X-rays are fun?

("Who says X-rays are fun?)

It started on Sunday. Lara wouldn't stop crying all day. It was a "I'm not well" type of cry. We thought she was teething, because she was also dribbling a lot. She cried even when I held her. I had all my tricks out to distract her and stop her from crying. Anyway, at around 5pm, I suddenly realised she was not using her left arm/hand. It became very obvious when she was holding herself up from a sitting position with one hand. She cried in pain when I touched her lower arm/hand. It didn't look like anything was broken though. I decided not to go to work the following day so I could take her to see a doctor.

I called the doctor's office at 8.30 in the morning, and of course there was nothing available that day. I pleaded with the receptionist to squeeze her in. (After 3 bouts of mastitis, I was pretty good at getting myself an appointment. The reception lady was also very nice). She said the doctor would try to see us at around 10am. We didn't get to see him until 11am. Doctor ordered x-rays of the arms because Lara's left elbow didn't turn very well. It was around 12.30pm before we did the x-rays and nearly 1pm before I had the x-ray films in hand. A short break before we headed back to the doctor's with the films.

To cut the story short, nothing showed up in the x-rays. We were told to go home and come back in a week if things don't improve. Tuesday came and went and Lara wasn't using her hand. I could see a slight improvement though - she would raise the arm just a little sometimes rather than have it hanging behind her. On Wednesday night, she could hold a cup. She's still not putting much weight on it (still use one hand to pull herself up) but we are happy with the progress so far.

I put a sticker the x-ray technician gave us on Lara's arm so we could easily tell which arm was the bad arm. Was x-rays fun? Not really. I'm just glad that Lara is OK now.

p.s. I still don’t know how Lara hurt her hand. The theory is she bruised it when she fell as she is constantly falling and getting up since she started walking. Lara couldn't crawl for a few days (it's hard to crawl with one hand). This little mishap has unexpectedly improved her walking ability!

Zucchini Slice

I first saw this recipe in a ABA (breastfeeding) magazine. It was submitted by Alyssia from the Leeton ABA group. I imagine a lot of mums have to keep an eye on kids while cooking so you want a recipe that is simple and works every time. This is such recipe.

I love this recipe. I have made this over half a dozen times. You don't have to be precise with the ingredients. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare (slightly longer if you are a slow grater like me) and it tastes delicious. It tastes like a quiche -perfect for a satisfying lunch or a light dinner and something Lara can eat as well.

Ingredients:
370g zucchini (I use 3 medium to large zucchinis, it does not need to be precise)
1 large onion
3 rashers bacon (I put in 4 or 5 rashers sometimes depending on what is lying around)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I use Colby cheese)
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup oil (I use olive oil or canola oil. I tried 1/4 cup oil and it's equally delicious)
5 eggs
salt and pepper to taste (I don't put extra salt just a little pepper)

What to do:
Grate unpeeled zucchini coarsely. Finely chop onion and bacon. Combine zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese, sifted flour, oil, and lightly beaten eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a well-greased lamington tin (16cmx26cm base). Bake in moderate oven (I use 140-150C) for 30-40 minutes or until browned. cut into small squares. Freezes well. Can be eaten hot or cold. Serves 4-6.


Steaming hot out of the oven.

Lara's activity book

This can probably be loosely classified as "craft".
I spent a couple of nights doing a cover for Lara's activity book for day care.

I did some tidying up the other night and found these stickers that I have kept for the last 20 years (how I loved stickers when I was young!). In the spirit of "using things up", I decided to put some of these stickers on the cover of Lara's activity book. I also did a few simple drawings of animals and objects appeared in Lara's books to fill the blanks.


(Here's the front)


(And back)

It ended up looking quite busy, but I enjoyed this first 'homework'.

Lara is ONE!!

Lara turned one on the weekend. We were too busy to organise a party, only a simple lunch with family was organised. I kept putting off recording Lara's development like I normally do. I wanted to spend as much of my free time playing with her, so other things had to wait. Plus Lara's able to do so many new things, it's hard to keep track of them all.

