Food for Tot

Being Mom to a firstborn, I try to be extra careful with everything. I believe most new parents tend to be so with their firstborn, too. Of the many topics that we share among first time parents, I realise that food and nutrition is the one of those that comes up on a frequent basis.

While I am not sure what you might be feeding your toddler, I have a feeling, given the Malaysian culture, that you are giving him or her porridge/congee.

Well, to me, variety is the key word here and there are days that Arthur goes without a single grain of rice. I just mix it here and there... of course, researching that a particular food is actually OK to be given to toddlers before I do so.

One of the main replacement for rice for Arthur is this:


This is couscous. I am surprised not many people know about this. So far, everyone who asked me about the kind of food I am giving to Arthur looked at me with a blank expression on their face at the mention of this food. It is from the pasta family and is a very good option to rice, if you ask me. If you know pasta enough, you will know that it provides a lot of energy and can be very tasty... I have started giving it to Arthur ever since he started solids (at about 7 months... at 6 months, we started giving him a new food a week, to test on allergies, and added on...).

The preparation of couscous is fairly simple. It cooks sooner than rice and have more benefits than rice. I usually just cook the soup base (this is usually a mix of a variety of vegetables) and put in the couscous last... boil it for another 3 minutes and voila!

One reason why not many know about couscous is because it is not widely available in Malaysia. For your information, places like Jusco and Cold Storage would have them stocked along their pasta section... definitely hard to get from your local mini market. Most of the brands... Zara, Barilla, San Remo etc. are the same. You just have to read the preparing instructions. While some cooks in just 2 minutes, others might take a little longer. For me, where possible, I get the organic ones.

If you need more information on couscous, you can email me at peekaroobaby@gmail.com. In time, I shall be posting some recipes here, too.

Another 'hot topic' of toddler food among my friends seems to be multigrains. This is our attempts to nutritious food for toddlers. Unlike couscous, the contents of multigrains varies from one brand to another. These can vary between rice, brown rice, black rice, wild rice, oats, barley, flaxseed, millet, sunflower seeds etc. etc. There are usually a combination of 5 different grains.

While some of my friends started giving it to their babies since they are about 7 months old... Due to it being 'multigrain'.. I was afraid there are too many things to look out for at one time... I only started giving it to Arthur when he is almost one year old.

Pictured above is just one of those available in the market and what I am giving to Arthur, from recommendation by a good friend of mine. If you wish to try this out, please note that multigrains take a little more work than plain rice or couscous. You need to blend it with a blender (after cooking) to ensure that it is soft and smooth enough for your toddler. That is another reason why I resisted giving it to Arthur when he was younger.. I don't really like to blend food... to me, blenders are for juice and sauce..

As Arthur is now more experienced with different food textures (at 17 months), I do not need to do this anymore. I just need to ensure that the grains are cooked long enough to be soft enough for him to chew.

As I am already taking photos of food... for those who'd asked me and those who wish to know... my fridge will always consist of these fresh produce to make food for my tot:

Green capsicum is missing from there.. need to restock. Weird enough, green capsicum is one of Arthur's favourite. He chose to have it in the first place.. we were shopping in the vege department (he was about 11 months then) and he took a capsicum (while sitting in the trolley) and put it into the trolley... I was surprised how he did that and decided to buy it and give it a go... even more surprised was I when he shows his great preference for food with capsicum!

Organic Mama Pads

In my quest to reducing waste for a better environment, I have started researching, sewing and using cloth mama pads. Yes, I have sewn some out of the oh-so-good cotton flannel that I love so much and it has proven to be good. They are just so much more comfortable to use (not to mention saving money and trees in the long run) that I search more and more about what is available - the organic option - just to try if it's better.

Came across Sckoon organic mama pads and a look at the site makes it hard to resist getting some of them to try! Also, could it be a better system since it's using liners?... Yes, my purchase arrived today:

Those organic Egytian cotton is just so soft you'd want to put them next to your face! Need I say more? Anyway, shall try them out and review it after I use them with my next menses. I just have the feeling that I will be getting more of them. ;)

The Sarong Yiyi...

I was doing some Christmas gifts shopping for my nephew and niece... Arthur in the sling with me... don't know why but when he's there, even when he's not fussy, I tend to rock myself gently to give him the movement... a flashback came to mind...

It was about 5 years ago when my nephew, Jung, was still a baby. Then, he was the first and only baby in the house and the joy of it all was simply great. We just love babies. As a new Yiyi (auntie), I was so excited and happy and *all the good feelings*! Simply enjoying my new role.

Then again, my nephew, Jung Jung aka Small Boy, like many babies, was a fussy and colicky baby. No, he was not a breastfed baby. I was too young and inexperience at that time to know about breastfeeding to encourage my sister to do so then.

Anyway, he was a fussy and colicky baby. To that, my Mom, who was taking care of him at the time used the sarong with him... the one with spring which springs up and down.. up and down.. (wish I have a photo but Arthur doesn't use it). Well... my Mom used the sarong to calm Jung. Those who have used it on their babies will know that babies could be addicted to sarong.

