

The second challenge is getting him to nap/ sleep without having to 'bergantung' to the boob-juice machine. Unless he is with someone else, like my MIL for example. In that case he'll happily drink from the bottle and go to sleep fuss-free.

So, how now brown cow? How do I tackle these challenges?

Weekend Photos #001

I've been meaning to record my weekends in photos, but did not have the discipline to do so. Always been too lazy to take out the camera from the handbag. Either that or I always forget. But usually it's the latter, heh.

At One Utama. See that man trying to balance the huge ass pole using his mouth? Not really doing a good job at it.

Turns out my lip gloss is the preferred teething object for the boy.

Abaikan the vegetables. I wanted to take the photo of the maid in purple. Husband and I were feeling so sorry for her because she was there with her employer, who were happily eating and drinking while she just sat there with no food nor drink. All she did was helped to feed the little girl, looking all miserable. Now, I'm beginning to notice this trend. Why do some people don't buy their maids something to eat when they're out? Kesian tau.

Chicken Teppanyaki. Hated taugeh with a vengeance before I met my husband 11 years ago. The husband on the other hand is a hantu taugeh. He's in love with everything taugeh. Okay fine I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.

Had our date night and watched The Green Hornet. That was our second time watching a 3D movie. We're noobs like that. Sat two rows from the screen, but the movie was so good that we barely notice the neck pain and the crossed eyes.

Kasi chance makan Tutti Frutti. Tak padan dengan kecik.

Wait, that's it?! I could have sworn I snapped more photos. Oh well.

Eating Out.

Eating out has never been the same ever since the baby is around, because he is one easily-bored little fella. At first husband and I would take turn to eat. We call this 'Shift Makan'. But we would have one of us with this OMG-I'm-So-Hungry-Please-Chew-Faster look while staring into the other person's plate, so eating under pressure is definitely not fun.

Then I started stocking up a bag full of goodies to keep him occupied. We call this the 'Doraemon Bag'. From toys to books to crayons to straws, the works. But it seems like he's much more interested in throwing everything from the bag onto the floor.

Then we thought, okay, let's bait him with some gadgets and food. Sure enough, he became very much interested in the husband's iPod Touch. Food pulak in the beginning we gave him Heinz/ Milna Rusks. And like I mentioned, he's easily bored so before we know it, instead of eating the Rusks, he enjoys throwing them to the floor. Then we moved on to Heinz Rice Cakes (RM9 per packet and he can finish all of it at one go *pengsan*). After he got bored with this, we gave him Heinz Biscotti. And currently, he's enjoying Baby Bites. We call all of these biscuits the 'Biskut Pancing/ Weekend Biscuits'. Because we only give him these when we go out during the weekend (hence the name).

There you have it. Our methods in trying to have a (quite) peaceful meal outside. If we're really lucky, he would nap and we would run into any nearby restaurant and try to gobble up everything before he wakes up. But too bad, that only happen about 20 percent of the time.

Ohai. I iz eating Baby Bites. Iz yummeh. Om nom nom.

So what about you? Any tips/ methods that you would like to share?

Sabrina Affandi Is One!

Hot Mama.

Mommies,

Any of you feel like running out of the door, straight into a Marie France Bodyline branch and sign up on the spot after looking at this?

I know I do.

Kena Dera.

By his 6 years old cousin!

I left him with my Mother's maid, who was looking after my nephew for about 10 minutes, and see what happened? All because he was jealous the maid was hugging the baby. Call me dramatic, but my heart sank when I saw the wounds. Rasa macam nak menangis and mengamuk. And come to think of it, it's only some scratch wounds by a naughty kid. Belum lagi like those abuse cases by crazy maids/ parents/ relatives you always see on the news.

My poor bulat :( This is not the first time it happened. My nephew is teramat lah nakal.

Brand VS Quality.

At first I was thrilled, then I was angry. And now, I am pissed. I'm talking about my purchase at Dorothy Perkins. Believe it or not, it was my first time ever buying an apparel there. Not really a fan of buying overpriced items (RM50 for a basic plain tee? No thanks). Or in other words, I don't go for brands. You might say branded items have better quality. True enough, but I don't completely agree.

