Dummy

I have been meaning to wean my twin boys off their dummies since they turn 1 year old, but I have delayed again and again as their dummies has saved our sleeps.  They have cut back significantly on their use, and only allowed to have them in their cots.

A few days back, I noticed a tear in one of the dummies, and was worried that they might bite and chew on it and be swallowing bits of rubber.  I don't want to buy them a new pair either.  Perhaps it is now time to try to wean them off their dummies. I'm just going to cut off the bit that is torn.

The plan is to nip the top off gradually over a couple of months until they are unable to gain hold of the dummy in their mouths.  Fingers crossed it will work and they will abandon the dummy by themselves.
I cut off the top of both dummies feeling really anxious of what my come.

Ethan was the first to get the 'fixed' dummy, he took it and oblivious that it has been nipped at the top he popped it in his mouth.  A few seconds later, he pulled it out, examined to make sure that it is his dummy, and popped it back in.  Yet something felt different, he took it back out to examine it, I tried very hard to keep a straight face watching this.  Niel soon asked for his dummy and did the same.
Soon they started to chatter: "dummy broke...dummy broke...broke dummy..."

I hid my wicked laughter and tuck them in their cots.  "Good night, darling" I said, they pop the dummy back into their mouths and slept anyway.   That went well.... looking forward to the next nipping day.

Peanut Butter Omelet

Few weeks back, I was cleaning out my cupboard of old scratched teflon pans.  Since my boys somehow love to play 'cooking', I decided to give them for the boys to play with, along with some old kitchen utensils.  They would imagine cooking all sort of things from ball, trucks, and sharks, then serve it to each other.

A few days ago, Malakai asked if he could help me cook lunch.
Not actually knowing what I was going to cook anyway, I agreed to his request.

"What are we having for lunch today?" I asked him.
"Omelet," he said, "my brothers and I like eggs".
Sounds good, I gave him a few eggs to crack into the bowl and he whisked it.
I added some milk to it, and he said, "Mum, I need some peanut butter."
"For what?"
"To put in here, so it taste yum...!"

I was tossing up whether I should agree to it or not,
and decided to let him experiment as I also have put silly ingredients into my cooking making things inedible.
Malakai promise to eat the results, if he keeps it, I am happy.


As it turns out, even his brothers enjoyed it and licked the plate.
Peanut butter omelet....? *eugh.*
I skipped lunch that day.

Oh, my head!

It is one of those weeks again where I have so much cooking in my head, so many agendas to roll out and items to tick from my to-do list.  I have been researching online, reading books and magazines for ideas, I am so pumped up.  I am going to make a website and I will start by designing my own personal blog. 

Yes, this blogger blog. 
I am going to do it. 

I am not just going to modify the template and change colours and upload some pictures, but I will sit down and work a design Photoshop and do CSS scripts in Dreamweaver.  
I am going to design this from scratch.  I will the work on a website and offer my design services. 

Working from home around my children, isn’t that every mom’s dream? Oh yea!
I can imagine everything, me on my computer and my lovely well mannered boys happily playing together, serving each other. 

It’s going to be perfect!

I need to commit for this to work.  I am going to make time.  I am going to collect the spare 10 minutes here and there and use it for this ‘project’.    Well, the kids can play an extra 15 minutes by themselves and an extra 30 minutes TV time.   I can do this ‘trial session’, it’s just a small personal project, a two weeks design school assignment.

Then it happens, the unchaperoned playtime of three strappy boys result in head hitting, head sitting, snatching, slamming, wrestling, and continuous screaming.  On normal days, I could just tune out from occasional cries.  I wondered and envy how could some other mums manage to work from home with their kids around them?

All the reading, the researches, and the staying up late caught up to me.   I am hearing one cries after another for the whole waking hours just doesn’t help my cause.  I have come to the point that my brain physically hurts, I feel like it is going to explode inside my head.  Every time my heart beats, my brain pounds against my skull, it hurts so much to the point where I almost…almost wish it’d stop beating. 

Three weeks has gone by since I dust out my sketch book.   A couple of sessions with the doctor and a week on Neurofen, nagging for massages, and whole day sleeping in t away from it all (to thanks to my husband);
I realize that I physically cannot cope with being a full time stay at home mom to three boys under 4 and do this.   Not now.  I am not ready.  I put my sketchbook back into the drawer.  Not yet.

Painting Time!

I believe, giving drawing lesson for your kid could be a task you can do yourself, providing you could spare an hour or so (including setting up and cleaning up afterwards).  You really don’t have to be an artist to teach a preschooler.  As long as you know your basic colours and basic shapes, and show confidence when putting them on paper, you can teach your child to do it.

At this stage, the benefits we would like our little one to have is to introduce and build on their observation and concentration and skills.

The ideal session would take about 30 minutes for a 3-years old, and about 45 minutes for a 4-years old.

If your child is not too keen on sitting down with a piece of paper and pencil, then try to get a very simple outline drawing for 5-10 minutes first.  Then work on introducing colouring activity into the session that will increase session time.   Some children, like my boys, do not like working with colour-pencils or crayons, but are curious about paints and brushes and much quicker to cover a sheet of paper, so this was my tool to get my son interested in sitting down.

Pick an object they love like toy car or a simple drawing of a car from a book.

Teach them to observe by asking what does a car have? Wheels.  What colour is the wheel? Black.  What shape is it? Circle.  There is another shape inside the wheel, what is it? A little circle.  How many wheels can you see? Two.  Are the wheels on the top of the car or on the bottom? On the bottom.  Very good! Let’s  draw two big circles on the bottom of the paper.  And draw a little circle in each.  Make sure you also have a paper and pencil with you and draw slowly as you explain so they can see what they are expected to do.

Another silly tip, is to give your child undivided attention and interest during this time, as I have tried doing this while checking emails resulting in frustrated mom and son!  Remember not to get frustrated if they don't get it right as we do not want to relate painting with punishment or tedious task.

When you start filling up the shapes with colour, use one colour at a time.  Start the lighter colour first, then move on to next colour encouraging your child to fill in all the white spots.  Point to the spots you want them to paint, but don't hold to guide their hand.  Initially your child might get wriggly before completing the project, do encourage them to sit and finish the work providing that it is still within the 30 minutes time frame.   Use the black paint last, with a smaller brush if possible to trace the pencil line, this will liven up any painting.

Try it! You will be so surprised at what a scribble could turn into with some coaching and patience.

Malakai's self portrait

Malakai's dream cake for his next (4th) birthday

"Jonah on a boat" - Jonah inspired painting.

Graphic Design: Japanese Lunch Pack Menu

House of Sam Japanese Lunch Pack Menu new design.

