Wednesday, April 26, 2006

A Mother's Prayer

by Mary A. Loberg

help me dear Lord, as a mother, I pray
and bless these hands folded in prayer today;
may they be ever strong as they guide, as they teach,
beings never too far for a child to reach.
may they never, with selfishness, try to dissuade,
nor too quickly punish, nor too slowly aid.
may they point out the pleasures in laughter and song,
and may they show, wisely, the right from the wrong,
so that one day I'll know that I've helped all I can
to make her a woman, to make him a man.


Lord, bless my little Crystal,
may she live happily and healthily

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

menurunkan kadar formalin dalam makanan

Isu tentang formalin mungkin sudah mulai surut. Dra. SUKESI M.Si, Dosen Jurusan Kimia (FMIPA ITS), menginformasikan 3 cara sederhana dan murah untuk mengurangi kandungan formalin dalam makanan yang diawetkan dengan formalin.

Untuk mengurangi kadar formalin (deformalinisasi) dalam makanan antara lain:
ikan asin : rendam dalam air garam, mengurangi kadar hingga 89.5%
ikan segar : rendam dalam larutan cuka 5% selama 15 menit
tahu : rebus dalam air mendidih, kemudian goreng
mie : rendam 30 menit dalam air panas, mengurangi kadar hingga 100%.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

brushing teeth

I’m trying to teach Crystal to brush teeth, by giving her a yellow toothbrush.
The brush is a little bit big for her tiny mouth though.
Her brother and she has a favorite Chinese song,
“wash…brush…brush…” (洗刷刷…洗刷刷…)
I will sing it for her and show her while somebody is brushing teeth.
She would watch attentively and put the toothbrush in her mouth and bites it.
Her grandpa doesn’t agree on my teaching her to brush teeth.
He said, it’s unsafe in case the brush hit her eyes.
I say nothing, I don't want to argue with him, but I will still teach her,
as long as I watch her doing it.
I saw her brother 4 upper-front-teeth, it’s totally covered by un-brushed food,
and (to be honest) it looked so horrible.
When she is used to and understand this activity,
I will try to brush her teeth.

favorite time

43th week

weekend is now my most favorite time. not bcoz i dont have to go to work. but bcoz i can be together with not only my husband, but also my sweet little girl.

It's still early spring now. if the weather is not so cold outside, i would take Crystal out for a walk. Her grandma also takes her out to play every afternoon if i am at work.

my city is a small city. i like it so far, especially there are a lot of fruit sellers on the sidewalk or besides some roads. And so many people taking their children or grandchildren out to play, or some other people taking their dogs out to walk. i enjoy showing her things: grass, tree, people selling prawn on the sidewalk, fish, fruits, birds, dogs, little children, flowers blossom in the early spring, etc...etc... She's amazed by it all and wants to touch every thing. while I'm amazed by her.
we're taking her to Carrefour this afternoon. it's 15 minutes walking from our apartment. we passed by a park. i showed her an old man blowing a bamboo flute. another old man was playing er-hu (a Chinese traditional musical instrument). and some big boys are playing with roller blade.

She laughed and giggled happily every time i pointed her the grass. And she would make a salute and shake hand every time i sing a Chinese song:
Looking…looking…looking for a friend. 找呀...找呀...找朋友
I have found a very good friend. 找到一个好朋友
Making salute, shaking hand. 敬个礼, 握握手
You are my very good friend. 你是我的好朋友


I was so amazed last Wednesday night. When i washed her for bed time. We were at the living room. There was an ads on tv, using above song for its jingle. At the beginning i didn't pay attention to the ads, it was her grandpa told us that she sang a long…by saying da…da…da… and she was twitching all her little fingers.

At Carrefour, we put her on the cart. she was amazed and playing with the handle. later on, she observed many things as we went from shelf to shelf. after finally she felt hot, cried and wanted to sleep. so i carried her in my arms until she fell asleep.

It's really exciting to watch over a child development!
I always love children, now i have my own lill girl.
To me this is the most pleasant dream that has come true !

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

LESSONS FROM GEESE

Author Unknown

FACT 1
As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
LESSON:
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.


FACT 2
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
LESSON:
If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.


FACT 3
When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.
LESSON:
It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.


FACT 4
The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
LESSON:
We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.


FACT 5
When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
LESSON:
If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

12 TIPS FOR A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

More than 100 years ago, author Robert Louis Stevenson offered the following tips for maintaining a positive attitude. They still apply today.

1. Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.

2. Make the best of your circumstances. Everyone has problems.

3. Don't take yourself too seriously. Don't think that somehow you should be protected from misfortunes that befall others.

