Black Pepper Grilled Chicken

Besides the Honey Chicken, I have also bought another 5 chicken drumsticks to grill them with black pepper. This dish was something I came up while experimenting with our oven. The ingredients I used are again simple and the method simpler. While the children preferred the honey chicken because it is sweeter, the adults preferred this.

Ingredients:

• Chicken drumstick or half chicken
• 2 tablespoon of black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of white pepper
• 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon of coarse grind black pepper
• 1/2 cup of Chinese white wine (sometimes I used red wine instead)
• Dash of salt

Method:

• Clean and drain dry chicken
• Marinate chicken and leave for 1 hour
• Arrange chicken on baking tray and cook at 250c for 10 minutes on one side.
• Overturn and bake for another 10 minutes
• Remove and serve hot.

I overcooked this last weekend because I accidentally set the timer to 15 minutes for the first side. When I realised it, the drumsticks were already a little dry. But the family was kind enough to finish every single piece. (Of course, otherwise, no more grilling and baking from me..hehe)

Honey Chicken

Last Sunday, my brother in law and his family as well as my mother in law came over for dinner. It has been a number of weekends that they have not drop by. Since it was a long weekend, I have decided to try out a recipe from the confinement recipe book. They called it Honey Chicken. Instead of having half a chicken as recommended, I bought 5 drumsticks instead (since I love chicken drumsticks).

It was pretty easy to prepare and it turned out quite well. Well at least judging from all the empty plates and heaps of bones left-over, I guess I can said it was a success.

Seasoning ingredients:-

• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of abalone sauce
• Dash of pepper
• 1 tablespoon of ginger wine

Method:

• Clean and drain dry chicken drumsticks
• Marinate chicken and leave for 1 hour
• Apply one thin layer of honey on chicken and arrange on baking tray. Cook at 250c for 10 minutes on one side
• Overturn and apply another thin layer of honey and cook for another 10 minutes
• Remove, brush with honey (optional) and serve hot.

For confinement, the recipe book recommended pounded and squeezed ginger juice and shallots juice as part of the seasoning ingredient. When served, sprinkle with fried ginger strips.

Besides the honey chicken, I also used another 5 drumstick to prepare Black Pepper Grilled chicken. More of that in the next post.

The Best Morning View!

Have you ever tread waking up in the morning? Or are there certain mornings that you wish that you could wake up in a totally different place? Have you ever wish that the first sight that greets you will be a nice beach with the sound of breaking waves or the serene rising sun over a calm lake among the chirping of birds?

Well, there are still many mornings that both my wife and I have the same feeling, especially with the gloomy global economic situation looming. We both know that the days where we could wake up by the beach or a lakeside chalet are limited with the current economic uncertainties.

But this morning, both of us realised that we have found another beautiful sight that greets us each morning. A sight that will bring a smile to our face without fail. It is the sight of Ryan sleeping soundly and the moment that he wakes up, smiling when we call out his name and greets him good morning.

No matter how tired both of us are, or how cranky he was the night before, or the amount of work and livelihood's pressure is ahead of us, Ryan has never failed to cheer us up each morning and remind us that he is our hope and our love. His smile gives us the encouragement and the motivation to continue to struggle and toil with no regrets nor complaints, knowing that every toil, sweat and tear is well worth that special magical smile that greets us each morning.

That my friends, is our BEST Morning View!

Overly engrossed in our babies??

Every parent is proud of their little ones. This is especially true with first time parents. Who can blame them. For the very first time in their lives, they witnessed and brought a cute, little precious bundle of joy into the world. The baby is their everything. The baby is their world, or the world revolves around their little new arrival. When you talked to them, their eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement and they will start rambling about this and that about their baby. "She is so cute!". And being Asians, it is also common to hear their parents said, " Aiyah. She ar...very naughty lar!. At night, don't want to sleep some more. Only wants to be carried leh...aiyah..so tired lar..." (All these said while smiling and grinning from ear to ear, occasionally planting a few kisses on the baby's forehead) You know it's not a complaint but our humble Asian manner of `praising' our children and how proud a parent we really are.

Being proud of our children is good, but what happen when we become overly engrossed with them, forgetting that we still have a life to live, work to do, money to make and responsibility to fulfill.

We recently returned to the pet shop where we bought Zoewe, our dear little toy poodle. The owner was sitting behind the counter and gave us a smile and greeted us. In our previous visits, he would have asked us what were we looking for and proceed to recommend new toys, dog biscuits or stuff for our Zoewe. Our conversation will most definitely be about our pets and their recent mischiefs.

This visit however, was totally different. Why? Because we brought Ryan along and his wife just delivered a baby boy as well. For the entire 25 minutes that we were there, he was so busy and proudly telling us all about his baby, how cute, how naughty etc etc. The usual `selling' was surprisingly missing. We showed him a tin of home made dog biscuits with some trapped insect, and he just put it away, without asking us whether we would want another tin. He was apparently more contented to continue sharing with us about his baby. There we were, in a pet shop and the owner was not `selling' any products related to pets but he was `selling' his baby!

He is a proud father and so am I, which leads me to seriously evaluate myself. Am I equally over engrossed with my baby that I too am guilty of rambling the whole day about him, forgetting my responsibilities as a bread winner and a husband besides just being a dotting father? Have I got overly engrossed in Ryan for my own good. Is there a time for everything? A time to work, a time to play, a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time for wife, a time for Ryan and lastly a time for me and my own reflection......

Go Easy with those hands on the breast!

Now now. Before you start thinking naughty naughty thoughts on what this post is all about, let me just assure you that there is nothing of this sort.

After delivery, my wife over the last 1.5 months have suddenly developed an acute pain in her left wrist. It got worse to a point that she could not even hold a cup of water properly without feeling any pain. We bought a wrist guard thinking that she could have sprained her wrist but it doesn’t seem to help.

Finally, not being able to bear the pain much longer, we made an appointment to see an orthopaedic in Damansara Specialist Centre yesterday.

The moment we walked in and told him about the pain, he asked “Have you just given birth?” Both of us were astonished and asked him how he knew. (Looking back, it’s kind of foolish, asking a specialist whom is paid and is expected to know such things). He said “You have De Quervain’s Tendinitis.”

