In summary, the Blog has helped me to understand

– Like the old saying: Starting something is easy but maintaining is not. I agree with that and I will try different ways to renew my interest to continue to update this site. I have learnt to treat it as an interest rather than responsibility.

- As what the Zorror-UnMasked said: Write to express and not to Impress. I will remind myself time to time not to worry about what people would think after reading the post. Well, matured readers would acknowledge the differences in individual and thoughts.

- I felt that I have benefit from blogging. Example, I now know a little bit of CSS style sheet as I re-decorate the Look and Feel of the site. I am slightly more political aware and would remember issues (or name, especially some idiot minister) better as I blog on political related issues.

Lastly I find the blog useful as a collection of information that I am interested or worth posting. These will come in very handy when I need them in future.

There are few more advantages that I have felt personally, so if you have not started blogging… you may be missing out some of these.

BF for Breast Feeding is gratifying once successful. It may seem more natural and easy for some women than others. I’m one of the not so lucky ones whom could produce abundant supply from the very start. It took me nearly 7 weeks of hard work, determination but at the same time, frustration to establish the regular milk flow. Having said that, I hope I will continue to thrive with BF as long as possible or at least till I start working.

I find it quite bizarre why most women in Malaysia claim they have difficulties with BF. Majority of people I know back there say they are “lactation incompetent” vis-à-vis with the people I know in UK who do not have problems with it at all. Later, I realized that it’s not all about differences in nationality, skin colour or size but the lack of the right technique and also cultural mindset. I acknowledge the fact that Malaysia doesn’t have designated authorities to exercise breastfeeding campaigns as extensively as in the UK, so a lot do fall back on the mothers to work it out independently. Besides, most people deliver in private hospitals and no doubt one of the services provided and paid for is to help look after the babies while the mother can get some rest. But this is depriving the baby of BF! Hence, I would like to share some very brief tips on getting started with BF.

To offer the best milk, colostrum, to the baby is best given within the first hour after birth. This is the time when it’s best for the mum and baby to have skin to skin contact too. Subsequently, try to feed the baby every 2-3 hours ie 9 am, 12 pm….Wake the baby up if he/she is asleep, otherwise chances are he/she will demand to be fed more at night. I know it sounds hectic especially after delivery but hey, no one says BF is easy. If you want to give the best to your baby , you need to sacrifice some rest to a certain extend. No pain, no gain! Women are gifted to withstand sleep deprivation, though dangerous but we cope better than men. At this stage you might be skeptical if the baby is taking in enough milk but don’t worry, as long as the baby seems to be sucking and is content after every feed, he/she is consuming ample milk.

The baby may seem pleased feeding on colostrum until the 3^rd-4^th day when you actually start to produce milk. By this time, he/she may demand to be fed longer and more regular as milk is not as fulfilling and is easier to digest compared to colostrum. You need to build up patience at this stage but trust me, nature will take its call and you’ll automatically gain endurance and energy.

BF requires lots of consistencies and routines. I would recommend to feed every 2-3 hours throughout until about 5 weeks. It is definitely hard especially night feeding but you may try the sleeping position so that both mum and bub get to rest.

Gradually, you may try feeding every 3 hours during the day and only feed on demand during the night. By this time, you would be more confident and comfortable with BF and would have no problems with milk production. Nevertheless, if you want more and have lots of energy, try expressing.

However, if your baby has big appetite like Cameron, you can complement with formula. I have to give him 1-2 feeds of formula during the night since this week when I fell ill. But hard work pays off as Cameron has all the immunization from BF and did not catch my virus. Good luck! - mel

I am giving this GreedyBasset a new look in these coming days/weeks. Have been saying it for months!

Please bear with me and don’t be alarmed if you see anything unusual (ie Cameron’s picture shows up in Badawi blasting posts).

-eng

Carefully laying the last brick, Ong Ka Ting must be praying  :

‘My lucky bata… you will secure me a full victory in Machap.And you MUST NOT lose to DAP, if MCA lose Machap now, MCA will be beaten in the next GE.’

