Aunty Talk

I like to share my experiences on Dayre. (Kinda miss blogging on Dayre actually.)

So here's one for those who are expecting a child/planning for a child.

When you bring your kiddo out, you tend to attract aunties (sometimes uncles). And from my experience, they ask similar questions.

Aunty Question #1:
How old is your baby?

Nothing wrong with this question ah. Standard la. I would ask the same if I see other people's kiddo.
BUT! (got but one.. aunty mah!)

Let's say your answer is "Oh, 3 months old."

If you have a fluffeh baby like this..

then they will ask..

Aunty Question #2:

What milk he/she drinks?

Now this question applies to even those who don't have a chubby baby.

If you have a chubby baby and your answer is :

1) Breastmilk

Most will go ... "WAHHH! So good ah!" 

then somehow you feel like they are staring at your boobs and you would feel uncomfortable.

OR

it'll make you super proud that you feel like arching your back, lift chest up and if you can thump your chest.. "Ya Aunty.. the boobies did the baby good!"

2) Formula Milk

Most of the time they will say ... "Oh no wonder! What brand ah?"

If you have a less chubby baby and your answer is :

1) Breastmilk

They might go "Aiya. no wonder. They say breast milk dun make baby chubby one."

(This is from listening/reading other mother's rants. My kids are all on the chubby side when they are infants.)

2) Formula Milk

"Huh? Formula also not so chubby one ah? What brand you give him/her?"

Contrary to popular believe that to have a chubby baby, all they need is milk... is wrong.

In fact, they need milk and sleep and GENES!

Yup, if you don't have a chubby baby but your baby drinks and sleeps well.. blame it on the genes.

Aunty Question #3

Boy or Girl ah?

You see.. I had this problem with Lucas. Somehow, many thinks he's a girl.

GIRL? DID YOU JUST SAY THAT I'M A GIRL??

Unfortunately, his sister suffers the same fate.

Only that she's always mistaken as a boy..

Wear boyish colour .. ok la.. no one can tell cos she has got no hair..

HUH?

Wear pink and girly tops also people say I'm a boy?

@#$%%^&**((^%#@

Ya.. so.. if you would like to avoid aunties (people in general) to ask if your baby is a boy or a girl, I strongly suggest you to dress your baby up like this..

For girls.

For boys, just keep wearing blue and a boy coloured hat. Don't go metrosexual. 

Well, unless you don't mind answering this question 1987654367890 times every time you bring your baby out.

Aunty Question #4:

Your first child?

Very normal question but if you answer "Yes, my first!"

BE VERY PREPARED for aunty to give you some tips of advice. 

Yup, you don't ask for it but they somehow feel.. "Lai lah, you no experience, first child. Aunty tell you how to take care of your child."

To be honest, I have 3 kids from the same factory. Every child is different.

What makes aunty think yours would be the same as theirs/or their grandchildren?

But again..

Aunty's advise may not be wrong. Just listen. I don't shut out every aunty I meet cos sometimes they may ask/say something that you have never thought of and you would go.. "God sent this Aunty to you."

So Yup... only 4 common questions. 

Sounds like nothing and I'm so petty to be blogging about it.

Wait la wait.. wait til you have to answer it 8287356299 then you can come and tell me.. "Ciku! You are right!" 

hahahaa.. kidding kidding..

Just something for all new mothers to expect.

Don't get angry at aunties.  I may be one of them. Hahaha..

All questions asked are genuine.. unless you can sense them coming with some "comparison" like "OH .. my grandson/granddaughter ah... bla bla bla.." then I wish you luck.

;)

Disclaimer:

I have no intention in hurting any aunty's feelings. Just something that came to mind and I thought of blogging about it.

Take a chill pill.. my mum's an aunty too!

;)

I'm back! Long post ahead with photos of my 3 kiddos (you read it right..Three!) and baking! ENJOY!

My last post was last year! WOW! Let me just wipe off them 2inch layer of dust from this blogspot of mine. Hahaha..

Hope that this post finds everyone healthy and happy!

I've been blogging on Dayre every day .(Ok.. almost every day cos I do get quite busy with everything happening in life.)
Click on the link if you would like to know what has been happening.

Quite a pain to be reading more than 365 days of entry actually. So I shall sum it up here.

What have I been up to?