“Huh? What De Q…what?”

Apparently, De Quervain’s Tendinitis occurs when the tendons around the base of the thumb are irritated and constricted. Tendinitis meant that the tendons are swollen and hence the thickening of the tendons results in pain and tenderness along the thumb side of the wrist. Tendinitis is caused by overuse and can also be seen in association to pregnancy and is usually more common in middle-aged woman. (More information here) (My wife is going to kill me for calling her `middle-aged'. Sensitive word!)

He asked whether my wife has been overusing his left wrist or thumb lately. I gave her a quick glance and smiled. She has been faithfully expressing her breast milk for baby Ryan and have been vigorously massaging her breast using her left hand, putting a lot of pressure on her wrist and thumb. (She is adamant that she must have a certain volume each session!)

There you have it. Go easy with your hands when you are expressing breast milk. It might be hand that needs medication and not the breast.

The doctor gave her a cocticosteriods injection into the tendon sheath to reduce the swelling and pain, as well as a dose of anti-inflammatory medication. All in all, the 20 minutes visit cost us RM350. RM350 to learn a new medical jargon and spell it right too. DE QUERVAIN’S TENDINITIS. (Sounds like a spell from Harry Potter, doesn’t it?)

Warehouse Sale for My Dear Products

My Dear Baby and Children products Warehouse Sale is BACK! When we were preparing for Ryan's arrival, we read about it in the newspaper and drove there a day after the election. It was rather scary because the election results were being announced amidst fears of riots and here we were, totally lost in some industrial area in Puchong! But fears were replaced with sheer excitement when we finally found the place because there were so many bargains that would definitely interest any expecting parents.

We didn't walk away empty handed. We bought a Playpen as well as a baby carrier that Ryan's is currently still using. We were tempted to buy other stuff such as strollers (fortunately, we didn't because we got a COMBI from a friend) and baby car seat. We have a hand-me-down baby car seat from a friend and Ryan is fast out-growing it. I guess we might just make a trip there and see whether we could get any good bargains.

It would be much easier now as we knew the important landmark would be George Kent factory. Else, we could still trust our GPS to get us there again.

See you there!

Don't just hire them, brand them.

There is so much that we do not know about how to raise our little one properly. What we are constantly looking out for is good advice and guidance. We all know that good playing aids will help and places like ELC (Early Learning Centre) should be able to assist. Well, suffice to say, their retail outlets are definitely loaded with lots of aids but what is seriously lacking is good advice.

We walked into an ELC outlet last weekend, looking for a good ABC learning book for Ryan. The outlet was manned by a lone staff who really looked like she rather be elsewhere. Not only were we not greeted with a nice `Good morning’, she was not even smiling! We spent a good 10 minutes in the shop browsing, looking for what we `want’ (although we do not have the faintest idea being new parents) and no one approach us to advise. In fact, there were 3 other pretty ladies whom I believed are shopping for some gifts for their friend who has just delivered and all of us walked out of the shop empty handed without buying a single item. And the staff could care less!

What make a great shopping experience for any customer is the service, personal attention and sound advice given by the outlet staff. Far too often, many organizations have forgotten to invest in training their staff and proceed to carefully brand them besides giving them their uniforms. Give them an identity and carefully cultivate a corporate personality that is unique to the organization. Be different. Go the extra mile.

When we walked into a baby outlet for example, what we need is a passionate person who would enjoy sharing with us what our 4.5 months old needs and how their respective products will help him. What ELC probably would need is not a staff manning the cash register. What ELC should probably have are trained and knowledgeable staff in children’s early development. (that is what they are branding themselves anyway).

Needless to say, we could not find anything interesting in ELC but we spent RM70 buying a ABC learning aid from another outlet just because the staff talked to us, found out what we were looking for and showed us options that could interest us. We could have easily spent the RM70 at ELC but I guess they can survive without our small transaction.

If you are just going to hire them and not train and brand them, you might as well fire them.

A Busy and Expensive Weekend

Last weekend turned out to be rather busy and expensive weekend for us. On Saturday, we managed to get Ryan to wake up early. All we wanted was to have a good breakfast at Toast Box at Sunway Pyramid. So off we went for our breakfast. After a good breakfast, we thought of buying some napkin for Ryan since his saliva is drenching his clothes nowadays. We bought him a couple. Then we saw some nice cloth napkin pants. After the last incident where Ryan developed nappy rashes and some good advice from Cookie, we bought him three Pureen cloth napkin pants which cost us close to Rm14 each.

Because we taught that it was just going to be a short breakfast trip, we forgot to put on his booties or his shoes. Ryan has developed a nasty habit of scrubbing his two little legs together and it gets all red if he is not wearing any booties. So, off we went hunting for a pair of booties. We ended buying a pair of booties and a new pair of shoes that cost us another RM60!

A look at our watch and we started to realise that our stomach was growling. We treated ourselves to a good lunch at Tony Romas and Ryan seemed to enjoy the atmosphere too.

That is not the end of our shopping spree. On Sunday, we ended up in Sunway Pyramid again for our breakfast. After a good breakfast, we wanted to buy him a ABC reading book. Walked into ELC but was rather turned off by the outlet's staff attitude. (More about that in another posting). We ended up in Wonders Tots and ended buying him his first alphabet learning book that set us back RM70.

The only consolation we have is that Ryan is pretty excited about his new book and is eagerly pulling out all the figures and putting them into his mouth!!

Chinese Herbs for Confinement

Chinese believes a woman's first 30 days immediately after delivery (also known as confinement period) is an important period to renourish the body. Hence, traditional and years of history have passed down a list of Chinese herbs that should be consumed, essential toward renourishing and rebuilding the health of the new mother.

I am no expert in Chinese herbs or medicine. All I know was we were instructed to get these specific herbs for the confinement lady to prepare the required dishes for my wife. From the list that we have and also after referring to some confinement recipe cook books, I have compiled a list of Chinese herbs commonly used during confinement in one way or another. You might want to refer to your `confinement lady' or your elders to confirm the list to acquire, but please do acquire them early. Once you have delivered, you would not have the time to go shopping for them and believe me, your husband (like I am) will be equally busy and `blur' when it comes to these.

