June News Flash

This month we welcome 2 new models to our childcare centre.

Luo Xuan is 3 months old


Josiah is 4 months old

NEWS FLASH

Guess who turned one this month?

My star models Colin and Derrick turned one this month with their birthdays 4 days apart. As usual we have the traditional red eggs, ang koo and birthday cakes.

Colin


Derrick


This is what they looked like when they first came to the centre aged 2 months

Cody has completed his 4 months so we started introducing him to semi solid. The baby rice is not to replace his milk but to help him develop his skill in swallowing solids.

For more information on weaning your baby go to Baby topics: Weaning your baby

Ms Jade is 10 months old and she cannot wait to join the others when they run around or when we dance. For more information on helping your baby learn to walk go to Baby topics: Baby-walking

This is Li Harng who joined us last month aged 10 months. He did not know how to sit properly by himself or crawl and cried all day wanting to be carried because that was what he was used to for the last 10 months.

This is Li Harng one month later. He started crawling commando style and is a much happier little boy. Can you resist that beautiful smile?

Last week he surprised me by pulling himself up to stand and was even able to support himself with one hand only. Well done Li Harng!

The reason I highlighted Li Harng’s story is to impress upon you that you MUST give your baby opportunities to develop his potential which he cannot achieve if he is being carried all day long.

How did we stop his constant crying? Check out the latest Old Wives’ Tales.

We say goodbye to James whose grandma will be looking after him now that he is bigger.

Happy Father's Day

Father’s Day is normally celebrated on the 3 rd Sunday of June and this year it falls on the 17 th. Here’s wishing all you dads a very Happy Father’s Day. To salute all you fantastic guys I would like to share a little story with you. When I first started midwifery in 1972 fathers were just being allowed into the delivery rooms during the birth of their baby. One day I had a father who was very excited about seeing his baby come into the world. As I slowly delivered the baby’s head, I kept a running commentary about how much of the head can be seen with each push by the mother. He was very responsive for about 10 minutes and then there was silence. When I turned round to look at him, he had pushed the surgical mask up over his eyes!! And his face had turned quite pale. He never got to see the rest of the delivery.

Traditional festival

June 19 th is the fifth day of the Chinese lunar calendar and we celebrate the Bah Chang or Dragon Boat race festival on this day. This festival commemorates the death of Chu Yuan, a poet and statesman of the 4 th century BC; who drowned himself in protest against political corruption. Fishermen raced in their boats to save him but they were too late. According to legend, the people made glutinous rice dumplings with savoury meat filling wrapped in bamboo leaves called bah chang and threw them in the river to prevent the fish from eating his body. Since then, on the anniversary of his death, we celebrate by having a bah chang feast. In Penang and Singapore there is the annual Dragon Boat Race.

Pictures of my mother making bah chang (rice dumplings)
Fold the leaves	Put in a little rice	Add the filling
Add more filling	Top up with more rice	Close the top
Fold over the leaves	The last fold	Secure with string
Make a knot	One completed bah chang	Second completed chang
Boil them	Cooked bah chang	Ready to eat bah chang

An old superstition says that rice dumplings will not cook properly if a pregnant woman enters the kitchen while they are being cooked.

Did you know that this is also the day that the Chinese sprinkle rice wine around the house to prevent snakes coming into the house? According to legend, this is the day when the infamous Madame White Snake invoked a great flood in order to get back her human husband from the abbot who lived at the top of the mountains.