Mama Talk: A Simple Remedy For When Your Child Can't Do The Number Two.

Hello..

The above is not the most glamorous of topics but every child experiences constipation at one point or another so I hope this will help parents out there.. Kesian oh tengo dorang teran tapi nothing comes out. Before I share this remedy however, I would like to make a disclaimer that I am not a paediatrician nor a dietitian. I am just a mum who has tried this out afew times and am satisfied with the outcome. Try this at your own counsel.

So what is this simple yet effective remedy? It is... *drum roll please..* Orange juice! You can use store-bought juice (I personally love Minute Maid or Tropicana Twister because of the pulp) or squeeze it yourself. If you are concerned about the sugar content of store-bought juice, you can mix it with a little bit of water. I personally don't water it down and so far Sophie never showed any signs of becoming hyper from the sweetness of it.

You also don't need to give your child much for this remedy to be effective. 10ml is sufficient enough and don't forget to give him or her lots of warm water 20 minutes later. If your child still doesn't do the Number Two after that, you can repeat the process once more, leaving 2 to 3 hours of waiting time in between. In my experience, I only need to give it to Sophie once and she would pass motion within 1 to 2 hours.

As I had said before, use this method at your own counsel. While you need to be patient, if your child has not passed motion within about 6 hours of starting this home remedy, you might want to give him or her over-the-counter medication or bring them to see a doctor.

Of course, prevention is always better then cure. Incorporating fruits and veges into your child's diet, giving them lots of warm water and avoiding foods that can cause constipation such as bananas will help in reducing the likeliness of it occuring in the first place.

Finally, to be on the safe side do not use this home treatment on babies below 6 months old. If it is your child's first time drinking juice, give a smaller amount, diluted with water and observe in case he or she has an averse reaction to it.

I hope you find this useful. Cheers my dears and happy July 2013!


Love,
Phy

Ramblings of A Smitten (Demented) Mother..

Hello hello...
Okay, I am about to launch into a rave about Sophia's progress and if you're not into such stuff, feel free to click the 'X' button okay. I won't take offence. As you may know, I spent about a week at my hometown to be with my princess Sophia. She will be 11 months by this coming February 5, 2013 and I am sooo amazed by her learning progress.

She loves to stand and climb. She could actually climb up the couches all by herself! Masalahnya she hasn't learned how to get down safely be herself yet so we really have to keep an eagle eye on her at all times. She also could pick things up while standing now. She would hold on to the coffee table's rounded edge and bend/squat down to pick the object up. The most amazing thing to me is that when she can't reach an object because it is almost under the table, she would stand back up, adjust her position by taking a step back and bend down to try again. She actually could figure that out!

One of our morning and evening activity would be me playing hide-and-seek with her. I would run to hide behind one of the chairs and she would run after me in a baby walker *I know some people disapprove of the usage of baby walkers. Don't judge me, I will tell you more on the baby walker in a later post*. There are 2 single sofas with a coffee table in between them. I would run and hide in one of the sofa and when she 'catches' me I would jump up and run to the other sofa to hide *such a good form of exercise for me, I tell you* . On the first day she went with the motions but by the 2nd day, she actually figured out that she could 'catch' me by peeking in between the coffee table at me instead of running around to the other side of the sofa! Pandai pula dia cari shortcut. Lol..

One of her upper front tooth has popped through her gums, making it her 3rd tooth so far.

She doesn't like being in the baby cot 'cause she cant crawl freely but when I let her out she would go into the places where she shouldn't be. Tempat yang tidak boleh pigi la yang dia paling suka mo explore. Barang yang tidak boleh pigang la yang dia paling suka mo pigang. I will be honest, taking care of an active 11 month old is quite tiring. Itu belum lagi pandai bjalan sama blari kan. I really have high respect for both SAH (Stay At Home) and working mothers who juggle work, toddlers and housework. I don't know how they could manage. Belum campur urus husband. Kalo ada baby kecik lagi? Pengsan. I guess what gets mothers through are their love and devotion to their child(ren) and family as a whole.

