the thrill of cooking for your family...

i am thankful that i've been given a good and promising job this year as a trainee lecturer in a family mediine department....i do a 8 to 5 job at the clinic with once a while oncall at the low risk birth centre ....and i have more time to spend with my beloved ones...but i'll definitely miss this opportunity again next year once i enrol into the masters programme...anyway, i will make use of the time i have now to the fullest...

so this ramadhan, i cook almost everyday, i venture into different dishes each day...we rarely buy dishes at the pasar ramdhan except for a few kuih and drinks...but the main dish, i always cook for my family...and they love them very much...

i gain the satisfaction when they eat everything i cook ( of course they taste very good)...in a way, i only cook the best ingredients and i can minimize the usage of salt, oil and other unhealthy stuffs in my dishes....thus promote a good healthy eating habits in the family...during my consultation in the clinic, i always advice on healthy diet so i have to make it into my own practice as well...

in previous ramadhan, our table was full of bought dishes...but this year most of them are homecooked dishes....

wonderful recipes @ my other blog

am i ready for potty training..?

last weekend, we bought a VCD "Elmo's Potty Time" and a storybook on potty training for Jihan..we wanted to introduce to her about potty and toilet usage before she undergo a proper potty training later...

she loves watching the VCD "Elmo's Potty Time"... it is quite interesting and funny and she seems to understand the purpose of potty and toilet... then, the storybook is also very interesting and she kept saying, "friend go to toilet, go to toilet.." ... and when i asked her, "Jihan wants to go to toilet..?" she replied, "no!"



it's ok if she is not ready yet...but yesterday, my maid told me that Jihan asked her to go to the toilet with her but she already poo poo in her pampers....



i'm planning to take a long leave end of this year to potty train her...probably she'll be ready by that time...

Rattatouille.....

we just came back from Mines Shopping Centre after a movie treat, "Rattatouille"...it's Jihan's first movie watching at a cinema....

we went there quite early where most of the shops were not opened yet...we bought the ticket, booked our seats very near to the aisle, just in case we have to leave early if Jihan throw her tantrum...we told Jihan that she is going to watch a "big cartoon" and she agreed to that and she really wanted to see a "big cartoon"...

so, the show is scheduled at 12.10pm...so we went strolling around the mall...we wanted to go on the boat cruise but the services won't start until 11.30....gosh....so, instead we watched the big fishes swimming around the canal...

then we gave Jihan her lunch before the movie, 1/2 of tuna sandwich..we sat in front of a guy boutique where they played a very energetic song...Jihan was eating her sandwich while dancing in front of the shop...she really enjoyed herself...

then it's time for the movie, Rattatoulle....we went in and i kept telling Jihan that she is going to watch a "big cartoon"....i was worried that she might just freak out when she enters the dim cinema...

she sat on her papa's lap and watch the cartoon quietly...she didn't make a lot of fuss and seemed enjoying herself though she looked sleepy...about 3/4 of the show, she fell asleep.....and she woke up 20 minutes later to enjoy the last few part of show....

we were ready to leave when it finished but they were still showing the name of casts, producer, bla, bla....and Jihan said, "not finished yet...want to see big cartoon"....so we sat there for a while and when almost everybody has gone out, so we made our move...

and she can pronounce it right, "rattatoooeeee..."

and she definitely wants to see more "big cartoons" after this....

tips: breastfeeding in Ramadhan...

How to maintain a good supply of breastmilk in fasting month:

• drink a lot of water and soup during the night


• take kurma (dates) frequently


• express your breastmilk as usual at workplace and breastfeed directly when you are at home


• stay calm, do not become stress at work


• take sufficient amount of carbohydrate (do not afraid of getting fat during fasting month as you'll burn more calories than other people when you breastfeed)


• eat a lot of green vegetables


• have a good pre dawn meal and drink a lot of water/nutritious drink


• do a lot of good deeds during Ramadhan and pray so that you'll produce sufficient breastmilk for your little ones

Ramadhan al mubarak....

when she was a baby...

alhamdulillah, the holy month of ramadhan is here again...may Allah give us His blessing to do good deeds in this month and hopefully we can upgrade ourselves to be a better Muslim, insya Allah...

i remeber that i was pregnant in my 1st trimester during ramadhan in 2004....luckily i did not have bad morning sickness so i was able to fast the whole fasting month...but i was quite lethargic compared to other fasting months...

this is my 3rd ramadhan after Jihan was born...the first one was when she was still fully breastfed...at that time, i was struggling to maintain my breastmilk supply...i took a lot of drink and soup during the whole night so that i can produce similar amount of breastmilk the next day...alhamdulillah, my breastmilk was able to maintain its production...some people experience a major decrease in production during fasting month but i did not...but just imagine how full my stomach was during that time, due to excessive fluid intake....

this year, Jihan is 2 year and 3 months old at ramadhan....she still doesn't understand why we can't eat during the day..but she loves breaking fast with us...she eats quite a lot these day...and she even asks for rice for supper....

may we be in good health this year so that we can fast and pray and do more good deeds

during this ramadhan....

Malaysia...

Jihan is still in her merdeka spirit!! she would definitely say out loud MERDEKA if she sees the Malaysian flag...

today, we went to the new Tesco Cheras, she saw a very big Malaysian flag and she said, "MERDEKA MALAYSIA"

Wow!! i was quite surprised when she uttered the word "Malaysia"...

then, i taught her, "Jihan, where do you stay?"...she answered, "Malaysia..."....

what a smart kid....

a good eating habit...

we went to midvalley megamall in the evening and planned to have dinner there today....after strolling along the mall, we decided to ate at Manhattan's Fishmarket....

my dear Jihan was so excited to have dinner there...she said she would like to eat rice today...

my hubby ordered garlic butter mussels and fish and chips while i ordered for jihan fish nuggets with calamari rings and rice (Big Boat)....she sat at her high chair sensibly and had a wonderful chat with us...

when the food arrived, i scooped some rice and fish nuggets onto her plate...she simply loved dipping the fish nuggets into the tartar sauce and i alternately fed her with some rice...to my surprise, she ate quite a lot though...almost half of the rice and 3 pieces of big fish nuggets....and this time, she behaved quite well...not throwing any tantrum at all...even when we had finished our food, she was still eating hers...

and there was less food on the floor as well....most of it went into her mouth...i observed her tiny fingers picking up the nugget chunks and she has a very good fine motor movement....

this was a very good meal times at a public place...i admit it that it's not easy to have a proper meal when you have a baby or a toddler to attend to...i have had a few episodes of having bad meal times when my Jihan would threw a tantrum and wouldn't sit still and finish her food...and we would take turns to eat and to attend to Jihan....

as parents, we need to make sure that our children have a good eating habit at home and at public places because that reflects their personalities and how actually the parents had educate their children....