【Hohoho... Merry Christmas 。聖誕快樂】

The Christmas eve, 2010. Cloudy day but relaxing+merry mood ;)

This is the "first" ever Christmas for Iroko (she is 2y 3m+ old). Last Christmas, she was too young to know Santa Claus, snowman, jingle bell...  Several rounds of shopping + the latest Hi-5 DVD introduced the little one all important characters of Christmas. Hence, mummy felt that it's now the right time to reinforce her learning ;)



Iroko was thrilled to see her Christmas "combo" plate (*u*) though there is no lobster, turkey, her favourite big prawns, etc.

 It's always mummy's wish to have a well-furnished Christmas tree at home. But, be more realistic (or practical?) the apartment is rather small to hold a Christmas tree ;( Well, the wish can only be fulfilled when we got  a more spacious house ;D

At first, mummy thought of making a 2-Dimension  christmas tree only (cut from brokolli stem using christmas tree cookies cutter); but the idea of making the tree out of brokolli florets, which joined by toothpicks,  popped up last minute. This one looks much better, isn't?

Snowman is supposed to be the simplest and easiest-to-make one; however it took the longest time to set because the rice was normal white rice, which is not sticky enough to hold any shape firmly. Japanese sushi rice will definitely make the job much quicker! Mummy gotta re-stock some sushi rice o(*-*)o

This is the 4th snowman!! The first 3 collapsed before photo shooting ;(
Initially, mummy wanted to put on a scarf for the snowman, but to prevent it from "melting", mummy quickly snapped some photos >,<

【Bottlenecked!! 。遇到瓶頸了;s】

The *happy meals* kitchen has been "suspended" since Iroko was infected Hand Foot Mouth Disease.
Right after the little one recovered, we were back to hometown for a week to visit 奶奶，婆婆 (grandma), 爺爺，公公(grandpa), 叔叔。。。 ; to meet mummy's new born god-daughter; to learn making ang ku kuih （紅龜糕）; to celebrate 小姨's birthday...

As usual, mummy never had chance to cook in Kedah because being well-pampered by 婆婆and奶奶 (^-^)v ! Those ideas (for making *happy meals*) also gone with time. The first day back at home, mummy just could not move on to resume the making of *happy meal*. Moreover, nothing left in the fridge except a piece of sweet corn. emmm.. what to cook? Well, weather is bad lately. Let's have something light--vegetarian style congee!

Simply follow her own sense, mummy worked this out:

Is it a RAT?

Well, mummy called it【Corn monster】!

Now, mummy is truly convinced that--practice makes perfect!! Creativity is not born but is nurtured ;)

【新兵奶媽衝鋒記 。Breastfeeding Mummy】

有幸哺乳女兒到現在（27個月）是媽咪一直覺得很光榮的事，但媽咪從來沒有真正為這段嘔心瀝血的心路歷程白紙黑字地流下記憶。。。

直到上兩個星期女兒被感染了HFMD“手足口症”的首三天，由於寶貝的整個口腔至喉嚨都被侵蝕，長滿了無以計數的ULCERS，潰爛，導致她無法進食，就連她的命根--媽咪的(。)(。)，也不要了; ...( 那時，除了擔心她的病情，也因為她“罷奶”，而感到失落--難道她從此就離乳？真的不捨。。。

結果在她罷奶的第2天，媽咪又再次苦嘗漲奶之痛。。。

因為懶得把擠奶器找出來，就用手擠，累到。。。
真的要向擠奶器的發明家致敬！！

後記：嘻嘻。。結果的結果，女兒也是捨不得就此離開(。)(。)，病發後的第4天，她開始慢慢吸奶了。。。現在--如常 (^.^)v 嘢！

【雞蛋變形餐（2）。The EGG Meals】

... (continued from 很喘。 Salute to all active-efficient-productive bloggers)

Mummy loves EGGs, regardless how they are cooked--boiled, stir fried, deep fried, steamed... But, till current, Iroko seems like loving boiled one only.