Anyway, here are Sophie's current photos:

Duta Coach..

Sophie the burrito baby.. 

These are taken from my Instagram. I don't have many new photos of Sophie because dia pantang nampak handphone and camera, mesti mau pigang. Bila sudah pigang tu nda mau lepas. Kuat betul tangan dia. Sigh.. 

This is all for now folks. Thanks for reading this post. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, Instagram and 'Like' my Facebook Page (Phoebe_Sophie for all 3). I am also on NuffnangX. Cheers!

Love,

Phoebe

Ramblings Of A Bored Phy...

Hi there..
Sy benci la, bila sy ada idea mo blog, tiada pula masa sy mo type. Maka sudah reka2 ayat fantastic, witty and funny (blearrrgghh..) lg tu in my head. Siap dengan tajuk yang menarik lagi. By the time sya ada masa sudah mo type sy tiatau sudah apa topic sy yang sy mo cerita awal tadi. Mulau betul. Apakan daya, otak sy sudah kena culik alien. Serious cepat lupa sekarang ni. Susah hati sy tau..

As I was saying, sekarang ni sy menaip, sebenarnya sy tiatau apa mo cerita tapi sy mo type juga sebab lama nda update blog. Hm, cerita sikit pasal si Sophia la. (Cue groans and click 'x' button. Lol. What to do la, kawan kamu si Phy ni sudah jadi a besotted parent like any other). Nda bah, sy mo meluah sikit baini pasal betapa cepatnya si Sophie ni tiba2 membesar. Sy rasa macam dia mencapai milestones dia bertubi2 ni. Mula2 sy rasa lambat tau. Especially waktu dia baru mo belajar tiarap. It took her 2 weeks to a month ni to achieve flipping on her tummy. Sempat lagi sy susah hati (hobby seorang ibu), bulih kah si Sophie tiarap ni? Macam payah betul.

Sekali sekarang pula bukan saja dia sudah pandai duduk and merangkak, after only a week of achieving these 2 things, she moves on to trying to stand pula. Adoi, baby don't grow so fast! Dia pandai sudah gigit2, grasp barang, show emotion and preference, etc. She also recognises people. The only thing yang sy rasa ada lambat sikit is tumbuh gigi. When I was a baby my teeth started to pop out at 5 months. Tapi tiapa lah juga sebab sensara bah baby (and parent(s)) bila diorang tumbuh gigi. Demam, diarrhea, lack of appetite, grumpy, etc. Imagine having to go throught that about 28 times (milk teeth 28 batang bah kan? Correct me if I'm wrong. Malas mo Google. Lol..). Pingsan kah tidak?

Okay, apa lagi mo cerita? Pasal kerja la.. Sy boring ohhh (whiny tone) buat keja finance ni. Sy bosan sudah tengo figures, package size, tengo PO, berurusan dengan orang yang babal lagi membabalkan, etc. Bukan mo cakap dalam keja finance jak ada orang babal, keja lain pun ada juga. Sigh.. Sy mo bah try keja lain. Part of me takut juga cause I have only ever worked in finance kan tapi that's is the very reason why I should try something new. So that I won't be rooted to only one field. To be honest belum lagi sy master everything in Finance. Jauh panggang dari api. Tapi sy boring sudah. Betul2 boring. There is something comforting about doing something that you are familiar with but it so.. Entah la.. Bosan la bah..

Sy tengo calendar sy and planning2 sudah bila sy mo cuti apa suma, does that mean that I am unconciously prepared to stay here at MGH for a while yet? Maybe la kan. I do have an idea though. Why not try to apply at travel agencies? I can still be in the tourism industry but with a different twist kan? Pick a big International travel agency, learn a new language and go to the country of the language I learnt. Korea maybe? Not impossible, aye?