The list of most commonly used herbs include the following:-

• Red Dates (lots of it because these dates are also boiled as drinking water)
• Black Dates
• Dried Longan
• Black Fungus
• Dang Shen
• Dang Gui (Chinese Angelica)
• Wolfberries (lots of these as well because they are required in a lot of dishes)
• Dried scallops
• Cordyceps
• Bei Qi

Other herbs would also include:-

• Pao Shen (Ginseng)
• Shou Wu
• Shou Di
• Huai San (Dioscorea yam)
• Yuk Chuk (Hoi Chuk which is apparently better or so I am told)
• Red Grain Rice

Besides the above, get ready lots of old ginger, sesame oil and black peppercorn which are used in almost every dish. Apart from that, Chinese wine such as Chinese white rice wine, glutinous rice wine and Shaoxing wine will also comes in handy.

Well, I hope that the list above helps you to prepare for your coming `wonderful' period of what Chinese called `CONFINEMENT.' (Confine - restrain from going out, prevent from doing certain things, limited to only consume certain predetermined food). Now, how wonderful can that be?

The sound that calms him down

I am sure that many parents here would agree that there is a unique sound that will calm individual babies. Whenever they are in their cranky sleepy mood, this unique sound will soothe them, calm and `hypnotise' (if I may call it) them. I have heard stories from other mothers that their baby will calm down if they are made to listen to the same sounds that they were frequently exposed to while they were in the womb. We did play lots of children and kiddies songs when my wife was carrying Ryan but surprisingly, I have found a different sound that will soothe him and puts him gently to sleep almost every time I tried.

It's the sound of running water from our little gold fish pond in the garden. Don't ask me why because I have no glue. But I have noticed that whenever he is cranky and wanted to sleep, he could fall asleep faster if I carry him close the fish pond and let him listen to the sound of running water. It happened last night and again this morning. He was fast asleep within minutes and without his pacifier too.

So, what is the unique sound that pacifies your baby? Does it work everytime? It will be interesting to compile and see what types of sound will calm the baby down.

Chicken fried with Ginger and Garlic

Was going through some of the dishes that we cooked during my wife's confinement. Here is another one that we had. As with most confinement dishes, lots of ginger, kampung chicken and wine. A pretty simple dish to whip out.

Ingredients:-

• 1/2 `Kampung' chicken. (I like to use only chicken drumsticks)
• 100g sliced ginger
• 4 nos of flatten garlic cloves
• 5 tablespoon of glutinous rice wine

Seasoning:-

• 2 tablespoon of light soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce

Steps:

• Clean chicken, cut into small pieces and drain well
• Heat 3 tablespoon of sesame oil to fragant the ginger slices and garlic
• Add in the chicken pieces and fry over low heat till aromatic.
• Add in glutinous wine and seasoning. Stir well until the sause is thickened slightly. Dish is ready to be served.

This dish can be cooked not only during the confinement period. In fact, we have been cooking this dish quite regularly when we feel like having chicken. Just had it with the lemon grass black chicken soup.

Lemon Grass With Black Chicken Soup

A couple of weeks ago, was thinking what soup to boil for dinner. Then I remembered that we still have half a black chicken. So, I browsed through the confinement recipe cookbook to see whether are there any new simple soup to boil. Came across this recipe where they were recommending to use one old chicken. Well, will have to make do with the half black chicken.

Steps and ingredients are simple.

Ingredients:-

• half black chicken
• 2 stalks of lemon grass
• 50g pounded peppercorns
• 5 shallots with skins removed and crushed
• 1000ml water
• 1 bowl of white rice wine

Cooking Steps:

• Blanch chicken in boiling water and drain
• Put all ingredients and chicken into pot and boil for 2 to 3 hours.

As usual, my wife loves it. So does my maid.

Ryan's on MyBaby July Edition Front Cover!

Super Cool! Barely 4.5 months old and he made it to the front cover and he looks good too. Haha. Now, before you rush to grab the very few last copies available from the book stores or new stands, I would like to inform you that there is only one single copy available. Talk about truly limited edition.

Found this site to upload a photo and create your very own magazine cover for free from `Spices of Life & Everything Nice' blog. Thought of having a little fun. Try it out. Many other templates available for different subjects.

Bird Nest Soup during Pregnancy

My wife was advised to drink lots of bird nest soup during her pregnancy. She barely got started and baby Ryan came prematurely. Apparently, drinking bird nest soup especially during the final three months will help to develop the baby's smooth skin. Any experienced mothers out there who are able to confirm this?

Anyway, my wife started with boiling the bird nest with rock sugar on a daily basis. It is pretty easy to boil especially with the slow cooker. She would put them into the slow cooker the night before and it would be ready for her the following morning.

However, during the third trimester, she developed a nasty cough and her sinus were really bad. We were recommended by a medical hall not to use rock sugar for fear of aggravating the cough. Instead, we were told to boil with cordyceps and `mud cho' (a kind of sweet dried dates). We would first have to boil the cordyceps and dates for about an hour before adding in the bird nest and boil for another 2 hours.

Does it help? I am not sure because we hardly got started and Ryan decided to arrive early. You might want to try it out and let us know instead.

Be your Baby's Paparazzi!

I spent a good 3 hours going through all of Ryan's pictures and categorised them, picked out the good ones and created and added a slide show entitled `Follow Ryan's Growth'. After I have finished and was admiring my handy work, I was suddenly hit by a moment of nostalgia. Looking back at those pictures when he was much younger and the moments that we have captured then, brings back many fond memories of raising him (although he is only 4.5 months old now). There were pictures that brought a smile to my face and I must admit, I think even a tear to my eyes. I wish I can relive those moments. So priceless and precious.

My wife who is currently in Singapore on business actually cried last night when she looked at them and it made her missed us even more.

I am definitely glad that we have been snapping pictures of Ryan like a couple of mad paparazzi. And I am glad that we infested in our new Canon IXUS 860 IS. It was definitely much better than my old HP digital camera with limited features. I particularly like to switch on the continuous picture taking mode. This is because Ryan will never pose intentionally for any picture to be taken. We will just snapped away and then choose and pick the one which capture that `perfect' pose or moment. You must have a sizable memory card of course. We have 4GB!