Two weeks ago I got a surprise and pleasant visit from someone who gave me my first job when I decided to migrate to Australia.  I used to work in his Japanese restaurant at St. Kilda beach as a waitress when I looking for a full-time job.  I have worked for and alongside many generous and extremely kind bosses; however, Ito San was like a dad when I was away from home.  I designed a few things for his restaurant back then; but just before I left, I designed menu-flyers for his School-Japanese-Lunch-pack catering service.

Ito San imparting wisdom to Ethan.

After a great time introducing him to my brood and catching up, I have found out that he have sold his restaurant, but continued on with the catering service.  I am surprised to see that his menu-flyers are still the same one I designed for him.   I was delighted that he was still using it, but it is such an outdated design!  I offered my services to update the design to reflect the changes in his business as I stare in disbelief at the 7-years-old design.

Project details:

• Primary School Japanese Lunch Pack Menu, and
• Secondary School Japanese Lunch Pack Menu. In:
• A4 Promo Flyer that also serves as a menu, Single sided, Full colour

When I was a very small boy...

My almost 4 years old son, Malakai, was sitting by the kitchen bench while I was chopping vegetables, he has his his cup of warm milk in his hands and dazing towards his twin brothers playing. 
He then made a statement: “When I was a very small boy, I was also very-very cute, yea…”

Poor thing!  As he is, he is still a small boy. 
When he behaves as expected, he can be the cutest, most adorable little being. 

However nowadays, comments would be made on how adorable and cute Ethan and Niel are, leaving the big brother out.   Worse still, sometimes I would tell him that it is because he is not “being smart”, or being too shy, hiding, sulking, or not answering when asked.   If one of his brothers cries or an item is broken in the house, Malakai would be the first suspect of being the guilty party, and I would interrogate him for confession like a cop.

Over time, I can see how insecure he is of himself and of his ability to deal with situations.  I am definitely guilty of not putting enough effort to praise and encourage my oldest son who is in desperate need of a confident boost. 

I really need to work on my patience and consciously change my speech and attitude towards my kids,  I love them to bits.

Simple Muffin: Same blog, New address

The simple muffin is not so simple after all...!

Finally I got a new address for my blog that incorporated my Muffin nickname. *excited*

For those of you curious,  the nickname muffin was given to me by someone I met online years and years ago when I just started out working as an intern Graphic Designer.
It sounded well, and abbreviated my full name: Marina Arifin.  Hence the name MaFin...becomes Muffin.
So it wasn't about muffin the food, as then, I have never really eaten a great muffin to love it that much or know how to make one.
I am a long way from that now- and I can assure you that I make great muffins and always have stock in hand. :)

Why Simple muffin?  Well, not a lot of choices out there and the first one available out of my list is the Simple Muffin. 

I sketched out a muffin to put on my blog header, something that represents me... a little artsy, a little complicated, and the base of the muffin looks like a big set of teeth that I am well known for. Haha... :*) 
Done.
Not so simple after all!

Three is a crowd...

I really had almost had it when I was just trying to cook and Ethan, one of my twins, would just would not stop clinging to my legs and crying for his dear life for no apparent reason.  I glance over to see my 3 year old, Malakai, happily playing with his blocks by himself.  Niel sitting nearby watching his big brother trying to build a tower of blocks.  Should I or shouldn't I?  I would probably be even more frustrated if I call out to Malakai and he responds with protest.  Oh well, what have got to lose...?

"Malakaiiii....! Can you please please get Ethan? I can not cook if he is here crying!" I yelled out.

To my surprise, Malakai got up, ran to the kitchen and said, "Come on, Ethan, let's play blocks!" as he reach out and took the crying Ethan by the hand.  Ethan did stop crying and ran after his big brother.

I stood there, feeling so touched.   Oh, Malakai, I could have more of you,...maybe ... two more?

The thought, ofcourse, vanished after the boys spent 5 minutes playing together and all three cries in unison.

Graphic Design: The Well

The Well: Drama workshop poster and photocard

The city's Creative Art's team has just created a new division for inspiring young actors in their congregation to develop their talent and grow together.  They call this community as The Well.  Last week, I was contacted by Betty with brief to design a set of promo materials that has a whimsical feel using the visual concept of a well with a tree growing on one side.  I proposed the silhouette effect which allows me to work using vectors, and the team loved the submitted draft.  Both of us are thrilled with the end results.

Malakai's Art Masterpieces

"My Family" by Malakai.
From left to right: Mum (me) with my long hair, Dad is the big one,
Ethan the little one, Malakai himself with big eyes and his favorite blue gum boots, and Niel with the big eyes.

When I first joined playgroup with Malakai at 2 years old, I thought for sure that he was not going to be an artist.  While other little boys and girls can't wait for their turn to don an art smock and use the paintbrush, Malakai would screech at the sensation of the wet gooey paint on his finger tips.  Yes, he was a finger-food eating toddler then, but his food has to be dry to touch, no sauces, no sticky coating whatsoever.  So yes, he was grossed out with the paints, and would never try finger painting.

With pencils, crayons, and markers... he would just do a short little attempt of a dribble and yells out 'I'm done!', and off he goes.

At 3 years old, there was not much improvement in his art department, but  I have introduced him to tracing and dots-to-dots and he absolutely loved it.  So there is hope for training.

When I was a Uni student studying Graphic Design, I met a Mum of a brilliant 5 year old daughter that was excelling in maths, reading, and writting in her class, but has no talent for art- thus is behind in her drawing class. Surely one can't have it all, I thought.   I had no training in kid's development or education whatsoever, but I had ways to connect with little kids and was a Sunday School teacher, so the Mum offered to hire me as a private art tutor to her beautiful little girl. Sure I was overwhelmed at the challenge.  What can I do to make a preschooler sit still and do what she doesn't like for 1.5 hours??  My job was not to turn her into an artist, but simply to train her to enjoy art. On the first day I arrived at their residence I was even more nervous to find that not only the little girl would be in my session, but her neighbour, and the neighbour's little 3 years old brother as well.  Armed with a giant sketch book, a pencil, an eraser, and a big pack of oil pastels, I started my journey.

Six months later, as she entered primary school, her Mum reported that she had made much progress in art.  She was able to see figures and animals as geometric shapes (her strong point)  and use that as a template for her drawing.  She had no trouble drawing elephants and horses in simple form and mixing colours.  My job was done then.

Surely I can give my son the same opportunity.   He doesn't have to love drawing, but introduction to visual art at this stage would benefit him greatly at this stage.  It would help him with his lettering skills when he learns to write, it would help him express himself, and being good at something is always a confidence booster.


This post features his drawings at 3.5 years old including the one above.

Malakai's self portrait.

"My House" by Malakai
On the left is his play tent, then the house with attached garage. 
In the sky there are clouds and a sun.
On the right is a tree on the bend of the road. 
In the front there's our 2 cars and uncle's card. 
The little stick figure is Malakai himself.

