Growing Up: Snapshot of Baby in February

Baby is not really a baby anymore ... especially since he has a little sibling on the way. But it's always a joy to see how he grows in his motor skills, imagination and logical thinking.

Writing can still be a chore for him,
but he more willingly puts pencil to paper nowadays

 

Blocks and tractors still hold an appeal for him.
"Look mom, Tractorland," he said,
in reference to our visit to Tractors Malaysia
more than a year ago (see pix below).

Any reason not to do homework ...
"I don't have to write the zero, because zero is nothing."

Nature: Save the Environment with BYOB

There's a neat little shop in Damansara Kim called BYOB, which stands for "Bring Your Own Bottle".

We all know how harmful plastic bottles are to the environment, so with this little concept detergent store, we can now find a way to reduce wastage of our empty plastic bottles.

BYOB collects used mineral water bottles and empty detergent containers etc and refills them with eco-friendly household cleaning products. The products are produced using less chemicals by an OEM local manufacturer that produces and exports to companies in Singapore, Australia and the US. The product range is rather extensive — from car care and clothing and fabric detergent, to floor and kitchen cleaners, as well as personal care and a natural range of supplies.

Since we have a mounting stash of plastic bottles at home, we brought some over and left with bottles of floor cleaners (lavender and lemon), glass cleaner, fabric softener and laundry detergent. They were pretty affordable — about 20-25% cheaper than the cheapest range in the hypermarkets. Hopefully they work as well, then we can can see some significant savings in our monthly grocery bills. 

So check it out if you wanna reduce or reuse plastics and save some moolah while you're at it!


BYOB DAMANSARA
15, SS20 11, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 012-2455480

Opening hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am-6pm
Sat-Sun: 9am-4pm

Kitchen: Egged On

Boy loves eggs, and after seeing me cook eggs for Daddy's Valentine's Day breakfast, he decided he wanted to try his hand too.

So the next morning, before basketball training, he woke up early to cook scrambled eggs for the whole family. He also fried some bacon in the air fryer and set the table.

Proud of my 7-year-old!

Garden: Juicy Flowers

Last October, we paid a visit to Free Tree Society in Bangsar ... and got free trees — a lemongrass and a roselle plant.

Surprisingly, even though our ground was not very good and we hardly spent much time tending to the plants, both thrived bountifully! Our roselle came home with 2 calyces (flowers) and quickly sprouted several more. The key, they say, is to harvest the calyx often to keep the plant fruiting.

When we had about 15 mature calyces, we peeled off the red petals from the seed pods within.

Then we boiled the petals with some lemongrass and sugar, giving us a refreshing syrupy drink that serves as a great Ribena substitute for the kids. 

Will be drying the seed pods to save the lovely heart-shaped seeds and hopefully be able to plant more roselle plants.

Nature: We're going camping now, we're on our way!

We had a nice school break over CNY. Normally, we prefer to stay in the deserted city during the holidays, but this year, after the festivities and visitations, we decided to take the kids for an overnight camping trip at Janda Baik, Pahang.

We were introduced to a little road shoulder spot, sandwiched between an orchard and a river. It wasn't much to shout at, but it was perfect for our little getaway.

Our tent by the river

Nature's bounty

The kiddos really took to the river like ducks to water. It was really a fun-filled playground, with clear running water and lots of little critters, from frogs and tadpoles to little fish and stick insects.

And what's a camp without a camp fire? Especially when there are marshmallows to roast and s'mores to make! Also good to warm up on a chilly morning!

It was a short but definitely worthwhile trip. It was great to get away from the city and creature comforts and journey back to nature.

No iPad zone — time to read, write and play games

The best things in life are truly simple and (almost) free! Boy #2 was especially reluctant to leave. "I like this world!" he exclaimed.