HEALTH FREAK MOMMY – Page 301 – The joys and throes of motherhood…

Alycia Can Count 1 – 20

Alycia has been able to count her numbers from 1 through 14 for quite a long time already, but no matter how I made her memorize 14 through 20, she still got the teens all jumbled up.

For the last 1 week, each time I brought Alycia and Sherilyn for their evening walks, I’d ask Alycia to count her 1 through 20. She always got her 1-14 perfectly memorized but when it comes to 15 onwards, she’d just get stuck and all sorts of non-sequence numbers will spill out from her mouth, like 14, 7, 16, 15, 9 ….. alamak, :slap forehead: Yesterday during our evening walk, as Alycia was in the midst of counting her numbers, a squirrel darted across the road all of a sudden. I then excited shouted “look Alycia, that’s a squirrel”. Alycia who was still counting, nonchalantly counted “fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty” as she fixated her eyes on the squirrel excitedly. I then shouted in delight “Alycia, you got all your numbers right, mummy is so happy and proud of you” and then gave her a big hug, patted her back and praised her further. We were both so happy that she finally got her 1 through 20 recited perfectly without any numbers missing in between.

So my conclusion is I think a child learns better if she/he is in a relaxed, calm, non-tensed mode. They even learn better when they are at play. Perhaps I had put Alycia into a tensed mode when I kept insisting that she has to get all her numbers right. I was so wrong….what a kiasu mummy I am!

No. of times viewed = 258

Bedtime Stories By Daddy Dearest

Once in a while, daddy will be home early to read bedtime stories to the gals. These are considered rare treats from daddy and the gals enjoy every moment of it. As for me, they are long-awaited breather treats for me….

Daddy teaching the gals how to read the clock.

No. of times viewed = 337

Got Tagged Again – 7 Random Things

Got tagged again, this time by Leena (sweet revenge huh?) on 7 Random Things About Myself. Good tag, at least this will give my readers an idea of what kinda person I am.

1. As my blog title says it, I am a health freak, also a fitness nut and cleanliness freak.

2. I’m a worry freak too, love to worry over every single thing.

3. Like Leena, my sense of direction sucks too.

4. I am an Atkin’s follower and currently living on a low-carb diet, don’t eat rice, noodles, potatoes, candies and keep white flour products to the minimal.

5. My favourite colors are pink, baby blue and violet.

6. I am super impatient and my temper flares up very easily, thanks to my dad’s genes.

7. I weigh myself on the scale at least twice a day. You call this eccentricity or character flaw?

Now, I really want to get to know these wonderful bloggers too:

Shoppingmum
LZ Mommy
Jazzmint
Shannon Chong
Elaine (Montessorimum) … another filler post for you, hah!

No. of times viewed = 310

A Good Work-out Session

It’s not easy to remain a size 0 and maintain a weight of 43kg after having 2 kids. Each morning, whether rain or shine, I’ll diligently rise at 6:45am to work-out, first on my fitball and then for a 30-40 minute jog round my neighbourhood.

Sherilyn my lil’ brat seems to have an uncanny sense each time I leave my room in the morning. She will toss about in her bed, whimpering a tad bit with her eyes closed as if she can sense mummy is going to leave her behind and at times, she will wake up just before I open my room door, crying out and begging pathetically for me to bring her along. So what do I do if she wakes up before I leave? I will strap her in the stroller and tag her along. This morning, we did just that. Let me tell you, it ain’t easy to jog and push a 13kg weight in a 7kg+ stroller (that makes 20kg!) uphill and downhill, up and down slopes and humps. It zaps off all the energy in you instantly. Only a pro jogger would understand what I am describing here. But it is a blessing in disguise as I managed to sweat profusely and burn up the extra calories I gained from the smorgasbord that I gorged on at the high-tea at PJ Hilton yesterday.

Sherilyn happily waiting to be pushed around in her stroller.

A very sweaty me… phoof….feels so energized.

