lil mama's diary

Remember, remember.. (part 2)

2011-11-08T13:19:00.001+08:00

We didn’t manage to give him the surprise present yesterday since he was sleeping while we are back from school. So we decided to give it another try again! But it didn’t go very smooth cause when he heard his godmother call him, straight away he become so shy and don’t want to came in. And this is how he came in after we had persuaded him.

1st present he took is from his godmother! A ‘tutu’ train it is.

How do you like we wrapped the bike? :) As you can remember is the same bike color from the cake!

Some more present from his school friends and the fire engine is from his teacher from school.

Connor also join in the party by wearing the cute party hat!

In the evening, my brother’s family join us for a seafood dinner. Aiden had no problems cutting the cake here and gave his cousin a big hug! :)

Remember, remember.. (part 1)

2011-11-08T13:17:00.001+08:00

Remember, remember, the 5th of November! :) If you’re a movie fan, I’m sure you know this came from the movie ‘V for vendetta’ but if you are blur about this, sure you will also know this day is also Aiden Dennis’s birthday! That’s also what the teacher and his friends in his school call him, cause there is another Aiden in same class! :)

Yup, time flies, still remember last year we celebrate his 2nd birthday at Hard Rock, Penang. But this year since he stays in school, so we think it is better for him to celebrate it with his friends! 5 November actually falls on Saturday, so we need to make it a day earlier at school.

For the past whole year, he has been very much into the toy story series where at some point he want to watch the movie every day and said goodnight to all the character before sleep. So we throw him a surprise toy story themed party!

Enjoy!

The feature table with different lengths of blue streamers, cut out clouds, space ship and his name as background.

Aiden was as we expected a bit shy during the picture taking, and don’t even really want to blow the candle while his friends were singing the song. :p

As you can see between buzz and woody, there is a blue bicycle. That is the surprise present we planned to give him when we go home.

The table is filled with kids’ favorite! UFO cookies, galaxy stars, rocket biscuits, aliens and aiden’s sheriff badge, Jessie’s skewer, slinky’s wiener dog, space ranger’s fuel and Mr Potato head’s mustaches!

Had brought in some beautiful paper straw from oversea! Isn’t its gorgeous?

Of course the party won’t be complete without these cute alien hats!

We also prepared some games for the kids, one of them is ‘pin the bullseye’ where Aiden was the 1st one who play! And followed by other game, mix and match Mr Potato Head. And we were so glad Aiden managed to play the games because of the earlier section he just can’t let go of papa’s lap. :)

Also so glad that Aiden’s godmother can free herself up for the party.

At last but not the least is all kids have a thank you pack to bring home, together with some pics taken during the party.

bow bow bow

2011-10-14T13:07:00.001+08:00

What do you think about a “red, aqua and pink” bow party? Well, we just helped lovely mummy Ivy throw one over the weekend! :) The party was for her daughter, Kyra 1st birthday. We have used some real ribbon design here and there, from the main cake to something small like labels for food and water bottle.

Have fun to check out the pics!

Table is decorated with an aqua color table cloth with 2 red ribbon bows. Top with some pom pom on the ceiling.

Finally met the cheerful beautiful mum after all the planning through phone and email!

Moment: lovely family

The main cake idea is based on a present which has a gorgeous huge bow on top with flowers streaming down. And of course a birthday tag will be a plus!

The cupcakes also have bows and below the cupcake is the pavlova with strawberries and meringue kisses! yummy!

The party was held inside the function room where we put balloons all around it. Attached to each balloon was a personalized card with several different designs.

There were several candies for the kids, one of them is the chocolate bar. And we decided to make it with different messages.

The lollies and red eggs with gummies were a hit! After cutting the cake, within a second, all the kids ran down and took it all!

It took a while longer for the more adult dessert like the pavlova & meringue kisses and jelly with kisses. I guess adults are a bit more reserved. :)

But it also went very fast when they were slightly encouraged. :)

Have a look at the sugar cookies, jelly in a cup and jelly beans!

Of course there were also some personalized refreshments for the guests.

We also made a personalized pack for the birthday girl!

ballerina's dream

2011-09-05T15:23:00.005+08:00

Just over the weekend, we helped mummy Christy to throw a sweet ballerina's dream party for her elder daughter, Mia. It's her 4th birthday.

Because it's being held in the condo's function room, it gave us quite a challenge in time management. Earlier they only allowed us 2 hours before the party but we managed to get another hour earlier.

Hope you like how everything turned out!

Decoration outside with balloons, lanterns and tutus

Prepared 6 extra tutus with headband for her lil girl's friends, so thoughtful

Ballerina's dream color scheme is based on pastel pink and green to create a very sweet and soft feeling

The pink and green hydrangea and also the eustoma also help to create such a lovely mood

We play with the flower, bowl and ballerina shoes as design element on those lovely cute vanilla and strawberry flavor cupcakes

Lots of yummy and cute little flavors from macarons, oreo pops, marshmallows, loveletters to mini doughnut... don't you just love the pear deco on the mini doughnut? :)

Mummy Christy brought back some delicious Garrett popcorn from Singapore to share with her guests.

Catering

Thank you pack with 5 different cookies with ballerina dress, flowers,"M" and "Thank you", also contains a message card and chocolate bar

hoppity hop

2011-07-17T12:37:00.000+08:00

Since the fullmoon gift pack is quite stable in both Malaysia and Singapore, I decided it is time to expand to something even more fun and challenging, theme parties! Yup, it is something I always wish to do in the future when I first start up my lil home based business, and now the time has come!

So, let’s hoppity hop to our bunnylicious baby connor’s full moon celebration!

a dessert table with a simple banner as the backdrop, which matches the theme "bunny luvs carrots"

an upside down carrot formed by macaroons with pistachio and passion fruits flavor, carrot cake as the base was yummy!

some imported candies, from top clockwise: Jordan almond, sugus, orange sticks and sixlets!

also some cute candy cone with text: fill me up

different type of bugsies drink: orange flavor cultured milk, carbonated orange and berry drinks and some lime tail

how can there be a desert table without cupcakes?

lots of juicy jello and chocolate bars

a welcome banner at the entrance with the feast! From tomato coulis spaghetti to Caesar salad, fish cigar and sandwiches! And the clam vongole was a hit that day!

my favorite – cream brulee, and different tarts and pie at the back

thank you pack which contains, a huge bunny almond cookie, a bottle of imported honey, orange egg with candy instead of the traditional red egg and of course the thank you card with cute baby Connor!

Do contact me at lilmama@coochicoo.com.my if you also want to have a bunnylicious full moon or other theme birthday party for your loved ones.

Connor, 48 days

2011-07-17T12:04:00.000+08:00

Connor is 48 days old now. We have just thrown him a big full moon party even though he sleep most of the time during the party. :P But he definitely can see it when he is slightly older. :) Gonna share with you all about it in the next post!

Here I want to share with you all some moments where I capture him on camera and also one funny one, where his big bro, Aiden was caressing him and also sneezing! :)

It’s already 2 weeks after the confinement lady left, which means we need to take care of him throughout the whole night. At first, I’m very afraid cause according to her, he wake up a lot in the middle of the night and eats very slow and I did notice that during the day. Luckily it is not that bad, he usually wakes up twice around 3am and 6am. And then around 8am or 9am for the shower and milk again after that. :)

But if every night I also sleep around 1am and then need to wake up twice, plus Aiden also seems to want more attention, he came to sleep in the room every middle of the night too, end result is I can’t focus and am a bit blur in the middle of the day. I did make an arrangement with hubby that he should help me out a bit, maybe twice a week and he agreed. :)

rrroary princes

2011-06-13T11:36:00.002+08:00

Earlier, I have a client who wanted me to make something special for her twin princes' 1st birthday. She liked the rrroary pouch I have, so I came out with a few options for the invites and designed a felt crown based on the themes 'rrroary' n 'prince'.

I designed 3 different options for the invites based on different budget. :)

option 1: simple card invite (14cm x 10cm)

option 2: royal invite (attached with a small felt crown 6cm x 3cm)

option 3: royal invite with DIY paper crown (42cm x 30cm) with simple instructions. This is an outlined crown where kids or the parents can help to cut out the crown and color or decorate their own crown. For example, they can put the kid’s initial in the crest and so on. Ribbon is also included for them to tie to the crown.

The client ended up choosing the option 1.

And here is the design for the rest of her pack from personalized card to chocolate wrapper and other food wrappers.

Also didn’t forget to show you guys the result for her twin princes’ felt crown!

our rrroary pouch

300511: connor leonard ebbers

2011-06-07T12:36:00.000+08:00

Connor Leonard Ebbers, born on 30th May 2011, weighing 3.06kg and half a meter in length. He has beautiful brown eyes, button nose, cute lil mouth and his ears like being glued at the back (no flappy ears)! But unfortunately he is diagnosed to have G6PD deficiency, and because of that, he also got jaundice, measured at around 150 on the second day, so he had to stay in the hospital to start the light treatment. We felt so released that after a day, his measurement goes back down. :) Home sweet home for Connor.

People ask who did Connor look like, and the answer is Aiden, his big bro! :) For me a lot of time babies do look alike, so instead of resemble one of us, I think Connor look like his brother more than one of us.

Earlier in the day, I’m a bit worried how Aiden will handle his lil brother, since during this 1st month, Connor and the confinement lady are sleeping in his room while he is sleeping with papa and I’m in the other room (Aiden moves a lot while sleeping, afraid he will kick me at my wound). He has to move all his clothing to the other room, and I’ve to give so much more attention to his brother instead of him. We are very happy when we see Aiden is also very happy with his lil bro. He likes to stroke Connor head softly and always said hi and hello to him. And sometimes he also want to show him some toys and etc. We hope this will last. But I also think this 1st week went very well is because of Harald is taking this week off, so he can spend lots of quality time with him (p.s. Aiden is having he 2 weeks school break). I also felt after this week, the bond between father and son are much stronger! :) And last but not least, really have to thank my hubby, since he is such a good father as he is so patient with Aiden and me all the time. XOXO.

Natural or c-sec?

2011-06-07T12:27:00.000+08:00

Connor Leonard Ebbers was able to wait till 30th may 2011 to join our family. It’s a dream realized for me. Earlier in the week, the doc said the baby might come early rather then 5 days later. It made my nights even longer since it’s almost every night only few hours sleep. Besides the itchiness of my leg getting worse and Connor moving a lot at night, now I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to finish all the orders. I needed to finish up around 200 packs before the weekend. So, I really need to thank Connor to give mummy a lil more time to prepare to welcome your arrival!

For this time, I decide to go for c-sec rather then natural birth since last time it was not a good experience and the pain after delivery which lasted a few weeks also made me choose to try a different way this time.

Painful or not? Of course it is, specially the first step to the ‘lo’. Earlier when the doctor asked if I needed any pain killer medicine or not, I said no need. Cause when I’m laying down and not moving, I thought I still can handle the pain. :) But when I started to move, the burning tearing sensation is just killing me, tears just pouring out! Didn’t manage to make another step, until I get some pain killer later of the day. Actually everyday was an improvement, the worst part is always during when you want to get up from the bed.

So, now I have experience with natural birth and also c-sec, if you ask me which is better or feel less pain? What I feel is, if your baby is not having any complications to be delivered in the natural way, I still felt every mum should have the chance to experience the natural birth, it might be more painful and a longer process compared to the c-sec, but I think this is what so special to be a woman and what men can’t have. :)

Grey Honey Bunny

2011-06-07T12:24:00.000+08:00

Yup, I know I know it’s been awhile that I updated my blog. :P

Since we have launched the hunny bunny and the carrot pin, our honey bunnies are hopping out faster than we can make them. :) We have been making all the bunnies non stop based on each request and some of them also only able to get some of it and mixed with other pack design! And of course it's hurtful to have rejected so many orders for these dates, specially for those mamas n papas in Singapore.