Looking at the pictures made me love Ryan even more although he is getting naughtier and cheekier by the day. All the frustrations simply just fade away.

So, if you are a first time parent, take those pictures and lots of it. Relive those priceless moments when they have grown up and shed a few tears in the process. I know I will.

Preparing for baby's arrival

When we were preparing for Ryan's arrival, we were really uncertain as to what are the essential items to purchase. We would be walking in shopping complexes but ended not buying anything because we really do not know what is required. Fortunately, we got some help from my sister and as the days drew near, we were frantically getting ready. Luckily we did because Ryan came early. We have a few friends who are also expecting their first born. So, I have promised to post a checklist of items that we think is important.

Firstly for the expecting mommy:-

• Disposable maternity panty : RM7.90
• Disposable nursing pad : RM20.00
• Breast pump (Manual) : RM18.50
• Breast pump (Battery operated) : RM87.90
• Stretch mark lotion : RM30.80
• Maternity Pads : RM12.90
• Maternity Dresses

For the baby:-

• Feeding - Steam Sterilizer : RM460.00
• Feeding - Milk Powder Dispenser : RM6.90
• Feeding - Bottle and Nipple brush : RM6.90
• Feeding - Warmer Bag : RM36.90
• Feeding - Baby feeding bottles (Advent) : RM139.90
• Feeding - Sterilizer tablets : RM17.90
• Feeding - Bottles and Nipples Cleanser : RM37.00
• Clothing - Mittens and booties : RM7.90 (per set)
• Clothing - Baby napkins : RM25.90
• Clothing - Nappy liners : RM8.90
• Clothing - Laundry detergent : RM18.00
• Clothing - Diaper Pants : RM7.90
• Clothing - Face Towel : RM3.00
• Cothing - Towel and Handkerchief : RM10.90
• Clothing - Blanket : RM17.90
• Clothing - Pillow and Bolster : RM19.90
• Clothing - Napkin fastener : RM9.90
• Clothing - Newborn clothes
• Healthcare - Nappy Rash Cream : RM27.80
• Healthcare - Nose Cleaner : RM12.50
• Healthcare - Powder Puff : RM6.20
• Healthcare - Wet Tissue : RM11.90
• Healthcare - Nail Clipper : RM4.90
• Healthcare - Baby lotion : RM19.65
• Healthcare - Baby oil : RM13.60
• Healthcare - Baby Shampoo : RM27.70
• Healthcare - Baby Bath : RM19.90
• Healthcare - Baby powder : RM12.90
• Healthcare - Cotton wool : RM4.90
• Healthcare - Digital thermometer : RM36.90
• Healthcare - Disposable Newborn Diapers
• Accessories - 2 way Carrier : RM79.90
• Accessories - Baby Travelling bag : RM32.90
• Accessories - Bouncer : RM80.00
• Accessories - Mosquitoes Netting : RM19.90
• Accessories - Changing Mat : RM11.90
• Accessories - Stroller : RM400.00
• Accessories - Play pent and Baby Cot : RM299.90
• Accessories - High dining chair : RM239.90
• Accessories - Baby bath tub : RM89.90
• Accessories - Potty Trainer Seat : RM59.90
• Accessories - Baby Monitor
• Accessories - Baby Car Seat

Based on the list above, the total cost (of items with price listed) would be approximately RM2500. There are some items that you might be able to get cheaper version (eg. bath tub) but you might be willing to spent more on certain items for better quality such as stroller, breast pump (electric) and baby car seat.

All in all, it's not cheap to bring a baby into our world and what we see above is just the beginning of an investment that is going to go on for many more years to come. But the joy the baby brings is priceless. So, tighten your belts, parents and parents-to-be and embrace the wonderful adventure of parenthood.

Pacifier - Saviour or Nightmare Part II

2 nights ago, we got Ryan to sleep on his own without having to be carried to sleep for the second time. Again with the help of a pacifier. He was his cranky self wanting to doze off. We put him on the bed, gave him his pacifier and his pillow and stayed with him. Within minutes, he was in la la land.

Last night, I had to take care of Ryan since wife will be in Singapore for the entire week. My youngest sister who stayed with us was a great help. And the pacifier again worked wonders. The babysitter told us that Ryan was extremely cranky the entire day. I was like "Oh No! Please! Not on the first night that I have to take care of him myself!'

Fearing the worst, I fetched him home. Close to 7pm, he wanted his milk. Prepared his milk and my sister helped to feed him. He was so tired while drinking. Once finished, he was about to go into his cranky sleepy mode which normally would take quite a while of carrying, patting, bouncing, walking and singing to get him to sleep. Last night, we have our secret weapon ready. We gave him the PACIFIER. He felt asleep soundly within minutes. That was even before 8pm.

He was sleeping in the living hall while we watched Amazing Race. He was supposed to have his next feed between 9:30pm to 10:00pm. So I carried him up at about 10pm, changed his diaper and was quite ready for him to wake up for his milk. He was so tired and slept soundly, that he did not make a single sound, slept through the entire process of diaper changing and continued sleeping after I put him on the bed. He only woke up at 4:30am this morning for his milk and happily went back to sleep after that.

I survived the first of the remaining 4 nights with lots of help from my youngest sister and the pacifier.

Wear Your Babies

`Babywearing?' It is the act of carrying or `wearing' one's baby to promote `attachment parenting'. There is apparently this non-profit organisation known as Malaysian Babywearers that will be organising an event in Penang on the 26th Oct in conjunction with the upcoming International Babywearing Week (IBW).

For me, I honestly do not know that such an organisation exists, neither am I aware of the term `babywearing'. I only know that I find carrying Ryan on his baby carrier so much easier than putting him in the stroller when we go shopping. Moreover, he likes it far better then being left alone in the stroller.

It is true that I noticed that not many Malaysian parents use the baby carrier. Instead, it is common to see parents using the stroller in any shopping complexes. Why? Is it because it is easier to handle the child? Do they prefer it that way? Or are we afraid that they will get too attached to us that they will refuse to walk on their own next time? Or maybe the answer lies in all of the above.

