Outgrowing Her Separation Anxiety

At 3.5 years old, my little Ziyi is slowly outgrowing her separation anxiety. She has followed my PIL out on 2 different occasions lately, without asking for mummy to follow. I also realized she is starting to get close and attach to daddy more as compared to her younger days, where she never really liked daddy to touch her, carry her, feed her, bathe her, etc.. 

Yesterday she allowed daddy to bring her out to the playground too, unlike few months ago, where she would cry murder when I didn't follow, or she'd rather stayed home than to go to the playground with daddy!

I feel more relief now that she's giving me a little space to breathe and not clinging onto me too much like before. 

Cutting her hair short, again

It wasn't easy coaxing this little girl to cut her hair. She never allowed anyone to cut her hair since she was a baby. She had phobia seeing hairs dropped on the floor or on her body.  As she grows, she outgrew her phobia too. Her very first hair cut at a salon was when she turned 4 months old where we shaved her hair off. Second time was somewhere mid this year and now this is the 3rd time. In between I tried trimming her hair at home every now and then but it was a really tough job to perform.

I was glad this time she allowed the stylist to cut her hair without making a fuss! She got a little impatient towards the end, kept asking me if it's done. I like her in short hair, she looks so much cuter now!

Reading skills

Ziyi's reading skills has improved tremendously. She can now reads most of the words in her simple story books and activity books. 

She is always reading from her Dora The Explorer  and Thomas & Friends story books. 

   

She can even read the instructions on all her activity books, like "Add up all the lambs on this page" and "Count the number of flowers and place the missing stickers" etc, etc. That's truly amazing for a soon to be 3.5 year old kid. Another plus point is that mummy gets a break while she does her reading all by herself. 

That being said, she may be the studious type but not the creative one. Maybe we should engage her into more art & craft activities and imaginative play to bring out her creativity rather than being a book worm all the time. I definitely don't want a nerdy daughter. >.<

Boosting my immune system!

Dang! I've been down with cold pretty often ever since I had Ziyi. Pregnancy and parenting has taken its toll on my health! I realized I hardly fell sick before my pregnancy until I had Ziyi 3+ years ago.

What has caused my weaken immune system? Late nights and interrupted sleeps? I've become a light sleeper ever since this baby was born. My motherly instinct keeps me awake few times in the middle of the night to check on her, to see if she is warm enough, to check if she wets her bed, etc etc. Worse when she is ill.

I'm now having cough and blocked nose, which is causing my extreme headache too! Breathing through my mouth is making me burping all the time due to gassy stomach. Totally irritating. I'm going to stock up on immune system boosting supplements. I've read so much about Esberitox N and I'm going to give that a shot. 3 times a day, plus my Blackmores Vitamin C. It's high time to do something about it before the big move to migrate to Australia, I am pretty sure I will be even more prone to cold and cough with the crazy weather there.

As for Ziyi, she is supplemented with Seven Seas Multivitamin and Probiotics. That should work well with her.

Ziyi is down with fever

Viral attack! The hubs got it first, then Ziyi's turn now. She had mild fever on Sunday and a full blown fever attack on Monday morning.

• Her temperature was hovering between 37.5 - 39.4 on Monday & Tuesday. 
• Didn't bring her to the doctor, self treating her for at least 3 days, and if fever is still high, then only decide to bring her to the doctor's clinic.
• I administered her with Paracetamol & Nurofen, alternating them at 3 hourly interval.
• Fed her with meehoon soup with fishball, plain porridge and plain bread. Lots of fluids - plain water, barley water and coconut water.
• Sponge her with wet towel whenever her temp shoots up.
• She was bored with her choices of food, and asking for bananas on Tuesday! I had to go all over our neighborhood in the morning to look for banana. After a few rounds & stops, finally found a shop selling decent looking bananas! Why can't they open a decent fruits shop in this area???
• Her temperature went down on Tuesday night, but decided to let her rest another day before sending her to kindy on Thursday.
• Today (3rd day), she stayed home and ate bread with butter and plain porridge. 

This is the first time I didn't rush her to the doc's clinic for falling sick with high temperature. She's very prone to throat infection which leads to high fever. I'm glad this time I was able to control her temperature well and hope to send her to kindy tomorrow again.

Dinner at Yin Her Restaurant Sg Buloh

It was PIL's 35th anniversary 2 weeks ago, we had a dinner gathering at Yin Her Restaurant in Sg Buloh. It was my 2nd time to this place and I like their food which is good and reasonably priced too. 

The fishing pond behind the restaurant

I like this picture

Mantis prawn fried in butter sauce

Stir fried deer meat in black pepper sauce

Curry fish head

Our food just before whacking them!

The total bill came up to about RM170+. Very cheap eh for KL standard and environment was ok too especially for a fussy person like me.

Off diapers at 3y 4mths

I almost forgot to note this down. Ziyi was completely off the diapers at 3y 4mo, day and night. She has been off diapers during the day when she was almost 3yo. At times I wish she would wear her diapers when we are out and about especially at places where toilets are not easily available and as we know Malaysian toilets can be wet and foul smelling too.

