Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Yiu-Khye - 10 Months

Yes, you read it right. Updates on Khye is now no longer in weeks, but in months.
The last update I posted on was on breastfeeding when Khye was 5 mo and Khye's Photoshoot when he was 6 mo.

Bad mum I am, but I'm having too much on my plate at the moment. There are too many stuff I want to blog and time passes by too fast. And I've been doing Project Life too, so moments are being jotted down and remembered, and treasured. I'm trying my best here to do what I can.

OK, so here goes an update on my little cutie pie sunshine.

19 July @ 10 mths

Paediatrician Visit

Khye's Measurement @ 9 months old

Weight: 9.9kg
Length/Height: 70cm
Head Circumference: 45cm


The last time we brought him for a check-up was last month and Khye weighed a hefty 9.9kg although he is fully on breast milk. When I said fully, I mean it. Or at least 99% on breast milk 'coz my Khye isn't very keen on semi-solid yet.

I was quite worried because I was afraid that just thriving on breast milk may not be enough nutrients. But Dr. Dan said not to worry as long as he is growing fine and he still gains weight without solids. He assured me that 'he will eat gradually'.
I think he is right.


Vocal

Khye is very vocal now at 10 months. When in the mood, he would babble or baby talk for quite a long time. He is no more the quiet baby. I can hear quite a few syllable now like 'A-ba', 'Ya-ya'.
It is fun hearing him babble to himself while he plays with his toys.


Physical Strength

He can now crawl easily, and can locate me and crawl all the way from the living hall to my room when he hears my voice. Crawling is his way of moving about now.

He can also hold on to something and pull himself to standing. He has been doing that for quite a month or more. He is getting more stable now, but there are still times when he forgets and lets go one hand and sometimes may still fall and hit himself.

While holding his hands, he can take a few steps forward, which is the early sign of learning how to walk. But he cannot walk by himself yet.


Taking Semi-Solids/Solids

Like I said, Khye is the first baby I know who hates food. (I thought all babies can't wait to start eating!) Actually I think he hates opening his mouth more. His first encountered with semi-solids at 6 months was a disaster. Although there is no more projectile vomit (or less), very often he would still keep his mouth shut, and would turn away his face, or even push my hands away when I try to feed him.

But at 8 months onwards, he showed some improvement. I will do a separate post on Khye's semi-solids progress later.
But just say that things are slowly beginning to be better, but he is still on 90% breast milk!


Mouthing Objects/Toys

Khye is a funny baby. He doesn't mouth his toys. He almost never put his toys into his mouth!
The only thing he puts into his mouth is his own fingers, and Sophie the Giraffe (sometimes!). There's good and there's bad. Good thing is that I have less worry on him choking on small stuff he picks up. But the bad thing is that may also lead to why he is not interested in food! Arghh..


Drooling


Khye's been drooling a lot lately. I guess more teeth are erupting soon. So bibs will be shown in most of his photos from now on.


Sleep

Khye usually wakes up about 8.30am. He has a quick nap in the morning about 11am for about 1/2 hour to 1 hour. And then he stays awake for a few hours. In the afternoon, he takes a more longer nap for about 2 hours or 2 1/2 hours. And that's it. He would stay awake until his bed time around 9pm.
And the bad thing is that Khye no more sleep through the night! Boo hoo!
He wake up at about 2am for a dream feed, and sometimes he would fuss again at about 4 or 5am. I would then give him my boobs which he would just suckle a while for comfort and then sleep again. Sigh.


Falling Sick

Khye falls sick way more often than when Shern was a baby. Doctors tell me usually baby#2 has it worse because his elder bro brings home all the germs in school and pass it to him. My poor baby.
He was hospitalized for flu when he was just a teeny 3+ month old baby.

And just a this week, he had fever up to 38.8 d Celcius (even after taking suppository paracetamol) which scared the hell out of me! Took him to see paed in the middle of the night and got charged triple for doctor's fee! But luckily he was not hospitalized as his fever came down to just 38 d C. And just 2 days later, he recovered just like that. Hmmm, should I thank my breast milk for this?