From my experience, I find bringing the stroller along for shopping a real hassle. Firstly, it is relatively bulky no matter how many times you can fold it. It is never easy to manipulate it when it comes to elevators. Going into lifts is never easy (after having to wait for ages). I find that `wearing' Ryan allows me the flexibility to move easily and wherever I want to go. He is equally free to explore the new sights and sounds. He gets extremely excited when he goes to toys stores!! Actually, I often gets the `funny' stares from other parents or people when I am wearing Ryan in public. I hope that they are staring because Ryan is cute and not that the dad looks kind of weird. In fact, I will `wear' him at home when I need to move about getting simple chores done. (However, be warned not to handle hot liquids or doing anything that could be potentially harmful to your baby).

Well, in choosing a carrier, find one that is soft and would be comfortable for the baby. Make sure that you find one that could at least hold the baby facing in and facing out. The `face-in' position is for newborn whose neck and head is still not strong while the `face-out' position is for baby whose neck and head is much stronger and they enjoy a better view than just your chest! Also, do look out for one that have a cross-strapped at the back from your shoulders. The one we have does not have the cross strap and hence, the straps tends to slip easily down my shoulders.

Nowadays, I don't leave home without it.

To find out, you can also visit www.thebabywearer.com.

Ryan has become part of our life routine - even subconsciously

With the arrival of Ryan into our lives, our lives, priorities and routines have definitely changed. So much so, that even in our subconscious state, our actions have changed. Let me share with you the reason why I said that.

As I have posted earlier, Ryan was taken ill when he was barely 2 months old. So, in order to soothe him, my wife would carry him to sleep every night. He would be happily clinging to her mother like a little koala bear. Whenever he stirred, my wife will pat him on his back or buttocks, a way of assuring him that we are around.

When he got better, we have placed him sleeping on his tummy on the bed between us. When he stirred in the middle of the night, we would just reached out with our hands to pat him.

One night, I was awoke by Ryan's stirring in his sleep. And at the same time, I could hear the `burp, burp, burp' sound, the sound of patting. I thought that my wife was already patting him. I turned to her direction and I still see Ryan stirring. And can you guess what my wife is patting? She was patting the pillow that she was hugging. Subconsciously, she was still thinking that Ryan was still sleeping on her chest. Aiyoh! And to top it off, without opening her eyes, she was giving instruction to me to prepare the milk for him! Not wanting to wake her up, I patted Ryan and got him to sleep again.

Somewhere around 5am when Ryan stirred again and woke up for his milk, I told her what I witnessed and she brushed me off saying that I was making up the whole story just to tease her. Well, without any evidence, what was I to say. However, at the end of the day, I have the best evidence ever.

At about 7am, Ryan was again stirring in his sleep. As I turned, I was again hearing the familiar sound of `burp burp burp!'. She was again patting her pillow. I was a lot smarter this time. I poked at her and she opened her sleepy eyes and asked `Huh?' And I just pointed her to her hands and the pillow! We had a good laugh!

Is she still doing it now? You bet! But I don't have to wake her anymore to proof my point. Now, I just smiled and pat Ryan gently and let them both go back to sleep so that I could catch up with mine, before the next feed.

The Baby Pacifier - Saviour or Nightmare?

The baby pacifier, is it a saviour or is it going to be our nightmare later? Honestly, right now, I know that it is our saviour.

I was brought up with a pacifier and I was told by my mum that I was totally addicted to it and she has a hard time getting me off the pacifier. Therefore, from the very beginning, even before Ryan was born, we have made up our mind that we would not use a pacifier for Ryan. Well, so much for our well laid out plan.

We noticed that Ryan has an inclination lately to suck things, especially when he wants to doze off. He has been sucking his hands or his mittens or even my hand when I tried to put him to sleep. And he is totally restless and cranky if he can not suck anything. As I have posted in my previous posting, he has become increasing demanding and attached that even my babysitter is hinting that he is getting a little difficult to handle and suggested using the pacifier. We were still apprehensive because we were quite adamant that we would not want him to get addicted to the pacifier. However, after some consideration and consultation with our paediatrician, we have decided to give the pacifier a try last night. And it was a shocking revelation!!

Ryan was his usual cranky self last night, even when he was being carried. So, I took out the pacifier and put it into his mouth. He took it immediately and was sucking away. I let him enjoyed it for about 30 seconds and then slowly pulled it out, just to see his reaction. And what a reaction it was! He looked at me and gave me the sweetest smile! It is as if, he was saying `Thank you. What took you so long to realise that I needed that. Finally...' My wife and I were laughing so hard till we cried looking at his expression. I was rolling on the bed.

To continue our little experiment, we put him on the bed by himself and gave him his pacifier. He would normally be cranky within 15 seconds and be yelling within 30 seconds. Guess what? No indication of dissatisfaction. No yelling. Not even a whimper. He was happily sucking away and watching us. And it goes on a full 40 minutes before he dozed off on his own. It's a MIRACLE!! Hallelujah!

Well, our paediatrician advise us to get him off the pacifier when he turns one. Honestly, I have no idea how to do that or what nightmare we are going to go through then. So, if you have any advise for us, we would be glad to hear them out. Till then, the pacifier will continue to be our secret weapon!!!

Baby Ryan's new wardrobe

A few things we noticed with Ryan getting 4.5 months old now. He can sit up with some aid. Last night, I put him against some pillow to have his pictures taken. Secondly, he has definitely grown. My wife has just changed his entire wardrobe and taken out his 6-12 months old clothes. In fact, the label of the GAP pullover that he was wearing read 12 months old. The paediatrician said that he has good growth and his length above average. Haha. I am so glad and like to tease my wife that luckily Ryan has not inherited his height from her (She is just above 5 feet). But Ryan has definitely inherited the size of his head from her as her whole family has emmm....larger heads. Some of his 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothes are still so new, hardly worn for a couple of times. I wonder what we could do with them now.

