Fluoride or non-fluoride toothpaste?

Gosh! A dilemma for me now eversince I got back from Dublin and seeing some TV ads of halal non-fluoride toothpaste and the contradicting ads from Colgate still advocating the importance of fluoride toothpaste and blaming the mother for not giving her son the fluoride toothpaste. The government should do something in regulating these confusing and probable misleading ads campaign.

Even the dentists seem to not have a clue on this issue. At a recent visit to the dentist for Rizal’s treatment, the receptionist handed Emmet a free gift of Pureen non-fluoride toothpaste for children complete with pamphlets explaining about the importance of not having fluoride in your toothpaste. Even I get a sample for pregnant ladies’ toothpaste, also non-fluoride. But when I checked out the clinic’s website, they still believe in fluoride in dental care. How confusing is that?

Apparently it is still a controversy and it is impossible to find facts and figures that can assure you on which to decide. Yet Malaysia is still mass medicating its inhibitants with fluoridated water supply when a lot of European countries have banned fluoride in water supply. Now, knowing Malaysia yang sungguh famous dengan it’s incompettence, how can we be assured that they did not ter-overdose us with fluoride? And then kept quiet about it?

And interestingly, there is no evidence or no difference actually in the reduced cases of cavities among countries that fluoridate their water supply and those that did not eversince it was introduced in the 1940s.

Alas, us mothers are left wondering what’s best for our children. Even if we seek advise from the dentist, how are we sure about the credibility of the dentist? Is he up to date with the current research and issues pertaining dental and oral care globaly?

Luckily, I think I am on the right track. I am not a fan of toothpaste anyway. I don’t squeeze on the toothbrush like they squeeze nicely and generously in the ads or on the box of the toothpaste. I probably use 1/20 of that amount. And for Emmet, I just calit the tip of the tiny brush, again about 1/20 of the pea size recommended by most dentist. Children will surely swallow when they first begin to learn to brush. Even Emmet sometimes ter-swallow.

That’s the dangerous part of the fluoride, apart from the fact that it is used in rat’s poison and other domestic cleaning agents in the market. We don’t have a meter like the weight scale or the digital thermometer to let us know what is the fluoride content in our body.

So I think for children, it is better to use non-fluoride toothpaste since it is safer to swallow. And if you notice, small children’s teeth are not that hard to clean nor are they as dirty as adults’. You just need to brush them properly and they are good to go.

As for Emmet, I ban all kinds of sweets and candy (allergy excuse comes in handy at these times). I also ban all types of junk food like Twisties and the likes. The only junk that he is excused to would be potato chips that contains only potato, vegetable oil and salt in the ingredients list. I hope he will carry this habit throughout his life, which is unlikely I think, once he enters kindergarten or standard 1. He might most probably be tempted seeing all his friends grovelling on all those carbonated drinks, junk food and sweets. Until that happens, I think I’ll stop thinking about it for now…

Emmet: 3 years old

At the beginning of becoming a 3-year-old, Emmet was behaving quite charmingly. I thought all my hard work is paying off by now. Well, it seems likely since almost everything I taught him, I could say I thought I taught him well. Tantrums were no longer an issue. No embarassing episodes in public.

But after a few months,

He says no to almost everything.

Suka cari gaduh.

Screams “No!” or does not like it when others forbid him from doing something or even being scolded.

Make noise/screams when people are talking to each other. Such an attention seeker.

Suke buat aksi mengada-ngada when getting up in the morning or from a nap.

“Nak mikuuuuuuuuuk haaaa!!!” dengan suara tangisan yang amat mengada-ngada.
“Air mummyyyyyy haaaa!!!”
“Ta boleeeeeeeh haaaa!!!” when his blanket is stuck under his feet.
“Aaa jussss!!! Wa-bee-naaa haaaa!!!!”

I usually don’t give in to this kind of behaviour. I said, “Kalau Emmet nak, cakap elok-elok, no crying no screaming macam tu ok.”

And he would go “ Tannnnaaak!!!”

And I would go away and ignore him.

And he would cry even more at my ears, trying to get attention. And I can’t do anything else except wait. Can’t even hear what’s been said in the news on the tele. Maybe I need to stand by with more new magazines.

This would go on like half an hour until he asked me nicely.

Boy am I trying to be patient. I am just wondering how long will this go on until he learns. Or is this even going to work?

Achievements
Can follow instructions when in good mood. Helps me get the remote control or put his bowl into the kitchen sink after breakfast or switch off the tele when going out or get a dvd rom the tv cabinet or paling syok skali is tidying up his toys!!!! Yippie!!!
“Emmet nak ikut mummy ambik daddy tak? Kalau nak ikut tolong simpan semua mainan Emmet dalam bakul ok, kalau tak mummy tak nak bawak Emmet, Emmet tinggal kat rumah ok.”