Ada 4 hari lagi mo tunggu sebelum gaji. Sigh. Kenapa lah sy keja sama company dari China? Orang lain gaji kamarin lagi. Jeles tau tau tau tau... Sejak kebelakangan ni sy teringat2 juga masa sy keja Kerajaan dulu. Sy paling rindu di Puterajaya. Keja okay, gaji okay, colleagues okay, rumah and housemate pun okay. Just nice I think. Walaupun tinggal di Puterajaya kadang2 macam tinggal dalam fishbowl, tapi a least Alamanda ada. Bulih juga tengo wayang. Am I regretting my decision to leave the Government? Yes and no. I miss the things I said above but I don't miss the work nor the culture. I still think I didn't learn as much things or as fast as I am doing now in the private sector. Apa boleh buat, we can't have our cake and eat it to can we?

 Bah, okay lah. My lunch hour is nearly over. Need to get back to work (urgh!). Have a nice day. Cheers!


Love,
Phoebe

New Job, Sophie's Care And Running Around Like A Headless Chicken..

Hi there!
Those of you who are my friend on Facebook or follow me on Twitter would most probably know by now that I am currently working at a new hotel in the city. It's still a baby really, barely 6 months old with lots of improvements to be made but still, so far so good.

I had looked for a nursery for Sophie before I started work. I decided to send her to a nursery less then 10 minutes away. Even though I had quite a few issues with the place I didn't really have a choice because that was the nearest to my apartment. After registering her and paying RM520 inclusive of one time only registration fee, my aunt offered to take care of her. Bingung sy sekejap... (@,@)

On one hand I would prefer my own relative to care for her. On the other hand I've already paid the fees. Aduih... In the end I called the nursery's administrator and said that I would like to extend her enrollment for a month and she agreed.

Although I could have made things easier for myself by just sending Sophie off in the mornings and letting my aunt give her both her morning and evening bath, I decided to bathe her in the morning before going to work. I feel that it give us a bit of bonding time together since I will be away from her so much. After all, she is still so young. Takut pula dia lupa sy ni or get confused on which one is her Mama Na'udzubillah.

So in the morning I would wake up at 5.15am to give Sophie her early morning feed (she is my alarm) and after burping her I would get everything that could only be prepared in the morning ready. By 6am I would wake her and give her a bath (sometimes this has to be extended to 6.30am. By the time I get her dressed it would already be 6.30am or 7.00am. Its time for me to bathe, put on my makeup and work clothes.

I try to leave my house by 7.30am, send Sophie to my aunt's place, pesan apa yang patut, drive off to work while aiming to arrive by 8.15am because my punch in machine is 10 minutes early (I start work at 8.30am). Memang I'm in a time crunch everyday ni. Kalo dulu I get a taste of what it's like to be a stay at home mom, now I'm experiencing the working mom like. Kudos and respect for all working moms out there for sure. Ini belum lagi anak sudah besar sikit and malas mo bangun early in the morning. Sigh!

Whatever it is I'm thankful to have a job and my daughter so I will do whatever it takes to make things work. That's all for now, Cheers!

Love,
Phoebe

Pressures Of Motherhood..

Pictures Galore

Hello..
Initially I had wanted to do a Wordless Wednesday but I find it impossible to stop myself from typing captions for the photos. These are some of the pics of when I was preggers until delivery and some of Sophie's.

A word of caution before we proceed. There are images of my surgery so if you have a queasy stomach, I suggest that you skip this post. You will also be exposed to photos of me in my haggard, unmade-up face with my bulbous Rodolph-esque red nose that I had acquired during my pregnancy. Proceed with caution. Hehe..

A very preggy me. Was about 38 to 39 weeks at this time.

In the Delivery Suite and being dripped with Pitocin.

 The surgery

Sophia Mikhayla was born!

Wrapped in her pinky blanket

Sophie incubated. Kind of. Under the warm rays of light to keep her warm..