We are glad that we got some of my wife's colleagues who went to US recently to buy some branded and reasonably priced clothes for him from the factory outlets. The designs available are nice too and we sure can't get them at the price we paid for when we bought them in US. I guess children nowadays are so lucky as compared to the era when I was a baby. Parents nowadays are more than willing to spend more lavishly on their little ones, more than they would spent on themselves. Well, I guess that is what parenthood and sacrifice is probably all about.

Preventing Rotavirus - Should Ryan have it?

Took Ryan to his paediatrician yesterday to treat his nappy rashes. I asked him about Rotavirus infection and he gave a pamphlet for me to consider giving immunisation to Ryan before his sixth month.

In a nutshell, I gathered that Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea and vomiting among babies with almost all children being infected with rotavirus by 5 years of age. It's also frightening to learn that it is common among babies aged from 6 months to 2 years, with the youngest most at risk of serious disease, hospitalisation and even death if left untreated. And Ryan is 4.5 old months now and would be 6 months very very soon. Emmm...frigthening!

Symptoms of Rotavirus infection include fever 1-2 days after infection with vomiting lasting up to 9 days. Diarrhoea or watery stool may occur up to 20 times per day and persist up to 3 weeks. This would lead to acute loss of fluid and electrolytes resulting in dehydration, requiring hospitalisation.

Rotavirus is reportedly spread very easily, highly infectious and transmitted via faecal-oral route as well as person to person via infected hands, toys, objects and surfaces.

As if this is not enough to cause anxiety, there is apparently no specify medicine or treatment for rotavirus infection and the child would have to rely on his or her own natural antibodies. All the hospital could do is to rehydrate (replace lost fluid) the child.

My paediatrician tells me that the immunisation comes in two doses of oral medicine taken one month apart. Immunisation is apparently useless after the baby turns 6 months old.

Any advice or comment from experienced parents out there on this issue? I guess I would probably get Ryan to get this immunisation at the end of this month when he goes for his next jab. Better to be safe than sorry.

Melamine Contamination - Khong Guan and Khian Guan biscuits

Just as the melamine contamination in dairy products first started in infant milk powder seemed to have blown over with no more infant deaths (Thank God) and only 5824 children remained hospitalised in China (11,000 were reported a week ago), the Malaysian Health Ministry reported of another melamine contamination discovered today. This time, it is much closer to home.

According to the Star newspaper today, melamine above safety limit was detected in 18 types of biscuits manufactured by Khong Guan and Khian Guan. The level of contamination is reported to be 33.4ppm and 508ppm for Khong Guan and Khian Guan respectively. The permissible level is only 2.5ppm. This round, the source of melamine is not in the dairy raw materials such as milk but found in the raising agent which is ammonium bicarbonate that was imported from CHINA (do I sound surprised??).

With this recent news of contamination, we could expect a possibility of more dairy products being tested positive since the contaminated ammonium bicarbonate could be used by many other biscuits manufacturers. So, the question remains unanswered. "What is safe for consumption?" "What else would be contaminated?".

Since we are so dependent on raw materials from China (believed to be much more cost economical for most manufacturers), it is therefore questionable as to what other raw materials imported could be contaminated, probably not with melamine but some other cancer causing agent for example.

If we can't even give Malaysian made biscuits to our children, what else can we give them?

Here is a list of biscuits reported with excessive melamine content from Khong Guan:-

• Biskut Soda
• Biskut Lemon Puff
• Biskut Lemon Pof
• Biskut Butter Cream
• Biskut baby Fish
• Biskut Healthy Cracker (not sure how healthy it would be now?)
• Biskut Cocoa Puf
• Biskut Sandwich Oren
• Biskut Family Crackers (yeah right. Family total contamination)
• Biskut Bentuk Binatang (Binatang is the word to describe those who use excessive melamine to make extra profit. Binatang meant `animal' or `beast' in Malay)
• Biskut Rokok (a cigarette biscuit? Meant for children? Are we sending the wrong message here?)
• Biskut Mini Puff

Here is a list of biscuits reported with excessive melamine content from Khian Guan:-

• Biskut Creamy Chocolate
• Biskut Lemon Puff
• Biskut Square Puff
• Biskut Cocoa Puff
• Biskut Jagung Puff

Meanwhile, White Rabbit is hitting the stores again as their new stock have been reportedly cleared of any melamine contamination in China. It was reported on Wednesday that Guan Sheng Yuan Group general manager announced that the new candies would carry a label that reads `No Melamine' to restore consumers confidence in the 50-year-old brand.

Yeah right. And those contaminated should carry a label that reads `Poisonous. Eat at your own risk. Ideal for suicide.'

Before too long, each product would require a label so long that lists down a list of poisons that we should not used in the first place. `No melamine, no cancer causing agent, no formaldehyde. no etc no etc....'. Now, that's comforting...

Baby Bottles - Steam Sterilisation

I remembered my mum use to boil the baby feeding bottles to sterilise them. When we were preparing for Ryan's arrival, she was telling us the same thing. Of course being an ignorant parent, we were not quite sure of what other ways are available and the seriousness of the issue until one of our friend gave us a steam steriliser as a gift. It is probably the best gift that we have received and the ROI (Return on Investment) from this item is overwhelming.

As baby is prone to bacteria infection, it is extremely important that their feeding bottles be free from any contamination. If milk bottles are not cleaned properly, bacteria which can reproduced at an alarming rate will be consumed by the baby during the feeding process. This contamination is often times invisible to the naked eye and hence thorough sterilisation is essential.

There are three methods of sterilisation.

1. Chemical sterilisation where sterilisation tablets are used. This chemical sterilisation tablets uses chlorine-ions. They are fully effective if the milk bottles have been thoroughly cleaned and are totally submerged into the sterilisation solution in the absence of any air bubbles. Otherwise, there would be parts that have not been reached by the sterilisation solution. It is also important to change the sterilisation solution every 24 hours.
2. Boiling the bottles is another good method of sterilisation that have been relied on for a very long time. It is recommended to boil the bottles for at least 2 to 3 minutes. However, boiling the teats and soothers will often shorten the lifespan especially after prolong boiling. Similarly, any parts not submerged properly in the boiling water will also not be sterilised.
3. Steam sterilisation where hot steam is used to sterilise the bottles.