A few notable things this month:
* She just had her 12-month vaccination. 3 needles this time. She was such a brave girl, didn't even cry when the second needle went in. She has been sleeping more, probably because of the shots.
* Still not sleeping very much at day care. The longest sleep was 1 hour for the whole day, some days only 30 minutes (she does 2 day sleeps at home, at least 3 hours altogether). I guess it takes time for her to adjust to sleeping in a different place. When she is at home, I let her sleep as much as she needs to catch up.
* Was told she loved pasta with tuna and chicken schnitzel at day care. Lara's eating more of the food we eat. I'm looking through cook books and doing dishes that we can all eat.
* Loves yoghurt now that I switched brand (new brand is sweeter).
* Loves all fruit - especially nectarine and grapes.
* Lara's walking well, only slightly wobbly. Able to walk from one end of the room to the other end and can turn corners. She loses her balance more when tired.
* Can turn light switches off and turn door handles.
* Finally able to say "ma-ma".


(Lara in her "Elvis" suit.)

Home-grown veggies

These are cucumbers grown in Sister-in-laws Mum's garden. They are crunchy and delicious. SIL's mum also has her own chooks and the eggs they produce have huge bright orange egg yolks and taste equally delicious.

Parents-in-law have been bringing over tomatoes they grow in their garden. They are very different to those ones you buy in the supermarket. They are picked ripe, rather than gassed to ripen. Even though they have shorter shelf-life but no goodness is sacrificed.


The idea of growing our own vegetables appeals to me. At this stage though, there are just too many things on my plate to start another project. I don't have a green thumb, I have killed plants like mint that everyone say grow like weeds. I don't particularly enjoy weeding either. But I am considering giving herbs another go. After we put in a new back door, install the handles we bought and put more things lying around into boxes, this can be little my pet project.

Balinese Duck

For Lara's birthday lunch, we cooked the usual meat - a chicken, some pork and half a leg of lamb in the Weber. In addition, we also baked a duck. The inspiration came from the "Food Safari" program on TV the other night. I found a "Braised Balinese Duck" recipe in my Ken Hom cookbook that resembled the dish we saw on TV, there was no excuse not giving it a try!


(Husband marinating the duck)

It was relatively painless gathering the ingredients - ducks was booked and picked up from the local butcher, the other ingredients from our local Chinese grocery store and supermarket. I ended up doing a couple of trips because I kept forgetting one or two things on the list.

Husband made a spice paste in the food processor as per instructions the night before. Prawn paste, lemon grass, chilies, garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and ground turmeric were some of the ingredients used. The paste was simmered over low heat before rubbing it generously over the duck. You can apply the paste before cooking as the recipe says but we wrapped the duck in the marinade overnight because it was easier this way.


(It tasted nicer than it looked!)

There was a lot of lovely juice in the foil after cooking. The meat was tender and very aromatic. We could probably process the paste longer and smoother next time so there is no stringy bits. It was quite a popular dish. It was fun trying something different!

Second meal out alone

Continuing from last post, on Lara's first day at daycare, Husband and I went out to lunch. Nothing fancy, just a simple meal at a local Thai place. We both had Pad Thai noodles. I think this was our second meal out by ourselves after Lara was born. We were able to eat leisurely, something we almost forgot how sometimes.

I had better Pad Thai before, but it was good just to eat and not fussing over another person. We did talk about Lara in day care and how we balance life and work, but we also planned to enjoy more meals in other restaurants we've wanted to go for some time. Borrowing from the famous credit card ads - Pad Thai noodles, 12 dollars, peace and quite while eating, priceless!

First day at day care

Yesterday was Lara's first day at day care. She had a shorter first day - I dropped her off at 9.30am and picked her up at 4.30pm. I resisted the urge to call to find out how she was all day and busied myself so time actually went surprisingly fast.

Lara was playing by herself in the corner when I arrived. And when she saw me, she was so happy that she crawled very fast towards me with a huge smile on her face. It turned out that she only slept for 25 minutes in the pram (she wouldn't sleep in the cot, so one of the teachers pushed her in the pram to sleep). She was very tired when she got home - she slept from 5.30pm -7pm (I had to wake her up) and went to bed for the night before 8.30pm (and didn't get up until 8.30 the next morning!). I was also glad to hear that she could hold her own - her teacher said she grabbed a toy back from another kid who took it from her (Cynical Husband thinks maybe all teachers say that to parents so they don't worry so much). She also had her first painting on the wall (the teachers must have done most of it!)