Firstly, I've relocated. Currently in Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia. Following my husband in his call of duties.
At first it seems like a dread because I know nobody.
But thanx to Dayre, I've made some friends who are living/from Miri and from then on, let's just say.. I'm truly blessed.

It does get lonely for me sometimes. But I do stay in touch with my sister, my mum and my besties (only a handful of them but they are the best!!!) , so after chatting nonsense with all of them, I don't feel so bad anymore.

Helped the kids settle down and Baby #4 came!
If you think I didn't blog about Making Baby #4, I did! but on my Dayre .

The Dayre community were so nice that they were camping through my 10days contraction and on the day that I was admitted to deliver our baby girl (yes!it's a girl!) , they were just awesome supporters!

and of course, naturally, most of them became fans of the girl.

And in Dayre, she's known as FJ or Fluffeh.

Why?

Because she IS Fluffeh! 

Hahhaa.. Well, the nickname Fluffy Jr was given by James when I was carrying her. Then it became too much trouble to be typing "Fluffy Jr" everytime I blog on Dayre. So I shorten it to FJ and then somehow she's called Fluffeh cos she's fluffeh. hahahaha.. 

Ya..not a very interesting "how you get your nickname?" story. :D

Lucas adores her. 

So does James.

She's truly blessed to have two elder brothers going "You are so cute, I wanna kiss you all day and night!" which makes us, parents go "GENTLE AH! she's still small!" "Gentle ah gentle." 

Hhahahaa.. Any parents here share our sentiments? ;)

FAST FORWARD!

She's now 7 months old!

ooops...blur photo...

Ahh..a better one.

but she's usually with a "WHAT YOU LOOKING AT?" face..

Like this...

Yup.. this is her standard look.

You get semi-happy face like this when you snap a photo at the right time.

And you will need two adults or another kiddo running around doing silly stuff to get this kind of smile. 

Hahahaha...

Besides taking care of 3 kiddos..

I've been baking. 

Before you go "WAH! YI LEI! you so power! go to a land you know nobody also can bake ah!"

I have God to thank for this cos it really wasn't in my plan when we moved here. My job was to really just take care of the kids and see how things goes.

But it was God's plan to have me meet the owner of a cafe here and things has never been better since!

I'm currently baking for a cafe named Brewhouse. It's located in Permaisuri Imperial Mall, Miri.

If any of you are from/visiting Miri, do go grab a cup of coffee from Brewhouse and have a slice of cake/Brownies or some butter cookies or Chocolate Tarts made by yours truly.

Here are some of the cakes that I've baked so far for Brewhouse and individual orders..

Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cake.

Nutty Chocolate Oreo Tarts.

(The nuts are caramalized with Salted Gula Melaka)

Rainbow Cake!

One of the best sellers at Brewhouse:

Green Tea Cake with Matcha Cream Cheese Frosting

The other crowd favourite..

Red Velvet Cake.

Chocolate Chip Brownies

(which is available at Brewhouse on a daily basis)

Lemon Cake

I made Durian Cake for fun cos it's the Durian season.

The latest flavour that we introduced at Brewhouse:

Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Cake

(just..so..gooooddd...)

I've also participated in Curtin University's Club Open Day.
Thanx to Brewhouse for lending me their manpower.
Otherwise, how on earth can I be at one place for two days for 7 hours straight?
With three kids.. impossible unless I bring them along.
Haha..

So ya, that's the baking summary. Quite short actually but I have so much to update, can't tell more. You can check out my Facebook Page: Cikumuffin's Kitchen

for updates on the cakes available at Brewhouse.

And if you are in Miri and would like to other a whole cake, do drop me a message via my page or you can drop me an email at the.ciku.muffin@gmail.com

I've also decided to take a sabbatical from blogging on Dayre...

WHY???!?? Cos typing on the laptop is more fun! hahaha.. kidding kidding.

cos I realised that it does take up some of my time and I need to devote more time to my second son, Lucas.

Through photos.. you may not see any thing wrong with him.. come let me show you...

A happy toddler at the playground.


He is quite developed in his hand and legs coordination.

No problem with hand-eye coordination too.

Being cheeky is something he's born to do.


He rejects when we read to him but he wants to read like an adult. *rolls eyes*

So what's the matter with him?
He has speech delay.
Is it just a delay or something more serious than that? I have no idea.

He's 26 months old today and we get him saying "Dada" , "Mama", "Come", "Done" when he wants to. And some other words here and there... when he wants to.