Now he enjoys his private drawing sessions with me when his brothers are napping, and as you can see, I am trully proud of him as he has gone a long way from that little short scribble just earlier this year.  Both Malakai and I are so excited that his original artwork gets laminated, framed, and hung.  Kids Art.

Sunday School: Samson's long hair

Niel in Samson's long (purple) hair

This week's Sunday School story was about the strong man, Samson, and his long hair.  I made a long hair strips from purple construction paper (because purple is the only colour I have left in my pack) and tape them in around a band that would fit the kids' head.  I was planning to cut/tear the long hair when I get to the story part where Delilah tricked and cut Samson's hair, but unfortunately the children wouldn't allow me to do it.

Boys in a Bag

Just in case...

During the boys’ first year, I have always protected my babies’ nap times. I would avoid appointments during that time, and if we are travelling far, I would plan the long travel time be during nap times. Well rested babies means contented little boys, and will make me a very happy mommy. Now that they are well over 1.5 years old and are only one nap a day, I would certainly love to get back into those impromptu un-planned trips.

I really miss those days where we would just get in the car with our emergency overnight bag and drive and drive and drive and find ourselves interstate. I don’t know how that will work out with three kids under four in tow. Anyway, just in case I get hit by those crazy vibes, I have purchased sleeping bags, and practiced with the kids…. Just in case…

Pressure Cooked Bread...?

My quest of becoming a Pressure Cooker queen wouldn’t be complete without at least a successful attempt to “bake” bread in it.   I found a “Couldn’t be easier slow cooker bread” recipe online that was, of course, written for a slow cooker.   Wholewheat flour, wheatgerm, milk, honey instead of sugar, egg; I certainly liked the list of ingredients the recipe calls for, sounds healthy and great for the kids.

I think I probably should try a much simpler brown bread recipe for a first attempt, but I decided to just do this one.   Pressure cooked breads are said to be moist and would not have crust to it, that sounds great for my kids and I am determined to check this out!

I did three attempts to make the bread these past few days.  The first one failed miserably as I didn’t let the bread dough rise before popping it into the cooker.  With the pressure cooker, I find it is important to cover the tin with baking paper / foil so more liquid would not seep in, only let the heat cook the bread.
The recipe said to immediately put the dough into a slow-cooker and cook it for 3 hours, so I tried the same trick, but obviously the pressure cooker cooked the bread within the first 20minutes- so it didn’t have time to rise.  The bread has nice flavor, but it was short, dense, and hard.

The second attempt with the dough, I let it rise to double size as most bread should be before punching it down and putting it in the pan to rise again before finally cooking it.  It turned out to have great bread texture and moist inside.  The sides of the bread (where it touches the pan) is dry and have a bit of crust, but top of the bread was soft.  Beautiful dense thick bread, a slice of it will fill you up.
Yes, the pressure cooker can certainly cook bread in 20 minutes, but it still needs constant attention to the dough in making and the cooking process to keep the pressure stable.

I was excited, the third attempt, I oven baked it to see the difference.  Turns out beautiful with crust, as expected.  The smell of a bread loaf baking in the oven is unbeatable and certainly very inviting.  My boys can not wait for it to come out.

Will I make pressure cooked bread again?  Mmm... Only if I am desperately craving for bread and no available oven…
Actually, I am still curious about trying a basic brown bread in it, but not anytime soon.
For now, I will just head out to the store to get a basic brown loaf.

Night Zoo...

The Werribee Open Range Zoo is just 15 minutes drive away from where we live, so we go quite often during weekday for a morning or afternoon playtime.

This school holiday we had the privilege of visiting the night zoo “After Dark”.  We got our big puffy jackets on, our little torches ready and see the lions being fed.   It was windy and cold, but exciting seeing the animals in a different light that we came back a few nights later... 

Pressure Cooked Fried Rice

from uncooked rice done in minutes!

Like most mornings, on Sunday, I was a bit pressed for time and need to whip up something really quick to bring for lunch after church.  I had some carrots, bacon and a chicken breast in the freezer; it would be nice to make a fried rice dish… only if I had some leftover rice.  Cooking rice now would take at least 20 minutes and it would be too moist to fry. 

I know that the pressure cooker makes amazing rice.  So I’ll make a pressure cooked fried rice – from uncooked rice - reinvented from these recipes.

I used ingredients that I would normally throw into fried rice.  A small onion, a few cloves of garlic, diced carrots, diced a rasher of bacon, diced chicken breast.  You can basically put anything into fried rice, I think if I had prawns and eggs it would be even better.

I sautéed the garlic and onions in the pressure cooker with some oil and butter and added the carrots into it.  Next, I added the bacon and chicken breast.  If I am using prawns or any other meat it will go in now.  If I wanted eggs in it, I’d lightly beat it and throw it in before adding the meat, so the eggs are cooked first.

Once the chicken breast pieces are not pink, I throw in 1½ cup of uncooked jasmine rice and stir until it mixes well and the rice is coated with oil.  I love sesame oil, so added a table spoon of it here. Then pour 1½ cups (equal amount of water as the rice) into the mixture.  The bacon and chicken are naturally salty, and the onions and carrots are sweet, so the rice dish already has pretty good balance here, but all friend rice needs soy sauce.  So I put in a table spoon light soy and a table spoon of sweet soy (kecap manis), the liquid should already taste pretty nice here.  The finished dish would taste pretty much like this but a little richer.  I was happy with the taste and closed and lock the lid. When the cooker reached high pressure, I put my timer on 3 minutes and stabilize the pressure by moving it to a smaller fire.  Turn the fire off after 3 minutes and release the pressure naturally.  When done, I opened the lid and leave it open for about 5 minutes so the rice would soak the moisture.

Result: really tasty firm fried rice with soft chicken and carrot pieces done from uncooked rice in less than 30 minutes, as pictured. Cooking time: about 15 minutes including the sautéing, waiting to reach high pressure, and 3 minutes on stabilized high pressure. Beautiful!

Since trying this out last week, I did this recipe few more times.  You can add all sorts of things into it, and you can even go very bare only using butter, tons of chopped garlic and ginger, chicken carcass and rice and still make wonderful chicken rice.  The rule is rice to liquid ratio: 1:1. Last but not least, a tip to open the lid immediately and remove the rice and let it "dry out" in a cooler bowl.  I have tried to leave my rice in the cooker a bit too long and it burned the bottom bit of rice.

Meaningful Relationship

A group of fellow parents including myself have been discussing parenting topics of creating meaningful relational moments with our children. 

The goal of having great “relational experience” with our kids is so when they reach the age and time to make important decisions of their life, we (the parent) are at the position to give influential advice because of the excellent relationship we have worked hard for during the early years. 

As a parent, of course I want to have a say when any one of my boys are choosing their college major, choosing a career path, deciding who to date, or who to marry.   However, it has been brought to our attention that many parents may not have earned the ‘relationship position’ to be listened to.  Thus the kid would listen more to the advice of their fellow friends or influential teacher or other adult they respect or even listen to that boy/girlfriend we don’t like.  

