Potty training experience

I had to admit potty training was a stressful one for me and also a memorable one especially when my son did his first potty, I can't describe how proud and happy we were. :)

Ever since my son was transferred to toddler room in October 2012, his teacher started showing him how to use potty, wipe, put back his pant and wash hand. He still wearing diaper at that time. In mid of December, his teacher told us that my son was ready for potty because he was interested in doing it and has been practicing for a while in school. She warned us that there will be some mess that we need to deal with before he able to do potty independently. She wanted us to start practice potty at home. We were asked to put underwear for my son and not trying to use pull-up diaper or those underwear that is water proof. We also asked to bring 5 set of clothes+socks and extra shoes to day care each day. We were so excited about this. this is going to be a new milestone for my son and we were thinking how hard could this possibly be. :)

So we got him 2 pack of underwear with cute cartoon (Thomas the train and Mickey Mouse). Each pack has 7 underwear. My son looked super cute in his little underwear running around house. But it was less than 10 minutes, we found that he wet his pant and our living room carpet. We started to get paranoid that we kept asking him if he needed to go potty and most of the time he said YES. But he didn't do it. He just wanted to play with toilet paper and flush. He continue to have wee wee and poo poo in his pant and only informed us after that.

Zai Zai in his underwear

After cleaning up his mess for 2 weeks, we almost gave up. This was harder than we thought. Imagined he used almost all his 14 underwear each day. We have to get him another pack of underwear so he has extra clothes to change in day care. We talked to her teacher, she advised us to be more patience. She told us that each child is different. Some takes days, some takes weeks and even months. We borrowed some potty training book from library and read it to my son everyday. Still, he was not doing his wee-wee and poo-poo in his potty.

On 3rd weeks of potty trainning, he started to tell us that he needed to go potty. He sat in his potty for a while, he said he was done but nothing came out.  But after 1-5 minutes, he will have his pant wet. He seemed to afraid of doing potty in toilet for some reasons.

mummy has to read to him to keep him sitting on his potty!

One day, he told me again that he needed to go potty. I have him climbed the small stool and sat on his potty. I removed the stool so he can't come down without my help. As usual he sat for a while and said he was done, but nothing came out. I insisted him to sit a little longer. He was so afraid and started screaming "is coming out, is coming out". Then we heard shishh sound. he made his FIRST potty. FINALLY! He looked at me and smiled. I awarded him with a chocolate to encourage him. Ever since then, he loved to do potty and every time he did it, he will tell me "Mummy, I want chocolate! I want a green one"!

On his 4th week, he didn't wet his pant at school. His teacher was so happy. Mummy and daddy were so proud.

WE DID IT...WE DID IT... (famous song from Dora the explorer after she completed a mission)!

Kuih Seri Muka

My hubby told me that he is craving for a kuih which is green color on the top and white on the bottom. He didn't know what is the name of the kuih. It is kuih seri muka. i tried doing this twice but always can't get the green custard layer to set. so i don't bother to try it again until my hubby requested it.

i did some research and found out this recipe http://pickyin.blogspot.com/2012/04/seri-muka.html.

the first time i tried this recipe, i wasn't sure how long i should be cooking the custard part in double boiled pan and how thick should i expect. i overcooked it and the custard layer turned out to be really ugly and uneven. i have to scrapped it out and cook the custard again. the second time, the custard layer is finally set and the surface looked even and flat. :)

here is the recipe and i made a little changes from the original recipe:

Yield: an 8-inch square or round steamed pudding

Rice layer:

1 cup glutinous rice, soaked overnight (or at least 6 hours) and drained

1 cup thin coconut milk

a pinch of salt

Custard layer:

1/4 cup plain flour

2 teaspoons corn starch

4 eggs

2/3 cup thick coconut milk

1/3 cup of water

2/3 cup castor sugar

pandan essence

a pinch of salt

Prepare the rice layer: i soak the glutinous rice overnight. steam the rice with coconut milk and salt. once the rice is cooked, press it with spatula to form an even and compact layer. cover and steam for another 10 minutes.