4. You can't please everybody. Don't let criticism worry you.

5. Don't let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.

6. Do the things you enjoy doing, but stay out of debt.

7. Don't borrow trouble. Imaginary burdens are harder to bear than the actual ones.

8. Hate poisons the soul, so don't carry grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.

9. Have many interests. If you can't travel, read about new places.

10. Don't hold postmortems. Don't spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes.

11. Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

12. Keep busy at something. A busy person never has time to be unhappy.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

pesawatku

i was out for duty to Guangzhou on 22-23 April.
her father was playing aircraft with her ..
telling her that her mommy was on airplane, fly above the sky.
then the aircraft turned around, etc. etc.
after i came back, i found out that when she was playing an airplane toy,
she would raise the plane high with her hand,
and said, "ji..." (fei ji = aircraft) or said, "booo.... booo..."
very cute!
today, she saw the real airplane when we were playing at our balcony.

7th and 8th teeth -- self protection

7th and 8th teeth: left and right upper canine teeth.

if Crystal's cousin-brother wants to grab her toy,
she would turn aside her body, or grasp her toy tighter,
not to let her brother take it away.
sometimes if her brother wants to slap her,
she could protect herself by keeping her body away from him and
aimlessly slapping her own hands.

she got flu for 3 days, got infected by her brother.
my sister-in-law bathed her son on the nite when the temperature dropped down.
and let him play around only with a 'belly band' (a sheet of cloth covering baby's belly).
the baby boy got to have intravenous feeding for 3 days because of severe flu and cough.
it not happens once... but quite often, that his mom pays little attention on cold prevention.
so the baby boy often gets sick.

7th adn 8 thn come out

Thursday, April 13, 2006

'friendly place' called toilet

toilet serves 2 nature purposes, name it number 1 and number 2 ... you know it.... !
besides, it's the friendliest place for us ... ladies ... who need to hide when we weep and want nobody to know or see!

Sunday, April 09, 2006

man man... and left-right

At home, if somebody is going out, we usually will say, “man zou …” or “man dian…”
which can mean “be careful on the way” .
This morning, her daddy was going out to buy breakfast,
Crystal was playing with me on the sofa.
I said to her daddy, “man dian…”.
while busy with a toy on her hand, suddenly she said, “man…man…”.
however it sounded more like “ma…ma…”
It’s amazed me and lin! I repeated to her “man …man…”, and again she said, “ma..man…”
It's her cousin, 19-month older baby boy, says the same words while someone goes out.
She learnt from it i guess.

I was playing with her feet and legs.
seemed she began to understand the concept of ‘left and right’
after I've been teaching her for quite sometime.

also i find out that she enjoys leaning on my upper arm everytime i play with her on the sofa.
i try to put her back to sit position, again she will lean on my arm.
actually, not only she enjoys it, but i also enjoy this sweet bound so much.

Friday, April 07, 2006

5 and 6th teeth

2-Apr-06: 5th tooth on the front-right-upper-gum.
7-Apr-06: 6th tooth on the front-left-upper-gum

Saturday, April 01, 2006

9 months old today

Today, Crystal is 9 months old.

Here are Crystal's 8-month-old development :
* still cannot crawl !!! yeah… we seldom put her sit on floor because it's cold. Sometimes we put her on a mat.
* Recognize things like computer, moon, star, remote control, ball, mandarin orange, strawberry, tooth brush, tooth paste, towel, real fish, Snoopy, mouse (toy)
* Pronounce: che, ji, bao (not very precise), dao (not very precise), and sometimes 'sa'
* Begin to understand the concept of belongings, by knowing her shoes, mommy's shoes, daddy's shoes, her nose and other people nose, etc.
* Begin to understand about big and small
* When we call-roll her complete Chinese name, “Liu Hui Han”, she will raise her hand up and say, “dao….” (in English could mean “i'm here”).
* Clap hands
* Hold her hands together and make the gesture of “gong xi” (congratulate) and laugh if applauded.
* Nod (when we say “dian tou”) and shake head (when we say “yao tou”)
* Sometimes can send a flying kiss
* Wave hand for hello, make a “hi-five”
* Shake head or push away with hand for refusing something
* Play with plane, raise the plane high and say “ji…..ji….” (fei ji = plane)
* Play “feeding” with spoon, play toothpick to other people, play comb to other's hair
* Bring feeding bottle to her own mouth, or aim the feeding bottle to me if i say mama wants to drink
* Listen to someone speaking on phone
* Pull herself up (from lying down) when we hold her hands, and then again pull herself standing up
* If we count from 1-10, after we say 7, she will say “ba” (eight).
* 4 front teeth
* Learn to walk
* Kick ball slightly
* She is fond of glasses. So every time i carry her, i should take my glasses away! her hands are just too fast !!
* Like to see things fall down, get picked up (by others, of course), and then get thrown down again and again.