早不做,迟不做,现在才做…    -eng (for a change, not Cameron’s pic)

See I made myself a new cupboard! We have been dying for more storage space ever since we moved into this small house and now we are even more desperate as Cameron’s gadgets seems to overtake all our other kitchen stuffs.
I bought 2 big pieces of chipboards from Wickes 2 weeks ago and battered them with screws. The cupboard top is a worktop removed from the kitchen to make way for my new fridge. I have just finished the cupboard with wall papers today.
Well, I was thinking of buying initially but couldn’t find one tall enough to fit the IKEA racks. The closest one cost about £100! And I have only spent less than £20 for this. At some point  I will give it a door…
-eng

BTW, I have just noticed that all babies generally have shorter hands compared to adults.
I raised my hands in the air and realised that my hands are so long that my elbows are the same level with the top of my head, which means I can hold my left ear with my right hand with my hands over my head.
But look at Cameron, the poor fellow can barely touch the top of his head!
-eng

We prepared tumeric rice and chicken curry for Cameron’s full moon party last night and there were some left overs. So, I stir fried the chicken curry without the gravy with the rice. The tumeric gave the dish a dash of interesting flavour. Know it sounds "rojak" but it tastes good! Btw, Cameron behaved well last night although he was being passed around like a musical chair for cuddles - mel.

Cameron is 6 weeks and 1 day old today. After weeks of nappy changing, feeding and soothing with little response, we finally get some smiles from the little one. My heart just melt every time he response to me by smiling, cooing or gurgling. Well he even pee on us while changing his diaper!! That’s what little boys do and that has always been my fear since pregnancy haha!

The first 6 weeks was tough and I do not expect it to be any easier but I’ve learned to set a reasonable expectation and to go with the flow as babies are just so unpredictable. I realized I can’t cope with the speed of their growth. They have new developments every single day! Knowing myself, if I were to have this first child at an older age, I do not think I would have that sort of perseverance and stamina. Gauging by this short experience, I really salute all grannies who helped their children look after the newborns. They are really demanding and you really need to have lots of energy and strength.

During the first 2 weeks, I could sit all night just feeding Cameron as he was always unsettled in the evening. At times, I could cluster feed from 8-12 without any break!! Thank God he begin to distinguish day and night a few weeks later and he is able to sleep better with intermittent feeds at night. But of course he could still be cranky at times but we hope to thrive with the existing routine. Not to mention that exclusive breastfeeding is pretty challenging and tough too. I think I’m only getting the hang of it right now.

He is also beginning to take interest in the surrounding and noises. We took him to the church for the very first time last Sunday and he decided to blast in the midst of tranquility. He did the same while we had dinner over at a friend’s place last Friday. Tonight, we’ll be celebrating his full moon at a friend’s and we expect to have a group of 20 and I’m looking forward to see how he behaves – mel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6443181.stm

Ar… I thought they will be starting the service this July and I have expected some delays but not till Next yr August!

BTW, the idea of only paying £41 to fly from London - KL is really thrilling (providing the fuel charge/taxes are not over killing)
-eng

I must say I enjoyed every minute of it. The interior is lovely and obviously the exterior is much aggressive due to the oversize grill compared to the model that I am having. The handling was excellent especially the power steering which is light but not uncontrollable. The ride was little bumpy compared to mine as it has low profile tyres. I have to say I love the diesel engine, it is so much easier to handle compared to petrol. The Low rev engine didn’t even go pass 4000rpm as I was hammering along my way to work. Better still the fuel indicator didn’t even bother to move after my harsh cruising!! That’s what I call economy without sacrificing speed and driving style. The extra little noise from the engine didn’t bother me. I think I will most likely get a diesel for my next car. -eng

Eng has been fussing that Cameron resembles more of him. Well I think so too….hhmppphhh…Even when it comes to food, they both eat/drink lots.

