We thought this day would never come.  We overcame and survived obstacles, negotiation and difficult sessions of coaxing, force-feeding and bribing.

Yes, it was THAT difficult to feed Ethan his medicine, and it started all the way back when he was a wee babe.  He would kick and scream and absolutely refuse his medicine.  Nothing would work, and we’ve tried virtually everything.  As he grew bigger and stronger, it became increasingly difficult because he would push with all his might.

SIGH.

But then one day the turning point came when we managed to cajole him into taking his antibiotics.  It was either white or colorless, and he didn’t mind it.  He had other medication to take too, but he would only want the WHITE/colorless medicine.  He would also take Zyrtec (an antihistamine) and now he will take Mucosolvan (for cough) too.

When once he flatly refused, he began by asking for chocolate milk or water immediately after his medication.  By the by, he proudly told me that he didn’t need water anymore, just as long as Zyrtec is the last dose of medicine he takes.

So now, the kids are nursing a cough again (SIGH), and Ethan will take Mucosolvan first (peppermint flavor) followed by Zyrtec (banana flavor).  And it’s a breeze feeding him medicine now

Two shots of 5ml using two separate syringes and we’re done!  You’ve really matured beyond your years, dearest Ethan boy!  And Mommy and Daddy are ever so proud of you!

Doesn’t Ethan look like a pro using his pair of training chopsticks?  They were a gift from Pauline Kor Kor a couple of years ago (when Ethan was way too small for chopsticks), but look at my little big boy now…

He is not really a fan of noodles or beehoon, but just last week, I just asked him for fun if he wanted rice or beehoon for lunch.  Surprisingly, Ethan said he wanted beehoon soup, so that’s what I served him!

Add a pair of chopsticks to the equation and you have a happy camper of a toddler

Although it would have been a good 2 weeks more before Hannah officially turns two, we decided to have a birthday celebration for her in KL anyway.  This would also make it easier for the “Klang Valley” folks to attend the celebration.  And besides, we were planning a short vacation to KL anyways…one of the reasons being to visit that mecca of storage and organization solutions…

I was looking for a kid-friendly place to have the lunch celebration, and decided on Marmalade in Bangsar Village II.   I’d read great reviews about this restaurant which offers healthy and delicious food and was looking forward to having lunch there.   Reservations were made like 2 days before the event, and we were very pleased with experience.

The restaurant was abuzz with activity, and as we walked in, who should we bump into but Paik Ling and her family!  Good to meet her again after such a long time, and I was amazed by how much her boys have grown!

And here, we have some random shots taken at lunch:

Ethan *telling* us what he thinks of his Oreo milkshake.

Enjoying Spaghetti Carbonara (for the first time!)

Hannah: Love that dress you’re wearing, darlin’….where did you get it from?
Caitlynn: Ooohhh yes, I got it on sale at the *Princess Mall* last month!

Contented in Pauline Korkor/Godma’s arms…

Special yummy cookie treat for the birthday girl!  Unfortunately neither Ethan nor Hannah wanted to eat it.  Ethan said, “Mommy, if we eat it, the face will say, ‘Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!’”
So Mommy had to eat it all on her own…

And what about the food at Marmalade?  I was in full blogger mode that day, as I tried to capture as many shots of the food as possible… For starters, we had Healthy Nachos, topped with delicious minced beef and melting cheese…really good, especially with the three different dips: guacamole, salsa and sour cream!

We also ordered a plate of fries served with aioli.  Surprisingly, Ethan was very adventurous, and loved the aioli dip (maybe because it didn’t have such a strong garlic taste as expected)!  Fries were done to perfection, not too oily and not too soggy.  Just the way I like it.

Of course, the kids’ meals arrived first: Spaghetti Bolognese and Spaghetti Carbonara.

Hannah didn’t want to eat much (perhaps she was excited about her birthday?), but Ethan ate quite a lot…maybe cuz he wanted to go play in the kids’ play area (which I must say is a welcome addition to any restaurant).  I was pretty surprised he was willing to try the Spaghetti Carbonara that day too :) 

Drinks we ordered: Day Starter on the left and Paw Paw Passion (Papaya milkshake) on the right. 

Sounds of Havana: a very colorful salad, which tasted absolutely delicious…and of course, healthy to boot!

I had to order the Spaghetti Pesto with Chicken , which was highly recommended by Rinnah.  And I was glad I did.  The spaghetti was served perfectly al dente, and the combination of herbs and flavors infused into the pasta was simply sublime.

Hubbs ordered his all-time favorite, the Spaghetti Aglio Olio.  Almost everyone who tasted it said it was better than that Italian restaurant we like to frequent in KL.  Maybe because the aglio olio here is cooked in a more oriental way.  Me?  I love both versions!  Yeah, I’m a pasta freak

Moroccan Lamb Shank for the lamb lovers…the lamb was tender and very flavorful.  I didn’t try the brown rice served with it though, but those who did said it was done just right, and didn’t taste anything like brown rice should…whatever that meant. LOL

And finally, we ordered a plate of the Turkey Ham, Bacon and Mushroom Quiche.  I was incredibly grateful I had space in my tummy for this dish, because it was SO good!  Had been ages since I had quiche, so I relished and cherished every morsel.