No. of times viewed = 310

We Love Sundays

We spent our Sunday lepaking at PJ Hilton again yesterday. In case some of you are wondering why my DH always brings us to hotels for buffet meals, well that’s because he has already pre-paid for them. He has paid RM400+ on membership fee (for each hotel) at the Hilton Hotel, Shangri-La Hotel and Sheraton group of hotels. That’s more than RM1,200+ for a 1-year subscription to 3 groups of hotels. So when the two of us dine at these hotels, we get 50% off the total bill. If there are more than 2 diners, we enjoy a 30% discount on the total bill (F&B only). On top of that, for each hotel, we are entitled to 2 nights free hotel stay. Last year, we stayed at the Hilton Sentral Hotel together with my parents and my brothers/SIL where we celebrated my mum’s 60th birthday there. Later, we stayed at the Westin Hotel (member of the Hilton Group) during X’mas. This year, we have yet to utilize the free hotel stays. Gotta start planning now for a short holiday. I love!

These pix were taken yesterday at PJ Hilton.

The gals enjoying their meals. Sherilyn just wouldn’t let go of her heart-shape violet color helium-filled balloon.

The gals having fun at the play area.

No. of times viewed = 215

Daddy Dearest

DH normally works late and is only home after the gals are fast asleep, so when he does come home early, the gals will get all excited and scream “daddy is back, daddy is back….” the moment they hear his car engine running outside the house. They will then act up over every single thing just to get their daddy’s attention and love. Sometimes I wonder if it’s a cheer or a jeer for me that DH is home to be with the gals coz I just can’t get the gals to do anything when their daddy is around. All they want is to play with daddy and do all the ‘mummy forbids’ with daddy coz they know they can bully daddy and get away with daddy however they fancy and daddy just won’t get mad.

Last nite, just as the gals were about to have their night milk fixes, daddy came home. Both Alycia & Sherilyn rushed to daddy and demanded to lie on his lap like a baby to drink their milk and they took almost half an hour of their sweet time ‘manjaing’ with daddy before finishing off their milk.

Don’t you think I look like a proud mother pig feeding its litter of piglets?

No. of times viewed = 230

I Love Reading From The Computer

My gals’ all-time favourite reading resource… the computer. Most of the time, I will hoard the PC, blogging and net surfing away but when I am in a good mood, my gals rule the PC.

Reading from the Starfall website.

No. of times viewed = 218

Balloon craze

Both Alycia and Sherilyn are crazy over balloons. On most Sundays, DH would bring us to a hotel for lunch and what excites the gals most is not food but the balloons from the clown.

Alycia inflating a balloon with a hand-pump.

Artist at work… Sherilyn’s drawing of some square balloons.

Mummy…. I drew one, two, three, four, five, six…. seven balloons on my Doodle.

No. of times viewed = 217

Make Good Use Of Thy Time

I always wished there were more than 24 hours to a day so that I can do more for my gals, more for myself & DH and lastly get more SLEEP. I hate to see precious time being wasted, I don’t like me or my gals sitting around not doing anything purposeful. This perhaps, may be contributed by the fact that I once worked at 3 large organizations where time was of the essence and I was constantly put in a pressure-cooker, always rushing to meet deadlines for my bosses and always had to do multiple tasks at any one time. I rarely had the luxury to go out for long lunches with my colleagues and most of the time, I had my lunches behind my PC, one hand typing / checking e-mails and one hand biting a quick and easy-to-eat lunch.

I like to read to my gals when they are having their meals, drinking their milk or sitting on their potty doing their little poopy business. This is what I normally do with my gals to maximise our time :

Flashing cards on shapes to Alycia & Sherilyn before their afternoon nap.

Sherilyn fixing an educational board puzzle whilst doing her little poopy biz on her potty, with Alycia lending a helping hand.

Call me a kiasu, crazy mummy!

