Confinement Food or menu

During labour, we have loss too much energy and vitality, therefore, 30 days of confinement is very crucial to help the recovery. Thus, eating the right food helps to increase the speed and process of recovery. We must eat more protein, which is why most of the dishes are meat, meat and meat...

Since i was having c-section, so i have not much choice for my food as i cannot eat chicken for the first 10 days. So, everyday i eat Pork, pork, pork..
Sesame Ginger Pork
Stewed Pig Kidney in Sesame Oil
Black Vinegar Pork Leg
Red Yeast Pork

Pork fried with Red Yeast (ingredient to make wine)

Ginger Pork Leg with Black vinegar and wine.

Sesame Oil Ginger Pork and Kidney

 Just stir fry with sesame oil, ginger and also wine. My mom told me these ingredients are able to alleviate "wind" and warm the body to prevent pain in the future. I eat the dish with rice or Mee sua.
As for wine, you may choose to put in Hakka wine(sweet), Foochow wine (Red & a bit sour), or white wine (more spicy).

Day 10 is the happiest moment, im allowed to eat CHICKEN!!
But, it must not be any ordinary chicken. It has to be kampung (village) female virgin chicken. Young and tender juicy.

Kachangma Chicken with Hakka Wine (sweet)

Everyone knows what Kachangma is because this is a must-eat-menu during the confinement, but i don't like the taste so i don't eat this every day. only once a week...

Pek Tin Chicken soup with Mee Sua

But this Black soup is my favourite! Pek Tin Chicken Soup, Hmm... Yummy...

Drunken Chicken

Read this recipe in my Confinement Menu Book, so i asked the Confinement Lady to try steam this chicken. Well, we have to be creative in our food preparation, right? If not, how to survive the 30 days??

 Day 12, you need to eat the Pork Belly (Pig Stomach), to thoroughly cleanse your own tummy.

Black Pepper Pig Stomach chicken soup

I finished the whole big bowl of the Pork Belly Black Pepper soup with 1/2 Chicken, and also the Pork's Kidney. Black Pepper soup is definitely very appetizing after you have been eating ginger+sesame oil every day!

Pork Stomach Fried with ginger, sesame oil and wine.

There is another day of preparing this Pork Stomach, quite appetizing and tasty as well.

 Other than eating all these meat everyday, i always crave for vegetables. However, there are only 3 types of vege i can consume, which in Chinese belief will not be too "cold" for me.

• Brocolli
• French Bean 
• Kai Lan

French bean fried egg with ginger and sesame oil

Fried Brocolli with pork, ginger and sesame oil

Ginger Ommeltte with sweet hakka wine and sesame oil

Sometimes, you would also crave for eggs, i love eating this sweet tasty eggs....

Don't drink plain water during confinement, you may replace water with soup or desserts like:
Red Bean Dessert
Dates & Longan Tea
Fruits

Everything you eat or drink, just make sure that it is not "Cold Food"...

I've been really eating a lot, about 4 meals a day with 1/2 a chicken a meal or 1 big bowl of pork, etc, drinking soup a lot as well. Well, everyone's amount of food consumption differs. Quantity is not so important, quality is important.

After meal, quickly go and express your milk when your body is warm and you will get the best result!

Autumn is 2 years old

I have not been updating much recently ever since i came back from Korea. Too many things is happening around me, and i'm too busy to cope with everything.
Autumn is 2 years old. I book a very special 3D Birthday cake of her favourite Disney Cartoon, Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Yeah, she loves them very much. The bakery had a hard time to be convinced to do the cake with the design i requested. They said it is too hard...

Anyway, i am a super regular customer, as we buy more than 30 cakes a year from them... Everyone's birthday from both me and hubby's side's family members, and all those Father's Mother's Day, etc...

So they had to do it for me by hook or by crook... hehe... Minnie and Mickey each weighs 1 kg, and with the base the total is 3 or 4 kg.... That's a lot!

 Other than the celebration with family and friends, i also arranged for a celebration in her school. A Minnie cake, brought some noodles, eggs, and egg tarts.
The children were very happy as they see the cake.
 

The children are so happy and they sang "Happy Birthday" and "Selamat Hari Jadi" to Autumn. Guess what?!! They even blew the candles on her behalf before we were in time to stop them. haha!!

 

 Hehe... i wonder what's they facial expression will be when these kids see their picture 10 or 20 years later...

Playing is learning-Coin Game improves finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination

At birth, a baby's five senses are working, and before you know it, your young child is off to explore using all of those senses. As your baby grows, she becomes more curious—and that curiosity is never satisfied. She throws herself into the business of learning.

Through her observations and experiences, she learns about her world. This learning is called play.

From dawn to dusk, there are learning experiences through play that will help your baby develop physically and mentally. Look at al these coins, they are my collection from diferent countries. I put them in a very Giant Plastic Milk Bottle, Autumn love playing with the coins by putting them through the hole. I love watching her doing this.

This is the concept that i always practice in bringing up my baby. The learning journey can be so much fun with these enjoyable and entertaining activities as you go through your days with baby.
 

The Coin Game might be a very simple game. But, this simple game teaches valuable skills such as finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination. Show your little one how to put a coin into the plastic bottle. Encourage him to dump it out, then put it back. Invite your child to hold the bottle and to try to get the the coins out.  