We have also just launched another new color – grey honey bunny! But we advice all the mamas and papas out there who are interested, to place their order as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Especially, now we’re welcoming our bunnylicious baby boy! So we have to close for a while till early July.

Time to harvest the carrots!

2011-03-16T16:09:00.000+08:00

time to harvest the carrots for the mum from penang!

carrot brooch together with the bunny pouch :)

carrot brooch with a personalized initial at the back

you can also personalize the bunny with a felt initial

or you can spell out the whole name of your baby!!

Honey bunny

2011-03-08T21:36:00.000+08:00

First batch of 50 sets of honey bunny is hopping out to share the happiness of mummy yvonne and her family.

I help my client to get some more items which fit in with the theme, bunny notes and bunny post-its.

Complete

2011-01-18T09:45:00.002+08:00

The other day, when we went for our monthly routine to see our gyne, found out our second one will be a boy again! (16 weeks) Against all the odds where my friend’s 100% record calculation, old myths said it would be a girl since I’m having such a huge different 1st trimester experience.

When the news break to my friends, some said it’s great for Aiden, cause soon he will have a lil bro to play football with him and I don’t need to worry about getting a new set of clothing and toys. But I also have a friend asking when I’m going to have a girl, so it will become complete. And what I told her was, sometimes you don’t need to have everything you don’t have to be happy and to feel complete. Plus few years back, we already adopted a lil girl called ‘Yusun’ from China through World Vision, where she is already 13 years old now! :) Even though we won’t know if we can meet her in person. But we do know, she is one of millions of children out there who also deserves a better life and love.

Because of her question it also made me feel I’m very grateful and thankful for what I am having now. I still remember a month back where my hubby said it’s a bit difficult to get me a gift for my birthday. It started our discussion where it’s quite true that, I’m not a person who looks for branded bags or shoes, and even accessories like earrings which I used to like a lot. Just felt there are always so many nicer, more trendy fashionable things out there and how can you keep up with all these if your intention is just to complete your look or complete your closet? Anyway, he still bought me something nice! :)

Aiden's first week at school

2011-01-07T15:39:00.000+08:00

It’s been the 4th day of pre-school experience for my lil one. :) From the open day trial, where kids crying and throwing things everywhere, trying to escape all the time and he cried laying on the floor for most of the time to the last day of the week where he did not cling to my hubby’s leg anymore when he’s in front of the classroom! No more crying when going into the class, at this moment, did make his mother very proud and tears in the eye. :) (ps: was listening our wedding’s play list, made me felt a bit emotional too :P )

Tomorrow will be the last day where parents can still hang around the school premise, so I did wish we are able to capture some of his moments at school. During the first two days, we can’t really let him see that we are around cause he will lose control and burst into tears!

After few days of school, some of his routines have changed, some are good and some the other way. Usually he will only start to get tired around 9.45pm-10pm and will take awhile for me to bring him to sleep. And a lot of time he will wake up middle of the night to drink milk. And these days around 8pm, he will want us to get him to bed and it’s very easy to get him into his dreamland and sleep through the night till morning when it is time to get prepared to go to school.

Another thing I noticed also, it seems like it is easier for me to feed him, especially during dinner. And he’s trying to accept new food. Last time he doesn’t really like to have meat, will always spit it out even if it is a small piece mixed together with the rest. I do hope the school experience did open him up a bit in terms of mixing around with others and exploring new things in his life.

Of cause when there are some plus, there will also be some minus. He is potty trained already but seem at school and new environment, we let him to wear diapers while in school, so when he’s back at home and without it, he seems a bit confused sometime. So, I hope when he is more comfortable at school with the teacher, he will start to communicate with them when he feels nature calling. :)

He has 9 classmates in his class. Most of the kids are older than him, only 1 is a week younger than him. And 8 out of 10 are boys and when there are so many elder boys, there will have some bully :P Few time I saw he is being ‘hit’ by others :P Just hope he won’t pick up all this attitude/manners soon, can’t stop that to happen but if he did pick it up, then all we can do is teach him it is not good to do that. :)

After all, I think school learning will help him to experience and explore so many new things that the world can offer. And he will be enjoying all the activities that the school can provide from gym, music, sand play (he used to don’t want to stand or touch sand when we are at the beach), art and swimming!

In the end we weren’t able to make it today, cause Aiden is not feeling well since came back from school yesterday. He has a fever and is also vomiting, and he looks so tired. But luckily, Harald did make a short recording when he picked him up on Wednesday.

Coochicoo featured as Malaysian based organic store

2010-12-16T12:37:00.002+08:00

Coochicoo featured 8 December 2010

It's time to shop

2010-12-06T15:28:00.001+08:00

Click here to have a look at the reduced pricing.

Coochicoo baby picture contest

2010-11-03T10:28:00.005+08:00

Coochicoo is having its first competition! Here is your chance to win some prizes with your cute baby pictures. Mommies and daddies can also join their babies inside the picture. :)

You just need to follow these two steps to join the competion:
1 Put your baby picture and description on the Coochicoo wall
2 Then get people to “like” your cute picture

Top 3 most liked photos as of 31 December 2010 will win shopping vouchers worth RM 100, RM 200 and RM 300 for Coochicoo full moon packs and babywear!

Click here and start uploading!

hunting for pre-school

2010-10-25T22:24:00.002+08:00

After visiting Beaconhouse on last saturday, we finally have made our decision where we plan to send Aiden for pre-school.
So, total we went to 4 different pre-schools:
1. San Lorenzo Montessori
2. Regular Montessori
3. Real Kids
4. Beaconhouse

Here, I want to share with you some thought about each visit.

San Lorenzo Montessori
The 1st one we went to is the San Lorenzo Montessori. 1st thing we noticed was the security there is very weak, even they have a guard outside the housing area, but they didn't stop us at all going in, because the 'gate' is always up. And when we reach the school, we noticed the fencing is just some very simple basic wire around. When I asked about if they planned to upgrade the gate and fence, they didn't think there was a need to do it. This concerned us since recently there are so many cases about crazy people going into kindergarten to hurt the kids. Talked to the principle, her impression for us was she really wants us to sign up the program asap :P And my hubby felt they didn't seem to have much confidence. Also found out they are the only ones who ask the parent to buy books and school bag for the kid! And I'm like wtf?? He's not even 2 yet! :P Also another thing we are not comfortable is the snack they are giving is all sweet stuff like ribena, milo and juices :p Felt like it was a bribe to the kids. Of course we found out most of the school do the same thing but just depends on how heavy they are giving them. The only good point about this place is still very clean because is new and the Montessori teaching tools seem like brand new.

Regular Montessori
They just move to the new place recently where last time they used to be at a shop lot. So, actually we expected it should be a decent place. But when we were there, found out the place seem like very bad managed, the door bell is not working, where we stand outside for a while n keep waiting the people who come down.(We did make an appointment) and the garden is in really bad condition, grass is not growing, so they don't have a small playground for the kids for outdoor activities. According to the lady in charge, earlier situation is even worst where they have lots of rock there so will take some time for them to clean up. But she also didn't tell us when it will be done. The owner seems confident on what she is doing, she used to be a teacher at international school and so was another of her teachers. And they are the only one where didn't prepare food for the kids where the parent can control on the kids meal which is good. Also another good point is they don't require any uniform which I think it is because it's not a chain school. But 1 thing which is not so good is the kids are gonna be stuck in a small room upstairs. Where I can't imagine how to put 8 to 10 2 years old kids in a small room not bigger then a 10' x 8' space?

Real Kids
It's a huge building which is similar with a small school build up. The facility looks good, they have cctv everywhere especially focusing on the 3-4 years old class. When we're there, it is around 11.30am on the saturday, and you can smell they're cleaning up all the toys or teaching tool for the room. They also have a small swimming pool outdoor. The lady who gave us the tour also looks very friendly and can remember the kids name very well, cause for a preschool like this big, to remember all the kids name won't be an easy job. :) And the snack menu also look good in terms of the drink is not all sweet stuff. Overall is good, but the only negative for us is they don't accept Aiden yet, need to wait till he is at least 2.5 years old and suggested us to get him into the playgroup 1st where he can mingle around with others kids. It's actually a good idea but I really wish it's easier for us to just start with one and stick with it rather then finding another one in between. And of course we have to do it if we can find him another preschool which accept him. For us, we are not worry about his motor skills but I just felt he is a bit slow on his speaking.

Beaconhouse
Also it's another huge compound where they also have a very good security on their own, nice environment around it. They have music and gym room, library, computer room, a small 2.5' depth indoor swimming pool which is better then the real kids since the sun won't be burning the kids skin when they enjoying the water, they also have a sick room. And they have 2 rooms for the 3 years old class on the ground floor with the attached toilet which is another good point. According to 1 of the teacher, usually there are 15-20 child a class and 3 teacher in a class and she looks friendly. The only thing is they can't show us the snack menu where they said sometime is very difficult to follow. And the supply they are using is also supplying food for the school around the area. So, I guess we need to re-adjust where we need to swap the oats and fruits meal to the snack time after dinner or only during weekends.

So, after after some thoughts and few important point to take into consideration, we decide to choose the Beaconhouse. And the school will start January next year. We hope it will be a good decision and he can learn so much and have fun there. :) Wish us luck

sunrise

2010-10-05T07:43:00.000+08:00

and good day

2 soon

2010-10-04T17:24:00.000+08:00

very soon, instead of calling him baby aiden, we need to readjust to calling him just by his name. He is now 1 year n 11months! Time flies...

From a small lil baby to 92cm height, he is now starting to tell us when he want to pass his motion and can say words more clearly. And i'm glad that it didn't take me lots of time to potty train him. Just a handful of times showing him to flush his 'work' into the toilet. Or when I see him trying to work it, quickly I bring him to the toilet. Another tip here is try to make the environment more interesting like have some pics on the wall, also give him applause when he did manage to do it in the toilet and so on.

sunglass + sterling wheel= my supermodel!

recently, he likes to make lots of silly expression
when he knows we 're taking pics of him :P

'ahhhh...im gonna bite u!"

aiden pattinson

Also these days, we are busy on finding him a good montessori school where he can play with more kids around his age. First, we are thinking he can join Beaconhouse at Bandar Puteri but need to be 3 years above, so that will need to wait another year. :P

Checked with another school which is located in Bandar Puteri 8 which got good feedback from parents, but it's full. So now, we are still checking a few other ones (montessori) where one is at BK5, which is close to us and another one is in Bandar Puteri 12. Hopefully, can settle this before his birthday, which is in around a months time. :)

Aiden has been sleeping by himself in his room for a couple of weeks. We used to sleep in his room where we filled his room with mattrasses! LOL. Is it working? Emm, sometimes he will still wake up middle of the night and cry his lungs out and I’ve to drag my sleepy body over there to comfort him. If he manage to drop back to sleep very fast, I’ll drag my body back to my room but sometimes I just fall asleep in his room :P

Sometimes if I wake up in the middle of the night, for 1 second, I won’t know where I am till I check the surroundings. And if he didn’t wake up middle of the night, he will usually wake up around 5 – 7am and walk to our room and ask for milk! Of course he will just stay in our bed to finish his milk and start to take over the bed. J Hope when he grows older, he will stop drinking milk so early in the morning.

Since we are moving out from his room, we are also thinking about getting him a new bed which he could use until he is a teenager. But we didn’t reach to the same conclusion yet where I prefer a single bed with an extra pull out bed and my hubby just thinks a simple single bed will do. L So still need to check a lot about what is best for him.

went to bali for my hubby's company trip around early august
Bali is still as charming as it's with her friendly people and unique heritages

my supermodels

i'm loving their sculptures, music and frangipeny plants
just wish the hotel can play more their unique balinese music
rather then those usual hotel music

note this II

2010-09-28T22:41:00.000+08:00

more 'note this' card design :P hopefully later can transfer the design to others.

tweety note

safari for sibling

simply alphabet

note this

2010-09-20T18:41:00.000+08:00

here's another fun project i'm busy with this few weeks, note this! An idea given by one of my customer, beautiful maamee, margie lau. (:

hope you guys will like it as i do.

my garden n gold fish

also wish to have some personalized note like this for your lil one or yourself?
Just drop me a mail and let me know which design you like or if you want something even more special :)

can be...