Kalau good mood he straight away obey. But if he’s not up to it he would go “Mummy shi-paaaaaaaannnn!!!”

“Emmet punye mainan Emmet kene simpan, Emmet good boy kan?”

“Tanak guk boy!!!”

“Ok mummy tanak bawak Emmet, Emmet tinggal kat rumah sorang-sorang ok?”

“Tanaaaaakkkk!!!”

“Kalau tanak tinggal Emmet simpan ok?”

“Mummy shi-paaaaaannn!!!”

This same conversation would go on another eight to nine cycle before he gave in and start collecting his toys.

Of course a big hug and kisses and praises awaits him if he completed his chore.

He is starting to take responsibility. Take his own towel from the ampaian. Take off his pants. Still have some difficulties taking off top. He wants to comb his hair and reminds me to clean his ears and have his daily inhaler. He wants to lock the car doors. He wants to buckle his own seat belt. He wants to open and close his own biscuit container. Can play games from my handphone. Can take his toys from under the sofa. Wipe his own tears with a tissue. Throws rubbish into the bin. Brush his bottom and front teeth and spit. Knows how to take pictures from a camera. Can identify characters in a cartoon series. Can sing to tunes but does not like other people sing along. Can nap on his own

And the grand finale of his achievement….. THE FIVE W!!!

It has been about a month now and I think in about another month I will go crazy!

“Siape tu?” pointing at the crocodile being disected on National Geographic.
“Crocodile…”
“Huh? Ape tu kwo-kedai?”
“There, crocodile swimming…” the tele showing the live crocodile swimming in the river.
“Huh? Ape tu wimming?”
“Swimming dalam river…” sambil buat gaya swimming.
“Kwo-kedai bla bla bla ape tu?” the researcher was trying to put a tracking device on the crocodile.
Starting to ignore that question…the crocodile was showing off his teeth.
“Bla bla bla wonderpets bla bla bla”
I burst out laughing! Remember the crocodile in Wonderpets who had a toothache and had to find a lonely bird to clean his teeth? Yup, that’s what he was explaining…

But anyway that’s what he’s doing now. ‘Ape tu? Siape tu?’ to almost everything!

Emmet is scared of…
Thunder and fireworks. He would suddenly stop what he’s doing and run to the nearest person and panjat and hug that person tightly at the neck, complete with gaya terketar-ketar. And sometimes if the sound of the helicopter or aeroplane was so loud, he would get scared too but actually wanted to go and have a look. And I don’t know why but he is suddenly scared of cicak sometimes. He likes seeing bugs but got scared when my sister held a cockroach near him. Sometimes he’s scared of big flies.

Appettite
I am starting to worry because he is becoming more curious in what other people eats especially the ones that he is allergic to. He wants to taste our food when we eat something.

He does not like western food and it is quite difficult to get him to eat when we went to a western restaurant. Dah la tak banyak choice for kids menu that he is not allergic to. Sometimes I have to get the manager or chef to explain how the they prepare the dish and make requests to modify the dish so that Emmet can eat it safely. And most of the time, I had to tapau Emmet’s leftovers and hope my sister would eat them. But I’m not up to western food these days and am glad of it because we can save some money since western food is so expensive.

I only started trying roti canai on him. He loved it! And no significant allergic reaction occurs. So lepas ni senang la boleh lepak at mamak and let Emmet be occupied with his roti canai.

Housemom

I’ve always thought having a full time job at the ofice would give a mother more freedom to at least think about her own interest apart from raising a family. Being a full-time housewife just don’t have that privilege. I must be alert to Emmet’s demands and behaviour always.

For example just now as I was typing the above paragraph, Emmet suddenly called me “Mommy, come! Come!”. So kene lah angkat punggung pi tengok what was going on. Rupe-rupenye nak tengok kumbang kat balcony. Oh now the bug wanted to sleep and he was telling me this as he dragged a super huge pillow from the living room to the balcony for the tiny bug to sleep on.

So how am I going to indulge myself into my other interest kalau dah macam ni gayanya. (Emmet hovering me with his Transformers helicopter and fighter jet right in front of this laptop screen)

I am now planning to buy new furniture for our bedroom as I think I will be having my confinement here next year. So instead of moving out to a new place with just basic furniture and we might end up sleeping on the floor and rent will cost us at least RM1200 a month and thinking about boxing and unboxing again, so takpe la, I’ll pass.

