HEALTH FREAK MOMMY – Page 298 – The joys and throes of motherhood…

Tom Tom The Piper’s Son

Today just before lunch time, I read and sang some nursery rhymes to Sherilyn, my 2.5 yo toddler who LOVES singing and loves me reading through singing to her. I sang her a few nursery rhymes like Baa Baa Black Sheep, Rock A Bye Baby, Little Bo Beep Has Lost Her Sheep, Hey Diddle Diddle and Tom Tom The Piper’s Son. She loved the Tom Tom song so much that she wanted me to sing and point out each word to her as I sang to her over and over and over again and she didn’t want me to stop. I swear I sang like around 50 times. When I stopped, she cried. I had spent close to 1/2 hr singing to her till my voice ran hoarse. As I wanted to do some work on the computer, I put Sherilyn on my lap as I did my typing with 1 hand and I continued singing and singing till I told her mummy got to stop to go wee wee. Wah… the moment I put her down on the floor, she wailed and her tantrum flared.

My maid and I spent another 15 mintues trying to placate her. She didn’t even want to watch Thomas & Friends when the tv was turned on. So my maid placed Sherilyn on her lap and fed her her cereal for lunch. After a while, she stopped whining and began to settle down, enjoying her meal of cereal and organic green tea noodles with fish paste in winter melon soup.

No. of times viewed = 278

Hubby’s Car Got Hit

2 nights ago after a game of basketball, DH went for supper with his basketball mates. After supper, as DH was about to make a right turn at a corner, a drunkard hit his new car and the bugger wanted to escape. There were dents and scratches across the left doors. Fortunately DH’s basketball mates are all lanky and muscular and they jumped out from DH’s car and tried to prevent the drunkard from escaping. The drunkard whose breath smelled heavily of alcohol got intimated by the group of muscular guys and without any coercion admitted his fault, gave his identity card and business card to DH and agreed to pay the repair cost and end of story. Now, DH got to get his car fixed. Sigh, DH seems to be unlucky driving MPVs… his first MPV was submerged in flood water last year, then when the MPV was fixed, it got stolen and now the 2nd MPV got hit pulak. Really freaky!

No. of times viewed = 260

Hawkers Food

My all-time favourite hawkers food, bought from the pasar malam (night market) a few nights ago:

Stuffed fish paste in puffed tofu. This delicacy is high in protein and low in carb, just the perfect food for the Atkin’s Diet follower.

Popiah. Not quite an Atkin’s food but I love it anyway. I just eat the stuffings of turnip, eggs, bean sprouts, fried shallots minus the skin.

No. of times viewed = 174

Fun At Westin Hotel

These pictures were taken at the Westin Hotel today where we had buffet lunch.

That’s me with Alycia and Sherilyn at the dessert counter. Alycia’s eyes were fixated at the pralines and when I was busy carrying Sherilyn, she managed to stealthily popped a few into her mouth without me noticing. Daddy saw but kept quiet but told me later when we were at the car. Great…. when she complains of sore throat later, you go kau tim her.

Ooohh…. look at the mouth-watering tempting strawberries on the cheesecake.

Alycia and Sherilyn went crazy over the bread sticks and that was the only food apart from her good ol’ cereal that Sherilyn ate though there was so much delicious food on the buffet counter.

Yuuuuuuummmmm….. sennnnnnng……Alycia and Sherilyn love to toast with daddy.

Sherilyn was very tired but very happy that alas, she got her flower shaped balloon from Mr Clown.

On our way home.

No. of times viewed = 247

The Great Flood… part 2 (Back-dated post)

This pic was taken 2 hours after the flood water came gushing to our neighbourhood from a river. A few hours later, the water level was up to my car window.

Neighbours’ cars all submerged in muddy water.

