Thursday, November 28, 2013

Khye On Solid Food Progress with OXO Tot Divided Feeding Dish

13 November 2013 - Khye @ 14 months old


As you all know, Khye is a very slow eater. He was not ready for semi-solids at 6 months, and only stopped gagging and puking out food at 8 months, though he was still not very interested in food.
He clamped his mouth shut most of the time when food was offered to him, only opening his mouth rarely for food. But it was progress although little.

Khye only started voluntarily opened his mouth the moment he turned 1 year old. It was such an irony that my chubby little baby only started eating at 1 year old. Oh well, I guess every kid has its own time for everything.

When Khye started eating, I was looking for a useful feeding dish to feed him, and this OXO Tot Divided Feeding Dish came just in time to try it out on Khye.


PACKAGING and FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Just like the OXO Tot's Sippy Cup Set, it came in a hard plastic, with the very easy to open packaging.

There was no need for scissors to cut away the hard plastic. There was a perforated line surrounding the feeding dish. I simply pulled the cupboard flap and it tore around the edge. Simply fantastic.
I did not have to torture myself to cut up the hard plastic which usually ended up poking myself really bad. So I was really appreciative of the packaging.

Upon opening, this is how it looks like when I snapped all 3 pieces of it together. The middle piece provides a cover for the food to conveniently stores leftovers.. I find it especially useful when Khye eats halfway and then wanders elsewhere to play and I can just cover the food up keeping it for the next feed.

Another benefit that all 3 parts conveniently snapped together for storage, is that any one part won't get lost so easily.


Lift up the cover and this is what you see. The aerial view of it front and back. Yes, like the name, it is divided into two sections of 4oz capacity each, so you can serve 2 separate food at the same time, without it mixing up together and turn into a mushy mesh.

One thing first, I love this Divided Feeding Dish.
Ok, let's see how I put it into good use.

This is what I usually put into the dish to feed Khye when he was about 9 months old (after he finally stopped gagging and puking at 8mo).
A more diluted rice cereal on one side, and some cooled boiled water on the other side.

He would eat a little, though not very interested, but at least he did open his mouth and eat. This divided dish helped a lot as I usually feed him some water after every few spoonfuls of cereal. I don't have to have a cup of water as I can have both water and cereal on the divided dish. 
 
13 June 2013 - 9 months old


As he grew older and a little more interested in food, I began serving him more food variety as he can take food in small pieces.
However, Khye is a funny little boy. At that stage, he hated the spoon. So I could not feed him anything with spoon. I needed to finger feed him!
Basically is like this: If I put the food on the spoon to feed him, Khye would turned his head away and clamped his mouth shut. But if I finger fed him, he would open his mouth and eat it!
What a weird and naughty boy!

So I served him soft food, such as below.
Small pieces of cheddar cheese on one side, and small pieces of bananas on the other side of the divided feeding dish.

And Khye would finger feed himself too from the divided feeding dish with those cut up food. He would mess it up at times though.
9 October 2013 - 13 months old

So that is when I feed him using the feeding dish, I would take the cover and flipped it, and I put some pieces of the food on the cover for Khye to self-feed. Not so much mess this way!
Multiple use of the cover, haha.


But now at almost 14 months, Khye and the spoon are now friends.
I can finally feed Khye 'moi' (porridge) as he now takes the spoon. But I still like to give Khye some varieties, and so I feed Khye some moi at one side, and some other fruits or such on the other side of the divided feeding dish.

Me feeding Khye his food using the Divided Feeding Dish.
The size of the dish is a nice size and fit comfortably in my hands.
I like the rubber grip too at the bottom of the dish, as it won't slip off easily, giving me more confidence especially when I handle hot food such as moi.
13 November 2013 - 14 months

And with the green ring, it provides a surface to easily scrape off excess food. 
It also helps to guide the food onto spoon to feed Khye.

Khye eating his food and showing us funny faces!

It is also microwaveable, how about that?
Although I don't microwave it often, I did that once when the porridge got a little cold after some time. So I popped it into the oven for a 10 second heat up and it was all nice and warm porridge again. (exercise with caution ya!)

I can also use it as a snack container sometimes by clicking the cover on.

But I can only store snacks such as fruits or food that won't go soft as it is NOT airtight. In our hot and humid weather, food such as biscuits can go soft if we store them in a non-air tight container. So I wish the cover is air tight so that I can find more uses for this dish.