2010-09-17T10:52:00.000+08:00

mooliciously different!

2010-09-11T11:26:00.000+08:00

another fabric for the moolicious, especially for baby ashley's 1 year old birthday party too! And I can always find you some different design fabric for your special one. Just drop me an email or give me a call. :)

under the sea

2010-09-09T11:10:00.000+08:00

willy

torty

nemo

Early of July, one of my former customers asked me to come up with a design for her daughter Ashley's 1 year old birthday, which was gonna be held in Aquaria, KLCC. So, I thought of these invites which can also be used as a photo frame and the guests will keep it for a long long time. :) After a few rounds of designing and experimenting, tang tang tang, willy, torty and nemo were born!

mid year sale – 50% off...

2010-08-03T10:22:00.000+08:00

additional 5% when you are coochicoo's fullmoon or birthday packs customer,

my blog follower or fan of my fb page!!!

don't forget to share it with your friends for this opportunity. xoxo

28.08.10

2010-08-02T10:14:00.000+08:00

what papa & mama said

2010-06-16T19:21:00.000+08:00

Why I luv my job so much?

I think except that I can work from home to make my own creations, I often receive feedback from moms. This makes my work even more gratifying. I'd like to thank all the moms who took their time to write me something and share some of their comments with you.

How's it going? Your little bundle of joy should arrive about now? :)
My baby girl is quite a handful, but it's such an experience!

I've recommended some friends to get your duckies and booties too.
Hope they found your products as cute as I do!

Happy New Year ...
Julia Koh (Jan 2, 2009)

.......................................................................

All my colleagues love the pack. They thought I make the booties.
Thanx. its wonderful. would definitely recommend to my friends.

Yin Teng (Feb 20, 2009)

.......................................................................

I have received the stuff, thanks alot,
and all the things look reali reali reali cute.....great job jokee,
i'm impress tht u are a mother and
u still can handle those, great job!

Justhyn (March 23, 2009)

.......................................................................

Just wanna drop a note of thanks to you and hubby.
They love it, especially the nuts. My boss loves the packaging so much that
she is recommending to her niece who is due to deliver in July.

Anyway, saw that you have added more packaging options.
Keep up the good work! Hope to be of biz with you again in future

Amelia (March 28, 2009)

.......................................................................

Happy to known that you have new item... its very cute,
let me digest later place order to you.

Happy to tell you that I saw most my client put the booties and duck
on their working desk, my heart is so sweet every time visit them :-)

Have a good day.

Joey (Jun 17, 2009)

.......................................................................

Hi jokee, Thanks again for the goodie boxes. My friends loved it.
U r very talented love ur work.
Will contact u again next time when i need party boxes.

Cheers. Margie (Aug 21, 2009)

.......................................................................

Jokee, the moolicious pouches are really gorgeous
and all the guest love it and the party was great!

Now, Chace is about 2.5 month old and he loved the infant sacque too!

Joanna (Sept 16, 2009)

.......................................................................

Thank you, those duckies are sooooo lovely..
my frens & relative love it. hv a good weekend!

Alyssa (Oct 10, 2009)

.......................................................................

I would like to say THANK YOU for everything and your hardwork.
I love the booties full moon pack and it is nicely pack.

My sis and colleagues love it so much. Something not what they expected :)

I would like to wish you Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family.

Siew Thim (Feb 10, 2010)

.......................................................................

How r u? Everyone loved your party packs, I will send u some pics
of the party packs 'featured' photos once I have time. I am so pleased with them
as they r not normal paper bag with a bunch of stationery.

Margie (Apr 27, 2010)(one of our repeat customer

.......................................................................

Just wanted to drop you a note to say a big thank you for coming up

with such a lovely full moon gift! It is such a great way to announce our new arrival

and we are so pleased with it. Needless to say, all the people that we gave it to

were impressed and loved the gift! Would definitely be in touch with you

when we require more of your lovely designs and rest assure

that we would not hesitate to recommend Cochicoo to our friends..

thanks again & keep up the good work Jokee!

Alicia & Sean (Jun 9, 2010)

.......................................................................

Thanks all my relatives and friend like it so much
and appreciate it so much because each roarry are hand stitch.

Alex Lee (Jun 11, 2010)

pasta, pizza, ice cream, pasta, pizza, ice cream...

2010-06-14T12:02:00.000+08:00

crab meat with cheri tomatoes mixed with
salad leaves and extra virgin olive oil

fresh made linguine with seafood

salami pizza topped with lots of salad leaves and cheese

salami, mushroom with tomatoes based pizza

anchovies, black olives, mushroom and bacon pizza

super yummy linguine with lobster and cherry tomatoes :P

very simple pasta with lots of cheese!

how they pack your pastry

some really yummy pastry, tiramisu (must try!), wild berries tart
and strawberry flavored fresh cream puff

i think we have ate at least ate Rm300 of ice cream in this trip

our last cup of venice gelato ice cream

some cheap take away pizzas (fr top): spinach with mozzarella cheese,
salami cheese, mushroom cheese and vegetarian which is my favorite!

must try: cutter fish ink pasta, eat until your lips become black :)

salmon pasta

lovely zucchini, cherry tomatoes and prawns pasta

mysterious venice

2010-06-14T11:35:00.000+08:00

It took us 4 hours to reach Venice from Rome by train. And the country side of Italy is amazing, where you can see houses and even castles on the far side of the hill. Also the journey also surprise us with passing through a lot of long tunnels.

We had heard about how these years, this little Venice is having problems to sustain swarms of tourists going in every day, and made the place become such an expensive place to live. It even had made lots of locals move out from the island to give space for the tourists. This made me a bit afraid about how packed the place was gonna be, and would it be we just look like a big fat wallet in the eyes of the locals?

We didn't do much there, just walking around the alleys where sometimes it does look like a maze, carrying the stroller up and down the small bridges, checking out all the old houses, amazing churches, museums and of course lots of Venice famous ice cream!

aiden waking up very early in the morning gave
us the opportunity to see a serene Venice
before tourists start to swam in :)

seems like the whole wall of the St. Mark's basilica
is made of different colors of marble

we didn't go for the gondola ride, bit difficult with aiden
on the boat and it's about euro 100 per ride!

We chose to have our dinner at the side of the river, knew it's gonna be expensive but we hope can capture a nice sunset. Unfortunately, the weather turned a bit gloomy but it's still nice to enjoy the atmosphere there. You might wonder where is all my food pictures? Will show you next round. :) We also saw the police trying to capture people selling immitation branded purses or luggage. It's illegal to purchase it, and the fine can go up to 1000 euro if being caught by the authorities...

the dark comes very late here,
this was at about 8pm

i wonder how the restaurants here can survive while
there are so many? most of the time, you only see 1 or 2 customer
dine in even during the meal time...

mysterious venice

our hotel 'san salvador'...

...where is divided to 2 part across the alley

live.dream.love

2010-06-02T11:23:00.000+08:00

today

2010-05-20T09:57:00.000+08:00

magnificent roma

2010-05-19T06:49:00.000+08:00

It's been a while that i stepped foot in Europe since I got pregnant and had to cancel the trip for my husbands bro's wedding in April 2008. So this holiday is really a long wait for us, and now we are also traveling with a new family member, our baby Aiden! The feeling is mixed between excitement and anxiousness about how the lil one is gonna cope with so many different situations.

16.04.10
I'm pleased that he can have a pleasant 12 hour flight. He met a cute lil blond girl who was just 3 months older then him, who just sit next to him. And she is giving so much attention to him. Also he got another elder girl who also adore him and gave her seat up for him to climb up and down :)

We finally touched down at Da Vinci airport, Rome, where we straight away noticed that a baby chair is not so common in Italy. And the locals here usually prefer to just have their breakfast or 'snack' by just having a simple croissant and an espresso and enjoy it standing at the space next to the counter.

The cab driver did have some problems while driving his huge car (actually it's more of a van) through the streets in Rome. Especially around our apartment where we need to drop out quite far away and carry all the luggage through the small streets. Now, we know why the tiny smart car is such a big hit in Rome!

daddy feeding Aiden in the living room

view of the neighborhood

Aiden's clothing hanging outside the window :P

stairs to the apartment

We didn't do much on the first day, though to just walk a bit around the neighborhood and buy alcohol in the supermarket. But, just a stones throw away, we already reached one of the attractions, Castel Sant'Angelo. Our apartment actually is just behind the main street, Corso Vittorio Emanuele located in between the Vatican City and also the colosseum. I guess it's around 2km away from both, looks far but I guess the good weather there made it easier for us even though we needed to push the stroller everywhere in Rome. And I had my 1st plate of real fresh made fettuccine fungi pasta and Harald has his lasagna! Taste? Of course they are yummy!

Castel Sant'Angelo

angle on top of the castle, check out the tiny people
on the bottom left :)

angle on the bridge

Vatican from far

17.04.10
Aiden was still having his jet lag, where he woke up around 4 in the morning, but he was not too cranky after he drank his milk. Crawling and rolling between us for a while...and finally forcing me to wake up around 6 to make him breakfast. On the other hand, to start our day early is also good, since we can go to all the attractions a bit earlier before the thousands of tourists start to swarm in, especially at the fountain of Trevi and also Venice. It's almost impossible to capture any picture without other tourists just next to you. :)

St. Peter's Basilica, the Vatican Museum and the famous Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo in the Vatican City were our focus in the morning since it's all at the same area. Just unfortunate that, they don't allow any pictures being taken inside the Chapel, there are even a few guards there to make sure you keep quiet inside. I wonder if it's to protect the painting or they just want you to buy the printed painting from their souvenir shop. FYI, at the central section of the ceiling, there is one of the most widely recognized images in the history of painting, Michelangelo shows God reaching out to touch Adam.

walking towards the Vatican City

angle keeping the bird company :)

more key ornament and baby face

even the light element is also so intriguing

check out all the details on the ceiling, and these are just
one out of thousands square meter inside the building

you won't feel how huge the basilisk is till
you step inside, really amazing...

they said it can fit 60,000 people inside! :P

i wonder is it made of gold?

something to confess?

the wall surrounding the vatican city

a modern art piece outside the vatican museum

can u see our reflection on it? :)

naked men everywhere :P

even the floor has so much detail

way out from the vatican museum

Then, hours later, you'll realize how powerful and influential the church was during that time! Almost every inch of the building is either covered by a masterpiece of painting, realistic sculptures or sky high pillars. At some point, I felt like drowning into this historic place which dates back to the 15th century. But, walking around the neighborhood was just nice where we still can see the christian influence on the buildings, faces of baby angels are everywhere, intriguing carvings and decorations on the window frame, heavy wooden doors with iron lion faces as a door knob and also the colors on the building.

Later that day, we went to the Piazza Navona which is one of the largest and most remarkable squares. There are 3 fountains in the square and the most beautiful and biggest is the one in the middle, a work of Bernini. But, unlucky that, at that moment, it was covered and under renovation. Of course, the place is surrounded by expensive restaurants and artists selling their work.

From there, we continued to the Pantheon, the only temple in classical style which still can be found in Rome. The uniqueness of the building is that it has a dome shaped roof with a central opening to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. How amazing it was.

Last but not least was the Fountain of Trevi. Famous for the legend that whoever drinks from it or throws a coin in the fountain, assures his return to Rome. And also about if you take a coin from it, it will lead to a new romance. This is what the movie 'When in Rome' by Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel is about. But we didn't do it, even though I wish to come back here one day when it's dark or super early in the morning to capture the other side of beauty when it's lights are up. :p This place is so packed with tourists, where at any angle you will also capture others also posing either next to you or in the background in the picture.