We find steam sterilisation easy to use, extremely convenient and safe. We have our steam steriliser in the room. Once the baby bottles have been thoroughly washed, we will place them in the steam steriliser, pour in the required amount of water, close the lid and switch on the steriliser. Within minutes, the bottles are steamed and sterilised. We can leave the bottles in the steriliser until we need to use them to feed Ryan.

Unlike boiling them with hot water, we can steam the bottles whenever we want in the room which is convenient since they are easily available to prepare for Ryan's night feeding. There is also no danger of having hot water anywhere in the room near where baby Ryan is. And the lifespan of the teats and bottles are apparently longer (or so the manufacturer claims).

For us, it is an essential item worth investing in for the health and well being of our baby.

What to do with all those Brand's Chicken Essence?

During my wife's confinement, we have received so many boxes of Brand's chicken essence. It is impossible to finish them all and honestly we still have several boxes in our kitchen cabinets. Well, there are many ways to take this chicken essence instead of just drinking it directly from the bottle. We found a recipe in the confinement cook book that we bought that uses Brand's chicken essence for a frog dish. So last night, instead of using frogs (that some people do not eat), I bought two chicken drumstick instead.

Recipe:

• 2 nos of chicken drumstick
• 20g of shredded ginger
• 1 bottle of Brand's chicken essence

Marinade

• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon of Chinese wine
• 1 teaspoon of fried shallot oil
• 1/2 teaspoon of corn starch

1. Wash chicken drumstick and cut into pieces. Season and mix well with marinade for at least an hour.
2. Steam marinaded chicken drumstick and chicken essence separately for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Remove from steamer and pour the chicken essence over the cooked chicken drumstick, mix lightly and serve immediately.
   

Does Papaya Soup Helps Breastfeeding ?

I have to cook dinner last night. Was wondering what to cook and found a small papaya given by a friend. So, papaya soup it was. I was told that papaya soup will help more breast milk reproduction for breastfeeding mothers. Honestly, I wouldn't know because I am not the one breast feeding Ryan but my wife will swear by it that it does help. We found the recipe in one of the confinement dishes cook book that we bought earlier. It is not a difficult soup to prepare and can be done within minutes.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 300g of pig's tail bone (I used chicken breast or half a chicken sometimes)


• 300g papaya (1 medium size half ripe papaya)


• 3 slices of ginger


• 1 tablespoon of wolfberries


• 1 tablespoon of white rice wine


• 1500ml of water


• 3 red dates

1. Blanch bones or chicken meat in boiling water and then remove


2. Put all ingredients into a saucepan or pot and boil for approximately an hour and then serve hot.

Any other mothers out there who can confirm that this soup does help?

Baby Ryan is clinging on to us lika a Koala. Help!!

Most have seen the cute pictures of Ryan. Here, you will see the other side of Ryan, the nasty side. He is 4.5 months old now. Growth wise, we have no complaints whatsoever. In fact, we are happy with his growth and are constantly amazed with what he is learning everyday. Sometimes, the new things that he has learned and show us at the most unexpected moments are shocking and definitely memorable.

However, he has also grown to be very very very attached to us. By now, he has developed this nasty habit of wanting to cling on to someone every waking moments. Unless he is asleep, he would want to be carried. He is demanding so much attention from us nowadays, that he wants us to continuously play and talk to him. He would not allow us to sit still. If we placed him on the bed even for a second, he would be yelling his lung off. And believe me, he can yell and is pretty persistent at that. Yesterday, I was so frustrated with him that I literally put him on the bed and let him cried his heart out to see whether he would yield. At the end of the day, it was I who yielded and carried him because he was crying and yelling for a good 40 minutes!! Talk about persistency!

I can not even go to the toilet without him crying nowadays if he is at home and awake. Even the babysitter is having problems now because he would not let her leave him alone. I really need some help here. If you have any solution or tips or ways that we could train him or pacify him, please let me know. Our weekends now are TOTALLY RYAN orientated because he demands our full attention.

Trying to make Seafood Paella

On Saturday morning, we have decided to take Ryan with us to Solaris Mont Kiara for breakfast. After breakfast, we were taking a walk at Cold Storage when the idea of trying to cook seafood paella (which we have postponed for a long while) came up AGAIN. We find it rather difficult to get the long-grain rice needed previously. So we gave it a try at Cold Storage. Found the short and medium grain brown rice. Bought a packet although I'm not sure whether it is the right one. (Could be the wrong one as we discovered when we cooked it. Read on....)

Comes dinner time, we took out the recipe book, and boldly went where we have never went before. The recipe book says preparation time is 25 minutes and cooking time is 45 minutes. One look at the clock and the time is 7:00pm. (Should have started an hour earlier, but Ryan has a mind of his own in determining when I should be free to cook). Dinner ready by 8:30pm if everything turns out well...(or so I thought).

Preparation was a bliss. So far so good. Started the cooking process and all went well with the diced onions and thinly slice red and green capsicum. The problem started when we added in the rice. The recipe said 5 cups of fish stock and allowed to cook for 20 minutes or until almost all liquid is absorted into the rice. When 20 minutes was up, to my horror, the rice was still pretty uncooked and hard. Gasp!!! What went wrong? Started to add more fish stock and continued cooking. After 45 minutes of simmering and another 7 cups of fish stock later, the rice finally looked cooked. Phew!! Put in the seafood as instructed. Finally dinner was served at 9pm. Needless to say, it tasted great but I guess it was probably because our stomachs were growling....

What went wrong? I am not sure. Our guess is that we could have bought the wrong type of rice. However, what is important is that by end of day, I still got my paella cooked!