For the past 1 month (she is now 3y 5mo when I typed this post), there was only 1 accident at night, which I think she was too tired to wake up to relieve herself. But I was glad she woke me up and told me she wet her pants!

I save a lot of $$ now that she doesn't use diapers and I still have 1 big unopened pack of diaper lying in my room. I shall keep it for another 6 months or so before giving it away.

Our weekly visit to Kheng's Kopitiam

Ever since the hubs discovered this kopitiam in Kota Kemuning, we have been visiting Kheng's every weekend, without fail. He likes the coffee and Mee Siam there, whereas I like their nyonya kuih. Their choice of kuih varies daily. Ziyi will definitely help herself with 2 servings of the kuih and she likes ang ku kueh the most.  We like most of the food and drinks served at Kheng's Kopitiam and most importantly the place is clean and comfy too.

Last weekend we went there for afternoon tea without Ziyi. We sneaked out of the house when she was at home taking her nap. The hubs had Nasi Lemak Biasa and his usual coffee fix. 

Peanut butter toast

Drinks and bread counter

My ice cendol

French toast

Our weekend

Weekends are quality family time for us, but it can also be stressful for me, even more than working days. I need to plan outings and activities to keep my hyperactive 3 year old occupied. I don't quite like the idea of keeping her still in front of the TV or iPad unless really necessary. 

We try to avoid the malls as they can be over crowded due to the long school holiday now. We brought her to the neighborhood park in the morning before heading off for breakfast. I shall try to make this our weekly routine, at least once a week :)

Graduation Concert 2011

Ziyi's school graduation concert was held on the 16th Nov this year. It was also her very first performance on stage. The hubs and I were very excited and just could't wait to watch her performance. He took the day off as he needed to renew his passport in the morning. Apparently the renewing process was a speedy one, everything done through a machine kiosk and you get to collect your renewed passport 1 hour later. 

We fetched Ziyi from her school at 2pm and I got her prepared for her afternoon nap at home. It took her almost 2 hours to fall asleep, and by that time it was almost 3.30pm and I had to wake her at 4.30pm as we had to leave our home at 5pm. With just 1 hour of nap, she appeared cranky and restless. I made her some pancakes with cheese and cherry tomatoes, drizzled with honey. No time to feed her at home, lucky she liked it and whacked everything in the car. 

Bad day to leave the house at 5pm, it started raining and the traffic was really bad. Took us slightly more than an hour to reach Summit (only 15km from our place) and we were late. We had a hard time looking for the auditorium too and once we found the place, we realized there were many parents who were going to reach even later, no thanks to the massive traffic out there!

She was very happy when waiting inside the changing room. Running and playing with her friends. I sneaked in and took a few shots of her with her friends too. She kept telling me that she's going to dance and mummy & daddy must see her performing later. 

She has a bare back costume, she looks so cute in them.

her best friend in school

When it was her turn to perform, we waited anxiously and both hubs and I were ready with our cameras. We were shocked to see her crying when walking up the stage! My poor little girl had a stage fright I guess. This is her first performance in front of a big group of audiences after all. No rehearsal was done at the actual venue thus she did not know what to expect, I supposed. Ziyi was asking for mummy and I had to sit on the floor, near to the stage so that she could see me there.

The 3 & 4 years old performed a simple chinese dance. 

They sang Krista and Rasa Sayang song for the closing of the concert.

Overall, we were happy with her performances though she was lost for a little while when she first got onto the stage. A very good exposure and experience for her. Hope she would perform better in the future and not be like mummy....I have stage fright too!! 

Home-cooked Food

As usual, I will cook healthy meals for Ziyi every weekend, and at times when I have the mood to cook, I would cook for us too. Last weekend I cooked a big pot of porridge for the 3 of us. I've always like pork ribs porridge. But not so much for the hubs as he's not a big fan of anything porky. 

Par boiled ribs, peanuts & ginger (to expel wind)

I boiled these ingredients in the slow cooker for almost 2 hours before adding in the rice. Ribs & peanuts usually take longer time to cook.

Added pumpkin, potatoes & purple cabbage 

Washed & soaked organic 5 grains & red rice for 2 hours before cooking

The porridge was sweet and fragrant with minimal seasoning used. I like it garnished with fried shallots. I forgot to take a pic of the final product though :)

The Way She Speaks

I'd better jot this down now before I forget. Last night when I was cleaning Ziyi up and changing her into her pyjamas, I realized she needs a few new sets of pj's as she's slowly outgrowing her current ones.

Me: mummy is going to buy you new pyjamas, ok?


Ziyi: i want Thomas pyjamas 


Me: no Thomas


Ziyi: then i want Dora pyjamas


Me: no Dora too


Ziyi: why everything don't have one??? (with a sulky face)


Hubs and I burst out laughing! Do 3 year olds speak like this nowadays?? We probably did not during our time.

Pretending to smile when told to smile for the camera

Home-cooked Food

Some pics on what I cooked for Ziyi and us too......