18.04.10
The Colosseum which despite devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers is still standing strong has a rich history which is admired every day. When you are standing inside the Colosseum, you can feel the history and try to imagine one of the spectacles which dates back to 80AD, watching battles between animals and the gladiators, surrounded by the cheers and roars from the other 50,000 spectators. Where I felt pictures can't justify one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

see the scale between the colosseum and the tiny people

aiden just woke up when we almost finished
the whole colosseum

see how happy he was! :)

it was cultural week while we're there,
not only saving some money on entrance fees but also
got a huge parade going on

also visited the Da Vinci museum, this is one of his greatest inventions:
the tank, he is such a genious where everything he created was a masterpeice!

19.04.10
Went back to the Colosseum, enjoying some nice weather before we went to the Roman Forum. Which is such a huge area where the Romans used to have their festivals, ceremonies, market place and so on.
At home in the late afternoon, while I'm just thinking how lucky we are for the weather here in Rome, there comes the hail which was followed by rain!

The next morning we took the train in Venice!

you are beautiful

2010-05-09T18:18:00.000+08:00

for all the mums out there

party animals pouch

2010-04-29T11:37:00.000+08:00

Below are the birthday packs that I designed for one of my repeat customers, pretty mummy Margie. It is for her baby girl Misca's 1 year old birthday celebration.

As you can see, there are 2 different colors pocket pouch, baby blue and baby pink. Both with a yellow flower button but different color birdie in front, also different flower fabric as liner. Each pouch includes a customized milk chocolate bar, flower shape marshmellows, bear shape gum drops and a handmade animal toy. To make sure each kid would receive a little bit different pack from the other, we have lots of different colors for the birdie and also 3 different animals, the 'owly', the 'raffy' and the 'phanty'! Each group of animal also has different colors.

ps: I just received word from Margie, she said the guests loved it and she was so pleased with them as they are not normal paper bag with a bunch of stationery. Even talking about working together next year! :)

all have a 40" length ribbon

each pouch includes a customized milk chocolate bar,
flower shape marshmellows, bear shape gum drops and
a handmade animal toy.

the owly

the raffy

the phanty

26.4.10 - sometimes...

2010-04-26T17:06:00.000+08:00

11.16am oss,the netherlands

our bucket 'city' sold out in a week!

2010-04-16T06:10:00.000+08:00

yup, these buckets are selling fast, so if you plan to have it as your unique baby full moon's gift pack or as your lil one's birthday party pack, please place your order soon or pre-order before the following batch is also sold out! Thanks for all the support! xoxo

free pampering with order

2010-04-16T06:00:00.000+08:00

In conjunction with Mother’s Day, we are pleased to announce to all the mums this joint pampering venture with S2 slimming, where for every order above RM300 in a single receipt, Coochicoo is giving out vouchers worth RM360!

The voucher entitles you to:
1 x Navel Care Treatment (RM180) + 1 x Navel Mask (RM180)

S2 Slimming is established in 2003 with over 20 years of experience.

Their have 9 branches throughout Klang valley located at Cheras, Puchong, Kepong, Klang Bukit Tinggi, USJ Taipan, Kota Damamsara, AU2 Setiawangsa, Lot 10 and Kuchai Lama.

Promotion ends July 2010.

t&c
customers must bring along original receipt as proof of purchase. all vouchers are valid for female customers only. offer is not exchangeable for cash or product. advanced booking must be made prior to appointment. S2’s management reserve the rights to amend any terms and conditions without prior notice.

infant saque featured!

2010-03-29T22:36:00.000+08:00

Featured on So-sweetcloset, a blog about children products as well as some parenting tips or issues.

Thanks!

baked apples with pears for your lil one

2010-03-18T14:28:00.000+08:00

Guess there are lots of new mums out there finding out that raising a child is really a handful. On one side, you wish to give the child the best but you also find out you're racing against time. Your mind is half blown away after coming back from your work, you need to clean up the daily chaos in the house, and you still feel you did not get enough rest from last night. At the end of the day when you finally put him to bed, you felt like you just want to chill on the couch and not doing anything. Sometimes this will make you feel like you are not giving enough to your child but don't feel bad cause you won't be the only one who has that feeling. :)

Just the other day, I received a mail from a reader asking about homemade baby food and also earlier in the week, I was reading about my friend buying some homemade baby food from a shop. It made me want to share more about making homemade food for your baby. It actually won't take too much time and it's a quiet enjoyable time for yourself when you are preparing it. Of course you need to find a good time like cook it while your baby sleeping, or during one weekend's afternoon while your hubby can help you take care of the baby without much disturbance.

I'm going to show you now how to prepare one of his favorite breakfasts.

Baked apple with pears
Vitamins: A, C, Folate
Minerals: Potassium, Magnesium, Calcium

1. Prepare lots of fruits, this time I use apples and pears and it has to be green pears, because if you use those yellow skin pears, it won't become soft. Apple also mixes well with banana and carrots.

2. Cut apple in half, core apple and leave peel on. Place in an ovenproof dish with an inch of water around them. You can sprinkle a bit of cinnamon in the apple if you desire and if your baby is ready for cinnamon.

some recipe suggests to add in some butter n raisin
while baking if desired, will try it next round. :P

3. Bake in a 350ºF / 180ºC oven for 30 minutes or until tender, remember to check on the water level.

when you can see juice from the apple starting to bubble out
and caramelize, it means it's almost ready

4. Once baked, puree until smooth, add in cereal (if desired).

looks and smells so yummy

stick chopper always comed in handy
and it's easier to clean

If your baby just starts his solid food, you can stop here at step 4. It is also good to puree the apple with some milk so he will easier accept the food.

But since my baby is already 1+ and already learn to enjoy some soft chunky food, I'll always add in some peel and cut into dice apples and this time also with some pears.

5. Peel, core and cut apple and pears into small dice.

6. Prepare a bag using the aluminum foil by folding in both sides.

7. Put everything into the bag with also some cinnamon inside, sealed.

8. Bake them together with the rest for 30 minutes. Be careful of the hot steam while opening up the foil and use all the juice for the mixing.

I always mix it with cooked rolled oat which can add in more texture and fiber

9. Freeze it once it cools down.

When it's time for feeding, defrost it an hour before, mix it well with some hot water or milk, and your baby can enjoy this delicious and nutritious baby food recipe for days!

As you noticed, I didn't mention any amount of the ingredients, because I always think cooking is something fun and experimental, where we don't need to be stressed about what will be the perfect combo. Anything made from love will be good for the little one :)

Also you may question about the safely of the frozen food, here are a few links that talk about it. As always, don't do anything you don't think is safe for your baby.

Freezing Homemade Baby Food
How to freeze baby food
Baby Food Tips and Hints - Do's
Making your own baby food
How to freeze baby food

Happy cooking!

another new family member–bucket of joy

2010-03-15T10:07:00.000+08:00

"bucket of joy" only rm8.80,
stock limited and we open for pre-order

la la land before CNY

2010-02-28T11:55:00.000+08:00

Just the other day, we took a few days off to join my dad to have a short holiday in Genting Highlands before the Chinese New Year. Even though it was just a 2 night stay it was quite a good one, since these days the weather in KL is so hot. It was a good time to feel some cooler breeze. Unfortunately both my brothers can't make it since it was a bit of the last minute arrangement, it would definately have been even better if they can make it too. Hope next year, they can join us, then we can make it an annual reunion for our family before the big reunion dinner during the CNY.

Since it was still not CNY, the place is not so packed with tourists which is good. But from the amount of cherry blossom deco, CNY's booth, huge modern artifacts from East to West, colorful dancing lights, catchy music from all the attraction, sound of people screaming while playing in the roller coasters and also kids giggling and running around the theme park it was enough to overwhelm our little Aiden. :)

We bought a day pass for both the outdoor and indoor theme park, wondering how many attractions he was allowed to explore at his young age! We started slow by trying the outdoor theme park with a double deck carrousel and followed by some others also marked as family rides like 'tea cup', 'astro fighter', 'flying jumbo', 'pirate train' and so on.

1st attraction we go for, a double deck carrousel

mummy and aiden conquer the alien world,
high and low together in 'astro fighter'

he seems a bit scared of the 'flying jumbo'
while daddy having the fun of his life!

waiting with great anticipation for the 'pirate train' ride
while mummy's heart is beating fast :P

finally, we can go ride together in the ferris wheel :)

ride in the 'rio float' where we are hanging on the track and it looks like a swan,
dragon and etc, also decorated with light.

Of course these are the only rides we did, but if we did manage to come back next year, he will definitely enjoy more rides by himself.

new member of our family-RRROARY

2010-02-27T18:29:00.000+08:00

the tiger is a courageous animal, his enthusiasm is irresistible
to others, this member of the zodiac is born to lead.
this rrroary pouch makes sure nobody can forget
the birth-year of your baby

each rrroary pouch is only rm16.80,
size: 21cm (w)(from ear to ear) x 19cm (h)

you can pair it with this roary toy
with 1 personalized alphabet initial at the back!
only rm13.80, size:8cm(w) x 8cm(h)

recycle, recycle, recycle

2010-02-04T11:23:00.000+08:00

These days, everybody is talking about recycling. One thing is to bring along our own shopping bags or recycling bags when going shopping which I totally agree with. Those small plastic bags are just a waste. Some people might feel, I need plastic bags for the rubbish. Of course we do need some plastic bags to pack our rubbish, especially for a household, sometimes can use up to 5 bags (typical hypermarket bag) a week. But if you always take all the bags you are likely to have too many in your home already. Before I started using recycle bags I ended up with 2 big bags of plastic bags.

That's why I felt another way we can practice to reduce the usage of plastic bags is by doing separation for our waste and also doing composting. Where separating waste is long practiced overseas like europe, where they always separate all the waste into different box, like paper, plastics, organic and glass. It might sound a bit troublesome, but I felt it's just a step more compared to just throwing everything into one. Below are some small steps we can all practice.

1. Always recycle all types of plastic and paper, from small thing like a bank receipt, bread wrapper, all type of boxes, detergent bottle to obvious things like newspapers.

2. Use cloth diapers rather than paper. Do you know, you are throwing around 2,500 less diapers into the landfill and save RM1,750 in 2.5 years. Aiden only uses paper at night and sometimes to the mall. You can read more about cloth diapers in my previous post.

3. Start to compost. Most of our wastes like egg shell, bread crust, tea bags, all types of fruits and vegetables skin are something which we can recycle into soil and it's another way we can give back to mother earth which provides us food. Last time I only use a bucket, but it always fill up very fast, so now I use up a small part of my garden to compost. Can read more about what small miracle had happened while I'm composting at another previous post. :)

the plants are some pumpkin growing up from the compost,
there are another 2 piles of compost in the middle and far right

At last if until now you still didn't have any free recycle bag, and plan to get one, make sure it's a decent size, durable and it's something you'll like to bring along everywhere you go out.

And always remember small actions x lots of people=big change! Check out more actions to change the world at http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/actions/

he's learning fast

2010-01-28T16:25:00.000+08:00

it's been a while, I didn't share about life of being a stay at home mum and also work at home mum. Haha, you probably might know why already, cause it's not easy to do both! :)

Aiden is now approaching 1yr n 3 mths soon. Everyday, he seems to learn more, play more and understand his surroundings better. It also means he is super active, trying to get his hands on anything and moving stuff from one side to the other! Sometimes, you'll be so amazed by what he put in his toys bucket! He also starts to showing his tantrum, and sometimes he can be very loud! :) I don't remember he can produce such a loud sound while he is just a baby, even when his diapers were wet or he went for injection.

Nowadays, I almost can't sit down quietly in front of my macbook pro to work. Only while our part time maid is here or he is sleeping, then only I can concentrate on my work. Like today, Aiden didn't nap too long, only 1.5 hours in the morning and an hour in the late afternoon. Plus, every night Aiden always wake up middle of the night and starts to roll to my side of the bed, and he tries his best to push his lil head to me. We call this pose the 'torpedo', attacking the mother-ship. :) I wonder when he will start to sleep though the whole night, then we can move out from his room. Or do you have any tips for me to move out faster?

