Mini Cake Loaf

7 Jul 11

Yesterday after dinner, I asked Hubby to take me to Desa Parkcity for a walk. I wanted to visit the newly refitted store Aino Kitchen at the Waterfront, Desa Parkcity.

I saw this cake tray that has 8 smaller holes to bake small cakes and thought it was cute. Auntie YC said the cake tray is a good idea as I can serve individual cake without having to cut cake into slices. The tray costs RM19.90.

I bought it as I intended to bake banana butter cake the following day. Mom complained that I did not give her any share of the banana butter cake that I baked last week.

Today after dinner, I baked banana butter cake and I used the newly bought tray. Hubby smelled the nice aroma of the banana cake and said he’s hungry. I took out one of the cake from the tray and the cake can come out from the tray so easily.

I put a mini banana cake in a box and tie it with purple satin ribbon into a bow. It looks so cute too and I like the tray! I should get another one so that I can have 16 cute little cakes for tea party.

Jaden and his 3 visits to clinic and hospital in a week ... Otitis and Tonsillitis

18 Jul 11

I am so heart ache. Jaden has been unwell for a week now and he has visited GP twice and hospital once in this one week and taken so much medicine.

Last Monday (11 Jul) night, Jaden complained ear pain and he couldn’t sleep well the whole night. He has the same complained in Oct 2010.

The following day, Hubby took him to see a GP near our house. According to doctor, he had Otitis (ear infection) on his right ear and prescribed antibiotic, flu and pain killer medicine for Jaden.

On Sat, I saw green discharge on both sides of Jaden eyes. Jaden started to have red eye on his left eye. Then, the right eye turned red too.

 

We brought Jaden to see the same GP. According to the GP, the infection had spread to both sides of his ears and he had eyes infection too. Jaden had tonsillitis (an inflammation of the tonsils) and both his nose are blocked, with flu and phlegm. The doctor prescribed him with a stronger antibiotic, cough and eye gel for the red eyes.

At night, Jaden didn’t have a good night sleep. I did not too. He had high fever and I kept sponging and monitor his fever temperature the whole night.

On Sunday, I was trying to catch some sleep in the afternoon but could not as I am not use to afternoon nap.

At night, the same episode recurs. Jaden had high fever of 38.7 Celsius. He couldn’t breathe properly due to blocked nose and didn’t have a good night sleep again. I was extremely tired by then, feeling sleepy and with backache.

I knew I had to bring him to see our favourite pediatrician at SDMC. I took an emergency leave from my boss today and took Jaden to see Dr Lee. Dr Lee is a very thorough and detail doctor. He listened to me and writes down on Jaden’s medical record. He checked Jaden’s eye, nose, ear, and throat and also listen to his breathing sounds. He prescribed more medicine for Jaden ... Garamycin eye drop, Cedax antibiotics, Parmol fever, Bucanil phlegm and Dhasolone syrup to clear respiratory and cough. He advised me not to give fever medicine to Jaden if his body temperature is below 38 Celsius though the temperature is higher than the normal temperature of 36.5 to 37.0 Celsius as their body is fighting inside.

Dr Lee said there’s no major health issue with Jaden but infections that has spread from ears to nose, throat and upper respiratory tract that cause fever, flu, cough and no appetite to food. Jaden’s red eyes are due to itchiness and rubbing of eyes which will take approximately 2 weeks to clear.

The consultation and medicine bill came to a total of RM211.65 and I need to bring Jaden back to see him on this coming Friday to ensure the infections are properly cured and clear.

Jaden is so weak now. He has not been sleeping and eating well and yet he has taken lots of medicine. The Angry Bird toy is his friend now.

He will check his own body temperature and will read the temperature to me. He will ask me to sponge him or spray water to him and say "I like it".

I am going to catch some sleep now, need it BADLY. Hope Jaden and I can have a good night sleep tonight. Need to get back to work tomorrow.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

16 Jul 11

A few days ago, Jared said to me "Mommy, we have not eaten Pancakes for a long time".

We used to buy those pre-mix pancakes ingredients, follow the steps, add this and that and those pancake were done.

A few years ago, Hubby logged in to his favourite baking website, All Recipes and printed a pancake recipe for me. In fact, the recipe print-out that I am using was printed and dated Dec 07. We tried it and wow ... the pancake is much tastier than those from the pre-mix pack.

When Nina was with us, we used to place our order with her the night before. When we woke up, she would start mixing the ingredients, fry and serve those pancakes fresh and warm for us. It is so easy to make.  

This morning, we had pancakes for breakfast. I served it with butter, pancake syrup, St Dalfour berries jam and whipping cream. I added banana to my piece of pancake. Jared likes his pancake with just pancake syrup and I persuaded him to try with some butter too.

 

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes ingredients from Allrecipes.com:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk - I used full cream milk. Full cream milk is preferred for baking.
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted - I used my favourite Anchor unsalted butter

Directions :

1.In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

2.Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

 

That's it. So simple that it only take 5 minutes for preparation and another 15 mins to cook.

Flat Feet and Family Podiatry Centre

29 Jun 11

After Jaden's feet x-ray at Sime Darby Specialist Centre at Taman Megah, a few days later, we brought Jaden back to the Family Podiatry Centre with the x-ray report. This time round, we went to the centre at KL Soho, Solaris Mount Kiara. Dr Mark would be taking a month off in Jul 11 to go back to his home town in South Africa.

Dr Mark evaluated Jaden’s feet x-ray and explained it to us. Jaden's talus bones were at 40 degree as compared to the usual 20 degree. I asked Dr Mark why is it that flat feet are so common? Why most of the people do not do anything about it? Why so many people said children will out-grow it? Dr Mark told us the consequences of flat feet i.e. can’t walk for long, experience leg pain, bad posture, etc.

