Toddler Meals (July 04 - 10)

~ Posted on Sunday, July 10, 2011 at 11:30 PM ~

Pictures of meals are getting less since quite a number of the meals served to Ben have been featured in previous posts of toddler's meals.

Also to note that Ben has been sick from the 6th July with very mild fever, cough  (with phlegm still) and runny nose (started 9th July) so his meal choices has been somewhat bland and simple and I pretty much let him eats whatever he wants to (his appetite is not so good and has been insisting on dry suckling me this few days for comfort). I'm glad he drinks loads and loads of water during this week, and hope his sickness will go away soon...

Continuing on with Ben's meals for July 4th to 10th.

04 July
Breakfast - Half choc buns
Lunch - Wantan noodles with chicken, a cup of choc milk
Tea - yogurt, egg tart
Dinner - Rice, soup, carrot slices, mushrooms

4th July dinner - Rice, soup, carrot slices, mushrooms

05 July
Breakfast - Oats with carrots slices, cornflakes, a bottle of Vitagen
Lunch - Egg tart, cornflakes
Tea - yogurt, cornflakes, strawberry wafer sticks
Dinner - soup, chicken, rice, carrots, egg

Breakfast for 5th July...
Dinner for 5th July...

06 July
Breakfast - 1 slice of toasted pandan bread (with butter and kaya spread), a bottle of vitagen, some mushroom chicken soup
Lunch - steamed egg
Tea - yogurt, 2 slice of cheese
Dinner - Oats and cornflakes, diluted Ribena few sips
(cough with phlegm causing discomfort in throat and vomitted out his dinner)

6th July breakfast...

07 July (mild fever, cough with phlegm)
Breakfast - Oats with cornflakes and a Milo
Lunch - Kaya bun
Tea - Tau sah bun (red bean bun)
Dinner - Few bites of cream bun, few bites of rice, some egg noodles

08 July (mild fever,
cough with phlegm)
Breakfast - Oats with cornflakes, a bottle of vitagen
Lunch - Egg tart, a bottle of vitagen, few bites of roti canai
Dinner - Sushi King - rice, egg mayo, salmon skin, chawan mushi, chicken teriyaki (but vomitted out few hours later due to discomfort caused by cough)

09 July
(no more fever, cough with phlegm)
Breakfast - Oats with grapes, a bottle of vitagen
Lunch - noodle abit, cornflakes
Dinner - half slice of bread (kaya and butter spread, grapes)

10 July (
cough with phlegm, runny nose)
Breakfast - half cheese omelette, grapes
Lunch - Few sips of dragon fruit juice, rice, tofu, fish, spare ribs chunks
Dinner - A packet of Milo, some noodles, biscuits

iPad App Review - It's Not What You've Got!

~ Posted on Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 11:10 PM ~

I received a press release on this new app available and was initially hesitant to request for a review copy as I was afraid that Ben might be too young for this app. Of course, I do believe teaching should start when children are young and so after thinking through again, I decided to request for this app hoping that there will be no issue for me in reviewing it despite the age constraints. To my surprise, Cathy from Oceanhouse Media replied with the promo code to download the app for free saying "It's never too early to begin teaching kids about the meaning of money :-)". Yes!

* Title: It's Not What You've Got!
* Price: $3.99
* Category: Books
* Updated: Jun 14, 2011
* Current Version: 1.08
* Size: 12.8 MB
* Language: English
* Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.
* Rated: 4+
* Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later

Description from the product page:

"Dr. Wayne Dyer addresses the topics of money and abundance with the belief that a child's earliest thoughts and perceptions about these subjects are those that will last throughout his or her life. The aim is to help children develop a healthy view of money by using themes and images they can relate to.