But during that 1 night when he was sick, he was such a fussy baby! He wanted to be carried and rocked to sleep, we couldn't put him down at all. He didn't even want my boobs, and that was so shocking! And feeding him medicine was difficult (he hates things in his mouth remember?), and he sometimes vomits everything out after a meds feed, so I was really glad he got well pretty fast.


Smile

Khye is still flashing his megawatt smile very generously. But now to some strangers or people he is not so familiar with, it might take him some time before he warms up to show you his 4 teeth!



Stroller / Baby Carrier

Khye has been going out very often. As a fully direct latch baby, he has the privilege to follow me wherever I go (almost!). And Khye does well in both stroller and baby carrier.

Usually when Khye is awake and active, I will put him in a stroller. He would sit up and is happy letting me stroll him. But if it is his nap time soon, then baby carrier is a better bet. I also usually baby carry him when I'm alone with him, so that I don't need to handle the stroller. Baby carrier is also much more convenient when the place is not stroller-friendly.



Ok, that should be all for now. 'Til the next update soon I hope. ;)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Khye's First Haircut

Unlike his brother, Khye don't have much hair. And also unlike his brother's spiky hair when small, Khye has soft hair like mine.
So I wasn't in a hurry to bring Khye for a haircut because his hair was growing slowly and it was way more neat.

But for the last few weeks, Khye's hair has gotten somewhat more messy, with some strands of hair longer than the others, which made him seem like balding. lol.
So we decided to bring him for a haircut at almost 10 months old.

This is Khye before the haircut. See his very little hair?
He was being very cheeky, and kept on sticking out his tongue when he smiled.
11 July 2013


Brought him to the Prima Tanjung Hair Salon, which I always bring Shern there. He was still being very cheeky.

Since Khye can't really sit on the stool yet (which is without harness), so I had to carry him.
I was the one being wrapped to protect my clothes.
Lucky I knew about this and had dressed Khye in an old top, and short-less, and just wearing a disposable diaper.

I told the aunty, I wanted to trim his hair real short, no need to go all bald. All I wanted was for his hair to grow more evenly from then on.
And then the shaving starts.

Khye was behaving quite well. There were no cries or protests.
Only Khye looking at the hairdresser, wondering what she was doing with his head. lol.

Shern's eyes sometimes closed a little, knowing that the shaver is touching his head.
Maybe he felt a ticklish sensation or something.


Khye enjoying his 'head massage' :D

This is Khye, hair nicely trimmed, and looking good.
He looks so much like his brother Shern when he was this age.

OK, so Khye's first hair cut went well.
:)

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Registering Shern For Primary School

In Malaysia, a child starts formal primary education at age 7. For primary school registration , some people say that you need to register when your child is 4 years old. Some say 5 years old, and others say 6 years old.

Read online that for Selangor residents, you can do web online registration. But what about for Penang?

Other parents tell me that the education department will publish an article/calling in the Chinese newspapers when it is time for registration. But I don't can't read the Chinese newspaper, and I don't ever remember seeing such calling in the English newspapers. There is no definite guidelines, and so I decided to take matters in my own hands!

I would just go to the preferred school and find out when and how to register. And if I get lucky, they might just allow me to register there and then!

I decided to register Shern to a Chinese primary school. In Malaysia, we call them SJK (C) which stands for Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina).
Yes, both hubby & me can't read chinese. But hearing how lousy the Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) schools are getting now, we really don't have a choice.

So along with a friend of mine, we marched to the school to register for both our sons.
Both my friend and I can't read Chinese, and it felt good to go together rather than alone.

We brought along everything we could think of; originals and photocopies; I.Cs, Birth Certs, Marriage Certs, etc.

But in the end, these are what we submitted to them: (note: I'm not sure if this applies to all schools!)
  • Child's Original Birth Certificate, and a photocopy
  • Child's photocopy of MyKid. 
  • Both parent's photocopy of MyKad.
  • Latest Utility Bill (with address near to school)
  • A Signed Letter (if utility bill is not your name)

After that we were required to fill in a form, with the child's details and also the parents details, together with correspondence add and tel.
Please make sure you know how to fill in your child's name in Chinese as there is a column for it! :)

They needed the child's Original Birth Certificate, because the school would stamp this behind:



After that, it was done. Fast and easy. It took us about half an hour.