So yesterday I took the measurement of our bedroom and start building a flat model out of a Koko Crunch box. I’ve looked up some affordable furniture out of the new IKEA catalog, took their measurement and cut out them models and started arranging them on the bedroom layout. Guess what Emmet was doing? I can only keep my eye on the scissors and cutter. The rest of the items in the stationary box were all over the place. Pens were disassembled in seconds and I didn’t even realized when did that happen. Emmet started scribbling on the leftover of the Koko Crunch box with all pens and pencils of all colours. Even on the tiny bed and cupboard that I made. Sempat jugak conteng tu. I lost count on how many “Mommy!” calls. I just remembered responding with “Wah, pandainye!” and “Wah, cantiknye!” to almost everything.

I do not wish to go into details on the cleaning up afterwards.

So you see, not even 30 seconds of thinking or even imagining, the cloud that was starting to form over your head just keeps on bursting into dust at every “Mommy!” calls which happens practically every 30 seconds. If he is not calling you every 30 seconds, then he would certaily be elsewhere making a mess which you yourself has to take care of later on. Either way there is no way for you to (had to stop to fix Bumblebee) how do I say this….close your eyes and enjoy the breath of fresh air you take in.

I was steaming sponge cake yesterday. During the making of, Emmet was still hovering me with his tandukkan boing boing on my butt and my tummy, hugging my legs, asking for juice, asking “Ape tu? Ape tu?” to everything, “Nak ni!” and “Emmet nak!” to pots and pans, bla bla bla. My gula hangus turned out slightly bitter, I forgot to tapis the gula merah, my cake turned out a bit salty than it should be. I need to have another plan to make home business works...

Suddenly I feel like I need to make my new bedroom happen. I imagine a white theme (most affordable with good quality out of the IKEA catalog) that will match the Laura Ashley fabrics and wallpapers that I bought of which I will turn into curtains and cushion covers and cot bumpers, a runner for the chest drawer, waaah….tingginye cita-cita. Another essential item would be an aromatherapy oil burning its lavander scent all over the bedroom. Maybe then I would be able to unbox the CD player and stereo set and retreat into the bedroom for some time of my own when Emmet is napping…

Oklah signing off to take care of other pending chores!

Pregnancy No. 2 – Progress Update

I am becoming lazier.

The nausea returned.

I need a nap every time after a meal.

I’m up for dishwashing again. But only 3 hours afterwards.

The baby is super active! It is moving hands and legs all over the place, hitting my bladder most of the time, hitting my ribcage, pushing up my diaphragm until sometimes my chest felt tight. The baby gets hickups more often than Emmet. All these are making me more tired, especially during driving. I need to adjust the seatbelt at every red lights.

Notice the no-gender reference, well it turned out, after 2 ultrasound scans (I only went through 2 antenatal visits so far at the clinic practically next door), my GP has yet to discover the gender of the baby. That made me really suspicious of the credibility of this doctor. I really need to register at a hospital as soon as possible and start planning my delivery.

I have outlined 3 checklists for this upcoming new year delivery. Two lists for my hospital bag, my stuff and baby stuff, and another one for the nursery. Quite a relief looking at the list since I already have most of Emmet’s items. I just need to buy confinement stuff, maternity pads and breast pads, nappies and a couple of PJs.

I need a new mattress. Even though I get the feeling it won’t help much but sleeping is so agonizing nowadays. I can feel the steel wire of the bottom of the foam mattress yang sudah berlekuk itu. It hurts my hips to the bone. I can’t lie flat for more than 60 seconds. I can’t sit back at the sofa, it’s really straining my back bone.

I don’t care if I walk like a penguin because I enjoy walking like one. As much as I enjoy walking up the stairs as slow as an old tortoise. In fact I think I enjoy doing everything in slow motion. Coz I just can’t do any faster. The only chore that I do fastest would be bathing and changing Emmet, because I just can’t stand for long, especially when changing Emmet after he poops. I am much better at holding my breath now.

I noticed I am becoming more rabun. Far objects are more blurry now. I can’t read signs until I’m really near. It’s worse during night time.

I really hope my kids read this when they can understand. Mommy went through a lot carrying you each second of the day. Mommy will go through a lot more once you are born. So I really hope you will become a good person and not wasted my hardship ok.

Love you both dearly!

17 weeks

Finally I've visited a clinic for my first antenatal check up. It was just a clinic nearby my apartment. I saw a bubbly lady doctor who took one glance at Emmet and asked if he is asthmatic and allergic.

And before I even realized, Emmet is already up on the exam bed beside me, carefully examining the ultrasound scan machine that was run on my tummy. So together we watched the baby on the tele above us. Emmet joined in the comments about the baby once in a while, fairly excited I supposed. The baby was squirming here and there but unfortunately the doctor couldn't make out the gender yet (maybe because it's a girl) .