Cleaning it is easy. Although made of plastic (BPA, phthalate and PVC free of course!) it is not oily and washes off easily with soap.
And for those who are so lucky to own a diswasher, you may be happy to know that it is top-rack dishwasher safe!

So I must say I'm happy with this OXO Tot Feeding Dish.
It's a good quality thick dish and I can see that it will last for a good while, even 'til my next kid! Haha.
And I'm so glad Khye is progressing alright with solid now. He is slowly but surely progressing...



TO PURCHASE


Please visit Bloom & Grow Asia for their list of retailers.
You can also visit their Facebook page for more info.



* Disclosure: I received an OXO Tot Divided Feeding Dish  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).


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Review, Discount Code, Free Gift & Giveaway: Blue Oak Valley's Felicity Range - (Part 4: Sunscreen Organics)

This is Part 4: Sunscreen Organics, the final post of the Blue Oak Valley's Felicity Skin Care Range (you can click to view Part 1: Daily Face Care, Part 2: Exfoliating Face Scrub & Part 3: Anti-Aging Organics)

SUNSCREEN ORGANICS
Ingredientsnatural base ingredients, titanium dioxide, sucrose stearate (sugar emulsifier), NaPCA, aqua, glycerin, aloe extract*, avocado oil*, tocopherol (Vit E)*, wheat protein*, lavender oil*, xanthan gum, coconut oil, stearic acid (vegetable fat)*    (*Certified Organic) 
Net Wt.: 30 g


PACKAGING and FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Packaging wise again is as elegant as the whole Daily Face Care range as it comes in a classy glass pump bottle with a plastic cap for hygienic purposes.
Words are printed bold and clear on the packaging paper like the others.

As it comes with a pump, dispensing amount is consistent with each pump.

Again, as it comes in a glass bottle, it is not travel-friendly. In order to bring it along for my travels, I needed to transfer a little into another plastic bottle for more convenience.



WHY NEED TO USE SUNSCREEN?

When it comes to skin care, most people are aware of the basics; daily face cleansing, toning, and moisturizing.
But many lack the 3 most important things we can do to ensure our skin will look its best over our lifetime; Exfoliation, Hydration, and Protection.

There are 2 types of ultraviolet radiation: UVA and UVB.
Research shows that 90% of wrinkles are caused by the sun's UVA rays, which penetrate the skin more deeply and are associated with collagen breakdown. UVB rays also cause sunburn (skin damage that can eventually lead to skin cancer) note: Skin Cancer Foundation

Using a sunscreen is one of the best way of protection.
  • Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen (one that blocks both UVA and UVB rays) - at least SPF15
  • Antioxidants - Look for sunscreens with added antioxidants for better protection
  • Ingredients matter - Avoid the sunscreen chemical oxybenzone, a synthetic estrogen that penentrates the skin and contaminates the body. Look for active ingredients zinc, titanium, avobenzone or Mexoryl SX. These substances protect skin from harmful UVA radiation and remain on the skin, with little if any penetrating into the body
  • Apply 30 mins before going out into the sun. Re-apply every 2 hours or after swimming or strenuous exercise.
  • Water based sunscreen - For people with oily skin or acne prone skin.
  • UVB is peak between 12noon to 2pm - Avoid the sun during these hours.
  • Your chest, neck and hands need protection too!

    Source: Blue Oak Valley
FEATURES

This is a sunblock formulation with SPF30+.
It has broad spectrum protection, and thus protects the skin from the burning effects of UVA and UVB.

It as a white milky texture, and is not too thick.
One pump of the bottle actually dispenses quite a lot. That one pump is enough for my entire face, and also my neck. So, a little goes a very long way here.

As it is not too thick, it absorbs easily into my skin.

And it is also non-greasy, which is another plus point for me. I hate greasy feeling especially on my face.

Now the thing I like most about this sunscreen is that it has no plastic-y smell, that I always associated all the sunscreen with. Last time, whenever I slabbed some sunscreen onto my face, I detested the plastic-y smell.
But this BOV Sunscreen Organics has a pleasant floral smell, that I thought I was using a moisturizer, and not a sunscreen. Double thumbs up!