The theory is that children without great relationship with their parents would certainly not seek their parents for advice when they need to chose.  Then the only way to get them to do what we want is if we are bigger and stronger than them (we can pick them up and strap them into a seat) or because we have something they don’t (bribing with ‘don’t you want to use the car?’). 

So how can we, as parents, after all we have been through to raise our kids, be in that influential position?

It is certainly a food for thought to think about building meaningful relationships, in our current circumstances, to turn every possible moment into influential moments with our children.

Happy Call Flip Pan

Another kitchen gear that I find is always on my stove top is my jumbo "Happy Call" flip pan (yes, my pressure cooker pot is also one of my top 3 most used pot).  My mother brought it for me from overseas and thought that I would make good use of it as it also cooks using pressure, but the main difference with the pressure cooker pot, is that the flip pan can cook without much liquid in the pan.  Vegetables are cooked in its own water or with just a couple tablespoons of liquid. 

Within a few weeks of experimenting with the flip pan, I have learnt dishes that are normally baked, grilled, or roasted such as roast potatoes, roast veggies, grilled fishes can be done perfectly in minutes without mess.  Roast chicken works very well in the flip pan, I can use store bought marinades for speedier dishes.  Dishes like Indonesian style deep fried chicken is done with just two tablespoon of oil, producing chicken with crisp skin while the flesh is tender and moist.  Healthier alternative to deep fried dishes, without the splashing oil too!   Pancakes cook very well, and the whole recipe would fit in the pan, producing a giant pancake which just needs slicing for the kids.  Baking a cake, yes, a cake can be done in this stove top pan too! I tried using a store bought chocolate cake mix, and it bakes well producing a wide-short rectangular cake.   Sure, short-rectangular cakes don’t look too great for presentation, but it taste just as good as oven baked, and saves energy as does not need pre-heating (like in the oven).  I fell in love with my flip pan.

There is no particular recipes special for this pan, you can use your usual family recipe, but will need to experiment with the timing and how big/small the fire should be.

Camera Block

Since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by cameras.  I would go through my Grandfather's belongings and beg to give his cameras to me, this became my first camera.  It was pocket sized, really heavy as it was an old style film camera that does direct exposure to only half of a 35mm film.   I carried this everywhere I go taking pictures of everything.

In Uni, I was introduced to my very first SLR camera.  It was fully manual film SLR and I absolutely love the results.  Coupled with graphic design skills and digital photo editing software, my option felt endless.

I still carry a pocket digital camera everywhere.  I’d even leave it on my kitchen bench for those unpredictable photo moments happening while I am cooking.  I would also have my mobile phone camera within reach to take videos and photos to email my family overseas straight away.

I take so many pictures that my son thinks that taking photos of everything all the time is normal.  Today, I caught him walking around with his blocks built into an SLR camera.  He made the lenses and trigger button, and tell his brothers not to touch the “lenses”.  He even produced a fairly accurate shutter sound by mouth.  Fascinating…!

Fear of Water

When Malakai was 6 months old, I have decided that one day he will attend a swimming class conducted by a proper swimming instructor.  However, I will not enroll in a swimming class at 6 months old, I thought that I can do the job of introducing water confidence myself, then I will enroll him in swimming classes when he is 3.  Why pay someone for a job I can do myself?!

Little did I realize that 3 years passes by really quickly.   With a set of twins in tow, it is almost impossible for me to take the boys swimming by myself, as it is a struggle to take all three boys swimming even with my husbands help (they are 3.5 years old and 1.5 years old).

So there I was, just a couple of weeks ago, with my  3 years old boy standing by the pool wearing his water wings and his goggles hanging on his neck.  He would not wear his goggles, and would NOT get into the water, and scream when someone accidentally splash water on his face.

Oh, What have I done…?

I suppose,  being only 3 years old instead of 30 would still give him plenty of time to learn life skills.  I am still adamant to teach him water confidence myself and would not push him to do anything he is not ready for.  So I have started with the basics, such as blowing bubbles.  I'll get into the bath with him when his younger brothers are asleep and show him how to do it.
He still would not let his chin touch the surface of his bath water, but he is happy to give it a go in a bowl of water...
That's a start.  Patience...patience...

Cooking Under Pressure

Above: East meets West dish.  Beef (gravy beef) cubes pressure cooked in Guiness Beer with carrots and bacon served on noddles. This dish is rich in flavour and texture with mouth watering tender beef only requires 30 minutes cooking time.

With three children under 4 years old, I’m all for quick and practical cooking.  Something I can cook while one toddler is clinging to my leg, another trying to climb onto the kitchen bench, and another trying to ‘help-out’ with cooking.

Something I can whip up superfast, but is tender so kids would have it.  So for the past year, I have been exploring pressure cooking, experiment with various Western and Asian dishes, including desserts like puddings and cheesecake.

What I absolutely love about pressure cooking is the speed of cooking, resulting in preserved nutrients and savings on my gas bill because of it.  I can whip up dishes normally cooked hours in just a fraction of that time.  Tender-melt-in-your-mouth dishes are done in minutes.   I can use cheaper-tougher-cuts of meat and still produce tender flavourful dish.   Asian style congee (from rice) only requires 6 minutes cooking time.   Curry dishes, bolognaise sauce, beef casseroles, pot roasts are cooked under an hour.   It is definitely energy smart cutting heaps off my gas bill, and much more economical overall.

Pressure cookers work by trapping steam created by boiling water, increasing the pressure in the pot.  As the pressure rise, so too does the boiling point of the water which reduces cooking time.
I do a lot of pressure cooked dishes that I own two 6.5l pressure cooker pots, at least one of them is always on my stove top daily.  

Some of our favourite family recipes are:

Beef Brinabon –  Beef and Kidney Beans soup
Chicken in Ginger Soup
Milk Fish stew (Pindang Bandeng) *
Chicken congee (with or without mushrooms)
Beef Casserole

I will follow up this post with the recipes of these in the near future.
Various slow cooker recipes can be adapted to cook in the pressure cooker.  Speedy.

* Milk Fish has fine bones which is a pain to eat, it is pressure cooked that the bones are soft and edible, while the flesh is still firm.

Excellent pressure cooking resource website:
http://www.pressurecookerrecipes.net/
http://missvickie.com/

Recipe: Crepes

Beautiful Fluffy Crepes

These warm fluffy thin crepes are just beautiful to have in cold weather... my boys and their dad have no problems finishing their breakfast plate of them.
I made it with:

125g   plain flour
30g     caster sugar
4         eggs
300ml  milk
75g      unsalted butter, melted

Start by whisking the eggs and sugar until fluffy, and add the milk and flour.  Pour in the melted butter and mix through.  I then ladle about 50 ml of batter and thin it out in a round 20cm wide skillet on a small fire.  Once the crepes start to set and turns golden, flip it over and cook the other side to golden colour.
Serve warm and absolutely delicious served with syrup, honey, sliced fruits, and or cream.

