by Penny on October 23, 2008
Here’s a recipe to share, for the benefit of new mothers who are breastfeeding. Papaya soup is said to increase the supply of milk. I’ve personally tried this during my confinement period.
Note: I received this recipe by email and have not tried it. The papaya soup that I consumed was made by the confinement lady.
Ingredients A:
50g cashew nus, 150g pearl beans, 50g black eye beans, 100 gluten, 10 bowls of water
Ingredients B:
1/2 unripe skinned papaya
Ingredients C:
1/2 semi ripe skinned Hawaiian papaya, 5 slices dang gui, 1 tablespoon juzi
Seasoning: 1 teaspoon salt
Method:
1. Boil ingredients A for 1 hour
2. Add in ingredients B and boil for another hour
3. Add in ingredients C and boil for half and hour
4. Season with salt
Additional info:
Unripe papaya has the effect of increasing the production of milk in women under maternity confinement. The use of semi ripe papaya is to add sweetness and colour to the soup
by Penny on October 22, 2008
My good friend’s wife had just delivered their baby boy this morning. I was thinking of a gift and checked out some online baby stores for ideas. Then I stopped short and thought to myself that maybe it’s better for me to give the newborn an ang pow. This is based on my own experience. I would prefer that my baby be showered with ang pows for what they represent – luck.
Having said that, I also enjoyed some of the gifts that we received from friends and family. There were some items that we never thought of buying and we were glad that they complemented what we didn’t already have. I also like the fact that my hospital room was filled with nice bright colours of plush toys for the baby, flowers, and some brilliant baby hampers. It fills the room up with lots of cheer. The only thing about receiving gifts is that you tend to have quite a lot of repetition in things like rompers and baby toiletries just to name a few.
In the end, I guess I don’t really mind receiving a mix of gifts and ang pows as welcoming presents for our newborn. But what about other parents? Do most people prefer well-wishers to bear gifts or ang pows?
by Penny on October 21, 2008
I recently got to try out this new software from BrillKids called Little Reader. It is a useful flashcard kit for me, where I not only can use the software to show baby flashcards, but also create my own! I like the idea of being able to customise our own sets of flashcards because we can show him things that are more relevant. Plus, I like taking photos so at least I find a lot more use out of pictures which currently sit there untouched. At least someone will appreciate the flowers of pictures and animals that I took! Sounds like a vain mummy? I think so too.
Coming back to the flashcard software, it not only flashes pictures but you can also add audio to it. I’m still very much a beginner in using this software and I’m still toying around with it, creating my sets of flashcards. I like the fact that there are several languages available by default for some of the ready-made flashcard sets, though I think I would only stick to using English and Mandarin. I don’t understand Mandarin, so it will be a lesson for both mummy and son!
I will write more about it when I have more time to play around with it more. If you would like to try this out, download a trial copy on BrillKids’ website and have a go at it.
by Penny on October 21, 2008
Last night we played an impromptu word game with the little boy in an attempt to get him to stay put and not dash about (we’re quite tired chasing after him). So we started asking him questions like these:
“Where’s your mouth? Where’s your eyes? Where’s the fan?”
And the game went on and on, we asked him things that we know he has learned so that he will always get it right and we would clap. He loves the clapping and I’m guessing that he has the patience to play the game because of the applause he gets.
But soon we ran out of things that we thought he knew. He still looked on expectantly, waiting for the next question. So we just randomly asked about things that we didn’t teach him, like “upstairs”, “floor”, “TV”, etc.
To our utter surprise, he knew them all! Our eyes nearly popped! He got even louder applause for all that and he enjoyed the game even more. But we certainly came to a point where we were out of questions.
He is really surprising us everyday with new things. First, it was the walking, and now knowing what things are called. My gut feel is that he listens when we talk and describe things to him, and the babysitter must’ve taught him too. Now we realise that although he doesn’t respond when we go on talking to him, he is actually learning and picking up things. So don’t assume he doesn’t understand things around him. Be careful with your choice of words and actions too.
It’s been an amazing stretch of days for us to learn how much he has learned and grown. It’s really a fun time!
by Penny on October 20, 2008
Since the day baby was born right up to now, he’s been regularly vaccinated. It was a monthly affair right up to recently when the jabs were spread out to once in 2 months. I hate bringing him to the paeds for jabs because I can’t stand to see him in pain. The last time we brought him there was the worst because he remembered the previous jab and before the vaccination was prepared, he was already very cautious about the routine check-up.
If only I were informed of the availability of the 6-in-1 vaccination that substitutes all the monthly jabs, I would have gladly taken up that option. I was never informed of it by our doctor. I only found out from a friend who takes her son for jabs once in a long while. It actually takes away about half the visits and I should think that would be quite reasonable rather than have him jabbed every month.
And now that he’s older, he remembers his experiences more and the paed well-visits get even harder. He’s still got a jab in 2 months and I’m wondering if I should bring him in. The last outstanding jab is the chicken pox vaccination. Is this necessary? I was thinking of skipping if…
Parents, if you want to do yourself and your baby a favour by saving the trips (and the pain), you should talk to your doctor about this 6-in-1 jab and find out what are the pros and cons compared to the monthly jabs. The only advantage of bringing baby for his monthly jabs is that he gets a regular check on his growth.