Topics include Money does not define who you are, it doesn't matter what others have, and abundance comes in many forms. This is not a how-to manual on spending and saving for kids; but rather a positive, spiritual approach to the meaning of money. After going through this omBook with your child, discuss the 10 follow up questions which re-inforce the message and further develop children's understanding of the subject. "

About the author:

"Wayne W. Dyer, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned author and speaker in the field of self-development. He’s the author of 30 books, has created many audio programs and videos, and has appeared on thousands of television and radio shows. His books Manifest Your Destiny, Wisdom of the Ages, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, and The New York Times bestsellers 10 Secrets for Success and Inner Peace, The Power of Intention, Inspiration, and Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life have all been featured as National Public Television specials. Wayne holds a doctorate in educational counseling from Wayne State University and was an associate professor at St. John’s University in New York."

Pictures below taken of Ben while we went through the book together on my iPad... Ben was engrossed and captivated with the illustrations shown. He pointed out things he's familiar with, like family spending time together and the need to work regardless whether the job is fun or tiring and so on.

It's Not What You've Got!

It's Not What You've Got!

What's good?

* We can closely relate to the illustrations shown as it is more real-life (as in not cartoonish looking which might not be able to send a strong message to the young ones).

* I love the app! Even as an adult, I learned from reading this book too!

* My 28 month-old toddler is learning and applying what he learned from this book!

To be honest, after going through this book, I realised why Ben is telling us this sentences nowadays "Ben-ben buy", "Ben-ben pay money" and "Another one" (as in don't buy this on impulse, just wait for another better one!).

Yes, my 28 month-old toddler says all these sentences lately! All thanks to this book! I'm happy he doesn't go around saying 'Daddy buy for me' or 'Daddy pays for me' or 'Daddy buy now!' and so on and  the fact that he knows he's responsible and has to decide if he wants something and not just rely on other people to provide for him.

You can purchase the "It's Not What You've Got!" app from the iTunes App Store.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the promo code by the sponsor to redeem the application for free from iTunes Store in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous iPad Apps reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My iPad App Reviews"

Updates on Our CD Adventure!

~ Posted on Friday, July 8, 2011 at 10:53 PM ~

I had previously blogged about almost into starting off with our CD adventure and so these are the brief updates on the status so far:

1. Ben donned his 1st cloth diaper on 28th June 2011

His reactions? Upfront 'NO' when he realised I'm not putting on his normal disposable diaper for him. He squirmed away a couple of times despite my gentle nudging for him to try wearing it. After a few attempts, he relented and I managed to take the above shot of him wearing it. He seems comfortable wearing it though he'd prefer to wear his short pants over the diaper pants. Shy I guess...

2. How does it work out?

I don't know how long a CD should last but for my 28 months old toddler (12kg weight), whether I used the 2 folds or 3 folds insert, both only lasted maximum 1.5 hours. It soaked the insert entirely and I managed to change the insert before it gets to the diaper pants.

Oh, did I mentioned Ben is a very, very, very heavy drinker?

* Image from Google search

As in he guzzles loads and loads of water in a day! So I guess that's probably why the inserts couldn't hold it long enough compared to disposable.

3. How do I go about cleaning the CD?

When I realised the inserts are soaked through, I just pulled it out, put in a new insert and throw the old ones into a bucket, soaked them in water (deep enough to cover the inserts), put in a few drops of the detergent I bought for this CD. I think I soaked them for few hours (forgotten about them actually! Whoopsss..) and rinsed the inserts a couple of times and dry them up.

4. How frequent am I using the CD on Ben?

To be honest, I have so far used the CDs for about 6 times. 2 times a day to be exact. In which the 2 times total up to 3 hours, used up both the 2 and 3 prefolds inserts. I got tired and changed back to disposable (which normally lasts for about 2-4 hours depending how much water Ben drinks).

5. What now?

* Image from Google search

These few days Ben fell sick, was coughing occassionally (his mild fever just broke and he's OK now) and because of that, he drank more water than usual, so I did not let him wear the CD during these few days. So until his cough gets better, I don't think I will be putting on a CD on him... 

I guess that's about the updates I can think of for now... I have not given up hope yet on CD... I do agree that CD is a better choice in terms of environmental and economy factors, just that we are having a bit of a hiccup now and would prefer to hold it off for a few days and see how things goes...