Although it is not travel-friendly, I still brought it along with me on my most recent Singapore trip. However, I pumped some into a plastic container (I fear that I would break the glass bottle). We were mostly outdoor the whole time in Singapore, and we walked everywhere using the public transport. So I was really glad to have brought this Sunscreen Organics with me.

Even with so much outdoor and in the sun, I did not experience any sunburn, and I saw no extra freckles popping up after my trip (unlike the last time when I went to South Africa!).
So through my experience, this sunscreen is as good as it claims in protecting my skin!



GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)

I am pleased to announce that Blue Oak Valley is sponsoring 1 bottle of Sunscreen Organics (30g) to a lucky winner!
Win for yourself, or maybe for your friend. :)

This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE!
Giveaway ends on 6th December 2013 (Friday) 11.59pm Malaysian time.

Please fill up the Rafflecopter below to earn entries for a chance to win this giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
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 ~1 months (until 31 Dec 2013) using discount code 'SHUYIN25',
- and after that will be 15% off STOREWIDE  for a further 6 months (until 30 Jun 2014) using discount code 'SHUYIN15'.
- Only applicable for online sales.



FREE GIFT with purchase


Reader who purchases any 2 or more of BOV products will get a FRUIT MASK ORGANICS worth RM158 for FREE until 31st Dec 2013! (Yes, on top of the 25% or 15% discount!)



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!
(**pls take note that they may not have the full range of BOV products on display)



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.



* Disclosure: I received the Sunscreen Organics (30g), 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).

Monday, November 25, 2013

MMPS One Minute Simultaneous Breastfeeding @ Gurney Paragon

I decided at the very last minute to attend the MMPS One Minute Simultaneous Breastfeeding function at Gurney Paragon. After all, my kids just gotten well recently, and I wanted to see if they are ready to go out. Luckily, they were both well and so last Sunday, we spent the day at Gurney Paragon.

24 November 2013

I heard about these functions over the years, but I've never attended any of them.
It was my first time attending, so I didn't know what to expect.

I first registered myself and then had a brief walk exploring some of the booths there.
Saw my neighbour Su Li there too with the registration.

They also had a fun activity corne made of recyclables for kids to enjoy.


There were not many people. Probably about a hundred people or so.

I was seated together with Khye. Hubby took Shern elsewhere in the mall to enjoy the mall's aircond. It was actually quite hot there as it was held in front of Gurney Paragon's outdoor atrium.

Khye was rather shy at first, a little bit overwhelmed by so many people he did not know, and he clung on to me.
He got braver and was enjoying himself and dancing and clapping his hands while the Starz Band performed some numbers.

My Khye really enjoys a good music, especially those upbeat music.

After a few speeches by YB Chong Eng, and Chairperson of MMPS, and others, it was time for us One Minute mothers to get ready.
At 3.45pm sharp, we started breastfeeding our babies simultaneously.
That's Khye & Me in action. :)

One minute later, it was done.
But guess what? Khye continued to latch on. It was his nap time too and so as he got a chance to suckle, he wouldn't let go. haha.

And in a while, he fell asleep, so I just let him sleep while I babywore him in my Ergo.

This is my certificate of participation.

I think the official numbers announced was 157 mothers breatfeeding simultaneously for one minute. 
There were also a kids performance and more performance from the Starz Band.

And then came the Quiz Time.
I managed to answer a question and I won myself some Modelling Clay products by Nikki. Shern will be so happy to see this.

Then came the Lucky Draw. I also won myself a mini prize, a Getha Contour Baby Pillow. OK, this one's for Khye, or maybe for future bub#3. lol.

Saw my friend York Tee there too, who is also one of the organizers of this event. Took a photo of her with her baby Hang.

I went home after the Lucky Draw.

At home, Khye helped me opened up the Goodie Bag I got from there.
In it were some biscuits and cookies from Chantilly Bakery, and also a Milk Booster Cookie sample, along with some brochures and discount vouchers.
Also spotted a mini handmade soup by MMPS.


All in all, I think the event organized by MMPS is very good, as it brings breastfeeding awareness to the public and also providing a breastfeeding platform to those who wish to know more.
Good job MMPS!

Just that I think the number of people showing up is a bit miserable. I was expecting a larger crowd. I hope to see more people on such events in the future.

I enjoyed myself, and I will definitely sign up for next year's event.