Yes, you can only register for ONE school.
And you would not know whether your submission is accepted in this school or not, until just a few months before your child is required to report to school.
So for our case, Shern will be attending Primary/Standard 1 in 2016. So we would get a letter from the school/education ministry in around August 2015.

I heard that your chances will be higher if the address you submitted is nearer to the school, though there is no guarantee.
And the admin told us if my son could not get in our preferred school, we could appeal.

Anyway, one thing strike off my to-do list. I'm feeling good.
Is not easy being a mum.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

I Am A Project Lifer

I embarked on this Project Life journey this year, together with some of my crafty friends.

I love scrapbooking and I love documenting stuff, stuff that means a lot to me. Although I do blog, some things are just too routine and too vague to warrant a blog post by itself. So what do I do? I just document it in my Project Life (PL) 2013 album.

There are basically no rules for Project Life. You can do it daily, or weekly, or monthly, or whenever you please. You can fill it with lots of photos, or lots of words. Really, it is all up to you.

So for my own Project Life, I document the everyday things. Through Project Life, I weave a story of my life, my kids, my food etc out of the ordinary routine everyday stuff. I do it based on weekly spreads. Most of my weekly spreads are 2 pages long. Some weeks I have more things to document so I add on inserts.

I haven't really talked about my scrapbooking stuff in my blog. Not because I don't want to, but mainly because I don't have the time to blog about them.
But this year, scrapbooking layouts and cards have taken a backseat, because I'm mostly doing Project Life during my crafting time. And I'm loving it.

So here are my spreads of my PL from Week 1 to Week 15.

Warning: Photos overload!


My main page:

PL Week 1

PL Week 2

PL Week 3

PL Week 4

PL Week
Week 5 is a longer week, so I added on inserts in between my 2 pages, and it was all about my birthday. :)

 PL Week6
Week 6 was a week full of activities because is was CNY week, thus additional inserts. ;)

 PL Week7

PL Week 8

PL Week 9

PL Week 10


PL Week 11

PL Week 12

PL Week 13

PL Week 14

PL Week 15

As you can see, most of them are about both my kiddos. What to do? They play such a big role in my life now.
I take photos of them all the time, even when they are sleeping, or making funny faces, or even just doing nothing. They are my obsessions, in a way. :D

I am only doing until Week 17, and I've still got about 9 weeks to catch up.  But all is well. I'm on a roll lately so I'm gonna catch up real soon.

Doing Project Life makes me happy.
Documenting and creating using beautiful papers. Life is indeed beautiful.

Ok, that is all for now.
Happy creating!



Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Review and Giveaway and Discount Code: Blue Oak Valley's Baby Kingdom Range (Baby Care)

I'd just reviewed Blue Oak Valley's Lilly Range and the giveaway just ended not so long ago. Now comes the review of another range from Blue Oak Valley - the Baby Kingdom baby care range.

Like what I'd mentioned, Blue Oak Valley is a Malaysian company that specialises in organic, cruelty-free and natural products. Entirely plant-based, it is eco-friendly and aims to reduce the use of packing material, source-sustainable ingredients and recycle waste.

You can read about BOV's commitment and philosophy again here and here.

Their slogan 'Organics For Life' says everything about them with their note to the customers "each time you use our products, you are helping to mantain a healthier and sustainable environment, home and lifestyle. One by one we can change the world and make it a better place." Some of the salient features of Baby Kingdom range:

Hypo-allergenic



























































































































































No artificial colours or fragrances
No Petrochemicals
  Environmental friendly
No animal by-products
No Animal testing
SLS and SLES free




Alkaline free PH balanced



Only pure essential oils are used





100% biodegradable





I am very happy to be given the opportunity to review their Baby Kingdom range.
Like what the name says, they have very luxurious feel to it the moment I set my eyes on them.

The BOV Baby Kingdom range was delivered to my house in a kraft box. It was tied with a ribbon and a tag. The tag reads 'We use bio-degradable and non-toxic palm paper'. :)


When I opened the box , there were the 4 bottles of the Baby Kingdom Range (Baby Bath, Baby Shampoo, Diaper Ointment and Baby Lotion).


They came in sleek aluminium bottles.
Pink, red, green, and blue. Lovely label colours packaging. Labels were printed in soy ink.