In her communication book, Lara's teacher wrote:

" Lara had a wonderful first day. She played on the mat outdoors with the spinning tops and she shared a see-saw ride with Zane. She seemed to settle in quite comfortably with us and the other children."

My little girl is growing up so fast!!

New year, new diary.

It sounds strange but I always feel very excited buying new stationary. I still remembered getting pencils sharpened and new pencil cases and notebooks ready for the start of school and how excited I was. These days, I get the same excitement from buying a diary. I like my diary compact enough that it fits in my handbag, but also has enough space to record appointments and to-do lists.



2007 was no doubt a memorable year for us with the arrival of Lara. She brought many "firsts" to our lives. 2007 was also a sabbatical year for us - we took time off and just enjoyed life. I am very grateful for how things turned out in 2007 and looking forward to all that 2008 brings. We have more work commitments in 2008 and life will be very busy. I hope I'm more organised when working so there is enough time to pause, think and ponder about life and other things.

The Happiness Project, a blog I read regularly, has some good tips on making and keeping your New Year resolutions. Developing good habits, try more recipes and be with nature more are the 'themes' of my resolutions. I'm still working through the details.

Hope everyone has a healthy, safe, fun and fulfilling 2008!

End-of-year cleansing

Council pickup. 4m3 skip bin. 15 bags of old clothes. Books. It felt good to get rid some old stuff.

More storage boxes. Clothes lines. Door handles. TV. CD. Books. And welcome some new things.

[50 weeks] Almost walking

(Lara reading in her new lounge - Christmas gift from Grandparents)

Highlights :
* Lara almost recovered from her first cold. Lara doesn't know how to blow her nose. We tried tickling her nose with tissue so she would sneeze. We also used the aspirator that came in with "Fess - little noses" to suck the mucus out. Both worked well.

*Lara learned to put plastic shapes into their container. It was fun watching her taking things out and then putting things back.

* Lara can go from a sitting position to a standing position without holding onto anything. She also started taking a few wobbly steps (up to 7-8 tiny steps) without support.



* Unfortunately, Lara seemed to develop a short temper and sometimes very impatient recently. She bursts into loud cries (with real tears) if we stop her from touching something or taking things away from her. She sometimes even arches her back or stiffens her body. (Please tell me this will improve!) She dislikes being changed on the change mat and hates being restricted (for example when we put clothes on her or try to suck mucus from her nose). She sleeps a little more than usual. Maybe we are seeing another growth spurt?

* Lots of dribble. When will we see teeth no 3?


(How big are my cheeks :)

Christmas random moments

Merry Christmas!


Not in any particular order:

Stillness before the storm. The quite Christmas dinning table before everyone arrives.


Big Teddy is almost as big as Lara.


BIL playing with one of his presents - a coffee machine.


Yummy nibbles. "Too much food" seems to be the theme of Christmas every year.


Cousin Kayleigh spent time with Lara and Zeb.


Husband spent over half an hour shelling prawns.


Lara and Mummy reading together.

Lemon meringue cupcake

Made these on Chistmas Eve.
The cupcakes were made in late afternoon, the lemon filling and meringue top at night. Cupcakes are very moist and have very nice flavours. Unfortunately, the meringue top is a little gooey, not crunchy. Maybe I didn't beat the egg white long enough, didn't cook them long enough(I cooked two minutes less, in slightly lower temperature than the recipe said - because the top was browning too quickly), or store them in containers too soon after cooking? I also added less condensed milk than the recipe specified because the mixture didn't taste lemony enough. I'm thinking maybe I should try filling the cupcakes with lemon curd next time?





ps Sarah's recipe

Looking for child care

We have been busy looking for a child care centre Lara could go to next year.

Most of the child care centres cater for kids between 2-5 years old, there are only 5 local centres for kids under 2 (I guess it's a profit and ratio thing). After calling a couple of them and got the same response of no space available next year and that we could be on the waiting list for over 12 months, we widened our search to neighbouring suburbs and suburbs on the way to work.

I also visited a few centres, even those that don't have spaces at present, to give myself a feel of things for comparison. One child care centre was ruled out straight away, even when they have spaces every day next year. I don't have many requirements. I don't care for any 'special education program' or nice parent-teacher communication books, I believe simply to give kids a safe, clean and loving environment to play in. And I prefer smaller centres over bigger ones. A centre with senior teachers or teachers who have been there for a long time rates higher with me than centres with the latest equipment and toys.