If I told you that I don't miss my advertising world, that's a lie. But I also understand, what I'm doing now is the best for the family. Plus, I can enjoy and share my little ones every growing up moment and every little step he achieves in his life. That is a blessing and I won't take it for granted. Just like the other day, while waiting for his papa to be back, he also followed me to walk the cat (Bubbles, she is more gentle) or the other way. Or watching him start to stacking up blocks on top of each other rather then just push it down, also starting to identifying and matching shape to a shape-sorting lid! Of course he did dump them everywhere still!

For all this, I am very grateful.

2010 CNY Hampers from my designer friend - Gorden

2010-01-26T16:03:00.000+08:00

Here are some very nicely done CNY hampers from one of my very talented designer friend - Gorden. If interested, can give him a buzz at 016 831 0203. :) happy shopping!

party crowns for your prince and princess!

2010-01-25T22:10:00.000+08:00

made of two layers of felt with a layer of foam sandwiched inside for stability,
and colorful felt stars handsown on both sides with
an initial of your choice in the center
of course baby aiden is perfect for modeling it :)

we can create custom crowns upon request
we enjoy trying new designs and ideas,
so please feel free to send them our way!

his 'cucu' is a must have for my lil prince while he goes for his nap!

crown for lil princess,
model is one of my neighbor's youngest daughter, Eleanor

crown measures approximately 40cm across and 13 cm tall,
with 30cm satin ribbon ties on each side

for your guests, you can give them the small crown,
can use it as a brooch or tie it to their favorite bag!
size:9.5cm(w) x 5.5cm(h), rm8.80

latest colors for KQ infant sacque

2010-01-20T16:34:00.000+08:00

left to right: peony/vanilla, rose/midnight, hibiscus/peony,
pomegranate red/midnight, violet/blackberry

left to right:starlight/midnight, tahitian/vanilla, skye blue/midnight,
basil/clover, marine/tidepool

051209.121209.261209.271209

2010-01-04T11:40:00.000+08:00

we gave my dad a surprise birthday party,
where we also invited some of his close friends down in Melacca.
He had a few drops of tears when he saw all of us in the restaurant
and earlier he asked why is it such a coincedence that his friends
were also at the same restaurant. funny :)

actually fall sick on the day
but luckily i still managed to bake some brownies for him :p
n btw he is not 28 but 34:)

yummy roast stuffed turkey, (recipe from women's weekly)
the taste n texture of the turkey is so much nicer then chicken.
the left over, I use it for turkey sandwich and also
one of my favorite soup Kiam chai boi (sour and spicy vegetable)

my birthday actually falls on the boxing day,
and this year celebration was really good, my hubby started
to give me surprise presents a week ago. Luv it all!

opened up the presents from his godfather,
what he is holding is some delicious stroopwafels n the shirt
he is wearing was the best present of them all,
"50% dad, 50% mum", back "100% aiden" :)

looks like he was working on his walk!

nice christmas deco in midvalley

day in the park

2010-01-04T11:10:00.000+08:00

Happy new year! I admit it's been awhile that I didn't update my blog. End of the year has always been very busy for our family. Except finding presents for his brother and relatives in Holland, 4 out of 5 of our family is also born in this month!!! busy busy...

Even though it is busy, but we still manage to arrange some time to bring Aiden out to a park nearby. This is not the 1st time he played in a playground but still, he is so excited and it's just funny to watch him enjoying it.

lots of expression!

really enjoys his slide :)

baby shermyn teh n her moo moo toys!

2009-12-21T10:04:00.000+08:00

collaboration with khai handmade

luv how she sewn each moo moo in different color,
the moo moo new owner, vivian fr penang said
their are very nicely done :)

wonderful handmade wreaths from my designer friend - J

2009-12-02T15:43:00.000+08:00

Berries Gone Wild l, Diameter (fr tip to tip)= Approx. 24" RM115(SOLD)

Berries Gone Wild ll, Diameter = Approx. 24" RM115 (SOLD)

Berries Gone Wild lll, Diameter = Approx. 17" RM135 (SOLD)

Green Breeze, Diameter = Approx. 18" RM85(SOLD)

Red & Gold, Diameter = Approx. 18" RM85(SOLD)

Sunset, Diameter = Approx. 24" RM125(SOLD)

Golden Harvest l, Diameter = Approx. 18" RM120(SOLD)

Golden Harvest ll, Diameter = Approx. 18" RM120 (SOLD)

You can reach her at 012 3788 966 or email her at jwongdesigner@gmail.com

featured in women's weekly, dec 09

2009-12-02T12:48:00.000+08:00

2 of coochicoo's organic babywear featured in
The Malaysian Women´s Weekly, December Issue

Sckoon Gardenia Summer Dress
"WW Trendy Tots - Easy Style from A to Z"

Kate Quinn's infant sacque "WW Just for Junior"

short getaway

2009-11-29T17:50:00.000+08:00

It's been a while that we have some good quality time together. Today, my hubby surprised me with an exclusive spa at 'sembunyi spa' in cyberview lodge.

This morning, after collecting some lil pouch for my dad's surprise birthday (which I'm gonna share with you all when the day has come) and prepare some of Aiden's daily needs, we brought him to his godmother Chloe's house. So she can babysit Aiden for the day.

After that, we drove straight to cyberjaya and reached there within half an hour. It's also been a long time that I was there since a week of photographic shooting for cyberjaya's coffee table book in 2004. Back then we also went to this spa. :) And I luv it so much that I always recommend to all my friends to go there if they fancy spas! Hope this time would also have a good time. :)

The place is still not much changed, still maintaining the greenery and a big fountain in the middle of a pond. Once there, we selected our "Forever Yours" couple package (in the Mayang Sari Suite), which includes a massage followed by body treatment & bath. It's gonna take almost 3 hours! Woohoo! Before that, we did manage to unwind in the hot jacuzzi and cold dip and followed by the steam room. And I also decided to go for 1 more time for the steam after the spa package!

view from the jacuzzi

Both of us also selected traditional balinese massage which applies long and soothing strokes. For the body treatment, my hubby select Alluring Rose which is for luxuriously deep cleanse, leaving it enriched and moisturized. Then rose salt scrub followed by rosa angelica french pink clay body wrap. Hope this will help a bit on his sweat mark on his back. And for me, since it's been long time, so I choose Tropical Tango which is for nourishing. Followed by makin' me nuts scrub with papaya & banana leaf wrap! Just want to experience the feeling by putting fresh marsh fruits on the whole body. :)

At first, I'm a bit worried about if my hubby is gonna enjoy the whole massage thing cos he always complain it's too painful and not relaxing. But end up I'm the one who keep asking the masseuse to lighten her pressure. :) During the whole session, it was raining cats and dogs, and I'm loving it. It creates even more soothing environment and made me feel like its our 2nd honeymoon.

luv their atap roof

Last but not least is a bath, where my hubby picks Ocean's Away, which is a salt & algae bath for detoxifying & refreshing. And I know I'm not gonna love it cos I tried something like that at my usual facial treatment place where they have something like algae body mask. But my hubby want to know how the fish feel when they are in our water feature/ fish pond at home! funny :)

Overall the whole experience is still as indulging as few years ago, from the atmosphere, services, the facilities till the toiletries it's all 1st class. Especially the toiletries where I don't expect a lot, but it really suprised me how nice it was! Easily much better than those 5 star hotel in town! It's import from Bali. Wish to buy the shampoo and conditioner bottle, but unlucky it is out of stock.

down the hall is where the female's jacuzzi, steam n sauna room are. :)

the Mayang Sari Suite is at the 1st floor, the room on the left of the coconut tree

Of course it's followed by dining at an Italian fusion at Bistro Cascata in cyberview lodge to mark a perfect getaway for both of us for a long time! Just hope we won't need to wait for another 5 years then only can come back to the same place. And I'm also lucky that Aiden has a wonderful godmother who care for him and also don't mind to babysit him, where left us no worries when we are relaxing in this exquisitely beautiful cyberview lodge spa.

the darevil inside me?

2009-11-20T10:20:00.000+08:00

A friend of mine recently featured me on his site :) Thedarevilinside

It is a project of his, quote:

"The philosophy behind this project was to inspire & to motivate anyone and everyone to create & realise anything and everything."

I'd like to thank him to feature me on his site. The start of the feature is here. For the complete feature you can surf to Coochicoo showcase

WHO's the Darevil?
Jo Kee and i used to go to the same college. A few years later i was surprised that she showed up at the agency i was working with. We were the only 2 visualisers back then. Scary, in tallying with the work that we had to do! Haha. That was like almost 8-9 years ago. Wow! How time flies!

She continued her career in another few agencies after that. I was delighted when she became a mum. And even more surprised when she set up her own online baby store called Coochicoo, how cute is that? ;)

ho ho ho!

2009-11-18T10:43:00.000+08:00

Ho ho ho!

The festive season is right around the corner and coochicoo is having their annual sales!
Go and have a look now at our designer brand organic clothing babywear.

http://www.coochicoo.com.my/Babywear.html

Happy shopping!

aiden is 1 year old!

2009-11-08T20:43:00.000+08:00

he luv the balloons

chloe, his god mother

he is 10.8kg n 80.5cm height :)

tried on his party hat

his cousin, vin chi :)

don't want us to put on his party hat anymore :(

my dad tried to calm him down

his yogurt n cheese cake with a singing candle :)
n I think he don't want to wear the party hat
is just want to be different with the rest! :)

from birth till now

2009-11-06T11:54:00.000+08:00

2 days old

with cousin, vinchi

monkey eating baby :)

during my big bro's wedding

my handsome aiden has reached 1 :)

luv his curly hair!

remember, remember the 5th of november

2009-11-06T10:56:00.001+08:00

what a great transformation!

"Voila! In view humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the “vox populi” now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin, van guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition.
The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.
Verily this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it’s my very good honour to meet you and you may call me V."

Above is what my friend, Jouwen Lee wrote when he saw the above title. Yup, that is the best part in the movie, btw it's also when the president of the US, Obama was elected by the people to CHANGE things! But, for me the most important thing about this date is that my baby Aiden was born! It's been a year and he has transformed so much from that he couldn't flip on his tummy by himself to moving all those huge water bottle (20l) everywhere!

These days it also becomes more difficult to take a picture of him, cos he always move a bit too fast for the camera. But we did manage to video some of his movement.

lil dennis bergkamp in the making

2009-10-22T13:00:00.000+08:00

his pumpkin mash

2009-10-21T11:52:00.000+08:00

Aiden always eats baked fruits mixed with oats in the morning like apple, banana or pear. I was thinking to let him try some new flavour, so I decided to bake him some pumpkin. The whole process and the end result is amazing and the fragrance while baking it is also amzaing. It reminds me of the smell of my aunt making 'kuih ka peck' during the CNY :p So I want to share this amazing fruit/vegetable with all of you.

Pumpkins contain some of the best nutritional compounds ever. They are highly loaded with Vitamin A and beta carotene. Beta Carotene is one of the plant carotenoids that when eaten and digested, turns into Vitamin A in the human body. Beta Carotene may reduce the risk of cancer as well as heart disease. It also may be responsible for combating or putting off the degenerative effects of ageing.

Pumpkins are also good sources of potassium, protein, and iron. These are also contained in the seeds. Of course I'm not gonna recommend that you offer your baby or toddler pumpkin seeds however. Pumpkins are wonderfully low in fat, low in calories but high in fiber.

Don't forget to check if your baby is old enough to eat the ingredients mentioned at a site like Wholesomebabyfood.com.

how I prepare it
Since it's for Aiden's breakfast, I will bake it with some apples and some spice. And later mix it with cooked rolled oats. Will show you step by step below. You may also mix in homemade cereals, yoghurts, and even meats such as chicken. Pumpkins can be boiled, steamed or baked. But to ensure the most nutrients are retained I only bake it.