 Wheeled in from the Operating Theater. I was shaking like a leaf in the storm.

Still shaking and was unable to hold Sophia. They held her close to me and Sophia turned to rest her cheek against mine.

Held her for the first time. The sweetest feeling ever..

Mama love you sayang...

Sophia's tag..

Sophie, newborn..

Sophie, less than a week old (notice how big her romper is for her?)

8 days old..

Around 3 weeks old. See how fast she is filling in her romper? 

Almost a month old

 One month old!

Sophie at six and a half weeks. Awal2 sudah posing kasi keluar lidah. Ish2 anak mama ni.. Haha..

Some of the photos of myself are pretty ghastly and so I leave you some reminders that yours truly was not born looking like that...

Lots of Love,

Phoebe

I Knew Without A Doubt That I Am A Mom When

Hello there..
Today it really hit me that I was a mom. I mean, obviously I know I'm a mom. After all, I see and care for my daughter everyday and I love her with all my heart. However, never did I realize up till now just how much of a mom I have turned into.


If you know me, you would know that I am a major makeup junkie. I particularly loooovveee MAC and 'chasing' after items in their collections. There's just something so thrilling and satisfying about getting something before others could get their paws on it.


Recently, (almost 2 weeks ago) MAC came out with a fabulous collection called In Real Dimension. It comprises of liquid powder eye shadows and highlighters and everyone is raving about how good they are. Initially I wasn't impressed by the color selection I saw online but when I swatched Modern Pewter and Young Venus in person, I immediately fell in love. They are so pigmented and both of those colors are like nothing that I have in my collection.


One of the MUA there offered to check in KL if there were stocks left of those two colors because they were sold out at the MAC outlet here in 1Borneo. I agreed but was still quite on the fence about getting them and I didn't really think that they would have them anyway. I mean, MAC collections could get sold out in a matter of hours in KL after all.


Two days ago I got to know that I the colors that I was in love with was available still. Take a look at the colors. Aren't they absolutely gorgeous?

Modern Pewter

Young Venus

Whisper of Gilt

The first two are eyeshadows and can be used either wet or dry. The final shade is a highlighter. The shadows cost RM85 each and the highlighter should be between RM100 to RM125. The highlighter can also be used as an eyeshadow I heard. Don't you just love a versatile product?

Anyway, I'm digressing. The point is, together with shipping from KL I would be spending around RM300. Now if I was not a mom, even in my unemployed state right now I would have just gotten it. Seriously, even now for the past three days I have been trying to convince myself that it's worth the buy (it is!), that I haven't seen anything like it (this is the first time I've heard of a cool liquid powder eyeshadow and I have been buying MAC for about 2 years now) and that I would sorely regret not buying them (I would!) yada yada yada..

Yet while all the above would have swayed me into buying once upon a time (I could always eat Maggi Cup for a month), now at the back of my head I kept thinking of how much baby formula I could buy for my Sophia with RM300 (about 8 boxes, meaning 8 more weeks of keeping her well-fed) and how many diapers I could buy (roughly 6-7 plastics of 52 pcs, equalling to 12 weeks of keeping Sophie's bum clean and dry).


So, with that dear readers I have decided not to buy them and I knew without a doubt that I am a mom when I made that decision because my life is not just about me anymore and what I want anymore. Me, whom I personally think am quite self serving and selfish, is actually thinking of someone else for a change.


Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy. It took a lot of soul searching and I might have also fallen to my knees howling "Whyyyyyyy????!!!!" in the moonlight (being dramatic here) but looking at her face, insyaAllaah, I know she is worth sacrificing for. After all, what is a couple of cosmetics compared to my Miracle Baby right? Hm, come to think of it, they come quite close actually.. Hehe.. (I joke, I joke).


And so, I end this post like how any baby obsessed mother would do, with a picture of my daughter Princess Sophia Mikhayla.





Love,
Phoebe

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