Prepare the custard layer: Mix all ingredient together and whisk till smooth. prepare a double boiled pain. i sieve the mixture into the pan and cook in medium low heat till the custard thicken slight. if the custard form a solid part, you have overcook the custard. the surface will not smooth. Pour the custard over a sieve onto the rice layer. Cover and steam over medium low heat (keep this on the low side to obtain a smooth custard layer) for another 15-20 minutes or till custard is set.

Remove tin from steamer and cool completely (about 1-2 hours) before cutting into diamond-shaped pieces. To get neatly cut pieces, use an oiled or heated knife. Serve with hot coffee or tea. Kuih keeps refrigerated up to 1 week. Bring chilled kuih to room temperature before serving.

i didn't get to snap picture when i cut the kuih. will do that when i make this kuih again in Feb when my huddy has his friend coming for potluck. 

Cars I - find your self

my son is crazy about CARS 1 movie recently. He wanted to watch it almost everyday and imitate a famour phase that Lighting McQueen always said "Ka-Chow". now my son needs to bring his Lighting Mcqueen car together with him when going to sleep.

I like that movie too. it has meaningful message. Sometimes ppl just chasing bindly after money, status, famous and forgot what we really need. there are things that are more important in our life. Just like in school, we chased after the result and memorize or depends on exam tips, forgetting that we should understand the concept and learn something from it. Not giving back to teacher right after the exam is done. in work, ppl chase after grade. instead of improving own skill to go to next level, some ppl take shortcut. understand the game and play tricks. in life, ppl like to compare something like how much one earn, how big the house, what car he is driving etc. peer pressure causing ppl to become materialistic. Are they really important in life? do we want to spend whole life just like that?

I had a lunch with PNG folks recently and were talking about how young generation today spent their money in Malaysia. it sounds so scary. young generation today seems to be living in a paycheck by paycheck life. they can easily spend 1k, 2k for fire cracker for CNY. Wow... unbelievable. i still remembered when i was young, we can afford only a few RM of fire cracker and each of us can only have 1 each night. we lit the fire cracker 1 by 1 and not in parallel so we can enjoy longer. We still have a lot of fun that time.

Anyway, I love one of the song in Car 1 movie - find yourself. Is a country style song and the lyric is meaningful. enjoy...

Changes in my life

I still remember I started my first day at work in Intel Oregon on 19th January 2009. It was the same day when Obama took his oath for his first term and today he is taking his oath for 2nd term. That meant i have been working in US for 4 years. 3 more years i will have my sabbatical. Wow... time really flying.

In this 4 years time, I went through a lot and I think I have changed a lot too. From someone used to tense at almost everything (in work and life) to someone who learn to take things more easy and appreciate life. Someone who is workaholic to someone who learn that life is not just work. Also I am upgraded to become a mother and learnt a lot to deal with my little guy. :)

Someone told me before that everything happens for a reason in future that we will find out soon. This is really true. Now i think figured out why i met my hubby in US in 2006, why i am married to US, why God gives me a son etc. These happened to change me to a better person and have a new way of looking at life even though I had learnt it in a hard way. Thanks to my hubby and my family for their support and patience all this while. Also thanks to God for giving me a son who is a joy of my life. :)

Start my blogging journey

I have been enjoying reading blogs from my friends for a while and wanted to start writing my own but couldn't find time to do that. My 2 years old son kept me really busy. he wanted to watch you tube video whenever he saw laptop. so we have to hide it from him whenever he is around.
I have 3 more weeks before starting my break from work. I am actually excited about it. I have been busy with work since I graduated and not really have time to do something I want (like blogging, knitting and trying out some recipes). And i wanted to try these during this time.
Knitting is another thing that i wanted to try but never have chance to do it. Thanks to Wai Yee for showing me the basic of knitting - cast on, knit stitch and purl stitch. I still practicing these basic stitch techniques before starting my 1st knitting project - scarf for my son. So far I am enjoying it.
Is challenging to knit at home. I was too concentrating on the knit and forgot to interact with my son. He realized that and try to catch my attention by sitting on my lap and playing with my needles and yarn. I have to stop knit to attend him. So again my only time to knit will be when he is sleeping.

Here is the basic knit that I am doing:

Is not very nice yet. But i am learning to make it better... :)