This is a back-dated post. When our house was almost destroyed by the great flood last year, both DH’s and my car were almost destroyed. As our cars were not insured against flood, DH had spent close to RM20k on repair bills on his new MPV and close to RM10k on my not-too-old Proton Wira. DH’s car was stuck in the workshop for close to half a year while awaiting computerized parts to arrive from Japan. When DH finally got his car back all repaired, his car was stolen 4 months later. It’s freaky and uncanny isn’t it? It’s like this car was just not meant to be his.

No. of times viewed = 249

Cool Gadget For Babies And Adults

My sil recently got a cool gadget for the gals from Hong Kong, but mummy and daddy can also use it. It’s a anti-mosquito device, specially designed for babies. The device operates by emitting ultrasounds within a range of 3 metres which annoy mosquitoes without causing any undesired effect to people or animals. It operates on batteries with an average useful life of approximately 100 hours. This gadget is so small that you can fasten it to your clothes, babies’ strollers, planpen, just on anything. Cool or not?

No. of times viewed = 413

Alycia My Young Reader

Every morning as the gals have their breakfast, I will be seated at the dining table reading the newspapers as I sip my cup of green tea. Most times, Alycia will climb onto my chair and ask me to read the newspapers to her. I will then quiz her by pointing out familiar words to her. Yesterday, as I walked into the kitchen to get a bowl, Alycia quickly climbed onto my chair and began to ‘read’ the papers, flipping the pages like a pro reader and pointing to the words as if she knows how to read. I think I will be the happiest mommy around if Alycia can finally read a book or the newspapers on her own.

No. of times viewed = 283

Chinese Dumpling

Chinese dumpling bought from the pasar malam (night market).

My mil makes one of the tastiest ‘hum yoke choong’ or chinese dumpling. Her dumplings are bursting with ‘hum’ or fillings inside the glutinous rice. She stuffs her dumplings with generous amount of pork meat, chinese chestnuts, beans, salted egg yolks, mushrooms and a special dried shrimps paste which she grinds and fries before stuffing them into the choong and wrapping the choong with leaves. Everyone adores her dumplings but she has not made them for 2 years now as last year she was in New Zealand and now, she’s in Hong Kong.

As DH was craving to eat choong, he bought 6 of them from the pasar malam yesterday and his favourite style of eating the hum yoke choong is with castor sugar… yikes, how unhealthy. As for me… being a low-carb dieter, I only eat all the stuffings, minus the glutinous rice and pass all the rice to DH, the trash eater!

No. of times viewed = 241

Sherilyn and Her Nappy… part 2

Earlier, I had written about how obsessed Sherilyn was with her nappy. It’s been more than 2 weeks now and Sherilyn’s obsession with her nappies is becoming more intense now and she has even rubbed off the obsession to her cheh cheh. This morning, both gals wore a nappy cape round their shoulders and ran round the house and pretended to be flying as they shouted “i am supergirl, yay”.

Sherilyn’s obsession was far worse off than Alycia’s as she insisted to wear it all the time, from pooping time, to meal time, to napping time. Siau or not you say?

No. of times viewed = 378

What Keeps Me Going?

Many of my friends have been asking me what motivates me to rise so early every morning to work-out. For those who have missed reading my previous posts, I wake up at 6:45am every morning to work-out. When I was still working, I used to rise at 5:45am to jog. Well, here are my top 10 reasons :

1) So that I can remain a size 0 and get to wear nice, appealing clothes instead of dressing up frumpily like an ah soh or see lai (albeit I am already in the see lai category in the sense that I am a mother, an aun-tee and a SAHM). Sorry, no offense to larger size women, don’t mean to imply you in any way 🙂

2) So that I can still wear my pre-pregnancy clothes. My clothes are all expensive, so instead of giving them away, I’d rather stay slim so that I can recycle my old clothes.

3) So that I still look young, vibrant, healthy & fit and energetic. Often times, I get compliments from strangers saying that I don’t look at all like a mother of 2. They’d thought I was still a student! Oh puh leeze… but that did make me walk on airs for a moment.