So we decided to bring him for hearing test just to rule out hearing as his problem. He of course don't have any hearing problem because this toddler of ours can listen to commands and understand them well.

What causes the delay?
Again.. I have no idea.

So we decided to send him to play school.

Here he is having breakfast on the way to school.

He just started about a week or so. 

We were recommended to give him about 3 months in play school to see if there's any improvement before searching for help from a speech therapist.

I would think that the presence of Fluffeh may have made his speech delay further because I have to spend some of the time attending to her.

And also now that I'm a work from home mum instead of a full-time stay at home mum.

So that's why I'm eliminating whatever daily "distraction" , just so I can concentrate more in helping this lil boy.

Let's just pray for the best!

How is it that blogging on my blogspot be any different than blogging on Dayre?

Well, with Dayre, I blog from the App on my phone. So it's quite like an "temptation" to keep it updated. I'm not saying that it's bad or wrong. I do love recording what has happened on a daily basis but I guess eliminating what is necessary may just help.

And when I blog on my blogspot, I have no choice but to only do it when the kids are asleep cos I can't possibly be typing on a laptop when they are awake. One sentence also difficult.

I would still love to record my children's development. That's why I decided to revive this blog, just so that next time , when they are all grown up (leaving mummy and dada to tend to themselves), I can read it again. These memories will last forever.

I haven't forgotten about my first born. Don't worry laaaaa...

James is now almost 6 years old. How time flies eh?

Here he is doing his homework.

We sent him to a Chinese medium Kindie because we don't speak Mandarin at home and we would like to send him to a Chinese Medium Primary school next year. So we figured a year of practise would do him some good.

And it paid off. He can now speak Mandarin fluently and is a little more hardworking.

How did my lil baby grow to this?

*sob sob*

I'm glad that even though Lucas is showing signs of "attention deficit", he still adores his lil sister. 

 All is well in this little family of mine.. ok ok.. not so little anymore. Hahahaa..

Oh I forgot to introduce our latest addition..

Ladies and gentlemen, please meet Audrey Tan..

Also known as Fluffeh.

Fluffeh Junior.

Haha..

That's all for now folks!

Hope my super long post didn't bore you! ;)

p/s: any of you from Dayre reading this... HIIII!! Missed me?? Drop a comment! ;)

Hug the Softness

It's amazing how a hug can be so comforting. Sometimes it onlt takes a such small gesture for someone to feel loved and cared for.

Hubby and I make it a norm for us to hug our boys every morning, every time that we can get a hug and end our day with a hug.

They are .. after all boys. I don't take the opportunity to hug them now, they might not want me to hug them when they grow older.
(By then, perhaps hugging is only reserved for their friends, girlfriends and wife.)

Hugging my happy babies.

Cherishing every hug that I get.

I've submitted this photo in the Kleenex-Hug the Softness contest.

Do vote for us as your favourite "huggable" family. (Hahahaha..) 

How to do it?

1) Click on this link: http://apps.facebook.com/hugthesoftness/latest-entries.aspx?id=635

2) Go to Gallery

3) Search for our photo. I've submitted it under my full name "Woo Yi Lei".

 (currently on page 16 of the Popular Entries. So if you are reading this after 15th April...look for us from  page 16 onwards.)

4) VOTE!

5) Share if you find us so huggable that you can't resist not sharing. :P 

Contest ends at 1pm (Malaysian Time) , 3rd June 2014.

Thanx in advance! ;)

If you would also like to stand a chance to win attractive prizes up to RM10,000.00, you may click on the link and go to the Home button and find out more! :)

Let's all share our hugs! 

*HUGS*

P/S: this photo was a family effort as hubby was the photographer. :P

Memories of him

I have a confession to make.

Til today, I can't bring myself to watch our wedding video.

Why?

Because I cried and it was captured.

LOL!

Kidding..

Yes, I cried but it was tears of joy.

I was very touched by the video that our friends were "forced" to say a few words about us.

But today, if I watch our wedding video, it won't be tears of joy. I can only watch the wedding up til before my dad appears.

Once he's on... tears just come rolling down. 

Such a softy I am.. 

I know I can't keep going on this way. I've "put aside" a lot of things that reminds me of him.

Can't seem to toughen up.

Perhaps some day I will, some day it won't hurt so badly.

