Do you want to win a cloth diaper?

Do you want to win yourself (or to be exact, your baby) a cloth diaper? Kitty Cat from A Pregnant Pause is having another giveaway. This time, Kitty Cat, together with Sandra from MiaBambina are giving away 2 Pocket Change Cloth Diapers to 2 lucky winners.

Sizing guide and available colours for Pocket Change Cloth Diaper

I absolutely loves the Pocket Change cloth diaper. Currently priced at RM70 and inclusive of 2 inserts (one trifold hemp & one 4-layer microterry booster), it is one of the most economical pocket diaper available in Malaysia. Pocket Change cloth diaper is available in 3 sizes - small, medium and large. I personally feel the sizes are smaller as compared to other diaper in the market but it fits Anney really well. Anney is currently 14 months, weighing 10.6 kg and has quite chubby thighs (Anney is wearing L size).

One of the unique feature of this diaper is the "easy pass through" pocket that allows the inserts to agitate out in the wash. So, if taking out the messy insert from soiled diaper is something that put you off, this is really a great saver.

The outer layer of Pocket Change is made from soft PUL and is water resistant. The colour hardly fade / bleed as compared to some of my other well known brand diapers. Although I have used my Pocket Change diaper for at least 10 months, it still look absolutely new! The inner layer is made from soft fleece and it helps keep the wetness away from baby's skin.

My 10 months old Pocket Change diaper - it still looks brand new even though I used it almost daily. This is a work horse!

Pocket Change cloth diaper comes with snap adjustments and is great at keeping my curious baby's hand away. Anney is great at opening all the diapers with velcro tape and so far, still can't open the snap button diaper yet.

Pocket Change is also one of the trimmest pocket diaper available in town.

I would definitely love to own another piece of this fabulous cloth diaper from MiaBambina.

If you would like to win this too, hope over to A Pregnant Pause and leave your comment in the post. It is that easy! Deadline is 1 June 2009 (2pm, local time).

My new babies

Well, not having baby #3. Phew!

Please welcome the new additions to our family......my new LeRun Bonus mountain bike and Cat Bike for Werney.

Our new bicycles

Striking pink Cat Bike with 16" wheels for Werney

Child carrier from WeeRide for Anney

I've also got a child carrier installed on my mountain bike for Anney so that she will not be left out from the fun. Got this child carrier from WeeRide, For The Family On The Go! It is so cool, right?

One of my resolution for 2009 is to live healthier....hope it is not too late (I know it is almost the end of May now!). I'm one of those who hardly exercise and hopefully with my new mountain bike, I could at least try to exercise twice a week and live healthier.

There are many benefits of cycling and among those are:-

• Promotes a healthy heart
• Improves blood chemistry, including good cholesterol
• Lowers blood pressure
• Decrease the risk of cancer
• Build stronger bones
• Reduce stress
• Promote greater muscle strength and many more
  

Bad Ass Coffee, anyone?

Yes, that's the name of the latest coffee outlet in town. I was having lunch at Tropicana City Mall (PJ) with my colleagues and stumbled upon the name of this new coffee outlet on the Mall Directory.

I googgled the name and found that it was origin from Hawaii and they serve 100% Kona coffee.

Would you name your gourmet coffee shop Bad Ass Coffee? The owner or the advertising company must have ran out of idea for a name.....


Want a bad ass (I means coffee) today? Sound yucky!

My busy busy Sunday

Yesterday was a busy busy Sunday for me. Besides, doing the usual cleaning, cooking and attending to my 2 demanding princess, I also have to play Teacher Mommy role.

Werney first semester exam will be approaching soon and we as parents, has been given "message" from school to assist our child with the revision and of course, to do it with lots of TLC ("tender loving care"). I was going through the exam notice and there will be 4 papers for this semester exam - Number, Chinese, English and Bahasa (Malay language). Wow, for 5 years old and there will be 4 papers! Mommy is already sweating here!

The toughest subject would be to do the revision for Chinese language since Mommy here is a banana! Maybe next time Daddy should take over the role.

Me making some flash cards for Werney for Bahasa

Flash cards are cut based on the Bahasa "sukukata"

Doing revision for Chinese language "Ting Xie" (spelling)

Revision for Chinese, to ensure word are written in the correct stroke

Find the missing stroke

More Chinese revision, count the number of stroke for each word

Review: Umai-ya Japanese Restaurant

I've read some rave reviews of Umai-Ya and thought of giving it a try since both DH and yours truly here love Japanese foods. So, was it really good? The answer is definitely a YES. For the price of RM48++/adult and RM24++/child above 3 years old, it is one of the best and cheapest Japanese buffet in town.