If this is too hard for him or her, try holing her litle fingers and help her putting the coins into the bottle. Initially, she might never get it, so we must always help them so that they will not be demotivated. After that, she will love playing with this game and  keeps practising it. She will be very happy and proud to find that she is very capable in putting in the coins. Remember, every time she puts in a coin, give her a BIG CLAP!! This is a very good motivation and encouragement.

 Worrying that she might eat it or swallow the coins? Don't worry, babies are not that stupid if the parents do teach them. Just explain to them that these are coins, or money, and you need to put it inside. You cannot eat them...

This simple game teaches valuable skills such as finger dexterity and eye-hand coordination, also she will start to recognize things that cannot be put inside the mouth and she can only food, like biscuits, bread, rice, fruits, etc... Of course, make sure she you wash her hands after the game, or before she eats something.
Babies have so much to learn - and you can make it fun for you and your little one. Encourage your baby's development in creating baby fun by playing with your baby throughout your day!!

MMS from Autumn's Kindergarten-communication between parents and teachers is essential

Missing someone is definitely a vey sour, uncomfortable feeling....
What more to say missing your beloved baby, whom you love so much, was in your womb for 9 months from the day you're conceived,sleeping with you every night till the day she is born you and her were never apart...

 That feeling is unbearable......
 

The school teacher sent me MMS yesterday and today...This is her feeding time.....

  

Autumn had just finished shower, and was eating banana and srinking water..

Autumn was sleeping again...

Hehe.. eating the apple that mommy put i her bag.... She loved it!!

These pictures seem to be quite normal, they are just her daily routine activities....
But it meant so much to me.....
When the teacher told me that she cold read the whole brown bear book, together with those 2-3 years old children "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, how do you do?"
"Purple cat, purple cat, What do you see?"
"White dog, white dog......."
The teacher told me that it is from a book, oh! Now i know why she kept of saying those....
Now, doubts are cleared, questions re answered...
Therefore, it is very important that parents must constantly communicate with the teachers to be updated with your children's progress......
More videos in the upcoming posts......

Quality Time with your child is essential

I flew back home on Friday night, and last night i left home again for my training.

 I bought Autumn some books when i went home, and she was very happy reading it whenever she was free. She would flip every page and asked me "what is this?" "what about this?" She could read many words by now... from colours, shapes, to animals, etc.... I am very proud of her....

In the morning, i brought her to the outside to play with her toy car.

She enjoyed herself very much and so was i. We sang songs together, and we talked, etc...

  She told me her friends' name in school, she told me about the purple cat, brown bear, white dog, etc.....

 I told Autumn that i had to take a plane to KL again. I had to work. She kept quiet. I told her that i would miss her, and promised to call her everyday. She said "don't want office!!" When i asked if she would miss me, she nodded unwillingly. I know how she felt coz i felt the same..

At least i had spent very quality time with her for the last 2 days, singing, dancing to all her favourite songs in You-tube, etc..... Reading her books, eating, playing, etc. That's why i did not do anything at all for the last 2 days, everything was for her....
Seriously last night, the thought of not boarding the plane and just quit the training came across my mind several times. I was reluctant. Extremely reluctant.
Anyway, the teacher promised and they would send me MMS of her daily activities in school every day.....

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home~
I left home on 1st August for some trainings in KL, I missed home so much especially my hubby and baby. I knew it was gonna end very soon, so i will just have to bare with it a little bit more.

Everyday i would call home and talked to Autumn, but i relised that she did not really wanna talk to me since last few days. Then, she was like totally ignored me. She even said:" I don''t want mommy!" She repeatedly saying that and my heart was like all crumbled together at that second. Every single sentence that came from her mouth shattered my heart into million of pieces.."NO-WAY!" I said to myself. My baby must be really sad and did not understand why did the mommy left her for so many days. Last month, when i went Korea for  days, she was okay. But, definitely not this time, 10 days duration is way too long...

The next day i called to the school and talked to the teacher, she told me that Autumn kept saying i don;t want mommy to them in school. the teachers tried to explain to her. But she said i want daddy, i don't want mommy..... I was even more and more tortured with those words...

That's why i made up my mind, i must go home this Friday night. Even if i have to spend about RM500 for my ticket to fly home for only 2 nights, it is still worth it as long as i can see my baby. I must explain to her that i was working. I must make her understand and then be happy again..

Here i am back at home, i hugged my baby and she was like totally speechless. All the way from the arrival hall till the carpark, she did not say a word except for hugging me tightly with her face on my shoulder. I know she missed me. That's why she was mad at me. Eventhough, she kept silent i knew she understood what i said. So, i kept talking to her explaining everything. I even sang all her favourite songs, and then finally in the car she called me:"mommy", in a very very soft and shy voice.

I passed her the books i bought for her, she was happily holding the books, flipping them, and told the daddy about her new books... Reached home, i finally heard her talking, laughing, and reading her new books.

Must spend every second wisely with her for the next 48 hours before flying off again....

Colouring for Babies

Recently, i had started to let my baby do some colouring.

I know some of you must be thinking that, "No way! She is just 1 year plus and how could she know how to colour!?" Well i know hat, too.
But, no matter how they scribble with the crayons or colour pencils, they are actually exercising their little fingers, as well as their eyes. They are in the learning stage to recognize colours and also some simple images.
It is the same teaching them to sing, read, or write.. One day, before yo realise, she might suddenly draw a flower, or a house!!! Don't be astonished with how fast babies can learn!!
Remember, every single little thing they do, see, play, they are learning something....