1. Baby Bath
IngredientsAqua, wheat amino acids, coconut oil, soy lecithin, palm oil, aloe extract*, soap bark tree*, jojoba oil*, xanthan gum, grapefruit seed extract*, chamomile oil*, lavender oil*  (*Certified Organic)

This sleek Baby Kindom Organic Baby Bath is pink labelled  and is a medium-sized bottle that  comes with a dispenser pump. It is easy to dispense and I'm loving the smell. For Baby Kingdom range, the smell is more sweet and a 'lil minty, with the familiar herbal-infused smell. Er, I think 'refreshing' (instead of minty) should be the correct word used, as there is no mint in the ingredient list. :)
This Baby Kingdom Organic Baby Bath is a special formulation of pure herbal ingredients that is safe and gentle enough for everyday use.

I had been using this liquid baby bath on both Shern and Khye for almost 2 months, and it seems like it can never finish. It lathers up well and so I only use a little at a time. And because the bottle is aluminum and not see-through, I guess I still have about a quarter bottle left. And that is very cost-saving for both kids!
After use, my kids body is velvety soft (erm, which kid's body is not anyway!) and the nice mild smell lingers for awhile after shower.

However, the next batch of Baby bath comes in a plastic bottle with a lid, which I find is more baby-friendly. Khye likes to play with the bottles while I bathe him, and aluminum bottles make so much noise when they are knocked against the floor. And also it hurts more when knocked on Khye's head, accidentally by himself of course. So yay to new plastic bottle!



2. Baby Shampoo
Ingredients
Aqua, wheat amino acids, decyl & lauryl glucosides,  coconut oil, soy lecithin, glucose oxidase & lactoper oxidase, aloe extract*, jojoba oil*, vegetable glycerin, xanthan gum, soap bark tree*, grapefruit seed extract*, lemon oil*, chamomile oil*, essential oils*  (*Certified Organic)

This Baby Kingdom Organic Baby Shampoo has a more mild smell, which is also a herb-infused pleasant smile. 
It comes in a medium-sized aluminum bottle with a blue label, with a dispenser pump. But I think the next batch comes in a plastic bottle too just like the Baby Bath! Yay!

This Baby Shampoo is easy to wash off and is mild for baby and children, so both my kids are using it. This bottle is even more cost-saving, as I use just a teeny bit once a day. Yes, I wash my kiddos' hair every day because in our hot weather, they sweat a lot. And I mean a lot.
Maybe because both my kiddos have very little hair, but this bottle seems to last even longer than the Baby Bath! I think this is going to last me for quite a while to go.

But please bear in mind that this is NOT a no-tear formula, as no chemical stabilizer is included to create tear-free formula. However, if it gets into the eyes, it does not cause any unnecessary eye redness, but just as when water gets into the eye. It gets a little uncomfortable as both my kiddos hate to get water into their eyes. But it does not cause reddish eyes.


3. Diaper Ointment

IngredientsVitamin E*, jojoba oil*, lavender oil*, chamomile oil*, rosebuds*, zinc oxide*,  comfrey root*, glycerin*, rosemary extract*, wheat germ extract*, sweet almond oil*, retinyl palmitate (Vitamin A)     (*Certified Organic)

This Baby Kingdom Organic Diaper Ointment also comes in a small sleek aluminum bottle with a green label. The dispenser pump is much smaller and it comes in a small lid.
Upon pressing the pump, it dispenses a small thin streak of white ointment, which I find is good as it is not wasteful.
When Khye was small and had frequent poos, he had rash more often and thus I found it a little bit irritated when it dispenses so little, and I needed to press the pump so many times to cover Khye's big butt area! But now that he does not poo so often and his diaper rash is quite rare nowadays, it really does help that I won't be dispensing out too much diaper ointment!

But I do not like the packaging that comes with the small lid. Although I know that it covers the pump and is more hygienic, but it is frustrating for me to be rummaging through my things to locate the tiny lid after every diaper change. So I'm hoping for new packaging in the future. Anyway, this is just me.

But other than that, this Diaper Ointment works well for Khye. It has a pleasant smell and it soothes and helps heal and kill bacteria. Lavendar and rosemary are effective in protecting the skin and to fight against bacteria. So diaper rash is minimized, and even if there is any, it goes away after a day or so.
It also helps prevent chaffing and redness of the skin folds, as Khye is quite a Michelin baby.