Happy Breastfeeding.
Breast is Best!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Stressful Times

It was a really crazy month.
Both my kids fell sick. Not just the normal flu and cough, but a full-blown-super-high-fever-kinda sick!
It was enough to make me go crazy.

It all started with Khye.
He was having mild fever for about 2 days and then it went off after taking PCM. And after a few more days, the fever came back, and this time with a vengeance.

1 Nov 2013


Khye had high fever for 1 week to be exact.
After having high fever until day 4, I took him to see his paed. The doctor was a little concern because it has been four days of high fever. His temperature read 39.1 dC although he had just taken PCM 2 hours before.
So his paed asked to do a blood test and also a urine test to check on Dengue Fever and the rest.

So Khye was screaming murder in the lab room, my poor baby.
Dengue test came back negative, and the doc said it should be just a viral fever and it would pass. But his temperature continued to soar. At home it was so difficult because my Khye hates taking meds orally.
He would scream and would not swallow. And as the meds trickle down his throat, he would cough and then he would try to vomit it out. Yes, that's my Khye. Sigh.

So many a time, he ended up vomitting out the meds, and then we would have to feed him again. And so another round of battle with Khye and meds.
And even then, I still needed to sponge him down as his fever would always be above 39 dC, and sometimes even above 39.5 dC which is very worrying.

And at night, those were sleepless nights for me as I kept waking up every half an hour to check on his temperature. As you know, during night time, our body temperature rises a little more so I was worried that it would get too high.

I would be ok if Khye was still all active and such. But to tell the truth, he was not. He was being very lethargic and clingy and refused to play by himself on the floor. He only wanted to be carried all the time. He was not being his usual cheerful self.

There were times when he was ok when the fever went down for a few hours. He was smiling happily.


27 October 2013


But those hours were short-lived. Once the temperature shot up again, it was all grumpy and moody face again. :(

26 Oct 2013

We went back to the doctor on Day 6 as fever was still there, and this time the doctor got more worried and he asked for a second round of blood test. I had no choice but to agree. Results came back negative again and I got very worried because the doc didn't even know what caused the high fever.

On Day 7, Khye was still having fever and I got so stressed up I cried. I cried because I was so worried about my baby. Worried because I have not encountered such high fever for so long. And I cried also because I was so stressed up.

And suddenly, miraculously, the fever was gone on the night of Day 7. Just like that. After having high fever every day for the past 1 week, it was all gone after Day 7. Phew.
14 Nov 2013


And then about 2 weeks later it was Shern's turn.
Initially, it was just a low-grade fever for a night. And then he had some discharge on his right eye (which I think was passed to him by my aunt who had conjunctivities). So we took him to the doc. He was prescribed eye drops and we also noticed he had a warmer than usual body temp (about 37.5 dC) but no fever yet.

However, he got worse at night and his temperature soared until 39.5 dC but after PCM it came down. So we brought him back to see his paed. His temp was still 39.1 dC even after PCM just an hour ago. We went home with a bottle of ibuprofen, just in case.
14 Nov 2013

But afternoon came and he got worse. His temperature was still 39.6 dC even after ibuprofen 1 hour ago. And it was not even night time yet. And Shern was shivering there and feeling bad.
So I knew I needed to bring him back to see the doc again.

As I suspected, doc asked him to be admitted as his fever is really high. I agreed because his fever was quite uncontrollable. So high even after meds.

This was Shern standing on the height chart, waiting to be admitted.
By the way, we waited 2 hours for us before we were admitted to a single room in GMC.
15 Nov 2013

Shern was quite brave and only bawled for a while when his paed himself poked his hand and inserted a cannula on his left hand. And he also took some blood to check for Dengue, Influenza A&B, etc.
This is Shern giving us a wide smile when his fever got under control.

Tests came back negative on Dengue and Influeza. White blood count went up and doc suspected bacteria infection. So he was put on antibiotics. It was the first time ever Shern was on antibiotics.

Shern had it really bad this time. His fever shot up until very high, it was mostly above 39 dC even after meds. And PCM didn't seem to be able to work at all, he needed ibuprofen. And even then it was still high. I had to keep sponging him to bring the temperature down. It even went up to 41 dC once and gave me quite a scare.