1. Halve the pumpkin and de-seed.

2. Place halves face down in a baking pan with approximately 1 inch of water.

3. Bake at 210 degrees C for approximately 40 minutes to 1 hour. Skin should be "puckery" and/or wrinkled and pumpkin should feel soft when pressed. Of course not by hand but you can use a chopstick. If you want to add in other fruits like apple, you only put in the apple(skin face down) after 20 to 25 mins since it didn't take long for apple to cook. I always will sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the apple too.

4. Scrape out the pumpkin "meat" and then mix it with what you decided to add. Dash of cinnamon and nutmeg also will make it a very yummy food for the baby.

5. Once cooked, I will store it in the freezer. The cooked pumpkin will turn a brownish orange so don't be alarmed when you peak into the bowl and find that color.

Hope you do like the baked pumpkin as I do. Happy cooking!

featured in mami & baby, Oct 09

2009-10-06T14:34:00.000+08:00

new fabric for the moolicious

2009-10-06T14:09:00.000+08:00

Saw this gorgeous japanese cotton fabric during shopping. Think it looks nice on the moolicious pouch, doesn't it?

moolicious with japanese cotton-RM19.80

my supermodel – aiden in his sacque

2009-09-23T13:46:00.000+08:00

different pose in his sacque
(10 months old)

wake up so early while daddy still sleeping :P

he looks a bit funny with the hat :P

cutest baby in the sacque! :)

when is a piece of clothingnot just a piece of clothing?

2009-09-23T11:11:00.000+08:00

coochicoo.com.my

some press article about our brand, Kate Quinn organics & Sckoon organic

2009-09-15T10:43:00.000+08:00

This is the article that was published in the Parenthood magazine in September '09.

Earth’s own fabrics combined with ultra-chic designs are a booming phenomenon in the infant clothing market

Organic cotton is grown with sustainable agriculture which means the farmer doesn’t use harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The general idea is to grow, harvest and process the crop without damaging the ecosystem. When you buy organic, you’re doing something good for yourself and for the environment.

This is why coochicoo is now offering 100% organic cotton baby clothing from Kate Quinn Organics and Sckoon Organics. They are based in the states of Washington and New York in the USA. Their baby wear is manufactured at environmentally conscious fair trade factories, and certified by Demeter (international biodynamic certification board) and also Control Union Certifications (a USDA accredited Certifying Agent).

Their baby wear is available at boutiques, eco/health stores and department stores around the world and coochicoo is proud to be the first Kate Quinn and Sckoon partner in Malaysia to bring you these charming natural gifts from mother earth. This purely organic, purely comfy yet chic and fresh baby wear is just as kind to the earth as it is to our little ones. To find out more, please go to www.coochicoo.com.my

Parenthood, September,09

Mother & Baby, June 09

Live Well Baby, May,09

My Paper, April,09

some press article in New York

walk

2009-09-14T22:17:00.000+08:00

These days, you’ll always show us your new trick or move. From climbing up the staircase or the couch, mumbling without opening your mouth, I wonder what it will be today.

According to your daddy, you managed to walk by yourself without holding anything for as long as 8 steps, while I’m upstairs preparing the room for your night sleep. Hmm, how chould I miss that? Later, when I try to use the same trick, your night supper ‘cookies mix yogurt’, but you crawl rather than walk. :) Guess you must be hungry and decide crawling is a faster move. You did your first few steps (3) on the 3rd of September by the way.

I just realize these days you didn’t wake up middle of the night, am I right? Or I’m just too blur and tired and can’t recall? :) I believe is the 1st option. This also means you reached another stage where there is routine everyday. Every morning you’ll get up very early in the morning, around 7am. After give you some milk, sometimes you’ll continue to sleep but most of the time, you’ll start to crawl all over in the room. And we have to be aware if you are near us, because we’re so afraid you’ll head bud us! Haha, seriously, is no joke. So end up most of the time, your daddy needs to bring you downstairs and gets himself some breakfast while mummy can get a little bit more rest. You’ll be brought back up to me while daddy needs to go to work and I’ll start to prepare your shower and the rest of the day.

Nowadays it’s difficult to leave you alone in the room even we do have a baby monitor. You always want to follow us and crawl everywhere. This makes us a bit worried since most part of the staircase was being removed during our 1st renovation. At that time we’re thinking to have glass panel staircase in the future but after we’ve had a few quotations, we decided instead of spending around 20k on just the staircase, why not just put a simple straight line design steel staircase? Where we just need to pay 1 quarter of the glass, and the rest of the money can be used for other usage like extra pocket money for our Italy trip next year? Or baby Aiden’s birthday present. :)

While I’m finishing writing this story, I saw you walk by yourself from the kitchen glass door to where I'm sitting :) I give you applause and I’m sure you also enjoy every moment of life.

cute baby photo

2009-09-12T14:35:00.000+08:00

Recently a few parents were having some problem to snap a good pic of their baby, and they worry if it will turn out nice on the personalized card. So I thought of sharing a few tips on how to take a nice baby picture.

1. Prepare the camera and try to avoid to use a phone camera because the resolution is not as good as that of a camera and the result is usually a bit blur.

2. Try to choose a good time for the baby, example in the morning after taking a bath or just finish milk.

3. To capture some natural light, try to take the picture near the window. Then you can easily get some natural brightness on the baby face to make the whole picture look more interesting.

4. If can, try to avoid a messy and dark background. But if can’t it also won't be a big problem, since I can crop the picture tighter.

So, if you can follow all the above tips, having a nice picture won’t be so difficult. I guess in the end, taking a picture shouldn’t be a worry of any parent because it is a joy to share your beloved baby with others. And I’ll always use my experience to enhance your baby pictures in terms of color and cropping.

Here are some of the cutest baby pictures that I wish to share with everyone.

pretty mummy Margie and daughter Mischa,
baby Addrick, baby Ashton and baby Ashley

in the same week, all 3 babies were sticking their tongue out,
baby Arynn, baby Vincent and baby Isaac, aren't they so cute? :)

moolicious

2009-08-16T18:59:00.000+08:00

Above is a special project which was requested from a proud mummy who celebrated her baby boy’s arrival with a very unique and personalized gift pack!

This project has started one and a half month ago, where she got my contact from her sis who also ordered from me earlier.:P What she wanted is something special, a fusion between traditional Chinese celebration but with a touch of modern design. So, I suggested her an idea which I wanted to do some time ago but didn’t get to it, a zodiac pouch! And what more unique then a moolicious pouch using sweet and simple gingham cloth to create the face of the ox with a zipper at the bottom to create the mouth of the ox! Your friends and family for sure will remember it. What I also did was create her whole family based on their zodiac. Here are two examples of what it would look like. :)

And I’m so glad that her guests have accepted it full of surprise and impressed about it. One of them even ordered from me to celebrate her baby girl’s 100 days celebration!

Since it takes some time to prepare the moolicious pouch, orders for it have to be made earlier then for the other packs. This also depends on the quantity, 4 weeks normally will be enough time.

short but sweet

2009-08-16T14:17:00.000+08:00

Aiden has reached 9 months now! Helping him to flip on his back seems like yesterday. :P This lil one is learning, discovering and achieving different milestones of his life every day! He’s enjoying sitting on his high chair together with us during mealtime, can crawl very well and also starts to stand without holding anything for like 10 sec. I guess in no time he will be able to walk by himself!

so pleased that he likes to hold his milk bottle :)

Since he is more independent now, we decided to go for a short vacation. After some research about different vacation spotss, we decided to go somewhere close to our place, Avillion Resort Port Dickson since we felt is better to bring along Aiden’s frozen food cubes. It’s been awhile that we went for a holiday, last time was a year ago. :P

We’ve took a 3 days and 2 nights package on staying at their water chalet from 9th to 11th earlier this week. It only took us 2 hours to reach the place and after check–in the sea was at the low tide period which you can see at the below pic. We’re not sure how they arrange the room booking, but the room we got had quite a good view. There was a huge four poster bed which took most of the space in the room, and also a huge day bed next to the window to the sea! Of course there was a balcony with two deck chairs, an open air shower area and a bathtub (which I felt is a bit small). Overall the room is very clean and give us a very cozy feeling, nice!

low tide period

also luv the glass window, very nyonya feel

the tiger is Aiden's buddy, he likes to hold it while sleeping,
it's a gift from his godfather

view from the balcony

sunrise

The whole resort is very well maintained and in almost every corner there is a piece of painting. The resort also has some activities for the kids and we tried to take part in one of them. It’s called “feeding the pet” but it was unsuccessful because Aiden didn’t seem to enjoy himself while inside the area, guess it was a bit too crowded for him. :) We also brought him to the beach while it was at low tide. First it seemed interesting for him but after a while he felt a bit disgusted with the sand. :)

Having a nice meal is not a problem there, cause if you feel like having some nice seafood, you can just drive out to the town which is just a stones throw away. Food in the restaurant is also very yummy and the portion is also very big!

Overall it’s a nice and relaxed holiday, both of us sleep very early in the night, not always sit in front of the computer, not packing the full moon packs till late and so on. But at the end, we both know that, very soon we need to go back to reality where we need to work hard on my web business, preparing the full moon order, trying to market the organic clothing which actually I don’t mind cause it is what I like to do.

a tale about a mysterious plant

2009-07-25T13:41:00.000+08:00

Last year, I read an article to teach people to do composting. It’s very easy and has loads of benefits. Nowadays, I always practice it. It’s because by doing it, you don’t just minimize the rubbish you throw but you can also create some very good organic fertilizer! And recently, a small miracle happened! Haha

I’m using an old bucket to be my compost bin, I just made a few holes at the bottom. And I started with some sand or some yellow soil as a base. Then I start to layer it with all my kitchen waste like carrot skin, potatoe skin, onion skin, bread crust, tea bag and also some drop leaves and weeds from the garden. Basically, it can be a lot of different things what you can feed for the bacteria to thrive. Those contain sugar elements as well as proteins and they all can decompose fast. Just remember 1 thing which is to never put in any type of meat.

Then you just repeat the whole process by layering the waste and soil. Mix it maybe once a week. Also add some water now and then as the bacteria need it as well. In the end you will have nice black, somewhat fragrant, and crumbly compost.

When a small plant starts to grow from the bucket of the composting, we just don’t know what it is. It could be a weed or my friend said it looked like a basil plant. Till one day in the evening, when I looked closer at the plant I noticed there are 2 small green capsicum!

A week later, we moved the plant to a nicer and proper flower pot rather then the almost broken down bucket. Few weeks later, I pluck 1 of them and bring it for my dad during a visit to Melacca. For the other one, I just waited for it to turn red, and used it for sweet and sour chicken meal.

Now, you can see there are more small capsicum coming out, I’ve counted and it seems like there are 6 of them and some of them is just coming out! Yeah, free organic capsicum for the following few weeks and hopefully it will provide us throughout the year! Haha.

This concept is about cycles. But to complete the cycle we need to recycle. :) Things are grown, we consume it. Then we recycle the leftovers and sometimes we can see a small miracle, and something to be joyful about. That’s how I got my free capsicum!

2 new choices!

2009-07-01T18:49:00.000+08:00

I've added 2 more choices at attractive prices for you to choose from.

Yup, there are big red eggs now to suit my lil king n princess pack. Wrapped in blue or pink paper and tied with a silver wire string! I can also can wrap it with yellow color if you don’t want the whole pack too blue or too pink! Each costs RM1.80.

I've also added in milk cookies since there are really a lot of people asking for it :p There are 3 cookies in one portion, each portion costs RM2.00.

what's going on with baby Aiden

2009-06-29T16:25:00.000+08:00

his favorite team! present from mummy's friend, waiyee :)

with his cousin, vin chi, visiting grandpa at melacca

just too cute to not to take pic of him :P

It’s been some time since I talked about aiden. He is almost 8 months old now!

I can see lots of growth in him. He got his 2 front teeth and is having more choices of food in his menu. His legs are getting stronger and he can maneuver his walker very well, always playing hide and seek with me (of course he can easily find me hiding behind the curtain or sitting at the staircase). Also, he likes to pull himself up by grabbing anything he can and learning to walk from there. And he can stand there for quite some time, I guess he can stand by himself very soon.