So overall, love this product other than the small lid!


4.. Baby Lotion
IngredientsAqua, sunflower oil*, stearic acid (vegetable fat), tocopherol (Vit E), aloe barbadensis leaf extract*, xanthan gum (natural thickener), sucrose stearate (sugar emulsifier) glucose oxidase & lactoperoxidase (natural enzymes), grapefruit seed extract*.  (*CERTIFIED ORGANIC)

Baby Kingdom Organic Baby Lotion has the same packaging as the Diaper Ointment, just that this one has a red label. So this one also has the small lid that frustrates me. :)

Initially, I thought this is a normal baby lotion for the whole body. But after reading the instruction, this Organic Baby Lotion is concentrated on providing relief to baby's diapered area to protect the skin. However, it can also be applied as a moisturizer to baby's face, body, knees and elbows.

Is a special formula that soothes and helps heal, also to prevent chaffing, and redness, and also effective to kill bacteria. It has a refreshing smell that makes me feel that it provides Khye with soothing relief upon application all over his diapered area.

It comes in a small bottle and is so precious, so mainly I use it for his diapered area, and to moisturize his knees and elbows.

It absorbs quickly into the skin and has a very mild pleasant smell.



***Please take note that as these are natural products, it is typical that the smell may be different from batch to batch. However, the formulation is the same. The color of the oils and ingredients also changes from batch to batch.



This is Khye happily bathing using the Baby Kingdom Baby Shampoo and Baby Bath!



GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)


I am pleased to announce that Blue Oak Valley is sponsoring 1 set of Baby Kingdom Range to 1 winner.
This Baby Kingdom range set consists of:
- Baby Bath (300ml)
- Baby Shampoo (300ml)
- Diaper Ointment (100g)
- Baby Lotion (100g)

Yes, 1 winner will win this luxurious set of Baby Kindom range!
Win for your baby, or maybe for your friend's baby. :)



HOW TO JOIN
All you need to do is just Like Shu-Yin's Sactuary's Facebook Page, and also Like Blue Oak Valley's Facebook Page and leave a comment in this blog post. It is this easy.
Please leave an email address for me to contact you.

This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE!
Giveaway ends on 24th July 2013 11.59pm Malaysian time.

The winner will be chosen randomly on 25th July 2013 and will be posted in this post and will be contacted via email. If no reply from the winner within 48 hours, then I will announce for a new winner.



TO PURCHASE WITH DISCOUNT CODE (ONLINE STORE ONLY)

More good news! Thanks to Blue Oak Valley, you get:

- 25% off STOREWIDE
at Blue Oak Valley website for ~3 weeks special (until 31 July 2013) using discount code 'SHUYIN25',
- and after that will be 15% off  for 12 months (until 31 July 2014) using discount code 'SHUYIN2013'.
- Only applicable for online sales.



TO PURCHASE AT RETAILER


If you wish to see and hold (and smell!) the products before you make a purchase, BOV products are also available in stores.
And here is the link to the list of retailers.

And special mention to the retailer Fabulous Mom which has nationwide stores, and Twins Baby as there is a Twins Baby store in Penang located in Jln Masjid Negeri (somewhere opposite Convent Green Lane). So for you Penang readers, you can drop by there!



If you wish to know more on the addresses of these retailers, or if you have any other questions or enquiries, you can send an email to enquiry@blueoakvalley.com

For more info, you can also visit Blue Oak Valley website or their Facebook page.



WINNER(S) ANNOUNCEMENT

Thank you to all who participated in this giveaway. The winner of the Blue Oak Valley's Baby Kingdom Range Set is Sharon Han!
Congratulations! You should have received an email from me on how to collect the prize(s).

This Baby Kingdom range set consists of:
- Baby Bath (300ml)
- Baby Shampoo (300ml)
- Diaper Ointment (100g)
- Baby Lotion (300g)





* Disclosure: I received the Baby Bath (300ml), Baby Shampoo (300ml), Diaper Ointment (100g), and Baby Lotion (100g) for review purpose, but no monetary incentive was received. All text and opinions are of my own and represents my honest opinion of the product(s).

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