Monday, February 28, 2011

Raina's First Food

Raina just turned 6 months last week and Alhamdulillah, I managed to breastfeed her exclusively.


She just started her very first food too! I was so excited to make my own baby food. I made a little research online and found out that a baby's first food doesn't have to be commercial infant rice cereals. Avocado, sweet potato and banana make great first foods for babies so I decided to start with...


Avocado!


Avocado has a creamy texture and it's loaded with essential fats and nutrients that are suitable for growing babies. Making pureed avocado is easy-peasy (well, making baby foods are all so easy!). You don't have to cook the avocado (Tip: a ripe avocado has greenish black skin and feels somewhat soft and squishy).


Just spoon out the "isi", blend/puree it with breast milk and it's done!


I made it really thin since it was her first time eating food.


I wasn't expecting Raina to love pureed avocado right away and to finish eating the whole bowl. I was mentally and emotionally ready for that because I have experienced it before (it can be very very frustrating when your child refuse to eat your homemade food ok!).


But guess what?
She LOVES it (even tho it tasted horrible)!



Seronok kasi baby makan. Lagi seronok kalau baby suka dan habis makan, kan?!


Ooo yum yum!


Watch this video of Raina having her very first meal. Kalau lambat suap, dia masuk jari dalam mulut! Hehe.





I gave her pureed avocado with breast milk for 3 days (I know it should be a 4-day wait rule but I ran out of avocado ;p).


The next day, I gave her pureed banana with breast milk. She didn't like it! 2 suap lepas tu tak nak dah. I was quite surprised because banana is sweeter and babies usually prefer sweeter food, no? So I stopped. I only gave her pureed banana with breast milk for a day.





The following day, I gave her sweet potato with breast milk. It has been 3 days now and she's okay with it. I'm thinking of giving her brown rice cereal with pears tomorrow.


By the way, if you're looking for baby food recipes, go to wholesomebabyfood.com. They have loads of recipe ideas for babies!

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 1:00 AM |





Friday, February 25, 2011

Winners of the Gap Casting Call

Remember the Gap Casting Call which was held December last year?
Well, they finally found the next faces of babyGap and GapKids!


I was invited to the celebration and appreciation event where the winners were announced. It was a private event, held at babyGap KLCC a couple of weeks ago.


My girls were all dressed up in babyGap.


Raina wore a pink tulle hem dress


and the cutest ballet flats!


I love the skirt leggings that Ayra wore.
And she loves that graphic tee because there's a cat on it!



The event started with a simple fashion show from babyGap and GapKids' Spring 2011 collection. My god, it was the cutest fashion show I've ever seen and not to mention, the funniest! Ada yang malu-malu, ada yang macam blur, ada yang syok pusing-pusing banyak kali. The toddlers were the funniest! Mereka seperti tak faham kenapa semua orang pandang kat mereka sambil bersorak-sorak, but I bet they were enjoying the attention sebab sengih-sengih jer kat semua orang. Comel gila!





I had my eyes on Jarrod, the boy in the middle wearing the striped cardigan. He has such a sweet smile and he knows how to pose! I don't know why but Jarrod reminded me of my nephew, Haris. Maybe the smile kot. Speaking of which, my sister Hanis just changed her blog to www.hanishaizi.com (sila belanja aku kasut sepasang! ;p)


Then it was time to announce the winners.


And the winners are...


Yay Jarrod is one of the winners!




There are 6 winners altogether and 2 of them are Malaysians - Jarrod and Mohammad Ezra. Their parents must be so proud to see their kids' faces terpampang besar-besar on babyGap/GapKids' window displays, huh!



Makan time
(the cheesecake is so yummy by the way)





I was given some Gap vouchers. Wee-hoo!


Of course I redeemed it straight away.
Rambang mata tengok semua baju comel!



My babyGap haul that day - some dresses and tops for my girls.



And of course... SHOES!

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 11:00 AM |





Wednesday, February 23, 2011

A website for moms and kids

My 2-year-old is an Apple savvy. Not only does she know how to use the iPhone and iPad, she knows how to use iMac too. We never really taught her how to use one; she just observed how my husband and I use it and applied it on her own. Whenever she sees the iMac is turned on and nobody is using it, she would climb on the swivel chair, sit on it, reach for the magic mouse and start using the computer macam orang besar! She knows the basic stuff like how to turn up/down the volume, click on something, type, even how to insert a disc! Mama dia umur 15 tahun baru tahu nak guna computer. LOL.