Now, it's time for him to experience his ‘stage 2’ baby food. Stage 2 baby food means he can start to enjoy more flavor and learn to chew more. It also has new ingredients such as meats and spices. However at this stage the foods are still low on the allergy scale. Some dairy and wheat products can also be introduced.

Below is his usual daily menu:
Breakfast: Apple/pear with thin brown rice or Japanese sweet potatoes
Lunch: Green beans with oats or broccoli with brown rice
Dinner: Chicken, carrots with brown rice
Supper: Oats with some cereal cookies and plain yogurt

Usually, I will only steam or bake the food, which is the best way to maintain all the nutrients and use milk to puree. And I always make enough for 2 or 3 days by freezing it like an ice cube.

I hope later I can cook him some fish and tofu for his dinner and also let him try different fruits and veggie like banana, papaya and spinach. So far, he is considered a good eater where he eats all the food I prepared. :p

1st video clip is him munching his pears n 2nd is him trying to say 'papa'? :)

100% organic baby clothing

2009-06-04T13:54:00.000+08:00

For the past few weeks, I’ve been researching what is the best organic babywear around the market. From using soy product, bamboo to what I truly believe is the best: organic cotton.

Did you know that conventional cotton farming is one of the most environmentally unfriendly crops worldwide? Conventionally grown cotton consumes large quantities of insecticides and pesticides. The production of cotton has a huge impact on the world you live in.

Organic cotton is grown with sustainable agriculture which means the farmer doesn’t use harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers. The general idea is to grow, harvest and process crops without damaging the ecosystem.

More reason why organic cotton is better

There’s a whole lot more to the subject, of course, but that’s it in an organic nutshell.When you buy organic, you’re doing something good for yourself, the global community, and the planet.

This is why coochicoo is now offering 100% organic cotton baby clothing from Kate Quinn Organics and Sckoon. They are based the states of Washington and New York in the USA.. Their babywear is manufactured at environmentally conscious fair trade factories, and certified by Demeter(international biodynamic certification board) and also Control Union Certifications (a USDA accredited Certifying Agent)

Designs highlight your baby's natural beauty with simple,
elegant lines and fresh, nature-inspired colors.

Made of Certified Organic Cotton 100%.
Dyed with metal-free, low-impact dyes.

Sckoon Organics is a New York based, unique brand of designer organic cotton baby kimono.

Both products are available at boutiques, eco/health stores and department stores around the world and I’m very proud to be the first Kate Quinn and Sckoon partner in Malaysia to bring you these charming natural gifts from mother earth.

This purely organic, purely comfy yet chic and fresh baby wear is just as kind to the earth as it is to our little ones. I’m sure it will be a wonderful gift for all the babies and toddlers.

Aiden starts his solid food

2009-05-13T13:03:00.000+08:00

Yup, Aiden is big enough to start a new experience in tasting different foods! :)

He's around 6 months+ now and likes to sit rather than laying down. And he became very interested in what we are eating, so he's always very active while we are having our meals. :)

His first solid meal was carrot, followed by some wheat cereal. We always follow the 4 days rule. This means that only one new ingredient is given to a baby for a period of 4 days. This is to help pinpoint allergic reactions and also to pinpoint any digestive issues that the new baby food may cause. Now, he has tried few different foods already which include avocado, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, apples and also peas. He has just had his first peas meal yesterday. At first, I'm a bit afraid he won't like it, cause of the strong vegie taste but he did finish it. Will see what's gonna happen later when he tries it for the second time. :)

I tried my best to prepare homemade food for him but I aso bought him some Heinz 'Farley's Rusks' which he also likes a lot. Why homemade food? There are a few good reason why I encourage parents to make their baby fresh and delicious natural homemade food.

1. It gives you total control over what is put into your baby's food, it will help you to ensure that no food that's allergenic is hidden!

2. You can ensure only good quality foods are selected for your baby. I wonder how much love and care the commercial baby food company put into their jars.

3. Your baby is exposed to a variety of tastes and textures making the transition to table food less stressful for your baby.

4. You save money! Not only in the cost of the actual homemade baby food, but in the nutrient ratio as well. Get more nutrients for the money and your baby gets more nutrients for his growing body!

Except the above, it actually doesn't take me very long to prepare it. Peel, cut, steam, puree, mix with milk (if desired) and freeze it! All this won't take me more than half hour. :)

For much more information like baby food recipes you can have a look here.

His apple mix oatmeal cereal :)

Busy busy!

2009-05-12T22:39:00.000+08:00

These was what has been keeping me busy. Within 2 weeks, we managed to deliver 256 packs for 3 families. Here are the pictures of the cute lil babies.

Baby girl, Kayleigh Yap and Lim Ling Sasha, Baby boy, Kyvern Tan

Aiden's first holiday

2009-05-12T17:49:00.000+08:00

Yup, it's been a month that I didn't blog about anything.
It's been very busy, except for delivering the full moon packs, Aiden's godfather Noud and Rik were also flying down from Holland to pay a visit to us.

They were here for 12 days. This time we didn't manage to go to any island (often we will go relax in an island) because we think Aiden is just a bit too small to sit in the super fast speedboat there. But we did manage to find a place for holiday, A Famosa! Haha, I didn't think we would go there for holiday. We stay there for 3 days 2 nights at condotel. It's not too bad just the bed is too small and also a bit hard. :P

We went to the waterworld, the animal safari and also the cowboy town. And Aiden have his first swim while other take turn to go for the slide. He seem very happy in the water!

His first butterfly swim :)

Aiden with Uncle Rik

Aiden with his godfather, Noud

While he is at the safari, he is very afraid of the parrot, they are making a lot of loud sounds! Overall it's quite a good vacation in which he is able to observe a lot of different things, he won't remember all these but at least we got some pics to remember. :)

First holiday to Melaka

Having a nice dinner at the Look out point

Is your baby bottle BPA free?

2009-04-12T21:39:00.000+08:00

Since becoming a parent, I am much more concern about what chemicals and ingredients are in the food we eat. Furthermore I'm also thinking about the products we use to keep our bodies, clothing and houses clean. According to studies there are over 80,000 type of chemicals in use and an additional 1,000-2,000 are introduced each year. However, most of them are not tested by regulatory agencies for safety.

One chemical that has received a lot of attention lately is Bisphenol A (BPA), an ingredient in plastics used to make food containers and water bottles. There is concern that long term low dose exposure to bisphenol A may induce chronic toxicity in humans. You can read more about it at wikipedia. Baby bottles are also contain some of it. These bottles are made of polycarbonate. Most of the baby bottles in the market now are not BPA free, even from the famous brands. In Canada bisphenol A is classied as a hazardous substance. In the USA legislation was proposed in March 2009 to ban the use of Bisphenol A.

In Malaysia, there was a discussion about banning BPA in our daily use in 'ta pao' (take away) container, but nothing happened after that. I think the main thing is that a lot of people are still not aware about the dangers of using it.

Here you can check for some BPA free alternatives for baby bottles. There is also another brand that is not featured on the above site, which is from Philips Avent which is not widely available in Malaysia yet. I'm lucky to buy it online, after waiting for 2 months. Here you can see both the polycarbonate bottle (contains BPA) and polyethersulfone bottle (BPA free). The BPA free is on the right and has a yellow gold tint to it.

In the near future, I will try to find more greener products, from clothing to daily use and share with you. Happy parenting!

Almost half a year.

2009-04-07T11:09:00.000+08:00

It's been a busy month for me. For my business we just launched the new packaging and received very good feedback from customers, thanks everyone for the support. And also my baby Aiden. He's 5 months and 2 days now.

Yup, time flies. These days, Aiden is more aware and curious about his environment and he also starts to talk a lot... I mean really a lot. :) Every morning he'll talk at least half an hour, starting to make different sounds and will flip himself and hold his head up to see where is his daddy and mommy.

During the day he likes to grab anything he can get his lil hands on and proceed to put it in his month to feel and taste what it is like. He also loves to look in the mirror and look at himself. One time I put him on his back in his gym to play. After a while when I checked on him he had flipped himself on his tummy and was holding the lil mirror in his hands to look at himself. :)

Here's some pictures and a video clip of Aiden.

Aiden from birth til 20th March

He is so adorable with his new hat from Aunty Fei Fei, thanks Babe

He got so much attention from my friends during Leng's wedding.
Aunty Jasmin was one of them!

I consider myself quite lucky and blessed because not only has my business started but I also have the privilege to see my baby's everyday growth. Everyday I'm learning how to be a better mom, learning some tips here and there. One of them which I felt is quite useful is how to clean baby's belly button. All you need to do is use a cotton bud with lotion on it to clean it gently and it works!

I'm thinking to add a column for parents to share their tips on parenting. And I hope this can help other young mommy's out there who are like me. Being a mom for the 1st time, tips on parenting are always good to know. So, please come back next time to share with us some of your tips or thoughts on parenting. Happy parenting!

lil king & princess pack is out!

2009-03-22T22:54:00.000+08:00

The new full moon packs are finally here! Yeah!!! There are two gorgeous designs. Inspiration for these has come from my baby boy, because he loves to play with the animals in his rainforest gym. :) The first design is especially for baby girls and it is called "princess". The second design is for the baby boys and it is called "lil king".

my princess dreams

hail the new king of the jungle

And that is not all.... oh no... there are also new designs for the personalized card and labels! Yes, I have been very busy. ;)

And last but not least there is a new delicious add on pack which is the chocolate bar, which can only be used with the new lil king and princess packs. The label has a special message as you can see here.

There's also a promotion for the new packs. Do check out the updated
website.

Hope you guys like it! :)

23.03.09

2009-03-19T18:11:00.000+08:00

His 1st moment!

2009-03-06T11:59:00.000+08:00

his 1st levi's jeans – present from uncle Noud n Rik :)

As a parent, I guess one of the most exciting moments is all your baby's 1st times.

his 1st teeth
his 1st step
his 1st word
his 1st day at school
his 1st lil girlfriend
and so much more to come...

It has been a few weeks, every morning and evening, I always put him on his belly on our bed and try to flip him around so he can practice his neck muscles. Finally, on 20th feb, he was able to put his head up and tried to look at me! Yeah! I quickly ran down to grab the camera to capture the moment. At that time, he looked to be quite struggling to do that, but these days, it seems easier for him. Hope he can also flip himself around soon :)

his 1st time manage to push his head up on 20th feb :)

Last weekend, we went to MyDear's warehouse sale and hoped we could grab you some good deal. It's quite busy that day but we still managed to find him a walker (which can be converted to a rocker) and a high chair (which also can be converted to something different, a swing!). :P We knew it is a bit too early for him to use the walker and high chair, but for now, he can use it as a rocker n swing, which I think is quite cool. And he seems happy when sitting on the swing!

his 1st swing cum high chair

I hope all you parents out there also enjoy all your baby's 1st times. :)

Lil Mama introduces Lil Foon

2009-03-05T11:55:00.000+08:00

Here is another talented illustrator friend I want to share with you.

Her name is Siow Foon, we used to work together at Leo Burnett a few years back. She's not only famous with her small body frame but also her fierce, dark and unique illustration.

Here is some of her work.

These days, she is busy with creating jewellery, and I'm so glad that I'm the proud owner of one of them. Please click here to check it all out for yourself: thing.eye.made

40 pairs of booties are marching out!

2009-02-21T23:14:00.000+08:00

Once upon a time there were some booties that wanted to share their love. This time, they found the Khoo family. They decided to help them share their love of their baby girl, Tracy with their friends and family. But first they had to make the journey. We wished them well on their long trip and hope they will succeed in their quest.

Then, a few days later, we received word from far away. It was good news, the booties had more than succeeded and spread their love far n beyond!

We hope the rest of the booties can be send out on a mission soon! :)

Paper vs cloth diapers

2009-02-13T12:53:00.000+08:00

my top model :)

I always hear friends who are parents talk about how to save money on diapers, where to buy them and what brand to buy. And of course the main question is: When is the next sales?