No. of times viewed = 404

Catermate

For the past few days, DH had been really busy with work, so busy the gals and I hardly had the time to talk to him and spend some quality time together. DH had been busy with the preparation of a big function of 500+ pax for one of his corporate clients. Two days ago on the day of the function, DH even had to leave the house for his shop at 4am to ensure that everything for the function which begun at 8am was ready, for he cannot afford any slip-up. Well, the sleepless nights and sacrifices were all worth it for DH received compliments for a job well done from his client. Here are some snapshots of the function :

Once again, if there’s anyone who is looking for a reliable caterer for just any functions, try out Catermate.

DH Alan can be contacted at 019-266 4297.

Oh, this is not a sponsored post.

No. of times viewed = 273

Exercise

I used to bring Alycia and Sherilyn to the playground to jog and play everyday so that they can get their daily doses of free Vitamin D from the sun, sweat it out to remove toxins from their little body and to breathe in fresh air to their lungs and brains. A good physical program is in fact the foundation to a good mental and physical health of a child. Of late, I’ve neglected my gals quite a bit :guilty:, also the weather is crazy… mornings will be scorching hot and evenings will be wet. The weather this morning was lovely… it was a tad cloudy and windy, just my perfect kind of weather for an outdoor activitiy and I jumped at the opportunity to bring the gals out to let out their long-stored overcharged energy. Boy, they went crazy at the playground like a just released puppy that has been caged for a long time.

Alycia grinning away on the swing.

Sweet taste of freedom alas… mummy!

Like primates climbing up and down.

No. of times viewed = 264

Got Tagged – Who Are My Fan-See (Fans)

Got tagged again by Montessorimum. So who are my ‘fan-see'(fans in English)? Since my blog is relatively new, I am not too sure if I have any die-hard fan-see who stalk me day and nite.

My known fan-sees are my dear mom, my sils from HK and my old classmates who religiously read my blog daily. I know I also have some fan-sees who are lurking in my blog silently daily but never leave any comments for they are either too busy or don’t have a google account.

I must say my relatively new blog has generated quite a promising number of visitors daily of between a low of 50 to a high of 180+ visitors daily as I can view the statistics from my Google AdSense report, My Blog Log and Nuffnang report.

So to all my loyal fan-sees, whether known or anonymous to me, I want to say a big thank you for all your unwavering support. I really appreciate it. Eh, to those silent lurkers fan-see, c’mon please give me some face and leave some comments k, I know some are dying to write your comments in my blog. I don’t like to see a ‘0’ in my Comments section lar.

Now, to these great bloggers, would you tell the world who your fan-sees are :

Leena (Baby Shern)… another tag for you, haha.

Jenn (The Imperfectmom)…. I know u r already famous lar, but just want to know who your fan-sees are.

Mom of Cairo

Karen Yiau

LZMommy

No. of times viewed = 227

Healthy Homemade Nutty Cheddar Cheese Bread

First, just measure and dump all the ingredients into my breadmaker.

All the healthy bread ingredients in the breadmaker.

Add in a small wedge of smoked cheddar cheese from HK.

Switch on my Sanyo breadmaker and ……

2 hrs 40 mins later….. a delicious fragrant loaf of nuttylicious bread, just in time for lunch.

I was in a mood to bake this morning so after I came back from jogging, I quickly baked a loaf of ‘healthy nutty cheddar cheese bread’ for the gals just before they woke up. Took me only 20 minutes to gather and measure all the ingredients and another 5 minutes snapping the pix. Even dumped in 2 tablespoons of my gals’ Sustagen chocolate milk powder for added calcium and DHA/ARA and protein. Instead of putting the usual 2 tablespoons of butter, I substituted it with 1 tbs of butter and 1 tbs of cheddar cheese that sil no. 2 brought back from HK on Monday. The result…. a yummilicious, nutty, cheesy, chewy bread that both my gals couldn’t stop asking for more to munch for lunch.

No. of times viewed = 365

Bedtime Ritual

Alycia and Sherilyn reading on my bed. Note : Sherilyn busy counting away with her fingers.

Sherilyn reading her favourite book.

Alycia learning to read from her Leap Frog.