Kids nowadays, huh!




Ayra usually uses the computer to watch her favorite nursery rhymes on YouTube but the other day, I showed her the Connected Tots website and let her play the stimulator tool games. She was hooked!




There are 2 categories for the games: 1-3 years old and 4-6 years old. Currently there's only one game for each category and surprisingly, Ayra lagi terrer main the 4-6 years old game!


Animal Talk game



The 4-6 years old game is a dress up game and basically, you need to drag the clothing items to the correct body parts.


Ayra knows that the hat goes on the head, shoes go on the feet,
bag goes on the hand, watch goes on the wrist, and so on.


She got all correct. Good job, Ayra!




There are also story books for you to read to your child. Ayra made me read the stories for more than 3 times in a row (like she always does)!




In this website, you can also find out more about brain cells connections, how they work and most importantly some tips on how to stimulate your child's brain cells connections which I find very helpful.




It's a really interesting website, you mommies should browse it for yourself. You can request for a free sample of Anmum Essential milk for your kids too. Just click on the "Sample Request" icon at the bottom of the page and fill in your details. Don't you just love free samples?! Go get one at www.connectedtots.com.my!

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 11:00 AM |





Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Microwaved Chocolate Pudding

My oven decided to break down the day I made baked chocolate pudding for the first time (correct me if I'm wrong but it's also known as chocolate lava cake right?).


I only found out when I was about to bake these babies.




I was so excited and had high hopes for this one. I was planning to surprise my husband on our anniversary with homemade baked chocolate pudding because it is one of our MOST favorite desserts and it's pretty easy to make, compared to red velvet cake. Tiba-tiba oven pulak buat hal.


My husband suggested to try using our microwave instead. I set to microwave it for 5 minutes but took it out after just 2 minutes when I saw the cake rising like this.



Looks not bad right, but it was actually overcooked! There was no ooey-gooey melted chocolate inside. It was just an ordinary chocolate cake.


I microwaved another one for just 1 minute.... and this time it was undercooked. Instead of melted chocolate on the inside, it was the outside of the cake that was melting. And no, it didn't taste anything like the one we had at The Apartment. So frustrating!



But between the overcooked and undercooked "microwaved chocolate pudding", I prefer the overcooked one.


Guess we'll just have to go to The Apartment to satisfy our baked chocolate pudding craving in the mean time.

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 2:00 PM |





Friday, February 18, 2011

Gleek?

I think I'm starting to like Glee.

And it's all because of this - the song, the guy, the girl.





So. Freakin'. Charming.



Here's another favorite of mine - Baby. Glee's version is so much better (and cuter!) than Justin Bieber's.




Tiba-tiba aku suka gila lagu Justin Bieber! LOL.

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 11:30 PM |





Wednesday, February 16, 2011

My Connected Tot

You know, there's a new way of saying "smart kid".
It's CONNECTED TOT.


"Wow, your kid is so connected!". Hehe.


Well you see, all of us are born with 100 BILLION brain cells but not all are connected. For learning to happen, the brain cells need to connect with one another first so the more brain cells connect, the faster the learning happens. So if a child is able to apply what he/she has observed and learned into everyday life, he/she is called a Connected Tot. Connected tots are the little ones who build a pool of knowledge by forming connections with the things around them. Like the little girl in this video (my goodness, she's so adorable!).





The video is pretty interesting as there's a few different endings based on the item you clicked on. Cuba try test! ;D




I'm sure you mommies have experienced the "Connected Tot" moments with your child too, right? I have, lots of time. The most recent one was when Ayra was not feeling well. She had cold and sore throat so when she sneezed or coughed, I applied this Children's Vapor Balm (kind of like Vicks) on her chest and back to make her feel better. She likes it!


Cantik tak dinding rumah saya? Hasil "kerja" Ayra la tu!


A few days later, Raina pulak berjangkit selsema dan batuk dari kakak dia. When Ayra first heard her sister coughed, she quickly took the vapor balm and to my surprise, tried to apply it on Raina's chest just the way I did to her. I was amazed!


Doctor Ayra




Her brain cells are making connections and she applied what she had observed earlier: kalau selsema atau batuk, sapu vapor balm. She's a connected tot!


Kids never fail to amuse and amaze us, do they? Everyday is a surprise; there's always something new that they would "show" us. It's definitely one of the best things about being a parent! :)


If you want to learn more about Connected Tots, visit http://www.connectedtots.com.my.