Jung Jung definitely was one of those addicts! Wherever we tried to travel with him, then, we had to drag the sarong with us. So, plans to travel evolved around the sarong.

One day, when Jung was about 8 months old, we brought him shopping... unlike what we expect.. that he will be happy and excited.. he seems to be even more fussy and wouldn't stop crying! Now that I think of it, it could just be due to the simple fact that it's a new environment altogether which makes it overwhelming for him.

We tried lots of things to calm him but nothing works. Then, I took him from my Sis and started to cradle him, standing still... my legs up and down... up and down... up and down... giving the 'sarong' effect. It worked! Just when I thought I could slowly start walking again... he cried... so.. up and down.. up and down.. again... Since then, I have been termed the 'sarong yiyi'. When all else fails, they will pass him to me and I will sarong him. (well, anyone can do it but it's a tiring thing to do so it's back to me) That could be the reason behind the close bond I have with Jung til this day..

Jung and Arthur

That was the flashback while I had that simply made me think... "wouldn't it be so much easier if we had discovered the sling then?". That would have taken care of the sore arms and legs...

Unlike Arthur, Jung was brought up in a way where the adults around are too afraid of bonding with their babies... more like afraid that they will be 'sticky', like how I described it in my breastfeeding journey. An inexperienced Yiyi then, I agreed that it will make him independent at a young age... now that I am a mother, all I can say is... even if Arthur doesn't 'stick' to me... I tend to 'stick' to him =)

My story with wipes

I have longed to share this story with you but as with many other topics I have in mind, time is just not on my side. And, when I do have the time... well, you just won't want to be overloaded with information in one day.

Anyway, each and every Peekaroobaby product that I handmade and sell has a story of its own. In time, I hope I will be able to share with you every one of them.

Throughout my pregnancy and my preparation for my new baby, I must admit that baby wipes/wash cloth/hanky is the last thing in my mind. Most of the time, as with the 'baby's checklist' given to us... it's clothes, wraps, diapers etc. etc. well, they do mention 'wet tissues' and 'wash cloths' but they do not teach you what to choose...

So, yes, in my preparation for my baby's arrival, I got some cotton hankies... from Aussino... not cheap... it looks nice... looks cute.. looks big enough.. looks soft... that should do it, right? WRONG!

Wash Cloth from Aussino

In a way, I was glad I was working in a Shopping Centre when I was pregnant as it was the purchaser of the Cotton Dept that pointed out to me that newborns and babies need something much softer and not so thick... so I got these...

thin and soft cotton hankies

So... counted myself lucky... the washcloth issue was somehow put aside.. until Arthur was born. My MIL was trying to bath Arthur and I proudly got those supposedly soft and thin cotton hankies out for her.. just NOT SOFT ENOUGH... she says... she still thinks it'll cut into baby's tender skin... so, what she did... she got a piece of the traditional lampin, cut them into smaller sizes and got some seamstress near out house to serge them at 50sen each... it looks like this...

for that moment.. it seemed like the softest we could get.. so, end of story.. for the time being... I was under confinement and did not have much chance to look things up...

Then, when I regained my 'strength'... I looked through my closet and found this soft hanky of mine... it has to be used for years... 6 years to be exact.. for it to turn this soft...

It was only after got back to work and started wearing my pre-pregnancy clothing again that I come across flannel... of which some of my pyjamas (yes! I am a pyjamas fanatic and won't mind getting expensive pyjamas if they are good)... sooo soft even when it's new! So, I got some and sewn them up and has been using them ever since as wash cloth for my Arthur... it works well ... it is soft and smooth to the skin...

A bit later, I was doing some online shopping for cloth diapers and realised that these flannel wash cloths are also a good alternative to baby wipes... so, the nature-lover me tried to use it as wipes and it proved to be good. Double sided flannel is just thick and absorbent enough. For me, I just use it with water. Some prefer to use it with homemade solutions, though. It's really up to individual preference.

Simply, the wet tissues available in the market has proven to be ruff and they burn the irritated area. (If you read the fine prints... they were meant to be 'cloth like')

Arthur has got a sensitive bum.. Drapolene doesn't work for him... Sebamed Healing Cream only works some times...these were while he was still on disposable nappies. So, prior to that, most of the time, I will either clean him with cotton balls with warm water...

If you are looking for something even softer but thicker, you can check out the Wahmies wipes, with a side of sherpa, from http://www.miabambina.com/... it's really good, too except that I don't need it to be so thick．Mine is in the wash so the pic is not here...

The poisoned week

Whew... Finally, the week is over. Can you believe it if I told you that the whole family (DH, DS and I) were down with food poisoning last week? Well,... not from the same food and not on the same day, too... I'm not even sure if we should consider ourselves lucky...

First, it was DH on Monday.. from later night supper of nasi kandar...

Then, on Thursday... after DH got better... we decided to bring DS to his much loved Lok Lok stall...

To make it a 'family issue'... I got my bout from the dim sum on Saturday morning... Arrrgghhh.....

Anyway, we are all much, much better now thought it was really saddening to see Arthur having to suffer for so many days...four days, to be exact.