Never ever shake a baby!

Overwhelming sad emotion enveloped my heart as I read a forwarded email by my friend about a 3 month-old baby girl who passed away due to parental negligence/abuse. Her life was cut short by SBS (Shaken Baby Syndrome)...


Her name is London Marie Sherwood. This innocent, beautiful baby girl was left in the custody of her young dad by the mom. Out of frustration in managing first time helpless baby, he shook her so roughly that it has caused severe internal organs damage to her. I have enclosed an url here that links you to a website that explained the details.

On December 4th, 2007, Jessica Sherwood had to do something no mother should ever have to do. At 2:29 pm Jessica made a very tough decision to take her little 3 month old daughter off life support

This is what Jessica said:
'If anyone has kids, make sure that you keep them with you the whole time. Don't give them to anyone that you don't trust. Trust me, I thought that I trusted Josh (the father).

But now as of December 4, 2007 at 2:29 AM, she is gone. My one & only baby . & He is going to pay FOREVER, even if he gets out of jail scott free, he will be dead no matter what.

& To all my friends that know London , I am very angry & upset that I lost the love of my life, my babygirl. She died on her three month birthday . London had six fractured ribs, both of her legs were fracture, & her brain was so damaged that if she were to live she would be a vegetable. So I did what was right & what was best for her & took her off life support.

That's what you call Shaken Baby Sydrome [SBS]

Parents, please take some time to reflect - our own parenting journey thus far and how best can we give to our children? Especially our time and our attention which money can't buy...

Stand up...

Leia has been real busy practising her standing skill. Nowadays, she won't sit still quietly for more than 3 minutes!

Lastnight, we visited her "cho cho" (great-grandmother) from Parit Buntar at "koh-poh"(aunty)'s home near our house. It was such great fun for her. Many aunties and cousins were waiting to play with her. This girl hardly cries when she sees unfamiliar faces. Instead, she stares. So, after the warm-up or staring session was over, she began to feel more comfortable to explore her surroundings.

Within seconds, she's crawling and climbing everywhere.

Her "kong kong"(grandpa) has to be the bodyguard while mommy snapped her pictures.

"Yippee! I reached to the top!"

My customised blog header!

Yahooooo.....!! I finally have my personalised blog header! That's a good start. Thanks to my the other half who's an expert in this area.

2 evenings ago, I messed up my blog by uploading a very sophisticated public blog template to replace the limited and standard templates offered by blogspot. Not foreseeing the complicated technical aspect that I'll be facing, I excitedly uploaded it successfully after several persistent attempts. Then later it struck me that I couldn't comprehend the "step-by-step"configuration guideline in order for the template to function in my blog properly. My world started to spin as I started to panic and force myself to read over and over again the guideline text. Only to be disappointed by my incapability. Man, that was tough for an IT not-so-savvy person like me!

Oh...that's the over-confident me. But now I learnt my lesson....(not so hard way...hehehe...I still managed to "save" my blog. thanks to the assistance given to me)

So, ground rules for uploading blog template that I'll never break again;

1. Always make sure a copy of the existing template is saved as my back-up plan. Just in case I don't like my blog new look or just in case another disaster happens

2. Never ever perform the customisation on my existing blog. Instead, set up a new blog within Blogger to test out the new template before really start using it. All I need to do is to go to my Blogger dashboard and "create new blog".

3. Do not be shy to seek advise from the experts - not only to save my time to get it done but to save me from unforeseen disasters I might have created!

eblogtemplates.com offers great, professional-looking blog templates for both blogspot and wordpress. Don't say I don't warn you though... try to follow above ground rules. Don't learn the hard way like I did... Not so smart.

I can't download pictures!!

Loading... loading... loading... Oh, it's so frustrating..! I've tried downloading pictures several times for my post but it's taking forever! This is my 3rd night in a row that I'm facing this challenge. It can't be the picture size, can it? They are lesser than 200kb per picture.

I guess no new post in this blog for tonight again. Will try in the morning tomorrow.

Why Make Homemade Baby Food Recipes for Your Baby?

A Few Good Reasons Why You Should Make Your Baby Fresh & Delicious Natural Homemade Baby Food

• Gives you total control over what is put into your baby’s food; you know it's free of additives that a tiny tummy simply does not need! If your baby is prone to food allergies, Homemade Baby Food will help You ensure that no foods that are allergenic are hidden!