On most nights before bed, I will either read to Alycia and Sherilyn or sometimes the gals prefer to ‘read’ on their own and Alycia will tell me to go to my room to do my own things and not to kacau them. You see, so young and they already want their own space and want me to get lost :shake head:

The gals can sometimes ‘read’ independently an entire book, especially if it’s their favourite books. I think it’s more of them memorizing the pages. Anyway, I am glad that my gals have acquired the love for books and hope that this will be their lifelong love as there is no better and cheaper way to broaden one’s horizons than to keep reading, always.

No. of times viewed = 258

Tag – The Meaning Of My Daughters’ Names

This is my 3rd tag in 2 weeks. This time, got tagged by Samm (Just My Lil’ Organic Life). As DH is quite conservative and traditional in his thinking, he left the chinese name choosing task to my mil who in turn tai-chied it to her eldest daughther and son-in-law in HK who are very proficient in the chinese language.

Alycia – when I was still preggy with Alycia, I had wanted to name her Ellisa but my mom said why not choose Alycia, which, when the name is broken up is a combination of both DH’s name, Alan (Al) and my name, Shireen (the sound cia). That’s how the name Alycia came about.

Alycia’s chinese name is Kay Lynn, pronounced as Kai Ling in Mandarin and Hoi Ling in Cantonese. Meaning of it? Kai means victorious / triumphant (yes, she is my victory after years of battling with infertility and a very risky pregnancy). Ling means petite and dainty (oh btw my brat is not at all petite and dainty, how ironic). That’s all about I know about this chinese name… don’t really know how to write the chinese characters. I’ve written the meaning and han yi pin yi down in a book.

Sherilyn – when I was preggy with this babe, I wanted badly to name her Chloe or Chelsea but on 2nd and 3rd thoughts, dropped the idea as I didn’t want some people with horrendous pronunciation to pronounce Chelsea as ‘chee see’ (meaning pig’s poop in cantonese) or pronounce Chloe as lolli or mispronounce the names into some crappy names altogether. So why did I name her Sherilyn? Because I like it so, no real reason actually, and Sherilyn means dearest / treasured.

Sherilyn’s chinese name is Kay Yi, pronounced as Kai Yee in Mandarin and Hoi Yee in Cantonese. Again Kai means victorious / triumphat (she’s also another precious baby) and Yi simply means glowing health / vitality.

Now, I am going to pass the ball to these 5 blogging pals of mine :

Leena (Baby Shern)… another tag for you, hope u don’t mind ar.

Jenn (The Imperfect Mom)… I know you hardly do tags, you are one very prolific, high profile & celebrity blogger wan. Do this favour la k?

Chin Nee (Demoments)

MamaBok… eh you still owe me one tag, rite? Don’t mind another one?

Jazzmint …. care to do?

As with all tags, you need to copy this to the end of the Tag and dont forget to add yours too and go tag another 5:

Msaufong – Meaning of SQ & Kiki’s names

Shoppingmum & Kids – The Meaning of My Kids’ Names – Justin and Isabelle
The World @ My Fingertips – My sons – Gordon & Malcolm
Health Freak Mommy – Tag – The Meaning Of My Daughters’ Names

No. of times viewed = 362

Goodies From Hong Kong Again

Organic biscuits from HK for the gals.

Books, stickers and finger paints all from HK.

My SIL no. 2 arrived from HK yesterday and brought with her a big bag of goodies for the gals again. Each time my SILs from overseas visit us, my gals will benefit the most coz they have 4 doting ku mahs and ku cheh who adore them to bits and love pampering them with food, toys, books and branded clothes.

The clothes that my sils normally buy for the gals are all branded stuff and cost way more than my own clothes, like Polo Ralf Lauren and Zara Kids, fuiyoh. How I envy my gals. In a way, I am lucky too coz I rarely ever have to buy my gals clothes, food, toys and books. All these items are being taken care of by my sils, mil and my dear mom. That’s a lot of savings here. I am not gloating here but I just feel thankful to God that my gals are so loved by everyone. So to my sils and mom, if you are reading this post, I’d like to say thank you so much for being a caring and generous sil and mom. The gals and I are blessed.

No. of times viewed = 232