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 10:00 AM |





3 years

Dear Husband,

Exactly 3 years ago...

You married me and made me the happiest woman in the world
(I know I made you the happiest man in the world too!)



And now 3 years later...

We couldn't be more happy and blessed with these beautiful gifts from God!



Thank you for being such an awesome husband and a wonderful father to my children.
I love you... so very very much!

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 12:00 AM |





Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Driving in the mall

This "car rental service" for kids at One Utama is genius. Genius!





I wish all malls have this kind of service. It makes shopping with kids a whole lot easier and not to mention, fun!
(Ayra elok jer duduk diam dalam kereta dia for 2 whole hours while I went shopping).

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 12:00 AM |





Saturday, February 12, 2011

Nikon Coolpix S1100pj Camera Review

The other day when I was at my parents' house, Ayra took my iPhone and started playing with the flashcard app. My mom saw it and said, "Pandainya. Mama dulu nak ajar korang, buat flashcard sendiri. Sekarang tak payah, semua dah canggih".


Yeah everything is so canggih nowadays, huh!


I have to admit, iPhone and iPad are the greatest learning tools for Ayra, besides educational VCDs and books. But that's not all. I just discovered another gadget that I can use to teach my kid.


A camera!


I was given this Nikon Coolpix S1100pj in violet. The camera comes in three other colors as well - black, silver and green.




To be honest, I had never seen a camera like this before. The Nikon Coolpix S1100pj is not like any regular compact camera because it has a built-in projector, which by the way, can make a cool flashcard for my kid (more on that later). It also comes with a remote control!



It's like the world's cutest remote control, doncha think?


Besides for the projector, you can use the remote control to take pictures as well. You know how cumbersome it can be when taking self-portraits or using a self-timer, right? That's when you use this remote control. No need to lari lintang-pukang anymore when you set the timer on for a group photo or anything. Just point the remote control's infrared emitter at the camera and press the button when you're all ready. How cool is that?!


I've been spending the past few days testing out this camera and taking TONS of photos. The first thing I snapped is my object of affection: my kids of course!


This camera has a touchscreen LCD.




With flash


Without flash
(Raina was wriggling herself so her image is a bit blurry)



There are 17 scene modes which are Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night portrait, Party/indoor, Beach, Snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Night landscape, Close-up, Food, Museum, Fireworks show, Copy, Backlighting and Panorama assist. Here are some photos that I tested out using the different scene modes:


Portrait mode
(who said I have flawless skin? Got bintik-bintik and chicken pox scars la on my forehead)


Food mode


Night landscape mode


Copy mode



I think the photos are not bad for a point-and-shoot camera.


Now here comes my favorite part - the filter effects! You can apply a variety of effects on your captured photos using the digital filter such as Color options, Soft, Selective color, Cross screen, Fisheye or Miniature effect.


The Soft effect gives the picture a soft look by blurring the area surrounding the point that you tap and makes it as the main focus. So nice!






Then there's Fisheye effect, which makes the picture looks like it's taken using fisheye lens.



Ok that's creepy.



My absolute favorite effect is the Cross screen! It produces starry rays of light that radiate outward from bright or shiny objects. It makes your pictures look so sparkly, like bling-bling. Love it!


Sparkly baby ballet flats


Sparkly Anya Hindmarch logo


Sparkly necklace


Sparkly ring


And sparkly heel.
My shoe looked like it's made of diamonds!!


Ok enough of bling-bling already.


There's also Glamour Retouch which can be used to soften the skin tone of faces detected in the picture and it makes the faces look smaller with bigger eyes, like it's been photoshopped! You can doodle and decorate your pictures as well with butterflies, rainbows, hearts, stars, add a frame, insert a date stamp and add a voice memo.





Of course the highlight of this camera is the projector. The built-in projector projects pictures and movies onto any flat surfaces, making it a cool way to share pictures and HD movies with your friends and family.





With your own creativity, you can use the projector for lots of fun things. Check out this video how the projector is used to distract a crying baby, call a waitress at a restaurant for a refill and a cute way to propose to a girl!





You may be wondering how I use the projector as a flashcard for my kid.
Well, here's a short video I made to show to you guys.




Pretty cool, huh? ;D
If you like unique features in your digital camera, then you might like this Nikon Coolpix S1100pj!

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She slipped off her pink stilettos at 4:45 PM |





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