Let's take my DP purchase for example. I told my sister I'm in need of new jeans, and she suggested DP, since they were having a sale, and she has the DNP Clothing member card, which means another 10% off. So after all the discounts, the jeans costs only RM86. Reasonable, yes? A bit more from what I always spend for a pair of jeans. Normally I would get a pair for about RM50 at Sungei Wang. But I thought, well, it is DP, so it has to be in good quality. Well, not really. I was in a hurry when I tried on the jeans. The cutting seemed okay to me, so instead of spending about 15 minutes in the fitting room to evaluate the whole apparel in front the mirror (I know you do that, too), I was in and out in just about 5 minutes. So yeah, I was thrilled.

Then I went home. Put the jeans aside. Two days later, sent it for alteration (I'm short :P), got it back and tried it on. Then I noticed something. One leg side fits perfectly, but the other side is loose. Takkan my leg is bigger than the other?! So I took it off, folded it and see what I discovered.

One side is indeed bigger than the other! Gahh! Okay, I guess it was my fault for not noticing it when I was trying it on at the shop. Thank God my super talented MIL managed to alter it and made both sides equal.

And then. After wearing it only ONCE, I notice all this bulu (y'know, the bulu that normally appear after a piece of clothing is worn out?) started to come out. All of my Sungei Wang jeans are still in good condition, no bulu whatsoever. And I've been wearing it for years!

[cue sesi membebel macam makcik]

Once, I bought a pair of bra at La Senza. After wearing it a couple of times, the strap came off. A bra that costs over a hundred Ringgit. Strap tercabut. HOW?!

So, ladies and gents. I apologize for the excessive usage of exclamation mark in this entry. But what I'm trying to say here is, brand does not guarantee quality.

I'm gonna go sulk in a corner now.

Next Formula.

When the Mamil Gold formula samples started to run out, I began looking for another formula brand for the baby. Mamil Gold costs about RM30+ for a 600g pack, which I think is slightly on the pricey side. Truth be told, I have no clue on what to look for when choosing a formula. There are just too many on the market! So I opted for Dumex Dugro. Simply because I remember my younger sisters drank it when they were little, and now my nephew is. Also, the price is very reasonable, only RM15 for a 650g pack.

And today Dumex Dugro was introduced to the baby. The verdict? He downed the whole bottle like nobody's business. I'm hoping there will be no allergy reactions.

From now on, milk for the baby is no longer free! Okay maybe not entirely, since I am still breastfeeding. Oh well, it was good while it lasted :)

Another One, Gone.

Yesterday, a friend of mine told me that her colleague had lost her 4 months old baby. Choked on milk at the babysitter's house. The babysitter had left the baby alone with the milk bottle. Then she thought the baby had fallen asleep, until the mother came to fetch the baby, only to find him all blue and lifeless.

I was so angry when I heard about it. Why do this incident keep happening? Don't they ever read the news and install in their brains that YOU SHOULDN'T LEAVE A SMALL BABY ALONE WITH THE MILK BOTTLE? They must be utterly STUPID to take such short-cuts in taking care of someone's baby.

Brainless idiots.

Green Is The New Black.

I like how the condominium management is making an effort to cut down on the energy consumption and doing their part in being green. I'm doing my part also, by:

1. Switching off and unplugging unused appliances.
2. Reusing water.
3. Using energy saving light bulbs.
4. Bringing my own shopping bags.
5. Using cloth diaper for the baby.
6. Recycling plastic bottles, papers and cans.

It might not seem much, but I believe it is a lot better than doing nothing. What about you? Don't be ignorant, people. Our planet is getting sicker each day. Let's do our part. It's not that hard, really.

Found some good tips on how to go green at home at Simplemom.net.

Random Snap 08: XOXO

Doesn't look like Blake Lively to me. Spotted in Pandaindera, 26th December 2010.

Gossip Girl 411:


Image from The Bosh: Celebrity Gossip
Do your homework and proof-reading, please!