<Fried Egg Chick> on 09092010 

<Yolky the Lion> on 01092010
Mummy seldom uses lunch box. But she actually loves the concept of bento--Bento = Warm+Love 

Seriously speaking, they are also eggs what.... though not in egg shape ;p

Whenever running out of idea (what to cook), mashed potato is the only food pops up in the *happy meal* list;
Whenever mummy noticed Iroko getting bored with rice/congee, mashed potato is always top-listed;
Whenever Iroko has difficulty in doing her "big business", mashed potato is the best remedy!

<Quak~quak Duckling> on 07102010

Simply love this duckling--the egg was so round!

Iroko does not really like congee/porridge, but if it comes with a boiled egg, she'd still finished the whole meal!!

<Penguin> on 21102010
This is one of mummy's favourite + most satisfied *happy meals*

有她最愛的葡萄，草莓+水煮蛋，再怎麼不喜歡軟綿綿的稀飯，IROKO還是會“勉為其難”地把整份午餐吃個清光！

pheww.... there are still some on the waiting list!!
So... Again.... to be continued... ;p

【雞蛋變形餐（1）。 The EGG Meals】

Last day in Nov. 2010 Day with furious whirlwind

When mummy decided to start blogging, she thought that  it wouldn't be too difficult for the blog to "catch up" Iroko's daily *happy meal*. But now, mummy is kinda regretful to have such a thought! It's not easy to write more than 2 posts a day. Unlike mere posting photos with brief description onto Facebook, blogging (to mummy) requires more hardwork. Mummy wished to have all posts that contain some sort of feelings, "philosophy", her personal reviews... At this moment, mummy feels that is demanding, challenging, and tiring...

Well, in order to keep the blog well-maintained and always up-to-date (mummy has been posting back dated *happy meals*) mummy has made up her mind to summarize the past by categorizing them under different themes.

Let's start from EGGs!


Froggie Egg ;)
Part of the breakfast on 20082010



<Rat> on 04092010



<Hatching> on 15092010
Supposingly, the chick should appear as a whole round yolk. Unfortunately, the egg was overcooked until the yolk became so so dry & fragile, and it broke into 2 when the white was removed ;s



Other than the chick, mummy loves the blooming trees the most ;) 



Sleeping Rabbit ^u^
Part of the lunch on 21092010

 ... to be continued.
That's why I said 很喘 (compiling work is tiring)





【很簡單的挑戰。Making of *happy meal*】

Aug. 11, 2010 Hazy

To mummy, preparing a proper 2 or 3 dishes meal became so challenging since Iroko was born. Mummy used to have her LUNCH at 5pm!!-- Started preparing the lunch by 11am. and it took 6 hours in total to finish the meal. For a period of time, 一鍋熟 (all-in-one--steamed rice, veggie, egg, or fish... together) helped mummy a lot! There were just too many new things for the new mummy to pick up and to adapt to.

Mummy always admired those creative mummies who spent so much time and effort to prepare well-garnished kid's meal. That's luxurious! As long as Iroko finished her meal, that's good enough >,< Mummy really got inspired by those "ornamental meals" but just found no way to start although mummy bought a set of 4 rice molds and a few simple cookie cutters.

Until now, mummy realised a nice "ornamental meal" doesn't really need "sophisticated" tools/molds! It can be just as simple as this :)

Monkey Mashed Potato--it's considered as mummy's first Ornamental Meal ;-)

【無心插柳。The Born of *happy meals*】

Jul. 30, 2010 Extremely warm day

It was totally out of planning, without much thought and expectation, mummy started her journey of making *happy meals* for Iroko.



Add caption

  This very first *happy meal* was made by using the rice molds, which mummy bought long time ago before Iroko started her solids. Nothing about creativity or innovation, mummy was excited and satisfied though ;) and happily shared it on Facebook.

There and then, with positive and encouraging feedbacks from friends, mummy started exploring the fun of making *happy meals*.

There and then, mummy has been inspired to create more interesting ways (meals) to reinforce early childhood learning for Iroko.

There and then, the story of *happy meals* begins...