Recipe of what we used:

250 g (9oz) black mussels, scrubbed

500g (1lb 2 oz) raw medium prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined with tails intact

3 tablespoon of olive oil

1 large onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 small red capsicum (pepper) thinkly sliced

1 small green capsicum (pepper) thinly sliced

1 small red chilli, deseeded and chopped (optional)

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tomatoes, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon tomato paste (puree)

400g (2 cups) long-grain rice

125ml (1/2 cup) white wine

1.25 litres (5 cups) fish stock

3 tablespoon of chopped parsley, to serve

lemon wedges to serve

• Heat the oil in a paella pan or a large deep frying pan with a lid.
• Add onion, garlic, capsicum and chili to pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes or until onion and capsicum are soft
• Add turmeric, paprika and 1 teaspoon of salt and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes or until aromatic
• Add tomato and cook for 5 minutes or until soft.
• Add tomato paste
• Stir in rice until well coated.
• Pour in white wine and simmer until almost all absorbed.
• Add stock, bring to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until almost all liquid is absorbed into the rice. Fluff up the rice occasionally with a fork to separate the grains.
• Add mussels and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Add prawns and cook for 2-3 minutes.
• Cook for another 2-3 minutes if the seafood is not cooked but avoid overcooking as the seafood will toughen and dry out.
• Serve with parsley and lemon wedges.

Price Watch - Baby Milk Powder Enfalac A+

I am starting a price watch post on the products that I will be actively watching out for Ryan. I will be posting those price comparison here. If you are using or watching out for similar products, I hope that this information will be of assistance to you. If you happen to come across the same products being sold at different price at another outlet or location, please feel free to drop a comment on the price sold and location and I will be glad to update the price watch for price comparison. If you want to help to watch out for another product that you are interested in, please do let me know and I will see what I can do.

To start, I will listing the price of Enfalac A+ 650g from MeadJohnson which Ryan is currently consuming.

The stock at Kedai Ubat Foh Peng are old stock based on the old price before the price increase. Limited stock available.

Melamine found in Taro biscuits from Bai Rong

Malaysia's Health Ministry has ordered that the Taro brand of biscuits from Bai Rong be withdrawn from shelves with immediate effect after they have found melamine contamination. I have not seen this brand of biscuits before as I am personally not very fond of biscuits or chocolates. Will walk around some to see whether we can still find them on our shelves.

Meanwhile, in Manila, it was reported in the Star today that health ministers from the 10-member Asean have agreed that the melamine "should not be added deliberately in food, even at the minutest amount". As far as I am concerned, no health hazardous substance should be added in our food at all, although I know that this will remain elusive as our society evolves and with more and more businesses striving to make more money.

I have lost loved ones and many close friends to cancer of every kind in the last couple of years. I am still hearing `so and so' is having cancer or `so and so' had passed on. Some of these people are non-smokers and non-drinkers and yet they are struck down with liver cancer or lung cancer. So, how on earth, were their bodies contaminated? The polluted air that they breathe in? The food that they have been consuming (with melamine or other cancer causing agent)? The water that they drink? Being a father, how can I protect Ryan from this in the future. What pre-cautionary measures can I take now? Or do we leave all this to chance and luck? I am one confused father.....

Are you a new generation daddy?

I notice that many fathers today are taking a more active role in parenting. During the recent Raya holidays, we took Ryan out to Sunway Pyramid as well as Pavilion. When we went to change Ryan's diaper in Sunway Pyramid, I noticed fathers taking over the role in changing diapers. When I was feeding Ryan at Pavilion, I noticed many fathers carrying their babies or pushing the stroller instead of the mothers. Is this the new generation daddies?

I remembered that man (especially in the Asian context) are less likely to show public affection to their children years ago, let alone taking an active role in preparing the bottle, feeding or even changing the diapers. It is almost a taboo to even talk about it. It is the woman's responsibility and the mother's role. In most cases, not many husbands are prepared to go into the labour room.

But all that seemed to have changed dramatically today. It is very common to see fathers lovingly carrying their babies in the public. It is common to see fathers skillfully feeding and burping their babies. It is almost expected of the father today to be IN the labour room with the mother and women nowadays would have it no other way. In fact, I have known some fathers who are more knowledgeable about their babies than their mothers.

I guess all these changes have to do with more working wives and mothers. At the same time, I believe man are beginning to understand and appreciate their spouse and knowing the need for them to help and work together.

I am a different father today, as compared to when I had my eldest son 15 years ago with my ex-wife. I don't recall feeding him, changing his diaper or bathing him. In fact, I don't even remember carrying him until he was at least 2 months old because he looked so fragile.

With Ryan, I was in the labour room watching him literally `bursting' into our lives. I was there video taping every moment from his first cry. I was there holding and cuddling him, forgetting that he was only 2.2kg. I bathe him, feed him and change his diapers. Today, when the babysitter called in sick, I had to take care of him the entire day all by myself and I am so relieved and in a way `proud' that I have pulled it through.

So, am I part of a new generation of daddies? Or there are already many active daddies out there and it is me who was the exception with my first born years ago? Whichever way it is, I am just glad and proud that I have been given an opportunity to take an active role in Ryan's growth and life.

Pullovers Vs Shirt with buttons in front for Newborn?

Just like every excited expecting parent, we were busy buying up shirts, pants, mittens and booties, preparing for the arrival of our baby. We walked into every baby shop that we knew or came across, hoping to find some good deals. We were grabbing anything that we thought was a good deal. When Ryan finally arrived, there were some clothes that we really regretted buying because they were so difficult to put on, especially when you have a premature 2.2kg fragile baby.

From our experience, avoid pullovers and go for front buttoned shirts. Even our confinement lady (who have years of experience handling newborns) would not want to use the pullovers that we have bought. When I have to put one on for Ryan, I quickly found out why. To put on a pullover, I have to lift up Ryan's fragile head and neck and pull the collar of the shirt through. Once that is done, I have to somehow manipulate his two tiny and extremely fragile hands into the two sleeves. Every time, I held those hands, I had this extreme phobia that I will somehow break them. To make matters worse, Ryan was not cooperating every time by laying still. Believe me, it was a real struggle.

Putting on a shirt with buttons in front on the other hand, is much simpler and less stressful. For one, I do not have to manipulate his head to pull the collar through. It is much easier to manipulate his hand into the two sleeves before buttoning up the shirt.

I have to admit that babies wearing pullovers are so cute and we definitely have a soft spot for cute nice pullovers. Today, we have a dozen pullovers for Ryan but it is a much simpler task now for two reasons. Firstly, Ryan is already four months old and his neck is much stronger now. Secondly, I am more experienced now although Ryan still dislike having his face covered (even for a brief moment) every time I put on the collar of a pullover.