• You take extra steps to ensure only high quality foods are selected for your baby. Do the commercial baby food companies put this much love and care into their jars?

• All the tools you need to make homemade wholesome baby food are probably already in your kitchen.

• Your baby is exposed to a greater variety of tastes and textures making the transition to table foods less stressful for your baby.

• You feed your baby according to his/her needs and cues. As you are controlling the texture and ingredients of your baby's food, you know what foods are best suited for YOUR baby.

• Healthy eating habits develop earlier as your involvement is dedicated to making only high quality, healthy baby foods and snacks. Your baby will benefit from these healthy eating habits long after that college diploma is in hand.

• Extra benefit - You save money when you make homemade baby food! Not only in the cost of the actual homemade baby food, but in the nutrient ratio as well. You get more nutrients for you dollar and your baby gets more nutrients for his growing body!

Baby Food

A few months back I was searching high and low for a good website that can give me some tips on the right food type for my baby's age when I stumbled upon this pretty good website.

I find I can look up many of the recommended baby food types in our local market. But of course, it also goes back to individual taste of what should be fed to our babies as many of us coming from different background, religion and culture will have our own "pantang larang" (can have's and can't have's).

It also has home-made baby food recipes that we can try out. I haven't started that yet but let's set the target this coming weekend. I'll post the outcome of the "experiment" in my blog next week. :)

As for now, I'm content of getting the right food type for Leia and putting them all in the slow cooker to cook a wholesome meal for her. Twice a day.

This is the ingredient list of her nutrient-packed "moi" (porridge):

1. 4-5 scoops of white rice (baby spoon)
2. a handful of anchovies (10-15 nos)
3. a piece of lean meat/ half cooked egg
4. half stick of sweet corn
5. 1 medium size potato
6. 1 medium size carrot
7. a small bundle of spinach/broccoli
8. a cube of pumpkin

Yummy!

Take note that we only need the essence of anchovies, meat and sweet corn. So, remember to take them out before feeding your baby. These are hardy food. Not advisable to be given to babies below 1 year-old. They may not be able to chew properly and this may increase the risk our babies' choking.

The 8th Habit

Lately I've been reading quite a bit on self-enrichment related books. My recent ones are Stephen Covey's, "The 8th Habit" and Robert Kiyosaki's, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". To own my surprise, I actually enjoyed reading them a lot! I used to think that self-enrichment books are boring and they are merely theories that I can learn in my own life. Don't waste money.

Well, due to above reason... it was certainly not me who got those 2 books for my own self. It was my hubby. He has always felt that I don't read enough, especially good books that can help me widen my knowledge and perspectives of life. Despite this "push" given by him, I was still not excited to start reading the first book borrowed, "The 8th Habit". Believe me, I did make the effort though. I brought the book to my office - an attempt to read it during my lunch break. Unfortunately, it was displayed on my desk for more than 2 weeks untouched. Blame it to the availability of fast internet access at office. You see, I'm more interested to do info or life-skill tips searching over the internet... The information is endless...

So, when did I manage to read "The 8th Habit" after all? Due recognition has to be given to my hubby's tireless encouragement. I finally followed his advise and checked out a short movie made available in Stephen Covey's website. It's very interesting. To gain access to his movies, I just need to register in his website. I'm pretty impressed with the website that he has. It has also a "Ask Dr.Covey" column that gives individuals an opportunity to learn first-hand as he personally teaches them the principles of setting, tracking and achieving personal goals.

So now, my learning journey with Stephen Covey does not end with the book. The follow-up will be online :)

Leia's favourite new toy

This is her favourite new toy - her "make-shift home" converted from a cardboard box.

Look at how happy she is!

Leia's and grandma's highlight of the day!

Can you believe that this cheerful-looking baby has had a fever this early afternoon? Highest temperature recorded was 37.8 degree celcius.



Based on my past 2 experiences (yes, thank God that this baby hardly falls sick), this is not considered high. Her first time fever reached 42! (Yeah, you can bet this mom newbie was worried sick then) Doctors and nurses have assured me before that it is only considered high fever when the temperature hits 40. Anything below 37 is normal. So, at 37.8 - I diagnosed it as slight fever. But she was grumpy though. Refused her "moi" (hokkien word for porridge) - unusual sign that confirms she was not well.

