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.

Happy Mother's Day

6 May 2011 

It was our usual Friday family dinner at parents house, with parents and siblings family.



On the way home from work, I decided to buy crepes cake from Food Fondry. As I did not pre-order the cake, they did not have any whole cake. I decided to mix and match the crepes cake with vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavour.

Each slice cost RM9 and the above 12 slices cost RM108.

My sister's birthday is on Saturday and Mother's Day is on Sunday. We have postponed our Mother's Day celebration to the following week as most of the kids are having school exam now. We also do no like the crowd at restaurants.

Photo with mother, sisters, niece and nephews. Everyone looked so happy in this photo.

My youngest sister reminded her 4 years old boy not to blow the candles as it's not his birthday.

After singing the birthday song, it was so funny that I blew the candles instead! I don't know why I did it, probably I was too excited that I wanted to share the crepes cake with my family. The photo above was taken right after the incident, with my sister pointing at me. How embarrasing!

My sister's son then asked my sister why I blew the candles when it was not my birthday.Smart boy.

Sharing the crepes cake. I cut each slice of cakes into two so that everyone get to try the different flavour of crepes cake. The crepes cake was good and most of them prefer the original vanilla flavour.

I bought this Crabtree & Evelyn's Lavender Hatbox gift set for mom.

 Mom has never enjoyed or pampered herself with this kind of nice shower gel or lotion.

When we got home from parents' house, Jaden gave me this Mother's Day card, made by him with the help of his Krista teacher.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the world. May everyday is a Mother's Day.

Chocolate Banana Brownie with Chocolate Frosting

2 May 2011

I like to store some of the basic baking ingredients so that as and when I am in the mood to bake, or when Jared or Jaden make some cake request, I can quickly whip up a cake for them.

Jaden is a big fan of chocolate cake. He just love chocolate ... During the Labour Day holiday, since Jared and Jaden made American breakfast for us as breakfast, I decided to bake Chocolate Banana Brownie with Chocolate Frosting for them.

Brownie is one of the simplest chocolate cake to bake.

I found this EasyMelt's dark chocolate buttons at Jaya Grocer. It is very convenient as chocolate frosting cause we do not need to buy baking chocolate and whipping cream and mix them. In addition, once we open the box of whipping cream, we must use it within 3 days and I always end up throwing the balance of whipping cream away. This buttons will be a convenient and cheaper option for me.

Melting the chocolate buttons and they melt easily.

Pour on top of brownie as the chocolate frosting. The taste was great.

I like the banana sweetness taste in the rich chocolate. Too much chocolate may cause constipation and the banana balance it.

I served this brownie with vanilla ice-cream and kids just love it. After all, which kids do not like chocolate and ice-cream.

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
• Granulated sugar - 1 1/2 cups (*Note : 1 cup will do if you do not want too sweet)
• Cocoa powder - 3 /4 cup
• Baking soda - 1 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
• Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
• Eggs - 2 large, at room temperature
• Bananas - 4 ripe, mashed (Pisang emas will be a good choice as it's sweet)
• Warm water - 1 cup
• Milk - 1/2 cup (full cream)
• Vegetable oil - 1/2 cup (sunflower or canola)
• Vanilla extract - 1 1/2 teaspoon

Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:

• Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate - 8 ounces (227 grams) cut into small pieces (may add about 1 1/4 cups of chocolate chips)
• Whipping cream - 3/4 cup

In my case, I used EasyMelt's dark chocolate buttons to replace the above chocolate frosting ingredients.

Directions:

1. Cut baking paper, the size of the pans, grease the pans, cover with parchment paper and grease again. Set aside. (1 square tin - 9 inch)
2. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
3. In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and baking powder together, set aside. Whisk in the sugar.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil and vanilla extract.
5. Add the wet ingredients (egg mixture) to the dry ingredients (flour mixture) and stir or whisk until just combined. To get the best result try stirring on the same direction using a spatula; do not over mix. The batter is going to be quite thin.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Avoid opening the oven door in the first 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes.
7. After the cakes reached the room temperature, remove them from the pans. If you used parchment paper, take it off. If you can't take the cakes off the pans easily, try loosening the edges with a sharp knife.
8. To make the chocolate frosting: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel or heatproof bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate brownie.
9. Cover brownie with the chocolate frosting

Easter Day and Chocolate Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

24 April 2011

I promised my nephew that I would bake more cupcakes for him since there weren't enough to go around during the family dinner at my parents' house.

This time round, I baked red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

I used beetroot and not coloring for the red colour effect on the cake. The recipe also call for cocoa powder.

Red velvet cupcakes and cheesecake are getting very, very popular. My friend, Audrey said I still bake the best red velvet cake. So happy to hear that.

However, my nephew prefers the butter cupcakes.

It was also my staff, Carmen's birthday. I brought a box of these cupcakes to office for her to share with our colleagues. My colleagues like it but some said its not sweet enough.

I baked for the whole 3 days from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. It was tiring but satisfying.

Need to shelf the baking activities for a while as Jared's mid year exam is just round the corner. I am more worry and stress than Jared for his exam. I don't remember my parents have to worry about my exam during my school time.



Potato Cheese Cake and Roast Chicken

23 Apr 2011

I wanted to do so much over this Good Friday and Easter Sunday weekends.

Auntie YC invited us to her house for roast chicken dinner. I proposed to make Potato Cheese Cake, a recipe that I learned from Chef Malcolm during Electrolux's mobile truck cooking demo.

This potato cheese cake is different from the usual mash, baked or smashed potato recipes. I used potato, cream cheese, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, butter, leek, shallot, garlic, egg, flour, salt and pepper.

The taste was good. My family and Aunty YC like it.

Cute tomatoes on the vine. We ate them raw with our salad.

Two different roast chickens ... the spicy and non-spicy types.

Jaden was hungry, especially with the aroma smell of the roast chickens.

He became restless as we were getting ready the dinner.