So after lunch, we headed back to Pauline’s house for cake cutting and presents.  This was the cake I baked for Hannah.  We brought it all the way from Penang, with me holding on to it in the car and then setting up the fondant pieces before the birthday song was sung.

The ribbons at the side of the cake were not there initially.  I had to use them to salvage the cake the night before because it was falling apart.  Find out how I saved the cake here.

Hannah’s surprised expression was priceless as she saw her favorite character on her cake: Baby Bop.  We had kept the cake a secret from her all this time.  I had shown the cake decorations to Ethan but everytime Hannah was within earshot of us, he would cheekily say, “Hannah - nothing!! hehehe…”

Ethan asked Hannah to say hi to Baby Bop, to which she happily said, “Hi Baby Bop!”, while waving her hand.

Hannah was smiling all the way when we sang her the Happy Birthday song.  She even knew how to blow out the candle on cue, without getting saliva all over the cake!  Everyone was SO impressed

The boys tried to *help* her to cut the cake…

…but ultimately, the birthday girl got to do the honors…

Busy opening presents…

…and being “creative” in using the presents…

** I don’t have the heart to throw out the Baby Bop figurine yet.  Just the other day, Hannah asked to let her “touch Baby Bop”. SIGH.

If anyone wants advice or information on breastfeeding, I will be more than willing to share my experiences and good practices.  I can tell you how to improve milk production, what to eat, how to start off on breastfeeding as soon as baby is born, and I can also offer tips on how to express milk if you are still working and want to feed your baby EBM.  If you need recommendations on a good breast pump, I can also give you my two cents’ worth, including where to buy and how much to expect, be it a manual pump or an electric one.  If you want my thoughts on which types of nursing pads to use, I’m your gal too.

But if you ask me how to wean baby from the breast, sorry…I’m stumped myself.

It was very hard for me to wean Ethan the last time, and now, I am facing an equally arduous task of weaning Hannah.  With Ethan, I used Bonjela, but since then I have heard conflicting opinions on how Bonjela might not be the safest best for kids.  If anyone has any insight on this, I’d be happy to find out more.

Anyway, I have been slowly telling Hannah that Mommy’s milk supply is running low.  Sometimes when she asks for milk, I’d tell her, “You just had some milk Hannah.  And anyway, Mommy has very little milk left.  Only a bit milk left, baby.”

She’ll look at me pleadingly with those big brown eyes of hers and say, “A bit milk!” and position herself for a feed.  Talk about persistence.

Sometimes after a feed, she’ll tell me “Milk finish!”

I’ll then ask her, “Do you want more milk in your cup?”

She’ll nod and say, “Yellow cup!”

So now when she wants to be breastfed, she’ll say, “A bit milk!” or “A bit left!”, or depending on the situation, she’ll sometimes say, “Other side!”

Yes, as you can see, I have no idea how to wean her yet.  I’m praying she’ll wean herself off on her own…anyone experienced that before?

She would ask for “orange” in such a sweet way, it really takes a LOT of willpower to say no.  Sometimes she will even choose an orange on her own and ask to “share with Daddy”.  Daddy will peel the orange and make sure it does not have any seeds before giving a small piece to Hannah to feed herself.

Such is the determination of our little almost-two-year-old girl.

I’ve had to limit her intake of Mandarins though, and thankfully she does obey us when we put our foot down.  Unfortunately, she caught a cough today and will be off Mandarins till she’s better.

But don’t you think the sight of Daddy sharing an orange with little Hannah is adorable beyond words?

Sometimes it IS rather easy to make kids happy.  Mealtimes are great examples, and one of the easiest, fail-proof recipe I use for my kids is PASTA.  My kids love pasta in any shape and size.  The colorful varieties just add to the excitement of it all.

The beauty of this traditional favorite meal is, of course, its simplicity in preparation.  I only need to stir-fry some onions, add some minced meat (if I’m more hardworking, I’ll make meatballs instead), then pour in a can of tomato purée, and then add enough pasta sauce.  Then I’d ask the kids which kind of pasta they want.  Giving them that choice makes it that much more fun

And although it can sometimes get a tad messy, we all enjoy the great taste and balanced meal (carbs, vegetables and protein all in one) and the fun that comes with it!

Strangely enough, Ethan has developed a huge liking for Sushi King.  It must have started from the time his school was discussing “Restaurants” as the theme and the name Sushi King must have come up.  Suffice to say, Ethan will request to have lunch or dinner at Sushi King sometimes, and he enjoys himself on every occasion.  Although we don’t really like the food there, the look of joy on Ethan’s face is enough to make us feel satisfied.