Night time was worse, I had to check his temperature every 1/2 hourly. And on the 1st and 2nd night at the hospital, his fever couldn't come down even after 2 hours after ibuprofen. It was still above 39.5 dC. Shern was already shivering but he was asked him to lie down on a cold pad (hoping to bring the fever down) and I was sponging him non-stop. It was difficult to keep sponging him as he was cold and sleepy and cranky. Who wasn't when the fever goes until so high!

His paed even came to see him at 3am in the middle of the night, checking for other symptoms such as Kawasaki disease, etc. He showed no such symptoms though. But it was good of the paed to come to check on him.

Look at the amount of PCM and ibuprofen he took on the days in the hospital. And this list was not even completed yet.


Some of the times, when his fever came down (usually only about 2 hours before it spiked up again), he was all smiley and happy like these.


Enjoying bread dipped in creamy soup on the first day in the hospital. After that his appetite went downhill and he ate very little. :(


We bought him a cheapo toy truck from the store downstairs. It was such a poor quality toy, very flimsy and I think totally not worth the RM20 we paid for it. But there was not much choice when we're cooped up in the hospital.
Good thing is he was happy with it.


 But most of the times, he was like these, with either a cool hanky or a Kool Fever on top of his forehead, for I kept on sponging him down.

And by the 3rd day, Shern was put on drip because his fever got too high and used up a lot of water in his body. Although Shern drank a lot of water initially, I realized that he seldom went to the toilet. And when he did, his urine was very yellow and his lips cracked. So his paed decided to put him on drip.

It was such a pity seeing him confined to a machine with just a short wire length of freedom, but we had no choice. He was sad not being able to run as freely. But the drip was for his good. And slowly his urine was less yellow.

Doc did a blood test for Mycoplasma bacteria and it came back positive, and so Shern was put on another antibiotic for that. Doc hoped that would be the cause of the fever, and not multiple bacteria infections. We would just needed to wait and see for the antibiotics to take its course, and to wean off the fever.

It was difficult for me too as I took care of him in the hospital mostly (Pho-pho tried one night to relieve me, nut Shern bullied Pho-pho and wouldn't cooperate to take meds, etc), so it was mostly me.
I was in a difficult position because Shern needed me in the hospital, and Khye too needed me (need my breasts actually lol). Khye can now eat some solids, but he wouldn't drink much water. He wants nen-nen only and not milk in the bottle, but fresh from the source, lol.

It was actually not funny then. I was all stressed up because I needed to be at two places at the same time. Both my kids needed me then. But then I needed to prioritize and so I stayed with Shern. And then hubby or dad would bring Khye to the hospital downstairs and I would let him latch for 1/2 hr twice a day. I bathed and washed and scrubbed my hands vigorously before carrying Khye, hoping that whatever germs won't be passed to my baby.
The other times I would just express and throw away. I needed to breastfeed Khye so that he would not be dehydrated and he gets his liquid intake. The last thing I needed was for Khye to also fall sick.

So I was also very tired and with lack of sleep and very stressful. And guess what, that led me to have yeast infection at the end of the hospital ordeal. Sigh.

Anyway, back to Shern. We killed time in the hospital doodling on white board, and also with home made activity sheets. It was really boring times in the hospital.

We dared not venture out from our hospital room too often, because I was afraid of other illnesses (heard our next door rooms patients had Dengue, H1N1, etc...sounded scary!) because Shern's immunity system was low then and might be easily infected.

So most of the time, he would just stare outside our hospital room window, staring longingly at the outside world and spotting playgrounds and cars and beach, etc.


But once a while,we would just walk near the lifts where there was a big panel of windows showing a marvelous view.


He had a new friend to accompany him in the hospital from a visitor, our neighbour. Thanks Aunty Su Li.

And after that on Day 6, he got better. Fever for only twice (one low grade fever, and another time high fever) the whole day and then we got hopeful.
That night he had no more fever and so doc gave us the green light to be discharged. Yay!
7 days in the hospital and we were going home!

This is Shern in his carseat in the car on the ride home. He konked out in the car too. But it was alright. We were going home!


So this sums out the stressful times on how both my kids had high fever for a week each!
Needed to document this down as this is part of life, and part of us growing stronger as a family.

And now we are back to our home sweet home. And Khye is so happy to see his mummy 24 hours a day again! lol.

And thank you all for your prayers.

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