4) So that my complexion is porcelain smooth and blemish-free coz exercising eliminates toxins from the body through sweat.

5) So that I can still indulge in my favourite sinful desserts everyday like Papa Beard’s cream puffs, cakes, Paramount chicken pie, cakes, Haegan Dazz ice-cream, the list goes on.

6) So that my backache is kept at bay. Exercising on my fitball every morning has helped tremendously in keeping my backache from coming back.

7) I love to smell the crisp, fresh and cool morning air every morning as I jog and listen to birds chirping happily away as if to greet me good morning.

8) I love the absolute peace and tranquility in the house every morning, without 2 brats driving me up the wall and I don’t have to holler like a deranged woman at 2 lil’ brats who seem deaf at times.

9) So that I can buy the newspapers and read first hand news while there is still peace and quiet time.

10) So that I can buy some groceries without having to worry about my 2 lil’ brats running about in the mini market, touching breakable items and squashing up vegetables or eggs.

I believe anyone can also do it if they have the absolute will-power and discipline for it.

No. of times viewed = 255

Healthy Snacks

Pine nuts and pumpkin seeds.

Sherilyn counting her pine nuts away as she pops each nut into her mouth.

I always stock up boxes of healthy snacks in my house for the gals to munch on when their little tummies rumble or simply to use as baits to stop a toddler’s meltdown.
Alycia and Sherilyn’s favourite snacks are seeds and nuts of all kinds, especially pine nuts and pumpkin seeds. Seeds and nuts are the healthiest choice of snacks I can think of coz seeds and nuts are loaded with protein, calcium, fibre and good oils. The gals love peanuts too but I try not to give them too much coz peanuts can be heaty. So if I want to eat peanuts, I only eat when my brats are asleep!

No. of times viewed = 259

Our Lunch

This is what we have for lunch today :

A lung-nourishing soup…. ‘loh hon koa’ (a brown black dried fruit with seeds inside) boiled with snow fungus, ‘mutt zhoa’ (dried honey dates), some red dates, ‘kei chee’ (wolfberries) and kampung chicken (free range).

Stir-fried yee meen with diced chicken breast, tofu pok (tofu puff), vegetables, bean sprouts, 2 eggs and msg-free soya sauce. This is Alycia’s favourite dish. She loves yee meen and calls it ‘magger mee’. Whenever she sees her kakak eating instant noodles, she will drool and swallow her saliva as she stands next to her kakak and stare at her as she puts each spoonful into her mouth, with eyes fixated on the noodles. So hor lin, as though she is so famished and starved. Then she will say “kakak, tomorrow you must cook magger mee for me to eat”.
Each time we go to the sundry shop, she will beg me to buy yee meen for her. But I don’t really fancy buying yee meen too often coz it’s not that healthy.

No. of times viewed = 201

Before Alycia and Sherilyn Came Along…

Before Alycia and Sherilyn came along, daddy would sometimes carry mummy to the bed like a white knight sweeping his princess off her feet. After the both of you came along, daddy complains of backache to mummy all the time but the pain seems to have miraculously vanished when you both asked to be carried.

Before Alycia and Sherilyn came along, daddy would caringly wear socks for mummy when she had the sniffles. Now that daddy has you 2 darlings, he would obligingly wear socks for his 2 princesses no matter how busy or tired he may be. As for mummy? She knows how to wear the socks herself mah.

Before Alycia and Sherilyn came along, daddy would always lovingly help get mummy some food when they have meals together. Now that he has 2 beautiful princesses, he’d rather be feeding them. Mummy leh? Aiyah… no need to eat so much wan, eat less is good.

Before Alycia and Sherilyn came along, Daddy and Mummy enjoy sharing their desserts together and they can peacefully take their own sweet time to savour every spoonful. Eversince you both came along, daddy prefers to share his dessert with his 2 princesses, though most of the time, he ends up having none.