My late father was such a sport on our wedding day.

He played his "role" standing at the stairs "blocking" hubby's way.

He checked hubby's "letter of promise" and even asked him to add one last sentence before allowing him to go upstairs.

Happy Birthday Daddy.

Every year I wish I could say this to you and hug you.

And hear you say "Thank you."

It's my 4th year telling you Happy Birthday virtually.

I know that there will never be a day that I will get to hug you and hear you say Thank You again.

I will just settle for what I have for now.

Happy Birthday Daddy.

I love you..

so much that I still cry when I write about you.

Have a great time with God. 

:)

Making Baby #3: Poser Baby

I think I posted a fair share about James when he was growing up. So I feel like I owe Lucas this much... to have one post that is only about him.

LOL.

But if you follow my Dayre, you can see that I speak more of Lucas than James now. #horriblemama
Dunno how to "balance". :P

Anyway.. I just realized that Lucas is so good at posing. Especially if you use the front camera and show him.. him. hahhaa
#selfiebaby

Here's evidence of his ability to pose.

The "I hate car seats but I'm forced to sit in it" Face.

The "I can go anywhere I want by just flashing you a smile" Face.

The "this pillow is MINE" Face.

The "what happen to my hair" Face.

The "I only love to eat biscuits, don't you dare snatch it away from me" Face.

The "sweet dreams" Face.

And here's a photo taken by a lady we met at a coffee place.

She said he's very handsome  (a very sweet girl at first, before hubby corrected her and said that he's a boy!)

So she came over and took some photos.She used the front camera.. selfie style.

She made the right move..selfie baby is a selfie expert.

But I have to say, her phone camera is quite good!

(It's a Samsung btw. :P)

If you're wondering how come we got the photo, she sent it to hubby right after taking them.

Yes, it does feel weird to have a stranger taking photos of my baby. But when she told hubby that "the greatest pleasure today was to see that perfect smile from Lucas." made me realized that not everyone out there is out to harm you.

I've read that we don't realize how much a smile would mean to a stranger. It actually saves lives!

but of course, I'm not implying that she was going to end hers. I don't know her.

I'm just saying that.. probably she had a bad day and seeing Lucas made it all better for her. You never know what a simple smile (in this case a cheerful baby) could mean to others. 

Here's to many more smiles (pose) from this boy. 

I love my cheerful babies. :))

(sorry.. have to end it with "babies" instead of "baby"... I can't ignore the fact that I have two happy babies. :) )

Here we go again!

I'd usually start my "first post" after a long time with my sons.. I'm gonna make it a little different this time. Tell you about my husband.

He's not very interesting actually and not cute. (Not cute doesn't mean not handsome.. ahhh!!.)
BUT he deserves some "limelight" (even if he doesn't want to) cause I spent almost 11 years with him. :O

More than a decade with one man???!!!???
Ok la.. I spent 2.5 decades with my dad. So he's got like 15 years to break my dad's record. :P

We've been officially married for 5 years now. What has changed?

We look a lot older of course.

LOL.

Kinda like pointing out the obvious.

The other obvious thing is that both of has grown side ways but of course, hubby looks a lot better and I look just... like a lady that is pregnant all the time.

There's been a lot going on at home.. over the many years what we've been living apart on weekdays and now that hubby's back in KL, we also have our struggles.

But I'm glad to be going through tough times with him cause when he's not calm, I am and when I'm not, he is. That's what they called "balanced marriage" y'all! 

WTH.. no such thing as "balanced marriage" la..

Ask any married old couple, they will tell you is about patience,tolerance, sometimes one-sided , sometimes both sides explode and definitely, shit happens laaaa. Got perfect couple one meh? Don't think so lor.

Anyway, I don't think I should bore you about my marriage and my hubby (told you he's not an interesting person)... :P

Here are cuter and more interesting photos!

Firstly, here's our elder boy. He's 4 years and 3.5months old. I was just telling hubby that being a SAHM, I get to watch my kids grow but I get kinda emotional watching them grow so fast. It's like.. "what happen to my bubbly baby?"

Ok, he's still a cheerful boy and he does and says all sorts of funny things that just make you just forget about your stressful day.

A selfie with the elder boy.

He's so skinny now!!

Where has all the chubbs gooonnnnneeee???

but he eats quite a lot, even more than me!

How commmmeeee??

He's now 19.1 kg.