Bathe in Poo

Boys' Blunder

The easiest way for me to clean the boys is just to pop everyone into the bath at the same time.  Was-was, scrub-scrub, and pick them up one at the time and dress them while the others wait inside the bathtub playing with their bath toys.

So today is a day like any other day.  The boys are happily playing together inside the bath when suddenly Ethan pointed to Niel and said shyly: "pee pee!"  Wow, very good, Ethan! Not only he has learn to say the words, he can identify those doing it, I thought as I took a quick glance at Niel.  I notice yellowing water around him. Oh well, peeing during baths happens a lot, I'll just rinse them out later.

Then Malakai dropped the bombshell when he said calmly: "No, Ethan, that is POOOOOOOO...!"
Sure enough, Niel has done a massive poo in the bath water.
The boys start laughing ignorantly as I scrambled to get them out of the water before the poo disperse, and rinse them in the shower.

After all is asleep, it is my clean up time, I stare with unbelief at the bathtub, quarter filled with water mixed with a cup-full of poo.
Boys, oh, boys....

Holiday Weight Loss

I am quite troubled learning that my children have lost 1kg each during our three weeks visit to our family overseas (while my husband gains 3kgs!).  At this age and stage of their lives, gaining 1kg may take a year.  They are at their fussiest stage of eating and each of my children has different food preferences, and most days it feels like they are not eating anything.

Thinking about it, I am sure I knew this is coming.  Hot weather never does much good to my kid’s appetite level, let alone the many distractions and the many adults ready to jump hoops to entertain the kids during meal times.  

This year, I have learnt to relax about weight gain and the quality of the food consumed, as stressing over these things clearly doesn’t help their appetite levels anyway.  By having twins, I have to learnt to let go, take up any help offered by anyone I know- so by doing that, I also had to learn to let the kids (and the adults) have a break and do what they wish to do together so I can have a break. 

We don’t get to meet with the bigger family circle very often.  I don’t even know when the children will get to spend time with their aunts, uncles and grannies again.  The struggles ahead to re-gain that lost kilo and catch up to the desired weight level….I am sure it is totally worth it.

Carpet Painting

After a sleepless night on the airplane back home, my husband and I are so exhausted that we fell asleep as soon as our heads touch a surface.  Any surface.  In the other room, we can hear Malakai and Ethan happily playing together while Niel is asleep in his cot. 
Just five minutes, we thought.  Before we know it we were both deep asleep and woken by noises of screeching laughter.  Sounds like someone is having too much fun.

 Sure enough, I woke up to find Malakai and Ethan in the bathroom.  Malakai is getting some water in a plastic scoop for Ethan who is carrying a plastic beach bucket.  Both boys are covered with poster paint from head to toe.  In our family room, the tub of art materials is on the floor.  The bottles of poster paint are tipped open and the paints are all over the carpet with brushes and stencil sponges.   I can feel my blood pumping to the tip of head but I can hear Niel crying in his room…. Guilt immediately swept over me. Oh, poor Niel, how long has he been crying helplessly locked in his cot?!

I rushed to his bedroom surprised to find him still in his cot but has a plastic scoop in his hands filled with a mixture of paint and water as well.  Of course, he has spilled some on the bed and on himself as well. 

I was amazed to find myself actually laughing at this.  Maybe my anger was dampened the guilt that I fell asleep on them.  Deep inside I was glad that the boys sure know how to share their fun and joys. 
I hope I still think that this is funny after having to wash the carpet, sheets, and paint covered clothes…

My Brother's Wedding

Three Little Suits

30 May 2010 is the big day for my brother and his fiancée. (There is our photo above, my brother and his wife are feeling a bit pixel-ated)  This is why we are in this country today, to participate in their much anticipated wedding celebration. 

Like any other Indonesian wedding, it is a massive celebration.  700* invitation cards sent out, everyone we ever knew, ever encountered are invited to share this joyous day.

Being the groom’s sister, makes it a big day for me too.  The committee have organized the day for the family.  We are to look fabulous.  Beauty salon booked at 7am to do our hair and make-up.  My nails manicured and painted shiny blood red the night before (thanks to my cousin-sisters).  The colour theme is maroon and gold, so I also got a sparkling new set of heels in gold.  Last but not least, two pre-ordered tailored evening dresses complete with stone gems and sparkles, one for the holy matrimony and one for the evening reception.  Very grand indeed. 

Unfortunately with pre-ordered dresses they don’t fall into place where it is supposed to.  They are made based on the measurements I emailed them a couple of months ago, so I didn’t get to say where I want the straps fixed or how low/high the neck line to be, etc.  The many fitting sessions I’ve been on during the past weeks, can’t seem to fix the dress to my liking.  *sigh* Oh well, no use in whining over a dress that has been picked out for me.   It’s just a dress.  No one will notice the unflattering cut, I hope.

Just as I am getting ready to head out to the beauty salon, my son threw up.  My little three year old, who hasn’t been eating well since he landed here, vomited two times in the morning of the wedding. 

Malakai has started to feel unwell since yesterday; he didn’t sleep well and has been crying on and off the whole night.  I feel the pressure weighted upon me.  I have objected my kids to be involved today as I know the day will tire them out immensely resulting in very cranky babies during the events.  Both events: the matrimony and the reception dinner starts during their nap and sleep time, and in between there are rehearsals and travelling.  Malakai has been given the important task of being the cute ring bearer; and I know that my family will be greatly disappointed if we don’t show up to the wedding today.  I am hoping that he can go through the morning.  I am torn.   My son is sick.

Half an hour before the matrimony starts, Ethan and Niel is still deep in their mid-day nap.  Malakai, weak but is excited watching his dad dress up in a black suit decided that he also wants to don a suit today.  We decided that we will leave the babies to sleep, and take Malakai to the church.   We will do the family procession, and Malakai will be the ring bearer, we will be in the photos, and we will leave the church immediately once the procession is done.  This should only take 30 minutes, no one will notice Ethan and Niel is not present, we can get away with it.

We did what was planned.  Malakai was truly adorable – in my eyes at least.  He walked nervous but proud down the aisle carrying the rings on a heart shaped laced-pillow.  He looks absolutely gorgeous in his little black suit, bow tie and suit pants.    We sped home and found that Ethan and Niel have pre-maturely wakened from their nap.  We decided that I will take the toddlers back to the church while Malakai takes a nap at home, he needs it badly.

It was halfway through the mass when I arrived with Ethan and Niel.  My Mum’s eyes lit up when she saw that all her grand children actually made it to the wedding in some way.  I was pleased with myself for making the effort.   It was a beautiful wedding.  They bride and groom has made efforts to make the celebration absolutely special, and they deserve it.