Anyway, after looking around 6 centers, I found one I like, even though it is not the most convenient in terms of location and hours. Because they don't have all the days I need, we will also send Lara to another place just for a day a week. Most local child care centers open from 7.30am to 5.30pm, so I might have to work shorter days. We shall see how things pan out next year and what Lara thinks of it.

I have to admit that even though I'm keeping a cool and relaxed exterior about the whole thing and believe that Lara will benefit from more social interactions, inside my heart, I'm quite worried and nervous. I can't sleep very well at night and when I think about her in day cares some mornings, I actually feel physically sick. Maybe I need to learn how to let go. One of the teachers I met said that kids at Lara's age usually adjust well after a week or so, it is the Mums who find it hard to adjust and let go.

ps. I stayed at one of the places Lara is going next year for 20 minutes to give Lara a chance to be with other kids there. One of the kids coming to say hi (and touch Lara) had two permanent jelly lines running down her nose. I was worried about she touching Lara too much, luckily, one of the teachers intervened. Yesterday Lara woke up with a running nose, and she has not even started child care yet(sign).

Dinner party

I went to Sarah's dinner party on the weekend. It was a nice evening with good food and good company. I don't go out much without Lara and Husband at night so this was a nice change. It made me think I should do it more.

Duck pasta and orange and fennel salad were on the menu.


Sarah is a gifted cook. She does fancy things like tapas and moussaka and her chicken sandwich is very delicious, much better than what I am able to do. She inspired me to take more time and patience with cooking.


(Sarah's deboning duck marylands after cooking them in a tomato-based sauce for over 2 hours.)

For dessert, we had a nice chocolate crepe cake another friend made. I was tired at the end of the night, and very sleepy the next day (unfortunately a work day).

Food does a wonderful job of bringing people together. Sharing good food with family and friends make the holiday season even more special!

[11 months] Messy

I read somewhere about toddlers having no concept of cleanness and tidiness. Lara thrives on messiness. Toy blocks are not allowed to line up in straight lines, they have to be scattered around. Anything in its container has to be taken out and thrown half way across the room. There has to be (ripped) paper, toys and books everywhere 10 minutes into play time.

Lara loves to play outside. She crawls around inspecting every corner and pulled herself up and down holding onto walls and fences. She likes to play robes with Zebadee except when Zeb takes the rope away and make her cry. Her clothes are normally filthy when she finishes playing outside so are her feet and hands. They require serious scrubbing and soaking. I don't have a very strong heart so I normally only give Lara limited time outside. On Husband’s days to look after Lara, however, Lara gets longer, uninterrupted play outside.

We went to a Christmas party on the weekend (only stayed for an hour, as it was close to Lara's bed time). Lara was in charge of the drinks, playing with the ice blocks most of the time. She dipped the bread I gave her in the ice water and the puddle of water on the floor before eating it. I was not quick enough to stop her. Husband thinks her constitution can only get stronger!


(Lara driving a boat)


(Lara holding out the rope for Zeb)


(Lara disappointed that Zeb just ran past without taking the rope)

Physical development :
* Can stand unsupported for 10-20 seconds.
* Can walk holding the couch from one end to the other.
* Knows how to clap her hands.
* Can open CD cases.
* Likes pressing the on/off button on the DVD player (Husband is already looking at new ones...)
* Likes to change channels by pressing buttons on TV when we watch our programs.
* Can eject CD from CD player. It's good that she hasn't worked out how to turn the CD player on yet.

Language development :
* Can say more "words". Everything was "ba-ba" before, now there are "a-ga", "a-boom", "a-gu".
* Understand the word "give". If you hold out your hand and say "give", she will sometimes give you the thing she's holding. Of course, she'll want it back straight away. If it's something she doesn't want to 'give', she smiles and turns her head and won't let the thing go.
* Understand the word "no". When you say "no" to her, for example, when she tries to eat grass or stone, she sometimes looks at you in disbelieve and cries.
* She reads to herself sometimes - she's mumbling while flipping the pages. Looks very cute.