Dr Mark recommended Jaden to wear special shoes to support his feet. However, there were no such shoes of small size for him. They will make an insole for him instead.

After the consultation, we went to another room and saw the above. They used plaster of paris, which is a quick-setting gypsum plaster consisting of a fine, white powder,  calcium sulfate, which hardens when moistened and allowed to dry.

We paid RM650 for this visit which is inclusive of casting fee and deposit for the custom molded orthotics for Jaden. It will take approximately 4-6 weeks for the insole to be ready. By which, Dr Mark will be back.

Our appointment for the day was at 4.15pm. There were quite a number of patients in the centre to catch Dr Mark before he goes on long holiday. By the time we got to see Dr Mark was about 5.15pm. The consultation and preparing the mould casting was less than 30 minutes. I had to wait quite a while for them to print the bill for us to pay. By the time I left Solaris Mt Kiara, it was almost 6 o’clock.

This will be Jaden’s most expensive pair of shoes. We hope it will help Jaden and give him confidence when he runs and let him enjoy his childhood.

Flat Feet and at what age to get treatment?

25 Jun 11

As Jaden was growing up, we noticed Jaden has flat feet as his feet do not have arch.

In Oct 09 when Jaden was 2.5 years old, we took Jaden to see orthopedic and the orthopedic said it is normal for child of Jaden's age as arch hasn't formed yet and arches should form when he is older and it was too early for us to do anything, etc.

Jaden can't run as fast as his cousin who is 9.5 months younger than him. When he runs, he fall half the time. We took him to Foot Solutions and Schein at The Curve and both did not have solution for Jaden's age. Foot Solutions recommended us to take Jaden to see a Podiatrist, one is in TTDI and the other is in Sunway Medical Centre.

One day, over lunch, as I was talking to Fei Yin about Jaden's feet, she mentioned that her friend took her child to see a Podiatrist in TTDI. I goggled on the Internet and find Family Podiatry Centre which is the same Podiatry that was recommended by Foot Solutions. I read more about the centre and also the chief podiatrist and founder, Dr Mark B Reyneker.

It wasn't easy to get an appointment at the Family Podiatry Centre. Finally, we brought Jaden to the centre on last Friday.

On our first consultation, Dr Mark asked us a series of questions:

1. At what age Jaden started walking?
2. Did he use walker?
3. Did he tip toe?
4. Does he complain leg pain when walking in shopping complex?
5. Does he complain leg pain at night?
6. Any of the family member has flat feet?

Dr Mark asked Jaden to walk from one wall to the other for him to observe the way he walks. He also asked him to lie down to check his leg. 

When Jaden lying down, the feet has arch. Dr Mark said Jaden has flexible flat feet. The good news is it can be treated. For Jaden's case, it may take 4 years. Dr Mark explained to us that talus bone suppose to be horizontal but collapse when Jaden stands up.

I asked Dr Mark if it is too young for Jaden to seek treatment for his flat feet and he advised that the earlier the treatment for flat feet, the better it will be.

He asked us to get x-ray of Jaden's leg in standing position and return to see him with the x-ray. He also gave us a piece of paper with the wrong sleeping and sitting position. We should not sleep on our tummy or sitting cross leg to avoid putting weight on our legs and feet.

The following day, we brought Jaden to SJMC Specialist Centre at Taman Megah to get the x-ray done.

The consultation fee at Family Podiatry Centre was RM150 and the x-ray costs us RM55. I heard the special shoes or insole for flat fee is costly.

We hope to bring Jaden back to the Family Podiatry Centre to start the treatment for his flat feet this week before the doctor goes away in Jul 11 for a month holiday.

Bad News and Good News

15 Jun 11

Yesterday, Jaden came back from his mandarin class and complained pain on his hands and legs. Upon checking, Hubby found several red marks on his hands and legs. He told Hubby that an elder boy beaten him in the centre.

Hubby got angry and called the principal of the centre. The principal denied and say Jaden fell down. But Jaden told Hubby that an elder boy has beaten him and the red marks are over several spots on his hands and legs.

The night before the next Mandarin class, Jaden told us that he didn't want to go to the class anymore.

Today, Hubby went to the centre to speak to the principal. The principal is arguing that Jaden fell down. Hubby told the principal the red marks are here and there, not just one spot and showed her the bruises on Jaden's leg and hand. Hubby told her that Jaden fell down cause he was trying to run away from the older boy.

The principal didn't say much and Hubby told them that it is their duty to protect all the children in the centre.

On the other hand ... I'm such a proud Mommy.

Jared had his Kumon Maths test on last Monday. After the test and result, the Kumon Centre's principal came and congratulated Jared and Hubby. Jared has set record at his Kumon centre for being the youngest kid, at less than 8 years old, to do Secondary Maths.

Mocha cupcakes with buttercream frosting

14 May 2011

My ex-staff brought Baker's Cottage cupcakes for us for her baby full moon celebration. I didn't know that Baker's Cottage does sell cupcakes.

There were 4 varieties of cupcakes and one of it is Mocha cupcake which Hubby liked it very, very much.

I have only baked butter and chocolate cupcakes, not any other varieties. I would very much like to try something different and bake them for my family.

I searched for recipe in internet and found the resipe of Mocha cupcakes with buttercream frosting from My Baking Addiction. Hmmm ... sounds yummy!

I used Wilton tip 1M to make the buttercream frosting on the cupcakes.

Jaden loves the cake, especially the chocolate taste of the cupcakes and the giganto frosting.

Hubby said these cupcakes were awesome, one of the best that I've baked so far, he gave 9 out of 10 points.

I like this cupcake too. I'll surely include in my favourite baking list and bake them more often.