I felt so relieved seeing there's an actual baby inside me. I sometimes have fears that I am imagining it or something else is growing inside me. The baby is well, two arms and two legs, a head and a body, very prominent backbone.

Pregnancy No. 2 - A blessing in disguise

My mom said bad timing. Even my husband said it’s definitely bad timing. I don’t know what my MIL said coz she said nothing to me. But I have never been so sure in my life like I felt about this pregnancy. It IS the time and I surrender to Allah about how this pregnancy is going to take its course.

Morning sickness
I remember this time is almost the same when I was pregnant with Emmet. Luckily no vomitting, just terrible nausea from 10am onwards. I feel ok when I was awaken by Emmet at around 7.30am or 8am. He would wake me up and asked me to sit at the living room with him. I would make him breakfast and drinks and switch on the tele for him. If I am so hungry, and if I have the energy, I would go down and buy nasi lemak from the shop nearby. By the time I finished my breakfast I would feel like I have taken 2 sleeping pills. The nausea is so overwhelming I can barely stand up for 2 seconds. But now that the nausea is getting less, I still feel extremely sleepy everytime after a meal, that I really need to take a nap.

The Lazy syndrome
Yup, it’s back and I really hate it. I am a Bree van de Kamp type who like her place spottless (well almost) and everything has to be at its place. But now I couldn’t be bothered. I throw everything everywhere (except Emmet’s dirty nappy, but sometimes I do forget). Now my husband is becoming like me, always membebel when I throw things here and there. I leave Emmet’s toys lying around the house. I hate doing dishes because I hate it and I don’t have the energy to stand up for 2 seconds. No sweeping, cleaning, laundry, toilet brushing etc. I can only bring myself to take care of Emmet. I do his bathing, creaming, clothing, nappy change, feeding and sleeping.

The thing is it is not that I am becoming a lazy person. I just don’t have the energy to do all those things. The body of a pregnant woman is working harder than ever especially during the first trimester. Combined with a slightly poor diet, I am really tired I feel like I am about to pengsan everytime after bathing Emmet in the morning.

Cravings
Oh gosh! I am so lucky I am in Malaysia during the dark trimester. I am craving for cheap food! If the food is more than RM 5.00, terus tak lalu makan. I hate eating at shopping malls and expensive restaurants. I want small hawkers food. I want really really pedas food. But the most things that I crave for is food from home. Any home, be it my aunts’, my own, anybody’s home-cooked food. Even if it’s just ikan kerisi masin with ulam and sambal belacan, that would be heaven for me.

I crave for food that I don’t fancy much before like vegetables. I just feel like eating vegetables all the time. Ulam is the top of the list. And I want to eat fruits and drink fresh fruit juices all the time. I totally lost interest in western food and fast food. But I do want Ramlee burger from any stalls tepi jalan.

During my pregnancy with Emmet, I can’t stand fish. But this time, I can’t eat chicken and I crave fish especially ikan kembong and ikan selar. Fried with some salt and ground turmeric, eaten hot from the pan. Sedapnyeee.


At 14 weeks my tummy is already showing with the help of lots of fat of course. But everyone says I am thinner. My husband is in Dublin for a month, so I am a single mother until then. Luckily my mom is here until next week and she helps a lot. And I have my kuih raya to look forward to for the next month. Hopefully the morning sickness will go away by then.

Sape nak order Kuih Raya?

LittleLand Shop skarang dah ada cawangan. Ewah...ewah... Cawangannye bernama LittleLand Bakery.

LittleLand Bakery ni akan start dengan mengambil order utk Kuih Raya. Baking has been my all-time passion ever since I was a little girl. I grew up never having to buy Kuih Raya because my family enjoy making them. We don't make that much, just about 5 different types. And we don't keep much at home since not that many people visit us at home. We are the ones always out visiting people. So most of the cookies we baked would be distributed to my aunts and uncles, my grandmother and also close friends.

I used to love making this kek gulung with strawberry jam filling which I recently discovered it is called bahulu gulung. It is so easy to make and taste so delicious that ever since I started making them, everyone that got one from us would never fail to request for the next Raya. But now my mom's big gas oven was broken beyond repair so we are left with a small electric oven that is impossible to bake the kek gulung. So that is the only tradition that died for our Kuih Raya baking.

(OMG I just felt the baby kicked!)

Another tradition that I would love to see it revived is cooking rendang and dodol in a big kuali underneath my grandmother's house at Kampung Ijok, gotong-royong bakar lemang kat bawah pokok rambutan, menganyam ketupat ramai-ramai. I so missed those days...