MommyMaddie!

So its been a rough 2 weeks .

Baby Ethan had his very first fever Feb. 24.   Scared the crap out me!  Panic totally took over and I was completely flustered – should I give him the Tempra? Emergency?  But then again, it wasn’t that high of a fever – 37.7 to be exact when his normal temperature is around the 36.5 mark. 

Anyway, we decided to give him Tempra but were unclear w/the dosage – 1 mL looks like an awful look for such a small baby – especially in the dropper!  So we ended up giving him one drop (like the Vitamin D Drops we’re used to giving him) and it was enough to bring it back down a bit.  The next morning I took him into to see the doctor’s and they said its probably a viral infection and it was fine for me to continue giving him Tempra.  When I got home, I gave him a 1/2 dosage of Tempra and he was fine afterwards!  The days following he had a cough/runny nose but everything else was fine. 

Then yesterday, he was finally free of coughing.  Unfortunately at 4am I woke up and Baby Ethan was super warm again!  We took his temperature and it was 38 this time!  If I thought 37.7 was scary, 38 was horrifying!  I googled everything, woke up my husband undecided about whether or not to take him into Emerg!  We finally called Telehealth and the nurse assured me its ok – “Fevers are good – the baby’s immune system is responding to any virus, builds his immune system too” she also went on to tell me that it wasn’t necessary to even see his doctor the next morning – let alone go into the emerg!  I didn’t even have to give him Tempra until his temperature reaches 39! 

So this morning we wake up – after a rough couple hours of on/off co-sleeping and he’s 100% fine!  His personality’s unchanged, he’s happy, playful and eager to start his day and even refuses to go back to sleep!  There’s just way too much to see in the world.

So…is he really sick? Or are these just freak fevers that put his body in check? *sigh* What a rollarcoaster ride….poor hubby who’s at work today…

I don’t know how many times I’ll utter these words in the near future but I can only guess, A LOT.

He’s now fully grabbing items and has even started to hit things with his right hand.  We finally realized that this rattle that came with this little rocking chair was supposed to be affixed to arm rest? and now he wacks at it all the time!  He’s also begun to scratch the inner wall of his playpen when he’s in there for a nap lol.  Thank goodness he’s too sound asleep to do it in the middle of the night or boy would THAT be scary

Yay Ethan!

Now that I successfully completed the 30 day challenge on Easy, its time to step it up to Medium!

Boy was it stepped up!  I went from about 6-8 reps to 10-12!  And running for about 1.5 km to like 2.5 I think? Ohmagaad is it refreshing! Especially since Baby Ethan’s been cranky now that he’s 4 months…he woke up at 4:30 these past two nights..lol

I’ll let you know how I do!  Current stats:

• Feb 12, 2010
• Medium Intensity Day 1
• 117.5

One of my New Years Resos was to do this Wii Active Program.

Wii Active

They have a 30 day challenge on there and today I successfully completed my 30th day.  Actually no, you’re supposed to do 20 workouts in approx. 30 days but I gave myself weekends off so it took a little longer than 30 days.  Regardless, I’ve successfully completed my 20th workout today! 

And what are the results: 

• At Jan 1st I think I was about 126 or so – this is post prego 1 month and post Xmas feasting!
• Today, Feb. 9th I am 118!  

I’m not down to my 113 but I can now do it all over again at a greater intensity.

*keep in mind I’m still breastfeeding and eating less.  I don’t think this would work w/out that =P

Yay!  On my way…

Woohoo!

I’m so happy to see that Walmart and other such stores are beginning to recognize their target demographic (makes us Chinese people sound so cheap).  They now sell Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) decorations and treats!  They’re even cheaper than those available at select Chinese stores/malls!  I purchased a dancing tiger piece for $3.88 (lucky 8 lol).

Soo…I finally cooked something “Chinesey” for dinner today and actually documented it.  I’m still a little camera shy…we filmed me making a Chinese New Year Treat “Gum Cheen Waan” (can’t find the Chinese characters for it…) and I was just so smiley – my response to shyness…lol

Today I made Soy Chicken w/ Shanghai Bok Choy – I’m beginning to learn how to cook for 2.  Portion control!  I’ve realized that my major problem was adding too many ingrediants to a dish to the point where I’d go grocery shopping and end up putting everything in one meal!

So here we go:

Soy Chicken:

• 1 whole chicken
• 2-3 slices of ginger
• 3 stalks of green onions – 1 slices, remaining 2 into bigger chunks (if you like green onion – I’ve recently acquired a taste for it)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbspdark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• salt
• ground pepper
• 1 tbsp Chinese chicken marinade

*The measurements are all approximations as you really gotta experiment with what tastes good to you…

I regrettably bought a whole chicken from a Chinese supermarket.  Only to find out when I got home that this includes the feet and the head – normally removed when you purchase one from your local loblaws/no frills..etc.  No worries – you live and learn.

So!  You take the whole chicken and cut it up into bits (basically you remove the wings, the drumsticks, the breasts and that’s about it – I save the carcass in the freezer for a soup or broth next time).  You should end up with something like this:

I prefer to leave the skin on for flavor – and I don’t ever add my own oil so I make it up here I guess!

Now you want to marinate the chicken (the longer the better but who really has time?).  These are the ones I use:

I first add the salt and pepper (always), the garlic, ginger and green onion and the remaining ingrediants.  You may want to add a bit of  water too since the cornstarch gets kinda coagulated. 

Now, you want to sear the chicken thoroughly as we’re going to braise it later and this is your only chance to seal in all the flavour and juices before it gets cooked to the max.  It also makes it a nice brown colour – totally bringing out the goodness of soy:

A little trick I used was to sear the drumsticks and chicken wings first – they take the longest to cook and they won’t toughen as much as white meat does when overcooked.  Once everything is nicely brown, I add just enough water so that it covers about 3/4 of the chicken up the side of the pot and then simmer til its reduced a bit.  Then I add the remaining green onions.

While its simmering, I’ll wash the shanghai bok choy:

Then you want to cut them into more manageable pieces – so they fit into your mouth a bit better:

Add about an inch of water to a large pot and a slice of ginger or two and let the Shanghai bok choy steam until tender.

This was our dinner:

I’m proud to say we finished all but 3 pieces of chicken!  I’ve come a LONG way from portioning - I usually cook for what seems like 6!