【孩子，你慢慢來（下篇）。No rush, take your time (Part 2)!】

2010年9月20日 大熱天

『快一點』是傷害孩子心靈的10句話之一！

（摘自《七田真0-6歲育兒法》93頁，七田真）

一直以來媽咪都很擔心自己會屈服於當下現實的大環境和填鴨式教育所影響，用很kiasu的方式來教育IROKO--總是害怕孩子輸在起跑點而不斷向孩子施壓；總是拿孩子做比較，什麼都要較量一番。。。

“隔壁誰誰誰的孩子跟你兒子才差那麼幾天出生，但已經會說很多話，會唱很多歌了。。。你的呢？”；

“哎唷，我孩子還沒滿月酒會對著我笑，4個月就長牙齒，沒有對歲就會走路。。。你的呢？”；

“怎麼我的孩子兩歲了還不會自己上廁所？”。。。

坦白說，這些都是一直在媽咪耳邊咿嗡嗡，困擾著媽咪的問題！雖然媽咪壓根兒知道這些都不是什麼問題，每個孩子的成長速度都不一樣，爬得再慢，再遲開口說話的孩子，遲早都會一一學會。

Sweetheart, take your time, you can do it!!

孩子，你慢慢來，媽媽會一直陪你走下去。。。

【孩子，你慢慢來（上篇）。No rush, take your time (Part 1)!】

2010年9月20日 大熱天

『腳踏車經過一片花開滿地的平野，

將車往草地上一倒，就坐下來。

蒲公英年年都有，孩子那樣幼小就只有一次。』

（摘自《孩子你慢慢來》，52頁，龍應台）

沒錯，孩子的成長就只有那麼一次。
儘管可能打算多生幾個小孩，但每個小孩幼小的童年都是獨有的，都是孩子和父母一生僅有一次的過程。
但，
有多少父母有機會陪孩子一起熬過乳牙初萌的痛苦歲月；
有多少父母有機會陪孩子跨出了他/她人生的第一步；
有多少父母有機會陪孩子一起在草地上翻滾，一起嗅嗅草原香，一起看著蒲公英墜落。。。

那天看電視裡學到一句很值得深思的話“爸爸走得慢，才能看到你成長得有多快！”

媽咪走慢些，才能看到寶貝長大得有多快

媽咪自問是個急性子的人，很多時候都很貪心地要同一時間做好幾件事；，一雙手要一次過拿很多東西；懷孕前走路逛街時總是不知不覺把女兒的爸拋在後頭。
因為這個性，媽咪自然容易火爆，總是對做事慢吞吞/小心翼翼的人看不過眼。
唯一的好處就是做事有效率 >,<

女兒似乎沒有遺傳到媽咪的急性子，在她身上好像看到了她老爸的影子，很多時候都是她在提醒媽咪，“不用緊啦！”，“慢慢來。。。”
是值得慶幸的吧？（只要做事不拖泥帶水）

Mummy, no rush, take your time ;)





【Mama's Private Recipe 。媽媽的私房菜】

2010年7月27日 晴天

似乎每个媽媽都有自家的獨門食譜，那些都是她的孩子們在外面無法找到的味道，都是媽媽在孩子的記憶力所留下的味道！
那天在跟好友媽媽萨的聚会又學到了新菜式--好友媽媽的私房菜，【莧菜麵湯】 v(*u*)v
莧菜的清甜+蝦米的鮮味都滲透在湯汁裡，再加上用老抽，麻油和胡椒粉醃製的肉碎，這麼簡單的一碗熱湯麵就可以讓人感到很滿足！

其實每一道媽媽費盡心思為孩子準備的食物都一直在提醒孩子們“知足常樂”這個聽起來很容易，但要真正做到卻很難的“人生大事”。只要用心品嚐，就能嚐到媽媽的用心良苦。瞧，一碗莧菜麵湯，不就足以讓人滿足了嗎？其實幸福真的可以很簡單。。。