After a rough calculation, we found out it will cost you RM 2,555 in 2.5 years and 3,650 diapers will be sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years! (4 diapers a day for 2.5 years at RM 0.70 per diaper: 4 x 365 x 2.5 x 0.7 = RM 2,555) Of course there is a cheaper way, lampins. But after 2 months, washing and folding lampin every night, we decide to give cloth diapers a try.

So, it's already been a few months using the cloth diapers and we are very happy with it. Now, we only use paper diapers at night and will change to the cloth diaper during the day time. And usually I only need to change 3 times which save me lots of time, cause if he's feeling wet on his normal lampin, he won't be happy and cries a lot, which also means I need to carry him a lot for him to get into sleep again. Initial investment is about RM 1,000 and then there will some water and electrical costs with the washing, but overall you'll be much cheaper of.

Using the diaper makes me feel nice since there is one disposable diaper less in the landfill every time I change to a cloth diaper. The movie "Wall-E" might be exaggerating the situation (in case you didn't see it, the town has more big heaps of garbage then skyscrapers), but that doesn't mean we didn't need to try to reduce the waste we produce. As a parent, I hope our kids also can enjoy our nice and beautiful world. :)

Soooo, what do you think about cloth diapers? (Can comment below :) )

Chinese New Year

2009-02-02T16:39:00.000+08:00

chinese new year must do – lou yee sang

Everyone knows that Chinese people are very passionate about their food, and of course the different cooking styles are also famous around the world. We also have different types of dish for different occasions, so during Chinese New Year, 'lou yee sang' is a must for most of the Chinese.

For me, 'lou yee sang' (lou = mix) is quite a nice and fun thing to do, even though it always ends up a bit messy on the table. Few times, during the 'lou yee sang', my friend's chopstick felt into the mixing and it's was so funny that other people are still tossing the shredded ingredients into the air with chopsticks while saying auspicious wishes out loud, and she is saying "where is my chopstick?" It's done to mark the start of a prosperous new year and it's believed that the higher you toss, the greater your fortunes will be.

A 'must eat' dish for Chinese during weddings is 'shark fin soup'. The dish is considered a symbol of wealth and prestige for most Chinese. But what I felt is that eating this soup isn't really meaningful. To me personally it also doesn't taste that good. :P

The term shark finning comes from how the shark fins are obtained: the fins are cut from living sharks. You can check at wikipedia if you'd like to read more about it.

When I first heard about this I was quite sad. I wish by sharing this information, more people will stop eating shark fin soup so that sharks won't go extinct.

Hot N Cold

2009-01-22T17:00:00.000+08:00

playing at his gym

for me, he look so different when sitting :)

11 weeks old. He’s growing very fast. He's already 6.2kg. :)

According to scientific research, human infants are amongst the slowest mammals to be independent. I guess our babies just need more time to learn to love and appreciate the world. :) These days you can hear Katy Perry’s "Hot N Cold" almost everywhere, and I felt so bonded with the song.

"Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in and you're out
You're up and you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up"

I guess all the parents will have the same situation as well, sometimes it's just so overwhelming. :) One moment he's smiling at you, then in a second he will burst into tears. But all the crying and difficult moments are forgotten straight away when he smiles again.

friend who luvs to paint

2009-01-20T10:16:00.000+08:00

Aren't they cute? :) These are some of the works which my friend had painted. She used to be my colleague at an Ad agency, she was our traffic manager. Now, she already quit her job and went back to focus on her kids and paint some custom ordered items. She doesn't have a fixed store yet, currently she's at Jaya 33 alternate weekends and sometimes at Amcorp.

She used to paint mainly animals on rocks, like dogs and kitties, mostly. Besides rocks, she paints t-shirts, boxes and stools and almost anything that her customer wants. So what you get is a one of its kind item! Isn't it great?

You can see more on her work here.

people people on the net, which is the most favorite of them all?

2009-01-02T13:58:00.000+08:00

Remember I said yesterday that I’m working on a new design? I’m also planning to put in a toy as part of the full moon package. So rather than a normal teddy bear, here are some of the toys that I think your friends will love when they receive your full moon pack!

I still have some questions to resolve, so please head over to my site to fill up a simple survey: Click here

have a wonderful 2009!

2009-01-01T14:45:00.000+08:00

It’s been a busy period taking care of Aiden and I’ve been feeling quite tired for the past couple of weeks after the confinement lady left. My husband is working so during the week I’m mostly doing the night shift which can be quite tiring as I guess some of you also have experienced already. Lately it’s getting better as Aiden is getting in a more stable sleeping rhythm during the night. Yeah! J

Anyway, it’s all worth it. J Being a mom really is a wonderful feeling. Right now Aiden is starting to make more and more new cute sounds. These days I am also finding more time to start working on my new packaging design. Card above is a hint about the design.

I’m also accepting orders again as of today!

My new year’s resolution is to take the best care of Aiden as I can.
Further I hope I can help all of you to make your full moon celebration the best possible experience!

day out with the “boxer aiden”!

2008-12-19T13:16:00.000+08:00

seem excited to go out? Q: what about when you are at the mall?

This year, we decided to keep our christmas tree in the store room and go out to search for a bigger tree! Plus we needed to get some presents for your dad’s family and your cousin, so we went to Pavillion.

This was the 1st time we went out to a mall, so I’m excited and also nervous. Wondering will you cry or “boom” during middle of shopping or not and the result was you did both of them! We quickly found you a room to clean you. You were sharing it with another baby who is drinking milk, hope ‘it’ didn’t shock the other baby. :)

A: you slept all the way and daddy tried to capture the 'look' of you

End of the day, it’s a good trip for us. We managed to get all the presents. Daddy also bought a microwave so that we can prepare food faster and have more time for you.

Hope our next trip out will be soon, and you can be more awake to enjoy the world which is waiting for you to explore. :)

aiden's fullmoon

2008-12-08T08:32:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, we celebrate Aiden’s full moon. Yup, it’s over a month already, and lots of your aunty and uncle come and see you, they give you lots of presents and ‘ang pow’. Within a month you are already making more money than your mum. :)

And yesterday also the 1st time I manage to take some pic with you cause usually your mummy looks tired trying to cope with the daily routine.

We gave you a chocolate cake which is the same theme with your mummy next project – ‘the new king of the jungle’ and also some cupcakes with the lion face. And you also got some very nice mini cupcakes from your mummy’s best friends. End up with lots of lots of cupcakes. :P

looking at the camera with godmother

During the whole night, you behave very well, didn’t cry at all. Just like to look at so many people around you, listening people saying who do you look like. But for sure everyone say that you get the hairline from your daddy. haha.

Want to c more pic on that night, can click here.

remember, remember the 5th of november when a new star is born: aiden dennis ebbers

2008-11-20T15:38:00.000+08:00

just 2 days

Aiden Dennis Ebbers born at 00.20am on 5th Nov, 2008. You are with us 8 days earlier then what the doc expected, which is 13th Nov.

Earlier in the month, I was joking with your dad that you will arrive early and maybe is on the 5th, Nov. You know why? haha =) Your dad is very much into the US election 08, and everyday since the campaign between Obama and Hillary start, he checked the news on internet and tv at least 2 to 3 hours per day. And he even took a day off on 5th Nov, not bcos he know you will arrive but he wanted to follow the result of the election!! So I’m saying to him that, you will arrive on that day to mess up his plan.

But I guess you also luv him a lot and want to witness this important day of history in the century. You arrived just in time for everyone, very early in the day, so everyone have some time to recover and follow the result which came later in the day. :)

playing with daddy

It’s been 2 weeks now. I’m still in some pain and still don’t look 100%, so I still not allow your daddy to capture any moment where we are together, hope you can understand that your mummy is with you all the time but just can’t show it on pic yet.

People who see your pic saying you look like me or your daddy, said you gonna have your daddy’s nose, my eyes (cos you didn’t really open your eye that much, look small :P) and so on...

Sorry, I can’t really write much, cause you still need a lot of my attention, only when you’re asleep and I hope in the future you will grow healthy, strong and tall, it doesn’t matter who you look like most, handsome or not , cause you know your daddy and mummy will luv you without condition and we’ll try our best to give you all the happiness we can.

5th and mixie

2008-07-25T15:02:00.000+08:00

Recently, a lot of street cats appeared in our housing area, the thing I worry most is when they are gonna pop out some more poor lil kittens. :P

Last Wednesday, a neighborhood kid came over and told us, they have ‘rescued’ 3 lil kitten from the mum! Hubby and I quickly went over and checked. They are so small, I guess around 1 week old. We quickly help them to feed the cat with some fresh milk and clean them up. The kids are so happy and excited but in our mind, we’re quiet worried, because we don’t think they are capable to keep them. We talked to their mum about coming tomorrow to take pic of the kitten and post it on the net, so hopefully people might adopt them. And she agreed.

But the other morning, I heard my neighbor said one of the kitten had passed away and the kid also returned those kitten to the mum. And when I asked them where they were, they had no idea. Luckily end up, I found them back with some help. We keep these 2 lil one in one of our rooms, we name them ‘5th’ and ‘mixie’.

And very lucky, after a month both of them were also adopted. ‘mixie’ was the 1st, she’s now staying very happy and healthy with a very nice girl who lives in Kampar. And ‘5th’ was a present to a girl from some of her friends.

For people who also wish to give a loving home for some rescue kitten and puppy, u can visit www.petfinder.my And don’t forget spaying or neutering your pet is a good and healthy way to prevent overpopulation at your neighborhood. You can learn more at SPCA on neutering.

wedding invitation for bro in law

2008-06-01T14:29:00.000+08:00

releasing balloons outside the monastry

My brother law was gonna get married in what used to be a monastery but what is now an event place. I offered to help them with the invitation so I came out with a few fun concepts which are all based on the monastery.

1. Breaking news!
1st one is an improvement on what they were thinking of, which is an article in a newspaper. They are trying to go to the monastery without letting other people know, but unfortunately they are being followed by the paparazi! And then a famous dutch newspaper has the article on the frontpage that they are going to be monks! But the actual ‘news’ will be printed inside the page. This mock up newspaper will be delivered to their friends and relatives early in the morning just like how they receive their newspaper.

Monks robe
This idea is based on the monks apparel. It’s very simple where the invitation is wrapped in a cloth which is similar with the monks robe and it’s tied together with a cord. There’s a card attached with a teaser line about the invitation.

3. Monks cross
This is also based on the monks appearance. I was thinking that the invitation would be super cool if it’s like something that people can keep and maybe even can wear to the wedding as an entry pass! So, a cross it was! And this is the one they chose. First, I was thinking of using metal as the material but the cost was very high, then we end up using a solid white perspex which is cheaper.

coochicoo.com.my – my first baby

2008-01-29T03:22:00.000+08:00

sky r clear and shinning bright out there :)

To set up this business probably is the biggest thing I have ever done in my life...emm actually not, :) it should be marrying my hubby :P

I luv to spend time with my hubby, my 2 cats (mojo n bubbles) and also I like my house especially my 25k kitchen. hahaha, not so much.

I used to be a designer and art director for the past 8 years from big agency like Grey worldwide, Arc Worldwide and O&M. In between, I worked in small agency and now i can’t even remember the name. I like this industry very much but most of the time, the client is difficult and doesn’t appreciate the work much. And I think it’s time to do something for myself. Cos I believe that, there are a lot of people who want something special and will appreciate it (not like what the client always said, consumers are not ready, they won’t understand it). So please enjoy to check out my stuff and I hope you’ll like it.

Today, I finally got my business registered!!!! yupee!
When I’m sitting, waiting for my turn, the mixed feeling of excitement and worry is even stronger then sitting for an advertising award night. Strange...
After few hours waiting, finally I’m officially a business owner! haha.
Sky is clear and shining bright out there.:)

write to me at lilmama@coochicoo.com.my