Today, I decided to let Ethan skip lunch in school and opted to take him to Sushi King for lunch (it’s Japanese fast food, but it’s healthier than the *other* kind of fast food).  Whenever I take him for lunch, he would tell all his teachers and friends where he would be going, and today was no exception.

Sushi King was having a “RM2 per plate of rice-based sushi” promotion and today was the last day.  Thankfully we managed to get a good spot by the kaiten belt, and Ethan had fun helping me get the plates of sushi from the kaiten belt.  Our boy finished his entire bowl of rice in his kiddie’s meal and also a bowl of chawan mushi. 

Well…what can I say?  It was definitely a great lunch and an equally awesome mother-and-son bonding experience :)  We’ll be back!

This here is the delicious scrumptious Molten Chocolate Cake we ordered from Chilli’s.  It’s warm chocolate cake at the bottom, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with yummy chocolate sauce at the top.

In any case, we’ve discovered that these special dessert time moments are awesome family time moments too.  Look how happy the kids are…

Ethan loves it…

…and so does Hannah (see how she’s giving a “thumbs up”?)

We also love the simple pleasures of the sundae cone from McDonald’s:

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and support.  She’s well on her way to recovering from herpangina.  The doctor had given Hannah the green light to be discharged from the hospital yesterday morning, after 2 nights of being warded.

Her appetite had improved, although not yet back to the voracious intensity it once was.  She loves eating her favorite “nana”, drinking lots of water and before we left the hospital, she had some chicken noodle soup.  Oh, and of course, she’s on the super special diet of Mommy’s milk loaded with lots and lots of antibodies!

She’s back to her cheerful self, although she’s very “clingy-koala-like” sometimes.  Get well soon, baby!

I should have trusted my motherly instincts…

On Saturday morning, she registered a fever of more than 39ºC, but after a dose of paracetamol, she was her usual active self.  She had fever the whole of Saturday night, but on Sunday, she was okay for most part of the day.  She was giving us mixed signals and we actually thought it was because she could be teething.

On Sunday evening, she started refusing her milk…yes, I am still breastfeeding her, and it is very very unusual for her to refuse the breast.  She was also biting many of her toys and seemed very contented when I offered her a teether instead.  She drank a lot of water, but didn’t seem interested in anything else.  And her fever was still fluctuating up and down.

Thankfully, she accepted the breast after her bath and slept soundly after that for the whole night.

Enough was enough.  I took her to see her doctor the next morning.  Doc said, “Didn’t expect to see you guys in here so soon…” You see, we had just been to the doc’s a week ago for Hannah’s vaccination.

After checking Hannah (her fever had gone up to 39.2°C!), doctor confirmed what Hannah had was a case of herpangina, an infection of the mouth and throat caused by the coxsackievirus.  The ulcers were present only in the mouth, thankfully.  However, the doctor recommended that Hannah be admitted to the hospital for monitoring and observation, because in some cases, the virus could affect the brain and cause fits. 

Hannah also had to do an electrocardiogram (ECG) and take a blood sample, from her arm.  She was a perfect angel through both procedures, not crying at all!  In fact, she’d also taken a blood sample from the left arm a week before to confirm she’s no longer iron-deficient (she’s not anymore!) and now the blood sample is from the right arm.  For a child her age, it is indeed heroic to go through these without shedding a single tear…

So, we got admitted into the hospital yesterday evening, and despite the fact that she is active and her mouth ulcers were getting slightly better, we have to stay on for one more night because her fever is still yo-yoing.  Thankfully she is back to her normal breastfeeding routine and is willing to drink water.  This morning she even took a few spoonfuls of fish porridge and half a banana for lunch.  The recommended diet for someone who has herpangina is lots of cold fluids, including yogurt drinks, probiotic drinks (like Yakult), yogurt and ice cream. 

So when Daddy came to visit just now, he brought some of these stuff over.  Oh yeah, we decided on the single-bedded room this time round, given that it’s better for Hannah not to share a room with someone else, since herpangina is highly contagious and she will be in isolation.  Anyway, we have a mini fridge in the room now, that’s why we can store all this cold stuff!

Because herpangina is caused by a virus, antibiotics will not work, so Hannah is only on Paracetamol for occasional fever and/or pain, oral gel and spray, Vitamin C and another type of Vitamin C to improve her appetite.

Ideally Ethan is not allowed contact with Hannah, but we really had no choice because they are both very close to each other.  Besides, Pete is caring for Ethan now while I am in hospital with Hannah, so Ethan will have to follow Pete when he comes to hospital.  What we could do was to keep reminding Ethan not to touch anything in the hospital room and keep his hands clean at all times.

I’m praying that Hannah’s fever will be stabilized by tomorrow morning, so we can be discharged.  I know she has a strong will and determination, just like me…