And my mom - being the panicky person over small, trivial matters got extremely worried. Especially when Leia rejected her favourite drink - milk though still feeling hungry. A double confirmation. And to make matters worse, Leia's incessant crying (triple confirmation) sent my mom frantically looking for help.

So, there I was - working in my office when my phone rang. Not one time but many, many times. It was mom.

I almost wanted to pack my laptop and rush home to rescue, both Leia and mom. The sick baby and the panic-stricken mom. But then I managed to stop myself. Relax... give my mom a chance to manage the situation. Besides, I was sure that my sis-in-law was already at her side helping her out. So, I called home to check on both a bit later. And you know what I found out?

Everything turned out fine. Mom handled the "crisis" pretty well. Leia was given panadol syrup (as per my approval...) and went to sleep. She drank her milk later. Within less than a minute thereafter... she's being her old self again - happily running around in her walker and "talking" loudly to her "kong kong" (hokkien word for grandpa), "ah ma" (grandma) and "kim kim" (aunty).

The moral of the story is...

Where is the light at the end of the tunnel?

My decision to resign from my present job is certainly not well-received by my family members, close relatives and certain friends. To them - it was a very dumb move considering the fact that I'm taking home quite a big paycheck every month and recession is showing its strong sign...what a timing, right? I know they are concern of my financial welfare but is that the only thing that really matters?

Believe me, it was a very hard decision to make. It took me months of serious discerning before I took the plunge. But we must do it for only the right purposes. For me - as a mother and wife, the purpose is very clear. It breaks my heart every single time I can't take my daughter home from my baby-sitter's place at night on the weekdays. Sometimes, even the weekends are not spared. I'm either away traveling for business or work till late night. An exhausted woman can't play good roles as a mother and wife...

Nevertheless, with my hubby's support, I took the brave step and threw in the towel. And you know what, God really understands the anxieties and fears corporate women like us feel when our career hit rockbottom.

I'm amazed by the turn of events in my life right now. I can only believe that God asks me to continue to surrender to Him and allow Him to guide me to the right direction. The better plan has yet to arrive, perhaps?

As the saying goes, "one door closes, many doors open".

Have faith!

Would like to share with you this very good speech by CEO of Apple - Steve Jobs in Stanford University Graduation Day. reflect on his experiences

New haircut for the mommy!

I am going to cut my hair again! Yup, it was only about 2 months ago when I had my last cut. Wow, so soon I'm at a hair salon again? Well, it is soon at least for me - the person who's too stingy to invest on a good haircut. One haircut in 1-2 years time seems logical to me. After all, there's not much styling required for long hair, right? So, why spend money. No one has really complained about my hairstyle. On a good hair day - I'll just let down my hair. On a bad hair day - just tie it up. Done!

But things changed now, I guess. Feeling ugly with my new body shape after delivering Leia, I just feel the need to pamper myself a little bit more. Yeah, vain pot!

So, here I am... writing this post while the shampoo lady puts the shampoo on my head...

Oh, how nice it is to be pampered this way once in a while...blessing!

I finally get my hands on my first blog "career"!

Yes, I have finally made time to create this blog - an important task which I've been putting on hold for so long...

As a first-time parent, I nevertheless have faced and am still facing the untested ups and downs of parenting. The nerve-wrecking experience when my Baby Leia was found down with jaundice - just 1 day after she has been brought home from the hospital. Then the hospital nurses announced that she contracted oral thrush the next few days. Then, constipation followed... inconsolable crying... latenight sleep, challenging breastfeeding experiences... bla...bla...bla... I really wished then that I have very strong support around me to go through those difficult times.

Now that Leia is a bit older (she's 10 months now) , her behaviours become more predictable and understandable. Well, it takes a lot of patience and hands-on experience. And I'm glad I have been able to do that despite my demanding corporate job...thanks to my supportive hubby - a very hands-on dad too.

So, here I am now. Putting up a mom's blog with the intention to share, discuss and learn from other mothers the tips of parenting. It is a also a good mean of communication with all my loved ones, relatives and friends to keeping them updated on the happenings in the Heah's family, especially Leia's progress.

I look forward to having an active interaction here with all of you who takes the time to read and follow my blog :)