All skin and bones but still not easy on my arms when he wants/needs to be carried.

He's grown up that he knows how to do a lot of things by himself.

Like wearing his own socks and shoes. 

Automatically washing hands after food or if he finds himself dirty.

Helping me out with Lucas when he sees that Lucas has done his business on his potty.

Such a good big brother he is.

<3 p="">

Making funny poses with a friend in a clinic.

They don't look sick when they see each other la.

Boys will be boys.. 

Here's Lucas. He's now 8months and 5 days old. Only about 9kg. A little on the smaller side compared to James when he was an infant. But it doesn't really matter cause James was mostly formula milk fed and Lucas is breastfed til now. So I guess it's not an apple to apple comparison and as long as they are both healthy, doesn't matter if it's breast milk or formula milk la.

At about 7.5months, he could sit down quite steadily and play.

Not necessarily on his own.

This boy wants people to accompany him all the time and most of time, he wants me.

Another double-sided tape in the making.

OOops.. didn't realize this photo is so blur but I'm gonna post it anyway la.

Most people asks me if he's a girl/boy.

why ar? So girl-ish meh his looks?

And many times, people tell me .."Your baby got boy-ish look."

Ermmm... He's a boy!!

Spending time with him on the floor.

He's got really charming eyes.

Every time I look at his photo, I'm mesmerized. 

LOL.

He's also learnt to self feed... biscuits.

Why they grow up so fast one???

Whatever he can grab, it goes straight into his mouth.

So this is considered the dangerous "phase" cause he is mobile (he crawls around very quickly) and the fact that he puts anything that he can find into his mouth is worrisome.

So we have to keep an eye on him all the time.

Which makes things a little difficult for me cause the only time I can get things done is when he's asleep.

So thank God he takes long naps when he's suppose to.

And a selfie!

He's getting really good at selfies now. 

All my fault.. I know.

Hubby and I are superbly proud of our sons.

They both are cheerful babies.

Both have a character and personality of their own.

I guess being parents, the proudest thing is to have both of them loving each other.

They really look forward to see each other every morning and every time after James finishes school.

James is just as excited to get home and Lucas gets so excited when he sees James walking in.

As a SAHM, I get to prepare my own meals... and lately, I'm on like a "sandwich phase" and can be an ambassador for Massimo Wheat Germ bread cause I buy like 2 loaves every week! :P

Actually, sandwiches are the easiest to prepare cause it's fast and not much cleaning to be done.

(Time is precious ok!)

I've had so many sandwiches over the last few weeks that I can open Sandwich shop d. hahaha.. 

Smoked Salmon with Egg and Alfalfa Sandwich.

Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

Ham, Grilled pineapple, Wild Rocket and Arugula.

Grilled Pineapple, Pesto Chicken and Alfalfa Sandwich.

Smoked Salmon, Baby Spinach, Alfalfa and Cheese Sandwich.

Banana and Kaya Sandwich.

Baked beans and Telur Mata Kerbau Sandwich

Told you I can start selling sandwiches. 

hahahaha..

and be an ambassador for bread.

I also enjoy making Frittatas now. Cause I make one time and can eat like 4 meals. It can be kept over 1-2days.

Baby Spinach, Onions and Tomatoes Frittata.

Cauliflower, Broccoli and Onions Frittata.

I call the my #lazymama dishes cause sandwiches and Frittata are so easy to prepare that it's really meant for lazy mothers like me. :P

 ANNNNNDDDDDDD...
I finally went back to the kitchen and "re-heat" my oven!
SOOOOOO HAPPPPYYY!!!

Thanx to my sis cause she requested for a cake for her birthday. hahahaha..
I'm glad that I manage to pace myself and found time to bake. It's all about time management!! (che wah!)

A lovely cake which I think looks more like a wedding cake.

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Buttercream.

How it looks inside.

I added some heart shaped sprinkles in it. 

Shouldn't have cause it looks like it's got red pimples everywhere.

Nevermind, now that I know.. I won't do it again!

Only add colourful sprinkles!

I blog more on Dayre these days. So if you'd like more up-to-date or "live feed" of my daily life, you can follow me on Dayre.

Just go to Play Store or App Store and download the App on your phone/tablet.

Sign up and search for me .. "cikumuffin".

On your computer you can view my Dayre here.

So long for now! hopefully it won't take me another 6 months to write my next post. :P