【Cherish the Memory 。缅懐：動物園】

Cheese is always Iroko's favourite;
Sausage is one of the most popular ingredients of mummy's in preparing *happy meals* for Iroko;
Mushrooms (all kinds that mummy knows) are just added to Iroko's list of favourite recently;
It just so happened that mummy had all these in the fridge today;
And Iroko, out of sudden, told mummy the "story" in the zoo, "baby fed elephants...";
And so happened, mummy has drafted elephant in her cooking-sketch-book.
These resulted in this *Happy Elephant Meal*

Mini Elephant with rosy cheek o(*u*)o

Mummy always loves floral patterns ♥

First pet in her life

Mummy is always wondering: is pet a necessity to one's childhood?? Especially to boys. Fishes, birds, doggies, kitties... 舅舅，大姨，小姨，奶舅all had their pets when they were young. Daddy definitely had some pets too. Otherwise he wouldn't suggest to get his daughter some kinds of pet! Well, nothing serious, but merely curious (o_0) Perhaps, simply because mummy never thought of keeping pet and she just doesn't see the fun of taking care of animals.
Just a few weeks ago, daddy "fulfiled" his promise to Iroko--bought her a pair of baby tortoise.

Initially Iroko didn't dare to touch them at all. But now.... >,< Mummy is so worried that the 2 little tortoises won't survive long ;...(

No doubt, almost all kids love living "toys" that are able to eat, walk or crawl, blink their eyes, open and close their mouth, smile, make sounds.... Iroko was so thrilled to receive from her daddy the very first pet in her life. She is taking very "good" care of the 2 little ones: always overfeeds them to ensure they'd never feel hungry; brings them "outing" (took out from their 'house'--a salad bowl from mummy's kitchen); does "gyms" for them (put them on her arm, leg, palm...); talks to them, etc. Well, while worrying about the tortoises, mummy agrees that keeping pets is somehow a good way to educate children to be caring & humane, as well as to develop the sense of responsibility??!!?
Oh ya, forgot to introduce the tortoises, they are 灰灰 and  斑斑. Daddy named them after the 2 mushrooms from Iroko's bedtime story book.



當看到媽咪雕塑的烏龜後，IROKO就馬上抓起其中一隻小龜在媽咪面前表演一番!

 Mummy decided to make Iroko 'Tortoise Lunch' after the trip to zoon yesterday! Iroko was so impressed by the gigantic tortoises there! Baby, for your revision!

The Bug World

18/08/2010 Sunny day

Today, mummy tried the new rice (or should be referred to as "grains") she just bought yesterday. The name of the "rice" itself sounds very powerful--ACTIVE MULTI GRAINS!! Mummy feels guilty for taking too much rubbish food in the past. Since she's breastfeeding Iroko, and Iroko started to enjoy solids now, mummy wants ensure her home-cook meals must be as healthy as possible ;)
Well, back to the "main course of the day"--the RICE. Basically, it consists of organic brown rice, pearl brown rice,organic millet, black fragrant rice, wheat grain, organic red rice, and tartary buckwheat! Pheww.... there are so many names that mummy has never came across >,<
The rich fragrance of those grains prevaded the air in the house while cooking rice, hmmm... what a nice smell from the nature! Simply refreshing ^.^

The side dishes of the lunch were fried prawn egg and lettuce soup. Oh ya, not forget too the broccoli and baby tomatoes from Cameron Highlands.

Orangey Patrick

The red dog soft toy--Patrick, is always on mummy's list-to-do. The recent trip back to hometown inspired her again--the Patrick sitting on 大姨's bed reminded mummy the "ever-done-before" Patrick meal for Iroko. taa lang... at last, the Patrick meal is served!!

Nonetheless, until the Patrick meal was done, mummy has yet to come across the best & most natural ingredients in red colour that can be used for Patrick. Ended up, Patricks became orangey ;p

It's always Iroko's favourite food--mashed potato. And it's always mummy's favourite recipe --> easy to prepare: just steam + mash. But to make it orangey, mummy added pumpkin + carrot to potato. Although without fresh milk (many said it enhances the texture of mashed potato) it still tasted good with some butter + sea salt. There you go babe!!

*happy lunch* includes:
Mashed potato with bread crust + hard boiled egg + cheddar cheese