Egg and vaccinations

Little Pichan has been getting his vaccinations like a good boy, and today it is his MR and Chickenpox. Thankfully, Yokohama gives the chickenpox vaccination for free, whereas other places (like my old town) don't.

Before Pi gets the MR vaccination though, we were told by the doctor that he has to eat raw egg.. Yuk! Not to mention I had no idea how to prepare it, so the nurses told me:

Get warm, white rice

crack an egg on top

mix through thoroughly

eat.

I would put "enjoy" as the last step, but Pichan really wasn't keen on that. He kept spitting out each mouthful until it dribbled down his chin. I don't blame him at all.

However today, I decided to try it again, but a little differently...

Crack and egg into a bowl and whisk.

Season with white pepper

toss half the egg away

add freshly cooked 'okayu' (very runny rice porridge)

stir well.

I was surprised, but Petey actually liked it. He kept opening his mouth wide for more. Maybe because of all the boiling watery okayu the egg was cooked more. Or maybe because the black pepper gave it a nice taste.

Either way, he is not allergic (I think). So off to the doctors we went. This time, they gave him the two shots at once (two different needles). It makes life much easier (instead of going every week), though poor Petey wasn't impressed with it. 

Banana goodness smoothie

Lately I have been getting into smoothies. I think they are perfect for me because they make an easy, healthy snack that I can have on the go (gosh knows Pi doesn't like letting me sitting down). Because I am still breastfeeding, I really need to get a much calcium as I can (and I am crap at that). So drinking milk kills two birds with one stone. I also pour a little bit of milk in Pichans cup with a dash of my smoothie so he thinks he is drinking the same thing (Gosh knows I can't have anything without having to share...)

Banana goodness smoothie recipe:

1 banana
150mls of milk (preferably vitamin D fortified)
5-6 ice cubes
1 tablespoon of chia/flaxseed blend.
1 tablespoon of rolled oats
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of honey

Blend until smooth.


There is goodness in just about all ingredients (except the sugar- though I need that for energy). Rolled oats and the Chia blend *may* help with milk production too.

Here are some benefits of Chia and flax seeds for nursing women.

Chia seeds have fatty oils, protein, calcium, fiber and anti-oxidants. These nutrients will help develop the brain functioning of your child. Aside from that, it will also help you to produce more milk. 
Like sesame seeds, flaxseeds contain phytoestrogens that can influence milk production.



Note: The Chia/Flax seed blend is hard to get in Japan so I buy mine off i-herb.com




http://www.iherb.com/Carrington-Farms-Ready-To-Eat-Flax-Chia-Blend-12-oz-340-g/49514

"helping"

The little man is coming on in leaps and bounds. No walking yet, but he loves "helping". He grabs the cloth that I wipe his highchair down with, and scrubs away with it. He loves sweeping with the broom. He knows/says the words "dirty", and "yukky". This morning he touched the bin, then sat down and brushed off his hands saying "yukky". Every time I take off his dirty nappy he says "dirty".

Mind you, he gets into everything. I caught him one second away from trying to eat a week old piece of chicken out of the bin. I might need to buy another baby gate....

Do I want to read that... Nope, nope and nope

One on the biggest changes for me as parent has been my inability to read any news article involving children. It just stabs me deep inside when I see a headline and think "Nope, there is no way I could stand reading that". Today's gem from BBC news was "Man rapes one day old baby".  Just, no! Mind you, it wasn't the kind of thing I wanted to read before, but now it cuts deep to a personal level.

I find even watching movies has changed for me. I can't really enjoy any movie where kids get injured, or parents die leaving the kid alone. Even the start of something as innocuous as Guardians of the Galaxy got me all watery as all I could think of is "what if that happens to Pichan".

To counter this, I will be reading a lot more happy stories, and enjoying movies where everybody lives, and nobody gets hurt... They still make those, right?



hedgehogs always put me in a better mood...

Nappy (Diaper) review: Merries vs Moony pants type (L size)

I am officially a pants convert. Pichan isn't walking yet and he hates being put on his back for a nappy change. It is usually a bit of a scream fest, and no amount of toys (unless it is a forbidden object like my mobile phone) will keep him happy if he is already in a bad mood. Using pants type nappies means I can stand him up against something, rip them off (or pull them down) and put the new one on. If it is poopy, it is still a lay him down job (thankfully the pants type nappies rip at the sides so I don't have to pull poop down his legs, or anything) but at least I only have to lay him down once or twice a day, usually.



Merries:

Cost: Babies R Us have them for 1429yen for 56 nappies about 25.5yen/nappy- depends where you buy and if they are on sale. 'Create SD' drugstore is a little cheaper.
Softness: 4/5
Rash: none
Fit: Really nice fit. The sidebands are super side, the front goes up really high (which is important if you have a boy). The back fits around the whole buttocks
Absorbency: 5/5- My LO can sleep in them. No pee leaks.
Poo leaks: 5/5- though not such an issue now with more solid poops.
Wetness Indicator: Yes
Notes: Great gathering around the legs, seems comfortable for my LO to wear. Easy to put on.







Moony Nappies:

Cost: Babies R Us have them for 1397yen for 56 nappies about 24.9yen/nappy- depends where you buy and if they are on sale. 'Create SD' drugstore is a little cheaper.
Softness: 4/5
Rash: none
Fit: I call these 'briefs' as they are a bit smaller in area than the merries nappy. The cover the bottom, but not the whole cheek. The front isn't as high as Merries
Absorbency: 4/5- Haven't tried for night use, but they have leaked twice during the day
Poo leaks: 5/5- though not such an issue now with more solid poops.
Wetness Indicator: Yes
Notes: because there is less coverage, I feel like I have to tuck my little boys 'bits' in more and adjust it all a bit more so it fits in the right places. 

Merries Nappy

 Moony Nappy (You can see it doesn't cover as much as the moony)

Merries nappy from the side                               Moony nappy from the side
(you can see the better coverage)



 Merries nappy (above), Moony nappy (below)


The winner of the two, is....... Merries.

Though I will still buy Moony on occasion, as you can only buy one packet of Merries at a time where I buy my nappies (due to popularity).

Always do it now...

I need this "always do it now" reminder plastered everywhere these days. Life with a cruiser, while not as tough as life with a walker, has its challenges. For starters, Little Pi has found the rice cooker, and the buttons on it. He is also tall enough to turn on the dishwasher and the gas cooker! The problem is, sometimes I am just a little busy with cooking dinner that I let him play with the rice cooker. Sometimes he turns it on and off by himself, and sometimes just on- and then loves it when I turn it off. The problem comes from when I think "Oh, I need to turn the rice cooker off when he is finished with it", and then forget.

Forgetting about it seems to be my theme, and the other day we cooked a full load of air in the rice cooker. Thankfully it didn't burn the house down, and there were no weird smells because of it, but it is not something that I want to have happen every day.

Crawling vs Army crawling

My little guys is doing it... Crawling properly. Since he has been seeing other kids doing it, he has been crawling like a pro. But I don't think it was just the peer instruction that helped.

You see, we have a small space (it is Japan after all) and hardwood floors. Combine that with winter and always being in socks and warm, fuzzy pants and he could very easily pull himself along. Now that spring has sprung, it is sometimes warm enough to give him some pants off time and because of that, he can't really pull himself along as quickly and has instead been crawling properly.

Perhaps it was the pants all along, or perhaps he just liked moving about like a zombie with an injured leg being dragged behind him...