Umai-Ya is different from most Japanese buffet restaurant in town as the food is freshly cooked based on your order. Each table is given a buffet menu and you can pick and choose anything from the menu. From sashimi to tempura to ocha ice-cream, the choices are excellent. Drink is also included in the buffet price and you can select from either ocha, soft drinks and even Tiger beer (yes, free flow!).

The deco of the restaurant is quite modern and clean. The service was great and I love that the foods were served so quickly. The restaurant manager even pre-order some foods for us when we placed our reservation so that there were minimal waiting time when we arrived.

However, this place is not so baby friendly as they don't have any baby high chair (since the seat are tatami style). What I did was bring along my own bumbo seat for Anney. Brilliant idea, right?

Deco at the entrance

Tatami sitting

I love this hanging light

Delicious and mouth watering sashimi platter

Japanese green salad

Free flow of Tiger beer....Sis#2 wanted to order 3 jugs for 6 of us!

Edamame (Japanese soy bean...Werney loves this)

Grilled shishamo

Fried agetashi tafo

Dragon roll

Soft shell crab maki roll

More fried stuff, can't remember the name for this

Chawan mushi (Steamed egg)

Ocha ice-cream with red bean

There were lots more foods that we ordered but we were too busy eating and couldn't snap more pictures. We had so much foods during the buffet lunch that I even have to skip my dinner for that night.

You can find Umai-ya at:

49A, Jalan SS21/37
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 7726 4410

G-3A, The Place
Jalan PJU 8/5D
Bandar Damansara Perdana
47820 Petaling Jaya
Selangor Darul Ehsan
Tel: 03-7729 0015

A new outlet will be opened at Puchong soon.

Reservation is a must as the place is packed most of the time.

New CROCS

Sis#4 just got back from a 9 days holiday tour at Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou & Shenzen. Really envy her and wish I could do that too! Anyway, these are what she bought back for my princess...

New CROCS for Werney (pink Dora) and Anney (purple Minnie)

In Shenzen, these CROCS are being sold for only a fraction of the price we paid in Malaysia. I think I will never get any more CROCS from our local store. Just imagine, my sis bought these for less than RM15/pair and they sure looks authentic and not our Carrefour / Giant quality. I really can't tell whether these are authentic or not. After all, CROCS are made in China.

However, just be careful if you are letting your kids wear these to the malls where they will have to take the escalator (yes, I know all the horror stories!). Do teach them to place their feet in the yellow box!

G6PD deficiency

SIL#2 newborn baby has been diagnosed to be G6PD deficiency.

So what is this G6PD deficiency? It is generally a hereditary abnormality in the activity of the red blood cell enzyme. The deficiency in G6PD enzyme may provoke sudden destruction of red blood cells and lead to hemolytic anemia with jaundice, following the intake of certain foodstuffs and drugs.

G6PD is normally transmitted from mother (usually a healthy carrier) to son (or daughter, who would be a healthy carrier too). See the chart below that I extracted from internet.

The deficit in G6PD is quite prevalent in Southeast Asia and in Malaysia, it is a routine screening for newborn. In fact, the deficiency is quite common in Malaysia and Singapore and estimated to affect 5% of the population.

The symptoms of G6PD are:-

• Sudden rise of body temperature and yellow coloring of skin and mucous membrane
• Dark yellow-orange urine
• Pallor, fatigue
• Heavy and fast breathing
• Weak, rapid pulse or irregular heart beat
  

Even with G6PD deficiency, one could still lead a perfectly normal life, provided certain drugs and foodstuffs are avoided. In the top of the list is fava bean or broad bean (or in Chinese, it is known as Tzan Doo). It is also important to avoid certain legumes and Chinese herbs. Anyone with G6PD should also avoid in contact with mothball. There is also a list of drugs to be avoided and can be found here.

For parents with G6PD child, extra care should be taken in the child's diets and ensure that all caretaker, pediatrician and school teacher are well informed of the condition. You may also wish to have a To Avoid List of foodstuffs and drugs with you at all times.

With the right precautions, a child with G6PD deficiency can lead a healthy and active life.

I wish BIL/SIL's baby will have a healthy life ahead!

Lollipop love

I blogged earlier here about having Two Pixels Photography to take our family portrait. These are some of my favourite shots...


Oh yes, my princess love these colourful lollipops. Well, the lollipops are just for the photo shooting only....as mama here wouldn't allow them to indulge in these!

Kids grow really fast, I really wish to capture every moments of them. Thanks Jazz for the wonderful photos.

Announcing the arrival of my new nephew

I mentioned earlier in one of my post that SIL#2 will be expecting her first baby anytime soon, although her EDD is early June 2009. True enough, SIL#2 baby arrived earlier than expected.

It's a boy!

Baby was delivered via C-section.

DOB: 16 May 2009
Time: 10.25am
Weight: 3.23kg
Length: 48 cm


See how adorable is the little boy.

Congrats BIL & SIL!