I fried wholewheat noodle with minced meat, vegetable and lots of garlic for her lunch & dinner. She has stopped using bibs for the longest time and when I put this bib on for her the other day, she kept laughing and said she's a baby :)

She only gets to use my iPad on weekends, here she was learning to write and enjoying her meal at the same time. Bad idea, I know, but this keeps her still at the dining table though.

Fried fish with oyster sauce, stir fried french beans with roasted pork and sambal tumis with prawns and lady fingers.

Ziyi's food...stir fried broccoli + capsicum + chicken fillet + mushroom with rice.. yummy

oh yeah, this picture is just to tell you that I'm currently hooked on passion fruit! I like it better this way than to mix with honey drink. Even Ziyi likes it but I only give her the juice coz I think the flesh and seeds are too harsh on her digestive system.

Coloring competition

What do you think of the pic above? Nice work? I think so too, at least for a 3 year old girl. 

Ziyi's school organized a coloring competition recently and she won a prize for her piece of art! 

My lil sweetie pie, we are so proud of you!! 

The Sterimar Ordeal

Ziyi's pediatrician swears by it! Each time we go to him for minor cough & cold, he will advise us to use the Sterimar nasal spray for Ziyi.  

My first attempt with this on Ziyi was in Feb '11. I gave up after that very first attempt! She screamed, ran, shouted and wailed! I gave the Sterimar to my mom instead and she said it was very effective on clearing her stuffy nose.

This time around, Ziyi was dragged to the Doc's office again when she had a cough for almost 2 weeks, from dry to wet cough. Doc diagnosed her and commented that her case was post nasal drip, thus causing the phlegm. Funny though, she did not have any flu or cold, just coughing at night. But anyhow, the doctor is still the expert in this and I'll just have to trust him and followed his instructions. 

We were told to administer her with Zyrtec and spray her nose with the Sterimar twice a day. I had a hard time explaining, bribing & threatening her but she still refused to let me use the spray. I still managed to do it once a day before her bedtime with some force and threats though. After doing it forcefully for 4 days, when I thought of giving up, she willingly allowed me to spray her nose instead! She was even very proud of herself and announced to everyone that she was a brave girl. 

I think one has to get used to it and it caused just a slight discomfort to your nose......I actually haven't used this before and dare not try it on my own too..........hehehe.

This pic was taken when she was still having her cough, but I allowed her to have her occasional indulgence.... marshmallow dipped with melted choc, choc cakes, fruits, buns, crackers, and the most forbidden of all, 1 scoop of ice cream! She was a happy child that night!

Big hug & big kiss

I saved our family photo as my laptop's desktop background. Last night when Ziyi saw the photo, she exclaimed loudly "MY FAMILY!"

She even said to me: "Mummy, give me a big hug and a big kiss...I Love You mummy!!!"

aaawwww........that's sooo sweet and lovely of her. 

my cutie monkey enjoying her time at the playground

The Big Bad Wolf Sale 2011

This is what I got from the sale. 12 books altogether, only 1 for myself :)

Total damage: RM83 (that's cheap! must go for their sale again next time)

Ziyi loves all of them and she was busy flipping her books the minute she saw them. I hope she will remain to be a book lover in the future.

Angry Ziyi..

Strong willed girl with attitude, that is how I would brand my 3yo girl. 

She got reprimanded by me one morning for spitting out her chewable vitamin in the car while I was driving her to the kindy despite me warning her not to spit it out. I got mad at her and threaten to throw her out of the car.  She cried a little and apologize after that.

When we reached her kindy, me being a "long-winded" person, reminded her again on what happened in the car earlier, stressing that the vitamin helps to prevent her from falling sick so that she could have her ice-cream again. She told me off by saying "NO ICE-CREAM, I DON'T WANT ICE-CREAM".... 

and off she went into the kindy. 

I called her to say goodbye and she refused to respond. Despite me calling her numerous times, she still refused to turn around and just walked straight into the kindy! My girl was mad at me for scolding her earlier. 

Later when I fetched her in the evening, she told her caretaker that she doesn't want mummy, just want daddy. Gosh, my little 3yo girl was holding grudges against me!

She is glued to the TV most of the time, another TV addict in the making.

Organic Oatmilk from BMS

We went to BMS near my house last Friday to get my mom her sugar-free oatmilk.  As usual, I was browsing for other stuffs and I spotted their organic 5 grain rice. I bought that to cook for Ziyi's weekend meals. She eats regular white rice in her school on weekdays, so I thought she should eat better quality food whenever I cook for her. 

The friendly staff there let her try a glass of their children range of oatmilk too. It's slightly sweetened with corn syrup and oligosaccharide. Ziyi likes it very much and she asked for more. So she was given a 2nd glass, but this time is kid's unsweetened soymilk. Tasted just as good.

I bought her the O'Kid Oatmilk to try. The staff told me to switch her formula milk to this oatmilk but I don't quite like the idea of giving Ziyi sweetened drinks 3 times a day religiously. She's going to drink this on weekends only, as her snacks.