 On a blessed day like this, the last person I want to see get hurt is my mum, and of course my brother and his lovely wife.  Despite of how I was feeling about the dress I was wearing or going to wear, I was in high spirits.   Unfortunately, my twins weren’t too cooperative and was pretty shocked to find themselves in suits and see the amount of people present stopping by to ‘ooh’ and ‘aaah’.  What could be cuter than sighting one year old twins in suits?!  Nevertheless, they started to cry and whinge, I ended up having to carry both boys in my arms (yes, in my beaded dress) for the rest of the afternoon.

The evening reception party was a hit.  The groom came out singing a song to his bride, the bride does the same and the couple meets in the middle of the ballroom.  It was truly special and absolutely beautiful.  It is a standing dinner party is common for weddings here, where all guests would walk around with their dinner plates and mingle.  Sure there are times when I wish I could present myself more elegantly than squatting on the floor feeding my kids while dressed in gown and heels... but, that's just life as a mum.    I certainly enjoyed it, and the bonus of meeting and catching up with long lost friends and people that we haven’t met in years is priceless.

We left the party before it ended because our boys just couldn’t handle the night anymore.  It has been a long day for them and they have been very well behaved most of the time.  I am happy.  We also get to take the bridal-car home tonight.  It is the luxurious Toyota Alfard, still adorned with flowers and ribbons.  The boys certainly enjoyed the ride.  When and where else can they travel without car-seats and seat belts?  Each time my husband hits the brake; someone will fell off the seat and roll down the spacious aisle.  In between, they curiously stand on the seats, looking out the window, playing with the curtains, and pressing all the buttons they can reach. 

Me, I try my best to keep them on their seats and behave safely.  
However, I realize in these circumstances… impossible…

A Night Out

First Date...

My husband and I haven’t been on a date for at least three and a half year, since Malakai was born.  Although we have trained our kids to be in bed, in their rooms, by 7 pm, we would never leave the boys at home without an adult present.  We have been quite content with our plenty of movie nights, 3-course-dinner nights, and game nights, always done at home.  (It is cheaper too!)

Staying at our parents’ home during this trip clearly has its advantages.   Not just we simply always wake up with a banquet of our favorite childhood food laid out on the table; we also get to sneak out at night after our children’s bed time.  Most of the times, all we do are just errands and supermarket grocery shopping.  Tonight, we decided to pass shopping for milk and go to the movies instead.
It is our first movie day out in a really long time, and we were behaving like giddy high-school-ers on a movie date: taking photos of ourselves and giggling all the time.

Prince of Persia is obviously not a romantic movie, but I would never really go for mushy romantics or dramas in cinemas.  For me, why not make most of the big screen and the sound system by watching some action packed movie with hot actors?!

Bukit Sion Playgroup

Amazing 3 year olds...
During our visit, we are very privileged to be able to take Malakai to attend a week of playgroup run by a  National Plus school called Bukit Sion in Kebon Jeruk, Jakarta.

We find the two and a half hours a day, five days a week playgroup was excellent.  The teachers are well versed and delivered instructions to the children in English.   The programs were well prepared to keep 3 year olds busy, interested, and develop their various skills.  The children who had been attending the program from the start of the school year are very engaged in the activities and I was amazed to witness three year olds recite prayers, songs, and dance routine.   They have a small indoor playcentre area for the kids to play in during their day, and once a week, they have swimming session at the school’s undercover pool.   Even more amazing was seeing the 3 years old children recite, trace and write letters of the alphabet!

There I was, accompanying with my son in the classroom as he tries to settle into this new learning environment.   I shrunk in awe watching all this amazing studying process around me, so much a child could accomplish at 3 years old if given the training.   A week ago, I was so proud with my homeschooling methods for my son, and now I realise that I have achieved very little compared to this standard. 

   

Glenn Doman Method

Can Toddlers Count?

I was very intrigued watching my cousin flash a set of cards to her 15 months old daughter with a very fast speed. “Flash”-card, she explained that each card is meant to be shown for only one second.  I have never seen anyone uses flashcards this way, and so she introduced me to the Glenn Doman method.

This teaching method, which was initially developed to help brain damaged children, apparently helps normal babies and toddlers to read and count. 

For counting, Glenn Doman also has methods to teach numbers and equation to babies and toddlers using flashcards only consisting of red dots.  This will help the child to relate the number to the amount- not the symbol.  I was certainly very intrigued by this method and went to research more about it.   The key method here is, apart from having the correct materials (which you can make yourself following the recommended specifications) is consistency.  As parents we will have to make time to plan the activity and flash these cards three times a day as part of a play routine for children under the age of 3.

One of the testimonials wrote:
Infants, up to age 2-1/2 years, have the amazing ability to instantly recognize quantities (or dots). An infant can recognize the difference between 78 and 79 dots (or whatever) and point it out to you. Not only that, this amazing ability can be used to teach math. The dot quantities can be shown to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These children grow up with this ability to instantly do math and the instant quantities. The ability to instantly see how many cows are in a field or birds are flying together in a flock once existed in all of us; we just never had this ability exercised when we were very young. It only takes a few seconds to do an exercise so you only spend about a minute a day showing your infant or toddler. This truly is amazing and a great lifetime gift for your child.


So here I am, with a set of stock cards with red dots on it.  Ready to try them on my bouncy 19 months old boys.  I hope they will be interested... and I hope I can be consistent...

Flying with Toddlers

The First Flight...

This is the day.  For the first time, our family got on the plane together.  The last time we planned a short plane trip didn’t quite work out as our little Niel got sick with Kawasaki.  This time, praise God, all is well, and we are returning to attend my brother’s wedding celebration.   I can remember my anxiousness for this trip a week ago.  How will we manage?  I can’t keep my kids to sit still during a one and a half hours of church service, let alone a seven hours daytime flight.

We have selected to fly Garuda direct flight from Melbourne to Jakarta.  That means no transiting time to worry about, we don’t have to worry about changing planes, taking our luggage out, and worry on how to get our 3 children moving together in the airport without strollers.  Purchased our tickets online through zuji.com.au, and everything was in order.

I have packed little containers of cheerios, sultanas, almonds, apple chips, and plain dry biscuits. I’ve got little boxes of UHT milk, little boxes of juice, bananas, and apples for snack.  I hope those will keep my younger two busy.  For my preschooler, I got sticker books, colouring and dot-to-dot activity book with coloured markers, and a couple of toy cars.  These should keep everybody busy, I thought.  But nothing beats a new toy. 

All my three boys were fully engrossed with the little inflight touch screen entertainment monitor and its joystick on a spring back cable.  Ethan and Niel enjoyed touching all the icons and waited to see what will happen.   Malakai was very impressed with the inflight toilet flush system.  He spends a lot of his time visiting the toilet and watch the device sprinkle a bit of water, and suddenly with a big whooshing sound, the valve in the bottom of the cistern flung open and sucked everything into it, and closes back. All is quiet again. All is dry. 