Baby wearing workshop

I had fun attending the baby wearing workshop at the Breastfeeding Cafe this morning. The workshop was organised jointly by Chin Nee of MamaPatch.com and Vivian of Fabulousmom.com.

The turnout at the workshop was quite good with some new moms and some moms-to-be. Chin Nee is really a master in baby wearing and she shared with us how she discovered baby wearing after she had her twin boys last year. According to her, it has helped her to calm her very fussy babies, which need to be carried at all the times.

I've discovered baby wearing when Werney was much younger but have never master the skill. Now it is the right time for me to re-learn baby wearing again coz' Anney is currently at the stage of "koala bear". Whenever she see me now, she wants me to carry her and no one else....not even her favourite Poh Poh! Being able to wear Anney would leave me handfree to do some chores at home.

Anney in ring sling

If you would like to learn more on baby wearing, do check out Chin Nee's blog. Oh by the way, both her boys are really cute!

Review: Asian Parenting Today Book

SIL#2 will be delivering her first baby anytime now although her EDD is in early June 2009. Being a first time mom, I bought her this book "Asian Parenting Today".


I had previously bought this book and gave it to a friend when she had her first child back in year 2005/2006. Then when I had Anney last year, she loaned it back to me and it has been a great read. Being a second time mom didn't make me know it all. I still find the book very informative and it is especially written for Asian parents like us with all the "pantang larang" (cultural beliefs and practices).

The book is written by three registered nurses and midwives (Jennifer Hor, Ho Ai Ling, Jocelyn Oo), who have extensive experience in nursing and midwifery in UK, Australia and Malaysia. It is written in simple language and it is easy to understand.

The book addresses many of the very common childcare issues for modern parents in the first year of their baby's life.

Some of the interesting topics included in the book are things to-do/not to-do during confinement period, caring for your newborn from appearances to feedings, everything you need to know about breastfeeding, weaning and even recipe for your baby. Now you can tell your confinement lady or even MIL with authority what's right or what's wrong!

The only complaint I have on this book is the font colour. I just hope the publisher would print it in darker colour font for future publication so that I don't have to strain my eyes reading it.

If you are a new mom or mom-to-be, this is definitely the bible you should have!

The book is currently retail at RM39.90 for English version and RM26.00 for Mandarin version.

Avent BPA-free bottles...it's finally here!

Over the last few years, media has been bombarded with news on bisphenol-A or in short, BPA. BPA is a chemical commonly found in plastic used to make baby bottles or drinking bottles.

Various studies have been done in US/Canada and some reports have indicated that BPA is one of the causes for behavioral changes in babies, contribute to early onset of puberty in girls or even breast cancer. Of course, there are some reports that confirmed small amounts of BPA found in baby bottles are okay but many parents are switching to BPA-free bottles, just to be on the safe side.

Most of the popular brands available in the market such as Avent, Gerber, Dr. Brown, Playtex contain BPA (although most manufacturers are switching to BPA-free bottles now). Baby bottles with BPA are still widely available, at least in Malaysia.

Early March this year, six major baby bottle companies in the USA – Avent, Disney First Years, Gerber, Dr Brown, Playtex and Evenflow have also voluntarily agreed to stop using BPA in their baby bottles. However, they will continue to market these BPA bottles overseas and third world countries could be their dumping ground!

Over here in Malaysia, our Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) has written to our Health Minister to request for an immediate halt on the sale of such products containing BPA. Sadly to say, no prevalent action has been taken by our Health Minister to date.

The distributor of Avent bottles in Malaysia, Kinderdijk Sdn Bhd has just brought in their range of Avent BPA-free bottles but they maintained that they will continue to sell the old type with BPA. According to the guy I spoke to, the BPA-free range is to give customer an alternative choice and totally silent on the potential toxic effect of BPA!

So what do I do with all my Avent bottles? Some are even in unopened pack (which I have bought during sales) and these people at Kinderdijk refused to accept the returns even for unopened pack.

My old Avent bottles

I have just purchased a new batch of Avent BPA-free bottles to replace all my old Avent bottles. The retail price for the new Avent BPA-free bottle is RM49 for 9oz bottle and RM43 for 4oz bottle (yes, they are here to suck blood lor....so expensive!). I still use Avent bottles since Anney is very used to it and I still have a lot of Avent teats. Anyway, Avent bottle is fuss free to use as compared to some other brands with too many parts to assemble and wash.

Just arrived....new batch of Avent BPA-free bottles

The Avent BPA-free bottle looks exactly like the old bottle except that it is tinted with light honey colour like this one below. If you are looking for Avent BPA-free bottles (yes, it's finally here in Malaysia), you can get it from Babyland, BabyJaya or this online store www.mybbstore.com. Mybbstore is having a 20% discount for Avent range now.