Happy Thanksgiving!

It's the day after Thanksgiving, but technically it still is Thanksgiving in the US :) And since we don't celebrate it here anyway, we can follow US time :)

Everyday should be Thanksgiving, as we always have plenty to be thankful for, a nice home, good health, family, food to eat, clothes to wear etc.

As for us, in addition to all of the above, we have these 3 little faces to be thankful for:

For each new morning with its light, 

For rest and shelter of the night, 

For health and food, 

For love and friends, 

For everything Thy goodness sends. 

For flowers that bloom about our feet;

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, for hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see;

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;

    His love endures forever.

- 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NIV)

Million dollar smiles

Our little bundle of sunshine turned 7 months old on Sunday. Where has the time gone? We thought Heidi was a very smiley baby (she was and still is) but Helene by far is the most smiley of the three girls, not to mention that those two little dimples make her smiles really bright and sunshiney!

When words are not adequate to describe, a picture paints a thousand words! Here are some of her best photos, flashing that million dollar smile. I had so many to choose from (because ALL her photos come out nice) that I can't even decide which ones to post on Instagram or FB (so as not to flood my friends' timelines with Helene pictures), let alone here! And the best thing about Helene, is that she automatically goes on "smile mode" whenever she sees the camera or phone pointed at her! So no need any coaxing to get her to smile.

Baby Helene is still enjoying Mummy's milk, but she has also added porridge, pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, bananas and a few other fruits and veges to her diet. Mummy is finding her milk supply dwindling quite a lot, but I still try to pump regularly to keep up the supply, seeing how Helene is not quite yet ready to wean and she can become very loud and cranky when she wants "nen-nen"! So far it seems to be still enough for her without having to supplement with formula, since she's also taking solids twice a day. Coupled with the fact that I've lost about 14 kg since before delivery, maybe I can go on for a couple more months ;)

She can sit up by herself, but she's not very steady yet so she still needs a bit of support. She babytalks a lot too. We were at Baskin Robbins yesterday and she was having a "conversation" with the girls behind the counter. So much so that they were so amused and said "Wah, pandai sembang ya!" (Means "wow, she is a good talker!")

She can also sit up more or less in a baby chair, so this makes things much easier now when we eat out.

It's definitely a crazy house, with a pre-schooler, toddler and infant all at home at the same time. Sometimes I do feel a bit guilty in letting the TV be the babysitter while I do chores etc.

But that very quickly turned into this! I didn't have the heart to scold when I saw how much fun they were having. I suppose that's the fun of having siblings - there's always someone to get into mischief with! (They were dancing to "hi-5" by the way)

We took them to Ananda Bahwan for dinner the other day and my dad ordered a roti tisu, that tall coned-shaped Indian bread in the picture below. The little girls were quite amazed with it. Heidi also insisted on wearing her "pavada" there so the restaurant-goers and the people who worked there were quite amused at the little Chinese girl in her Indian dress.

Stay tuned for more updates!

A walk along Gurney Drive

Kids nowadays don't get much fresh air, so we decided to take the girls for a short walk along Gurney Drive after having brunch, as it was a nice, breezy day and not too hot.

My dad had actually took Helene here for a walk a few weeks ago, and she was sooo excited. Just look at both their happy faces :)

Here are some photos of the 5 of us at Gurney Drive:

We didn't have any plans after that, so we decided to take a drive and check out the new AEON Mall at Bukit Mertajam. It opened back in June, but we had not been there before. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find out that it was clean and new. Best of all, they had these available on loan for 2 hours free.

Heidi loved the little train, but a word of caution, it's quite heavy to manoeuvre around, but the baby stroller was light and easy to handle. It must have been pretty comfortable too, if little Helene could fall soundly asleep in it.

Also, the baby room inside the AEON department store is one of the best I've seen thus far. It has 3 separate rooms right at the back for breastfeeding and big changing area outside, with even a ball pool to entertain your older kids, hot water dispenser and a weighing scale (though I can't imagine why that would be required lol). I didn't take any pictures, but it was definitely better than any of the baby rooms in other Penang malls.

And since this is quite a random post, here are my girls in Indian traditional costume "pavada", gifts from my cousin. Hannah had one too, but the top was a bit tight. We told her we would get her another top to match the skirt, since she could wear the skirt. 

Budan's Brew Coffeebar

Little quaint cafes have been mushrooming all over Georgetown lately, and last Saturday, we decided to go and check out this place tucked away in a corner of Argus Lane. My sister-in-law had been there some time ago and so we decided to go and try it out for ourselves. It's quite secluded so unless you know where it is, it may be quite difficult to find.

The interior is nice and cosy, with an air-conditioned area at the back. Order at the counter and they will bring your food and drinks to you.

I asked if the cakes were all home-made and they informed me that they were, except for the brownies which came from America and the breakfast muffins which came from Australia.

It opens early, at 8.30 am everyday, so we went for breakfast. We had pastries and the usual breakfast food, eggs, sausage, etc. Food was okay-tasting and reasonably priced. I really liked the salad dressing which they put on the salad. I must ask what type of dressing is that if I go again. We didn't try their cakes, but they looked good from the counter.

They had cute little deco like this on the walls:

And the three girls enjoyed themselves too! It's a family friendly place and we saw lots of other people bringing their kids there too.

1. 
   
2. Budan's Brew Coffeebar
3. Address: Lorong Argus, Georgetown, 10200 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

   Phone:+60 4-261 3930

   Hours: Open daily· 8:30 am – 11:00 pm
   

Cultivating a healthy lifestyle

Now that Hubby is in practice on his own, his time is flexible, so a few afternoons a week he takes Hannah and Heidi for some outdoor activity, usually for jogging or to the playground.

A few weeks ago, they went to Botanical Gardens. We usually don't like to go there because of the monkeys, but after so long, the girls wanted to go and have a run around the place. Look at the happy excited faces in car while on the way there.

The girls had a great time running around, and when they got tired they walked hand in hand. I though this was such a sweet picture of the two of them.

And these too:

Selfie/groupfie/wefie making funny faces:

The landscaping has improved tremendously from several years ago, so it's now a very pleasant place to have an evening jog, despite the monkeys. Now they go at least once a week, so the girls look forward very much to their evening exercise activities. Hopefully we can cultivate a active healthy lifestyle in our girls!