Our first plane trip together.  Not as scary as I imagined it to be.  No screaming drama of kids rolling on the aisle.  No plane food were thrown and smeared all over the seats.  We were ok.  Phew…!  Hope we are as lucky on the overnight flight home.

About me...

Ten years ago, if you were to tell me that I will be a stay-at-home mum running after three children in a suburb, I would slap you in the face.  I was all for travelling and adventures, I was a cosmopolitan girl, I was a Web and Graphic Designer, and I would never spend time with children more than two hours a week, let alone entertaining children under 5 years old.    I even told my parents that they should not dream of having grandchildren from me, as it would only be wishful thinking.

That was me then, but here I am now. For the past three years, I have left my career, and am now a proud full time Mum raising my little M.E.N. (acronym of my boys’ name: Malakai, Ethan, Niel).

Still in the process of learning on the dos and don’ts of parenting- while striving to balance life between my children and my various interests in life.  I am not sure how I find time to blog, I suppose by neglecting a bit of housework now and then wouldn’t hurt anyone. :p   

One day, I would really love to run a business and work from home close to my children.   I am still in a motherhood survival mode, so until I am a thriving Mum, I am simply a wannabe blogger and a self-professed internet geek.

So, as a geek, I really should spruce up my blog site.  That will be my next project.  For now, I am focusing on the holidays I am about to have.

Holiday Plans

Martin and I are very excited to visit the country we both grew up in.  It has been a long while since we’ve left, and we are keen to return and see our family and friends once again.  We reminisce on the fond memories of family members gather from dawn till dusk around banquet of food laid out on the table since breakfast time.  I can’t wait to sink my teeth into old favorite childhood food of chicken satays, fried gurame, salted fish, chunky chicken noodles, lemper, pepes peda, and the lot. 
There were only the two of us when we left six years ago, now we are coming back as a family of five.

Mmmm, how do we manage on the 7 hours plane trip with a 3 years old, and two 1.5 years old toddlers?

About Blogging

When I was a little girl, I have always kept a diary until half-way into Uni.  I would write about anything, from movies that I saw, the dreams I remembered from the night before, to silly crushes I would have for boys who knows have a band, have long hair, races motorbikes, or can speed drive cars through traffic.  I had many interests and hobbies then, from drawing, sewing, teaching Sunday School, movies and animation, I would memorise phrases from the cartoons I watched. 

Then I grew up.  Journaling seems more of a handicap, as it documents information about myself that I may not want others to know about me.  But I have a very soft spot for my memories, embarrassing as they were, and still keep all the diaries I wrote from when I was 9 years old.  I have vowed to burn them the next time I go to mother’s house (hopefully soon!).

Now blogging comes along, and I loved the idea of getting back to put my thoughts down.  Worst than diaries, this is published to the net and is public.  Yet, I have been using my complete full name.  How silly of me.  I will certainly fix this, as I have just realize this now.

Then there is blogging, and there is good blogging.  One that is informative, gets traffics from visitors, and even ones that makes money.  There is certainly an art of writing good blogs, which I am not quite there yet.  In the past year, I have created three different blog sites for different purposes, but the others are not working out too well. 

I enjoyed this one the most, as this is my personal-journey blog.  When all is asleep, I would try to spend some time researching the net or blogging to unwind (I should also fit in time to finish my studies, but that is certainly not to unwind).  So I apologise for jumping all over the place with my blogging topics.
It takes a while for a new blogger to get a hang of where they want the blogs to go.  

Distance Learning

Back to School

I opened my e-mail-box few days ago to find a ‘gentle reminder that my assignments are due’ sent from my Student Adviser.
I have a Student Adviser? Apparently I do. Few months back, six months back to be exact, I have enrolled myself to a distance-learning program. I am not so sure if it was such a good decision, as if I do not have enough on my plate!
Yeah, but I am a nerd at heart.
Another year… or two… or four if I am very distracted, of studying and assignment nights wouldn’t hurt anyone much would it?

I do not know what had gotten into me at that time, I wanted to learn something new.
As always, predictable me: I choose something new, something not me, something that I have no previous interest in.
I started out getting a degree in Graphic Design, and then I went on to get another one in IT - which is so different to my artsy-nature. I sometimes think IT killed the creative in me.
So this time, I am getting my teeth into a bit of bookkeeping and MYOB.
Everybody could always use some knowledge in bookkeeping right?

So here I am, after six months into the course, handing in my very first basic bookkeeping essay assignment. One down. Eleven more to go!
Who knows, it may be my prep to get me back to work later, or even start my own business! :)

Twins Aggressive Affection

Smack Down!!!

I absolutely love watching Ethan and Niel play together.
It usually starts off sweet. They would toddle around the room chasing each other, their bellies run ahead of their feet.
I can hear laughter, and occasional screams. Good screams, the one we enjoy to hear.
It's a video camera moment.

But not for long….

Usually, in less than ten minutes, hugging becomes flinging.
Niel would usually grabs the Ethan around the waist, leans his head against him, grins and babbles.
Most often, Ethan responds by dropping himself to the floor laughing and let Niel sit on him, giggling.
Flinging becomes wrestling. Wrestling results in head stomping or chest crushing.
Giggles evolve into tears. I should probably stop it before it even begins.
But I can't.

With Malakai, my oldest, I would never let any kid rough-edge him when he was that young. Maybe I was over protective of a boy? Or is it just a first born syndrome?

But with Ethan and Niel it is different.
When I watch them standing there with their arms around each other, their heads together and those untamed smiles on their faces, I am reminded of their infancy. I remember when I would put them down at night crossways on opposite sides of their cot only to find them together in the middle minutes later with their heads touching. Sometimes, they would hold hands.

They don't intend to hurt each other during their rough play.
They just get carried away.
I like to think that they get too aggressive simply because of their need to be physically close to each other.
Aggressive affection. Sweet huh?!

Sunday School

Planting Tiny Seeds...

The church we have been attending is doing a church plant in our neighborhood. I’ve never been involved in a church plant program before, have never realized the type of challenges that the group faces in selecting venues, time, programs, coordinating volunteers, advertising, and maintaining members.

For the past few months I have been appointed as the Sunday School superintendent. My role is currently more of a coordinator/Sunday School teacher, as juggling this ministry while raising 3 boys under 4 years old, is almost already more than I can handle at the moment. I suppose, being a start up church, almost half of the class are my kids, it is also in my best interest to assist in keeping things going. 