I am blogging this thru outlook email again…and hope that the URL and the picture will be displayed correctly

For those who have been to our house in USJ StarVille and USJ6, you may have noticed a Blue Ikea Arm Chair.

If you have had the honour of sitting on that chair, you may be delighted to know that it has been sold through EBAY to a bloke in UK. But the bloke obviously picked up a very good bargain as it was auctioned at the price of £0.99! I am only getting about £0.77 after all the fees (celaka paypal).

It was hard to part after almost 5 yrs of ownership, but it was even harder to let go at that price!

argh… the pic didn’t show up, i had to edit it from blogsome… -eng

If you can read this… that means I have managed to blog thru email

Rather than having to write in Word, check spelling, copy and paste into Notepad to remove all the MS Word formatting, login into Blogsome, then paste raw text onto Blogsome editor, click Publish…… Now, all I have to do is type them from my outlook where it checks for spelling automatically (but still..shit happens), click the SEND button.. and I am done !!     btw… i am using the service from www.blogmailr.com     -engbyemail

That’s how they both looked like this morning…

He is now starting to seek for attention early in the morning… not just the feed+sleep baby

-eng

I read this news over and over, just keep feeling that our PM’s brain has gone KUKU.

He said:’ Malaysians should have confidence and be prepared to invest in the KLSE to attract bigger foreign participation

“When Malaysians show their confidence and their preparedness to invest in their own stock market or in their own country, this will give a signal to investors to come in bigger numbers to Malaysia,” the Prime Minister told the Malaysian media here on Wednesday.

Not sure about you, but my purpose of investing in KLSE is certainly not to attract bigger foreign participation. I am not rich enough to do this national duty. To be honest, how many of our existing market investors (including those from UMNO and children of our Ministers) are doing as what our PM said. We only invest if we think something is going to bring us returns, attracting foreign investor is the last thing on our minds.

It is not our job to attract foreign investor, but it is our Government’s job to do so. What is the use of Trade minister and all her officers if not to path business opportunities locally and abroad? What is the use of Educational Minister and all his officers if not to formulate a winning education system to ensure our country have plenty supply of work force to meet global demand? The list will go on to other Ministers who are handling different part of infrastructures in the country… Why do they need the normal Malaysians to use own money to dress the KLSE so that it looks good for foreign investors??

I was talking to my brother just before CNY as he has returned to KL after months in Slovakia. I told him about the then bullish stock market and I warned him not to join in the game. You know what youngster would do with the Ang pow from Company and Per diems. In my opinion, the CI was too high and too risky. Obviously, I told him because I care. I care about his savings and I don’t want him to be in financial trouble when his new apartment is ready.

Now, do you think our PM care about us? I seriously doubt it. In this article he actually called for all Malaysians to lift the KLSE and don’t be frighten by the falls in markets in other countries. Not only that, he has previously (after CNY) vowed Malaysians to continue support the market to hit the record 1300 (ish) points! I genuinely hope that nobody (yes NOBODY) will listen / have listened)to him. Not because I don’t want KLSE to recover from the corrections.

In year 1999, KLSE had another bull run and CI was around 1000ish. I had just started working with AMO earning about 2k plus. Naively, I dumped almost all my savings (about 10K) into the market as it was so attractive. 3 weeks later, the market suddenly took a U turn and I was too afraid to cut losses. I stuck, big time. 10k at that time on my earnings, meant a lot to me. Last week I sold some of these old craps to recover the remaining, think I am only getting back about 3K capital. So I basically made losses even though I have managed to sell them in another bull run. I’ve been there and it wasn’t fun at all. It could mean not having enough money to own your own house, car or prepare for wedding, all the inconveniences and … etc etc…

Anyway back to our PM. I am not sure why he seems to think investing in KLSE is like makan kacang. Maybe it is a lot easier for him as he is the main man behind the people who decides which government contract goes to which company. For the normal people out there, it will still be lot lot safer to keep to the legendary winning formula ‘BUY LOW SELL HIGH’ rather than listening to Badawi’s crap - eng.