Before Alycia and Sherilyn came along, daddy and mummy would always have a beautiful couple snapshot together when it’s our birthdays. Now that you both are here, mummy is always the cameraman and no where to be seen in pictures.

So is mummy still happy now that she has you both? The answer is a resounding YES, absolutely no regrets and no, mummy is not jealous. Alycia and Sherilyn, when you both read this post a few years down the road, you will know how much your daddy and mummy love you.

No. of times viewed = 270

Wholesome lunch

My lunch menu for my maid to cook yesterday was a wholesome one. This is what the gals had for lunch yesterday:

Oat meal cooked in ABC & sweet corn soup. I added some homemade chicken nuggets (leftover from the previous night’s dinner), chopped french beans, cheese and sprinkled with some pine nuts. I use pine nuts as the ‘bait’ and incentive for Alycia to eat the oats coz lately, Alycia just hates to eat oats and porridge. Perhaps she has been eating these stuff almost everyday the moment she turned 6 months for the next 2 years till she got really sick of them. But sometimes when I run out of ideas for lunch, I just cook them something really nutritious and quick like oat meal.

ABC and sweet corn soup boiled with kampung (free-range) chicken.

No. of times viewed = 214

Toys Rationing

I recently wrote about my gals’ habit of not picking up their toys after they are done with them. Some mummies suggested that I ration their toys and only have limited toys for them to play and to train the gals to keep their toys.

Today, I finally made the move and my maid and I sorted out their toys and kept one big bag of toys in the storeroom. I told the gals that they have not been behaving well, always strewing their toys all over the house, stepping and jumping on them and eventually spoiling them, ripping them apart, chewing on them and mummy is not happy, so mummy is going to keep some of the toys and if they prove to be good girls later, mummy will bring the toys out again.

I was surprised they didn’t protest my bold move. My 2 brats even helped me put their not-so-wanted toys into a big garbage bag.

The gals helping to sort out their toys.

The big bag of toys to be kept in the storeroom.

No. of times viewed = 196

Kids Say The Darnest Things

At times my gals say the darnest things that make me laugh really hard. Here are some of the funny things that they had said:

Scene 1
Before I go to the bathroom to have a quick scrub every night, I will put on a VCD for my gals to watch and I’d tell them before I turn on the tv that they have to promise not to cry when I turn off the tv when I am out from the bathroom.

Last night, Alycia said this to me as I entered the bathroom “mummy, you bathe slowly ar, very very slowly ar, don’t come out so fast k?”

Scene 2
A few days ago as I was shopping at the frozen food section of a mini market, Sherilyn poked her finger on a raw chicken on display. I then reprimanded her by saying “cannot touch Sherilyn, it’s dirty”
Minutes later, a boy of around 5-6 years of age came to the frozen food section and also tried to touch the raw chicken.
Sherilyn who saw the boy touching the raw chicken then wagged her left fore finger at the boy whilst resting another hand on her waist, scolded the boy by saying “hannot touch”.
The boy quickly retreated his hand from the raw chicken but minutes later tried to touch the raw chicken again. Sherilyn who had her eyes fixated on the boy again warned the boy “i said hannot touch, itsh dirty” as she wagged her little forefinger.
I couldn’t help bursting into laughter. My little baby can really immitate me so well.

Scene 3
Alycia’s new favourite sentence when she’s upset with me : “I just cannot believe it, I just cannot believe you are doing this to me mummy”

Scene 4
Whenever I whack Sherilyn for being naughty, Alycia would say “you cannot beat Kay Yi mummy. She will be sad. Don’t beat her, stop it”

Scene 5
Daddy put on a video of Alycia when she was a baby for the gals to watch. Alycia got so emotional and sentimental that she cried and said “I want to go inside the tv and be a baby again”. This went on for days until one morning, her sister Sherilyn said this to her “dun cry A-lisha, hannot go inshide tv, jood jirl (good girl) k. Sayang A-lisha” and then hugged her cheh cheh.

No. of times viewed = 274