Growing up attending Sunday School myself, and had been a helper-teacher preciously for over 6 years, I feel so privileged given the opportunity to plant tiny seeds of faith to children at a very early age.
I really enjoyed bringing Bible stories to live to this wonderful group of kids, whom their parents are also my friends. I am truly praying for wisdom to connect with these very young children at their level, so they would pick up simple concepts of God, Christian living, and loving others. The children still have very limited vocabulary and life experiences, it is quite a challenge presenting Bible stories using words and ideas that they are familiar with. Children grow up much more quickly these days. When they start attending children’s activity groups offered in the community, they will start their journey in discovering their wider world. They would start exposure to fairy tales, myths, superheroes, other characters and live concepts that are much more enticing yet may not completely be in-line with our family’s personal values.

I am hoping that somehow, by starting at an early age, my children can hold on to their values and beliefs, when they reach their crossroads in their teens. They will be at the stage where are reluctant to discuss their issues with their parents, yet I hope, they stay strong and make wise decisions. So I am really hoping, even in such a little way, I can make a bit of a difference in the young lives of the children that attends our Sunday School and of their parent’s.

Graphic Design: Easter 2010

The city's Creative Team came to me needing a Visual Concept and promotion package for the Easter Service 2010.

The theme of the year's Easter is "BELIEVE?"  The brief was to create a Visual concept that is simple and clean, but with a bold and strong message to challenge if one "Believe?".

I must give credit to my husband who came up with the idea of  Jesus challenging Thomas' belief by showing Thomas His nail pierced hand.  So I took a photo of my husband's hand to model for this artwork.
The project had a really tight deadline, but I enjoyed the challenge working with Vivian and the team.  We were all really pleased at how things turn out, and had plenty of encouraging feedback. Praise God!

Project Details:

• Visual concept
• Invitation Photocard design
• Posters in A4 and A3 design
• Street Sign Board design
• BW ad for bulletin

Last Kawasaki checkup 2010

Praise Point: Niel's Update

As part of Niel’s post-Kawasaki care, these last 4 months have been filled with frequent hospital visits to monitor his health and heart condition.

Earlier this month, Niel had his routine check up and heart scan (echocardiogram and ECG) at the Children’s hospital. This check-up is a “big” milestone for Niel.

The Cardiologist found his heart condition normal with no signs of inflammation! We truly acknowledge God for this!! We were advised to continue keeping a very close eye on his physical activities, habits, and nutrition, and the doctor also assured us that the risk is quite low for Niel to develop a heart-related-condition and/or educational and developmental delays in the future.

Niel can now stop taking his medications relating the Kawasaki disease, however, there is a need for longterm maintenance to avoid atherosclerotic risk factors. From now on, his routine check- up will be every 2-3 years (instead of every 3 weeks).

We are extremely grateful to God and know that this is all through prayers and the support our friends and family have given us.

2 March 2010

**Atherosclerotic: Pertaining to atherosclerosis, the process of progressive thickening and hardening of the walls of arteries from fat deposits on their inner lining.

Favorite spot in Melbourne

It was a hot day, after a smooth dealing with the immigration department in the morning; I was in high spirits and in the mood for outdoors. Driving around the streets of Melbourne, we have somehow made our way into the Melbourne Zoo. With the blazing sun stinging at our skins and the toddlers whining for a nap, at first it seems to be an unwise decision. Then we discovered the Penguin and Seals enclosure. It is indoors, darkened, decorated with beautiful lighting effects, and blissfully air-conditioned. I found a spot on the bench just after the ramps. The toddlers are quietly asleep in their stroller behind me. There I sat for over an hour looking into a massive aquarium glass pane where the seals are kept. The water filtered sunlight danced on the seal’s body as they moved effortlessly in the water. It was beautiful, serene, mesmerizing and inspiring.

I remembered watching my mum when I was a little girl. She used to sit down in front of our self-made aquarium at home for hours. She would smile while watching her tiny fishes swimming about, sometimes she talks to them, and also talks to the plants in the aquarium as well. I thought she was peculiar when she explained her calm feeling watching this creatures move about. Now I am here doing the same thing. I certainly can’t wait to bring her here.

I can come back here any day. It is now my favorite spot in Melbourne. The benches near the ramps at the Seal’s enclosure. Yeay! Glad to be a FOTZ member!

Niel's 1st Step

Power of Bubbles...


One of my twins, Niel, wasn’t walking at 16 months old. He didn’t seem to be too interested in standing up, or learning how to walk. He didn’t enjoy being assisted to walk or held up by the hands.

Twin brother Ethan has started to walk months before. He has gone through the standard stages of cruising by 12 months old, standing alone from a pull up position, standing alone from a squat, standing to observe, taking the first step on his own, and progressively increase the number of steps before losing balance. The process was months from the first time he stands on his own to being called officially a ‘toddler’, but we can see progress every week.

It’s a lot of pressure being a twin, one is continuously compared to the sibling for development, performance, and physical achievements. Though I vowed not to do this to them before they were born, it is certainly hard not to benchmark each other as they progress.

I was never worried about my little Niel before. He is always the bright one, always showing interest, alert and responsive his surroundings. He has always been the first to reach his developmental milestones before he contracted Kawasaki disease. Now Ethan seems to be months ahead of Niel; Niel is yet to toddle, repeat words from a book, able to nod and say ‘no’ in response to a question. Now I have valid reasons of getting quite worried about Niel. He was breech, and some statistics show breech twins may have hips problems. He had Kawasaki, and statistics also shows that kids that contracted Kawasaki may have developmental and learning delays.

My concern about Niel’s lack of interest in standing up, lead our GP to order a hip scan for Niel. The scan turns out normal, so the doctor assured me that it is certainly too early to worry at this stage; many children starts to walk at 18 months. Children will walk when they are ready, certainly right that is.

It was Thursday morning, and its library rhyme time for my kids. Niel loves Rhyme Time sessions, he is too young to join in the action, but would happily sit through book reading and watch others sing action rhymes. When the session is over, the cheerful librarian gave out bottles of bubbles for everyone to blow indoors. Niel squealed in excitement as he watched bubbles fill the room. He quickly crawled to find a good spot, kneeled and stretched his hands up to catch the floating bubbles. And then it happened: in his excitement, he stood up and took 3 steps toddling to catch a flying bubble. I held back tears, I am so thankful not to miss this, to be able to see his first steps in the midst of a crowd of energized children. He stood up again, this time I got Malakai to witness his baby brother’s first steps, and we counted together: 1…2…3…4…5…6, “Niel, you’re walking!!!” I shouted to him. He stopped in his tracks, turned around, saw us watching him, he looked down on his feet, realize that he’s standing up, and quickly get down on the floor and crawled back to us with a biggest grin on his face.

Three days later, Niel has officially become a toddler by performance. He would always stand and toddle to move around the house. True, he didn’t go through the traditional phases. My little Niel has lead me to believe he’s not interested in standing, and unexpectedly, in his own time, he just stood up and walk. That’s my Niel. Yes, children will walk in their own time. When they do, there’s no way of stopping them!