Festival: Mid Autumn Festival 2012

As a child, there were two celebrations that I looked forward to.

One festival is Chinese New Year (firecrackers and ang pows! What's not to love?) & the other being the Mid Autumn Festival (lanterns and FIRE!!! Woohoo!)

It is during the Mid Autumn Festival that my siblings and I were legitimately given the license to play with fire.

Back then, we lived in a small house with a large compund and in that space, there were 5 huge mango trees. The ground was always littered with dead leaves and ermm, dog poop. We had a large German Shepard but that's a story for another day. So, during the Mid Autumn Festival, we would set up a mini 'campfire' with candles, leaves and twigs. Using an old Milo can filled with water, we would make up 'soups' filled with leaves and such, minus the doggie poop, mind you.

Fast forward 20 years later, nobody, okay maybe 2 other kids in the neighbourhood were playing with lanterns on the actual day. We celebrated over the weekend, of course. On Saturday, we had BBQ with the usual suspects.

Mid Autumn 2011..

Lil Tiger was a baldy & Mommy was thin.

Mid Autumn 2012.

Mommy's fatter &

Lil Tiger's all grown up...with a lot more hair and attitude

With his best 'fwen' Lil J.

According to Tiger, he has 2 friends only.

One is Little J and the other, you will never guess it, the security guard in the housing area.

Mommy: Tiger, Smile, Sssssmmmmile.....
Tiger: Wakakaka (fake laugh)
Lil Jay: Wah lao eh. Pattern



He was not afraid of the paper lantern or fire and loved it as much as his battery operated airplane lantern. His favorite activity would be to light the candle, sing on top of our lungs and most importantly, to blow out the candle! His fav song playlist includes: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Do Re Mi, Solar System Song, but nothing comes close to his All-time Fav: ABC Song.

On Sunday, The kids next door came over and snobbish Tiger did not want to join them initially. After much persuasion, we went for a short walk (REALLY short) with the lanterns. The streets were deserted with only one other household playing with lanterns. When we went back, Tiger joined the kids and asked to switch off the lights so that he can show-and-tell his Cloud B turtle. At the end of the night, none of the kids wanted to go home. Guess you can say that we had a good time. (Stupid me forgot to take pictures)

Fine Motor: Tweezing

Once a upon a time, we had a lot of sensory bins.

I was itching to make one for Tiger.

With money and time saving strategy in mind,

I recycled materials from his first sensory bin, The Dinosaur Bin.

Materials:

Miniature dinosaurs (he loves these)

Poms poms

pieces of green papers (of different materials)

Motive: Tweezing

Playing with the Ipad A LOT during the break kinda screwed up his pincer grip.

Yes, yes, guilty as charged....sigh...

So, I wasn't sure he could do this.

With a little hug and encouragement...lo and behold, my boy can tweeze!

I made it into a game by asking him to avoid touching any of the dinosaurs.

Left hand

Right hand

As part of his right/whole brain learning, I encourage him to use both hands all the time.

Kinda like Brain Gym concept at home.

During our last Ditoso class, his teacher asked if he was left handed ^.^

Tweezing pom-poms

Imaginary play with dinosaurs.

He was saying, "ROAR, bite mama!"

Yeah, well...

This was his reaction when I asked for a kiss.

I have to smother him with kisses more often!

Breastfeeding: Pumping and Feeding Schedule

It has been 3 weeks since I returned to work. So far, 10 week old Little Dragon is still taking breastmilk only.

This is currently our schedule. (When I am fifty, I can look back at this post and marvel at my effort OR I can simply use it for emotional blackmail on Lil Dragon)

11 pm:
Breastfeed before bedtime. I will wake her up even if she is slumbering. Better than going to bed, only to be awaken an hour later.

3 am:
Lil Dragon will kick and squirm until she wakes lazy mommy up. She greets me with her beautiful smile (yes, even at this ungodly hour). A quick diaper change followed by breastfeeding. She usually finish within 5 minutes on one breast and we fall asleep together. Most of the time, I fall asleep first :p 

Anytime from 7 am to 8 am:
Morning call. She usually does not go back to sleep after this time, preferring to have 'girl talks'. After  feeding, I pump before leaving for work.

From 9 am to 5 pm:
Mommy's at work, so Little Dragon takes 4-5 oz per feed every 3-4 hours with NUK bottles.
I pump at 11 o'clock and then again after lunch.
I use Medela Mini Electric pump at work. Each time I express, I get 4-5 ounces. Like most cheaper Medela pumps, it makes noise that puts the lawnmower to shame. Forget about using batteries if a power socket is not available. The weak suction will drive you mad.

* So if I am pumping while out and about or simply chilling out in front of the TV, I will use my manual First Years pump that I bought for RM 80 only from a warehouse sale. It is not as great as the Philips Avent Manual pump but it does the job well enough. For RM 80, I ain't complaining.

6 pm:
Power pump if I have no other obligations.

9 pm:
I breast feed if Lil Dragon's awake and fussy/refusing the bottle. If she's asleep, I will pump so that I can play 'school' with Tiger :)

The cycle repeats.


My 3rd pump:

At home, I am using my old Unimom Forte pump (made in Korea) that I bought since Tiger was 2 weeks old and it is still doing a fine job right now. Motors of breast pumps tend to wear down over time with heavy usage. (I exclusively pumped for Tiger)

For its hospital grade, double pumping efforts, it retails at RM 399 to RM 490 only (depending on sales). A Medela of the same function and power would cost 5 times more.

This time being a smarter, more experienced mama, I bought XL shields because my boobs 'grow' out of control during these times. I also changed the original membrane and valve with Medela ones which fitted perfectly. The Medela ones just seemed sturdier. Also, it saves me the hassle of going crazy looking for the original clear, transparent membranes during washing and steaming.

My only complaint would be its huge size (almost 2 kgs) which makes it inconvenient for working moms.

So, yeah...I have three pumps which brings the total to about RM800 for 2 babies. Not a bad investment considering all the benefits of breastmilk and money saved from buying formula.

Supplementation wise, I am neither a milk nor pill person. So, I take my daily 'dose' of Anmum Lacta (the only milk I can tolerate) to make up for any nutritional deficiency since I don't take the recommended 2700 calories per day. If I am not getting my fresh fish for the week, I will take my fish oil supplement.

Excerpt from Kellymom.com

• Mothers who get 2200 calories per day may need extra calcium, zinc, magnesium, thiamin (vitamin B1), vitamin B-6 & vitamin E.
• Mothers who get 1800 calories per day may need extra calcium, zinc, magnesium, thiamin, vitamin B6, vitamin E, folic acid, riboflavin (vitamin B2), phosphorus and iron.
• Breastmilk levels of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron and folic acid are fine even if your diet is deficient. If supplements are needed, they are for your benefit — not baby’s.
• Levels of B vitamins in breastmilk are related to the mother’s intake, but a deficiency in the mother serious enough to affect her breastfed baby is very rare in the United States. (Hamosh, 1991; Lawrence & Lawrence, 2000)

I am not a crazy ass YOU MUST BREASTFEED snob. I didn't breastfeed Tiger exclusively and he is still doing fine. I am just grateful that I have been given the opportunity to do it this time.

If you are having problems or simply need a listening ear, feel free to drop me a pm. I can recommend a lactation consultant if required.  Cheers!