Food:
* Tried eggs. Egg yolk first then egg white. No allergic reaction.
* Loves fruit. Tried nectarine, peach, mango, kiwi, strawberry, loves all of them.
* Likes cheese and bread. Holds the bread herself sometimes, but she has a tendency to put too much in her mouth.
* Likes rice and pasta.
* Ok with yogurt. I don't think she like it as much as other food

Other development:
* Likes shining stuff. eg. Watches, rings, necklaces .
* Sticky beak. Have to be "in" everything. Wants the phone while you are on it. Wants the comb when you comb your hair...
* I estimated her weight to be between 10.5 and 11 Kilos. The scale at the chemist is too small for her to sit on. Her legs fall on the table so exact weight is unknown at this stage.

Christmas lunch

Lunch was held at the Bavarian Bier Cafe on York St in Sydney for the near-completion of a project and to celebrate Christmas of course.


I had the Bavarian platter with a glass of Rose.
Pork belly was good (love the crispy skin), sausages were nice, but Schnitzel was very average. Purple cabbage and onion rings were nice as condiments. Sour cabbage tasted strong at first but grew on me later. It was alright for a work lunch. Food was very salty though, so drink lots of water.

I was full towards the end of the meal, but still managed to clean the plate.

New glasses

Old glasses snapped in half down the middle a couple of weeks ago. This did not come at the most opportune time.

I have been seriously thinking about laser surgery to correct my eyesight. I have been wearing glasses since I was ten so I'm just a little sick of it. Spoke to some friends about it and they all said that it had improved their quality of life dramatically and that it was one of the best things they did etc. Of course, I need to do more research and feel more comfortable about it before I go ahead.

Luckily new glasses only cost $20 with insurance rebate! (Donna Karen frame retailed for $395 but reduced because there was a sale on - can't imagine myself paying almost $400 for it!)

Risotto

(photo: Pork and Asparagus Risotto)

We had a family gathering for Mother-in-law's birthday on the weekend. As usual, I took the left-over chicken bones home and made a big pot of chicken stock the next day.

I was tossing between using the stock right away or freeze it for later when I suddenly remembered the bag of Arborio rice sitting in the pantry. Pictures of Nigella Lawson making risotto on TV the other night also popped into my head. I've never done risotto before (I usually cook our rice in the rice cooker) but thought it would be fun to give it a try.

I followed the recipe printed on the back of the rice bag with some variations - chicken was substituted by pork and mushroom by carrots and corn. Husband says I improvise too much sometimes, but this was a spur-of -the-moment thing so not all ingredients were readily available.

Risotto requires constant stirring. So there I was standing in front of the stove with my spatula, stirring away. It was quite therapeutic except for the sometimes whining baby behind me! I fed Lara some banana and kept an eye out for her while I cooked. It took about 30-40 minutes to get the meal ready.


(photo: Risotto cooking in the pan.)

The risotto turned out to be a success. The chopped spring onion (didn't have parsley) and shaved parmesan cheese finished the dish nicely. We were also pleasantly surprised by how nicely the wine we had enhanced the meal. There's just enough left over for another meal!

(ps. Some meals taste nicer the day after, for example, curries. Risotto, however, is best eaten fresh on the day of cooking in my opinion.)

Parenting lesson at the pool

As a new parent, I'm interested in observing other parents with their kids, how they treat and speak to their kids, what they do or don't do for their kids. Luckily for me, there are plenty of good and bad examples around to learn from.

I was at the swimming pool the other day and learned another lesson...

A swimming lesson was in progress while I was swimming. By the time I finished my 20 laps and got to the change room, a couple of kids with their mums were already there.

A mother was helping her daughter getting into her T-shirt and shorts. After she was dressed and they were ready to go, the little girl said she wanted to go to the toilet. Maybe they were going somewhere afterwards, or the mother was in a hurry to get home because she sounded displeased after hearing this. She then nagged non-stop along the lines of 'Why didn't you tell me you want to wee before I change you? Now I have to take your shorts off again. I don't know why you always do this..." Blah Blah Blah and it went on and on. Needless to say, no one was happy.

I sympathised with the mother but I felt sorry for the little girl. When you give a 3-year-old the responsibility of telling you when she wants to go to toilet in a time that is convenient to you, you will definitely be disappointed. In my opinion, the best thing for the mother to do would be to take the responsibility of making sure a toilet stop becomes a habit after swimming or before going out.

I know I will lose my temper sometime in the future, but I hope if we are faced with the same situation, I will behave like the adult and remember that it is my responsibility to develop good habits for the kids, starting when they are young.